Bloomberg News reports that Whitney Tilson, founder of DFER and advocate for TFA and other corporate reforms, has announced that he is closing down his hedge fund.
I do not repeat this news with any pleasure, as I grew to like Whitney Tilson even though I disagreed with him strongly about charter schools, KIPP, public schools, privatization, teacher tenure, and other issues. We never met, but we exchanged letters that he and I simultaneously posted. (See here and here and here.) I wanted to change the arrangement and ask him questions, so I wrote my questions but he never had time to answer back. By the way, all the links are included in the last post.
At one point, before we started our conversation we exchanged emails in which we wrote each other about our personal histories. Whitney comes from good people. I couldn’t feel anything negative about him once I got to know him by email, even though we still disagreed.
Whitney has a history of social activism. Maybe he will reconsider and join us in our fight to preserve the public sector against corporate raiders. I wish him well as he straightens out his business and his future.
Diane Ravitch's blog 
Well, Diane, I appreciate that you got to know and like Whitney, despite his mistaken views about charters, TFA, et al. But I cannot feel one bit of sympathy for him, even while I realize that you do.
People like him have caused far too much damage to the cause of public education for me to break out the violins.
I don’t wish him evil, but I don’t give him sympathy, either.
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Personally, I would give him no quarter, since he already took all my nickels and dimes.
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Likewise, LeftCoastTeacher, I think Diane is far too kind and magnanimous, especially since Tilson appears to be one of those “nice guys” who’ll slip a knife between your ribs at an opportune moment, a union-busting “liberal.” No thanks.
Personally, I wouldn’t p#%s on him if his heart was on fire.
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Heart Burn”
Pissing on a burning heart
Means a heart is there at start
Else the logic makes no sense
Fuel-less fire’s like pole-less tents
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“top-less tents” is prolly better because there actually are pole-less tents
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Come on Zorba
You won’t even break out the world’s smallest violin?
https://youtu.be/-2XwzmQbuTw
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LOL! Nope, Poet, not even the tiniest.
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If only more of the dialogue and debate in our country was this principled.and thoughtful.
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I seem to recall some highfaluting education writer or other characterizing Tilson’s vicious insults toward you as high-minded discussion, or something like that. I was honored when Tilson attacked my blog from his years ago. I felt I’d really made an impact.
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I truly admire Diane, with her ability to look past the destruction and devastation to the lives of millions of children and teachers wrought by greedy public institution privateers like Tilson, Obama, and Clinton, and see the humanity of them. I am not gifted with that ability. I do not care if their highly polished façades of gentility or professionally crafted personas of intellect appeal to ones senses on meeting them. I only think of my students. If I were to engage with one of the privatization and testing monsters, I would hope it would be in a dark alley in the middle of the night, bad news for the monster. I will celebrate Tilson’s losses tonight. I hope he cries me a river.
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I bet Tilson has more personal resources left than the 7,000 plus New Orleans teachers fired after Katrina did combined. No sympathy from me whatsoever.
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I never met Tilson. He started a blog called “Refuting Ravitch,” obviously targeted at me.
I try to avoid schaudenfreude, which I think means enjoying the misery of your enemies.
They have ruined the lives of many children, teachers, and principals. No question.
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Schadenfreude is my favorite word. I respect your avoidance of it, but you know you’ll feel it if our Dear Leader ever gets what he deserves. 😉 And I also love the word Gemeinschaftgefühl, which means the good feelings one has when one is part of a community. I feel that here every now and then.
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I hope you feel it here.
I will enjoy schadenfreude if Dear Leader is exposed as a mighty fraud. Because he is.
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“Drink no whine, before it’s time”
Schadenfreude’s well deserved
When the public’s prepped and served
Served upon a silver plate
Dinner as their final fate
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Personally, I think “their highly polished façades of gentility or professionally crafted personas of intellect” make people like Tilson (and many, many others on both sides of the aisle) more evil because those facades are carefully crafted to hide the cruelty and suppress dissent. Frankly, if someone has their boot on my neck, I’d prefer that they weren’t civilized about it, which is why, as I’ve said before, even though I find Trump odious, I do appreciate how he let’s his cruelty and evil all hang out for the world to see. I’ll take a Trump over a Tilson any day – at least I know what I’m fighting.
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I agree, Dienne. I would rather see the hatred in their eyes and hear the hatred in their screaming and ranting and know what to expect, as opposed to those who who are all oily, smooth, and ostensibly polite until they get close enough to slip the stiletto into your back.
“O villain, villain, smiling, damned villain!
My tables, — meet it is I set it down,
That one may smile, and smile, and be a villain.”
“Hamlet”
Act I, scene 5
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The US Department of Education spent another work day promoting private schools:
https://content.govdelivery.com/accounts/USED/bulletins/1ba0c1b
Not a single advocate or spokesperson for public schools was invited to this elite event, so I’m sure no one noticed.
What a shame that we have a federal government that is opposed to 90% of US schools. Completely irrelevant to public school families.
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Diane, you’re a better person than me. I think Whitney is pond scum and shall always be.
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You are a generous soul, Diane, but I cannot be so charitable. In addition to the money and personal energy he has devoted to reform, he uttered an unforgivable phrase in a panel discussion several years ago. He was asked why he supported tough, “no excuses” discipline for kids of color in charter schools while sending his own kids to private schools where such discipline would be unthinkable. “Because they need it,” he said, obviously referring to poor brown and black children. Those four words speak volumes.
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That’s so disgusting. And it is that kind of attitude — so prevalent in the so-called “not for profit” charters that believe in no excuses for 5 year old and endless excuses for their own staff and CEO — that led to the NAACP calling for a moratorium on charters.
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