We have observed frequently that reformers almost always have a soft landing in a cushy job, even when their previous endeavor was a dud.
Thus Chris Barbic led the Achievement School District in Tennessee, promising to raise the schools in the bottom 5% to the top 25% in five years; it didn’t happen (five of the six schools in the first cohort are still in the bottom 5%, and the sixth is in the bottom 10%). No matter. Barbic now works for the John Arnold Foundation in what must be a less stressful job.
John King was a disaster as state commissioner in New York. Now he is Secretary of Education.
The eight years of Obama’s education policies were a nightmare for the teaching profession and public schools, with everyone struggling for survival.
Arne Duncan now works for Laurene Powell Jobs, Steve Jobs’ widow. And one of his top deputies, James Shelton, was just hired as advisor to Mark Zuckerberg and his wife Priscilla Chan. Shelton previously worked for the Gates Foundation. Life is good if you are a reformer.
Diane Ravitch's blog 
For some time I have observed that “The Peter Principle” in which individuals are promoted to their level of incompetence does not apply in education, where they keep on getting promoted no matter how incompetent.
Political patronage???
Don’t forget sleazy John Deasy, who almost bankrupted LAUSD, wreaked havoc with the computer systems, mis-appropriated construction bond money for iPads…….
Since you brought up Deasy, it’s a good time to recall how he lived high-off the hog with his LAUSD expense account while he served as LAUSD Superintendent of Schools. (The article BELOW mentions that he “declined to be interviewed for this story.” Yeah… I would, too, if I were him.)
http://www.scpr.org/blogs/education/2014/11/25/17602/before-lausd-travel-ban-former-superintendent-flew/
No one did anything to stop this, while Deasy’s corporate reform defenders justified all this by saying a school superintendent is like the “CEO of G.E.”. Deasy was just doing his job “representing that organization to the outside world and advocating on its behalf.
“It’s no different for school superintendents as it is for the head of GE,” Casserly said.
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KPCC Radio’s Annie Gilbertson:
“Former Los Angeles Unified School District Superintendent John Deasy traveled more than 100,000 miles last school year, equivalent to circling the globe four times, according to a KPCC analysis of credit card records.
“Before he stepped down, Deasy charged more than 30 business trips to his district-issued American Express card over the course of the 2013-2014 school year, traveling to New York and Washington, D.C., at least five times each.
“LAUSD’s contract with Deasy, who remains on the payroll as an administrator until the end of the year, states the district is responsible for his expenses. But the Wasserman Foundation, a private family foundation headed by Casey Wasserman, ultimately covers the tab, district officials confirmed.
“Deasy continued to travel on district business even after he announced his resignation Oct. 16. His decision to step down followed a string of problems with the rollout of key technology projects and growing tension with school board members.
“His successor, Ramon Cortines, issued a travel ban on Oct. 27, the day after Deasy and more than 20 senior staff wrapped up at a Council of Great City Schools conference in Milwaukee.
” ‘Our top priority in this District is to ensure that we meet the needs of our students,’ Cortines wrote in a staff memo on the travel ban, making no mention of the Milwaukee trip.
” ‘There are critical issues that must be addressed now to guarantee student success. These challenges require the focus and attention of all school and office-based staff members.’
“Deasy declined to be interviewed for this story.
“Michael Casserly, executive director for the Council of Great City Schools, said urban superintendents are often required to travel, be it to testify before legislatures or to share best practices with other leaders in the education field.
” ‘Being the head of any organization is representing that organization to the outside world and advocating on its behalf,’ Casserly said. He said he travels about 40 percent of the month representing a coalition of the nation’s largest urban school districts.
” ‘It’s no different for school superintendents as it is for the head of GE,’ Casserly said.
A MUST-SEE Graphic / Map: Deasy’s travels
(Click on the above image to enlarge it. Map by KPCC’s news clerk Daniella Segura.)
“KPCC obtained two years’ worth of Deasy’s credit card expenses, beginning on June 30, 2012 and extending through the end of June 2014, the close of the district’s fiscal year.
“The records show Deasy charged flights, hotel rooms, meals and ground transportation costs for visits to Aspen, Austin, Birmingham and Boston, among other locations. In all, Deasy logged more than 100,000 miles in the air, according to KPCC analysis of flight purchases.
“To get a better idea of Deasy’s monthly expenses, KPCC examined charges in August 2013, during which Deasy bought tickets to Washington, D.C., New York, Pittsburgh and Albuquerque.
“His local restaurant bills reached $630 for the month with per meal prices ranging from $25 to $250 at Fleming’s Steakhouse. Fleming’s tasting menu starts at $45 per person.
“His expenses for the month neared $4,800, including $1,340 for a three-night stay at the W in D.C., which Travel Advisor lists as a luxury hotel.
“The district was not immediately able to provide the purpose of each of Deasy’s trips.
“Cortines, in contrast, is not expected to be packing up as often.
” ‘Mr. Cortines does not have any trips scheduled, nor has he traveled since he took the [helm],’ said district spokeswoman Monica Carazo in an email.
“It’s not unusual for LAUSD and partner foundations to accept donations to stretch limited school budgets.
“According to the most recent tax records available on GuideStar, which tracks nonprofits, the Wasserman Foundation donated $1 million to the district and $875,000 to the LAUSD Educational Foundation in 2012.
“Credit card records show Wasserman Foundation’s support bolstered Deasy’s ability to travel around the country at a time when schools were still recovering from thousands of recession-era layoffs.
“The foundation did not return requests for comment on its funding priorities.
“The foundation’s website states ‘we are committed to funding and partnering with education initiatives in Los Angeles that are focused on transforming our public schools.’ Tax records show the foundation made donations to many education reform nonprofits, including Teach for America ($500,000) and Parent Revolution ($250,000).
“Unlike Deasy, Cortines is not closely aligned with self-described education reformers, who champion charter school expansion and tying teacher pay to test scores.
“The district could not confirm if the Wasserman Foundation will also fund travel for Cortines.
” ‘If a trip does come up, it will depend on the type of travel requested or required,’ Carazo said in an email.
“Deasy was in a position to influence how foundation money was spent. He is listed as the president of the LAUSD Educational Foundation, a repository for financial gifts to the district, according to its most recent tax filing.
“The school board approves the district’s operating budget, but does not oversee the LAUSD Educational Foundation’s cash, according to financial records.
“According to the latest filing on GuideStar, Melissa Infusino served as the LAUSD Educational Foundation’s executive director. Infusino manages another nonprofit that Deasy established, the LA Fund, which solicits philanthropic support for Deasy’s key initiatives, including the Breakfast in the Classroom program, as well as grants to teachers for supplies.
“Infusino could not be reached for comment on the spending at either nonprofit.”
Amazing detective work!
This isn’t particularly an education thing. Once you achieve a certain level of prominence in almost any field, you’re generally guaranteed lucrative employment, no matter how badly you screwed up.
One thing I’ve observed in the hiring process is that often organizations look for experience in certain capacities, but don’t care a whole lot about how successful you were in those capacities. “You have experience managing people? Great! That’s what we need.”
Those political rephormers can always rely on the “DFER List”, a nifty website, with candidate pictures from lots of states, for positions from local school board to senator. The beauty of it is that Impoverished citizens can go to site and “max out” campaign contributions to Mayor 1%, at $5,400, Cory Booker, at $5,400 and Michel Bennett at $2,700, and lots of other candidates living far from their communities.
Reformers never fail because our entire education policy has been hijacked by all things “charter.” Their failures rarely reach the ears and eyes of the public. The billionaires and corporations have declared that charters are fantastic. Why should we then stop and consider evidence to the contrary? Corporations wouldn’t want reality, democracy or millions of dollars of waste and fraud to get in their way. The “reformers” are Machiavellian in pursuit of their goals. That is why they can lie, cheat and steal in order to burnish their message of public school failure on the collective consciousness of the public.
The corporate reformers are one big happy family that worships at the alter of avarice.
Best of all, if you are a rheeformer, your work will never be done. The system will always need newer and better rheeforms. (Beat you to it Krazy T.A.)
I acknowledge myself bested.
😎
Since most of the “reform” is politically motivated and by that I mean they support it because they get elected by looking like they are “education” minded. The only true way to get rid of all this reform is to vote them out. That means we have to find more pro public education people to run for office. Trouble is that a lot of times that means the new people become the problem.
When do parasites fail? Never: once they killed their host, they move on to the next one. When do parasites stop? Only when they run out of unprotected hosts.
Parasites really don’t know anything better than live off other creatures.
This is why there is no use to argue with reformers or billionaires; we cannot appeal to their conscience because they don’t have any: they think what they do is necessary for their survival. And, if you think about it, they are right.
The only thing we can do is make sure, they run out of unprotected hosts.
The other day, I was looking at the ivy covered backyard of my ex wife. All the trees were hidden under the ivy; it was beautiful, majestic even. But the trees were dying underneath, they barely had any of their own leaves left; it seemed, they were doomed.
We first made wild plans about getting gallons of chemicals and a chainsaw. It looked hopeless. I then just grabbed a pair of rusty garden scissors and cut all the ivies at the base of the trees. It took less than an hour. Within a week, the ivies withered away.
Maybe our job is this simple. We just have to find the entry points of the parasites of education, and make cuts there. I suspect, there aren’t many of these entry points; perhaps just as many as the number of billionaires.
Making the billionaires wither, we probably will save more than education: we’ll save a whole forest, a forest we have long forgotten what it looked like.
Your headline made me laugh out loud. In retrospect, I have no idea why because it’s absolutely true and I can’t remotely figure what’s funny about it.
Should they all go the way of Michelle Rhee and front for fertilizer? Oh, I forgot, that was what she was doing while she was pushing charters at Students First, and all of her TFA and TNTP iterations. Shame on her for what she did in Washington, and on the others who allowed her to do it. It wasn’t until the voters got rid of the head, that they got rid of the body. That is why she and her disgusting hubby/mayor kept putting up mayoral control. When they can bypass democracy, they smile all the way to the bank. Anyhow….fertilizer salesman — how fitting for her royal Rheeness.
“Connections Rule”
Reformers never fail
Though policies go bust
They always get the bail
And never seem to rust
“From Harvard’s brainy trust”
We don’t live in a meritocracy. We live in a parrotocracy, with ,parrots like Thomas Friedman repeating the establishment mantra
“establishment types pay no price for being wrong in really big ways in their areas of expertise. This is best exemplified by Friedman himself. He can be wrong on every single thing he writes, every day of his life, and it will not in any way jeopardize his standing as one of the country’s most respected commentators on policy and politics.” — Thomas Friedman’s Bargain basement punditry (Dean Baker
“The Parrotocracy”
A parrotocracy
Where parrots rule the roost
A bird-brained punditry
To which we all are used
And what do parrots leave around the tree?
But it’s not fair to the parrots: they are happy, lovely, colorful people, very unlike the reform minded, boring jargonists. I do not mind cleaning up around parrots, they don’t know what they are doing. On the other hand, reformists can both comprehend what they are doing and could clean up their crap. They just choose not to.
The companion headline from “The Reformer” in their alternate universe:
“We Never Fail! Our Policies Never Fail! Only Teacher Implementation Fails!”
This is the real Lemon Dance, that of incompetent leaders with less than no knowledge of education imposing failed policies and declaring victory as they turn to walk away. There is no Superman to be waited for among the reformers, there’s nothing there but kryptonite for public education and the super teachers who work in our schools.
It’s that revolving door. It appears that Baltimore City Schools has gone from the frying pan into the fire with the appointment of pro-privatization, Common Core-lovin’ Sonja Brookins Santelieses who describes herself as “one of the founders of TFA”, and hails most recently from the ironically-named “The Education Trust”
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/mercedes-schneider/education-trust-profoundl_b_6460576.html
The school board, stacked with real estate developers, held a secret search and interview process, canned the existing CEO (who dared to question charter schools’ over-funding), and foisted a Rhee-wannabee on us, at a salary of $298,000 a year.
Way to go, Baltimore City School board!
Cushy landings, indeed!