A reader encourages us to watch our language and use the right titles:
“PLEASE, PLEASE stop referring to Paul Vallas or Arne Duncan as “Superintendent” of Chicago Public Schools. They were CEOs – because in Illinois, they were unqualified to be Superintendents. If you’re the CEO, you don’t need an education background.”
Diane Ravitch's blog 
Now, now. Arne did have SOME qualifications. Uh, let’s see. . . . He was a basketball player. . . .
Oh, and he worked for his mother. . . .
And, uh, . . .uh, . . .
Wait, wait, I know: He knew the right people.
Mr. Duncan is doing an enormous amount of damage to defenseless kids. He’s clueless about the damage he’s doing, and he arrogantly dismisses intelligent, thoughtful critique as the ravings of a lunatic fringe. His one talent is the low cunning of the courtier.
Broad Academy churns out CEOs.
There’s another complete waste of time and money…Broad Academy…churning out admin who are complete morons when it comes to running a school or school department.
Our present Stupidintendent, who is a Broadie, left a different school department in our state and joined us. I recently learned that the other school department was elated she left. Of course our school department takes everyone else’s trash. Our consulting firm was run out of another state. Our first Stupidintendent that began all this negativity, was run out of another state and came to us. When she left, it was by her decision. She moved to another state and got tossed out of there as well. However, her henchmen stayed in ours, so nothing improved in our district. It’s just a damn disgrace.
Au contraire, they’re quite skilled at running schools. Your problem – silly you – is that you’re still entrenched in that quaint old notion that schools are actually for educating kids. Get into the twenty-first century! Schools, dontcha know, are for further enriching the obscenely rich hedge fund managers and other billionaires who have taken up “education” as their new hobby.
Trying to understand the Broad Foundation from an education point of view makes as much sense as trying to understand Wal-Mart from a quality and customer service point of view. In both cases you have to understand it is about nothing other than profit.
Speaking of CEOs
We have this lovely consulting firm in our school department to help certain schools in transition. They gave us this wonderful summer reading book for which we had to sign. However, not only did I refuse to sign for it, I handed it back. I told my teacher leader I was NOT going to waste my time reading this book, and I was insulted it was given to me to read as an educational book. The book is called, Great by Choice. It’s about CEOs and how big businesses succeed. We also have a 6 hour long professional development about the book at the end of August.
As a teacher, I continue to educate myself. I am attending an Ivy League university working towards my SECOND Master’s degree. I have already begun to read my texts for next semester’s courses as well as independently furthering my studies on one of the courses I just completed. How dare this consulting firm WASTE my precious time with absolute nonsense. I’m sick of the hidden agenda, hidden messages,and the hidden BULLCRAP! I studied and read educational texts every night. I worked to my best ability to receive A’s in my courses, and I reached that goal. I am completely turned off and disgusted with my school department, city, etc, for allowing this idiotic firm to take over, waste money, and waste MY TIME. I don’t care what makes a business succeed. I don’t care what CEOs do with their companies. It has nothing to do with my career. These types of people and their ilk make me want to vomit.
CEOs have no business being involved in education. It turns my stomach.
I try to read “the other side” viewpoint to be thoroughly versed in it (I read Rhee’s book and Kopp’s), but I get what you are saying when you feel like you are part of a charade.
I first sensed it several years ago when I took an Arts for 21st Century Skills prof development (I was not frustrated but left scratching my head about the fact that our state had an office dedicated to that)– and more recently I tried to do an online con Ed about one of our new RttT type things. It carried on into summer, though, and I just lost interest.
All teachers in NC had to complete seven online tutorials by Pearson for PowerSchool. I don’t have a problem with PowerSchool, per se, but I feel bothered knowing that NC is making changes because money was dangled by DOE and required all these changes, rather than our powers that be choosing these avenues based on their own conclusions. And the cheer leading by our RttT office (complete with logo) just feels not authentic.
Our state motto is “Esse Quam Videri,” “to be rather than to seem.” Again, I just scratch my head and wonder what the outcome of all this will be.
Maybe our leadership will take cues from Georgia. ??
I have a document that lists all of the monies paid to Newark (NJ) Contingent (Consultants) Workers for the last two years. You would not believe the amount of money they are getting paid while the students of Newark are exposed to horrible conditions within crumbling buildings and failing policies. I don’t know how much more of this I can take.
I had some fun with this very point in a federal courtroom in Chicago last week. (See HuffPo link –http://t.co/JwtuPAh8C8 )
Matt,
You were incredible at a Chigaco function a few months back. Thank you for your advocacy.
Truly a breathtaking bit of testimony. Well done, Matt!
LETTER: Why Can’t Vallas Meet Requirements?
7:13 PM EDT, July 23, 2013
Regarding the editorial on Bridgeport Superintendent Paul Vallas, “Why Make It So Difficult?” [July 22]: A more accurate question might be, “Why Has Paul Vallas Made It So Hard For Himself?” True, the most significant issue here is improving the Bridgeport school system. However, the “overly strict certification requirements” referred to in the editorial were modified nearly two years ago to accommodate Vallas for his monumental charge and were miniaturized again as recently as April this year.
If Vallas cared so much for the Bridgeport Public Schools, why did he place himself — and in effect the school system — in this avoidable jeopardy? As mentioned in the New York Times article to which your editorial refers, Vallas compares the state’s certification requirement to “saying Michael Jordan can’t coach basketball because he doesn’t have teacher certification.”
Although the editorial advises against succession planning now, what happens if the Connecticut Supreme Court finds against Vallas? Would there be some harm now in asking every Bridgeport educator who has been recognized for their excellence by the Bridgeport Public Education Fund over the past five years to share their thoughts?
Great teachers might not be Michael Jordan, but they sure know how to fulfill certification requirements while educating and inspiring our children.
Pete Spain, Bridgeport
http://www.courant.com/news/opinion/letters/hcrs-15872–20130722,0,3234163.story