John Merrow has followed the D.C. fiasco closely. He has been all over D.C. since he spent three years celebrating Michelle Rhee’s Leadership, then realized she was a fraud.
Here he is again, citing the D.C. sham, concentrated first on test scores, then graduation rates.
“Friends,
“Campbell’s Law teaches us that, when too much pressure is placed on a single measurement, that measurement inevitably becomes corrupted to the point of being useless. A straightforward analogy is to physical health. An individual who worries only about weight is a strong candidate for anorexia and bulimia. On the other hand, the person who pays attention to muscle and skin tone, flexibility, endurance, a balanced diet, daily exercise, and personal appearance–as well as weight–is NOT a candidate for an eating disorder.
“The same principle applies to education: When a system values (and measures) many aspects of schooling, such as the amount of art and music, the time devoted to recess, student attendance, teacher attendance, teacher turnover, and academic achievement, the school and its students, teachers and staff are likely to be ‘balanced.’ When only test scores or graduation rates matter, bad things are guaranteed to happen.
“Evidence of educational anorexia and bulimia isn’t hard to find. The absence of art, music, science, and recess is one clear sign. Lots of test-prep is another clear indicator. Rallies for ‘higher test scores’ is strong evidence. At home, check on your child’s anxiety level. Stomach aches before the days of standardized testing? Trouble sleeping? It’s all right there in front of us.
“Under Washington DC Schools Chancellor Michelle Rhee (2007-2010), all that counted was test scores, and before long adults began cheating, knowing that their jobs depended on raising scores. Under her successor, Kaya Henderson (2010-2016), raising graduation rates became the Holy Grail, and we now know what transpired: hundreds of seniors–one third of the graduating class–were given diplomas even though they had been skipping school regularly or had otherwise not followed the rules. Her successor as Chancellor, Antwan Wilson, not only failed to monitor and correct that situation; he also broke his own rules and illegally transferred his daughter into a selective high school, bypassing the lottery.
“It’s impossible not to conclude that Washington has been sold a bill of goods by ‘reformers’ like Rhee, Henderson and others. That narrative has been widely accepted and spread by the pundit class and former Secretary of Education Arne Duncan.
“The reaction to the DC fiasco has been revealing. Those on the far right, including current Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos, have expressed outrage. DeVos has called for an FBI investigation and for more ‘school choice.’ That’s also been the call from The Manhattan Institute, which claims “The only thing that’s actually worked in Washington, D.C., has been school choice.” Frankly, these guys and gals will do anything they can to undermine public education.”””
Read on.
Diane Ravitch's blog 
“It’s impossible not to conclude that Washington has been sold a bill of goods by ‘reformers’ like Rhee, Henderson and others [like me, John Merrow]. That narrative has been widely accepted and spread by the pundit class [Hi there, me again] and former Secretary of Education Arne Duncan.”
We need to allow folks to have a change of heart… I believe Diane Ravitch’s had a change of heart on tests… if the scales have fallen from John Merrow’s eyes let’s hope that those who read his paeans to “reform” will now accept his critiques… though It will take some doing for the “true believers” to change their minds like Mr. Merrow has…
Merrow still does not admit the true magnitude of his own role.
He essentially pleads ignorance:
“I chronicled Michelle Rhee’s time as Chancellor (12 reports over 3 years) and later produced “The Education of Michelle Rhee” for the PBS series, “Frontline.” Unfortunately, it was only AFTER the Frontline broadcast that I obtained the memo that reveals the extent of Rhee’s and Henderson’s knowledge of the widespread erasures”
First, he did much more than merely “chronicle” Rhee’s policies. He was an active cheerleader for them, using his platform at PBS to effectively disseminate propaganda to the public.
Second, he wants us all to believe that he needed a memo to “prove” the “extent of Rhee’s and Henderson’s knowledge of the widespread erasures” in order to appreciate the destructive nature of Rhee’s policies.That’s a lot of nonsense. Whether Rhee knew about the erasures or not is quite irrelevant to whether the policies were destructive.
Merrow would now be much more believable if he prefaced every article with an admission that he was one of the people who elevated Rhee to her position of “education expert”.
and very powerful others LIKE ME, JOHN MERROW. bingo.
Surprised no one is looking at Success Academy whose gains are also so large they’re supposed to trigger audits. No one doubts they outdo public schools, as they selectively enroll the best test takers and then conduct intensive all day test prep. But when their own internal investigator suggested cheating was going on, they fired and discredited him instead of investigating further.
The media and the SUNY Board that authorizes Success Academy schools also let it go, assuming the investigator must have been mistaken or something…
I live in metro WashDC. It seems like every day, there is some kind of scandal or malfeasance. I think the federal government should just shut down the public school system in DC, and take it over with a federally-appointed commissioner. It is a rat’s nest, and a disgrace. No wonder, that no children of congressmen nor senators, attend DC public schools.
But Charles,the DC system is overrun with choice. Half the kids are in charters.
The director has been forced to resign, the allegations are that he rigged the lottery. The nation’s capital’s schools are a national disgrace.
Choice plans get rigged to favor the wealthy.
DC is awash in choice.
Who was helped.
Detroit is awash in choice. Who was helped?
There is much to appreciate in this post by Merrow, but the statement, “When a system values and measures many aspects of schooling… teachers and staff are likely to be balanced” is cause for concern. The problem is measuring schools, not which aspect is the focus of measurement. Campbell’s Law applies to all measures, including muscle tone, flexibility… instructional time, attendance rates, graduation rates… every measurement. People can exercise physically and mentally without measuring themselves, and it’s a lot healthier without the measuring. The whole idea of measuring and rating schools is the lid to Pandora’s Box of surveys, data gathering, data publishing, and school closures. Don’t touch it. Look, Merrow is a recovering DPE (Destroyers of Public Education) addict. He’s getting better, but he hasn’t gone cold turkey yet.
I can appreciate Merrow’s pieces about the mess and scandals in the DC schools.
But seriously. It took him THREE long years to figure out the Rhee was a charlatan? That her claims were baseless?
Sometimes people only see what they want to see.