Nancy Bailey is well aware of the dangers to public education today, especially the threats of privatization, data mining, and technological takeover. She saw that the campaigns of Joe Biden and Bernie Sanders created an education unity group and she wondered who was included and who was not included.
She begins with who was left out:
Many want to say good riddance to Education Secretary Betsy DeVos and her boss. But educators and parents fighting for public education, and the ninety percent of students who attend public schools, deserve a more inclusive group of people to push back on harmful school reform. The Biden/Sanders Unity Education Task Force leaves much to be desired.
For example, parents of children with disabilities struggle to teach their children during Covid-19. Classes for their children were never fully funded before the disease. Sen. Bernie Sanders promised better in his Thurgood Marshall Plan. Searching with a magnifying glass, I see no representation for students with disabilities on this panel.
Black and brown parent advocates have started a petition to make the education task force more inclusive.
Where are the scholars from the: National Education Policy Center? Network for Public Education? Defending the Early Years? Economic Policy Center? Where are teachers from the Badass Teachers Association, or representation by those who organized and marched in the Red for Ed rallies? What about parents and school board members who fight for children?
Diane Ravitch's blog 
I was just checking my emails before I sent you a link to this post from Nancy. I was horrified by her report. Why is it that the Biden/Sanders people seem to think that the heads of AFT and NEA are adequate spokesman for public education? Their track record is less than laudatory. It seems like any effective teacher actions have come from the local level with the national organizations only jumping on board on their coattails.
SO DISAPPOINTING. 😱
It’s all kabuki anyway. Task forces are a time honored way of looking like you’re “doing something” rather than actually doing the something that everyone knows needs to be done: https://jacobinmag.com/2020/05/joe-biden-move-left
That’s a really good article Dienne!
I don’t think that Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Sara Nelson need David Sirota to mansplain to them that they are being condescended to.
I don’t think that Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Sara Nelson need David Sirota to mansplain ANYTHING to them.
Maybe Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Sara Nelson should start womansplaining to David Sirota that it is not all about his personal feelings about what is and what is not meaningful for a candidate to do.
Maybe Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Sara Nelson should start womanplaining to David Sirota that it isn’t all about him.
Or maybe they shouldn’t even waste their time, since I suspect that anything they said to Sirota would fall on deaf ears unless it confirms his own superior world view.
Here’s a crazy thought. Maybe, just maybe, Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Sara Nelson already know everything that Sirota is saying about the hard work it takes to enact change, and they also know that electing a Democrat President who they are able to influence is part of doing that hard work.
Parents and public school teachers should petition and protest this committee ASAP. Bailey is correct that this panel does not represent the best interests of public education. They represent the best interests of CAP and DFER, aka privatization pillage. We have been down this road before, and we know where it leads. We must not allow public schools to be marginalized yet again. Biden needs to understand public teachers and parents are watching, and he needs to work for our vote.
The composition of the committee is skewed to favor those that support privatization and big tech. In my opinion there is nothing coming out of the University of Pennsylvania that is good for public education. The AFT and NEA have not been good stewards of protecting the interests of the public school teachers that pay their dues. They have been weak to downright complicit with disrupters. We should check their donor list as they seem to follow the money.
Biden and Bernie need a strong message that this kanagroo committee will not do. Has Biden already forgotten what he said at the NEA forum? We are tired of faux democrats that stab public schools in the back. If Biden needs to refresh his memory, he is the link. https://nationalfile.com/joe-biden-changes-position-on-charter-schools-now-vows-to-get-rid-of-them/ Please note that this link that worked a month ago no longer works. Biden stated loud and clear that supported public education, and he vowed to “get rid of charters.” The fact that this link has been scrubbed is concerning. We should be outraged by such unscrupulous deception.
As disappointing is that Sanders signed on as well. So much for having a public education advocate on his campaign team.
retired teacher,
I don’t remember a single time in December 2019 when Joe Biden promised to “get rid of charters”! Even Bernie Sanders has never said he would “get rid of charters” and neither did Joe Biden, except in that out of context phrase that the TRUMP people were using to scare voters!
Please double check before you post what is really right wing propaganda.
Biden DID say he would support public schools but I do not believe anyone here can find any evidence (except some out of context phrase) where the POLICY of his campaign or his view was “get rid of charters”.
Because if that was the case, Biden would have been to the far left of Bernie Sanders.
This is false propaganda designed to promote the view that no progressive or democrat can be trusted.
You linked to a source that was trying to rile up charter school parents to support Trump to convince them that Biden would close down their charter.
You don’t trust Biden because you say a false post by Trump supporters trying to get charter parents to believe that Biden would shut down their charters, and since now you can find no evidence that Biden supports shutting down charters, you are certain it is a sign of Biden’s “unscrupulous deception”.
There are also groups who said that Bernie promised to turn America into Cuba. But now I am looking and I see that Bernie is not saying that America should look like Cuba anymore. Ergo, Bernie is guilty of “unscrupulous deception” because he promised to turn America into Cuba and now he isn’t promising to turn America into Cuba anymore!
The people trying to deceive you are not Bernie and Biden. It is the far right. And they are very good at it. I think you are very smart and you still linked to a Trump-propaganda tweet as evidence that Biden’s previous policy was to “get rid of charters” and he has now changed that policy because he’s a sell-out.
You are right about the website. It is a right wing propaganda site. They posted it to show Biden opposes so-called choice. It had the best video of Biden’s statement where he said he opposed charter schools. That’s is why I saved it. I watched the Ed. forum and heard him say it myself. If elected, Biden said he would end them.
BTW I listened to the entire field of Democrats for three hours at the NEA Forum, and I know what I heard Biden say. I am not delusional.
“…and so the point is, if I’m President, Betsy DeVos’ whole notion from charter schools to this are gone…”
That is the clip that is the evidence that Biden’s platform once included shutting down all charters! And since he now doesn’t support shutting down all charters, he sold us out?
Biden was talking about DeVos’ charter school agenda. He said Betsy DeVos’ notions about charter schools would be gone, not that all charter schools would be gone. Did anyone else on this board believe that Joe Biden in December 2019 told the NEA he was planning to shut one all charters, period?
To me, Biden had the same position on Demember 19, 2019 on charters as he did on December 7, 2019 and that he had on January 15, 2019. Just because a far right wing propaganda website tried to scare voters into believing that for one day, Biden on December 19 had a different position does not make it true. And accepting that clip as “proving” that Biden did for that day promise America to close down all charters and then broke that promise is beyond my understanding.
It’s like someone saying “Bernie Sanders is a sell out because on this day he promised to make America look like Cuba, but I’m looking all over and since Bernie isn’t saying he will make America look like Cuba anymore, we should not trust him since he’ll sell us all out and lie to us.”
i really think that even if Biden had promised for only one day that he would shut down charters, it would have been reported on this blog as an amazing thing.
TRUMP WAR ROOM on December 19, 2019
Joe Biden pledged this weekend that charter schools would be “gone” if he is elected President.
While
@RealDonaldTrump
is fighting for school choice, Joe Biden is caving to radical Democrats and trapping the most vulnerable children across the country in failing schools!
Retired teacher, it will probably not surprise you that Biden did not say charter schools would be “gone”, just like when the Trump War Room tweets that Bernie Sanders promises that America will look like Cuba, they are intentionally mischaracterizing what Bernie said.
So it is exceptionally worrisome that you would now believe that since Biden has “changed his policy” and isn’t campaigning on making charter schools “gone” anymore, that is a sign that BIDEN was deceiving you!
It was the Trump War Room that was deceiving you.
If the Trump War Room says Bernie Sanders or Joe Biden said something and now you can’t find any evidence that either Biden or Bernie are supporting whatever the Trump War Room says they supported, the people who are guilty of “unscrupulous deception” are at the Trump War Room! Biden and Bernie aren’t guilty!
It’s so depressing that you believed it.
It’s is depressing that the Democratic party would try to mislead public educators and pull another bait and switch. The comment did not come from Trump’s war room. It came from Biden’s mouth at the NEA forum in Houston. It was online until last month. After which, it evaporated.
Can you share the ties to CAP and DFER? I missed that.
I found this post difficult because I hate to write anything at this time that isn’t anti-DeVos and Trump. I recognize the harm they’ve done to public education.
But learning about the individuals on this task force was also troubling. I hope they make this group more inclusive. I appreciate Diane reposting.
Thank you being a watchdog and whistle blower. I badly want Democrats to prevail in November, but I am tired of their blatant dishonesty. They always pander to the interests of Wall St. over Main St. Democrats should realize that some of us have memories. I know what Biden said in Houston, and I bookmarked it. The time to protest about the rigging of the committee is now, before they do more damage.
I hope Nancy Bailey or someone else can find out who recommended these members of the task force. The number is small and there is no obvious rationale for their selection other than the necessity of including the leaders of the two teacher unions. There is certainly good reason to be concerned, and for pro-active lobbying by anyone who can get access to Biden,,,, or his wife. Thanks to Nancy for the heads up and the research.
Laura, co-chairs were Representative Marcia Fudge (D-OH) and Heather Gautney, Ph.D.
Yikes, I get that there could be better representatives, but when I actually looked at the list, I could have described it this way:
The two co-chairs are: A senior Bernie Sanders policy advisor who previously was an advisor in Bernie’s Senate Office, and a member of the Congressional Progressive Caucus in Congress.
Of the six other members, 2 are the leaders of the two major teachers’ union. Two are academics who seem to be focusing on issues that are (at worst) not as relevant, like social well-being, and the other two are one whose specialty is student debt and another is the former first lady of Iowa whose known to care about libraries and literacies and (seemingly) not particularly well-versed in education issues.
I understand that some teachers seem to no longer trust the leaders of their union anymore, just like some progressives no longer trust anyone with a “D” (democrat) next to their name.
But isn’t the problem with the Democratic party the same as the issue with the teachers’ union? It is surprising to see that some progressives are convinced there is something so co-opted and untrustworthy about the teachers’ union such that having their two leaders on the panel is a red flag that there will be a complete and total sell out to corporate and anti-progressive issues. No one should trust the teachers union. Just like no one should trust the Democratic party.
So the question is, how to change the teachers union so that it stops being an organization that will sell out every progressive idea? Is it useful to convince the voters who support public education that the teachers union is a corrupt organization which will sell out progressive ideas at the drop of a hat? Should we convince those who support public education that there is no difference between having a teachers union or not having a teachers union because either way, corruption will win and there is no difference?
Whatever that way is, that should be our approach to the Democratic party.
I am sure there is a lot to criticize with the union, but I believe there is a way to criticize the teachers’ union leaders that does not try to convince the public that the entire union is corrupt and should not be supported at any cost.
And I think there is a way to criticize the democrats that does not try to convince the public that the entire Democratic party is corrupt and not supported at any cost.
It is absolutely right to lobby Biden and Bernie to put representatives of parents and others on this panel. But there is a difference between only looking at what didn’t happen and characterizing it as another sell-out by democrats and ignoring what DID happen. Which is that people like Bill Gates or charter CEOs or ed reform “experts” are not what this panel is about. There are representatives from the union, and not corporations and ed reform organizations.
While this panel could absolutely be better, the make up of it could also be viewed as a huge step up for the Democrats and proof that they are 100000x different than the Republicans and even 100 times better than they were in the Obama years!
It’s possible to offer criticism while accentuating the positive. I do that with teachers’ unions all the time! There is often something I don’t like about how the union acts in NYC, but I separate what I don’t like from trying to use what I don’t like to demonize the entire union and trying to mischaracterize it as corrupt because of something that they do that is worthy of criticism. That’s what the people who hate unions do!
No matter how “corporate” or “corrupt” you believe Weingarten and Garcia are, isn’t it better to have a teachers’ union with them leading it, than to completely empower those who want to entirely crush the teachers’ union?
Continuing to have a teachers’ union led by Weingarten and Garcia allows progressive teachers at the local level to work to elect more progressive representatives.
Simply crushing the teachers’ union altogether makes that much harder. Although I respect the viewpoint of anyone who argues that the best way to have a progressive teachers union is to convince voters and the public that the teachers’ union is so corrupt that the only way to make it more progressive is to demonize how truly awful and corrupt the union is and refuse to support it entirely so that those who want to crush it win power. I disagree – but respect – those who believe that the harm done by totally empowering those who want to crush unions AND public schools is a small price to pay to achieve a much more progressive teachers’ union in the future. I respect – but disagree with – those who believe that there is no difference at all between the harm caused by having that so-called “too corporate” teachers’ union have power, and the harm caused if the people who want to crush the teachers’ union and public schools were completely empowered.
In my mind, having a teachers union empowered – even you don’t think the leaders are progressive enough – is the best way to work toward having more progressive leaders of that union. And I think there is a huge danger if the voters only hear that the teachers’ union is so corrupt that there is no difference between having a teachers’ union and not having a teachers’ union.
I beg everyone to be careful to make it clear that just because you have doubts about the progressive bonifides of the leaders of the teachers’ union and believe they are sell-outs, that does NOT mean that you don’t believe in having an empowered teachers union and the public needs to support the teachers union. Criticize the union with context. Don’t demonize the union. There is a big difference between union leaders and the people who hate public schools who want to destroy the unions.
Same goes with the democrats.
You make good points. We need unity now. You can’t always get all you want. Of course, complaining about the committee is one way to push it in the direction you want it to go.
I made a short blanket statement about the union leaders which is well-known. I didn’t condemn them. I hope they stick up for the issues! Nor did I condemn the Democratic Party. I am simply asking for a more inclusive panel as are the black and brown parent advocates who created a petition.
I wrote a whole post praising Bernie Sanders and the Thurgood Marshall Plan a while back. So, it’s disappointing not to see individuals who reflect that plan on the task force he is creating with Joe Biden.
Also, about well-being. I’m guessing that social well-being translates to social-emotional learning. SEL is being wildly promoted now, meant to transform classrooms. It isn’t only a few anti-bullying, be kind to yourself programs. SEL is seen by some as the Common Core State Standards of behavior, including a lot of behavioral data collection. I am concerned about it, especially the amount of time put into analyzing behavior in children that doesn’t need analyzing. His mentor helped put in place KIPP.
I see the need for a check on this. Someone who will ask questions.
Meanwhile, Arne Duncan is the go-to person in the media for how schools should be reimagined….
Nancy Bailey,
I wasn’t directing my comment at you! THANK YOU so much for your hard work in bringing these issues out! It is of utmost important and I am grateful.
What bothers me is when people use the very important work you are doing to push the false narrative that the Republicans want to push
That narrative isn’t that the Democrats and Biden aren’t including enough of the right people on this committee and should be challenged to do so by progressives.
The narrative is that this is yet another example that the Democrats are entirely corrupt and plan to sell out the entire progressive movement and are no better than the Republicans. The narrative is that this is clear evidence that the Democrats are just as corrupt as those who hate the Democrats have always said they were. The narrative is that the Democrats keep lying all the time to progressives to try to fool them into believing that there is a bit of difference between their policies and Trump’s and this proves that you can’t trust the Democrats and they are no better than the Republicans and should be defeated.
PS — since you do such good research, do you believe that in December 2019, Biden promised to end all charters, and then broke his promise later because he no longer is promising to end charters as he had previously promised he would?
Thank you again for your great work!!!
With 85-90% of students in public schools, the committee does represent those families or teachers fairly. The committee is not balanced. We saw the same thing happen with Thurmond’s committee in California. It was all smoke and mirrors that ultimately served the interests of CAP and DFER. We need unity that actually represents stakeholders.https://dianeravitch.net/2019/03/10/california-did-tony-thurmond-give-the-charter-task-force-to-the-charter-lobby/
NYC public school parent, sorry if I overreacted. I am sensitive about this post because I didn’t want readers to think I’m in line with those individuals Tultican lists below. I try to ignore them, but I probably shouldn’t.
We know how bad DeVos is and there’s no other alternative but the Dems. That’s why I wish there was a more inclusive panel that addressed charters, choice, etc. And I don’t think the panel was picked randomly. If it was, it should not have been. Education is too important. I think now’s the time to ask for more to be on the panel.
I’m discouraged that Dem. Gov. Cuomo chose Gates in New York to reimagine schools. Isn’t that a troubling sign not only for you there, but for the rest of the country?
So, I am concerned. I voted for Obama. Race to the Top was terrible. I really don’t know what a President Joe Biden will do when it comes to education. I hope he keeps his 2019 promise.
I am hopeful that he is married to Dr. Jill Biden who is a real teacher with credentials that matter. I would have been pleased to see her on the panel.
The thing is, even though I never voted for G.W. Bush, I also liked Laura Bush’s background, and I often wondered why she didn’t speak up against NCLB.
I do hope the union leaders will push for better public schools, to end charters (bad ones), and not all-tech etc. Why wouldn’t they? But I don’t have a crystal ball.
I am tired of voting for President based on other issues. Education is too important.
Again. Sorry to be snappy.
Nancy Bailey,
I apologize to you for writing a reply that didn’t make it clear how important your work was. You have absolutely no need to apologize to me! You wrote an excellent post and your reply to me was admirable, and you were so kind to take the time and read my attempt to clarify what I meant when I wrote it.
Thank you again! I really appreciate all of your work.
PS — Biden was perhaps my least favorite candidate, but that doesn’t mean I am not still very hopeful about things getting better. (I suppose at this point, even staying the same would be okay since once our democracy is completely destroyed, public education will probably be entirely in service to a fascist agenda and “supporting” it will mean something very different than it does now.)
There was a good article posted here this month about how Biden is a democrat that moves with public opinion. He isn’t pushing a right wing corporate agenda on principle. Progressives are doing a better job making their voices heard, and I don’t think this committee is designed to silence them. I think that the majority of members do oppose the privatization/corporatization of public education.
^^^Andrew Cuomo has ALWAYS troubled me! I was upset that Bernie Sanders did not endorse Cynthia Nixon when she ran against him in the primary and I simply could not bring myself to vote for Cuomo in the general election. I would have if he was running against someone so corrupt that the state was in danger of a fascist takeover and the end of democracy if the Republican won.
If you compare the people on Cuomo’s panel to the people on Biden’s you can see a big difference.
Thank you! And all good pts. NYC public school parent. I’m hopeful too, that with social media, there’s more discussion and pushback than years past.
Thanks too for describing the differences btw. Cuomo and Biden.
Biden doesn’t have to follow Obama’s education agenda. After Covid, there will have to be changes.
Also, I think parents and students are going to reject so much online learning. I found it interesting to hear that college students don’t like it. They want campus activities and enjoy the face-to-face relationships with other students and their professors! I find that encouraging.
Of course there will be some that like learning that way. That’s fine.
I won’t get this because it’s not flashy enough but I would encourage the next President to drop the big, transformative plans for public schools and instead just focus on practical, measurable assistance. Finish something.
Actually COMPLETE a project, all across the country, universally.
Ensure internet access to every student. Finally adequately fund the federal mandates on special education. Invest in school infrastructure- buildings. Make sure they all have air conditioning. I’m sure teachers and principals could think of others.
Get one big practical project completed and go to the next. Do four in four years. When they finish one point to it “now all public school students have internet access”. Done.
I think that would do more to restore faith in government than all the “social emotional learning” schemes in the world. Accomplish something dull and functional that actually helps public schools and public school students. The schools can try the other stuff, the theory or the experiments.
I posted this on the About page when the panel was announced:
First impression: not including Dr. Diane Ravitch is strike one against. Second impression, Marcia Fudge is my representative, I have found her staff to be woefully incompetent in my contacts with them, which tells me they have no impact on her views. The one time I was able to ask her a question at a forum, “what are you doing in your committee to address the needs of non-college bound students?”, her shallow answer was, “we can’t do anything without funding,” which did not acknowledge or answer the question In the election, I left the vote for U.S. rep. blank. She does not nurture or respect staff, she is not inquisitive at all. Strike two. Christie Vilsack? The wife of a political hack whose only qualification seems to be that she was a librarian and taught in a middle school. Strike three. I will vote for Biden. But should he win, I hope others will join me in pointing out his hypocrisy and lame lip service on education issues.
What if the federal government got out of the “transforming education” business and just supported school infrastructure? Schools could then do the school part.
National plan, most of the assistance flows to lower income schools because lower income schools either have less or need more. Model it on the rural electric system schemes or highways. Build something that lasts.
Do teachers really need another lecture on social emotional learning from the federal government? I trust you-all to figure that out yourselves.
I think they’ve lost their way and it would be better if they just stuck to doing what they were supposed to do- big, universal practical projects that support schools in areas where schools can’t do it themselves.
I started reading about Nancy’s concerns in her Facebook post the day after the Bidden education committee was announced. The next day I saw an email exchange between CREDO’s Macke Raymond, The Mind Trusts Brandon Brown and The Education Post’s (Brightbeam CEO) Chis Stewart. They hated the commission. It has teacher’s union chiefs on it.
feels a bit damned if you do, damned if you don’t: many teachers are no fans of what national union leadership has done in “going along to get along” for so many years — and here they are again on yet another huge education panel
The Vox article did a lot to calm my suspicions. I learned more about the task forces and their purpose. I appreciated the analysis of Biden’s style and Sanders support because of it. I also had a much better window into the member selections and their relevance to their task force.
Let’s try this experiment:
“When Congress passed IDEA, they promised to cover 40% of the extra cost of special education. In other words, they would pay for nearly half of the additional cost required to educate students with disabilities (when compared to the cost per student without disabilities). Unfortunately, Congress has never come close to fulfilling that promise. The number of students with disabilities served under IDEA has increased by 25 percent in the past two decades. Yet, the IDEA state grant program was only funded at around $12 billion in 2017. The federal government is only covering 14.6% of the additional cost.”
No NCLB, no RTTP. Take that money, fully fund special education for 4 years and see if it helps. They won’t even have to hire consultants or seat special panels.
Let’s see a real ambitious experiment, one we have never actually tried. Make good on a promise we made to public schools, but reneged on.
The next time the tech titans and the politicians who worship them start sneering at “buildings” in reference to schools let’s ask them why they spend so much on their own “buildings”:
“Its scale and circular design, by Norman Foster,[8] have earned the structure a media nickname “the spaceship”.[9][10][11] Located on a suburban site totaling 175 acres (71 hectares), it houses more than 12,000 employees in one central four-story circular building of approximately 2,800,000 square feet (260,000 square meters). Apple co-founder Steve Jobs wanted the campus to look less like an office park and more like a nature refuge. Eighty percent of the site consists of green space planted with drought-resistant trees and plants indigenous to the Cupertino area, and the center courtyard of the main building features an artificial pond”
Buildings seem to have some value to billionaires. They don’t want you to have nice ones- you and your kid can sit in your kitchen all day and do schoolwork, but they sure build nice ones for themselves. Hmmm.
I rather the like the idea of reigning in the feds. I think they have managed to weasel their way into educational policy in areas that are better left to the states. They certainly have proven their ineptitude over and over again in recent years. Giving money to states in line with promises made in IDEA is a good example of an area where they could actually be of assistance. With the growing reliance on internet capacity, spearheading an effort to provide universal access, perhaps akin to the interstate highway system, seems appropriate. That, I know, goes far beyond educational needs, but the gaps have certainly become obvious during the pandemic. Does anyone really doubt that creating such access will probably become a critical infrastructure necessity in the future?
That Joe and Bernie are working together to create a united front, in the form of policy proposals, going into the convention is extremely important. This is not, decidedly not, simply theatre. There will be time for squabbles at the family dinner table after the BEAST is gone.
That said, Dr. Ravitch belongs on the education task force. OBVIOUSLY.
The historian author of this blog can explain to anyone who cares to listen how the left has a sad history of internecine squabbles that have kept it from moving forward. Heck, Marx himself would never have got Kapital written if it had been for Engels literally picking up the scraps of manuscript lying around and forcing Karl, who was too busy squabbling with others on the Left, to tie them together and get the thing finished.
“…a sad history of internecine squabbles…” Those in history that argue for “change that will benefit all” are usually frustrated when the reaction against them occurs. Crane Brinton called this the “Thermidorian Reaction” of a revolution. You could arguably suggest that all movements for dramatic change end in in-fighting. this disagreement opens the door for someone to put the brakes on the movement. It also institutionalizes some of the ideas of the movement, though rarely all the idealists that began it hoped would happen.
At this point, I would definitely vote for a toothbrush over the two year-old wolfing down Big Macs in the West Wing. A toothbrush is not entirely, but far less likely to gaffe about injecting yourself with bleach. Senator Sanders is very thoughtful with everything he does because he feels the weight of so many people counting on him. His fight is bigger than him. Bernie is right to sign on to the Biden platform, as with this commission. He is also right to keep gathering delegates into the Convention. He is delicately, tactically applying pressure to influence the platform while supporting the presumptive candidate.
Hold on to no illusions based on spoken toothbrush platitudes, though; Wall Street will retain the strongest control over the federal government for the foreseeable future. Our power remains in our numbers, and #Red4Ed and teachers unions remain the most tried and true clubs in our bag. We can’t be pushed farther than we already have. Democrats including toothbrushes would be wise to remember that. I remain ready to go back on strike.
Yes, LeftCoast!!! xoxoxo
Eric and Don Jr., the Uday and Husay of the Trump family, are saying on Twitter that Democrats concocted the pandemic hoax to prevent their Dear Father from conducting his rallies.
How many k-12 public school teachers (or retired teachers) are on the panel?
Nancy is absolutely right about the limits of this new commission. And yes, study groups and commissions most often reach conclusions approved in advance by the status quo which appointed them. “Science” follows “politics.” So, I propose we form our own policy commission; I nominate Diane Ravitch to convene this commission ASAP; I would suggest Pedro Noguera and Sonia Nieto as co-chairs. We already know what’s wrong with public education policies in this country and with the assault on the public sector generally in the last 40 years. We already know what students and teachers in k-12 and in higher education need to accelerate learning. We now need a parallel commission to advocate for what we know, or else an already-existing org. like NPE should publish this parallel policy statement and get many, many educators’ signature on it.
I like this proposal. Set up a shadow cabinet of sorts.
i have forwarded the proposal.
Forwarded to whom? NPE? I could see getting the various organizations that are fighting for public education to form a group to see what they could agree to pass on to the committee. What kind of coordination has already been attempted among advocacy groups? The advantage of a committee at the presidential cabinet level is that someone has the last word. They know they are tasked with reaching some sort of consensus agenda. Ultimately we want to influence the Biden campaign and any education platform proposed not create more division, but this committee certainly does not excite enthusiasm.
I will discuss Ira Shor’s idea with my colleagues at NPE.
I’m not much for big commissions where everyone compromises.
I’d like to get out a strong statement.
I agree, Diane. In a sane world, every disease and health organization would be coming to the defense of the CDC and public health and the American Bar Association would have disbarred (no pun intended) William Barr by now. Committees and vested self-interest (read: cowardice) all devolve into silent acquiescence. But a rapid response team of a shadow government would serve an important educational and publicity function. Should Biden be elected, it will have to go to work on the evening of Nov. 3. If the Idiot remains in office, all is lost.
Superb suggestions, Ira!
Agree. Ira Shor’s idea is solid.
“Should schools teach the skills for well-being?” [Adler]
There are so many things wrong with that question I don’t know where to start.
Thank you Nancy Bailey for calling out this rep, & by extension questioning the SEL craze. So far every single thing I’ve read about SEL pegs it as just another chapter in hard-sell essential-snake-oil, targeted at big pubsch market with PC treacle. I shudder every time I see it mentioned in the press in the covid-19 context.
Jeff Jacobs posted a comment on Nancy Bailey’s blog and he said it was Bernie Sanders who chose Adler! (I have no idea if that is true, but Jeff Jacobs also posts here and seems quite well-informed.)
Funny that if Jeff Jacobs’ reporting is correct, Biden chose the two union heads.
Bernie also chose the co-chair, who was an advisor to his campaign and to his Senate office and sounds like an amazing defender of public education.
Did Bernie get snookered into believing in the SEL craze? If so, it probably indicates there are very likely elements of those “well-being” skills that are interesting to consider. Just because they have been misused by some hacks does not mean that some of the ideas — if offered up by people who actually care about public school kids and not promoting a privatization agenda — are not worth considering.
Dr. Heather Gautney is co-chair of the unity panel. She was Bernie’s education advisor and she’s terrific.
I hear you opening the window a crack on my slam against SEL, & indeed I’ve heard it mentioned positively here now & then. I find I balk at the very idea: learning in actual classrooms with real teachers IS socio-emotional by definition, so I automatically suspect digitalization whenever I hear the term. And I also suspect the typical move to eliminate social workers/ counselors almost entirely while simultaneously heaping yet another job onto academic teachers under the guise of “education.” AND, my first question is always, exactly WHO is deciding what “good” socio-emotional “skills” are and whether or not they can or should be “taught” anyway? If all we’re talking about is learning to express ourselves and listen respectively to others expressing themselves, for example, that’s just good pedagogical practice, we don’t need no stinkin’ consultants to tell us what and Silicon Valley types to tell us how.
cx “respectfully”
Adler’s mentor is Martin Seligman whose ideas help form KIPP. Angela “get grit” Duckworth was on his dissertation committee.
Some SEL ideas might be good, but it’s a transformational program to get students to do better in school. Lots of assessment and data collection.
I like Bernie’s Marshall Thurgood Plan but it took him a long time to get his footing about charters,
…and charters are increasingly dropping the word ” charter.”
Just some concerns.
Nancy Bailey,
Thank you for elaborating on your concerns. I really appreciate your work to understand these things and also explain it to laypeople like myself.
I will be skeptical of SEL. I confess I know almost nothing about it so presumably my kid has not had to experience it. And while Adler’s mentor might be a guru for it, does that mean that Adler has also been pushing the worst KIPP-type versions of it? If so, I wonder what made him appeal to Bernie that he’d want him on the committee.
I thought that Bernie’s choice of Dr. Heather Gautney sounded like she could be great, but I’l really glad to hear that confirmed by Diane Ravitch. Thanks!
^^^typo correction: I am very glad to hear Diane Ravitch confirm that Dr. Heather Gautney is terrific! That is great news.
As a retired public school teacher, I must say–& I’m sure I speak for many of you both active & retired teachers–that picking the 2 leaders of the NEA & the AFT mean diddlysquat as to actual teacher representation. As in the 2016 election, the national leaders of both orgs do NOT solicit–nor do they listen to–the opinions of the rank-&-file &, in many (I’d say most of our opinions do not represent the teachers. MA Ed. Assn. Barbara Madeloni (sorry, probably not spelling her name correctly) was, I believed, named an Education Hero in this blog, & the MA Ed. Assn. (as did several state affiliates) challenged the national leaders. Also–& correct me if I’m wrong–hasn’t the NEA, at least (perhaps the AFT, as well) accepted money from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation?
Anyway, for those of you who read & comment on this blog who may not be teachers, please understand that, in reality, neither Lily nor Randi are truly representative of K-12 public school teachers. My NEA local was always excellent, & could always be counted on to represent the best interests of the kids, parents & teachers, but our state assn. leaders were elected through finagling, arm twisting & other ill-intentioned shenanigans. (Read Fred Klonsky’s Blog: specifics are in plenty of his posts.) Only public school teachers represent teachers, just as public school parents, special ed. parents & minority parents should represent parents & thus must be named to this be “Unity Panel.” Quick example: in IL, we have an Attny. General’s Committee on Special Education, & it’s largely comprised of parents of sp.ed. students, teachers of sp.ed.
students & high school/college sp.ed. students themselves, as well as people who represent the various disabilities groups in IL.
As it should be.
It seems to me that the NEA and AFT are a lot less concerned about charter proliferation than their membership. To the members expanding charters equals jobs. The unions have started acquiring union members in private charter schools. They see additional opportunity expanding their unions in private schools.
For anyone who has not acquired the habit of going to Nancey’s website to read about educational issues: She inspires a lot of thought. Take a look at Nancy!
Here is the comment I added to Nancy’s post with some updates. We know whose pick were whose because it was reported in Vox here: https://www.vox.com/platform/amp/2020/5/13/21257078/joe-biden-bernie-sanders-joint-unity-task-forces-democratic-policy
——
Getting three of the eight members of each task force, Bernie picked Adler and Hoshikawa for Education and Heather Gautney as co-chair.
Heather Gautney seems like a very strong public ed defender from the Jacobin article she co-wrote with Eric Blanc. The article took Biden to task for supporting standardized tests, charter schools, busing laws and policies that benefited college lenders.
https://jacobinmag.com/2020/03/joe-biden-public-education-segregation-charter-schools
We know a few names Bernie’s campaign was consulting on education, Diane included. So this panel might have been the result of a considerable amount of negotiation.
An editorial published in The Federalist asked why Biden “haters” were allowed in the various groups. I asked the author on Twitter whether it was also possible some of Biden’s policy were just wrong?
Bernie may have had to limit picks that the Biden team would not be comfortable with? I’m not sure but from the result it looks like the Sanders team might have also been able to influence Biden’s picks, which included Rep. Marcia Fudge as co/chair, both teacher union presidents, Mrs. Vilsack and Maggie Thompson of Generation Progress.
The task forces are supposed to influence Biden and the DNC platform committee, but the platform committee will include delegates representing both candidates, represented proportionally by election results, which means Sanders delegates will include teachers, nurses and social workers.
Depending how Sanders does in the remaining primaries, he could add more delegates. He currently has about 38% of the total but I think each state also includes a number of DNC superdelegates which include elected officials.
Teachers have been curious about Dr. Gautney, she is a Fordham professor of Sociology who has worked for over seven years as an aide to Sen. Sanders and his office on the US Senate Budget committee.
She has also served as a co-chair for his 2020 campaign so she is clearly a trusted senior advisor. This interview from late February shows her thinking when the primary first began:
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/institute-for-the-radical-imagination/id1460739067?i=1000466650775
Thank you for the insights.