Mercedes Schneider decided to do something unusual for her birthday. She transcribed Stephen Colbert’s interview of Campbell Brown, the former CNN anchor who is leading the battle to take the right to due process (aka a fair hearing) away from teachers. She thinks that doing so will produce a great teacher in every classroom. How will this happen? No one knows.
Here is the transcript.
Diane Ravitch's blog 
Campbell Brown came off sounding like an idiot if you ask me. It seemed like Stephen Colbert was lightheartedly poking at her, as is his style, but the audience seemed to “get it” that CB is full of air, and that they didn’t buy her view.
I hope this suit dies in the water.
LikeLike
That’s why she will be accompanied by handlers from now on as featured today on the one sided morning sickness Joe, msnbc.
LikeLike
Mercedes Schneider also just posted an in-depth expose of fellow Louisianan Campbell Brown’s background, connections and motivations.
A MUST-READ:
LikeLike
This can be helpful for transcribing television shows.
https://archive.org/details/COM_20140801_063100_The_Colbert_Report?q=campbell+AND+%28+channel%3ACOM+%29#start/1260/end/1320
LikeLike
Watching the interview again, I just caught something telling. In the middle of the interview, Brown makes a quite damning contradiction. I call attention to her use of the pronouns “we” and “our”.
Watch the interview again at, paying attention to the following:
http://jerseyjazzman.blogspot.com/2014/08/campbell-brown-lame.html
Pay attention to these two snippets:
(NOTE: CAPITALS for “WE” in the first, and for “OUR” in the second clip, … are mine, JACK)
—————————————————————————————-
00:55 – 01:05
CAMPBELL BROWN: “First, let me just correct something you said. WE (Parents for Educational Justice) are not filing this lawsuit. Seven parents who have kids in public schools in New York state are bringing this lawsuit.”
—————————————————————————————-
Now, here come Brown’s slip-up
—————————————————————————————-
03:47 – 03:52
CAMPBELL BROWN: “Can I just mention some of OUR plaintiffs are out here tonight, too (she gestures to the audience). They’re very happy to be here.”
—————————————————————————————-
Whoa, whoa, whoa… hold on here, Campbell. Three minutes ago, you said that “we”— your group “Parents for Educational Justice”— were not filing the lawsuit, as in that it’s not “our” lawsuit, it’s the plaintiff parents’ lawsuit, and that you’re just giving them a little help. Suddenly, you’re referring to those same plaintiff parents as “our plaintiffs.”
Woopsie-daisy!
Again, notice Brown doesn’t say “the” plaintiffs, as in “the plaintiffs to whom our group is lending support.” She says, “our.” If only Colbert had been quick enough to catch her on that.
Campbell Brown was hoping for a heart-warming, Oprah-show-like cut-away to those minority children plaintiffs sitting in the audience.
No such luck.
However, her attempt to effect that cut-away backfired on Brown as she let loose with the slip-up just described.
LikeLike
Wow, watch this video of billionaire “corporate reformer” Reed Hastings, who openly professes the corporate reformers’ goal of eliminating all democratic control of public schools—via democratically-elected school boards—-and replacing it with private control by him and his allies, where he freely admits there will be so much better off when these private entities provide ZERO transparency to the public, ZERO accountability to the public, etc.—- just give us all the control, leave us alone and trust us, folks….and education will then be so much better… like it is in say, New Orleans… NOT!
Another MUST-WATCH:
LikeLike
Two part sentence
Part 1, subject and verb” She thinks.
Part 2: Doing so will produce a great teacher in every classroom.
Conclusion: she neither thinks well,nor reaches a valid conclusion.
Too much time wasted on just another Media shill, hand-picked and trained by the same gang to continue the assault on teachers so the schools will become the propaganda tool of Koch and company, and the road to opportunity and democracy in America will be dismantled.
LikeLike
After watching the video…I feel yet another letter to the editor coming on. Problem is, no one will listen because I am a teacher. One of the “bad guys!” It is soooo frustrating because EVERYONE is missing a KEY detail. BAD teachers can be fired…but the administrators have to have the BALLS and the TIME to go through the process.
LikeLike
What a generous thing to do for your birthday, Mercedes–giving us a gift! But then, we’re all glad & lucky you were born, so HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!
LikeLike
Thanks for this, Mercedes. And “Happy Birthday. ”
Much as I like Colbert, I have to say that I wish he was had more knowledge of the subject matter, going into the interview.
Campbell uses the “only 31% of NY State students passed the ELA and Math state exams” as proof that there’s a “problem” with our education system.
If Colbert had known better, he could have cited the way in which the cut scores had been altered (courtesy of Pearson) in order to artificially create those failures.
He could have mentioned that most teachers hadn’t been given the curricula that was aligned to and/or training that was necessary for the kids to pass those tests.
He also might have mentioned that the CCSS and it’s related tests have “raised the bar” so that, for example; 3rd graders are being tested on what has traditionally been taught as 5th grade subject matter.
Then there’s the small matter of the complaints from teachers and admins, alike, about how badly the multiple choice questions/answers were written and how little time the students were given to complete the essay questions.
Any of these points would have set an entirely different tenor to the conversation. It could have become a more serious debate as opposed to the comedy routine that it took on.
LikeLike