The Daily Howler notes that most of the mainstream media completely ignored the Atlanta events or barely mentioned them.
Only Chris Hayes had a panel on the subject, and two of the three panelists were a waste of air time.
One was a clueless parent, and the other was a paid mouthpiece for the hedge fund billionaires of New Jersey.
Diane, you wrote “most of the mainstream media ignored the Atlanta events or barely mentioned them.” Wasn’t the Daily Howler about tv programs? Isn’t part of the mainstream media newspapers? There were a number of newspapers around the country that carried stories about Atlanta. I also saw at least both CNN and at least one of the other 3 main networks run stories.
Still waiting for a response as to whether you believe no schools in the country should be closed.
I hope you wait a long time. It sounds like you are looking for a tabloid title: Ravitch Asserts No School Should Be Closed! or Ravitch Admits School Closings Are Necessary.
No one is saying that no schools should ever be closed, Joe, so you can cool it with the strawman. The issues, once again as you perfect well know, are the number of schools being closed, how they’re being closed (over the vociferous objection of the community), where they’re being closed (minority, especially black areas) and the fact that charter schools are being opened in rapid succession, even though the purported reason for the closures is “underutilization”. It boils down to privatization of public goods. If that doesn’t bother you, fine, but for those of us who still remember what democracy is supposed to be, it is very troubling.
Thanks for sharing your views, Dienne. I read a quote that one union leader said no schools should be closed.
And so that reflects ALL unions leaders and ALL union teachers. Giant leap.
No Linda, it reflects one union leader.
Do you have a link to this alleged quote, Joe, so we can all see the context?
Dienne, in Diane Ravitch’s March 21, 2013 discussion, “Karen Lewis on Chicago School Closing,” Diane presents what she says is a statement from Ms. Lewis.
The context is a wider criticism of both the process and the decision. I’m not defending either the process or the decision. I’m pointing to the assertion that “no school should be closed in the city of Chicago.”
After criticizing the idea of closing so many schools, here is the the 8th paragraph of the statement from Ms. Louis as presented by Dr. Ravitch.
“This city cannot destroy that many schools at one time; and, we contend that no school should be closed in the city of Chicago. These actions will not only put our students’ safety and academics careers at risk but also further destabilize our neighborhoods.”
– – – – – – – –
Joe,
Maybe you should contact Karen Lewis. You will find her inspiring, well spoken, intelligent and capable.
She recently stated these schools are NOT failing schools, but ABANDONDED schools.
I suggest you engage in a dialogue with her if you are going to use her words to serve your narrow purposes.
Given the context of the entire statement, I think it’s fair to say her point is that no school in Chicago should be closed so long as the administration continues to show itself so untrustworthy. Actually, administrations, as Daley was no better. So long as there is mayoral control rather than local control, I agree with Ms. Lewis – no Chicago schools should be closed. If and when local control is ever restored, then school closings should be up to local districts in consultation with the local community.
I watched this as it was airing and they were not prepared including Chris Hayes, who I like very much. They need to start having classroom teachers on these panels. The statement about being tested just as much years ago is false. We have never had this much testing ever. They were all winging it.
Joe, I think Diane skims your comments because they are a diversion and you seem to miss the point quite often. Then, you inevitably turn it back to the greatness of you and all the successes in Joeland. Blah, blah, blah.
Classroom teachers? On a panel? But what would they know about education?
Diane, that’s not exactly accurate. The Atlanta-Journal Constitution’s investigative reporting in 2009 is what uncovered the scandal in the first place. I haven’t searched all the news from that period, but i believe it did received pretty wide coverage then.
Melissa Harris Perry did a segment on Atlanta today. She ripped into high takes testing . Here is the link http://www.nbcnews.com/id/46979745/
Here is the direct link. Listen to Steve Perry panicking to defend his status quo mantra.
Oops..link here:
http://www.nbcnews.com/id/46979745/
Someday, I want someone on TV to make the simple connection between testing and the real agenda–to undermine public schools for privatization/profit.
Melissa Harris Perry had a pretty good panel and segment this morning. She gets it. Tried to get panel engaged in idea that we’re subjecting poor kids to endless testing and narrowing curriculum, something private schools patently reject. None of panel members bit. At least Melissa’s saying out loud. We need to encourage her to keep repeating and exposing the truth.
I can’t stand to listen to Steve Perry…embarrassed he represents my state. He misrepresents the profession and twists the truth to suit himself. Notice how he was squirming and sputtering while defending the status quo testing mantra. He is the one who coined the kid isn’t a “good fit” saying as a way to rid himself of poor test takers. He always blames teachers, always…..another bloviating buffoon.
The typical way you corrupt the message and story is to have on faux people to spread a false message. We do not have a free press anymore due to Bill Clinton signing the 1996 telecommunications Act which allowed the owners to go from about 80 to 5-6. Is is any wonder this is happening. Have any of you gone to Russia Today? Do any of you watch it? It is also on the web live. They have 250,000,000 viewers every day. They do real news and often do 1/2 to 1 hour specials. These reporters are told that if they try to do those stories they will never work again and they like those big paychecks so they will do whatever master wants. One reporter who told us this lost their job over a true story of a major corporation dumping toxics into a waterway. So he had to be fired and in fact walked off of the property with guards without their files. This is how it really is not how you think it is.
Speaking for myself….Of course, sometimes a school should be closed. The point is how and why a school might be closed. In my town, we went through a painful but necessary process of reducing the number of schools. Our enrollment had declined by 30% over the previous 25 years, so economics dictated that we downsize quite a bit. As we started the process, the community made a few priorities clear. One was that we wanted to maintain neighborhood schools where every kid could still walk. Two, we wanted to have equivalent programs at the two remaining middle schools. Three, we wanted to maintain the depth and breadth of the curriculum (Hopefully achieved in part through the reduction of operating costs) All of this was done in conjunction with a school reconstruction plan in which the passage of a local bond issue would eventually lead to obtaining funds from a state reconstruction fund. Democracy in action.
It’s worked pretty well, but there is a problem looming. Due to a small percentage of students leaving our district for charter schools (often the on-line for profit type) our district is now, essentially, funding the equivalent of 1/2 of a whole other school. This stresses our ability to keep all the remaining schools open while maintaining the breadth and depth of our curriculum, of which we are very proud.
Schools have fixed costs that don’t magically disappear when students walk out the door. We decided, through a democratic process, on the best way to balance the priorities of our citizens. That process is violated by the charter school movement with its hostility to local elected school board control.
parents are clueless because the educators shoo us away and use condescending pedagogical lingo sure to confound us. it has taken us a year to get up to speed with where teachers are coming from in their education. and it would not have been necessary had we not seen multiple inappropriate content and assignments. you see this problem? parents do not know because we were not told about changing the definition of critical thinking, and excellence and rigor and literacy all meaning social justice. we were not told that content was out and attitudes and values were in.
we were not told about pedagogy of the oppressed. we were not told about the teacher education and how it empowers teachers to consider parents “gatekeepers ” .
unless you were to have studied education to teach you would not have any knowledge of this silo. your phd in archaeology or economics is useless when it comes to dealing with k-12 teachers. they often make you feel like you do not deserve your yale diploma. It has taken a full on research assault to get the scoop, and its is a real parental eyeopener. these are our children. no adult has the right to mislead parents about their children and it could be said that a lot of good people are thinking their kids are learning when in fact they are subjects of multilevel psychological observations and experimentation and dreaded OBE. for example, why does my 4th grade art teacher think it is okay to show the video of slenderman in art class? why does my 6th grade teacher think its okay to show my children a gratuitous car accident to illustrate helping? why cause marketing masquerading as STEM. why does the librarian have a special section of books in the library that she chooses 8th graders who she thinks are able to handle the horrendous subject matter, without parental consent. showing them cnn for kids and time magazine for kids and inserting political radicalization wherever they can.
maybe not the teachers themselves but the mandated curriculum standards, common core. Parents are clueless about that too. as these are our children in the schools might it have been someones responsibility to let us know or bring us into the decision? and let us see the tests you give our kids. we went through everyday math, then they dumped it. so my kids we all suffered because of this fad. propaganda gets these fads in and keeps them in crippling kids intellectually and it is always too late. lets put the blame where it should be, not on teachers or parents, per say but the educrats, propagandist affiliates and the administrations who profit from them.
parents are completely discounted on all fronts. our kids are talked about like poultry futures. might someone have sent home a flyer to us about common core? well no because it is obvious we would have objected on several levels, particularly the unconstitutionality, and the same objections that the teacher objectors are having. things are way off the rails. and parents are so clueless, you got that right. but we are waking up. and teachers are talking. this forum is fantastic! thanks Diane!
The mainstream media don’t give a damn about children in America. Check out the TV video below where the newscasters seem to be mainly concerned about crime and just mention in passing that homeless people are raising their children in unventilated and unlit self dug underground tunnels.
Fairly sweeping statement, don’t you think, NG?
Ok. Fair comment and you can cite the wall to wall coverage of the Newtown massacre. I think that I should preface my statement with poor children in certain areas of the country.
With respect to all of the testing–after just having watched a heartbreaking interview with Sandy Hook parents on “60 Minutes,” I was thinking about what their state D.O.E. approved–and that was, due to the trauma suffered at Sandy Hook, the state would exempt Sandy Hook students from their “standardized” tests this year. This is only right.
However, time & again teachers and other educators bring up the fact that “standardized” testing is inappropriate for multitudes of our student population, and in that same way: how many students have suffered street violence in their own lives? how many children have suffered relentless abuse at home? how many children suffer the gnawing, daily pain of hunger? how many children live in insufficient foster care, without love and guidance? how many children are homeless, living in cars or in shelters?
Why should these students have to take “standardized” tests? Surely they are trauma victims: we have actually seen many of them who have experienced PTSD. Can we not exempt them from testing, as well?
Indeed, who cares about ALL of these children?
With all respect, I often find that Joe Nathan’s comments derail any line of postings from reaching useful conclusions, as posters then go off and debate one or more statements he has made. It is too bad, b/c this is a valuable forum. And many new to this site, looking for information, might become turned off.
Perhaps there is a shorter way of containing the distraction?
I’ve seen some bloggers post ‘Off topic’ when this happens, and then they go back to the original conversation.
It could be helpful.
For anyone who wants to debate Joe Nathan directly, I’m sure he wouldn’t mind providing you with that opportunity.
or completely ignore him….I suggested he start his own blog and bug off!
This site is presented as a place to discuss “better education for all.” Thanks to the folks who are committed to that ideal, whether they agree or disagree with specific strategies. Thanks also to those who have written privately to ask for additional info. Ignoring postings is of course also an option.