Carol Burris, fearless leader of educators and parents opposed to test-based accountability in Néw York, here appraises the record of John King as state commissioner of education in Néw York.
King was appointed last week to be an “advisor” to Arne Duncan. He and Arne are on the same page in their zealous belief in standardized testing, Common Core, and evaluating educators by student scores.
King came to the job with three years of experience in a “no excuses” charter school. He listed his ambitious goals at the outset of his reign. Higher test scores, higher graduation rates, an evaluation system for teachers and principals. Burris demonstrates that he achieved none of his goals and alienated parents and educators with his top-down, tone-deaf approach.
Thanks to King, students in the class of 2022 will have a 30% graduation rate unless his successors reverse King’s policies.
Diane Ravitch's blog 
I honestly don’t understand. I have ten years teaching exp, 6 at a Title 1, and I am good at my job.
I make less than what I owe on my student loan, a year, and King makes probably 5 times what I make, being completely incompetent.
I need to have less exp, less of a work ethic, and criticize competent teachers like me loudly, while being hated by the majority of the people I am supposed to serve.
Then I could pay off my student loans.
I feel your pain.
There will be no reversal of King’s policies. The policies, every one, top to bottom, are directed at union busting and privatizing. These policies will continue, but with a more competent commissioner that will not make the same mistakes in communicating and politicing of said policies. There is nothing (0 things) that would suggest otherwise. Repeating to ourselves via blogs we read and on media we read the butcher’s bill of John King’s tenure in office–things we all knew in real time–will not change the simple fact that those in a position to influence and choose the next commissioner are among the most well-funded and aggressive reformers/privatizers/union busters nationally.
And yes, 30% graduation rate in 2022….for students that probably won’t have any jobs outside of fracking rigs, casinos, or other down-bound train (Springsteen reference for the whole post-industrial northeast decay vibe) jobs.
The fixes, the change, WILL NOT COME VIA A CHANGE OF COMMISSIONER, A CHANGE OF HEART POLITICALLY, OR EARNESTLY HOPING AND PRAYING FOR IT. Change will only come via organized, sustained, aggressive, intense, philosophical, humorful, and willing-to-bet-the-farm action on the part of teachers and their unions. Otherwise it’s all gone.
Well, yes, NYSTeacher, you are right.
But you are also incomplete. Change will also not come about unless PARENTS (and most of us teachers are parents also) civically participate and stick to their elected officials with an eagle’s eye and like a hammer to a nail, voting, voicing themselves, and being ever vigilante.
Parents will and are changing the reform movement. There is horrible fatigue and battling going on, but with that also comes some resplendent hope.
The question is – and I hope I am not presumptuous in saying that Diane would probably agree with me on this – how well will teacher unions REALLY try to galvanize and enfranchise parent advocacy groups and fortify their cause?
Teachers unions can no longer afford to be solely labor rights and working conditions oriented. They must embrace and support other very relevant stake holders in a genuine way and protect them as well.
Barbara Madeloni of (my other home state) Massachusetts may be a shining example of this. Karen Lewis is also.
I agree with you that one can seldom leave the corrections to the politicians, as most of them are living, breathing mistakes.
Mistakes must, nonetheless, be corrected big time . . . . .
Couldn’t agree more Robert. Imagining the power of a fully realized strong union allied with parents who, it must be said, have led and sustained the charge against the reformers/privatizers thus far, would surely be a force that any reformish politician would think twice about!
However, a few thoughts:
1) I am sure you can understand the frustration many labor-oriented teachers feel in seeing the reality of parents being the standard-bearers against the reformers. It’s really just sad that the unions aren’t right up there in front too (in a real way.)
2) One truth that has to be acknowledged as well: parents concerns do differ from teachers concerns in some important areas. In NY, there is the common core and testing, etc where parents and teachers are very much allied. Then there is the whole APPR side of things that parents, understandably, aren’t so vocal about. It’s the APPR side of things that is really getting ugly and will get uglier….and where teachers jobs are directly threatened.
3) This wouldn’t be a parent concern had the national and state unions fought the LABOR fight that it is, hard and right from the beginning. If teachers understand and strongly fight for our labor and economic interests, then the justice of a quality education will follow. There is no space between what we know about good teaching and where teachers stand. If our jobs are protected, tenure firmly in place, and we are allowed to work without threats, then better schools follow.
So, in the end, I would say that if teachers unions had done their DUTY right off the bat, then parents would never have had to rally in the wonderful and powerful ways they have. Just some thoughts.
NYSTeacher,
I COULD NOT AGREE WITH YOU MORE!!!!!!
Pressing the “like” button many times on your comment.
But I feel we cannot blame unions nearly as much as our focus needs to be on reinventing them, which is a long hard process.
We have some HEAVY lifting to do, but no pain, no gain.
The unions have in part, caused the damage. Who cares if my local chapter is fighting over who does bus duty or the now less than 1% raise in a 4 year contract for ONE of those years only.
Where was the state and national union when it came to fighting NCLB and RttT? They were both in bed with the reformers. And now they leave the local chapters to clean up the excrement they left behind because they believed in soiling themselves upon teachers rather than using a toilet with dignity.
Such yucky metaphors . . . .
Still, reinvention is possible. Blame and anger towards NYSUT, the UFT, the AFT has its place but beyond a certain threshold, the blame will backfire and weaken us. In fact, it will poison us.
I offer you my morale support and solidarity.
Nothing is ever too late until we say it is . . . . .
I know how my rep voted last time regarding the Regents and I voted against him during the past election.
Find out how your rep voted- and let them know that they need to be accountable.
http://www.nysape.org/regents-vote-scorecard.html
Talk about a hero. Thank you, Carol Burris.
And, thanks to all those New York school administrators who signed the “New York Principals Letter” in protest of the deeply flawed APPR process. According to Burris, 1/3 of all the principals in the state signed on. Boy, that was a shot in the arm and in hindsight it was the beginning of the end for King.
John B. King will soon be gone but he has left a trail of wreckage across New York State. On one hand, we were subjected to King’s unquestioning promotion of the Common Core , a vision of America that Mercedes Schneider aptly described as “death to emotional health, joy of learning, empathy and good will to man.”
On the other hand, we got to regularly, really endlessly, listen to John B. King’s emotional life story and all about the joy of learning he shared with his fourth grade teacher, Mr. Osterweil. Yup, King’s feelings matter. But not yours and not your children’s feelings. Your kids get a healthy dose of more grit. John King gets a meeting in the Rose Garden.
For anyone who has doubts, Carol Burris has set the record straight. John B,. King….. He wasn’t just a creep…..he was an ineffective creep.
Carol Burris said it all! Great job!
“Change will only come via organized, sustained, aggressive, intense, philosophical, humorful, and willing-to-bet-the-farm action on the part of teachers and their unions”…..
fearless union leaders who are held accountable for their actions.
With a few exceptions (K. Lewis & B. Madeloni) the unions are a huge part of the problem. Until all you union folk get rid of he bastards running the show, well, can you say more of the same?
I understand Cuomo being a criminal, it’s what he does. But I can’t forgive anyone who works for him knowingly doing evil. John King knew this going in and I hope he rots in hell. Good luck with Arne dude.
Our union rep (Dick Manley) in Illinois is a useless piece of excrement. He tells us we have to suck it up. Neither Manley, now the IFT, are standing up for what’s right. Very little action, very much arse-kissing to the cronies running Illinois. Under the current scenario, things will get worse with Rauner attempting to run (ruin public ed.
Every day, I remind students that the change we need NEVER comes from the top down. Those in power love it just the way it is.
We at the grassroots level have to be the change we want to be,
I say we start with every AFT and NEA local pass a resolution demanding that their state board of education take the PARCC test, publicly, and release those results,publicly.
Ditto for the corrupt pols.
At least it will being focusing attention on the expensive CRAPP that PARCC is,while exposing the hypocrisy of the ruling classes.
Thank you for your assessment of John King’s lack of achievement. I wonder who has been his “godfather” ? How does one go from 3 years teaching experience to running an entire state system? He did such a bad job that he should have his credentials revoked!
Helen, he had credentials?