Steven Singer was startled to read John King’s statement that teachers have been unfairly blamed for social ills and whatever students do. He notes that John King often blamed teachers himself when he was State Commissioner of Education in New York. Can we believe him now?
Singer writes:
Sometimes the messenger matters.
You wouldn’t expect Native Americans to believe an apology from Christopher Columbus.
You wouldn’t expect African Americans to believe an apology from David Duke.
So why the heck do the Democrats expect teachers to believe an apology from John King!?
The acting U.S. Secretary of Education is – himself – responsible for more attacks on public educators than almost anyone else.
In his former role as New York Chancellor of Education, he refused to fix a school system he was responsible for destroying all the while pointing his finger at teachers.
However, late last month in his new federal position, King gave a speech at a Philadelphia high school acknowledging the mistakes of the Obama administration in tying teachers’ evaluations to student test scores – a practice he was guilty of in New York….
I’m sorry, but this apology rings hollow to most educators. We know you. We know that your biggest qualification for your position in charge of the nation’s public school system is a three year stint teaching in a “no excuses” charter school with a high suspension rate.
As the saying goes, fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me.
Actually, John King somehow seems like just the person to assure continuity in Arne Duncan’s policies.
Diane Ravitch's blog 
Reblogged this on David R. Taylor-Thoughts on Education.
I thought it was weird because if the US Department inadvertently demonized teachers, shouldn’t Arne Duncan be apologizing? Did anyone “in the movement” (excepting King) ever admit they demonized teachers? Is this an admission without an admission, or what?
I don’t think he can apologize by proxy or as an organization. I think it means more coming from the individual responsible, especially when it’s coming from people who spend so much time scolding others on accountability.
Also, I know this is cynical and of course I don’t know King personally and he may be completely sincere, but I can’t help but notice that it comes at the same time as a political cycle. Despite denials, ed reform is hugely political. If it wasn’t, they wouldn’t rely on so many lobbyists and marketing and “message” people. It is obviously and blatantly “political” although it’s not “partisan”. Because R’s and D’s in DC are in lockstep agreement on ed reform in no way means it’s not “political”.
The demonizing was NOT inadvertent.
Hahahaha!
Not hard to take apart:
The reformer’s new messaging will be simple: publicly say teachers are not the problem, but then pursue and enact policies that systematically cripple and remove organized, professionalized teachers. You know, be nice to us out loud while they gently place the noose around out necks.
If this isn’t obvious to those folks leading the charge on our side…..well……whatever.
You mean people like Weingarten and Eskelon-Garcia??
I agree, NYCTEACHER!
I mean folks like WEINGARTEN, McGee, Mulgrew, etc etc etc.
Yes…..the folks who declare victories, endorse prematurely, say yes to power, and love their seats at the table.
I reserve the most loathing, the most absolute deep, gut-based venom, for the vast bulk of teacher union national and state leadership who ENABLED via tacit consent, non-obstructionism, and outright consent, the reform agenda.
I loathe the reformers themselves LESS. Why? Because they are and have always been a known quantity. If one reads history, even lightly, the raw capitalist is a constant figure in the American story. They are awful for sue, but a known…..and they act according to known and deeply established patterns. Limiting the raw capitalists has been the other story of American history. Our unions have always been a part of that. Teachers unions leaders have not done their duty. Period. That’s the big thing. Reformers and the reform movement was and remains predictable and deeply legible. Them winning is on all of us.
As Steven Singer says, it must be an election year..
When the sordid apparatus that has been used to attack public schools begins to be dismantled, then we can talk.
So,for example, in New York State, it’s time to actually change some of the destructive laws that have been passed.
John’s only qualification is that he sat next to Meryl Tisch in Columbia university’s doctoral program. He and Meryl collaborated during that time. She has “resources”. John failed the clinical exam. Meryl backed him as commissioner of NY. He ruined education Do we need to say more?
Columbia’s Teachers College- where, reportedly, its President simultaneously held stock in Pearson and had a paid Pearson position. (In These Times, George Joseph, 2013, “Students Urge President to Cut Ties with Pearson.) Columbia Teachers College, where the faculty co-write papers (financed by the Waltons and John Arnold) with the Fordham Institute.
Columbia Teachers College, where being one of 7 institutions in a consortium, funded by Gates, Pearson, Goldman Sachs, etc. seems consistent with “… reformers…..declare, ‘We’ve got to blow up the ed schools’ ” (Employee of Gates-funded organization writing for the Philanthropy Roundtable, posted at the site’s K-12 tab.)
TC Preside Susan Fuhrman is or was on the board of directors of Pearson, whose members are paid. I think the board also gets stock options.
At its website, UMass highlights, its NCATE accreditation, as if there’s pride in the accomplishment.
NCATE also accredits Relay Graduate School of Education.
Development of a structure, that documents independence from the influence of plutocrats and oligarchs, would preserve higher ed.’s legacy of achievement, for the greater good and, would assure its reputation. Is there any accrediting measurement more important than that?
Who would believe this?
Surreal.
You have asked the 500-million-dollar question: Who keeps believing in this ridiculous testing game? It has become beyond surreal, and yet, somehow…nothing changes.
Funny you should ask who would believe this. Here’s a short-list:
1) AFT, UFT, NYSUT, etc. leadership.
2) the media
3) 50% or more working teachers
4) 50% or more parents
5) 80% or more non-education-engaged voting public
6) 100% of politicians needing a rhetoric to place in front if their reform policies.
7) AFT, UFT, NYSUT etc. leadership
So there are some folks who will believe it.
If you think Arne Duncan was bad, you ain’t seen nuthin’ yet.
He is loathe to acknowledge that inner city schools are overwhelmingly populated by minorities … students of color. To acknowledge that truth is too painful for many in the politically correct class … and so they fashioned a “reform” not just for distressed schools, but for every school in every state regardless of their success or not. It was a politically correct decision that was cowardly and short-changed the very schools that were in need of dire repair. It also guaranteed the failure of the entire reform effort.
King may seem resolute, but that’s not quite the reality. King carried the water for the reform crusaders … never allowing the discussions to drift into meaningful and substantive areas. King absorbed all of the genuine concern and professional skepticism of very legitimate questioners. He never let those concerns pass through his own firewall … and so, in venue after venue, parents and educators found themselves ignored and frustrated. In truth, the overly-charged educational atmosphere here in NYS is King’s real legacy.
He created this educational tsunami by his over-righteousness and by his irritating dismissiveness. The debris is everywhere.
The absurdity of Common Core will make this reform a case study in public policy weirdness.
If this reform were real it would have been bold enough to speak bluntly of the minority, inner-city realities … and then devote both resources and monies to long-over-due remedies. To promote this reform as a universal necessity was a fraud. Successful schools across this nation have no interest in responding to a reform that is so poorly premised. Nor do they have any desire to hand over local control in a manner promoted by King and other reform zealots. These reformers … King included … stirred a beast they assumed had passed into the ages: local parents.
Secretary Arne Duncan insulted them with his “suburban moms” comment … and King compounded that insult with his calculated snubbing of parents across the state.
Here’s a reality too few are ready to acknowledge.
John King is the real architect of the anti-Common Core movement in New York State. It was his abrasive and unresponsive demeanor that energized parents and concerned citizens from the Great Lakes to Long Island Sound.
It was King who brought about an unprecedented anti-reform ballot line in the last gubernatorial election.
It was King who inspired the very successful Opt-Out movement in this sate … resulting in more than 200,000 students boycotting the CC testing mania. It was John King who made this issue a central concern for this governor.
It was John King who forced the eyes of scrutiny on this reform by rocketing New York State’s anti-Common Core movement into the national spotlight.
King is hardly the successful reform agent some proclaim. In fact, John King may own a special place in modern American education as the failed zealot who who jostled a powerful force into a national rage.
But he’ll first have to out-nudge the current King of Loathe … Arne Duncan.
Never undersell John King. Just ask New Yorkers.
He’s worse than most can imagine.
p.s. Like every other know-it-all, he has his children schooled beyond the clutches of Common Core. Do as he says, not as he does.
Denis Ian
Denis,
While your main point of never underestimating the awfulness of John King is well taken and clear, you are quite wrong (and while i am sure you would be horrified to hear it, many would possibly sniff some racism here) in your explanation of why NY took a reform path.
Reformers in NY and nationally are not motivated by political correctness or an agenda caged by political correctness. The reform movement is not about fixing any problems in schools. It’s not about, as you suggest, finding broad-based fixes while ignoring, as your assumption puts it, the glaring issue of minorities. No. The reform movement is about and has always been about privatizing public education. Period. End. Reformers couldnt care less about minority groups one way or another. They couldn’t care less about students. They couldn’t care less about education. They couldn’t care less about what’s right or wrong in classrooms. They are corporate interests focused on gaining steady and strong government dollars in perpetuity. You know, real wealth creation. These have never been PC-freaks looking to fix things but unwilling to see (as you may, but others on our side do not) a problem with minorities.
The problem is POVERTY. No reformer and not too many politicians have any real fixes for that whopper.
Perhaps focus on poverty rather than minorities in the future.
Clearly, he means stop blaming Eva’s teachers, just like she stood behind the sign to stop bashing (her) teachers.
Thanks so much for posting about my article, Diane. Maybe I should be thankful the Obama administration is on this apology tour at the end of his last term. It’s like the Democrats are begging us to preserve Obama’s legacy by forgetting all the terrible things he did for education. I don’t know about you, but I won’t forget. And bringing on John Freakin’ King at the last moment to close the deal is the ultimate insult.
Does anyone out there want to speak out about this? Beyond this blog? Beyond our discussions amongst ourselves? Take our message into public view?
At some point we really have to move beyond our talking amongst ourselves and put our outrage to good use.
We can’t count on our unions (What do they think will become of their jobs after Friedrichs is decided?) We can’t count on politicians, Secretaries, and so many others who believe the reformers misleadings.
But can we count on each other to form our own union – a union of outraged voices speaking truth to power?
Anyone?
Alice,
You bring up the whole deal. We are in a position right now where we need to jettison our “leadership” and reorganize ourselves in a much more organic, nimble, and labor-centered way. Unfortunately, those of us who perceive that and care this much are really a very small minority.
I speak up at my local union meetings routinely, and am greeted with yawns and eye rolling at best….usually it’s closer to a collective “what’s he even talking about??” reaction. At our meeting I brought up Friendrichs, and how (at the time) it seemed like we needed to begin thinking deeply about its implications at the local level because NYSUT leadership clearly wa not. The local union leaders literally rolled their eyes. (I fully admit that may be a reaction simply to me rather than the content of what I was saying!) after the meeting many colleagues approached me and asked what I was talking about. Nobody knew that the Friedrichs case even was a thing or what it was.
So anyway, I believe there is little hope for what is actually needed…..members taking our unions back. We are going to lose it all because the vast bulk of us were asleep. Turns out us teachers didnt have that strong a union to begin with. Here in NY anyway. It’s gone.
No say it’s not so, NYSTeacher, please.
But sadly yes, I know you speak the truth. Your experience is exactly my own.
As a collective group, we’re doomed because of our own inaction.
It’s far easier to write and rant in the relative obscurity of the blogosphere, than to turn out in the light of day to speak out the truth we all experience in our classrooms.
But I keep trying.
Maybe we should try organizing something…
Alice!
Join Network for Public Education. Come to Raleigh April 16-17 and meet activists from across the nation.
Yes, I have joined. But I can’t make it to Raleigh sadly. (Unless others are interested in chartering a bus or carpooling from the northern suburbs of NYC…)
But having joined NPE, what action can I participate in? How can we get our message heard as one unified voice? How can we speak out loud enough to make a small dent in the white noise of mis-information?
There will be a great documentary shown at the NPE conference. If this makes it to PBS, the public will get it. Come meet your fellow activists. You will see the power of our voice
Politics as usual, while in the midst of defending that defenseless POS he hired.
UGH.
On a personal note, thank you for our teachers out there. They are trying. There is more discussion around tables with parents (who are in the “know”). Teachers are frustrated and districts are loosening some of the ropes round their necks.
Not an easy job or a job I would enjoy – teacher are to be admired and praised. For they have no one on their side, not even their own union.
I guess King has become a more astute politician and learned to tell any given audience what they want to hear.
King had some trouble, at the Congressional hearing, telling Congress something that was believable.
Can I puke now?