Charlie Crist, former governor of Florida, switched from Republican to independent to Democrat.
It is rumored that he may run for governor as a Democrat.
In an interview recently, he said he was wrong for supporting vouchers.
Angry conservatives don’t like his change of mind.
I don’t question his motives. I applaud anyone who is willing to stand up and say he or she was wrong.
As governor, he vetoed a particularly obnoxious bill to take tenure away from teachers and do a bunch of other harmful things. He was under a lot of pressure from his party to sign the bill but he didn’t.
So, I say, welcome home, Charlie Crist and good luck.
Help to educate the public and stop the attacks on public education and teachers in Florida.
Diane Ravitch's blog 
Angry Conservatives is the new Angry Birds
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No, that would be Angry Turds.
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I always liked Charlie Crist…
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Crist seems to get saner all the time. I hope he does run as a Democrat. Florida could use a sensible governor again.
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Well done Charlie Crist, well done!
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Hi Diane, thanks for all you continue to do.
Chuck Close has profound learning disabilities, he is face-blind, and suffered a spinal artery collapse leaving him paralyzed from the waist down and limiting his fine motor coordination as well. He is also one of the greatest American Painters of our lifetime. I think his advice to his younger self is extremely relevant today.
This is a note to myself at age 14:
I WAS in the eighth grade and was told not to even think about going to college. I couldn’t add or subtract, never could memorize the multiplication tables, was advised against taking algebra, geometry, physics or chemistry and therefore would not get into any regular college. Since I was good with my hands, I was advised to aim for trade school, perhaps “body and fender” work.
NEVER let anyone define what you are capable of by using parameters that don’t apply to you.
I APPLIED to a junior college in my hometown with “open enrollment”, got in and embarked on a career in the visual arts.
NEVER let anyone define what you are capable of by using parameters that don’t apply to you.
VIRTUALLY EVERYTHING I’ve done is influenced by my learning disabilities. I think I was driven to paint portraits to commit images of friends and family to memory. I have face blindness, and once a face is flattened out, I can remember it better.
INSPIRATION IS for amateurs — the rest of us just show up and get to work. Every great idea I’ve ever had grew out of work itself.
SIGN ON to a process and see where it takes you. You don’t have to reinvent the wheel every day. Today you will do what you did yesterday and tomorrow you will do what you did today. Eventually you will get somewhere.
NO ONE gets anywhere without help. Mentors, including your parents and an occasional teacher, can make you feel “special” even when you are failing in other areas. Everyone needs to feel special.
MY FATHER died when I was 11. That was the tragedy of my life, a horrible thing to happen when you are so young. Oddly enough there was a gift in this tragedy. I learned very early in life that the absolute worst thing can happen and you will get past it and you will be happy again. Losing my father at a tender age was extremely important in being able to accept what happened to me later when I became a quadriplegic.
IF YOU are overwhelmed by the size of a problem — break it down into many bite-sized pieces.
QUADRIPLEGICS DON’T envy the able-bodied – we envy paraplegics. We think they’ve got an easier row to hoe.
THERE IS always someone worse off than you.
I AM confident that no artist has more pleasure day in and day out from what he or she does than I do.
http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-505270_162-57411846/chuck-closes-advice-to-his-younger-self/
Sent from my iPad
Sent from my iPad
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Why give Charlie Crist a free pass on his motives? Most others who hold positions on education that can be seen as self serving are ridiculed here.
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I’d like to know more about why Crist has had a change of heart: has he been in classrooms, talking to teachers and seeing the effects of rheeform? If not, I, too, am skeptical about this conversion.
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Sent from my iPad
Begin forwarded message:
From: Diane Ravitch’s blog <comment-reply@wordpress.com> Date: September 20, 2013, 2:27:56 PM EDT To: <kgamache@rvcschools.org> Subject: [New post] I Will Not Be Part of Education Nation Reply-To: Diane Ravitch’s blog <comment+p6kq961q1_3n8nevx0dqjcz8@comment.wordpress.com>
dianerav posted: “Yesterday I received an invitation to sit in the audience at NBC’s Education Nation. I regret to say that I will decline, as I am very busy these days. In case you want to know who will be speaking, here is the lineup (http://www.cvent.com/events/20“
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