I received this email from a friend:
————————-
“Hey everyone! I’m looking for contributors for Teachers’ Lounge, a blog from PBS NewsHour by teachers on important topics in education:
http://www.pbs.org/newshour/tag/teachers-lounge/
“This is a fairly new blog and we’re very flexible and open to pitches.
Generally, we’re interested in stories that have a national angle on timely
education issues.
“Feel free to let the educators in your life know about this–I’d love to
hear from them anytime! They can contact me directly at csegal@newshour.org.”
—
Corinne Segal
Editor, PBS NewsHour Extra
Diane Ravitch's blog 
PBS has a very bad track record when it comes to being interested in “teachers’ voices.” Let’s see if this is another punt, in the interest of seeming to be “open.”
I agree. Very biased reporting in the past by PBS.
I wasn’t too impressed with the topics I saw – theatre certainly relevant, but not what most of us are dealing with.
Methinks they need sme testing stories.
In scanning through their Teachers Lounge it occurs to me to wonder (somewhat sarcastically) if PBS is even aware that there is some controversy associated with the current state of school reform, high stakes testing, common core standards, teacher evaluation models, and the crushing effects of poverty and inequitable funding on a student’s education, not to mention the privatizing of public education by imposing a data driven, survival of the fittest business model on to a K-12 learning environment.
The silence on these subjects in the PBS blog is confusing.
I’ll email her and make a few suggestions.
Let us know what you find out Jonathan.
I am not inclined to waste my time.
Accept for keeping Bill Moyers on the air, PBS has taken the corporatist line on most issues, including education.
PBS sold out to their corporate donors early in the Bush years.
oh… Well if any response of significance happens I’ll post back here.
I have to agree with Betsy. Here in Florida PBS has partnered with the state dept. of education and they share a joint propaganda website that is just chock full of pro-JEB! Bush/Reformist ‘news’ and anti-union/anti-teacher diatribes.
I lost all respect for PBS a long time ago.They sold out to the Bush administration in an attempt to appease their ultra conservative critics and became a watered-down version of the corporate Fox News/Wall Street Journal crowd, dumping all of their longtime and traditional supporters along the way.
Don’t trust them!
Good point Jonathan. PBS must be five years behind the news! Pretty sad.
Julie Cavanagh!!!! And Mercedes!!!
This needs to be posted on the BATS Facebook page. OK, OK, I’ll do it!
I would like to be optimistic and take it for what the creator of this PBS blog claims.. to want to express teachers views on important education issues. The fact that the author sent an email to Diane directed toward teachers contributing to the Ravitch blog seems like a good sign to me.
I don’t think it was sent directly to Diane. From the wording of Diane’s post, it was forwarded to her. Diane?
2old2teach… reread it… oops… still want to be an optimist though. Let’s see if this blog airs stories and opinions of REAL teachers!
Yes, let’s all be optimistic. I am sure that the blog featuring “real teachers” will be read by at least one hundred people. It might go viral and reach 150. That will really start a groundswell. I can see Americans turning off their TVs, squeezing out of their recliners, and marching in the streets in support of their public school teachers. It will be so heart warming. Maybe they will make it into a Lifetime movie that will really pull the heart strings. I guess people are good after all, and all those writers like Conrad, Fielding, and Hobbes were just full of it! I just love being an optimist. Everyone is good at heart. Everything just works out for the best!
I am a high school social worker on long Island. There are days I feel like a triage worker in beirut….
Those topics certainly aren’t discussed in our teacher lounge.
Correct, Duane. The PBS topics most likely would be among those discussed in the teacher’s lounge if we did not have a MAJOR CRISIS DUE TO THE CURRENT HARMFUL CORPORATELY DRIVEN EDUCATIONAL “reforms” !!!! HELLO!!!!
PBS considers its most influential underwriters to be The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, The Walton Family Fund and The Hoover Foundation–low and behold, the primary funding arm of the entire “reform movement”. My wife and I have suspended our monthly contribution to our member station.
Remember about two years ago when you couldn’t go a day without hearing a conservative demand the defunding of PBS and it all just stopped? There’s a reason. PBS learned to compromise as it relates to journalistic integrity.
Agreed
It would be great if those that are in positions to make a difference are really listening to the teachers and not just providing a place where teachers can express opinions and get no results. The more high stakes the testing is the more the teachers are going to teach to a test. It is a matter of survival. Today when many students come to school they come hungary, they come unprepared, they come with home matters on their minds and academics is the last thing on their minds. Our education problems go far beyond the classrooms.
I cannot figure out how to contact her. Where is her email address?
Oh! I see it now. How did I miss that? I need to read more carefully.
You must have never had David Coleman and his famous “close reading” for a teacher.
Oh, what?, Coleman has never taught at day in his life?!?!?!?
Dr Taylor, You should definitely share your essay “Does 5 More Students Really Matter?” For PBS blog. That has national relevance.
I just might do that.
Chris in Florida – I work at WFSU in Tallahassee and your comments that PBS has partnered with Jeb Bush’s Foundation just floored me. Where did you get that idea and in what way do you mean? I know for us we work hard to help local teachers have access to resources whether PBS Learning Media and its repository of content or how to use our children’s programs with teachers and parents so that children are ready for school. This hatred of PBS just shocks me knowing how hard we work to support educators. Yes we fight hard for our funding that is constantly threatened. Two years ago all of our funding was cut in FL and we fought back and it was put back in the budget but not after a lot of hard work including a statewide reading research project proved our effectiveness. If the blog isn’t posting ideas that appeal to you, please make suggestions offering other topics. Kim Kelling, director of content and engagement at WFSU.
Thanks, Kim for saying what needs saying. PBS, NPR, etc., may not get everything right, or see things we see, but there’s no evidence they’ve been bought. After all, Pabst Brewing Company is a sponsor. That doesn’t seem to be driving beer coverage.
(cross-posted from Diane’s feature of this comment as an entry)
I will be happy to answer the charge that I made all of this up out of whole cloth. The readers of this blog can draw their own conclusions.
WFSU is not the only public radio station in the state of Florida. There is a website called “State Impact Florida: Putting Education Reform to the Test” which also touts itself as “a reporting project of NPR member stations”,
This website says its partners are WLRN Miami and WUSF Tampa, the two largest urban areas and arguably the most populous in the state.
The other two states participating in this ‘reporting’ are Indiana and Ohio. So, you have 3 of the most prominent states in the union in the field of corporate school reform, all controlled by conservative Republican governors and legislatures, all of which are hotbeds of reformist experimentation and ALEC-sponsored legislation designed to expand corporate influence over education, crush teachers’ unions, expand vouchers, charter, and privatization, and end democratically-controlled public education altogether.
Perhaps this is all a coincidence? Perhaps that fact that all three states’ education departments and legislative agendas have been steered, managed, and largely controlled by ‘graduates’ of Jeb Bush’s anti-public school initiatives is also a coincidence.
Let’s click on that little button up at the top right hand corner of the homepage, shall we? The one that says “View All Topics >>>”
“Charter Schools” has 105 entries. “Public Schools” has 6 entires. Interesting balance, wouldn’t you say?
“Jeb Bush” who hasn’t been governor for 9 years has 75 entries. Here is his bio written by NPR:
“BACKGROUND
Former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush pioneered many of the education reforms the rest of the country is now discussing, including data-based school and teacher assessments, school choice and charter schools. Florida student standardized test scores improved after Bush took office in 1999. The federal Race To The Top grant program takes its cue from Florida.
Bush’s plan is based on six pillars:
Grading schools on a simple A through F scale based on student standardized test scores.
High-stakes testing.
Requiring students to meet grade standards before promotion to a higher grade.
Paying teachers based on student performance.
New methods to credential teachers.
Adding charter schools, private school vouchers (since struck down by a court) and online schools to offer parents more choices.
Critics, such as a June 2011 report from the National Education Policy Institute, argue there is no evidence that the reforms Bush supported led to improvement by Florida students. Still, the Foundation for Excellence in Education that Bush founded is a national advocate for education reform and Bush is the chief face of Republican-favored proposals — increasingly embraced by Democrats — many states are now considering.”
Hardly critical or showing reportorial agnosticism, is it?
“Rick Scott, beginning his 2nd term as governor has 19 and “Charlie Christ” who preceded him has 10 entered. “Diane Ravitch” has 6 entries. Another coincidence that Jeb Bush, who is NOT a partner, is featured at such a higher rate than the last 2 governors and the leading educational historian in the nation? “Common Core” has 255 entries even though we supposedly have the new Florida standards instead of Common Core now.
I have found the ‘reporting’ of NPR to be consistently supportive or, at most, benignly neutral towards all of the Florida reforms and generally silent or dismissive of critics if they are included in the articles and broadcasts at all.
Your mileage may vary. Since NPR seeks funding from the state governments on which they are reporting and they are now pursuing cop orate sponsorships that have impacted what is reported and how it is reported I think that I am justified in my doubts.
Here’s an example from Alternet about how other NPR ‘reporting’ has magically mirrored corporate propaganda:
http://www.alternet.org/media/how-planet-money-american-life-and-npr-have-become-key-players-bankers-propaganda-war-whats
and more from the NSFWcorp website:
https://www.nsfwcorp.com/dispatch/unfit-to-report/
I supported NPR for years. When Jesse Helms went after them I gave more money. Since then things have changed a lot.
I stand by my original post: “Don’t trust them!”
Just actually took a look at the blog – somehow missed the link to it and thought it was a new blog up and coming. Ughh… guess I need to be MORE RIGOROUS and do my COLEMAN STYLE CLOSE READING…. In looking at the array of “articles” in the PBS website… sure looks like they are NOT addressing the “real deal” day to day issues of teachers! How many teachers are truly worried about what to do in the classroom at Christmas time???? Ughhh. Here is my thought… what if on a one specific day, teachers who regularly contribute to this blog emailed a genuine concern – you know the real concerns and there are SO MANY to this blog. They’d have more than enough REAL issues to post for an entire year. This blog seems to look ignore the day-to day problems for students and teachers alike. What to do at Christmas time??? Really????
My reaction to the web site was the same. It read like really bad professional development.
I think they’re a media organization and they’re probably just gearing marketing/content to polling.
This is a poll from the NJNEA. Honestly, the questions are skewed- they’re anti-testing- but even with the skewing people REALLY distrust politicians on public education:
“And not surprisingly, parents and voters ranked teachers and parents the most trustworthy people on the issue of standardized testing. Only 12% of parents and 15% of voters believe that the New Jersey Department of Education has credibility with regard to this issue, and only 3% of parents and 4% of voters believe that state legislators are trustworthy when it comes to issues surrounding high-stakes testing.”
3%! Good Lord. Talk about a credibility collapse.
Politicians should stop worrying about peoples’ “faith” in public schools and start worrying about peoples faith in THEIR work. It’s tanking.
It’s nice that they’re looking for teacher voices– especially when I hear their shout outs to the Walton Foundation when I listen to PBS. 😦
Chazanoff.. maybe this is all the more reason to flood them with “what they want”…. remember the adage… be careful what you ask for…
I am sure John Merrow is somehow involved. People really don’t want to know what teaching is really like.
I don’t want to know either.
HI Kelley, This is an interesting opportunity; I thought of you immediately. I hope all is well. New York is currently under seven inches of snow, At least Venezuela doesn’t have that! Maureen
Maureen D. Meltzer Educational Consultant (917) 822-6805
A great topic for your blog is the ridiculous testing of severely disabled students. Alternate Assessments were a nightmare but Common Core is even worse. A great video was done by Andy Ford last year called ‘Our students are more than a test.’.
I am a retired teacher but I can give the name of a dynamite principal who is not afraid to tell the truth. I was also a part of the first round of sample testing done in Florida.
After reading the above comments on the PBS “The Teacher’s Lounge,” I went to the website. (I am a retired teacher and my daughter is an ESOL teacher at a high ESOL population school in Prince William County, VA.) I would like to say that I thought the comments I read regarding immigrant students were relevant, of interest, and did not seem to have hidden agendas. At this point in time, it seems to me that the site has a lot to offer.
I contacted Corinne Segal and this is her response. As you read it you can see that the purpose of the blog is how national and international events impact the classroom, not on how edudeformers impact public education. I understand why they have the posts up that they do. It’s their blog to do what they like. So, thanks to Corinne for the response.
Hi Duane,
Thanks for reaching out!
To give you more background on the blog, Teachers’ Lounge is a forum for teachers to discuss how the news affects their classroom. We do not tend to focus on education policy, which gets coverage from the wider NewsHour operation—we look for first-person stories from teachers that relate to present-day, major news stories (national and international). For example, how are you addressing North Korea with students, or Obama’s immigration announcement? (Those are two topics that contributors recently covered.) We find our biggest strength in this blog is the unique voice of teachers on news issues.
If you’re interested, I would encourage you to submit a one-paragraph pitch along those lines. I’ll also keep an eye out for anything that I think may interest you, and you can feel free to check out more examples at http://www.pbs.org/newshour/tag/teachers-lounge/. Thanks!
Best,
Corinne
Duane Swacker… I guess the “what to do at Christmas time” article fits the bill. I am sure Finnish teachers are desperately trying to buy “how to” publications” on this subject – yeah right! Meanwhile Coleman accountants are trying to see if it is profitable enough to create a “common core around the holidays” publication! Sounds like PBS would have better luck addressing a select group of higher ed professors involved in education research who do not ever present themselves in public school classrooms but who claim to know how things work there anyway. They would not be likely to concern themselves with the day to day realities of being in a classroom from the teachers’ or students’ perspective. They also would definitely be “media darlings” BECAUSE they ignore the day-to-day realities from teachers and students viewpoints.
Oh I get it now… PBS wants a certain type of teacher to do the footwork for a series of stories for future airing… the stories that are approved by corporate “ed reform”… then PBS can continue to ignore the horrific realities that public school teachers face every day and do the status quo. Oh yes.. then they can even PR themselves and make false claims to be airing teachers concerns. I am sure every public school teacher does care about how students in Lagos are faring these days but CERTAINLY the day to day realities of dealing with students in their classes during these times ARE MOST PRESSING. Way to go PBS… continue to ignore the grossly negligent effects of “ed reform” nonsense on teachers and students.
Today all of the media is owned by less than 6 Corporations. In the 1980’s there were more than 50 Corporations that owned and operated the media. In the 60’s it was over one hundred. The message is controlled and one sided and of course PBS has been sold down the river to boot. When a handful of people own all of what comes out of your television you aren’t going to get anything fair and balanced.
I sent an e-mail and here’s the reply:
Hi Lloyd,
Thanks for reaching out!
To give you background on the blog, Teachers’ Lounge is a forum for teachers to discuss how the news affects their classroom. We do not tend to focus on education policy, which gets coverage from the wider NewsHour operation—we look for first-person stories from teachers that relate to present-day, major news stories (national and international). For example, how are you addressing North Korea with students, or Obama’s immigration announcement? (Those are two topics that contributors recently covered.) We find our biggest strength in this blog is the unique voice of teachers on news issues.
We normally publish pieces by teachers who are currently in the classroom—since so much of it pertains to breaking news topics, that seems to happen inadvertently. But we’ve published a piece from a retired educator on at least one occasion. If you have an idea along the lines I described above, feel free to submit a one-paragraph pitch to me. You can also check out more examples at http://www.pbs.org/newshour/tag/teachers-lounge/. Thanks!
Best,
Corinne
—
Corinne Segal
Editor
PBS NewsHour Extra
https://www.facebook.com/PBSNewsHourExtra
I retract my rather snarky comment. It is so rare to find a site that is not warped by the rephorm agenda, that it is much too easy to jump to unwarranted conclusions. My apologies for assuming the worst. I was leafing through a couple of catalogs from professional organizations I still belong to today. I could not tell what was not tainted by CC and corporate models of pedagogy. It was extremely frustrating.
Reblogged this on McTeaching Ag and commented:
Want to share about topics influencing education? PBS NewsHour is looking for some teacher bloggers. Details below in this blog post from Diane Ravitch. (PS – If you don’t follow her blog, you might want to consider it.)
The only pertinent response to most of the topics listed…dealing with Christmas?…Korea??? is “:Will this be on the test?” Since test results are all that matters, most of the “topics” are dilatory to test results. They should go the way of recess, of library time, of music and art: out. Of course, this makes for lousy schools; but the corporate agenda dominates and we do students a disservice not to maximize their test scores.
As for close reading, does my comment drip with sufficient sarcasm?