I worry for the future of our society when I see that education policy is being shaped by people who know nothing–nothing–about education. They never taught in a school. They never studied education. They know nothing about research. They are ignorant of the history, politics, and economics of education. Yet they feel that their Big Name empowers them to influence legislation and court decisions about the working conditions in schools. They make breezy pronouncements about “bad teachers” without indicating that they know any teachers at all. Let’s face it: If you are a Hollywood star or a superstar lawyer, how many teachers are likely to be in your social circle? How many hours do you think the celebrities have spent as volunteers in their local public schools? Do they know what they are talking about? Imagine television talk shows inviting celebrities to talk about how to treat patients who have certain diseases. Shouldn’t you know something about a subject before you present yourself on national television as qualified to comment? Television talk shows today are our great social equalizers: Those with genuine expertise will get equal time with those who are totally ignorant. What does Britney Spears think about tenure? George Clooney? Kim Kardashian? Beyonce? Other nations leave these issues to educators, but not us!
Here is Jersey Jazzman’s brilliant analysis of the latest outbreak of Celebrity Opinion on summer TV talk shows.
Is there any evidence that firing experienced teachers raises student achievement? Well, actually, no.
JJ says that abolishing tenure so that schools with large numbers of at-risk students may be taught by inexperienced teachers is one of the most inequitable ideas of our time.
Why not staff our schools with celebrities? Give them a chance to show what they can do?
Diane Ravitch's blog 
And to that I would add this: #Whoopi? Remember Madison Felicia 1974 and ” A little help from my friends”?
Maybe I should have titled this Why Celebrities Should Not fear Teacher Tenure: http://dcgmentor.wordpress.com/2014/06/14/why-parents-should-not-fear-teacher-tenure/
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Funny you mention that because, when Tony Danza tried his hand, he was full of praise very quickly. Then he got a chance to write a book about it and have his show premiere. It obviously didn’t last very long, but it’s a lot more pub than the average teacher gets for even doing the “average”. Whatever that means.
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“When you’re rich, they think you really know…”
Tevye, “If I Were a Rich Man,” Fiddler on the Roof
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There’s a problem with the link provided above. Here is the correct link to JJ’s post:
“Summertime Celebrity Education Ignorance: David Boies”
http://jerseyjazzman.blogspot.com/2014/08/summertime-celebrity-education.html
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Thanks!
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Or, why not sign up has-been athletes – basketball, baseball, football, soccer, ice hockey, tennis, skaters, etc. to teach a minimum of 10 years on a teacher’s “overpaid” salary?
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Actually, Campbell Brown said teachers are underpaid. But apparently it hasn’t occurred to her that we might get better teachers by, um, increasing pay.
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I suspect that we would also get better teachers by providing more support for teachers and schools by fully funding them, insuring that teachers and students have the books and materials that they need, and to involve parents and families. Also, by actually involving teachers in improving schools, rather than wealthy entrepreneurs.
Just a thought.
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And then you hear people who think they care say, “well I just think the system is broken.”
? what does that mean, exactly? The system is broken.?
I don’t think it was broken until people starting trying to break it.
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These people will say anything to get better ratings or more attention! Just stop watching the View and they will get the message. Unfortunately, many of us just keep supporting this bad behavior by supporting these people by watching their shows or listening to their comments. We need to be Proactive and talk about our successes and plans for the future and Stop being reactive to all of their reform ideas.
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In Los Angeles “at risk” students are already taught by the least experienced teachers. They think that if they abolish “tenure” so called, which none of us has ever had, they will “equalize” the situation. Sure, everyone will be taught by inexperienced, TFA. Horrendous solution.
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…but THAT is exactly what they want; roll-over cheap labor, not in it for the long haul, never to reap any longevity benefits, merry go round personnel. Always new, always cheap. Also, if the union cannot garner any benefits for its members, unions will go out of fashion, and the republicans would LOVE not having their anti-vote – however, to be fair, democrats have lately become repubs in democrat clothing, so its hard to tell which is which – basically, politicians are the same evil on either side by and large. Cory Booker? Republican in democratic clothing. He will be a do nothing senator, same as he did nothing (excepting harm) in Newark.
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I teach in Los Angeles in a school with 60 percent of students who qualify for free or reduced price lunch. I’ve been teaching for 15 years, and you would be hard pressed to find a teacher there with fewer than 12 years experience.
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The value of celebrity reaction, if any can really be found, is in their lack of formal knowledge. It gives a voice to our collective lack of understanding and causes the community of professionals to educate the parent population, to enlighten us about our misconceptions and to engage us in the discussion. Celebs are often parents, and reflect our bias and lack of understanding. They are loud, and get the attention fast. If whoopi hadnt brought the issue and the misconceptions to light, teachers may have not been able to focus enough attention before they were stripped of due process by the courts.
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Get the real facts on Campbell Brown: http://t.co/8Xye2jW6wD. via @realcampbrown #questions4campbell
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That is the best photo of Rhee I’ve ever seen; she actually looks….somewhat attractive. AND, she’s smiling. She must have just eaten a baby for lunch when that was snapped. Was that photoshopped?
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TAGO!
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From NPR
http://www.npr.org/blogs/ed/2014/08/08/338075028/education-reform-is-becoming-a-celebrity-cause
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Most Hollywood celebrities, like politicians in Washington, live in a bubble. The celebrities spend most of their time with other people in their bubble where their egos get massaged with how progressive and clever they are. As can be seen from their reaction to Whoopie’s comments about teacher tenure, they do not take kindly to being made to face the reality for most people which their bubble is shielding them from.
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“I’m not a real teacher, but I play one on TV.”
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or, how about this one?
“I’m not a real comedienne, but I play one on TV.”
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Better yet, I would love to see Campbell Brown and her board of directors of the Partnership for Educational Justice (impressive group, maybe one has actual credentials in the field of education, not one has actually served as classroom teacher, . I think one has a background in creative writing) take over a classroom for ONE month. I’m sure they’d produce those results EFFECTIVE TEACHERS can!
http://www.edjustice.org/about/board-directors-advisory-board/
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Wasn’t Campbell Brown let go at CNN for underperforming? I do not remember her covering anything substantive on the subject of education during her “time” there, I could be wrong though. Looks like she found something to get her back on the news. Are fired news reporters more likely to fight a teacher’s right for due process, because they just get tossed off the network when they are not meeting the networks requirements. I think someone like Campbell Brown would sympathize with employees who are fired and not given a right to defend themselves.
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That’s what I think too. I think it’s just a chance to be a celebrity again for her. I don’t get the feeling a lot of soul searching went into her new cause.
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Let’s not equate celebrity and superstar.
Certainly Bruce Springsteen, Tom Brady or Tiger Woods don’t have much to contribute directly to the present education debate. But they are exemplars of hard work, continuous learning and some talent combining to achieve. They understand and create their craft.
I heard Woods talking about his game in an interview yesterday. The word student came to mind. Brady’s preparation and working with a great teacher has made him what he is. Watch Springsteen do a concert and you can see the work and even inspiration.
Superstars like these can be a reminder to all that great … teaching requires great preparation, tremendously hard work, reflection and especially resources and support.
Great teachers, like all superstars, also make what they do look deceptively easy. It’s not.
I would, however place Bill Gates in the celebrity category. With Michelle Rhee.
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That’s why Michelle Rhee is where she is. She likes being a celebrity. That’s it. And the money is probably not bad either (if you are motivated by money).
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“Great teachers, like all superstars. . .”
Great teachers is a concept I find appallingly lacking in a society where all men are supposedly equal. It’s just another meme to sort and separate out some from others on very bogus qualifications so that those “great” ones (and there has only been one great one-Wayne Gretzky-ha ha) can take more than their fair share.
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Hello Peter:
I completely agree with you that all dedicated teachers are real superstars. Dedicated teachers and sport superstars have one thing in common – “great spirit” or sportsmanship. However, there are seasonal teachers, and seasonal athletes who are not superstars, but they can by one time celebrity thanks to their parents’ effort.
Those “one hit wonder” celebrities are very vulnerable because they are willing to trade their soul and dignity for public attention and dirty money. (Actually, they do not have soul nor dignity because they do not have intelligence! It is truly sad for their imbecile attitude!).
Superstars do not criticize other profession because they respect themselves as much as for others. They know the boundary in the expertise level and what to take to be superstars.
On the other hand, the majority of celebrities talk and behave for money and attention, except a very few celebrities with educational background at the post education level could be superstars.
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Love this whole post! Thank you!
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I always said we should make a reality show, put these people on it and call it “So You Think You Can Teach”. They wouldn’t last a day doing what I do. I think it’s sad that people have an opportunity and platform to really make a difference, but aren’t even interested in educating themselves on the facts. I mean Whoopi literally said stop tweeting her about it and tore up people’s comments. The article Jenny McCarthy was quoting about these ineffective teachers who don’t even give homework every day-and that’s a fireable offense? I wish we could count on people to use their common sense and ignore all these talking points-but…..
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EdWeek has a commentary that blames unions for not getting on board to future-land, and everything else. The author is a “communications and public affairs consultant” (spin doctor) who has served in “senior positions on Capitol Hill, the White House, Democratic Party, and Educational Testing Service. I have submitted a letter to the editor. His caricature of teachers and unions is really appalling.
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If billionaires and celebrities can make education policy, then why can’t auto mechanics make medical policy, and hairdressers fly airplanes, and chefs build skyscrapers? If we disregard professional expertise in education, why not disregard expertise in other professions? This lack of respect for boundaries and destruction of our teaching profession is a symptom of the dysfunction that is pervasive in our declining society. This is the beginning of our descent into chaos, every man for himself!
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Time to bring back the term spokesmodel?
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And remember who started it all Waiting for Superman
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Okay, I say we end this bullshit once and for all. TENURE DOES NOT PROTECT TEACHERS, GOOD OR BAD!!!!! I have been teaching for 22 years. I was labelled a superior teacher in my district that I had been at for more than 15 years. I got pregnant and suffered a pretty heavy duty case of post partum depression after my son was born. I never did anything bad in my life that hurt any child ever but, being a depressed person and how it affected my personal life was not okay with my district. This coupled with the fact that my husband became abusive after my son was born made me unacceptable material. Tenure didn’t do a thing for me except drag it out. The unions and the districts work together. If they want you gone, you are gone. I am fine and now well and unable to get a job anywhere because I have been slandered so badly by this district. No to mention the lies they told but, everyone believed them because they were administrators in a district and I was “ill”. The bottom line is this…Whoopi, and everyone else, shut up about teaching unless you’re a teacher. I don’t tell actresses how to act. Tenure just gave me “pretend” due process. They have to make it look good on paper even if it is filled with lies. I was actually charged with teacher misconduct for using my earned personal time one day to go to the police station and charge my husband with aggravated harassment because he choked me the night before. They said I should have gone the night before in spite of the fact that my husband had threatened me if I had gone to the police. There is nothing that protects teachers…even the good ones. And, personally, I think I could do a much better job on The View than Whoopi does.
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Oh, and believe me, I could write a book! The story is much more interesting than that.
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For years, people have told me that there is no stigma attached to mental illness (or domestic abuse, for that matter). Your letter proves the opposite. I’m so sorry, and I hope you are able to find something in teaching.
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Severe depression makes the workplace like something out of 1984. Smiling, acting like the normal people, worrying about whether something in your eyes or tone just betrayed you . . . .
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Can you imagine the Germans asking the winners of the World Cup how education should be improved? We won World War II only to collapse in celebrity worship, stupidity, obesity, and materialism seventy years later. England is even more of a basket case. Love of money and silly celebrities is not enough to keep a culture going- sorry. When America does collapse back into the backwater swamp it was prior to World War 1, then it will be well deserved for “most”. Stupidity has a price. I feel sorry for the many good people that are going to go down with the ship, so to speak. From now until the collapse it’s going to be an entertaining freak show.
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Ohhh…You are getting spunky, Diane. LIKE.
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xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx Poor Whoopi must have thought she couldn’t miss with a reformy sound-bite echoed by Repubs & White House alike– wah, wah! tear up those nasty twitter comments!
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I think the comments made by Whoopi Goldberg on The View and on Twitter, along with the accompanying fallout among the punditocracy are signs that a hefty PR campaign is underway to promote the tenure lawsuit being “championed” by Campbell Brown and her benefactors. This stuff doesn’t happen by chance. It’s a coordinated media alignment, and pathetically predictable as very stale talking points are rolled out. The adage that repeating something enough will make it true is on full display.
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To answer the question posed:
They don’t know shit about the teaching and learning process, but they do know who butters their b……e, whoops I mean bread.
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” If you are a Hollywood star or a superstar lawyer, how many teachers are likely to be in your social circle?”
Dr. Ravitch, I just LOVE how you go right to the heart of the matter! You are the best!!!!!!!
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If I’m not mistaken, the Jeopardy Gameshow dumbs down the questions considerably during celebrity week. One should be able to imply something from that, no?
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And they STILL miss the questions.
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I became a teacher later in life, so I can tell you how a Masters in Education can change your outlook if you are an established professional from a different field. The understanding of child development is just the beginning, exposure to theories of classroom management from Cantor to Gordon to Driekurs to Kohn encourage you to find your own best methodology through considered practice. The work in multiple intelligences by Gardner can help navigate even in a difficult inner city environment.
Your own experience will be most valuable to you, but collective research has proven that addressing kids needs holistically works best, treating them like human beings and respecting their agency is difficult for people from the hierarchal business world to adapt to.
To Whoopi Goldberg, Campbell Brown, John Legend, Joe Scarborough, Oprah or anyone else that thinks you know what works best in the classroom, I can tell you, you are making the same classic mistake made by Bill Gates, Obama, Arne Duncan, Andrew Cuomo, John King and the biggest policy makers in government, business or public affairs – the path to success cannot come from outside a classroom.
Familiarity, trust, adaptivity and competent pedagogy come from direct work with the students, not looking at past data and making calculations about what might happen to which percentage of students.
But even when you’re doing everything right, and your students are thriving, there will also be some students in inner city schools that are not. They will affect others, sending out signals that things are not right at home. This is where the kids need more than academic support, they need a clinician, counselor or other social services intervention. But this is exactly what is disappearing as money is siphoned from classrooms into Pearson’s coffers.
This is what deprives high needs kids, as celebrities are hired to shill for NCLB, Common Core or charter schools built for for Wall Street tax write offs in pump and dump schemes.
If you are a celebrity like Whoopi and want to know what you learn in the field of education about what works in a real classroom situation, here are examples, taken from the best of the best, over decades, which show that classrooms are laboratories for democracy, not corporate-controlled widget factories: http://www.opednews.com/articles/life_a_gustav_w_070709_child_behavior_do_s_.htm
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Wow! This is the best summary I have read to date! Thank you!
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As always, thanks for the shout-out, Diane.
I’ll just add one thing to my post: this bizarre form of celebrity worship isn’t confined to the education field. The American public is regularly subjected to the opinions of people who have no idea what they are taking about, speaking ignorantly on all sorts of issues: the environment, economics, foreign affairs, psychology, medicine, etc.
I would have enjoyed hearing David Boies speak about the law; I have no doubt he has a great many important things to say about it. I may not agree with them all, but at least I could reasonably assume that they are well-informed.
That Boies would publicly blather on so incoherently and ignorantly about education when he has great expertise in another area is, to me, simply nuts. Why would’;t he and the rest of the Morning Joe crew invite on someone who knows what they are talking about when it comes to education and LISTEN for a change?
You know what is one of the best shows on TV right now? The Kitchen on Food Network. A group of people who know a lot about food sit around and talk about cooking and eating. Around the Horn on ESPN is also good: people who really know sports talk about… sports! You might disagree — they disagree with each other. Yes, sometimes they get stuff wrong. But at least their opinions are generally well-informed. At least they attempt to educate themselves about their topic. At least they listen to the opinions of others who are conversant in their field.
Why do we demand expertise in our entertainment shows, but not in our news?
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It reflects what we value as a society. Education is not a priority. People don’t educate themselves about education like how people are drawn to learn about sports (technical/tactical) how-to & strategies enough to have a discussion. How many times have people off the streets given correct answers to Am history or geography questions? Neither, are we are scholarly in civics. If we were, the public would be more demanding of social justice and take more action in journalism. Secondly, we take for granted that people in politics will do their job and too much apathy to ensure that will happen.
Since we are on the subject of sports…though our colleges use sports as a marketing tool, football players are exploited like students in K-12. Football hasn’t been terminated because of long-term brain injury. As far as I’m concerned, the experts in sports entertainment haven’t advocated enough for the occurrences in brain injuries. What will they do to prevent these injuries, I’d like to know? And yet people continue to watch players annihilate one another. The same principle applies to our current state in education. In our culture, we put people at risk for greed and money. Who will care about the victims?
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I couldn’t open the link
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Celebrities like Whoopi are delusional and live in their own fantasy world. Best thing anyone can do is get rid of their television and keep that dumbing down trash from coming into their homes and polluting their brains !
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I do need to cite one celebrity who is currently showing support for teachers – perhaps the most notable celebrity in the sports arena at this time. LeBron James, despite some questionable grammar and a few curse words thrown in, did show support for the respect and intelligence of teachers with his “Wecome home” comments and “I Promise” creed recitations by the young people in the audience. I hope LeBron just continues to do what he is doing – playing great basketball and using his celebrity to promote respecting your teachers and staying in school. Let’s hope no interviewer asks him what he thinks of Common Core!
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I feel like its easy to say “get rid of bad teachers” but how? And instead of getting rid or passing them from school to school can we retrain them put them back in Edu 101? How about we survey them, is their passion for education really in the classroom? Also allow me to say that I will respect everyone’s opinion on education (including celebrities) but their views and opinions should NOT outweigh my view as a teacher.
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Unfortunately it isn’t just celebrities who have this “self appointed expert”, “know it all” attitude regarding issues of education.
Almost everyone seems to think that just because they were once students, and attended school years earlier, that they are somehow qualified to judge every aspect of public education and make sweeping pronouncements whatever the issue.
Often, when I’ve been arguing with people I’ll be met with responses such as “Hey, don’t tell me. I was in public school for 13 years and now I’ve got two of my own in school so don’t tell me that I don’t know what I’m talking about when it comes to education! I know a lot more than most people! ”
As if being a student, or the parent of a student, is the equivalent of being a teacher.
It isn’t.
Your medical analogy I’d a good one. Most people in the US have been going to doctors all their lives. But very few of them would consider being a patient, or the parent of a patient, to be the equivalent of being a doctor.
If a movie star or talk show host or musician or professional athlete says something dumb or ignorant, it’s heard by millions and can influence public opinion in one direction or another; for good or for bad. (I’ll concede that sometimes celebrities with educated opinions can be helpful in highlighting an issue and helping raise public awareness about it.)
The person who runs the local, neighborhood tavern has opinions too. So does the owner of the fruit stand, the operator of the fast food franchise, the office manager, the bus driver, the dentist, the accountant and your Aunt Sylvia and Uncle Phil.
But no one necessarily pays much attention to what they have to say or takes them very seriously. After all, like most of us, they aren’t rich or famous, so who really cares what they think or say.
I’m waiting for a celebrity to say something like, “Hey, don’t tell me. I’ve been going to doctors all of my life and now I’ve got two of my own who have been seeing doctors since the day they were born so don’t tell ME that I don’t know what I’m talking about when it comes to medicine and health care policy! I know a lot more than most people! “
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LOVE Jersey Jazzman’s amazing assessment of this topic. And I don’t mean to be personally nasty, but as a lifetime MA resident, what kind of balls does it take for the likes of Mike Barnicle, a long time “salt of the earth,” “I’m The Advocate For The Working Folks,”columnist at the Boston Globe, who was FIRED for let’s just say, “creative reporting”( ie…he made shit up!) to attack TEACHERS? Seriously..NO shame. He landed a great gig DESPITE his own professional failings, and he’s now allowed to have a platform to do the same lazy “analysis” that he did at the Globe without having to actually write anything? Whatever. I want THAT job though.
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Those “Teach For America volunteers” that David Boies talked about having picnics with will be earning $50K in their first year of teaching in my school district. That is despite the fact that they have has only 5 weeks of training, which includes about 20 contact hours with summer school students.
This is a very hefty salary for new college graduates with no formal training or experience. It is NOT “volunteer” work. Those of us who have actually done volunteer work know very well that those are typically unpaid positions. I’m guessing Boies has no experience with volunteer work OR education.
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I had worked for 20+ years before I broke $50k and that was with a Masters degree I got after 4 years of teaching. It was also the day I realized that there would be a community and school board screeching halt on salaries. Yet, here we have non-educators “roughing it” on $50k … Very problematic, IMO.
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That’s really disgusting, Deb. I’m so sorry you went through that.
TFAers get that kind of salary in public schools here because this is not a “Right to Work” state, so they join the union and are treated like teachers with genuine certificates. It’s also a city where the cost of living is high. Once school districts are stripped of unions and negotiated step and lane teacher salaries, the pay for teachers is likely to plummet. I highly doubt TFA will be as attractive then to new graduates as it is now.
I wonder if TFA predicted that corporate education “reform” would be successful in destroying teachers’ unions and that teacher salaries will thus decline. Maybe that’s the real reason why they’ve gone into the business of partnering with developers to build new housing with lower rental rates for TFAers, such as in Baltimore, NY and Philadelphia. Even in my city, 20 somethings can live comfortably on $50K and don’t need subsidized housing in order to survive.
http://www.bizjournals.com/baltimore/blog/real-estate/2014/06/seawall-opens-40-million-teacher-focused-housing.html
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No, don’t put those celebrities in schools and have them experience what real teaching is like. It certainly isn’t “What’s good for students.” Tony Danza did it, as a reality show, and he learned from Day 1 that it was much harder than he imagined. He stopped, swallowed his pride, and sought help. He came out of the experience a better man with a true appreciation of what we do. But he is probably the exception that proves the rule. We wouldn’t put a TFAer in a classroom if we could avoid it, and they at least got a few hours of training!
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