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James Clark says:

September 21, 2023 at 12:12 pm

I forget the comment and where it’s from, but it said something to the effect of “When doomsday comes it will not be caused by the crazed lunatic but the calm and measured hand of a thoughtful person, or set of people, who though they knew what was best.” Mike Miles is more frightening

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- Bob Shepherd says:
  
  September 21, 2023 at 4:52 pm
  
  great quotation
  
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  - James Clark says:
    
    September 21, 2023 at 7:21 pm
    
    I wish I remembered where it was from…
    
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retired teacher says:

September 21, 2023 at 12:18 pm

If Miles believes he can pressure teachers into performing better, he is mistaken. While he talks about a district of ‘innovation,’ he is more likely to create a district of disintegration. Innovation does not happen by edict, school closures, firing teachers or performance pay. None of these ‘deforms’ have ever worked. Miles is self-assuredly on the wrong track.

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- retired teacher says:
  
  September 21, 2023 at 3:12 pm
  
  Somebody should send Miles this excellent, evidence based article, “Research Shows State School District Report Cards Do Not Measure the Quality of Public Schools,” by Jan Resseger. https://janresseger.wordpress.com/
  
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James Clark says:

September 21, 2023 at 12:24 pm

I Posted too quickly, it should read:
“Mike Miles is more frightening to me than a crazed lunatic.”

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- Bob Shepherd says:
  
  September 21, 2023 at 4:51 pm
  
  Mike Miles is a crazed lunatic, so how can he be more frightening than a crazed lunatic is?
  
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  - James Clark says:
    
    September 21, 2023 at 7:25 pm
    
    Lunatic for sure… Crazed though? Maybe. His whole flat-affect-business-monotone does make my skin crawl. I suspect he was created in lab.
    
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  - Bob Shepherd says:
    
    September 21, 2023 at 7:58 pm
    
    Haaaaaa!!!!
    
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  - Bob Shepherd says:
    
    September 21, 2023 at 8:03 pm
    
    Well, I am going to add this to my commonplace book and attribute it to James Clark!
    
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Bob Shepherd says:

September 21, 2023 at 1:08 pm

We’re looking for high performance. That means showing that you lack all independent initiative and autonomy and are doing things precisely my way.

We need teachers who can really motivate kids. You know what motivates kids? Tests. That’ll put the fear of God and me in them. That kid you have who is always hungry, the one without eyeglasses whose single Mom was just beaten by her boyfriend and just got an eviction notice, who was locked in the closet for a day by that boyfriend, who is told all the time that he’s stupid, what he’s really going to care about is his upcoming Math score on the Star exam. So, if the test is not the be-all and end-all for you, well, there’s the highway.

Oh, and I think that I might terminate you any moment now. Get in there and work harder and have a really great day!

To show our appreciation for you, we are going to start examining you with invasive instruments to see whether we should fire you. Have a wonderful day!

We’re looking at deep cuts. But, we’re adding people to the group that is going to do all your thinking for you. It’s important that teachers not do any of their own thinking. Thinking will really get you into trouble. There are people like me and Bill Gates and David Coleman to do the thinking. The Deciders. Remember, I’m going to fire a lot of you. Have a wonderful day!

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Bob Shepherd says:

September 21, 2023 at 1:13 pm

Dear Rupert

Just a quick note re: your retirement. Thanks for the great work you’ve done over the years!

–Satan

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- Bob Shepherd says:
  
  September 21, 2023 at 1:21 pm
  
  Oh, and what do you think of the new guy down in Houston? Awesome, huh?
  
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Lloyd Lofthouse says:

September 21, 2023 at 3:20 pm

Public school teachers have been under pressure since 1983, when President Reagan released his false, manipulated, cherry-picked report “A Nation at Risk.”

I know all about what it is like to teach under that kind of pressure. I started teaching in 1975 without that pressure and didn’t retire from the classroom until 2005. And I’ve been told by public school teachers who are still working, that the pressure is only getting worse. One friend finally retired this year, because he couldn’t take it anymore. After 34 years of teaching, he retired and went back to school to learn another job skill outside of public education. This friend started teaching in the high school where I was teaching right out of college in 1989.

We can read about it HERE.

Marc Tucker: “A Nation at Risk” Was Fake News

Until at least one president and one political party stands up and tells the country, repeatedly, at least as many times as Traitor Trump has repeated his BIG LIE, many will continue to believe and others use A Nation at Report as the weapon it was meant to be, to destroy public education so extremists on the far right of this country’s pollical spectrum would end up controlling what our children are taught.

We are seeing a preview of what that will be like in Texas and Florida under fascist loving governors Abbott and DeSantis.

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- leftcoastteacher3733394bf7 says:
  
  September 21, 2023 at 8:21 pm
  
  Yes, you don’t know what undue, unhelpful pressure is until you’ve taught under a Broadie superintendent. They take it to another level. Teaching in 2003 is to teaching in 2023 as flying in an airliner right after September 11, 1981 is to flying right after September 11, 2001. In other words, Broadies are like terrorists.
  
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  - retired teacher says:
    
    September 22, 2023 at 8:22 am
    
    I’ve never taught under a Broadie, and I’m glad. It is pathetic that these fake administrators ever got into actual public schools. The goal of these tyrants is to humiliate, denigrate and demoralize teachers and turn them into obedient robots. The fact that Broadies have infiltrated schools shows the power of money and the willingness of politicians to bought to promote the deprofessionalization of teaching.
    
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leftcoastteacher3733394bf7 says:

September 21, 2023 at 8:26 pm

You are not allowed to have your own culture in this country. Racist rich folks will tell you what culture to have. And since they think of you as lazy good for nothings, because your culture is different from theirs, they will whip you until you perform for them. Sit. Fetch. Heel. What’s up, dog!

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FL says:

September 21, 2023 at 9:08 pm

Off-Topic:

Florida’s new voucher program could be collapsing as we speak.

https://www.tampabay.com/news/education/2023/09/21/florida-families-say-school-vouchers-are-unpaid-causing-major-disruption/

Florida families say school vouchers are unpaid, causing major disruption

Search Twitter for info if these are paywalled for you.

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- Bob Shepherd says:
  
  September 21, 2023 at 9:36 pm
  
  !!!!!
  
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- Bob Shepherd says:
  
  September 21, 2023 at 9:39 pm
  
  Governor Deadbeat for President!
  
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- dianeravitch says:
  
  September 22, 2023 at 1:41 pm
  
  Florida has a budget surplus so I expect the vouchers will be paid.
  
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gitapik says:

September 22, 2023 at 8:47 am

Shades of the Bloomberg/Klein years in NYC. Lovely.

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