Steven Singer has written an urgent message to members of Congress:
Stop hiring TFA as your education staff. Hire a real teacher.
TFA staff comes free to members of Congress, because a California tech billionaire pays for them.
It is a Trojan horse gift. They join your staff to advocate for TFA and its interests.
Hire a career educator to advise you.
His advice rings true for me personally. In 2010, I had a meeting with Iowa Senator Tom Hardin, who was chair of the Committee in charge of education. Richard Rothstein and I told him that NCLB was a disaster. He was shocked to hear this. His staff assured him that it was a great success. His staff was TFA.
Diane Ravitch's blog 
What do you mean?
Doesn’t TFA stand for Truth For America? and
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or..Teaching Fraud America
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Trojanhorse For America
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TFA tells them what they want to hear- that schools and teachers can solve all the national problems. It’s a very appealing message to politicians- it means no one else has to do anything. Of course they all grabbed it. Wouldn’t you?
Look at how they all lock-step adopted “the skills gap” as an explanation and cure for income inequality and stagnating wages. They pick and choose the economic theories that shift responsibility FROM them TO someone else. The “skills gap” isn’t fact- it’s one economic theory put forward by a relatively small group of people, but they LOVED it and all started repeating it like crazed parrots. There’s a reason they choose the theories they do. Whatever entails the least political risk and least effort and least investment- that’s the one they like.
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Correct & on point, Chiara. Absolutely nothing turns that around except ground-level activism which threatens to vote them out of office. The days of constituents being able to sit back & assume their elected representative actually represent their core concerns– as advertised during campaign– are history. Today, you have to (a)vote, (b)make lots of noise to ensure the elected vote your interests, (c)vote them out if they don’t.
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Too many legislators operate in a bubble surrounded by those the billionaires and corporations want them to hear. The midterms should show them that many candidates that are supporters of public education ousted pro-privatization candidates. Hopefully, this change will offer some balance in congress.
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It’s a nice, hopeful thought. However, until we turn around the last 35 yrs’ laws that spawn billionaires & encourage them to define policy via campaign/ lobbying $ influence that overrides constituents’ druthers, voting in candidates w/pro-public-goods platforms is just pot luck.
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allow me a similar experience. A number of years ago I got an invitation to meet with then Congressman Chaka Fattah of Philadelphia (now in prison) – he had two pet bills for which he wanted attention (he was not on the relevant committee in the House). I met with him and staff, and the bills were interesting enough I agreed to write about them for Daily Kos. At the time I was on the board for the then forthcoming Save Our Schools March in DC, so when he asked what he could do for me, I told him about it, and he got very excited, telling me he could get the Congressional Black Caucus to support it and that he wanted to speak. I saw the aide who had arranged the meeting make a face. Nothing every came of his excited utterance, and when I explored with a person on his staff I was informed that aide was former TFA and she had quashed any possible interest the Congressman had. Poking around a bit more, I found that about 1/2 of the Democratic House caucus had staffers dealing w/education who were former TFA, which of course created problems.
I actually had two congress persons prepared to speak at that conference, at which you Diane were a key speaker, but Boehner put the House in session that day so neither could come – neither had been announced because they were not sure of the schedule. All I will say is that one is about to become the chair of a key committee (not on education).
When TFA used to brag about their alumni involved in education, they would include people who were Congressional staffers – as if they had real expertise after 2 years of teaching.
And as a warning – just because one is a former teacher does not mean they have the best interest of teachers at heart. I once lobbied in Obama’s Senate office with Monty Neill of Fairtest. Obama’s education person was a Ph. D physics teacher who at one point got excited by an idea Monty offered, but wanted to know if we had proposed it to anyone else, because if we had he would not pass it on to Obama since he wouldn’t get full credit for it. That aide was later a key WH staffer on education, so go figure.
I used to be very active in this sphere. And with as many new Dems coming into the H in January, there is a part of me that wanted to explore reaching out for a staff position – after all, I was ABD in educational policy studies. But I was not active in campaigns, I don’t blog as much as I used to, and no staff job would come close to matching my current salary as a teacher, which is actually fairly substantial. So I have NOT leaned on any of my many contacts to try to get such a job
Still, if someone reached out to me and asked I would have to explore, if I felt I could make a difference. Obviously until January 20, 2021, the effect would be limited by the presence of Trump and DeVos. And I am now as of yesterday 72 1/2 years old, and not sure if I still have the passion to do such things – I rarely even blog nowadays.
TFA has done great damage to education in this country. There are those who went through it and took teaching seriously enough – I can think of several I now personally, and a few more whose online work I know and respect.
I do agree that teachers who have also gone beyond the limits of their own classrooms/schools are a valuable resource and Congressional offices should seriously consider engaging them.
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TFA idoes not provide education “experts.” They provide lobbyists for privatization.
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Perfect summation- retired teacher
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YES; flat, ungarnished truth: sure, here and there we can point to a person who does not conform to this model, but it is THIS model which controls the game.
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Yes, Steven, exactly right, we need a teacher there and in every state education dept. Did folks see the notorious Dennis Wolcott accompanying the notorious Michael Bloomberg when the billionaire former mayor deposited $1.8billion on Johns Hopkins? Bloomberg is running for 2020 as a repackaged Democrat. Wolcott took over as NYC schools Chancellor when the billionaire drove the middle class out of this city with his runaway high-rise condo gentrification, while Wolcott helped loot the public schools to finance privatization. Bloomberg is cultivating his persona for 2020 with the big gift to JH dedicated to financing high-achieving low-income applicants, followed up with an op-ed in the NYTimes about student debt. Looks like he’s on track to become the leading Pres. candidate for Dems in 2020.
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we need a teacher there and in every state education dept.
The fact that there is no teacher there is not an oversight, of course.
And Bloomberg is so transparent with his recent gift. But lots of people will buy into his rebranding effort.
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No way Bloomberg has a chance.
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Agree, Leonie, Bloomberg hasn’t a chance, but so glad he thinks he does & that $-1.8 billion to JHopkins might cinch it.
That institution is dear to my heart. When our eldest died from an intertwining of rare genetic phys disease w/bipolar disorder, we looked for a place to raise funds for– someplace that specialized in that combo. We learned that outside of Howard Hughes Med Inst (which is self-funding), JH is the only place stateside that researches the body-mind connection in disease & then continuously trials research results in clinical practice. I applaud Bloomberg’s donation supporting the funneling of best & brightest minds into JHU.
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Leonie may be right that Bloomberg has no chance, but his vast wealth gives him power to make the outrageous happen, like when he bought himself a third term for Mayor of NYC despite TWO previous votes against it by the people of NYC. He bullied and bought the City Council into approving his coup and the NYTimes, POST, and Daily News billionaire chiefs he met with also went along with it, 12 yrs for the billionaire Mike but only 8 for the rest. If the Democrats campaign to their right as most likely in 2020, that gives Bloomberg an opening.
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The last thing the Democrats need in 2020 is a white, male, multi-billionaire on the ticket.
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Well, the education policy factory has another subsidiary in D.C. It’s new to me- EducationCounsel. The organization’s “partners” (WTH does that mean, is it a shadowy way to describe funders?) include Lumina, CAP, College Board and the ever present Helmsley Foundation.
A senior policy advisor with the organization boasts 3 years managing Aspen’s Gates-funded Senior Congressional Education Staff Network which infamously described its
goal, to create a “safe space” for policy development. What an embarrassing admission that constituents would object to what their representatives are hearing from and doing for the donor class.
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I looked at EducationCounsel. It is part of a very large corporation with legal and policy expertise, especially for federal and state policies in the South and among states on the East coast. The larger company is Nelson Mullins Riley & Scarborough LLP– Attorneys and Counselors at Law. (see whisper type at the Education Counsel website)
A brief look at staff at EducationCounsel shows that some have advanced degrees from the Relay Graduate (sic) School of Education. Some began with TFA. Some have worked for the National Council on Teacher Quality (phony ratings of teacher education programs, promoter of NCLB). Some have experience with Jeb Bush’s corporate friendly Foundation for Excellent Education (FEE) see https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Foundation_for_Excellence_in_Education
My impression is this: EducationCouncil is lobby shop. It has no principled approach to education other than serving clients who want policies shaped by the expertise of the staff.
Almost all of the senior people are former staffers and lawyers with experience in Congress or the Executive branch including the Obama and Trump administrations. The “current partners” (clients) dedicated to “closing the opportunity and achievement gap” include many who are not supporters of public schools but gifted at putting together punitive policies. Here are few.
America Achieves- orginal promoter of the Common Core now self described as an “accelerator that brings together exceptional educators and other leaders with game changing ideas, results-oriented funding, and strategic and operational support to drive success for students at scale.”https://achievethecore.org/author/23/america-achieves
Council of Chief State School Officers also big into promoting the Common Core and ESSA tests with several offspringalso clients of EducationCouncil: a) the National Network of State Teachers of the Year, a program of the Council of Chief State School Officers, and b) Partners for Each and Every Child –lobbyists for the Council of Chief State School Officers in seven states and funded by The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, The Carnegie Corporation of New York, The Ford Foundation, The National Education Association, The American Federation of Teachers, The Stuart Foundation, and The William and Flora Hewlett Foundation.
These are are also clients of EducationCouncil: Laura and John Arnold Foundation, Bloomberg Philanthropies, the Leona M. and Harry B. Helmsley Charitable Trust, the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation, and others who are major supporters of charter schools and tech in schools including Turnaround for Children –lobbyists serving the National Alliance for Public Charter Schools.
Add Jeb Bush’s Foundation for Excellence in Education really hostile to public schools.
Center for American Progress, The College Board, Institute for Higher Education Policy (B&M Gates funded), Lumina Foundation, and more.
In any case this not the only LLC set up to provide ready to use legislation, policy ideas, and advocacy packages for anyone who can pay the fees.
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It is wrong that lobbyists get so cozy with legislators that we can see their fingerprints all over legislation. Nobody voted for them. They should be barred from the legislative process. The ACA and ESSA are replete with corporate giveaways.
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Lobbyists have ever been with us, and will never be barred from the legislative process. Partly because they give industry a voice in policy-making. That was true long before PACS, super-PACS, & Cit-United decision, which put industry in catbird seat ahead of voting constituents; those are the things that need to be barred. But also because legislators are not subject-experts. Once legislators have a handle on the direction of a law that impacts industry, lobbyists assist in writing it so that it’s workable. The public enemy is not lobbyists per se , it’s the top-heavy relationship between private-capital & public influence, which opens $-influenced legislative paths for the former to use the latter for its own ends.
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Thanks Laura-
America has been robbed of its democracy by so many who line their pockets with donor class money, and who, like their masters, contribute nothing to GDP.
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Lobbyist is just a euphemism for the oldest profession.
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They just do their work on couches in lobbies rather than on beds in motels.
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Thanks so much for sharing, Diane. Here’s a link to the original article: https://gadflyonthewallblog.com/2018/11/23/dear-lawmakers-please-hire-teachers-as-education-aides-not-tfa-alumni/
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Now wait just a cotton-picking MINUTE.
Salaries for legislators’ education aides paid by Billanthropists w/Agendas??
Easily googled: funds for congressional and senate staff salaries are appropriated from national budget . Aides are staff.
Congressmen: Staffers are to be paid out of the portion of Members’ Representational Allowance (MRA) allocated to personnel– same for every representative– namely $944,671 per, in 2017. Max any rep can hire is 18FT & 4PT. This Time article http://time.com/3105933/congress-staff-pay/ noted most reps pay ave $30-40k &/or hire fewer than max, funneling $150-240k excess into other expenses…
BUT:
https://www.everycrsreport.com/reports/RL30064.html#_Toc511230144
In intro to use of MRA: ” *A Member is… prohibited from… accepting funds or assistance from a private source for an official activity* ”
Senators: Ditto. Taxpayer $ allocated annually [Senators’ Official Personnel and Office Expense Account (SOPOEA)]. Amount per Senator for personnel is divided between admin/cler assistance (varies by state pop)– and legislative assistance, same for ea Senator. In 2018, $482,958. Can’t find the same restriction on private sources but I’ll bet it’s in Senate Ethics Handbook.
So maybe instead of begging the newly-elected not to use Rock’s freebie TFA alum as education aides, WE SHOULD BE RAISING A STINK ABOUT THIS ILLEGAL PRACTICE!
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Billionaire Arthur Rock also contributed a lot to Marshall Tuck’s campaign. He pays the salaries of every TFA staffer hired by Congress. These staffers protect Appropriations for TFA and charter schools. I haven’t checked lately but TFA has been getting $18 million annually as an earmark.
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We all know from Bill Gates’ actions that he doesn’t subscribe to capitalistic democracy as a form of government. And, we know when he was running Microsoft, he was compelled to testify about monopoly business practices. Less well known is hjs more recent rebuke of capitalism. He created a whole industry of education policy “experts” who are anathema to a free market system because they contribute neither to gross domestic product nor to productivity gains.
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So many TFA employed by the corporate/Gates-funded Center for American Progress… selling charter schools… fully expected.
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