I was interviewed by Tavis Smiley a few minutes ago for a show that is airing tonight. Los Angeles Superintendent John Deasy follows me. I whack the Vergara decision, he praises it.
Tavis and I talked about Vergara, Race to the Top, the “reform” movement, and why there is so much blaming of teachers for all the ills of society. I gave it my all. It was my first media gig since my knee accident last spring. Working on the blog, listening to readers from across the nation keeps me in tip-top shape, mentally if not physically
I enjoy talking to Tavis Smiley. He asks good questions, and he is very simpatico.
Check your local PBS station.
Diane Ravitch's blog 
Thank you, Dr. Ravitch. I will be watching. ‘Can’t wait.
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Great news, Diane. Looking forward to it.
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looking forward for it
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Great news! What time in nyc? Is this Channel 13?
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I like the word “whack”. In the film “Good Fellas”, Joe Pesci thinks that he is going to be a made man with the mob, kisses his mom, wears his best clothes, goes to the ceremony at a local home, and is “whacked”. We can’t allow this to happen with Common Core. Testing and Opt Out!
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Wonderful news! Thank you on behalf of all of us but most especially —the children.
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xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx Wonderful to hear you’re feeling well enough to spar on the big scene again! No one comes close to your voice on our behalf!!
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I will be watching. Go for it.
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THANK YOU!!!!
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As the VAManiacs are so fond of saying, let’s “control” for Rheeality Distortion Fields and “account for” measurable variables when we talk about John Deasy and the Vergara Decision.
John Deasy—after a few minutes of classroom observation and with a “decontextualized” CCSS assessment framework in mind, fires a fine substitute teacher (this according to those that knew her actual work performance), eliminating what even Dr. Raj Chetty might describe as a ‘Michael Jordan’ of subs.
See the following link re Ms. Patrena Shankling by a MSM opinion writer that is very fond of the “education reform” movement and the education status quo—and until very recently a staunch defender and ardent admirer of John Deasy.
Link: http://articles.latimes.com/2012/apr/14/local/la-me-0414-banks-20120414
Also google for other links.
The point of my comment being: as in the LAUSD iPad fiasco, the mere suggestion that an educrat like Deasy doesn’t have complete discretion in whatever he does—without accountability or review—merely masks a fundamental flaw in his own job performance.
He’s frenetically incompetent. Merely going through the motions of being a big city school superintendent shouldn’t be enough to get, let alone keep, such an important and influential position.
So if I have to choose between a non-reflective notoriously defensive bureaucrat that is wedded to ‘management by fear’ or a compassionate and knowledgeable defender of a “better education for all—
Does anyone really have to ask me which way I’m leaning?
I look forward to viewing the program.
😎
P.S. Apparently on at 11:30 PM, Los Angeles time, on channel 50.1, PSBSoCal.
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Krazy,
A sub can be fired for “wasting” time on the second day of school, but Deasy is responsible for thousands of students wasting days during these first weeks of school, and he thinks that is just fine. The arrogance is on par with Henry VIII, having his wives beheaded.
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Ms. Shankling testified before the BoE last Oct. and it was riveting. I was there when she told how he lost his temper and screamed at her in front of her class…demanding she leave the room. It is all on
u-tube should you want to see this.
Deasy has a notoriously uncontrolled temper and rules too often by bullying the underdog…which seems to be subs, and other teachers.
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The depth of my appreciation for all you’ve done knows no bounds. Thank you!
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I hope you acknowledge that granting tenure after 18-20 months makes no sense, and departs from national norms.
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I have no problem with extending probationary status to 3 years.
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Why not all workers get due process from day one? All it means is there has to be a valid reason for termination.
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Exactly. I’ve never understood why so many people are so vocal in favor of their right to be canned.
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Dienne and Mathvale,
To answer your question, Dienne:
Americans have allowed themselves to be be conditioned, distracted, and fooled into thinking that the ownership class has rights that are far superior and important to theirs.
Hence, we have been losing blood, drop by drop over the last 40 years with labor and fiscal rights, and the result now is a very non-unionized, weakly unionized labor force whose ability to level the playing field has grown acutely anemic.
We have only ourselves and our corrupt unions to blame, but we can still change this and reinvent ourselves by reinventing our unions. It will be a very long term, inter-generational effort, but a critical one in saving our democracy.
Big box store franchise America has gorwn very richa nd expanded its empire (Target, Walmart, McDonald’s, Whole Foods, Olive Garden, Starbucks, etc) off the backs of its workers, none of whom can be said to earn a real living wage. Comound that with the cost of housing (little regulation there) and the cost of healthcare (no single payer system) and the cost of college (the government loves to make money with the middel-man banks off the liver of our young adults), and you’ve got a country with few labor and fiscal rights, a country where democracy shines for the 1 to 2% and where the rest of us find ourselves in the new dark, gilded ages.
We should got he way German unions have, by having union councils partner with the boards and by having both parties privy to every molecule, atomic, and sub-atomic particle of financial book keeping and coffer informtaion that the CEO and CFO have. Open knowledge of a comany’s finances is an excellent way to conduct collective bargaining to start. It allows the compnay to grow and expand while stil paying attention to the human dignity needs of its employees.
This is one of the toughest lessons Americans will have to learn, but they have the ability to learn it . . . .
Suffering is a horrble thing, but my mother always said to me as a child that “Necessity is the mother of invention.”. . . . .
Lesson learned.
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Sorry for so many typos. . . . . was writing in a rush. Right before work . . . . .
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She has already said that multiple times Bob.
I hope that you have no problem with getting rid of all venture philanthropies’ use of money to acquire the the right to dictate public policy in regards to charters and public schools.
They can donate money anonymously, they just can’t use it as a bludgeon.
Let’s see how much they “donate” with those parameters.
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It’s on at 12:30 a.m. until 1:30 a.m. here in Shelton, CT, but I have got it all set-up to DVR and watch after work tomorrow. I wouldn’t miss an appearance by you for anything, Diane. You are a tireless and effective defender of public schools and teachers. Thanks for all you do!
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Thanks, Jean. Let me know what you think.
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Diane on Smiley’s show back on 4/13/2010…
http://video.pbs.org/video/1468758733/
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Great news! I’ll be viewing.
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VAM just hit San Antonio Texas. Looking at possible implementation by 2016-17 school year. They’ve tweaked it so that teachers of high and low students get credit even if student scores don’t move much. So what’s the point? It’s all built on a foundation of sand anyway. Will our district stack rank? Don’t know yet…
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Sound familiar?
“Labour say they will put an end to charter schools if they are elected at the end of this month.
Speaking to TVNZ’s Q & A programme this morning, Labour’s Chris Hipkins says his party will put a stop to charter schools and assess whether or not they will keep the five that are currently opperating.
“We believe in a public education system in New Zealand,” Mr Hipkins told the programme.
“We are not going to have a situation where profit making businesses can come in and not employ registered teachers and not teach the New Zealand curriculum and make a profit out of educating kids.”
http://tvnz.co.nz/vote-2014-news/labour-put-end-charter-schools-6074599
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Wall Street loves them some for-profit schools. They’re probably confident no one will regulate them, ever. Why wouldn’t they be? They’ve been promising to regulate them for 20 years, and it hasn’t happened yet.
They may meekly suggest some “best practices”, at some point in time, in the distant future or “markets” will weed out the “bad actors”, one of those two things may or may not happen, depending.
http://www.clickondetroit.com/consumer/forprofit-education-stocks-on-fire/27922708
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Did you catch him in between his practicing the cha-cha and the quick step? Was he was dancing around your answers because he has a very close relationship with Rhee and her husband?? But I am so glad you are back on TV!!
(He is going to be on Dancing With the Stars for those of you who didn’t understand the reference.)
Please post the link to the broadcast although I will look for it tomorrow.
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Tavis asked straightforward questions, and when we signed off, he told he agreed with me.
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That’s wonderful. Too bad you couldn’t do a waltz when it was over. But I am hoping your knee will improve with time.
Do you plan on watching him dance on TV and possibly vote for him??
The last interview I saw with Rhee, it was about Erasergate, and he allowed her to spin it by not asking good follow up questions. He did state for the record that they were friends.
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I DVR’d you. Very happy about this…
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Good idea. Will get the link tomorrow.
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Diane hit a homerun on the Tavis Smiley Show. Excellent! Finally some blowback to all the cheerleading for charter schools and school privatization. Thanks, Diane.
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👍♥️you’re the best, always
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I just watched the program.
Diane Ravitch: straight talk. Factual, logical, consistent.
John Deasy: an excellent example of someone that genuinely believes that the “misleads”/“distractors”/“decoys” on a multiple-choice standardized test are not just “best” answers but—
Correct answers!
For example, he simply repeated the party line about teacher tenure. As a simple matter of fact and truth, what the Vergara Decision attempts to do is eviscerate due process for teachers. For K-12, “tenure” is not the guarantee of a lifetime job.
And his false front of respect for teachers and students and parents: I simply repeat what I wrote earlier in the day—
Google “Patrena Shankling” and “John Deasy” and “LAUSD.” Then compare what he did with what he says. It’s called hypocrisy.
Thank you to the owner of this blog for standing up for a “better education for all” against the likes of John Deasy. You followed a time honored American tradition:
“It is an affront to treat falsehood with complaisance.” [Thomas Paine]
😎
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Cheers.
You got the Big Picture questions which you deftly articulated.
Deasy got the minutiae that failed to put his pedagogy and implementation into any context. He wantdc to deflect the POLITICS of his philosophy as destructive “ad hominum” attacks and unworthy of debate.
Deasy is a champion of Everything that is wrong with Corporate Education, NOT public education. But don’t call him on it.
Keep the focus on “the kids” and if you just support HIS vision, he will get to keep his job and not have to be accountable to those Big Questions Tavis asked of Diane.
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You were incredible Diane – loved the F grade for RTT and the link you made between CC and technology $. Thanks for all you do!
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https://www.change.org/p/the-lausd-board-of-education-fire-superintendent-john-deasy
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Diane…I did watch, and did I imagine it or did Tavis say at the end of your segment someting like “she does not watch her tongue?” He seemed to me to be smirking at your answers.
Your interview was direct and clear as always.
In introducing Deasy, whom he repeatedly called “Dr. Deasy” despite all the info re the PhD, he announced he had interviewed Eli Broad recently on the same issues. This certainly created the tone. Tavis is such a corporate toadie, I never watch him….but this Deasy interview was a set up. Deasy probably had told Tavis which questions to ask him because he was fed the issues that he wants to use in spinning his behaviors to seem a major civil rights leader.
It is once again all sham! Those in LA know Deasy’s many failures, but Tavis presented Deasy the ability and the time to divert the public into thinking he is working for the inner city students and that things are going very well due to his leadership. As an interviewer he was beyond courteous to Deasy, and did not ask him about the rising anger of the parents and the taxpayers in LA who are now calling for a deep investigation of LAUSD.
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Ellen, I took Tavis’ last comment as a compliment. I understood him to mean that I don’t mince words. As for the Deasy interview, I was surprised that he didn’t delve into the iPad mess.
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Glad you felt ok about this Tavis comment…I was furious and found it demeaning. You handled the whole thing with grace and facts.
Yes, Tavis completely avoided asking operant questions re the iPad fiasco and the waste of tens of millions of dollars of taxpayer funds. I feel certain that Tavis takes marching orders from Broad who is one of the grantors of funding for PBS.
Broad’s PR firm is surely helping Deasy with the spin that We the People have made this a “political witch hunt” and that he is moving on as the great problem solver. This is standard procedure for ‘finks’ avoiding transparency. People should remember how Ken Lay used this same kind of spin as Enron was hurtling to death.
I hope we all keep the pressure on the media and on the LAUSD school board, to immediately proceed to do a full external independent audit, and urge for a Grand Jury investigation.
Deasy is using his spin in letters to all LAUSD teachers, and I wonder if any are uninformed enough to buy in to his continuing self serving mendacity.
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Hi Diane,
I haven’t commented much in awhile, but I wanted to say I watched the interviews.
You were great.
Deasey, on the other hand sounded scripted.
Watching him speak is watching the latest PR rollout of buzz words.
He defines student equality as giving all students technology, and holding all students to the same standards, skirting the true impact of inequality in education caused by poverty, barriers for non-english speakers, etc.
He actually said that because a student doesn’t speak English doesn’t mean that student doesn’t know math or english–giving no allowance to the disadvantages non-English speakers have in school. He seems to believe the standard itself gives them equal opportunity. After all, if they are hungry, let them eat cake, right?
He also hauled out the old, what’s- hurting- the- progress- of- school- reform- is -ad-hominem attacks, and shrill speaking. According to Deasey, we all need to “think about targeted investment,” and spend “less time tearing down thoughts.” RIght, investment with no thought.
Kind of like his infamous i-pad purchase.
The language deformers use is more and more conflated.
They steal progressive language and redefine it.
So in Deasey’s mouth, (wasting billions on) tech, standards and no tenure, become instruments of equality, any question about this most uncivil of behavior becomes uncivil and an attack.
I don’t know what to say about him setting himself up as a defender of the rights of “black and brown children.” He threw in that he has removed disciplinary procedures that were unfairly applied to discipline students of color.
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Christine, that is a spot-on analysis of Deasy’s responses. I listened to his taping and was stupefied that he cast himself as a persecuted defender of children of color.
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You are a straight shooter! I would give it (RttT) an “F”.
¡Brava! y mil gracias!
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I commend you for all the work you do to bring clarity to the fogginess in the creation of attaching tests to teachers. Anyone in their right mind should know there are many components to why children may not do well on their tests, especially in the inner city schools. Attaching common core state exams to teachers is not the answer to the problem. I am a product of the public school system and without all this insanity, I turned out pretty smart. Thank you, Anne, for all you do to try bring some sense to what sounds ridiculously insane.
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You were excellent, Diane.
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