Here is EduShyster, with her usual irreverence, telling us how to achieve true excellence:
Close public schools.
Close so many public schools that the public gives up and gets used to it.
Make grand promises.
As they sing in Chicago (not only the Broadway musical and the movie, but the actual city): “Give ’em the old razzle-dazzle, razzle-dazzle ’em.”
Learn the tricks of the school-closing trade.
Fool the public.
It works every time.
Diane Ravitch's blog 
Funny and sad. Best way to describe it
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Or as an old friend who made a fortune in sales used to say, “If you can’t dazzle ’em with brilliance, baffle them with b*llsh#t!”
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brutus2011: an updated version might read “Hit ‘em with FUD [Fear/Uncertainty/Doubt] ‘til they’ll do anything you want!”
Or to translate what you put into current edureformese: “If you can’t dazzle ‘em with brilliance, intimidate them with [meaningless and misleading] math!”
🙂
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The document that Edushyster links to: the “How to Close a school guide” is surreal. It is literally a step by step guide to closing schools. Are you kidding me? They were arrogant enough to put it in print??
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Real. Fact. I’m a parent in Pittsburgh, livin’ the dream!
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Well, closed schools certainly can’t fail. Once again, American business know-how cut right to the heart of the problem!
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Here is a recent Issue Brief from Research for Action that looks into school closings in Washington DC, Pittsburgh, New York City, Chicago, and Philadelphia. Quick but great read: http://bit.ly/13CAUuN
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It’s unbelievable that Broad would publish such as document — and incredible that EduShyster was able to get a hold of it! They talk as if school closings have been going on forever. Except when old school buildings deteriorated so extensively that they had to be demolished and rebuilt, in my 61 years living in Chicago, I cannot recall one school closing until Arne Duncan became “CEO” of the schools.
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OK, I just remembered a school closing. The school that Duncan and his friend John Rogers took over before Duncan became “CEO” of CPS, which would have been when Paul Vallas was “CEO.” Some legacy.
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I am so grateful to the gifted writers who are able to articulate my gut reactions with such artfulness.
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“the non-excellence loving population” Another great addition to the EduShyster glossary of terms. Right up there with, “mad rephorm cheddar”.
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“Note: some will point out that your relentless pursuit of excellence and achievement is producing a vicious cycle in which more and more money is diverted from public schools, thus requiring even more school closures and paradoxically reducing choice for the non-excellence loving population.”
That about sums it up, does it not?
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