Mark Naison, professor of African-American studies and history at Fordham University, suggests nine questions that need to be answered before evaluating the legacy of the Obama-Duncan Race to the Top:
How many schools were closed?
How many great teachers were fired or forced into retirement?
How many teachers still on the job were placed under a doctors care because test based accountability had destroyed their self-confidence?
How many communities experienced sharp declines in the number of teachers of color working in their schools?
How many new charter schools were created which were embroiled in controversy because of financial irregularities or abusive practices?
How many lucrative contracts were extended to test companies and consulting firms?
How many students were deprived of recess, physical education and the arts because they were forced to prepare for tests?
How many special needs or ELL students were unable to graduate because requirements were suddenly raised?
How many families with young children were filled with stress because testing had taken over their lives?
And finally, was the collateral damage to children, families, communities, and schools greater than any test score gains?
Diane Ravitch's blog 
If Ohio readers think Bernie will better serve public education than Hillary, the time to vote is this evening (Tues. Jan. 5). Doors open at 6:00 to elect delegates to the convention. Where to vote is based on congressional district. The website Ohio Democratic Party, tab, “Join a Caucus”, provides info. about voting locations.
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Sanders in NH on Saturday:
To a woman who identified herself as a NH charter school graduate, he answered her question on funding for charters by saying “I’m not in favor of privately run charter schools (which drew applause). If we are going to have a strong democracy and be competitive globally, we need the best educated people in the world. I believe in public education; I went to public schools my whole life, so I think rather than give tax breaks to billionaires, I think we invest in teachers and we invest in public education. I really do.”
The quote re: charters is at 1:48:00 in the video of Newmarket NH Town Hall on 1/3/16 youtu.be/7s-4rhw2CG8
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Christine, thanks for the info. That is the first time I have heard him give such a direct, clear endorsement of public schools. I don’t think Hillary can say the same.
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2o2t,
Well I’m sure Hilary has said something quite similar. It just doesn’t mean a damn thing and isn’t worth giving credence to.
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You’re right. I’m sure she could come up with something similar. Not at all credible but on the surface similar.
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WHEN (and that’s a big when) we come out of this current bout of supposed public education reform their legacy will be promptly derided and forgotten while both will be basking in the Hawaiian sun playing some hoops.
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Duane, it is good to see your acerbic comment here (see my other below–important article!!), to know that you are safe, what with all the Missouri flooding. I hope the same for the rest of all of you,
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Whoops–I meant your SARCASTIC–not acerbic– (usual) comment.
Happy New Year!
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Actually it was meant as an acerbic* comment on what will probably happen. Good things come to those who play the payers game.
*I thought of writing that as “asscerbic”.
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And the final question:
Did the perpetrators of this madness allow their own children to participate in any of this chaos?
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I just wish public school leaders would stop listening to Obama Administration people.
At some point it becomes pathetic to continue to take direction from people who are hostile to their continued existence. Accept reality. There’s no support for public schools in DC. Look elsewhere. Find some advocates and advisers who are focused on your success. It’s suicide to take direction from these people.
There’s this kind of “please like me!” aspect to public schools that just makes me sad. They’re never going to persuade ed reformers of their value, no matter how many hoops they jump thru.
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Regarding one small piece of the madness (but every piece matters, & it all has a negative impact on teaching and learning) — so-called “value-added measurement” or “student growth percentiles,” part of what was mandated by the Obama-Duncan RTTT, create numbers that are meaningless to those who use them and thus negatively impact real people in real schools. For more specifics, check out my recent post on http://educornercafe.blogspot.com/
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Please do not regard this as quibbling, but what you reference is not “one small piece of the madness.”
Unimpeachably expert insider testimony from a charter member of the self-styled “education reform” establishment, Dr. Frederick Hess of the American Enterprise Institute:
[start]
In truth, the idea that the Common Core might be a “game-changer” has little to do with the Common Core standards themselves, and everything to do with stuff attached to them, especially the adoption of common tests that make it possible to readily compare schools, programs, districts, and states (of course, the announcement that one state after another is opting out of the two testing consortia is hollowing out this promise).
But the Common Core will only make a dramatic difference if those test results are used to evaluate schools or hire, pay, or fire teachers; or if the effort serves to alter teacher preparation, revamp instructional materials, or compel teachers to change what students read and do. And, of course, advocates have made clear that this is exactly what they have in mind. When they refer to the “Common Core,” they don’t just mean the words on paper–what they really have in mind is this whole complex of changes.
[end]
For the above and valuable contextual info, go to—
Link: https://deutsch29.wordpress.com/2013/12/28/the-american-enterprise-institute-common-core-and-good-cop/
Let me put it another way: blood is for Dracula and other vampires as the massaged & tortured numbers produced by standardized tests are for VAM & SGP.
And when it comes to vampires and werewolves and such, crucifixes and silver bullets and the like are to them as Opt-Out is to Rheephorm.
Thank you for your comment.
😎
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Ohio got a giant charter grant from the Obama Administration to open more charter schools.
Here’s one of the people who will be directing that money:
“Meanwhile, the department hired Colleen Grady, a former lobbyist for White Hat schools, a large for-profit charter network with generally low marks on state report cards, as a senior policy advisor.”
A former lobbyist for the worst charter chain in the country will now be establishing the Obama charters. I mean, it’s just complete and utter contempt for the public in this state. They simply don’t care if it’s corrupt.
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“The Obama Legacy”
Test and VAM
VAM and test
Crying sham
Barack’s bequest
“The Maestro”
Chetty picked his VAMdolin
At Nobel-chasing speed
Arne played the basket rim
And Rhee, she played the rheed
Cuomo played the first VAMbone
But Maestro was Obama
Who hired the band and set the tone
For corporatic drama
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Coleman played the Core-o-net
Eva played the lyre
Billy Gates played tête-à-tête
With Arne and with higher
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Eric* played the cattle drum
Devalue addled model
Pseudo-science weighted sum
Mathturbated twaddle
*Eric VAMushrek, naturally
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Campbell twirled her big baton
To knock the unions out
Put the teachers on the run
And tenure in a doubt
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For anyone who did not get the last reference to Campbell and her baton
Seventy-six Campbell Browns”
(parody of Willson Meredith – Seventy Six Trombones, from “The Music Man”))
Seventy-six Campbell Browns led Reform Parade
With a hundred and ten charter-schools close at hand.
They were followed by rows and rows
Of the wolves-in-sheepy clothes,
The cream of ev’ry famous scam.
Seventy-six Campbell Browns caught the morning shows
With a hundred and ten public schools closed behind
There were more than a thousand Rhees
Springing up like weeds
There were schemes of ev’ry shape and kind.
There were chetty-picking VAMstudies and Gates platoons
Blundering, Blundering all along the way.
Double-billed baloneyums and big buffoons,
Each buffoon having his big, fat say!
There were fifty foolish Canons of Reformery
Blundering, Blundering louder than before
Teacher nets of ev’ry size
And reformers who’d improvise
To game the passing student score
Seventy-six Campbell Browns hit the TV shows,
While a hundred and ten public-schools blazed away.
To the rhythm of Test! Test! Test!
All the kids began to wretch,
And they’re wretching still right today!
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I’d be curious to see how many political appointees from Obama’s ed dept went on to work with or for public schools.
Here’s the director of RttT promoting the Green Dot charter chain:
Has anyone from that administration gone on to do any pro-public school work?
They all seem to go thru the revolving door and land in ed reform lobbying/consulting spots. It must have been a pretty hostile climate for public schools in Obamaland.
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The president that campaigned on “hope and change” will be known for test and punish. He will be known for federal overreach and reckless educational policy. Obama will be known as the president that unleashed unbridled capitalism on our public schools. He will be known as the man that subjected our poorest students to endless experimentation and disruption while he refused to clearly see the impact of his bad decisions, lack of oversight and regulation of charter schools to whom he showed partiality. He appointed Duncan, a man without appropriate credentials, to do the dirty work of extorting public schools into submission and compliance with his bad ideas. Most of all he will be known as a whip of corporate power for creating toxic partnerships with billionaires and corporations while he made empty speeches about helping the middle class.
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“Obama will be known as the president that unleashed unbridled capitalism on our public schools.”
25 years of evidence on how privatizing public entities always, always harms the poorest the most and the President insists he can control it with regulation.
It goes beyond “naive” to “reckless”. He was in a statehouse, however briefly. He must have known that opening up a 600 billion dollar public purse to private contractors was fraught with risk.
They did it anyway. He simply didn’t value public schools. He couldn’t have. No one would roll the dice to that extent on a public institution they valued. They took public schools for granted, as if they could continue to exist without government support. It’s madness.
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Chiara: I believe Obama neither understands or appreciates the value of public education. Other than his wife, who, by the way, has done well with her public education, Obama has no connection to public schools. He has made zero effort to understand them and prefers to make decisions in his comfortable vacuum. He has done nothing for public education, and he has spent his two terms content on doing harm to them.
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This of course is ABOMINABLE.
but please consider
Would any Republican president have been any better?
Do you really believe that Mitt Romney would have been better
and yes
What about the present upcoming election?
Will ANY of the Republican front runners, including Donald Trump be the savior of public education?
Think carefully before you answer that and then get involved in someone who might help not only the education process but work to put the middle class back on track, to mitigate the excesses of Wall Street etc.
I know who my candidate for ALL of that will be.
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None of the past or present Republicans candidates would have been or will be better. However, I expected more from a candidate that courted the teachers’ unions, and made a speech in 2008 against “bubble tests.” He has failed to deliver on his promises.
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So predictable! NO REPUBLICAN would have been able to blatantly harm public education. Only one of your own could get away with that! Hilary Clinton will be the Democrat nominee, and if she wins, you will get to watch a real pro sell public education to the highest bidder.
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A Republican would not have been better.
On the other hand, a Republican would not have confused and divided liberal/Left opinion on the topic, thus allowing the edu-privateers to so easily and brazenly raid the public school budgets.
If there’s a reason why the Overclass supported Obama in 2008, which the campaign contribution ledgers clearly demonstrate, that very well might be it, and it’s not limited to what he’s done in education.
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“The More Effective Evil”
The evil more effective
Is greater than the lesser
If evil’s your objective
Then choose a wolf sheep-dresser
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I will venture to say the issues mentioned will not be answered. Such a sad commentary on those that supported and implemented these destructive actions.
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The nine points posed by Mark Naison and that inserted at the end of the posting by the owner of this blog—
First-rate.
“It is not the answer the enlightens, but the question.” [Ionesco]
😎
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Thanks, KTA! I’ve been looking for that quote and who said it. I know you’ve used it many times and it’s a good one.
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“retired teacher
January 5, 2016 at 1:04 pm
Chiara: I believe Obama neither understands or appreciates the value of public education. Other than his wife, who, by the way, has done well with her public education, Obama has no connection to public schools. He has made zero effort to understand them and prefers to make decisions in his comfortable vacuum. He has done nothing for public education, and he has spent his two terms content on doing harm to them.”
I think they envision it like Obama’s health insurance law. A collection or private contractors offering a subsidized service.
I think that’s the end game of President Obama’s “vision” for public schools. A loosely regulated, publicly-subsidized market system of private contractors. That’s what the OneAPP systems they’re putting in all over the country are- they’re identical to the health insurance “marketplaces”.
He’ll be the President who is responsible for ending the last remaining universal public system in the US. It’s a horrible legacy. It goes beyond Barry Goldwater’s wildest dreams.
In 20 years when public schools are gone we can all credit Obama and Duncan and their merry gang of technocrats. Republicans could never have done it without Democrats.
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I sincerely hope there is a citizen revolt against the United Corporations of America long before they put an end to public education. Perhaps as in Chile, students will riot when they realize they are being exploited by corporate power. Perhaps as in Sweden, voters will elect a government that seeks to remedy the failed experiments of predecessors. We cannot afford to lose democratic public schools for future generations of Americans.
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I believe the brilliant & prescient Mercedes Schneider (although he stated, in this “farewell” address–“he has no plans to run for public office. “That’s not where my heart is,’ he said.”) was on to something with her post on this blog about Arne planning a run for guv (or–perhaps Chicago mayor or another office) as he’d resigned early (in order to establish IL residency). Last week, Lynn Sweet wrote about him in a Sun-Times article on 12/29, whereby he was giving “his final major speech.” On Thursday, 12/31 (p.12–can look up on Chicago.SunTimes.com), under City Beat “Arne Duncan Condemns Police ‘Code of Silence…also calls for firm gun laws in farewell address as U.S. education secretary,'” by Mitch Dudek. This is an absolute must-read! Is someone can provide the link, please do.
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Ah yes, I did wonder if he was planning to run for mayor when I heard him pontificating on another subject for which he has no expertise.
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This whole movement has not been about test score gains… it is about using test score gains as a strategy to obliterate public education. We should be asking, “What happened to Democracy and how have we let profiteers buy our nation including public education and how has it come to this…”?
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I would change my word “let” because there has been so much deceit, false spin, and trickery that using the word “let” indicates society has been aware and let it happen. “…how have profiteers buy our… ” would be better!
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How many families (in Newark, NJ, for example) were forced to send their children, via the One Newark App to schools they a) didn’t choose and b) were across town, sometimes an hour’s distance by bus? How many families were forced to send 2, 3, 4 of their children across town to 2,3,4 different/separate schools that they did not choose, when some of them lived a 1/2 block from their neighborhood school that was their choice? Add that to the list, please.
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“The Pretender” (apologies to Jackson Browne)
I’m going to rent a big White House
In the shade of the cherry tree
Going to bail big banks in the morning
And meet with William Gates each day
And when the evening rolls around
I’ll think of ways to lay those teachers down
And when the morning light comes streaming in
I’ll get up and do it again
VAM them
Say it again
VAM them
They wanna know what became of the changes
They waited for me to bring
They were only the hopeful dreams
Of some sappy mistakening
I’ve been aware of the tests gone awry
They say in the end it’s the wink of an eye
And when the morning light comes streaming in
I’ll get up and do it again
VAM them
Caught between the longing for VAM
And the struggle for the legal tenure
Where the Pearsons sing and the charters ring
And the junk (stat) man pounds the mentor
Where the teachers dream of the flight
From the test and the VAM and the spite
And the students solemnly wait
For the testing vendor
Out into the lights and the cameras
Strolls the Pretender
He knows that all their hopes and dreams
Begin and end there
Ah, the panic as they run through the schools
Leaving nothing but to testing and fools
And tear at their world with Pearson tools
While the ships bearing their dreams wreck on the shoals
I’m going to find myself a Race
That can show them what Duncan means
And we’ll fill in the missing pieces
In each other’s rate-by-number schemes
And then we’ll put our dark glasses on
And we’ll VAM them till their strength is gone
And when the morning light comes streaming in
We’ll get up and do it again
VAM it up again
I’m going to be a happy President
And struggle for illegal tenure
Where the laws take aim and lay their claim
At the heart and the soul of the mentor
And believe in whoever may lie
’bout those schools that money can buy
Though school love could have been a contender
Are you there?
Say a prayer for the Pretender
Who started out so young and strong
Only to surrender
Say a prayer for the Pretender
Are you there
For the Pretender?
Say a prayer for the Pretender
Are you there
For the Pretender?
Are you there
For the Pretender?
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