Secretary Arne Duncan publicly urged Pennsylvania officials to take action to save the public schools of Philadelphia.

Categories Philadelphia

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FLERP! says:

July 2, 2013 at 10:58 pm

Not bad, Dr. Ravitch.

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- Duane Swacker says:
  
  July 3, 2013 at 7:56 am
  
  Sometimes FLERP! your comments go straight over my head.
  
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  - FLERP! says:
    
    July 3, 2013 at 8:48 am
    
    Sorry, meant to convey “well done.”
    
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randiweingarten@gmail.com says:

July 2, 2013 at 11:03 pm

Thank u!!!!
Sent via BlackBerry by AT&T

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- philalisa says:
  
  July 3, 2013 at 9:19 am
  
  Seriously? We should get excited because he “urged” somebody to do something?
  
  I don’t see why that is cause for rejoicing.
  
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pfh64 says:

July 2, 2013 at 11:30 pm

Why is it when I read Secretary Duncan said I urge all involved to fix this, I really hear him saying “the solution is more charters & teachers taking 25-30 percent paycuts, pay more for your health care and don’t forget those pension reductions.”

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- onewomansjournal says:
  
  July 3, 2013 at 2:24 pm
  
  Don’t trust Duncan. Look at his record of deceit.
  
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Ms Dee says:

July 2, 2013 at 11:47 pm

This is an excellent start. Let’s see what happens! Why didn’t he say the same for Chicago’s public schools?

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- Duane Swacker says:
  
  July 3, 2013 at 8:02 am
  
  NO, it’s not an excellent start.
  
  “I strongly urge everyone involved to continue working together to avert this educational crisis.”
  
  Weasel words from a mealy mouthed politician, nothing more, nothing less.
  
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Zee says:

July 2, 2013 at 11:55 pm

Diane and Randi got Duncan to voice needed action to keep Philly children off the streets and in classrooms. Nice. Now I wonder, if Duncan will fly to Philly and sit down with state officials to help them at reaching a fair compromise?

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Robert D. Shepherd says:

July 2, 2013 at 11:57 pm

great

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Robert Rendo says:

July 3, 2013 at 12:11 am

I hope this leads to something big for Philly schools and their families. . . .

Thank you Diane, for writing the letter.

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KrazyTA says:

July 3, 2013 at 12:14 am

Click on the link provided above and ponder these two paragraphs:

“Duncan spoke a day after Randi Weingarten, president of the American Federation of Teachers, and Diane Ravitch, a national education expert, revealed that they had appealed to him to help Philadelphia schools.

In a Friday letter made public early Monday, Weingarten and Ravitch wrote to Duncan: ‘We are writing to ask for your urgent intervention to preserve public education for the children of Philadelphia.’”

The answer to the question “What difference can a blog make when despair reigns and all seems lost?” is:

“Hope has two beautiful daughters; their names are Anger and Courage. Anger at the way things are; and Courage to see that they do not remain as they are.” [Augustine of Hippo]

KrazyHistoryLady, keep on keepin’ on.

🙂

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- Robert Rendo says:
  
  July 3, 2013 at 12:32 am
  
  Krazy,
  
  Diane is both Anger and Courage, as most of us who read her blog are also. . . .
  
  Randi, however, is Hope’s lost daughter, whose name is Opportunist.
  
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- tiedyedeb says:
  
  July 3, 2013 at 7:09 am
  
  BadAss Teachers followed up yesterday (Tuesday) with a day of tweets and phone calls urging Arne to intervene in the Philadelphia schools as well. There is strength in numbers, and it is awesome to be a part of those numbers for once!
  
  Thanks Diane for getting the ball rolling on this one!
  
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  - Sheila Resseger says:
    
    July 3, 2013 at 9:24 am
    
    Yes, all of the tweets and phone calls from Badass Teachers were not mentioned in the article. I am a retired teacher of the deaf in RI, but I was born in Philly and attended elementary school there. I am deeply distressed at the situation–it is unconscionable. When I spoke to a Duncan staffer yesterday morning and urged Duncan to intervene, at first the staffer said that what was happening in Phila. was a local matter and there was nothing Duncan could do. I continued explaining how unacceptable the situation is and urged Duncan to use his influence as head of the federal DOE to create an opening for a way forward to preventing the catastrophe that is awaiting Philadelphia’s children and public school system. Maybe he actually listened?
    
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ronee groff says:

July 3, 2013 at 1:01 am

Randi Weingarten and Diane Ravitch acted on behalf of the children of Philadelphia in a moment of crises. They came together for a greater cause and gave an example of adults who can compromise and lead by example. They did what our government has not done for some years. Through their well constructed argument and pleas to higher authorities they helped to bring about a possible change and hopeful redirection of education, not only in Philadelphia, but a ripple effect throughout the land. Congratulations stateswoman of our time, sanity and reason were the order of the day, and no matter what happens, you have instructed all sides of the argument that a difference can be made.

The difference between government and business is the promise the People have made to themselves. The People made a committment to the future, the children of the land, that it would provide them with a free appropriate public education creating a foundation for life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. Whether written or in a verbal contract with itself the government has stood behind the People on this promise and of education as a beacon for the rest of the world of our unique belief in ourselves. Why we even created laws to insure a level playing field for the disabled and struggling learners with an opportunity to grow towards whatever potential they posess. God Bless America!!!!

Business only promises itself the bottom line with no distinction of the People or to this country. They can close down shop or school at their whim and will or when things just don’t look profitable.They have no long range committment other then to their own profit. Business believes that we are dependent on it and not ourselves, that they are us. Oh, maybe to a certain extent, but not entirely. Today they are more interested in the global economy to grow their wealth and power using all people as their tools and instruments, not with some great grand concern for the individual health and welfare of the People being equal to themselves. You feed your animals and keep them healthy and use all of their parts for some use. Harsh?!! No not really…..cold, calculated, and guided through measurements. Some have gotten so wealthy and powerful that their arrogance and narcissism have them forget that the money comes from the People who purchase their products and line their pockets.

That we can all live equitably and with dignity if others would recognize that as a possibility and not a threat to their dynasty. When the insatiable wants of some take the needs for survival of others you know your society has gone terribly awry.

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- Robert D. Shepherd says:
  
  July 3, 2013 at 2:16 am
  
  The People made a commitment to the future, to the children of the land, that it would provide them with a free, appropriate public education, creating a foundation for life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. Well said, Ronee! Reminds me of the amazing clause by John Adams in the Constitution of the state of Massachusetts:
  
  “Wisdom and knowledge, as well as virtue, diffused generally among the body of the people, being necessary for the preservation of their rights and liberties; and as these depend on spreading the opportunities and advantages of education in the various parts of the country, and among the different orders of the people, it shall be the duty of legislatures and magistrates, in all future periods of this commonwealth, to cherish the interests of literature and the sciences, and all seminaries of them; especially the university at Cambridge, public schools and grammar schools in the towns; to encourage private societies and public institutions, rewards and immunities, for the promotion of agriculture, arts, sciences, commerce, trades, manufactures, and a natural history of the country; to countenance and inculcate the principles of humanity and general benevolence, public and private charity, industry and frugality, honesty and punctuality in their dealings; sincerity, good humor, and all social affections, and generous sentiments, among the people.”
  
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  - Robert Rendo says:
    
    July 3, 2013 at 7:13 am
    
    John Adams said it so beautifully; Contemporary Washington DC has brutalized it so savagely . . .
    
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  - Robert Rendo says:
    
    July 3, 2013 at 7:15 am
    
    Washington DC has turned the 5 star French restaurant in Paris (John Adams) into a McDonalds in New York City (NCLB and RTTT).
    
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Robert Rendo says:

July 3, 2013 at 1:03 am

However, if this letter co-written by Diane and Randi at least draws some national attention and changes things dramatically in Philadelphia, then the compromise of working with Randi will have been worth it.

Even to have gotten such a response from Duncan thus far is worth it a million times over.

But I will always have my Weingarten radar up . . . . . That’s never going away.

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- ronee groff says:
  
  July 3, 2013 at 1:18 am
  
  It is always what we don’t know that makes the difference. I am sure there much to know!
  
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Robert Rendo says:

July 3, 2013 at 1:30 am

Ronee,

I like the phrase “ripple effect throughout the land” in your post. Thank you for writing that!

I hope this does exactly that.

Caution and optimism, as I have discovered, are not always enemies. . . .

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- ronee groff says:
  
  July 3, 2013 at 2:15 am
  
  Caution and optimism, as I have discovered, are not always enemies….
  A wonderful reminder for me…I thank you for writing that.
  
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wgersen says:

July 3, 2013 at 6:36 am

Thank you and Randi for getting Arne Duncan to respond to this crisis… but… sorry, Arne, don’t send “technical assistance” when money is needed… and those “solutions” involving borrowing more and accounting manipulations are not going to begin to solve the problems. Philadelphia has done exactly what the ALEC crowd wants everyone to do: they’ve “starved the beast”, gutted the teacher’s contracts, and stripped the elected board of power. It would be great if Duncan pointed this out instead of offering “technical assistance”….

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- philaken says:
  
  July 3, 2013 at 6:56 am
  
  “stripped the elected board of power”
  This is not correct. Philadelphia was taken over by the state in December, 2001 and has been run by the School Reform Commission ever since. No one elects these people. Three are appointed by the Governor, and two by the Mayor (who is an out spoken supporter to privatization).
  
  There has been nothing democratic about the way the Philadelphia School District has been managed since. As soon as it took over, the SRC tried to turn over 64 public schools to Edison Schools. When this failed ALEC and the Broad Foundation developed a long range plan to privatize the schools which is now coming to fruition.
  
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Joanna Best says:

July 3, 2013 at 7:02 am

And of course we know from Kansas City that it will take more than just money to help and to save. Support for public school and a belief in it has to be there.

Somehow I imagine many reformers are just “playing with it” and will be crying in the corner wanting mommy to make everything better when is actually “goes off.” Short sightedness does that to ya. Blinded by greed we create our own demise.

I hope bad dreams haunt the people who do these things.

Still wanting to know what the ideal situation might have been right about 2002. Misguided angels? Should education just have been left alone? What do those already having bad dreams wish they had said that they did not? Or done that they did not?

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- Pamela Harbin says:
  
  July 3, 2013 at 7:42 am
  
  The privatizing sharks are circling Philadelphia as we speak. Here is a tweet from Andy Smarick 9 hours ago: @smarick: PA should only bail out Philly district as transition step to replacing it. Stop propping up this failed institution.
  
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  - LG says:
    
    July 3, 2013 at 8:51 am
    
    And now we get to the heart of it. I figured as much.
    
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philaken says:

July 3, 2013 at 7:03 am

I am not sure why many commenters are waving the flag as if this is some great victory. In his statement Arne Duncan says:

“I strongly urge everyone involved to continue working together to avert this educational crisis. My continued outreach to each of the parties involved: Governor Corbett, Mayor Nutter, Dr. Hite and Jerry Jordan assures me that fixing this is their number one priority. I’ve instructed my staff to provide any needed technical assistance to both the district and the commonwealth.”

The sole solution being offered by Duncan, Corbett, and Mayor Nutter is major concessions by the teacher’s union by some of the lowest paid teachers in Pennsylvania. Duncan came into office having set up Chicago for the crisis it is now in, and any “technical assistance” will be to advance privatization in Philadelphia.

We need to give up our illusions folks and face the reality of our situation!

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- LG says:
  
  July 3, 2013 at 8:56 am
  
  “I am not sure why many commenters are waving the flag as if this is some great victory.”
  Me, neither. I’ve seen strange sheep with long snouts and snarly teeth before. Duncan’s MO has never been about “saving” public education or taking steps to support those who live in poverty. It’s always been to hold schools “accountable” for every aspect in a student’s life that affects his learning. Proceed with caution.
  
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- Mom/speducator says:
  
  July 3, 2013 at 9:19 am
  
  PR move. Don’t trust him.
  
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Robert Rendo says:

July 3, 2013 at 7:10 am

Philaken,

I hope you are wrong, but even so, it is an opportunity for the secreatryto respond and either “support public education” as he stated or screw up and show his lies and hypocrisy.

The overt, public getsture he makes will be both symbolic and pragmatic, and if he moves toward privatization, it will only show the nation once again how bad his administration is and how wrong this whole movement is. It will there add more fuel to the push-back fire.

If, on the other hand, he catalyzes real funding for the public schools as PUBLIC trusts, then maybe he will be caving into the political pressures that are here to right this whole horrible wrong.

I’m not at all saying this is a win-win situation, but I see the glass as half full.

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- Duane Swacker says:
  
  July 3, 2013 at 8:06 am
  
  Robert,
  
  I’ll bet you Philaken is right! A beer if we ever meet!
  
  Weasel words from a mealy mouthed politician, nothing more, nothing less.
  
  Duane
  
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neanderthal100 says:

July 3, 2013 at 8:46 am

A good teacher will need the following….

1) A piece of chalk..maybe two
2) A media center
3) Available A-computer lab-for research….excel…etc
4) Students-“all sizes-shapes-forms-backgrounds”
5) Notebook Paper-Pencils-Pens-Markers-Poster Board
6) a textbook to follow would be an awesome asset
7) A supportive and positive administration

The community can chip in on the rest..Up-to-date magazines..newspapers…etc

Now….all you have to do is watch…watch the creative teachers take control; and teach…really teach..

But ..in this day and time…Duncan’s Data and $$$$$Race to Nowhere has overshadowed all.

Yep..the schools are trying to please the TEST folks so the politicians will look good.
That is the bottom line.

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Bertis Downs says:

July 3, 2013 at 8:57 am

Duncan said his continued outreach to Gov. Corbett, Mayor Nutter, Superintendent William R. Hite Jr., and Jerry Jordan, president of the Philadelphia Federation of Teachers, “assures me that fixing this is their number-one priority.”

I guess they just have a funny way of showing it

the poisonous seeds Duncan et al have planted are bearing fruit– and guess what, they’re poisonous . . .

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Mom/speducator says:

July 3, 2013 at 10:06 am

Don’t you think these discussions have to be occurring?
(On the basketball court, during a 5 on 5 water break)
Lawyer friend: So Arn, what the hell is going on with schools?

Arn: Well you know got get on those union thugs, they’re not toeing the line, ya know, look at the scores, we gotta help our kids.

Lawyer friend: How does closing schools help?

Arn: Costs too much, gotta consolidate and best way is too pack ’em in, plug ’em in!!’eh, ‘eh eh!!

Lawyer friend: Well my own kids are both teachers, they’re upstanding citizens who wholeheartedly believe in teaching as a career. They believe they’re making a difference in neighborhood schools, that’s what helps students.They both went to great colleges and are certified through their masters. Don’t they deserve their profession like you and I???

Arn: Water break is over, I’ll cover Barry this time.

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George Buzzetti says:

July 3, 2013 at 12:01 pm

First, the feds, Duncan, can’t really do anything as this is a state and local matter. Second, Duncan and crew made sure this happened in the first place as it is Duncan and Obama’s agenda to destroy public education for their friends the “Billionaire Destroyers.” Third, the money they are talking about is not enough to do much. Fourth, on of the funding sources are Tax Revenue Anticipation Notes or TRANS which are used to borrow against future tax revenues which means they are really putting themselves further into debt. Not a good solution. The problem there is that that state and their courts have declared that education is not a judicial matter no matter what the state constitution says. Fourth, this is the result of mayoral control as there is no ability to have a “Correction Factor” as just happened at LAUSD with the election of a new majority board. The 3 is now 4 and the old 4 is gone just like that. This cannot happen with mayoral control. Mayoral control must be eliminated in a republican democracy as mayoral control is not THE PEOPLE but run by the big bucks.

THE FISH ROTS FROM THE HEAD.

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Mom/speducator says:

July 3, 2013 at 2:03 pm

Good Points!!

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John Owens says:

July 3, 2013 at 6:12 pm

So let’s listen to Arne, as he shakes his booty with Pitbull. Like he is anyone we can trust with solutions!

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