Politico.com reports on Rhode Island governor’s race.
Teachers favor Clay Pell, whose grandfather established the Pell grant program. Pell opposes standardized testing as a graduation requirement.
The other candidates are Providence Mayor Angel Taveras, who supported the mass firing of teachers and charter schools. He was endorsed by DFER. And Gina Raimondo, who “is reviled by public-sector workers because she pushed cuts to their retirement benefits in an effort to stabilize the state pension system.
Stephanie Simon breaks down the three-way race: http://politico.pro/1tDh0ge.
My view: vote for Pell. RI has suffered enough disruption at the hands of corporate reformers.
Diane Ravitch's blog 
Taveras is also on the board of charter schools and fired all of the teachers of Providence in a bully tactic early in his tenure as mayor of Providence. He gets his education advice from Michelle Rhee’s husband, Kevin Johnson, with whom he held an education tour.
Raimondo’s husband is head of the education sector for McKinsey, former TFA and (literally) wrote THE book on corporate reform strategy with Pearson’s Michael Barber.
RI is in between a rock, a hard place, and a 32 year-old former USDOE newbie. It’s not looking good for the Ocean State.
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This is also in the hands of teachers mobilizing and getting out to vote.
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Horace Manic hit it right on the head. At least Clay Pell has the name of a historic advocate of education…plus his wife is a heck of a skater!
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Pell worked recently in the US Dept. of Education, didn’t he??????
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Let’s just say that when the choice is among a Mayor who loves charters and gets DFER support, a state treasurer who cut retired teachers’ pension, and a fresh-faced grandson of the great Claiborne Pell, I take my chance with the unknown.
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So the best choice is still a bad one…..
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Corporate reformers are like zombies they never die.
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JC Grim, if reformers keep losing and finding their reforms don’t work, they get bored and go away. They find a new hobby or plaything where they won’t be embarrassed by failure.
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