The Senate Committee considering John King’s nomination voted 16-6 to confirm him as Secretary of Education. His nomination will go to the full Senate, where it will likely be swiftly approved. The only “nay” votes came from Republicans.
John King did more than anyone else to create the parent-led opt out movement in New York. If he continues to promote high-stakes testing, maybe he can do the same for the nation.
Diane Ravitch's blog 
I do not understand how people of color can do so much to hinder the education of children of color in the name of reform that means “preparing black and brown children for prison”. We do need to congratulate John King for all of his work in this area.
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“I do not understand how people of color can do so much to hinder the education of children of color in the name of reform that means ‘preparing black and brown children for prison’.”
Come visit Atlanta for a spell. You will leave doubly not understanding, but understanding more clearly you don’t understand.
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It’s fatuous to think that a shared ethnicity will compel people to act with integrity, particularly when the alternative is so much more lucrative.
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More money…as they say. One of the “epiphanies” I experienced while writing about school reform was to see that some of our district’s old-school, most respected leaders — those principals who were clearly willing to go the extra mile in helping students of color — were those in our district most directly targeted by “reformers.” When offered more money, a fancy title, a chance to move up a rung or two in the management hierarchy? Well, let’s just say that very, very few of them ever said no. (And when they did say no, they were soon gone.)
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Perhaps not so much a shared ethnicity as a shared history of struggle for freedom — freedom that privatizing and commercializing public education robs.
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How did Bernie Sanders vote?
According to his Washington DC Senate office, he voted by proxy because he is out of town. Sanders is campaigning in Florida for the Democratic nomination for President.
Bernie Sanders’ support for John King stands in direct opposition to the thousands of online education activists who have supported Sanders’ candidacy, despite little record of support for public education issues.
President Obama nominated King after his controversial stint as New York State Education Commissioner, which prompted headlines like this one in the Washington Post: If you think Arne Duncan is controversial, meet his successor https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/answer-sheet/wp/2015/10/02/if-you-thought-arne-duncan-was-controversial-meet-his-successor/.
Online education activist groups have fiercely complained about John King.
Anthony Cody named King’s implementation of Common Core in New York one of the “ten colossal errors” of the Common Core standards http://blogs.edweek.org/teachers/living-in-dialogue/2013/11/common_core_standards_ten_colo.html.
Another prolific blogger called the appointment of King a “tone deaf decision”, asking Do Democrats give a crap about education? https://gadflyonthewallblog.wordpress.com/2015/10/03/do-democrats-give-a-crap-about-public-schools-john-king-as-next-us-secretary-of-education/
Online education activists cried foul when the unions endorsed Hillary Clinton. Bernie’s support for such a controversial appointment will be hard to stomach.
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And John Podesta running Hillary’s campaign is just as bad as not worse. Come off it, Karen. Your cherry picking for the neoliberal Hillary is getting old.
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Now, let’s not get personal.
I am going to continue to speak up. I think we have plenty of reasons to think that Hillary Clinton is a thoughtful policymaker. I am not going to convince anyone of that, but I honestly believe it.
It’s fair to ask bloggers who have spoken out for Bernie to reconcile their support for him with his really awful policy decisions on education. Or are we holding Hillary’s supporters to a different standard?
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CJ is right on the mark. We will always disagree with some ideas of the candidates we support. Unfortunately, those of us who care about the issues in this blog will have to fight against the candidates we support because they are either coopted by corporate deformers or don’t understand the issues at stake. And here’s what I think about Clinton’s “thoughtfulness” and “experience:” http://www.ohio.com/editorial/vop/letters-to-the-editor-bernie-sanders-the-real-progressive-and-full-funding-for-medicare-advantage-feb-15-1.661975?cache=18961415304345%252525252525252525252Fnews%252525252525252525252Fohio%252525252525252525252Fcss%2525252525252525
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Sanders won Michigan and I hope he wins Ohio. This week, Communications Workers of America have been calling their members and retirees to support Sanders.
Rhetorically, what boots does HRC have on the ground? Chelsea’s hedge fund friends?
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I agree with Karen on this issue that we should seek to understand why Bernie would vote for this, if he did. It may be that he had no time to look into it. It may be other reasons. He may even be completely wrong.
Simultaneously, he is still 100x the person and politician HRC is/was/will ever be.
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Sanders has to play by DNC rules if he wants to avoid an all out media blitz against him. He can criticize Clinton(s) for taking money from Wall Street (privatizers), or for trade policies that undermine labor and unions. He has to be very careful, however, about disagreeing directly with Obama. Sadly and wrongly, there is a racial element involved.
I find the Clinton message of No We Can’t change disheartening. I disagree vehemently with friends and family who support the Clintons. But I do not have the will to argue and debate with those closest to me. It’s just depressing to watch them get ready to vote for more of the same policies that have built the excessive wealth gap, undermined the futures of my students and ruined my professional life.
Bernie Sanders is a saint. He is my knight in shining armor. He is prepared to fight the oligarchy. He is my crush. I like his hair. Karen, your attack on his King vote does not make me think any less of him.
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Disappointed that Bernie Sanders voted “Aye by Proxy” but if you listen to Elizabeth Warren’s testimony, she says she will vote to move King’s appointment to the Senate floor but she will not support the appointment until she gets some more direct answers to her questions. Perhaps Senator Sanders will vote No when it counts. Disappointed at the other Senators who stated they support the nomination.
Link to Senate HELP on King Appointment begins about 1:20:20:
http://www.help.senate.gov/hearings/s1878-s1077-s1101-s2055-s1767-s1597-s2512-and-nomination-of-dr-john-king
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I am heartened by Elizabeth Warren saying she will not support him on the floor until she gets some more direct answers to her questions. I hope that indicates some of those who have really done little to inform themselves on what is happening in public education are beginning to look beyond the reform lobbyists. Bernie comes from a state that has resisted a lot of the nonsense coming out of Washington and has not embraced the reformers. Being the kind of individual he is, he is more likely to pay attention to real educators in the long run. I am hoping that if he votes to confirm John King it is out of expediency. I can’t believe it would be from conviction. I am hoping that King will have less than a year to reek havoc.
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“I am hoping that if he votes to confirm John King it is out of expediency. I can’t believe it would be from conviction.”
I think you are right on with that one.
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I think it is the moment to post more about Hillary and Podesta. This was written by an astute educator/blooger whom I respect.
———————————————————————–
Steven Singer posted this message on Basecamp.
“Hillary Clinton’s Campaign Manager is a Longtime Corporate Education Reformer
Meet John Podesta.
He’s a Washington lobbyist working hard to support high stakes tests, Common Core and charter schools.
He’s also Hillary Clinton’s campaign manager.
That’s right – the 2016 Democratic Presidential candidate who has been endorsed by the leaders of the national teachers unions has a corporate education reformer running her campaign.
Here are a few choice quotes from a speech Podesta gave in 2012 to the Foundation for Excellence in Education, a corporate education reform think tank established by Jeb Bush.
On Competition in Education:
“I think this emphasis that President Obama and Secretary Duncan have placed on competition – not just Race to the Top but competition throughout the system of education – is quite a good one, and I think the federal resources can be used to both support the development of new models and can force state experimentation in a way that’s quite healthy.”
On Using Student Test Scores to Evaluate teachers:
“In my view, [education] requires an accountability system that ensures students achieve at the highest levels… It requires a teacher and principal workforce that are rigorously trained, highly skilled and comprehensively evaluated.”
On Teachers Unions’ Resistance to Corporate Education Reform:
“I would argue that while there are clearly still strong rejectionist voices in unions, national union leadership has come a fair distance in recognizing that teacher effectiveness matters, and that evaluation systems need to include student outcomes… The majority of teachers have less than 10 years experience, and younger teachers know what counts. They’re more reform minded… So the question I think for reformers is how do you keep the pressure on unions to change, how do you keep the pressure on to put kids first without demonizing teachers in the process?”
On School Vouchers and charter schools:
“I think vouchers are an unneeded distraction. We should concentrate on PUBLIC school choice.”
On the Bipartisanship of Corporate Education Reform:
“In my opinion, the Obama administration has made its key priorities clear. The Republicans are pretty much in the same place…”
On the new frontier for Corporate Education Reform:
“Early childhood education is ripe for investment and reform.”
It’s all there on video. I strongly recommend you put aside 42 minutes and watch Podesta cozy up to Bush and Chester E. Finn, President of the ultra-reformy Thomas B. Fordham Institute.
Podesta is probably the single most effective person at destroying public education of which you’ve never heard.
You know Arne Duncan – the worst U. S. Secretary of Education of modern times. But did you know that Arne wasn’t President Barack Obama’s first choice?
Obama almost picked Linda Darling-Hammond – his education advisor during his 2007 campaign. Hammond is a former teacher turned Stanford education professor. She is also a vocal critic of Teach for America.
However, Podesta oversaw the transition committee that helped Obama make cabinet choices. Ultimately, the responsibility rests with the President, but it was Podesta who suggested and lobbied for Duncan, the know-nothing Chicago Schools CEO for U.S. Education Secretary. In fact, Duncan’s selection is an achievement of which Podesta is given gleeful responsibility by the privatization and standardization crowd.
And now guess whose ear he is whispering into?”
__________________________________________________
Assess this two faced woman very carefully and her choice of her campaign manager….a proven ed reformer. . Ellen
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Karen …really surprised at your adamant support for Hillary. You perhaps are too young to remember the 90s when she made such a mess of healthcare…which she now has the nerve to call it “Hillarycare” and she compares it to single payer universal health care. What a pile of garbage. And her support of Obamacare as her shining accomplishment with him, still keeps us all under the thumb of Big Insurance, Big Pharma, and Wall Street for whom the Clintons have always shilled and toadied.
At this time in her history her husband was imposing the disaster that was NAFTA, and the disaster that was Welfare to Work, and she hid behind closed doors in the WH, with lawyers from Big Pharma , Big Insurance, and Wall Street, and NO ONE ever found out what they were hatching. Fortunately it all fell apart, but Bill still bragged about the ‘twofer’ we got when he was elected with his rasping voice telling the country how lucky we were for Hillary in their WH.
I did not vote for Hillary, but went along and voted for Bill, again the lesser of the evils. And then he brought down the world’s economy by colluding with Phil Gramm and with his Goldman Sachs and Citigroup deregulator pals, Rubin and Summers, to bring down Glass-Steagall. She now brags about the great economic times of the 90s…guess she never made it to Skid Row in any city in the US where whole families were decimated and living on the streets.
Yes, the Clintons, and baby Bush, brought us to today.
Of course, her charming remark about how “broke” they were when they left the WH made most of us nauseous…and we knew about their $12 million new home in the fanciest area in NYS…as she carpet bagged to get her elected government career going. These two Clintons used all their pull and more mendacity than my mind can hold without exploding, to become hugely wealthy on the backs of the middle class and the abject poor. All this is on the record…and now she takes in millions speaking secretly to Wall Street banksters like Blankfein of Goldman Sachs who should be indicted…these are her friends, her bosses, her heroes. While Billy flits around the world garnering multi millions with his darling pal Papa Bush of the CIA, to get Middle Eastern despots like the Saudis to give them fortunes for the Clinton (Bush) Foundation from which they pay themselves hefty salaries.
She has learned to parrot Bernie Sanders in the past few weeks to come off as a populist…it is all smoke and mirrors…yet again. Please rethink your view.
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Libya debacle completely devoid of any reasonable judgement, in my view.
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Well said, Ellen — though Hillary has been parroting Bernie since summer 2015, not simply for a few weeks. Bernie finally called it out in a national debate last night.
It is clear which one of them is the trend setter.
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I know it will matter little, but here is the message I just sent to Sen. Sherrod Brown and Rep. Marcia Fudge:
I urge you to oppose the nomination of John King as Secretary of Education.
As you well know, the biggest failure of the Obama administration has been in education policy. Under the agenda-driven, incompetent tenure of Arne Duncan, public elementary and secondary education in this nation has suffered greatly. The administration’s misguided “Race to the Top” policies have only exacerbated the problems that were created under the Bush administration’s “No Child Left Behind.” Corrupt charter schools–something we know about in Ohio–have taken more public money and resources to damage good public schools. Testing and misguided teacher accountability standards have devalued the teaching profession. Corporate graft has replaced democratic governance of public schools.
John King represents everything that is wrong with education policy and has no business being confirmed as Secretary of Education. His tenure as head of the New York schools was marked by turmoil, poorly allocated resources and an unbridled growth of charter schools. Teachers have suffered. Students with special needs have suffered. Schools have lost vital resources that will likely never be restored.
I urge you speak up against John King’s nomination. This administration’s education policies have damaged valuable and vital national treasures: our public schools and their teachers. Thanks to the cynical incompetence of this administration, wholesale reforms are needed to restore hope for a better future for all of our students.
Please stand up for public education by opposing John King.
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With just a minor revision for those of us who are not from Ohio, your letter could serve as a template for all of us who oppose King.
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Nothing new, move on!
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Well, it does mean there will now be more sightings of The King at the White House.
Ever since my Regents left me
I found a new place to dwell
well, It’s down along Pennsylvania Street
At White House hotel
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“more sightings of the King”
I didn’t realize that the Obomber like toasted PBJB’s.
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Exactly. He is just water under the bridge. An irrelevant has been, smoldering on the ash heap of FAILED reformers (Rhee, Brown, Duncan, Cuomo, Bush, et. al.)
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Like GregB, I contacted Sen. Brown. I, also, asked Sen. Portman to oppose John King’s confirmation. Each of us should contact our U.S. Senators and ask that King be denied confirmation.
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So the democrats are no better than the republicans. The democrats insist on testing as a faux civil right and they all want charters, charters, charters, vouchers, competency based learning and ed tech to feed business interests.
Nobody wants to address poverty.
“Let them eat tests.”
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Oh. That’s perfect. LET THEM EAT TESTS. I have never been able to figure out why the use of Title I money for tests and testing — money which originally went to things like FEEDING our poorest students — is not more publicly reviled and rejected. ciedieaech.wordpress.com / Weapon Systems Failure
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I was less than impressed that Bernie’s non answer at the Flint debate and very impressed with Hillary’s. She was compassionate, informed, and refused to trash teachers. Hopefully she has education straight now and start righting the education ship when she is president.
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I try to stay out of these political debates but I will answer you here: beware! I marched right beside Hillary in NYC at the Labor Day parade when she was running for senator of NY. I manned the phones and did get out the vote to get her elected. She immediately went to Wall Street and the reformists for guidance once elected.
Don’t forget she is very, very close to Broad. How about a Secretary Broad for the DOE? He could preside over the final dismantling of the US public school system and deliver the coup de grace so that charters may rule unopposed.
Hillary’s financial supporters demand it and her neoliberalism requires it. Don’t fall for triangulation in order to get votes. It’s a Clinton hallmark.
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Keep in mind that when Hillary says she supports “public” education, “public” in her dictionary means “public” charter schools. Also look very carefully at her language as far as “supporting” teachers. With that kind of “support”, who needs enemies?
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Laughed out of Albany…I would not wish this clown on anyone. The first thing he did after taking over in NY is schedule state assessments for a week when schools are closed for about one third of sc districts. Things went down hill froom there!l
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Obviously not a shock on any level.
More importantly, do we all see now how our voices, when not packaged and focused in the guise of a strong, determined, aggressive, and smart union are MEANINGLESS!!!!! All the letters and petitions did zip, squat, nothing. He rolled through without even an uncomfortable moment.
Where was NYSUT? AFT? UFT? Weingarten? Where? Where were their voices saying no to King? More shame for them, but that’s becoming so common that we are ceased to be shocked at how much shame out unions are swimming in.
The other fact is that education, while our livelihoods, is just another second-tier issue to not only politicians, but the public in general. Privatizing education is about the only thing that really gets politicians putting it on front burners. A secretary of Ed nomination. Yawn. Mail that vote in.
Lets start taking moments like this and seeing them clearly.
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You surprise me with this comment. Who cares about John King? One year of meaningless servitude under the new ESS is all he gets. King can’t rescind the NY Regents Reform Agenda from his lame duck office in DC. Now that the USDOE/King has been neutered, political efforts must be directed, in our case, directly to the new Board of Regents – and specifically our new chancellor, Ms. Parks.
King is now relegated to the smoldering ash heap of FAILED reformers: Rhee, Duncan, Bush, Cuomo, Brown, Coleman, Petrelli, Gates, et. al.
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Rage, King is presiding over the rule making committee that will determine how ESSA rolls out. How can you claim he is harmless? Arne Duncan, his mentor and former boss, remade the job into something akin to education dictator, using money as a weapon to get things done. King will follow in his footsteps.
I think it is very naive to think that King can be ignored and that he will have no influence or power. He is backed by neoconservatives, Wall Street, and neoliberals. He has plenty of room to work his evil.
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Excellent point Chris. I’m a little fuzzy on the rule making comment. Can you give us some specifics regarding the damage King could inflict? Thanks.
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This was Diane’s posting about the DOE announcing the regulatory committee:
“Here is the list of people chosen to write the regulations for the new federal law, Every Student Succeeds Act. The regulations are crucial for interpreting the law.
Not everyone is pleased. Some see the hand of the Gates Foundation in the choices.
Interesting that Exxon Mobil gets a member of the committee, a Republican who served in the George W. Bush administration but is now education program director of Exxon Mobil. If you recall, the CEO of Exxon Mobil Rex Tillerson said that American schools were producing a “defective product” (our kids).”
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I really liked Diane’s second paragraph, a positive message of hope. I hope King can inspire Opt Outs in my neck of the woods.
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why…why…why? we need to get our message and our narrative out there … people do not get it …they do not know the full story !!!
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There’s no debate on market-based ed reform in DC because they all agree on it.
The one and only issue they argue about re: public schools is whether the same set of policies and practices we’ve had for the last 15 years should be put in at the federal level or at the state level. To me they’re mostly irrelevant, because I get the same approach either way- there’s no debate in my state government either.
After 8 years of Bush followed by 8 years of Obama any dissenter in DC has probably been pushed out (or fled) by now. It doesn’t take a genius to figure out that reciting this mantra is the one and only career move if one wants any influence or really A JOB in DC. It’s self-selecting. They’re already fanning out to state legislatures to put the same policies in at the state level, where they’re likely to get much more extreme on testing and installing “choice” systems to replace existing public systems given that the majority of states have GOP governors and state legislatures.
The National PTA just gave Arne Duncan and his wife a lifetime achievement award. They’re not re-examining any of this. They’re doubling down. They believe it;s been a huge success.
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A lifetime achievement award !?!?! for what ? a rim shot ? he is a hack…he has no deep khowledge or wisdom about educating our students…he has done great damage with his ignorance…
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test
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Did any of the Senators mention that kids in more than 30 states have lost funding for their schools under ed reform leadership at the federal and state level over the last 7 years?
I know these are mundane and parochial concerns and probably not of much interest to the bold and innovative, but that’s what actually happened. That’s their record on “support of public schools”. Whole systems are collapsing. Philadelphia, Chicago, the state of Pennsylvania, the state of Louisiana.
Bobby Jindal dug such a deep hole with creative accounting his successor will have to raise taxes or close schools amid a slump in energy prices. All this was happening under their noses while they were spending billions opening charter schools and putting in data collection systems. “Out of touch” doesn’t begin to describe it. They live in a different country.
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Reblogged this on David R. Taylor-Thoughts on Education and commented:
I love the rubber stamp process. This nomination goes through without a sound and yet republicans are whining about the selection of the next SC Justice.
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I love how they focus on how King went to public schools.
The vast majority of people went to public schools and outside DC people don’t actually hate public schools. Hundreds of millions of successful people attended public schools.
Is he really an outlier in that world? They had to look to find someone in the ed reform circle who attended a public school?
Bravo! Next they’ll conduct a nationwide search for someone who attended a non-Ivy League college. If they search really hard they may come up with ONE who isn’t “mediocre”, but it will be difficult!
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True that. A graduate of public schools who zealously supports charters. What a hoax.
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“John King did more than anyone else to create the parent-led opt out movement in New York. If he continues to promote high-stakes testing, maybe he can do the same for the nation.”
Good point; moreover, without hope (for this outcome, among others), we’re lost in any case.
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Clowns to the left, Jokers to the right……..
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So if I do a piss-poor job I get fired as a teacher, but if John King does a piss -poor job (or any reformer) he gets promoted?
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Yes. What we consider a “poor job” was King (like any school privatization leader) doing exactly what he was supposed to do. Namely, he was weakening the existing public school system through test and punish regulations and helping the proliferation of charter school companies whose ubiquity will eventually collapse many districts. We say “boo”. His millionaire allies say “nicely done.”
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There’s no need to add any words to this man. I’ll let the music speak for itself.
KING NOTHING (Hetfield/Ulrich/Hammett)
Wish I may
Wish I might
Have this I wish tonight
Are you satisfied?
Dig for gold
Dig for fame
You dig to make your name
Are you pacified?
All the wants you waste
All the things you’ve chased
Then it all crashes down
And you break your crown
And you point your finger but there’s no one around
Just want one thing
Just to play the King
But the castle’s crumbled and you’re left with just a name
Where’s your crown, King Nothing?
Where’s your crown?
Hot and cold
Bought and sold
A heart as hard as gold
Yeah! Are you satisfied?
Wish I might, Wish I may
You wish your life away
Are you pacified?
All the wants you waste
All the things you’ve chased
Then it all crashes down
And you break your crown
And you point your finger, but there’s no one around
Just want one thing
Just to play the King
But the castle’s crumbled and you’re left with just a name
Where’s your crown, King Nothing?
Where’s your crown?
Huh!
(Spoken)
Wish I may, wish I might
Have this wish, I wish tonight
I want that star, I want it now
I want it all and I don’t care how
Careful what you wish
Careful what you say
Careful what you wish you may regret it
Careful what you wish you just might get it
Then it all crashes down
And you break your crown
And you point your finger, but there’s no one around
Just want one thing
Just to play the King
But the castle’s crumbled and you’re left with just a name
Where’s your crown, King Nothing?
Where’s your crown?
Oh, You’re just nothing
Where’s your crown King Nothing?
Oh, you’re just nothing
Absolutely nothing
Off to never, never land
© 1997 Blackened Recordings
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Yesterday, the website, Truthout, posted an article from the Center for Media and Democracy that chronicles the plotting behind public school privatization, including 172 ALEC education bills in 2015, listed by state.
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Cashing in on Kids: 172 ALEC Education Bills Push Privatization in 2015
http://www.truth-out.org/news/item/35144-cashing-in-on-kids-172-alec-education-bills-push-privatization-in-2015
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