A few days ago I was interviewed for this podcast by Justin Oakley, whom I met last fall in Indianapolis. Justin gave me a wristband that says “Just Let Me Teach.”
We talked about the effort by Givernor Pence and the Legislature to crush State Superintendent Glenda Ritz. We speculated: is it because they want to destroy the only elected state official? Is it because she is a woman? Is it because she was elected by a bipartisan coalition and won more votes than Governor Pence?
Let’s apply Occam’s Razor, the logical principle that says one should look for the simplest, most obvious reason. It’s clear: Governor Pence is afraid of Ritz. She got more votes than he did. He has to smear her her and diminish her, even if it means nullifying her election. She might run against him and beat him.
Join the rally at the Statehouse in Indianapolis on Monday to show your support for public education and Glenda Ritz!
Diane Ravitch's blog 
Where can I get that bracelet? It’s a wonderful statement!
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http://www.theundergroundeducator.wordpress.com or email undergroundeducators@gmail.com
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If you want to get the wrist bands that say “Just Let Me Teach,” open this link: http://www.theundergroundeducator.wordpress.com
Bonus for opening the link: a picture of me hugging Justin Oakley, who created the wristbands, when I visited Butler University in Indianapolis a year ago.
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Where can Ohio teachers get those wristbands?
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I thought I got a button from
http://www.buttonsonline.com/haveus.html, but this appears to be a website where you can design or order your own buttons, materials, button-making machines.
I have some buttons with education-friendly slogans on them back in my classroom–but you’ll have to wait until Tuesday since we teachers have President’s Day off 🙂
I’ll let you know then if I can get you the address.
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Email us undergrouneducators@gmail.com
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The underground educator or something like that. Or contact Mr. Oakley
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SUPPORT GLENDA RITZ RALLY (Guest speaker, Glenda Ritz)
Friday, February 20, 2015 @ 4:00 PM
Adams High School
808 South Twyckenham Drive
South Bend, IN
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Diane Ravitch, you Rock! Thank you for being an inspiration to us all!
Wristbands http://www.theundergroundeducator.wordpress.com
Email undergroundeducators@gmail. Com
Just Let Me Teach on Facebook
@justletme_teach Twitter
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http://Www.theundergroundeducator.word press.com & email us direct undergroundeducators@gmail.com
Like us on Facebook
JUST LET ME TEACH
TWITTER @justletme_teach
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There is a reality….starting to be talked about here and elsewhere……the attacks on classroom school teachers by those in the so called reform movement……have a disproportional impact upon the women teaching children in public schools.
Pressure complete with details….not easy to brush off generalities needs to be visited upon Hillary Clinton, and maybe Elizabeth Warren, as well as any other possible candidates for the democratic potus nomination.
Democrats should not get a free ride regarding education, particularly that part of education which is performed by women…..The case to be made against so-called union thugs should be left to the Republicans…….
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Exactly, this is really starting to feel like an attack against women…and not so much public education. Oh I know it’s an attack to make money but they are really starting to hit below the belt and make it very personal against women. We still make less in almost every other profession (I know I used to be in one…graphic design) and I feel like they really can’t stand to see a job where women can actually, sort of, support their families on their own.
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Leaving educational matters up to women is dangerous if women have political and financial independence from the hierarchy of a male dominant society.
Think about the whole anti-bullying campaign going on in schools. Too many men are still telling their son’s, and our society seems to agree, that men get ahead in life by being bullies.
The adage that ‘nice guys finish last’, is evident. Look at our elected governors here in the North East.
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Diane,
This was a great interview. First, the reason why politicians, billionaires and corporations don’t want to take up the issue of poverty in America is because they see no way of making money from doing so. Moreover, as you know, poverty is an issue directly related to women, children and minorities. To address the issue of poverty is to address deep racial and gender inequalities our country has had since its origin. Second, in subjects which have no formalized tests, teachers must make pretests that students take in the beginning of the year. Obviously, the students have had little or no contact with the subject matter, so they will fail. At the end of the year, students are given another test, and this test is supposed to show how well the teacher has taught the material. Tests are now becoming referendums on teacher ability. No test was ever meant to be used in this way. Some teachers actually like this because they have control over creating their pretests and end-of-year tests, and can actually teach to their own test to show student growth. Yeah! Further, there is no level playing field for all teachers. Some teachers must use regents exams for their evaluations, some must use computerized tests, and some get to create their own tests. I’ve been a teacher for many years in New York and I’ve seen the “in” teachers get money, technology, perks, support, etc. from administrators. Also, people don’t understand that there are great discrepancies in the amount of work teachers have to do. For example, I had to teach 6 classes and I had 5 preps (different classes I had to prep for – French 1-5). Some teachers had 1 prep. Some teachers had 5 classes. How can we evaluate teachers on one single rubric without taking all of this into account? People think that teachers just breeze into the classroom and then breeze out and go on vacation. They don’t realize the amount of preparation it take to teach ONE class. One CANNOT be a good teacher without organization and careful preparation. I also don’t think the public realizes that most NEW teachers get the students who are discipline problems, have learning disabilities and who are not motivated academically. Under Cuomo’s new evaluation plan of 50% of the evaluation on student test scores, new teachers should be greatly concerned. They may not have very long careers. Thank you again for this forum.
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I will be with my students as we participate in developmentally appropriate learning, red shoes and all.
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“. . . red shoes and all.”
??????
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The message I got was this:
If you can’t go to Indianapolis to support public education, then wear red in support of teachers.
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Indeed. Wear red for public ed, I was head to toe representing my profession while teaching. I am so proud of those who packed the bulging to overflow capacity.
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PICTURES FOR THE PUBLIC EDUCATION RALLY AT THE INDIANA STATEHOUSE:
http://in.chalkbeat.org/2015/02/16/photos-ritz-supporters-rally-at-statehouse/#.VOKHCU3wvrc
INDIANA DEMOCRATIC LEADER SAYS TO GOP: ‘Your guy [Tony Bennett] got beat’
http://in.chalkbeat.org/2015/02/05/democratic-leader-on-bill-aimed-at-ritz-your-guy-got-beat/#.VOKFmk3wvrc
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ALSO ON INDIANA CHALKBEAT:
http://in.chalkbeat.org/2015/02/11/diane-ravitch-takes-aim-at-ritz-detractors-on-indiana-show/#.VOKHE03wvrc
Ravitch has frequently backed Ritz and criticized Indiana Gov. Mike Pence. She called bills that aim to remove the guarantee in state law that Ritz serve as chairwoman of the Indiana State Board of Education “pathetic” and “vindictive.”
“They’re trying to take away even her title,” she said. “This is because they are afraid of her because she is a vote getter.”
Robert Enlow, president of the Friedman Foundation, said in an interview after the program Ravitch and Ritz both “pander to the lowest common denominator.” Ravitch singled out Friedman and Enlow for criticism during the interview, saying that by promoting publicly-funded tuition vouchers for private schools they hope to privatize the public school system.
“As long as Diane Ravitch and Glenda Ritz put adults and systems ahead of kids,” Enlow said, “they are always going to be worried about politics and power more than what works best for kids.”
TALK ABOUT THE POT CALLING THE KETTLE BLACK:
Change that around to say the truth, Mr. Enlow…
“As long as they [“reformers”] put adults and systems [READ: profits] ahead of kids, they are always going to be worried about politics and power more than what works best for kids.”
Everytime someone like this steps up to the microphone, my baloney detector goes off. With Bennett, the needle was always pinned hard to the wall.
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Bilgewater, thanks. I am neither the pot nor the kettle. I was on a radio interview defending Glenda Ritz against the Pence machine; after all, she was freely elected by 1.3 million voters in Indiana. Robert Enlow, the voucher advocate from the Milton Friedman Foundation has the nerve to say that Ritz and I are putting “adults and systems ahead of kids.” I would say I was putting democracy ahead of a mean-spirited drive to nullify the election and putting the interests of Indiana’s schoolchildren first. Mr. Enlow puts vouchers first, no matter the occasion.
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The reason why Pence and others are going after Glenda Ritz’ position is that she represents her constituents. Take away her power and you take away the power and voice of those she represents. Yes, they are afraid of her because she has the backing of the citizens – not powerful corporations. It’s nice to see our democracy functioning well in some places. The actions of Pence and others are pathetic and vindictive. But it’s more sinister than that. It’s an attempt to dismantle our basic democratic structure that is in play here, and I think that is what is most disturbing.
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