Jose Vilson wins the prize for the best, most original title of a review of “Reign of Error.”
Sort of like that phone company where the guy moves to a new spot and says “Can you hear me now?” Only the language is saltier. Jose knows I curse in private, not in public.
Or it might be “I’m mad as hell, and I’m not gonna take it anymore!”
Did you hear me now?
Diane Ravitch's blog 
I’m happy to say I heard you the first time! But I never get tired of listening. Thank you for your persistence Diane! And Jose, your review is hysterical and spot on!
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Thank you, Darcie.
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LOVED the review! So great when someone just lays it on the line.
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Wonderful!
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I propose we get two million teachers to sign the following resolution, then send it to President Obama and every member of the House and Senate. I think that now, when teachers are aware of the unrealistic expectations the CCS are creating, but before they have been demoralized by the train wreck that’s sure to come with the assessment of the these standards in spring 2015, would be an ideal time to circulate this resolution:
As K-12 public school teachers, we wish to bear witness to the devastating effects of income inequality on student performance in our classrooms. Because we have uniquely suffered the consequences of political decisions that have steadily widened this income gap since 1974 (see Larry M. Bartels’ Unequal Democracy: The Political Economy of the New Gilded Age), we commit our names to the following resolution:
WHEREAS every large scale study over the past 30 years of income level in relation to student achievement has shown a compelling correlation between the two, and
WHEREAS the percentage of students in poverty in our nation’s schools has grown steadily and persistently over the past 39 years, and
WHEREAS the present levels of income inequality in our nation can be related directly to conscious public policy,
BE IT THEREFORE RESOLVED
That the Common Core Standards; individual schools that “beat the odds”; Teach for America Interns whose students “outperform” those of traditionally credentialed teachers; and all such instances of an anticipated “reform” of the American public educational system
Be understood for what they are: seductive distractions from the single issue we must face as a nation if “school improvement” is to be anything more than an instance of sentimental romanticism–the shameful growth in income disparity between our poorest and wealthiest citizens.
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Missing semi colon in there. YOU find it. The most fundamental error in research is to mistake correlation for cause.
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No, he said “correlation,” not causation. But this is always the excuse you give to deny the impacts of poverty, Harlan, and that promotes the impetus to ignore poverty. There are converging lines of evidence indicating the effects of poverty, from deprivation studies on animals, to international studies demonstrating achievement gaps between low income and higher income students in ALL countries, to neuroimaging studies, “The impact of poverty on the development of brain networks” http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3421156/
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You are certainly correct about the “impacts.” What is never said out loud however is the assumption that giving the poor money will solve the problem. If poverty (whatever that IS) is the true cause, then it follows that mere money is the remedy. Therefore I still think poverty is the corollary of some other true cause, but what that true cause is in brain science I don’t know. But I agree, that our puzzlement should not be an excuse for ignoring poverty. I just think there’s a good deal of sloppy thinking coming out of unexamined assumptions when it comes to remedies for school performance among the poor.
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No, CT, he says “effects,” but I gather in a rather loose sense. Viz.
“As K-12 public school teachers, we wish to bear witness to the devastating effects of income inequality on student performance in our classrooms.”
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That implies: ‘fixing the income inequality will fix the achievement.’ Does anyone really believe that? I wish it were so simple. The metaphysical unfairness of it is obvious. The kids in those cultures seldom or never even get to the starting line, the family trauma is so great, the ignorance of proper (i.e. middle class) child rearing practices in that milieu. What’s that old cliche, “You can take the girl out of the ghetto, but you can’t take the ghetto out of the girl.” It’s not absolute, but it is substantially the case. And the fundamental variable is probably what might be called “self esteem.” Or at least so I hypothesize. I personally think the proximate cause is the breakdown of the traditional two parent family. Children need love, but can’t get it if there’s no commitment. There’s no commitment because men don’t have jobs with which to take care of their wives and children. Men don’t have jobs because government policy has prevented recovery from the recession. A man without a job is not a man in full. And such a man can only spread his sperm. Culture is going to be perpetuated by the reproductive environment no matter what. A culture in which a man cannot protect and take care of his children is necessarily a culture without father love, and such a culture very rarely can supply the love upon which the growth of babies is predicated.
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People in poverty (and I am one of them) need jobs with livable wages. That is not “free money.”
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I completely agree. If you hadn’t voted for Obama, twice, you would have seen the economy recover and take off. But your poverty is not “impacting” (to use the cliche) your ability to focus and learn is it?
If you are receiving food stamps, that might be “free money,” but I don’t remember using those words, so I don’t understand why you put them in double quotes or mention them at all.
Unfortunately, there IS a great deal of ‘free money’ sloshing around, some of it going to contractors to produce elements of the CCSS system which somehow someone seems to think are necessary to save the world. In California there’s a lot of ‘free money’ devoted to subsidies for electric vehicles which is going to people who are buying the $100,000 Tesla sports car. That money is, in my opinion, totally misdirected. Why should people wealthy enough to buy such an expensive car get government subsidies for doing so? That’s ‘free money’ I would hope you could join me in criticizing.
With the poor, the so called ‘free money’ stereotypically keeps children from starving. In reality it goes for booze and cigarettes via various subterfuges. But at least that’s honest self-destructive human pleasures. I just cannot see any long-term benefit to subsidizing rich people who buy electric cars.
It’s all corrupt, both high and low.
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Sorry, you’re right, the quotes should have gone around “mere money” instead of “free money.” The point was that poor people want to be paid a salary for their work that will, at the very least, cover their living expenses.
Don’t tell me who I voted for. Just because I’m not a Tea Partier does not mean that I voted for Obama twice. I did not.
I do not get Food Stamps or any other government assistance. I work very hard for the unpredictable salary that I earn in one of my jobs, and I work hard for the $12.50 per week that I make in my other job, too. Yes, I am now grossing $12.50 per week for 16 weeks work (I have been working there for the past five years, as salaries dramatically declined.) That’s a pay scale straight out of the 1800s. And it’s legal because all faculty are hired as independent contractors at that school, so minimum wage does not apply. Don’t ask for details because I’m really not in the mood to discuss it any further right now.
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Thank you for this. It fits my learning style and I appreciate you articulating a summary of the equation in a way I have been unable to do.
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That was meant for Lovell.
Harlan, if the shoe fits. ??
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It’s not just children in poverty who are being ignored. This is a national crisis impacting many “middle class” people as well, “‘Survivors, scrapers:’ Why the middle class feels like it just can’t get ahead”
http://www.nbcnews.com/business/survivors-scrapers-why-middle-class-feels-it-just-cant-get-4B11186082
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Do you have the book? Let me know.
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No, not yet. I’ll email when it arrives.
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As my dad used to say, “Well, that’s one point of view.”
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Jose, you expressed my feelings, as well, in precisely the appropriate language.
Sometimes, the simple, honest Saxon wording is best, don’t you think?
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I think so too, but it’s obvious that the obvious isn’t that obvious to some.
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I like this review.
I have been hearing Diane, but she does get drowned out by the more “seductive distractions” (as Lovell put it), so I am glad she made her message louder and more clear.
I hope my signed copy arrives today.
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Also I really like Jose’s blog.
Jose, you have a new follower.
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Thank you, Joanna.
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Diane, thank you for posting my review and for the opportunity to review your book. It really is a page turner. To wit, I often find that the same criticisms of your work make less and less sense as I went through it. If people don’t “get it” in 20 pages, then they better be ready to read this one.
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Diane – have you seen this review from Seattle ? http://teachertomsblog.blogspot.fr/2013/09/no-matter-what-happened-tuesday.html#.Ujmhd61ADvk.facebook
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