Arthur Camins understands the importance of public education. He understands that the very principle of public responsibility for the education of the children of the community is at risk. He doesn’t believe that it is sufficient to trade blows with those who do not value public education. In this post, he describes the necessity of framing a positive message, and he lays out a strategic plan to save public education.
He writes:
“For example, instead of the short-term, test-score success imagery of the Obama administration’s Race to the Top school funding competition, we need the long-term success imagery of preparation for future learning. Instead of the individual teacher-blaming imagery of accountability, we need the mutual-responsibility imagery of working together for success for all. Instead of the competitive, individual success imagery of choice, we need the mutual success imagery of community.
“A successful campaign for respectful, equitable, democratic education starts with values and is followed by solutions.”
Start with values, he says:
“Gaining support depends upon intentional framing. The starting point is expressing core values that have resonance with the public. Three values statements frame a positive public education agenda:
“Children deserve respect: We need an education system that ensures that all students are known, valued and respected by adults and peers.
“Children deserve equity: We need an education system that ensures that all students develop their talents and expertise to be successful in work, life and citizenship.
“Children deserve democracy: We need an education system that is governed by democracy and engages students so they learn how to participate in a democracy.
“This is what education is. This is what education does.”
In the remainder of his post, he describes the positive message and the solutions that resonate with the public.
Diane Ravitch's blog 
This is the second prominently featured post that says democratic control (apparently defined as local school boards) over education is a fundamental principle but remains silent on the issue of non-democratic private schools. If democratic control over education is essential to a democratic society, doesn’t it follow that private schools must also be brought under the control of local school boards?
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TE,
Should I address you as Gautham or Tarum?
And to answer your question NO! The Supreme Court has already decided that in the Pierce vs Society of Sisters.
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Duane,
We are not talking about what is, rather what should be.
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It may just be excessive intellectual wariness on my part, but I don’t see how anyone could begin to discuss that question without first engaging in some very long arguments about what we mean by the terms “a democratic society,” “democratic control,” and “control,” for starters. I suppose a totalitarian state could have local school boards. And arguably there is already some measure of “democratic control” over private schools in the US.
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Casting my intellectual wariness to the wind, I would boldly say that if (1) we define “democratic control” as control by local school boards, and (2) we define “education” as “all education,” and (3) we define “democratic society” loosely as some form of government that we all agree is good, then (4) it certainly follows that private schools should be brought under the control of local school boards.
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Have you studied the art of deflection under Cuomo, or do you teach it?
Democratic control over public education is implied throughout, education systems, etc.
Not incongruous to democracy to allow private schools to remain independent.
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Akademos,
You might note that the original post does not say that the fraction of children attending public school deserve democracy, the post says children deserve democracy. The original post does not say that we need a public education system governed by democracy, it says we need an education system governed by democracy.
If Arthur Camins (and Dr. Berger in an earlier post) meant that these values are only applicable to students in the public school system, perhaps the original posts should have made it clear.
Why do you think these values should only be applied to those students in public school?
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Not what I wrote.
Be productive, don’t misdirect.
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Akademos,
It appears to me that Arthur Camins IS saying that private education violates a core value we have for children, that there be democratic control over education. I think you would have to distort the original post beyond all recognition to argue otherwise.
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Come on now, this is about democratically controlled public education versus the privatization of it, not the existence or circumstances of private schools.
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Akademos,
I took Arthur Camins to be making a statement about fundamental values we have for all children. You read him to mean that only children in public schools deserve respect, equity, and democracy? What do those in private schools deserve?
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I don’t think Camins is making a statement about what fundamental values we have for all children. He’s just proposing some “values statements” that he thinks would be a good basis for a public relations campaign against ed reform. (E.g., “The starting point is expressing core values that have resonance with the public. Three values statements frame a positive public education agenda . . . .”) The phrase “education system” that appears in each of his “values statements” should be read to mean “public education system.”
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FLERP!,
I think that Arthur is not simply trying to find some catch phrases for a publicity campaign, but is trying to make a serious effort to discuss a better education for all. I think it is difficult to argue against the claim that all children deserve respect and that all children deserve equality (though it would take a very long time to hash out the details of this one).
The claim about democratic control is just an odd one, especially as it seems to define democratic control as a local school board. Lots of schools, including charter schools, private schools, department of defense schools, magnet schools, and of course the students that are home schooled, are not governed by a local school board and no one seems to think that those students deserve to be governed by a local school board in anything like the same way that children deserve respect or, in some sense, equal treatment.
If we did think that students deserve to be governed by a locally elected school board in the same way that we think that students deserve to be respected, we would have to eliminate schools that did not give students what they deserve.
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“I think that Arthur is not simply trying to find some catch phrases for a publicity campaign.”
We’ll have to agree to disagree on what Camins had in mind, but I do think it’s pretty clear from the plain text. Camins presents the “value statements” at issue as the “starting point” for this strategic campaign, designed to be “imagery-rich, compelling presentations.” If I may go a little nuts with the markup tags:
Not to mention that the article is entitled: “The strategic campaign needed to save public education.”
“I think it is difficult to argue against the claim that all children deserve respect and that all children deserve equality (though it would take a very long time to hash out the details of this one).”
I do agree it would be difficult to argue against that claim.
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FLERP!,
Do you also think it is easy to argue against the claim that all children deserve democratic control over the education system, when democratic control is defined as local school boards?
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I’m not sure I understand what the claim means. If the claim means “all children deserve to go to a school that is governed by a local school board,” then I think it would be difficult to argue either for or against it, because the substantive effect of governance by a local school board on any given child is an undefined. Some local school boards may govern in ways that help children and others may govern in ways that hurt children. It’s difficult to argue that children “deserve” something that hurts them.
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FLERP!,
I certainly agree that saying children deserve to go to a school governed by the local school board is a very different thing than saying every child deserves to be respected.
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“is undefined,” I meant to write. Not “is an undefined.”
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Precisely, FLERP!
TE,
You’re simply making my case about your attempts to misdirect the discussion.
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Yet another hijacked thread…
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Camins just left the link to his reframing post on my blog in the comments section on ths post about California Common Core “Reframing” for a better public sell:
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To all of my seen Angels on earth:
Thanks God, I pray that all good people deserve to have joy in learning and teaching in order to fulfill their ultimate goal in life – preserve humanity and civilization from all barbarous tycoons.
Please God and all seen, unseen Angels protect and bless all good educational leaders and conscientious teachers, so that they can keep up with their born-to-be mission in their educational career.
I profoundly appreciate all relentless and conscientious works from Dr. Ravitch, Dr. Berger, Dr. Arthur Camins, Dr. Schneider, Dr. Green (Peter and David) who are considered as all seen Angels on earth to me. Very respectfully yours, May King from Canada.
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I agree with you wholeheartedly May. Dr. Ravitch and this blog finally gave me a clear picture of what has been happening to education. I taught myself for 20 years in North Carolina until I got feed up with the direction of the US in general, so I retired early and moved to British Columbia in 2012.
In BC, I entered my kids into the public schools and volunteered as treasurer for the school’s PTA group. I have been amazed at the difference of effectiveness. Although there are far more similarities than differences, the BC schools are more effect because they still teach to the child and not the test. NC started accountability testing my 5th year teaching and I saw the instant negative impact. It is so nice to return to a system that taught to the child.
Since arriving in BC I have been talking to a lot of people trying to figure out the educational battles taking place Canada, which are playing out at a much slower pace. Most teachers in BC see that they are about 15 years behind the United States in the privatisation movement. Although the recently elected Premiere of, BC is pushing for privatisation, the school system itself is trying to reform its schools towards the latest in brain and learning research coming out of the 21s Century Learning Initiative.
From what I can tell the teachers feel like they are caught in the battle between the two and the traditional methods by which they have taught. It is difficult to figure it all out though, because I am new to the area and there are a lot of other issued involved I don’t really understand. I know that BC has become the focal point in this worldwide battle with the teacher’s strike that is currently taking place inside BC. Teacher’s unions from other provinces and other states even are contributing money in the form of strike pay.
About 15 years ago, BC teacher negotiated the right to determine class size and composition. But it has never been implemented, although the agreement was upheld in the Supreme Court. The kids will not be starting school this fall because the teachers are striking for the original agreement to be upheld. There are other issues too, but that is the core.
You wouldn’t happen to live in British Columbia? I am always looking for a better understanding of things. Most of the teachers I talk to know a lot about what is going on up here, but are far too busy to keep up with what is happening in the United States too. It really limits my ability to compare. You however seem knowledgeable about what is happening to education on both sides of the border. So what is your big picture view of what is happening and what should be done about it?
Thanks for your input and insight.
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Hi Davis:
Thanks you for your kind words. I was fortunately born and raised into family with both parents who are in teaching profession and always teach children through their words and actions: honesty, self-discipline (in term of dignity in humanity and responsibility), mutual respect (or integrity), and being considerate (or compassionate).
I would like to share with you ideas and insights from REAL people who have lived on this earth before and after Christ era.
Here are all of my favorite and practical insights:
Before Christ, four guiding principles from Buddha
DO NOT quickly believe in the saying from:
1. People with authority, scientific knowledge, and wealth (due to their own gain)
2. People with old age, claimed to be a Wise-man (due to his lust for control and power)
3. Any written old testaments (due to it is possibly fake)
4. Any mystery, unfounded truth, and lack of proof of science (due to rumour or legendary).
After Christ, “Seven Deadly Sins from Mahatma Gandhi”
1) Wealth without work (Children born to be rich, Loan shark, Money launderers)
2) Pleasure without conscience (Drug dealers and users, bad intention composers/ authors/movie screen writers)
3) Science without humanity (Pharmaceutical conglomerates)
4) Knowledge without character (edu-deformers, snobbish PhD, double-standard authority/leaders/commanders)
5) Politics without principle (crooked politicians)
6) Commerce without morality (crooked real-estate developers, crooked food scientists)
7) Worship without sacrifice. (blind faith followers and leaders)
From my heartfelt dream to vote for any leader in democratic society:
GOLDEN RULES FOR ALL TYPES OF LEADERS
Don’t we pause a second and think over certain golden rule in certain sector in our society? For example:
1) In the business world, “show me the money”
2) In all professional trades, “show me your experiences”
3) In an academic world, “show me your degree, credential…”
4) In any marriage or partnership, “show me honesty, respect, humor and care”
In conclusion, wouldn’t we need to demand certain characteristic/trait or his/her conviction in social platform from any candidate who wants to run for public administration position?
Most of all, all educators should unite and draft a list of all necessary traits which are very basic to very advance to be qualified as a candidate for leadership position THAT AFFECT THE WELFARE OF HUMAN BEINGS AND COUNTRY? Additionally, these candidates need to pledge their oath to achieve their plan within a period of time,
or if not, their resignation would be offered immediately.
It is my heartfelt suggestion in democratic society which is guided by leader with dignity, intelligence, responsibility and compassion. Back2basic
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I see Dr. Ravitch as the Gandhi of education.
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Are you familiar with Rev Dr. William Barber of North Carolina. Like Martin Luther King Jr, he is uniting different groups with fusion politics in a movement called Moral Mondays. He is having an impact and is starting to grow to other states. Do you think that his message would resonate in Canada?
Here he explains fusion politics and the 3rd reconstruction
http://www.bing.com/videos/search?q=3rd+reconstruction&FORM=HDRSC3#view=detail&mid=CDE357EF5706222F211ECDE357EF5706222F211E
Here is a recent presentation he gave to the American Teachers Federation
http://www.bing.com/videos/search?q=william+barber+aft&FORM=HDRSC3#view=detail&mid=D413A8C829837812B771D413A8C829837812B771
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Hi drphil5:
Honestly, I am not favor in mixing up religion and politics regardless the good or bad intention. To me, religion has its duty in education regarding human morality such as sharing and caring. On the other hand, politics has its ultimate goal in protecting its citizens at all cost regarding economy and democracy.
If freedom and safety of citizens from workers to educators are being violated, all politicians and public administrative leaders are completely at fault to their citizens (=voters)
If people of different religions are fighting among themselves or against each other, all religious leaders are completely at fault to God.
I am sorry that I was away for 10 days, so that I could not catch up earlier. May.
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May, Thanks for sharing your wisdom, your words really hit home with me. Are you familiar with the concept of Sabbath Economics?
http://sabbatheconomics.org/Sabbath_Economics_Collaborative/Home.html
http://www.bcm-net.org/node/15
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Hi David:
Thank you for your kind words. I am sorry that my conviction is humanity with intelligence.
Each human being will gradually learn and realize that success requires a lot of effort, courage, self-respect, self-discipline, honesty in self-capacity (ability regarding body-mind-spirit; and capacity in family background and in surrounding like community and country)
Any shortcut like borrowing from outer sources in order to quickly achieve comfortable and convenient life, will ultimately yield to misery and dismay. This is inevitable consequence of “fake” compassion or made-believe free handout with a hidden string attached.
People with conviction in humanity will show through their actions and words which go hand in hand without any conflict. May.
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Something must have been left out by Camins. I didn’t see anything about college and career readiness nor about raising student achievement as shown by raising standardized test scores (maybe I didn’t do a close enough reading) .
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In other words, excellent post Arthur!
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Señor Swacker: what you said!
😏
One of the most pernicious effects of ‘data-drivel edumanagement’ and ‘Value-Addled Modeling’ and the rest of the numerological constructs [mental obstructs?] of the High Holy Church of Testolatry and its edupreneur leaders and educrat enablers and edubully enforcers and accountabully underlings—
Is the short circuiting of a genuinely wide-ranging and in-depth national discussion of values and aims.
Means fit ends. For the leading charterites/privatizers, their stunningly shameless massaging and torturing of numbers, and their casual contempt for student/parent/school staff rights, and their relentless narrowing of education to low-level skills and training in docility, and their unbounded self-promotion and self-enrichment at the expense of others, and all the rest—these fit their ultimate values and aims and goals. Summed up in one all-illuminating figure: $tudent $ucce$$. But always with the proviso that the mandated limitations they impose on OTHER PEOPLE’S CHILDREN won’t apply to THEIR OWN CHILDREN.
Of course, in public they can’t quite say what they mean and mean what they say. So they camouflage their business plan masquerading as an education model: they say “choice” but mean “choice but no voice” or decry the “soft bigotry of low expectations” but promote/ensure/set in law the “hard bigotry of mandated failure” or they steal the moral authority of previous movements for human dignity by declaring that they are leading the “new civil rights movement of our time” but mean “some are more equal than others.”
Thus the importance of this blog and commenters like you pointing out that these self-proclaimed emperors and empresses have no clothes. They may not care, but the rest of still have a sense of propriety and decency and fair play.
Engage in actual dialogue with people that know what they’re talking about?
“I reject that mind-set.” [Michelle Rhee]
She should know…
😎
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Krazy,
Which aspects of the school of the elite private schools do you think other peoples children should also have? Is it the lack of democratic governance? The ability to hire uncertified teachers? How about the lack of any due process rights for the teachers?
If you call for all schools to look like the one Bill Gates sends his children to attend, all those employment policies have to come along with the package.
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xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx I’ll bite, TE. I admit I’m having difficulty with the thrust of your comments regarding private schools. FLERP and Akademos adequately presented my thoughts above, which are that Camins’ article is an attempt to formulate what public ed should strive for and how to get there. Whether or not private schools are run democratically or instill democratic values is irrelevant.
But as a private school teacher (fulltime at one point now free-lance to various private schools) I can answer your Q to KrazyTA. I have gladly traded rights to due process et al for the benefits of an ideal teaching environment: small classes and complete autonomy to deliver my product as I see fit. The caveat: I couldn’t do it at all without my ‘sugar daddy’ (engineer husband). It doesn’t pay well.
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S & F,
There have been many posts here arguing that tenure or due process rights are essential to high quality teaching, yet you state that you happily traded off due process rights in order to teach in the ideal teaching environment. It appears that you don’t think tenure or due process rights are necessary for a teacher to teach well. Is that correct?
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xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx TE – I believe that tenure/ due process rights are legal representations of qualities necessary to a good teaching environment. It is a feature of a sustainable large-scale system (such as public school). On another recent thread, Success Academy illustrates a system one can end up with, at the whim of admin, resulting in massive annual teacher turnover, which is not a good teaching environment.
Most of the private schools I’ve taught at honor the same practices on principle (I didn’t return to those that didn’t). The point I’m making is that I am fortunate to be able to pick & choose w/o regard to salary or tenure, despite a small & wildly varying yr-to-yr income, thanks to the financial support of my spouse. In fact, between marriages I parlayed skills into an office job at triple the salary in order to support myself. No question, had my husband lost his job I would have immediately done what was necessary to qualify for the relative stability of full-time certified public school employment.
Job protections such as tenure for the public sector are nothing more nor less than they have ever been, a relatively cheap way for the public to retain quality employees at a lower-than-market salary.
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So true! We need to focus on children and not on scores. We need to remember it’s children first, then programs and data.
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My view as has been written about before. People have lost sense of what true education is about. We train animals. We educate people. The difference has been forgotten. Where is “truth” to be found? In scholarly research by accredited personnel or by politicians? As stated in another preceding blog here, a study by a major university has stated that we no longer have a democracy but a plutocracy. That may be the reason that “reason” itself has been trampled upon.
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I think Camins is supportive of the notion that public education should reflect the best of our democratic principles: respect, equity and democracy. In his full article he points out that the way in which we fund public schools through local property taxes creates schools of “haves’ and “have nots.” He proposes funding public schools through a progressive income tax or increased tax on capital gains. It’s an interesting idea, but I doubt the 1% that own Congress will ever allow that to happen. He points our that If we were to change the funding of education, we could redraw attendance boundaries to allow socio-economic blending of students which would ensure the promise of democracy. He also states that this change would allow for community engagement unlike charter schools where decisions are made on the corporate level with a top down structure. He wants teachers to be treated like professionals, and that respect will result in greater collaboration and greater success for teachers. The current preoccupation with test scores engenders a competitive spirit rife with finger pointing and blame. His compete article can be found on “The Washington Post” website.
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“If a problem can not be solved, enlarge it.” That is a quote by Dwight Eisenhower that I think applies to the battle over education. I recently read a paper that pointed to the larger picture of what is truly going on, it was entitled The Sociopathic 1%: The Driving Force at the Heart of the Tea Party.
http://www.alternet.org/economy/sociopathic-1-percent-driving-force-heart-tea-party
It turns out that education is just one out of multiple targets for destruction. The bigger picture is that these sociopaths are out to destroy the collective of society as a whole and replace it with a competitive world of individualism. Inspired by Ayn Rand of the 1950’s , her followers (Reagan, Thatcher, Friedman, Greenspan, Ryan Paul) have set out to undermine all institutions that benefit society, even our stable markets. Why? Unlike most people who prefer steady progress, the sociopaths prefer boom and bust cycles in the economy, because they have the power to manipulate them. They do not care that they wipe out everyone else’s life savings because that is the way their money is made.
This is not just a war against education. It is a war against a collective mentality and the altruism (goodwill) that drives it. They prefer a world where we are individuals all looking out for ourselves in a dog-eat-dog world of their making.
Watch this (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ouBZ-YqOnsU&feature=youtu.be&t=4m12s) 1959 interview with Ayn Rand and listen to explain how she is out to destroy our rule by the majority will, our regulated markets, and our American way of life. She also explains how she thinks that altruism is evil. Listen to her views on how America should be changed and then notice how much of it has become true. We now live in a world envisioned by Ayn Rand.
How does one reason with someone who is intentionally trying to destroy the discussion and goodwill itself? It is even possible? Perhaps it is better to point out how they are the ones being disruptive? Education is just a small part of the overall attack. They are trying to destroy society and goodwill itself. How do we get the public to see the bigger picture?
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WONDERFUL! drphil5
I haven’t seen a good argument, outlining the destructive forces of Ayn Rand objectivism (liberterianism), brought into a discussion here for awhile.
I absolutely agree with you.
‘libertarians’, the party of perpetual male adolescents.
There are a few who post here who identify with the libertarian wing of the republican party?
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Hey, I resemble that comment “perpetual male adolescent” and I’m certainly not a Randian libertarian. Please do not associate us PMA’s with that group.
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xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx Thanks, nice to hear the truth being spoken plainly once in a while. My sense is that this & similar philosophies get traction only during periods of fear. Fear of communism, globalism, financial crisis.
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We have been manipulated by fear since the 1970’s To understand how see the Power of Nightmares.
It’s the story of how we have been manipulated by sociopaths into one conflict after another since Donald Rumsfeld became Secretary of Defence under Nixon.
The bottom line: When the public becomes convinced that it is good vs evil, they can be led to war.
Part 1: How the US was misled into a nuclear arms race with trumped up fear.
http://www.bing.com/videos/search?q=powers+of+nightmares&FORM=HDRSC3#view=detail&mid=29BC7E9348AFA3B010E129BC7E9348AFA3B010E1
Part 2: How the US created Bin Laden with trumped up fears.
http://www.bing.com/videos/search?q=Power+of+Nightmares+Part+2&FORM=RESTAB#view=detail&mid=1290F52979F634A8CEB41290F52979F634A8CEB4
Part 3: How the US was misled into the Iraq war on trumped up fears.
http://www.bing.com/videos/search?q=powers%20of%20nightmares%20part%203&qs=n&form=QBVR&pq=powers%20of%20nightmares%20part%203&sc=1-26&sp=-1&sk=#view=detail&mid=2DAA8A2919E173EA48012DAA8A2919E173EA4801
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Great post. This is a global spin on the topic. http://theconversation.com/five-trends-that-jeopardise-public-education-around-the-world-28969
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xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx Good link – plainspoken truths. I especially like this nugget, we don’t hear this often enough: “In effect, the rise of new government-funded school models (called charter schools in the US) and the issuance of vouchers (government subsidies to families to attend private schools in lieu of public schools in the US) are equivalents of a tax deduction for the wealthy.”
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Camins also addresses the individual vs. collective good in his piece. He points out that charter schools are not democratic because opportunity is measured out in small doses. We’ve all seen the images of the tearful lotteries of some charter schools. This is not the promise of democracy which should be opportunity for all, and that is what public schools must offer. The irony is that many of the charter school promote more segregation, and for this reason they fail to further advance the promise of democracy. Charters promote the idea that, “I got mine; to hell with you.”
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Retired,
I am not sure that is all that different from traditional public schools. Here is an article about the folks that were going to lose the lottery to attend PS321 in Brooklyn when there street addresses were assigned to another school: http://www.nytimes.com/2012/10/18/nyregion/boundaries-for-popular-brooklyn-schools-are-redrawn.html
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xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx This is a good point, TE. I would answer it thus. The ‘I got mine’ attitude is a universal no-fault human condition, to be found everywhere, brought to the fore when resources contract.
In a public school system, the entire community must be considered and given a voice. Increased population, demographic shifts, gentrification etc are going to cause redistricting in order that the community make maximum use of available facilities. In a staid & wealthy old town such as mine it took a decade to make the necessary changes (due to public outcry), during which time half the middle school students experienced overcrowding. Not ideal, but that’s democracy.
Where public ed money is used to support a hybrid public/ privatized – charterized system, community planning/ considerations are replaced by market forces. The public system then exists only to provide a resource of last resort. This will necessarily be an inferior option, as its volume-discount value is eliminated with lower enrollment; it can no longer project enrollment with any accuracy; any flexibility it may have had to create specialized programs for neediest will be eliminated. Availability of charter alternatives will have the random timing and changeable nature we observe in other retail establishments. What’s worse, in most states trialing this so far, regulations do not even meet the basics of a good restaurant.
To my eye, the hybrid model reduces ed quality for all concerned.
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S & F,
I do not share your confidence that the local government will consider the entire community in making decisions. It seems to me, in fact, that many of the posts on this blog are complaints that the local government route ku pays no attention to the majority of the community.
On the other hand I am less pessimistic about scale economies and planning issues in education than you. Most local school systems are hybrid systems to start. There are private schools which pull students and state money away from the local school district, there might be magnet programs that will fail to draw the anticipated number of students. There are economies of scale for small classes, yet as many here argue, diseconomies of scale as class size increases. Larger high schools can offer a larger variety of classes, so I think scale economies are important in that situation, but even there some of the benefits can be achieved by having more specialized schools.
I think your restaurant analogy is a good one. In general I think we need regulations about things that are difficult for the customer to know, things that have important consequences for the customer, and things where there is a general agreement on what is considered good and bad. A regulation concerning cleanliness in the kitchen passes all three of those tests, while a requirement that all dishes taste good fails all three.
In thinking about the regulations required for a centrally run traditional school district verses a district where there is building autonomy and student can choose the building I also like the restaurant analogy. If we assigned people to attend restaurants based on street address, no doubt we would insist on strict controls over many of the aspects of the restaurant. The political compromises that determine the character of each restaurant will be fundamentally the same in each catchment area and the restaurants will be fundamentally the same. Allowing people to choose a restaurant creates a variety to choose from.
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Wow! A Camins is the kind of educator NJ needs for superintendent of Newark Public Schools. Check Bob Braun’s Ledger & his Facebook postings re the latest unconscionable fiasco on school assignments; NPS starts school Sep 4 & ~600 parents had to wait at 1 school. Cami Anderson said in interview (according to Jersey Tribune 8-22 post) that it was meant to be a “soft launch.” The parents were’t told that. Many had to take 2nd day off work to get public school placement. Another day will be required to register student at school itself. Lots of folk wonder how Christie’s neighbors in Mendham would react if this occurred in their public district.
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Spanish/French: A great analysis of what we currently see happening in some states led by Tea Party governors. They are on a campaign to starve the public schools to force a “free market” choice, even though that choice is often sub par to public schools. In PA public schools have been brought to their knees while charters expand. NJ has some of the most effective public schools in the nation, but Christie continues his campaign to dismantle public education. This is NOT democracy, it’s fascism.
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Dumb and inaccurate response to Kirp’s book in letter to NY Times from the Ed Commish in Tennessee.
http://mobile.nytimes.com/2014/08/24/opinion/sunday/teachings-human-touch.html?referrer=
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of Tennessee
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This reminds me of Neil DeGrasse’s analogy about weather and climate being like a man and a dog walking on the beach. The man being climate walking a straight. moving upwards, and the dog going up and down around him being weather. We should be looking at the long picture in education not just the what can “I” get out of it today (meaning dollars). Over the long run public education has brought us to a point where more people graduation from college then ever before. Not just more people because we have more people, but a much larger percentage of the whole population is graduating from college (especially here in America).
So if we take a step back and look at the man (over all success of public education) we will see he is walking in a line almost straight up but at the same time, right now, he is being dragged down a bit by a very BIG, very RICH dog.
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