My website is dianeravitch.com. I write about two interconnected topics: education and democracy. I am a historian of education.
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Diane Ravitch's blog 
Excellent letter. Too bad the Governor and his minions have sold us out to mega-corps and Wall St. They’ve sold their souls to line their own pockets and pad their egos. I’m honestly disgusted and discouraged. My fighting days are numbered, but you Melissa, keep fighting the good fight! It ain’t over ’til it’s over.
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Albany -Times Union –
http://www.timesunion.com/commentary/article/Opt-in-to-gain-a-better-education-through-Common-6197051.php
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Oh gosh, he is right, we should all give up and OPT-IN because why?
He said so? We’ll miss out on the challenge of taking a test that has no personal educational value? Because by OPTING-IN his PR Firm will be rewarded?
“The opt-out movement is the latest manifestation of a culture of instant gratification that stands in stark contrast to the work ethic that built our nation.” Huh?
“Freedom through work?” Wasn’t that the slogan over Dachau?
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Here is my reply..which I posted to the comments section of this piece:
There has never been a social movement against the policy makers of public education because there has never been a more destructive policy than what the “Reformers” have embarked upon.
Families have been told to “shut up and sit down” by the Cuomo and Christie ilk as well as Arne Duncan and the Reformer who fund these politicians.
The problem with the Reformers is that they never “sold” their ideology to parents and they totally misread how standardized testing has hit its ceiling. They cannot fathom why teachers tied to testing is such a bad idea. They cannot fathom why it is that so much instructional time dedicated to testing is not being gobbled up by the masses.
So rather than doing what scientists so when there is a glitch in the metrics, namely examine the hypothesis, they have chosen to “double down” and bully their way through.
And of course as anyone with common sense could predict, the opposition to such bullying tactics backfire fantastically.
When Arne Duncan chose to mock parents the Opt Out Movement grew exponentially.
When Chris Christie called parents “trophy moms and dads”, he fueled the movement against testing and it grew exponentially.
When Andrew Cuomo chose to push through a budget tethered to testing and teacher evaluations, the testing revolt is growing exponentially.
When will these policy masterminds finally get a clue that that they are the losing side of history?
It may just take a little more time and a few hundred thousand more parents to stand in their faces before education comes back to respecting parents, students and teachers.
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From a Nevada newspaper, the Las Vegas Review-Journal. The writer is Steve Sebelius:
• Assembly Bill 280 tips the collective bargaining balance too far, by essentially allowing local governments to opt out of the process altogether. (The only exception, under a last-minute amendment, is for police officers.) The bill may not change anything, given the political power of public employee unions, but it sets the precedent that the right to organize and collectively bargain isn’t guaranteed in the state any longer.
• Assembly Bill 148 would allow for carrying concealed weapons on the campuses of the Nevada System of Higher Education, public or private schools, child care facilities, the non-secure areas of airports and public buildings that don’t have metal detectors and “no firearms allowed” signs.
http://www.reviewjournal.com/columns-blogs/politics/slash-politics/here-s-list-good-bills-bad-bills-and-everything-between-2015
[My note: Teachers do not have power in NV. For one thing, it is a right-to-work state already.]
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PS Here are two more pieces from that column:
“The next hurdle is for bills to pass out of the house where they originated to the opposite house, which comes on April 21. But first, let’s take a look at the good, the bad and the ugly in the aftermath of Friday’s vetting, including one bill you just might not believe.”
“And the slightly unbelievable
For years, conservatives have called for breaking up the Clark County School District into smaller units, under the theory that the sprawling organization (the nation’s sixth-largest) would function more efficiently. But although those ideas have resulted in a change in the way the district is organized internally, the idea of an actual breakup hasn’t gained purchase. In part, that’s due to a state statute that stipulates that the boundaries of each school district are to be the same as the county that it serves.
But now, Assemblyman David Gardner, R-Las Vegas, has proposed an intriguing idea that has actually gained some Democratic support. Assembly Bill 394 would create at least five “local school precincts” within the Clark County School District, each governed separately. But the district would continue to exist, in conformance with state law.
Under the bill, a committee would study governance, funding, English-language learner services and services for less well-off and disabled students in the five new precincts. The committee’s findings would be vetted in six town-hall meetings held all over Clark County, and reported back to the Legislature. The goal would be to implement the plan in the 2017-2018 school year, unless it could be done earlier.
(It’s similar in some ways to the California model, in which the state Department of Education sets overall policies, which are carried out by county offices of education and individual school districts that serve cities or groups of cities.)
Gardner’s idea has gained support from some Democratic lawmakers, although school district officials said they are opposed (and will most likely try to kill or amend the proposal later in the process). But the bill’s passage over the original deadline is the furthest the school-district breakup plan has ever come in the Legislature, a testament to the fact that work on the measure has been going on behind the scenes for months.”
http://www.reviewjournal.com/columns-blogs/politics/slash-politics/here-s-list-good-bills-bad-bills-and-everything-between-2015
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Teachers packing heat……not sure we need that.
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Dear Diane,
I am doing legal / legislative research and I’m wondering what happened to the “Community Schools Act” and “Alternative Curriculum Schools” programs. It looks like they were repealed or “omitted” from the 1988 ESEA reauthorization. Is that correct?
Were they moved and codified elsewhere or do we really then not have these programs at all anymore at the federal level?
Thanks!
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Nola Mommy,
I don’t know
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Thanks! Sadly I think they are gone.
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http://www.reviewjournal.com/news/education/common-core-testing-halted-schools-nevada-2-other-states
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Mercedes Schneider might know.
https://deutsch29.wordpress.com/
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I just want to thank Diane, once again, for posting so much information in such an easy-to-use format. I look at it every day to keep informed.
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Are you following the insanity going on in Dallas? School Trustees bought and paid for by business, rampant teacher turnover, retaliation against principals and more schools qualifying as “need improving.” Effective principal being forced out because the schools parents were too vocal about testing in the arts for primary and kinder.
http://educationblog.dallasnews.com/2015/04/popular-dallas-isd-principal-at-rosemont-elementary-loses-her-job-after-this-school-year.html/
The entire educationblog.dallasnews is filled with the numerous scandals plaguing DISD.
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The KIPP (Knowledge is Power Program) Foundation is a network of charter schools that services low-income, or “struggling” communities, throughout the United States. Though the program claims to focus solely on “college graduation,” its process and individuals involved in its structure do not productively focus on diversifying and expanding to allow for long term growth and student engagement. The five pillars of the KIPP Foundation– as presented on their website– are representative of the uniform values of the board members. The values are: high expectations, choice and commitment, more time, power to lead, and focus on results. These pillars illustrate the corporate voice of KIPP schools and their interest in intensive time management, test scores, and competition instead of individualized instruction. The policies are exclusive and not conducive to equity in opportunity within the classroom or on a broader educational scale.
The root of the issue is that the KIPP Foundation is a homogenized force completely lacking in diversity of opinion, experience, or incentive. It is solely comprised of conventionally successful individuals without sufficient educational experience and training outside of the financial sector. On the board of trustees alone are the founders and co-founders of massive corporations such as Netflix, the Gap, MAXXAM, and Viacom. Their interests are also heavily conflated with Teach for America, Citybridge, the Charter School Growth Fund, and the Robin Hood Fund. Simultaneously, there appears to be little variety in educational experience that the trustee’s contribute to the board. Most of them have attended Ivy League Schools, including Stanford University, Yale University, Princeton University, Harvard University, and Georgetown University.
Though the immensity of the funds contributed in KIPP schools and the prestigious education of the trustees involved is not in any manner a negative, we believe that the influence that the KIPP Foundation receives is not complimented by a broad representational component. Those involved do not seem to be connected to the communities they are serving or their needs so much as they are invested in privatized interests and the established understanding of market-related intelligence. The qualifications of the most influential participants involve corporate experience or access to significant resources as opposed to actual academic training or experience. Both Dave Levin and Mike Feinberg present a combined ten years of experience teaching, all of which occurred through TFA. Feinberg specifically went into to his teaching position with a degree in international relation from Yale. We believe that the loudest voices in education should not always be the most funded, publicized, and conventionally educated parties. How do the KIPP school provide sufficient choice if their board of trustees is so completely unitary? Any productive system provides opportunities for dissension and therefore progress.
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Three quality letters to the editor at The New York Times. The second one (concerning Tisch’s analogy of annual doctor check-up) is particularly well thought out: http://www.nytimes.com/2015/04/17/opinion/the-revolt-over-standardized-tests-in-new-york-schools.html?src=recg&_r=0
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Have you seen this TFA story from the Daily Northwestern?
http://dailynorthwestern.com/2013/11/18/top-stories/in-focus-teaching-troubles-northwesterns-ties-to-teach-for-america-tested-as-organization-faces-national-criticism/
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“Despite five weeks of intensive training with Teach for America, which sends recent college graduates to teach in low-income communities…”
I had an urge to roar with laughter. I also wanted to leave a comment for the news piece in that paper, but couldn’t find a comment option.
How does five weeks of alleged “intensive training” compare to an urban residency graduate student learning to become a classroom teacher who spends an entire school year in a master teacher’s classroom learning how to teach and work with students in addition to taking a lot more than five weeks of “intensive training” in late afternoon classes and during the summer session? I went through an urban residency program and I can tell it it wasn’t easy working full time in a master teacher’s classroom and talking those classes that, for sure, a TFA recruit doesn’t take in 5 weeks.
On page 250 of Dana Goldstein’s “The Teacher Wars” (advanced bound galley), she writes, “Nationwide, urban teacher residencies have an 87% retention rate at four years, compared to the loss of nearly half of all new3 urban teachers over a simliar period of time and two-thirds of Teach for American teachers.”
Goldstein went on, “In education, teacher retention matters. An eight-year study of 850,000 New York City fourth and fifth graders found that in schools with high teacher turnover, students lost significant amounts of learning in both reading and math compared to socioeconomically similar peers at schools with low teacher turnover …”
In fact, Goldstein tells us on page 252 that, “The year-long residency in a mentor’s classroom—a requirement in high-achieved nations like Finland and Shanghai—allows residency programs to screen out the residents, who ,even with the intense coaching they receive aren’t able to develop into good teachers, typically 15 to 20 percent of residents per year.”
On page 254, Goldstein says this of TFA recruits: “About 85 percent (of the 33% that didn’t leave at or before 2 years) of TFA teachers who stay in the profession, however, leave their initial placements to work at more desirable (higher achieving) schools, a level of turnover that the researchers describe as ‘very problematic’ for those schools most struggling with low achievement.”
On page 259: “Donald Boyd’s 2010 study of teacher transfer requests in New York City found that teachers who choose to leave underperforming, high poverty schools trend to have been less effective, as measured by value-added, then teachers who stay in tough assignment over the long hall. A number of other studies have found similar results at the district level—teachers who flee urban school systems are less effective than those who stay.”
In conclusion, the evidence strongly suggests that only 4.3% of TFA recruits, who go through that 5 weeks of alleged “intensive training,” are effective as teachers compared to 87% of teachers who go through a year long urban residency program simlar to what we see in high performing countries like Finland and Singapore.
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Hillary Clinton in Iowa on education: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/anthony-cody/hillary-clinton-feels-common-core-pain_b_7096406.html
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Stop Punishing Teachers:
What We Should Be Doing Instead to Improve Education
Imagine that a strategy to improve the quality of medical practice was to punish doctors whose patients are more likely to die, by paying them less than other doctors or possibly firing them. Doctors who specialize in oncology, cardiology, and geriatric care would be punished because of higher patient mortality rates. Who would want to become an oncologist, a cardiologist, or a geriatrician? Under such an unfair evaluation system, these doctors would be considered ineffective, because more of their patients die from cancer, heart attacks, and old age. Even worse, this strategy would further result in a shortage of medical doctors with these specialties.
Yet, a similar strategy is being considered for improving the quality of education by effectively punishing teachers whose students achieve less than those of other teachers in their district. In the long run, such disincentives will discourage people from entering the teaching profession. Such a teacher accountability strategy is clearly irrational. It will do more harm than good. It is ill conceived and should be abandoned immediately.
For more: http://educology.indiana.edu/Frick/StopPunishingTeachers.pdf
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Diane, not sure if you’ve seen this already or not. It concerns a recent study of charter schools in North Carolina:
http://www.businessinsider.com/working-paper-says-north-carolina-charter-schools-are-becoming-more-segmented-2015-4
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Diane, Have you ever tried to contact Williams H. Gates, Sr., who is Bill’s dad and co-chairs the Bill and Melissa Gates Foundation? I suspect he has strongly influenced Bill’s perspectives on privilege and inequity, based on his support of the inheritance tax, etc: http://billmoyers.com/content/toolbooths-digital-higway-bill-gates-sr-chuck-collins-inheritance-tax-scientist-devra-davis-killer-smog-jumpstarted-clean-air-act/#inheritance-tax
I just wonder if Bill’s dad might be able to comprehend why the privatization agenda, standardization, etc. that Bill has been promoting across our country is in reality counterproductive to equity and desegregation goals, as evidenced by how it has been playing out. Maybe you could get through to Bill via his dad?
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If Bill could learn from the small schools debacle, maybe he can learn from the negatives of other education policies he supports, if his dad understands how deleterious they really are to children and public education in our country.
Bill’s dad’s blog is here: http://www.impatientoptimists.org/Authors/G/William-H-Gates-Sr
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Cuomo admits tests are meaningless for kids. Why are we spending 2 weeks giving meaningless tests and test prepping for months before the tests?
http://www.capitalnewyork.com/article/albany/2015/04/8566718/cuomo-opt-out-tests-dont-count-against-students
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Diane, I just published an anonymous guest post from a working classroom teacher on my blog that focuses on a specific issue that deals with ICT. This teacher was willing to use their name, but I know that they work in a rather combative district where administration is more supportive of top-down corporate education reform, and I convinced this teacher that staying anonymous might be a better idea. The teacher’s spouse agreed with me.
The Cannibalization of General Education—Guest Post
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Oh please help, here in Britain our government is copying what has been done to your schools. They have allowed schools to change to Academy status, removing them from Education Authority control, and said that Teachers need not be qualified. We have had Muslim schools teaching what amounts to total disregard for our society, its history and people.
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Hello, Dr. Ravitch. I’m sure the contents of the following piece won’t surprise you, but it may enlighten many of your loyal readers. (Just thought I’d share!) “There Is A Skills Gap*”, by Peter Cappelli
http://www.milkeninstitute.org/publications/view/681
Also, thank you so much for your public and passionate support of public education and of teachers!
Sincerely,
Adam Berlin
social studies teacher
Lawrence Middle School
Lawrence, NY
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What this article doesn’t mention is that these new tests were written by Pearson. I know, because I was thinking of taking them, so I looked into it; as soon as I knew they were new tests by Pearson I had to rethink if/how I was going to get back into teaching (the tests aren’t the only thing giving me pause, of course, but they’ve been a huge red flag as I’ve explored all the steps on the road back).
http://www.kansascity.com/news/local/article19692378.html
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Have you considered becoming a public Montessori teacher? I am a huge supporter of public Montessori and encourage any teacher who has had enough of the testing madness to look into Montessori instead of giving up on teaching. Public Montessori schools are increasing every year — in part, I’m sure, as a response to the test and punish mantra of the reformers. Look into it!
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Diane – This is a great post – hope you’ll choose to send others to it.
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Wow on this quote: The “all about kids” rhetoric reached its logical conclusion a few days ago in the following astonishing statement by Bronx Assembly person, Carmen Arroyo of the 84th District commenting on Governor’s Andrew Cuomo’s radical and savage new education bill.
Carmen Arroyo Unfit for public office.
Carmen Arroyo
Unfit for public office.
“Those teachers that are responsible and are doing their job, those teachers that sacrifice their families and themselves for the children they serve are going to be protected. Those that are not good, better get a job at McDonalds.”
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Diane, this http://www.commondreams.org/news/2015/04/29/fraud-waste-and-lies-charter-schools-cheating-communities-out-millions-dollars outlines a recent report The Tip of the Iceberg: Charter School Vulnerabilities to Waste, Fraud, and Abuse (pdf) that was released Tuesday by the Alliance to Reclaim Our Schools (AROS) and the Center for Popular Democracy (CPD).
It concludes that, in 15 states alone—a third of states with charter schools—such waste cost more than $200 million.
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In NC:
North Carolina Senate approved Senate Bill 480 to prohibit local school board employees from campaigning or engaging in political activity while on duty. The legislation would go over and above what is current law for state employees by including a provision that would prohibit educators from advocating for or against local, state or federal policies. The advocacy provision would also now cover state employees.
The bill does carve out exemptions for superintendents and principals, employees whose specific job is to engage in advocacy, or if an employee is invited by a policymaking body to discuss an issue. However, there are still many serious questions that remain unanswered about how this legislation will impact educators and other school employees.
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If NC gets away with this what is to stop any State or the Federal Government from muzzling their employees (they are US Citizens) and with their coerced silence present one-sided propaganda messages.
Working for the government should never require one to surrender their rights.
This is just a prescient view of the growing corrosive effect of an government accepting their self proclaimed “right-duty” to coerce behavior of the citizens for their own good.
Thomas Hobbes would be extremely proud of our government today.
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Thank you. I shared the piece about Charter school fraud on Twitter, Facebook, Google+ and LinkedIn.
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Your article, https://dianeravitch.net/2015/04/29/reader-the-common-core-tests-cannot-be-independently-verified-for-validity-and-reliability/ IS BEING BLOCKED BY FACEBOOK with the following message: We believe the link you are trying to visit is malicious. For your safety, we have blocked it. Learn more about keeping your account secure. If you think this link should not be blocked, please let us know.
Thought you’d want to know. A bypass at this time seems to be if one posts the link in the comments section, and someone clicks directly on the link, NOT the image associated with it. Don’t know how long that will last.
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There have been at least three complaints that this article is blocked by FaceBook. I have no idea why. There is nothing in the article that is defamatory or objectionable.
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It may not be as nefarious as some might think.
There several hyper-links in the text and if any of those meets the FaceBook algorithm for a suspect (malware, spam, cookie inducing) site, Facebook will block it as a service to there customers.
Try copying and pasting, removing all hyperlinks, then post to FaceBook.
If it is blocked again, then someone (a human) is intentionally blocking it and that would be nefarious.
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My statement at the April 29 Panel for Educational Policy meeting at MS 131 at 100 Hester St. in Manhattan:
My remarks are addressed to Chancellor Farina, but the panel should listen closely because what I am about to say should shock your conscience.
My name is Philip Nobile. I was once a history teacher at the Cobble Hill School of American Studies which you oversaw when you were Region 8 Superintendent between 2002-2004.
I am now an ATR thanks to a corrupt investigation by OSI that put me in the rubber room and led to the DOE’s malicious 3020-a charges. I refused a settlement offer and defended myself, resulting in acquittal on all three charges.
I come here tonight to implore you to terminate me for conduct unbecoming a teacher. Why would you do that? Because I have accused you of participating in a high level cover-up of my Regents cheating allegations at Cobble Hill and then lying about your role to both OSI and SCI.
The evidence of your shameful official misconduct is detailed my j’accuse titled “The Carmen Farina Nobody Knows,” which I sent to you for comment a year ago. Showing consciousness of guilt, you have not responded.
Nor will you ever seek to terminate me because you could not survive discovery or my cross-examination at the hearing. Better for you to cling to SCI’s corrupt exoneration which, among many forensic lapses, failed to quote your perjurious interview.
Final point: SCI inexplicably avoided examining the disputed Regents exams for signs of tampering that I and five eyewitnesses confirmed. But you could destroy my credibility by commissioning an audit that could possibly prove that I fabricated the whole story. But you wouldn’t dare do that either … because, if I may say so, you are the Beverly Hall of the DOE and New York is the Atlanta of the North.
I hope that panel members will contact me and I will tell you things about cheating in the school system that Chancellor Farina doesn’t want you to know.
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Wow!
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Dear Ms Ravitch,
I attended a forum at Scarsdale HS last night (4/30) w panelists Regent Judith Johnson, Assemblywoman Amy Paulin, and Scarsdale Schools Superintendent Hagerman.
Chancellor Merryl Tisch and Regent Rosa attended but did not participate.
All panelists spoke to the problems with the state tests and there was general consensus that the tests have no value as a measure of students’ abilities or teacher competencies, that they are a burden to students because test prep takes time away from project-based and other learning and are unnecessarily stressful for children, and are a financial burden to districts.
One of the most interesting comments from Judith Johnson was in response to questions from members of the audience who expressed frustration at not being heard by Albany.
Ms Johnson firmly insisted that parents and opponents to current testing and CC ARE being heard.
HOWEVER, she said that what hasn’t been put forward – what hasn’t be heard – are clear, unified demands and requests for specific changes.
Can you lead us forward in that?
What specific requests should individuals and groups demand of the the Regents, state DOE, Cuomo, and federal government?
Ms Johnson also expressed serious concerns that the State Regents do not having sufficient support staff-experiencing this already and only thirty days into the position. One can certainly see how that could limit her activities and scope of influence. Any thoughts?
There’s much more that I’m leaving out. The event will air on Scarsdale public access TV in next few days.
I’m curious to hear your thoughts.
Sincerely,
Mira Karabin
Hartsdale, NY
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An eye opening inside look at how Pearson is grading our children… written by an award winning 5th grade teacher here in NY. http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/answer-sheet/wp/2015/05/01/teacher-i-am-not-against-common-core-or-testing-but-heres-my-line-in-the-sand/
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Re: NYS Education Department Taking Public Comment on New Teacher Evaluation Standards – I am a daily reader of your blog, but if you posted something about this topic, I’m sorry, I missed it!
As you know, Governor Cuomo tied teacher evaluation to the budget and won. NYSED has been charged with determining the details of Cuomo’s onerous teacher evaluation plan. There is an opportunity for all stakeholders to provide input to NYSED on this issue, but the time frame is extremely short. The Board of Regents is expected to announce the draft regulations at their May 18-19 meeting, so they are probably currently developing that draft. It doesn’t appear that SED and the BoR have made much effort to seek input from the public, but that’s where you come in! With your huge audience, a post from you is bound to activate concerned educators and parents. I feel stupid that I didn’t think of contacting you before, but better late than never!
The email address to submit comments is Eval2015@nysed.gov Because I had no idea who would actually receive that email, I addressed my letter to Elizabeth Berlin, Interim Commissioner of Education and cc’d my email to every Regent, several key state senators (the rep where I live, where I work, O’Mara, Skelos, John Flanagan), and several key assembly members (the rep where I live and work, Heastie, and Catherine Nolan).
Here are three links to information about the public comment period:
“Education Update ~ NYS Education Department taking public comment on new teacher evaluation standards” From NYS Senator Thomas F. O’Mara 58th Senate District
http://www.nysenate.gov/news/education-update-nys-education-department-taking-public-comment-new-teacher-evaluation-standard
“Review of Education Policy” http://www.regents.nysed.gov/meetings/2015Meetings/April/BudgetPolicy.pdf
“Letter to Superintendents about Commissioner’s Regulations” http://www.p12.nysed.gov/memos/tle/teacher-principal-eval-2015-16-budget.pdf
Thank you very much for your consideration,
Kathy McHugh
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A question for all of you. Do you know which are the best publications / media outlets to submit freelance teacher-written commentary on the reform movement as it affects teachers and students in classrooms, and what the movement fails to address? I am a competent writer, and have tried to have my voice heard, but I’m having a hard time finding someone to pick up a couple of articles. I have no power, no connections, no pedigree, but I am smart and write well and have integrity. It’s always a long shot to get something published without connections; and I suspect most publications don’t care what teachers have to say, because we are, you know, just teachers; plus, many publications are owned by major corporations that are all about profit and support it. However, I’m not ready to give up trying to be heard.
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There are lots of places that will publish good work on education issues. Many bloggers, including Diane, regularly post pieces by other people. Local newspapers and online sites are also good outlets. Be sure to read them and understand their length and style requirements before submitting. You can also Google how to get published and find a wealth of advice. Finally, please drop the attitude of “you can’t get it done without cinnections and I don’t have any.” That is simply not true. I was stunned and thrilled the first time Diane picked up one of my local pieces and still don’t know how she found that first one!
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Sorry, I guess I should have explained that I’ve done some freelance writing in the past, and have had pieces published. I’ve also had some writing honors. I am not a neophyte. I had plenty in local papers in the past, but I’m trying to reach a little bigger and higher. I’m not talking about preaching to the choir by sending to Diane. I’m also looking for a place that will publish something that is more unique than most of what is out there.
So please drop the judgmental attitude toward me. Your reply was rather obnoxious and not the least little bit helpful. I take responsibility for not being clear enough, but if you can’t see that the media is biased, and that we need to break through to more than teacher cheerleading groups, that’s not my fault. And if you think connections don’t help breaking into more national outlets, you must be very young. Or something.
I have bothered to write a couple of articles I think are decent, on topics that I think people other than teachers should be aware of, and I’ve sent to about five places so far, so I’m looking for someone with a little more knowledge than you – somebody who knows a little more about the freelance market.
If the best you can do is come on here and insult someone who already works very, very hard as a teacher, plus struggles to find the time for a little writing, and then to submit, I don’t even know what to say, except that you’re part of the problem.
So, anybody out there who can be a little more helpful?
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My goodness! It was never my intention to be insulting. My deepest apologies for offending you. Good luck with your efforts.
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Thank you. I appreciate that response. I will keep trying here and there.
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This seems like it doesn’t have a lot to do with this blog, but I think it does. And I think it’s frightening.
http://www.yahoo.com/politics/could-machine-politics-be-the-solution-to-117949503146.html
It almost seems like the author is trying to use the popularity of the marriage equality movement to push some (self-admittedly blatant) un-Democratic and pro-wealth and machine politic ideas. WHAT?
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Click to access H662v1.pdf
This makes me sick on my stomach.
Teaching is a civil service. Education is not a profit driven venture.
Other bloggers have mentioned THE HUNGER GAMES and I see it. Structures such as this bill presents make teaching into fighting over a government dole.
I wish I hadn’t read this so early in the morning.
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I’m not sure if you are aware of this…but this is what happens when nearly 50% of a school’s teachers are fired and the school’s money is sent to other schools..
http://www.stltoday.com/news/local/education/a-senior-year-mostly-lost-for-a-normandy-honor-student/article_ce759a06-a979-53b6-99bd-c87a430dc339.html
http://www.stltoday.com/news/local/officials-express-shame-at-state-of-normandy-schools/article_0966c61a-4c93-5138-9546-cb46f7b93590.html
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Out of the Crisis: Where’s the New Commissioner of Education in New York?
Out of the Crisis: Where’s the New Commissioner of Education in New York?
by Michael Hynes, Ed.D.
Public education in New York State has a serious crisis on its hands. Has there ever been a time when the schools in our great state have been devoid of leadership at the three highest levels: Governor, Chancellor and Commissioner? To this date we do not have a Commissioner of Education. The Governor and the Chancellor (neither of them are educators) are making significant decisions without a sitting Commissioner of Education present. How is this possible? How come nobody else is shouting from the rooftops that this is not in the best interest of our children? Does anyone else wonder who the next Commissioner will be? What does the candidate pool look like?
The truth is, I’m still trying to come to grips with Governor Cuomo stating we shouldn’t be worried about the Common Core assessments in ELA and Math, “Because the tests are meaningless and won’t count against your children.” That statement alone should make people scratch their head and wonder what Mr. Cuomo is thinking. This is a slap in the face to our students, our parents and our educators. According to our Governor, our students shouldn’t waste time taking the tests and teachers shouldn’t waste their time teaching the material. I find it amazing that our parents already knew what the Governor meant, that’s why so many parents opted their children out of the state assessments.
Merryl Tisch, the Chancellor for the New York State Education Department offered a delay for teacher evaluations for a year in some districts, on a case-by-case basis, or to exempt high-performing districts. This is what the State Education Department calls leadership? What would the new Commissioner say? What do the other Regents think? We have little to no communication, and when school districts do receive any information…it’s in a memorandum full of directives that offer very few answers. For the Chancellor to not offer solutions regarding how poorly the tests are constructed, how assessments are used against teachers and most important; how often our students are tested is where I have lost faith in this leadership black hole, or as I see it, The New York State Bermuda Triangle.
As Diane Ravitch stated, “I think it is accurate to say that the leaders and decision-makers in Albany, including the Governor, his staff, most of the Regents, and those at the top of the State Education Department are wedded to an agenda that confuses test scores with education. There is also, at the highest level, an inexplicable contempt for the work of teachers and principals. And your children suffer for their ill-conceived policies.” That says it all. As Winston Churchill said many years ago, “Kites rise highest against the wind, not with it.” It is time someone in SED stepped forward and rise against this gale force sweeping across New York. The optimist in me hopes our new Commissioner will rise against the wind, but I won’t hold my breath. As W. Edwards Deming stated in his book Out of the Crisis, “Measures of productivity do not lead to improvement in productivity”. I pray that our new Commissioner believes this as well. The realist in me will just have to hope for a new Chancellor in the very near future.
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Diane and others:
Have any of you seen this? Informative and hilarious! Last Week Tonight with John Oliver takes on Standardized Testing:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J6lyURyVz7k
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Werebat, yes, I posted great John Oliver piece
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Dear Dr. Ravitch, I have spent the last week trying to obtain an invitation to NYSED’s Learning Summit on May 7th. Today I received the following response from the Board of Regents secretary:
“I have learned that distribution of the tickets for the Summit was coordinated through the statewide organizations of school boards, parents, teachers, superintendents and principals allowing for a rational distribution of tickets to an event that has very limited seating.”
I was invited to watch from afar, via simulcast… It is important that we are cognizant that the state continues to leave educators out, leaving us with one alternative — to be honest about what is going on. Our students are counting on us. Here is my response:
Thank you for looking into my request to be present at NYSED’s learning Summit on Thursday, May 7th, 2015. I wish I could say I am surprised that no seat is available to a teacher who passionately gives everything she has to her students every day, but I cannot. At every turn since 2006, I have found that the voices of teachers who deeply care about teaching and learning have been ignored, at best. I wish I could say I am surprised that my state education department would not do everything in its power to accommodate a wife, mother and teacher willing to put everything on hold to drive four hours to attend a meeting at a critical juncture in her students’ lives, but I cannot. And in all of my interactions in person and online, I cannot locate a single person who has been invited. No, there is no surprise. I really wish there was.
I can only say this. Since 2006, I have watched the following implementations in my classroom and they are harming my students:
• State assessments that benefit private corporations, not students. These assessments provide no data in real time that can be used to drive instruction for the students who take them.
• Annual passing rates that swing depending upon how the state wants teachers and students to fair.
• An assessment that lacks reliability and validity testing. In the years since the establishment of the Common Core Curriculum, the assessments have moved further and further away from being developmentally appropriate for the grades in which they are intended. The GRE I took this past Saturday was remarkably similar to the assessment sixth grade students saw in New York State this year.
And what have I done? I have spoken with my building and district administrators. I have written letters and emails to members of the Board of Regents, the New York State Department of Education (NYSED) local, state and federal representatives (including the governor of New York) and letters to local and national newspapers. I have spoken at forums hosted by the New York State Legislature as well as NYSED. Nothing has worked in nine years.
It is heartbreaking to watch as increasing amounts of time, energy and money are being siphoned away from children who could not be in greater need of the very best we have to offer them. I can only say this, if you did not hear the voices parents of the 200,000 eligible students in grades three through eight who refused your assessments, you will hear them next year as these numbers continue to grow. I cannot, as a teacher who has tried everything in her power to be heard, condone a system of assessment that does not benefit those who are required to partake in it.
Thank you for your time,
Melissa McMullan
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Interesting article on accountability for accountability hawks: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/john-thompson/should-we-hold-arne-dunca_b_7051004.html
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An April Fool
On April 1, I learned that 50% of my evaluation this year would hinge on my students’ performance based on three days of standardized testing—the NYS ELA Assessment in mid-April. My remaining 50% falls to my local APPR contract, which in essence is a bastardized version of Danielson’s evaluation rubrics.
What does this really mean? If you are not an educator, do you have any idea how this system actually works? Do you even know who Danielson is? Do you even know what the tests looks like that will evaluate my performance, my profession, my livelihood?
On April 1st, I wondered if I had been taken for a fool. I pride myself for not “teaching to the test” from September through April. But my world was ripped apart on April 1st, 2015 when I read Cuomo’s edicts. I had one teaching day remaining and one week of spring break before my students would take that “high-stakes” test. For my entire break, I felt a failure. Should I have “taught to the test”? Should I have spent more class time prepping my students? What if I had known about this dramatic evaluation change in September? Would I have revamped my teaching methodologies? After all, 50% is a whopping number. And what if my other 50% isn’t stellar? After all, my district boasts an APPR rate of only 7% highly effective teachers.
Let me give you a little background about me. For 22 years, I have taught middle school English. I have made it my vocation since I was a twelve year old administering homework and creating extra lesson plans for my younger siblings and cousins. I was genetically engineered to be a teacher. I graduated top of my class in high school. I attended SUNY Binghamton and Columbia University’s Teachers College. Yet, when I shared this with my current 7th grade class, I received this instinctively blurted question from one of my students: “And you became a teacher?”
My accolades are numerous. I was honored as a Hofstra/News 12 Teacher of the Month. I received the New York State Teacher of Excellence Award by NCTE. I was instrumental in writing award winning grants such as the NYS Blue Ribbon Award for my school. I have presented at numerous conferences, and I have been a teacher of teachers.
But I cannot surmount the “Ed Effect” or Cuomo.
I had the privilege of hosting a student observer this year, and I would like to share with you her thank you note to me: “Over these past few weeks, I’ve learned so much from you that I hope to use when I become a teacher like classroom organization to working with the ‘Ed Effect.’ I am so grateful I had the opportunity to observe such a great and talented teacher.”
What exactly is the “Ed Effect” and why can’t I prevail? I developed a simple teacher inquiry for my students. I asked them to answer two questions in a Google survey form for homework (easily and readily accessible to all my 130+ students). My two simple questions: 1) Did you use any of the study strategies you learned in preparation for your unit test? and 2) What was your score? The following day, my students received an in class “Do Now” asking them to determine the hypothesis of my teacher inquiry. Many of them were able to develop my basic premise. Next, I asked my students to surmise how many students would have to respond to my questions in order to have sufficient data to prove or disprove my hypothesis. General consensus hovered around the at least 100 out of 130+ students. However, one student in particular, “Ed,” simply stated, “You will never be able to prove or disprove your hypothesis because I and many other students will NEVER do our homework.” And he was right. Out of 130+ students, only 48 had responded to my Google Form.
I create authentic, creative, and interactive lessons and homeworks. My homework hones the skills necessary to be life-long readers and writers. I tell my students that the best way to prep for any test is to complete my reading and writing homework from DAY 1 and every day after through to the end of the school year. I can shout it from Mt. Saint Helens in Italian. I can figure skate salchows around my students. I can run faster than some of my 7th grade boys. But I cannot magically motivate my students to do their work. And I certainly cannot prevent my students from leaving blanks on the state assessment, or writing “IDK” a zillion times, or writing diatribes to the NYS Dept of Ed. about their hate of tests on the lines provided for responses.
My magic wand is broken. For 46 minutes, I teach to the best of my ability, and I can rate myself highly effective for my intrinsic motivation and my devotion to what I do best. Evaluate me all you want. Come to my classroom. Be a student in my teacher facilitation. Spend a retreat with me in a writer’s workshop. Watch me lesson plan and create. Co-teach with me. Write with me. But please do not use my students’ tests as my test.
Cuomo seeks to do otherwise, so who is the fool?
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Diane, Have you seen the new RFP that Bill Gates put out on May 1st for “TEACHER PREPARATION TRANSFORMATION CENTERS”? http://www.gatesfoundation.org/How-We-Work/General-Information/Grant-Opportunities/Teacher-Preparation-Transformation-Centers-RFI-RFP
Two things stand out to me:
Based on this, in the Introduction,
“Guided by the belief that all lives have equal value, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation is committed to ensuring that all students in the United States have the opportunity to receive a high-quality education. Our College-Ready Education program aims to ensure that all students graduate from high school prepared to succeed in college and careers… ”
1.) It looks like he is now owning up to the fact that the “education program” that is in place across America belongs to him and his foundation.
2.) He is is going into the teacher education business. I suspect he will be promoting programs that are like RELAY and MATCH, based on military style boot camp charter schools, and fast track alternatives like TFA
What do you think?
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Reteach, you are right. Press releases from Gates sound like he thinks Anerican education is his. He bought it.
Given that he invests in education often with Walton, which is dedicated to eliminating public education, it is not good to be Bill’s hobby.
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Wow. When the Waltons want an army of compliant low wage workers and Gates says he wants more college graduates, but there are already not enough decent paying jobs for college grads, it’s just too much of a stretch to believe that Gates and the Waltons are seeking entirely different outcomes. So other people’s kids across the US are now stuck with getting the “Gates Education” that Bill bought, with a choice of boot camps or voucher schools that lack science. I wonder if the corporate colonization of public education will one day be known as “Wal-Gate.”
It doesn’t stop there either. You might want to take a look at the job announcements at the Gates Foundation. http://careers.gatesfoundation.org/search/?q=&sortColumn=referencedate&sortDirection=desc
Many of the senior job descriptions, regardless of title, division, department or location, make the foundation sound like a business, not a charity.
There is also a major emphasis on social engineering and propaganda. I think that’s evident in the “Communications and Thought Leadership” duties of the “Senior Program Officer, Behavior Change Communication Job,” in the Global Development Program Division and Department of Integrated Delivery. That job has “a specific focus on issues surrounding women and girls and will be responsible for defining and articulating a vision and approach to changing social norms, using multiple approaches and levers…”
Emperor Gates really needs to be stopped.
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Thank you for contributing to my campaign. I applaud you for supporting public education and our youth. I am humbled by the fact that you, after researching my campaign I presume, decided to endorse me. A vote for me is a vote for our children. Thank you sooo much.
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Diane, followers of this blog might be interested in Mike Rose’s work on TruthDig: http://www.truthdig.com/dig/item/questions_education_reformers_arent_asking_20100318
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More excellent reasoning from Carol Burris: http://hechingerreport.org/education-doesnt-need-common-core-reform-teachers-need-the-time-and-resources-to-build-great-schools/
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Diane, A principal smoking weed in a car with one of her students in Florida. That’s not the interesting part. What’s interesting is that it took me looking at 5 sources before one of them referenced, briefly, the fact that she was the principal of a charter school. Even when the articles do mention that she works for a charter school, many of the comments, as you can imagine, bash public schools. The public school brand has been so damaged by reformsters that even when it is a charter school that is involved, readers will still jump to the public schools are horrible conclusion. Public schools are not in need of major reform, but their image is, and that job falls to us. Here’s the link: http://www.theblaze.com/stories/2015/05/08/cops-catch-woman-and-high-schooler-in-back-seat-of-a-car-that-smelled-of-pot-just-guess-how-they-know-each-other/
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Hey, Diane, Thought you might be interested in this new book: “Big Box Schools: Race, Education, and the Danger of the Wal-Martization of Public Schools in America” http://www.amazon.com/Big-Box-Schools-Wal-Martization-Twenty-First/dp/1498510418/
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Life in a society that values competition above cooperation and compassion:
http://www.npr.org/2015/05/10/405694832/in-palo-altos-high-pressure-schools-suicides-lead-to-soul-searching
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An Ohio legislator gives indications he may be on our side: http://sidneydailynews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?avis=OC&date=20150512&category=news&lopenr=305129957&Ref=AR
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Not totally on point, but interesting heading on “Jeb Opts Out” http://thegazette.com/subject/news/jeb-bush-opts-out-of-iowa-straw-poll-20150512
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A friend who works in global finance sent this link. Worth reading and commenting on for pro public ed, I think.
http://www.bbc.com/news/business-32608772
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I think people miss the whole boat when they look at these Asian countries that are at the top in terms of education. By saying that their classrooms are more rigorous and the students are more involved and even the teachers are better is only part of the whole. And yet, if these systems are so wonderful then why isn’t the US copying what they are doing 100% so that we get the same results? Let’s look at the diverse cultures and languages in the schools in Korea. None. Singapore and Hong Kong much more, but nothing like the US. Do they spend millions of dollars teaching and reaching those who can’t speak the language of instruction? No. Let’s see how many of these countries have programs to help families who are out of work. Few. They require everyone to work. Suddenly education is everything. Please post what these countries do with the childrren who are not capable. How do they educate the learning disabled, or those with any other disorder which may impede learning. What about transportation. Do these countries pay a lot for that or even food for the students? And what about discipline. How many fights, incidince of vandalism and bullying, drugs, disrespect, disobedience and classroom disruptions are recorded or tolerated or even allowed in these countries. When you take into account the vast number of things that US schools do for students, provide for students and allow students to get away with as opposed to thes Asian countries, I think the US curriculum, and the teaching force have nothing to do with our low ranking.
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Another article on Secretary Duncan: http://www.counterpunch.org/2015/05/12/arne-duncan-fouls-out-on-common-core/
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Yong Zhao made a great speech at NPE, except for one small blip. On the importance of evidence: http://teacherbatman.org/2015/05/16/on-the-importance-of-evidence-based-practice/
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http://rt.com/news/157880-chile-student-protest-violence/
is this where we are headed?
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I am a a retired teacher who recently published a book, THE GEOGRAPHY BEE (Amazon), a novel in which a brave teacher and her students fight for their education in this testing environment. Dr. Marie Fonzi
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Taking over schools won’t cure what’s ailing them
5/16/2015
I almost choked on my coffee when I read the Athens Banner-Herald’s account of state Sen. Frank Ginn’s remarks on public education at a recent Athens-Clarke County Republican Party meeting.
http://www.empoweredgaaction.org/home/taking-over-schools-wont-cure-whats-ailing-them
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Testmaker says “Don’t blame us!”: http://lasvegassun.com/news/2015/may/15/testing-firm-chief-shifts-blame-common-core-woes/
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One Massachusetts town voices rejection of The Common Core: http://www.masslive.com/news/index.ssf/2015/05/wilbraham_1.html
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Re-distribution of wealth is not stealing. It’s “sharing.” http://teacherbatman.org/2015/05/19/re-distribution-of-wealth-is-not-stealing-its-sharing/
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Sharing is when I give something, so what’s it called when someone takes something from me and gives it to someone else?
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Then it would follow for you to believe in zero taxes. If a progressive income tax is “stealing,” then so is any tax at all.
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If the purpose of taxation is to take from me to give to others then zero taxes are necessary to limit the mis accrued power of our government.
A progressive tax means that not all people are taxed fairly, rather they are taxed each according to their means with distribution according to the “taxers” alleged needs.
A Flat tax for all would mean equal participation and contribution to our governance system, which in turn would force the “taxers” to adjust their means so as not to “over tax” those who contribute the least.
See my addition Founding Fathers posts to this blog.
I saw today that Diane stated they appeared to wiser than their posterity.
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Jim Realini,
How do you feel about wealthy individuals and multi-billion dollar corporations using their money to persuade Congress and state legislatures to give them either big tax breaks or huge subsidies?
If it is fair to subsidize a multi-billion dollar corporation so it can expand or to convince it not to move to another state, why is it not fair to subsidize those who need an education, a job, a steady meal, medical care?
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Upon leaving America in 1784, a British Colonel observed:
“Your idea of a democratic republic will survive until the masses realize they can vote themselves largess.”
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Margaret Thatcher observed that socialism works until you run out of other people’ money.
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I observed that some people in my country are very rich, and some people are very poor, and that’s not fair. I have also observed societies that care for all their citizens’ well-being, and these societies have prospered more than ours. Anyone can make observations, and some are worth reflecting upon more than others.
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Name one that cared without rationing or rationalization. I use the past tense, because utopias fail the test of reality throughout history unless they become exclusive to extinction.
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“Name one that cared without rationing or rationalization. I use the past tense, because utopias fail the test of reality throughout history unless they become exclusive to extinction.”
You don’t need a utopia to see that the rest of the developed world is ahead of us in terms of equity, and virtually any country with an equitable social system boasts a higher standard of living.
Remove excess individual greed from the equation (or, people who don’t like to share), and progressive income tax simply makes more sense in every way. It is better for the vast majority of people, it is even better for the wealthy individual once he gets over the fact that he can now purchase less mansions than before.
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“When the people find that they can vote themselves money, that will herald the end of the republic” – Benjamin Franklin
“A wise and frugal government, shall restrain men from injuring one another, shall leave them otherwise free to regulate their own pursuits of industry and improvement, and shall not take from the mouth of labor the bread it has earned. This is the sum of good government.” – Thomas Jefferson
“If Congress can do whatever in their discretion can be done by money, and will promote the general welfare, the government is no longer a limited one possessing enumerated powers, but an indefinite one subject to particular exceptions.” – James Madison
“To take from one, because it is thought his own industry and that of his fathers has acquired too much, in order to spare to others, who, or whose fathers, have not exercised equal industry and skill, is to violate arbitrarily the first principle of association, the guarantee to everyone the free exercise of his industry and the fruits acquired by it.”- Thomas Jefferson
“The government of the United States is a definite government, confined to specified objects. It is not like the state governments, whose powers are more general. Charity is no part of the legislative duty of the government.” – James Madison
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We all do better when we all do better- Paul Wellstone
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So do better
Wellstone, controversial, not a Founding Father.
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Ahh, the “everyone can make it alone if they just try harder” myth, perpetuated by the few in power.
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You know, a famous person doesn’t have to say something for it to have meaning. But here’s mine:
“Liberty and Justice for All”
-The Founding Fathers
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“We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defence, PROMOTE THE GENERAL WELFARE, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.”
Preamble to the Constitution (my emphasis)
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Neither are you.
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Context?
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Exactly, unless we too have succumbed and become a “utopia”.
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Reality exists independently of consciousness, that human beings have direct contact with reality through sense perception, that one can attain objective knowledge from perception through the process of concept formation and inductive logic, that the proper moral purpose of one’s life is the pursuit of one’s own happiness (rational self-interest), that the only social system consistent with this morality is one that displays full respect for individual rights embodied in laissez-faire capitalism, and that the role of art in human life is to transform humans’ metaphysical ideas by selective reproduction of reality into a physical form—a work of art—that one can comprehend and to which one can respond emotionally.
Objectivism-Ayn Rand
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Ayn Rand didn’t like sharing. We know.
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You can make that statement but can you show how wealth was taken from the poor and middle classes?
I’m interested in how this trickle – up theory (or I’m sure you would proclaim flooding – up) of economics works?
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Besides, wealth has been re-distributed from the poor and middle classes UP to the top 10% for many decades now.
It’s time to reverse that for the Common Good, instead of the Greedy Few.
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Margaret Thatcher also claimed there is no such thing as society; only individuals & families, and that capitalism is the only choice. Ayn Rand was obviously her idol. The disastrous results of Thatcher’s selfishness, which was adopted by Reagan here, are now evident to all waho care to look, in the U.K. as well as the U.S.
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Nope. A Flat Tax is inherently UNfair. If your income is $1 million and my income is $30,000, a 17% tax is very little to you, but burdensome to me.
That’s why a progressive income tax is FAIR. When Eisenhower was President, the highest marginal tax rate was over 90%, and the 1950s & 1960s were times of unprecedented prosperity for most Americans as the middle class grew as never before.
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That’s your assumption. Objectivists will share but they do not like being forced to. Kinda takes the meaning of “sharing” to a dark side of political correctness.
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A Flat Tax is equal protection under the law. It is the desire to tax 90% of the wealthy that is not fair. That’s not sharing, that’s legal appropriation of others property.
What is unfair is that we continue to elect officials who do not balance their spending except by borrowing and then taking by taxation from the wealthy because they have appropriated outside their means.
The operative word here is “covet”.
If you want better, do better.
This forum is about education so to bring it back here is what I think this whole edureform charter common core problem is about:
We the people believe we are entitled to an education but what people really want is guaranteed learning. When students believe they are entitled to learn, they do and they get better. Making money off students’s wanting to learn is immoral. Rather than steal from the rich (force them to share) to give to the education system and the education corporations, why not provide jobs so that families can support and encourage their children’s desire to learn?
A smart man once said, “it’s the economy stupid!”
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Bill Clinton may have been smart, but he was cruel and foolish, not wise. His bombing/sanctions on Iraq killed more than 1 million Iraqis, including more than 500,000 Iraqi children. His savage 78 straight days of bombing (with NATO) of Yugoslavia killed tens of thousands of civilians. His foolish signing of NAFTA cost millions of U.S. jobs and gave corporations power to overrule U.S. laws about workers’ safety and rights as well as the environment (which Obama is about to make even worse with his secret TPP and TTIP).
Clinton’s “welfare reform” made matters worse, especially for Blacks, women and children, and then the 2008 economic crash exacerbated those harmful effects. See these:
How Bill Clinton’s Welfare “Reform” Created a System Rife With Racial Biases | BillMoyers.com
http://billmoyers.com/2014/05/12/how-bill-clintons-welfare-reform-created-a-system-rife-with-racial-biases/
Was Welfare Reform Successful?
[Note that this report was written in 2006, two years before the economic crash of 2008, which made matters even worse for all those living on the margins.]
Click to access welfare%20reform.pdf
Welfare Reform Leaving More In Poverty
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/08/23/welfare-reform-poverty_n_932490.html
Clinton’s savage program of Welfare Reform, effects on women and children | SF Gray Panthers
https://mlyon01.wordpress.com/2012/04/08/clintons-savage-welfare-reform/
Read these two recent books:
The Spirit Level: Why Greater Equality Makes Societies Stronger Paperback by Kate Pickett and Richard Wilkinson
The Price of Inequality: How Today’s Divided Society Endangers Our Future by Joseph E. Stiglitz
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You are right about the 50 & 60 tax rate, but when my parents and friends began to earn enough money to start paying those taxes, they elected people to change the laws (tax rates) so they could keep their earned income.
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Are you saying that your parents and friends benefitted from those high tax rates on rich people that made this country and its economy strong so that they could go to college, get a good job and start a business and accumulate wealth? But as soon as they got theirs, they turned around and said “we need to keep all our money and to heck with everyone else?”
Wow, just wow. I guess patriotism is beyond your understanding. The people you admire are all about selfishness and getting theirs. What a truly appalling country they hope to leave to their grandchildren. Sorry, but I prefer one where the rich give back to America. I am happy to pay high taxes, and I do. Because as a child I benefitted from the much higher taxes paid by rich people before selfishness and greed became the new “patriotism”.
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Unusually objective reporting from Newsweek: http://www.newsweek.com/whats-behind-opt-out-protests-against-common-core-332560
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And if you look at that time period (50’s), there wasn’t any competition either for the US. Europe was rebuilding and so was Asia. We were booming business wise. Also, this article explain the rest. http://www.aei.org/publication/were-taxes-really-higher-in-the-1950s/
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From the article: “One answer is that taxes in the 50s weren’t really high. Yes, the top marginal tax rate was 90%, but it applied to almost no one. ”
So only the top .01% paid those high 90% marginal tax rates? I’m fine with that, so thank you for posting this and I’m glad you agree that the top .01% (almost no one) can return to the rates of the 1950s, when the American economy was booming!
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China, that is part of Asia, didn’t really start rebuilding until the late 1970s. The 60s into the 70s was Mao destructive Cultural Revolution.
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Fair, question.
How do you feel about politicians that take money from them and reward them instead of doing what they should do for the people?
I still say, we get what we voted for.
I don’t vote for Donkey’s and Elephants that continue to deceive the people in order to support the few.
We had a workable system of government for a long time until Federalism subsumed our nation and maintaining oneself in power to extrapolate riches from the “spoils system” became the goal of political leadership.
I teach my middle schoolers what the Founding Fathers wanted for their posterity and to challenge their parents to explain just who is going to pay off the National Debt because the only way out is to saddle everyone with destructive tax levies.
This discussion got started around the concept of “sharing” which has become confused with entitlement.
Rockefeller, Vanderbilt, Morgan, Stanford, et al began sharing when they realized the government would “take” from them. Today the government protects the current lions of industry by accepting their campaign finance support. Gates, Bezos, Walton et al think they are helping with their foundations but really they are unwittingly supporting the power retention of the “elected”officials. The politicians have accepted billions from teacher and labor unions and yet what have they done to protect teachers? How many policies or laws have they promulgated that have increased jobs for labor unions (I do not count SEIU – essentially a government created organization)?
None of this has made our economy any better which is at the root of our education and familiy support issues (Health Care, crime at the top).
Ok that’s all for now, thanks for the venting space, I’ve got kids coming in the door for todays lesson on how a bill becomes a law.
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http://pulse.ncpolicywatch.org/2015/05/22/nc-house-gives-1-million-to-lobby-group-that-pays-e-d-more-than-governor-mccrory/
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Diane –
Have you seen this? So more bs about scores…
http://www.mommabears.org/blog/magical-test-results-in-tennessee
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I found this today. So what about education research?
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In the past few years more professionals have come forward to share a truth that, for many people, proves difficult to swallow. One such authority is Dr. Richard Horton, the current editor-in-chief of the Lancet – considered to be one of the most well respected peer-reviewed medical journals in the world.
Dr. Horton recently published a statement declaring that a lot of published research is in fact unreliable at best, if not completely false.
“The case against science is straightforward: much of the scientific literature, perhaps half, may simply be untrue.
Afflicted by studies with small sample sizes, tiny effects, invalid exploratory analyses, and flagrant conflicts of interest, together with an obsession for pursuing fashionable trends of dubious importance, science has taken a turn towards darkness.” (source)
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and the link:
http://www.collective-evolution.com/2015/05/16/editor-in-chief-of-worlds-best-known-medical-journal-half-of-all-the-literature-is-false/
ps. I am addicted to your blog!
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ps. re my message/comment
The source, shown as (source) is
Click to access PIIS0140-6736%2815%2960696-1.pdf
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Diane, if you have not already posted this, this is a poignant and spot-on explanation by a dedicated public school teacher as to why she is leaving her job. http://www.loveteachblog.com/2015/04/what-i-wish-i-could-tell-them-about.html
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She sounds like an amazing teacher. Catastrophic to see that her situation dictates leaving the classroom.
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Boulder, CO teacher punished for teaching opt out kids during PARCC testing period:
http://www.dailycamera.com/boulder-county-schools/ci_28183658/boulder-high-students-start-petition-get-teachers-advanced
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Smarter Balenced?
On Friday they told us that we were going to be having Common Core tests next week (SBAC or Smarter balanced tests in CA) . “Make sure to check your room number by the counseling office.” “Review the practice exam.” “ Get enough sleep.” But, for what? What even is this test? Why is it so important? Where is all this information going? Why was I not told by any member of the staff that I could opt out?
There was a letter posted outside the office. It said that anyone could opt out of these tests with parent permission. It said that we as students have a voice. We have rights. That got me curious. I started asking questions. I asked members of my neighborhood their opinions. I asked family, friends, teachers, and searched the internet about these tests. I wanted to share what I learned. I wanted to have a voice, not just be a number from a test.
I heard stories of kids not wanting to go to school because they were so deflated, so stressed and confused. I read about how much time test prep takes. I talked with my friend Suzy who is a 7th grade English and history teacher about how useless some of this data mining seems. “ We have to do 3 [in class essays] every year. I have to grade all of these, put them in the gradebook, give feedback, then input them into a district website to collect data. One extra step for teachers is awful. Why do we do this? What is done with this data? The district has no answer. I calculated that every year, in addition to all other curriculum requirements, we have to score 450 essays per teacher.”
Schools are having precious learning time taken away to administer standardized tests. The Huffington Post states: “Teachers now devote 30 percent of their work time on testing-related tasks, including preparing students, proctoring, and reviewing the results of standardized tests, the National Education Association says.” Not only is time drained, but money is being used to buy computers to administer these tests.
In Suzy’s case, she has to prep students for this one test but won’t necessarily know where the data is going or how it will be used. Last year we took practice tests and some questions were so hard I clicked random answers. I even wrote a poem about how I felt like a robot. I never got my score back. I wonder what would have happened if I wrote “ WHAT IS THE POINT” for an essay question.
Since I don’t see my results, or the specific questions I got wrong, I don’t understand what I could do better or worse on. In addition, we haven’t been provided specific test information, or easy access to reasons why why are taking this test. For example my math teacher told me that our test will be a practice for a later SBAC test. We aren’t even taking the real thing. She told me that the teachers will grade them and it will be good finals prep. I would be taking a practice exam for the test I would take that is actually a test prep for finals? That is a lot of prep.
It’s relatively easy to administer a test then judge students based on their scores. I think part of the problem is that when people fail these tests, their self esteem drops, they think they aren’t good enough, and then they cry when they get home from school. On many occasions I have come from school frustrated and broken out into tears, and I am an honor student in a really privileged area. Imagine what it’s like for our neighbors who don’t have free tutoring and get Ds and think it is all their fault. A test score is such a small part of a person’s intelligence. When these test are being taken, the institutions are saying that the test is what measures how smart a person is, or how good a school is. That is a whole lot of unnecessary pressure.
In addition if these tests are being given to school with low performance ratings and the tests are really difficult, some of these schools may not have the resources to provide test prep or extra help to their students and because they are underfunded, the students, teachers, and schools suffer the consequences.
To an extent, I agree that tests are necessary. People are certified to become nurses and plumbers and teachers by taking a test. But to test on how well a school or student is doing with one test is ridiculous. If you wanted the whole picture then someone could collect my GPA which has my average test scores. You could look at my extra curricular activities, and then asses the school based on multiple variables. But that would probably take too long.
I agree that the new common core method of teaching is pretty rad. I like having explorations in math. It makes me question and have opinions. I like that. I do not like the immense data collection and loads of testing. There is a limit to all of this stress, confusion, and frustration, and that is what we as a community have to figure out and act upon so that education can be fun, and full of wonder like it should be.
See more:
http://www.racetonowhere.com/
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/04/17/common-core-opt-out-testi_n_7090910.html
http://unitedoptout.com/2015/03/01/video-parents-refuse-high-stakes-testing/
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READ HERE ABOUT THE WONDERFUL WORLD OF “GRADING THE TEST” @ $12/HR
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SORRY
Read here
http://www.edweek.org/ew/articles/2015/05/20/thousands-of-scorers-take-on-the-common-core.html?cmp=ENL-CCO-NEWS2-RM
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This is a blog post made by STOP, School Transparency Organization for Parents. We are from a tiny rural NYS School, Harpursville NY. We have been fighting for months to bring our School Board and Superintendent to reason. We believe irreparable harm is coming to our children as a result of misguided changes taking place in direct response to the pressures of High Stakes testing.
http://stophcsd.blogspot.com/2015/05/watch-rural-school-near-you-cannibalize.html
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PBS does a typical shallow analysis of the Opt Out movement…but less shallow than most…and has some excellent comments, including one from Peggy Robertson:
http://www.pbs.org/newshour/bb/galvanized-standardized-testings-opt-movement/
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The Secret Group That Wants to Take Over Your School
By Sarah Lahm on May 27, 2015
– See more at: http://www.progressive.org/news/2015/05/188152/secret-group-wants-take-over-your-school#sthash.ea9g7fvJ.dpuf
Don’t look now, but there’s something creepy coming toward you, and it wants to take over your public school system. Sure, it’s connected—through all-important grants—to many of the big names in today’s education reform movement (Gates, Walton, Broad), but most people have probably never heard of it.
This “education reform powerhouse” is the Center on Reinventing Public Education, which goes by the acronym CRPE—or “creepy.” How fitting. While there are many individuals and organizations on the front lines of the free-market education reform movement—from Teach for America, to Education Secretary Arne Duncan, to the Recovery School District in New Orleans—CRPE has not been publicly outed. Instead, it has steadily carved out an influential role for itself behind the scenes.
In fact, CRPE operates in a manner that is strikingly similar to ALEC (the American Legislative Exchange Council), the secretive, powerful group funded by the Koch brothers and a large roster of corporations. Here’s a look at how the two organizations work:
1. Member networks: Both CRPE and ALEC have a “secret club” component, through their member networks. With ALEC, the members are state legislators. With CRPE, they are school districts from across the United States (there are currently thirty-nine of them).
2. Network meetings: Both CRPE and ALEC host member network meetings or conferences, where a common philosophy (based on a distinct rightwing ideology) is honed, articulated, and shared.
3. Model legislation: Both CRPE and ALEC create sample, model policies (CRPE) or “cookie-cutter bills” (ALEC) for the districts or legislators who are part of their member networks.
4. Free-market funders: Like ALEC, CRPE is funded by very wealthy, free-market-focused special interests, including the Walton Foundation.
One difference is that ALEC has been around since the early 1970s while CRPE is a more recent concoction. University of Washington political science professor Paul T. Hill founded the group in 1993, just as the “accountability” movement in public education was taking off, and it is housed at the University of Washington-Bothell. CRPE is affiliated with the university, but Hill explains, “Our work is funded through private philanthropic dollars, federal grants, and contracts.” And, although CRPE describes itself as engaging in “independent research and policy analysis,” in 2011 the Center for Media and Democracy’s Source Watch website tagged the group as an “industry-funded research center that . . . receives funding from corporate and billionaire philanthropists as well as the U.S. Department of Education.”
While Hill may not be well known nationally, he is no shrinking violet when it comes to agenda-driven policy work. Beyond CRPE, he has been affiliated with the right-leaning Hoover Institute and its Koret Task Force on K-12 Education, which focuses on vouchers and other market-based, privatization-centered reforms for public schools.
And that right-leaning stamp is all over CRPE, which has built a network of “portfolio school districts” from New York City to New Orleans and beyond. It promises to run these districts like a stock portfolio. Under this model, schools are to become more “autonomous,” and districts will be decentralized for a more “hands-off” approach. In an eighteen-month portfolio implementation guide that CRPE provides school districts, a suggested strategy for the first two months is to “announce the district will replace five schools with charter schools.” Schools will be closed for such failures as “negative labor-management relations.”
Many people in progressive-minded Minneapolis would be shocked to know that the Minneapolis public school system has been part of the CRPE network since 2010 (thanks to a makeover, led, for free, by consultants from the global consulting firm McKinsey and Company). Today, this shadowy organization is on the verge of completely overhauling the public school district’s entire operation.
Anyone needing proof should look no further than the 2013 CRPE meeting for Portfolio Network members that was held in Seattle. A video from that meeting lays bare the competitive, resource-scarce mindset behind CRPE, and it even uses the Minneapolis public schools—albeit superficially—as a test case for the presentation.
The video—available on YouTube as “Dollars and Sense Accountability”—offers attendees lots of suggestions for how schools can expand their limited pots of money. The assumption always seems to be that schools just need to do more with less, so the suggestions are pragmatic. They include encouraging schools to grow their enrollment (the presenter, Marguerite Roza, who now works for CRPE, recommends pushing schools on this, because they’ll always say they’re too full). CRPE also suggests paying teachers extra to teach more kids, and pitting schools against one another in a battle for resources. All of this is based around a central question: What does it look like when a district starts to view schools like businesses?
To begin, Roza praises Minneapolis for its “enormous cooperation,” because the district has offered its data for use as an example of how to view schools “in terms of cost and outcomes.” Roza then shows participants a graph, where Minneapolis school sites (unnamed) are splayed out according to how much money they spend in comparison to how “high performing” they are. Before she delves in too deeply, however, Roza makes one point very clear: “I hope when you leave this session, you realize that the money part of the equation has to be part of the accountability bit, so you have to start connecting the spending and the outcomes together,” she says.
Throughout the video, it becomes clear that what Roza means is that the ideal school is one which spends less money but gets high test scores. It also becomes clear that, to Roza, and by extension CRPE, kids and schools are mere widgets in the Hunger Games-like landscape of school finance that CRPE promotes.
At one point, Roza points to the graph full of Minneapolis examples and says, “Look at the relationship between spending and outcomes! It’s pretty dismal, right?” Roza acknowledges that “schools are messy,” but then veers back to CRPE’s market-driven ideology: “If we’re trying to get to a system where we’re leveraging our money to get the best possible outcomes we could get, we need a more robust relationship between spending and outcomes than we have.”
In the video, Roza zeros in on the concept of “nice” schools, which fall into the high-spending, high-performing part of her graph, and she then makes a whole lot of creepy allegations about them. In her Minneapolis example, there is only one such school, which sits by itself up in the lonely far corner of the graph.
Roza seems to assume that this school is a high-spending hog, feeding off the trough, and getting great outcomes on every other school’s “dime.” If such a school exists in your district, Roza tells the hushed crowd, “You should figure out how much extra you’re spending for those kids,” because this is not a “replicable model.” It’s just too expensive, Roza concludes.
Her solution? Force such schools to “take more kids,” and don’t listen when they tell you they’re too full. In fact, when they do tell you they are too full, simply ask them, “All right, did you want to give up the jazz band or the golf team?” Because, it seems, they must be lying about their ability to “cram more kids in,” as Roza puts it, just so they can protect their elite, district-funded programs. (Roza seems not to understand that, in Minneapolis, there are wealthy neighborhoods, but there are no wealthy schools rolling in district dollars.)
It turns out that the school Roza was referring to is Minneapolis’s Dowling Elementary, a K-5 site that indeed spends a lot of money. But it spends a lot because it serves an “unusually large percent of special needs kids,” according to Minneapolis’s former budget director Sarah Snapp, who was at the CRPE meeting. Snapp shared this information after Roza gave her fiscally conservative spiel.
Dowling Elementary is named after educator and legislator Michael Dowling, who, according to the school’s website, “succeeded in having the first bill passed providing state aid for handicapped children in 1919. Being handicapped himself, Mr. Dowling realized the importance of equal access to education for all people.” Even today, the school has a program for students with health-related disabilities. These students have their own special education classification, and Dowling was—and is—designed to meet their needs, alongside Dowling’s non-special-needs population.
At the CRPE meeting, Snapp tells Roza that Dowling does have a “unique set of factors” that make it look like a big spender, and also warns that lumping all students in a district together “might mask some of what’s going on.”
Still, Roza moves on in her presentation, and makes a joke about the next section, called “Performance Funding,” saying wryly, “This is where the school does well and we give them more money.”
Not quite. This would be a dangerous path to go down, Roza warns, because if you give a school “cash” for doing well (on standardized tests, of course), then that “high-performing” school will also become a “higher spending” school. Forget that, says Roza. Instead, she advises redefining “accountability” as, simply, the “right to continue to operate” according to a “continuous improvement model.”
Roza persists with her, and CRPE’s, definition of accountability, saying schools will—no, must—“seek to continuously go up,” with no “threshold” or end in sight, in terms of test-based measurements. The stakes are very high in this model. Roza explains that it is “constantly the lowest-performing, at a particular spending level, schools . . . that should go away or improve . . . and then you get a system that’s constantly striving for higher performance.”
The overall goal is to strip schools down from their messy, complicated “overspending” heights, and collapse them all into a pure “student-based” funding model. (CRPE shares their love of funding students, not programs, with ALEC, which has a model “Student-Centered Funding” bill, essentially a school voucher program.) Then, says Roza, districts will have arrived at a cost and outcomes Nirvana, where they can “just manage on performance.”
This, she explains, will yield a “vertical line full of dots” on a graph.
That may be the ideal way to view schools, students, and teachers from a CRPE point of view. On the ground, in Minneapolis, community members would probably object if it were known that their schools are being guided by the CRPE’s rightwing ideology.
But this may be changing.
At an April 14 Minneapolis school board meeting, parents, teachers, and students from across the city came to express their frustration with the district and its latest plans.
First up, there was a contingent from Roosevelt High School, an old-time school in south Minneapolis that has 80 percent students of color and a high proportion of kids in poverty (76 percent). In March, Roosevelt parents and staff received their school’s budget for the upcoming school year; it was $248,000 short of what they needed. The worst part? The budget cut—which was deceptively framed as an increase—came as Roosevelt stands to grow, by adding 100 new students to its incoming freshman class after years of being seen as one of Minneapolis’s “less desirable” schools.
It also came just as Minneapolis Public Schools Interim Superintendent Michael Goar was making very public claims about “right-sizing” the district’s budget, in order to send millions of dollars back into the pockets of the district’s schools.
This strategy—of “right-sizing,” with the promise that this will bring autonomy and funds straight to the schools—is CRPE all the way. Tellingly, a brief CRPE video about the virtues of school autonomy includes the insistence that schools must be given the “freedom” to control their money, as the ultimate goal, in the words of CRPE founder Paul Hill, is for a school to be “as free about what it does as a charter school.”
But the Roosevelt parents and students are not buying it. For the first time in years, under the energetic leadership of parent Jeanette Bower, the school has been getting organized—and vocal. School supporters went to the school board meeting to rally for Roosevelt, and to continue changing the school’s image from that of a “ghetto school,” in the words of ninth grade student Lewis Martin, to that of a school people choose to come to.
Their list of complaints about the lack of funding for Roosevelt were long, and will sound familiar to anyone who has been watching the move to defund and privatize America’s public schools:
Roosevelt is the only high school in Minneapolis with no theater program, and the district is not providing any funds to remedy this.
With budget cuts, the school will have to lay off its community liaisons, who have been going out into the community to change the narrative of “failure” (due to test scores) that hovers over the school.
The school will have to let its librarian go, and class sizes may increase.
Also, the district will only provide funding for the 100 new students who have signed up to attend Roosevelt next year in the fall, when the students actually show up. The problem with this, in the eyes of the Roosevelt community, is that the school can’t hire extra teachers because the hiring season is happening now, in the spring. (This is CRPE’s preferred way to fund schools: only according to the numbers of students who show up.)
For Roosevelt High School senior Shahmar Dennis, who also spoke out at the April 14 board meeting, the lack of clear information from the district around Roosevelt’s budget is troubling.
“We are a school on the rise, but our music program will suffer,” he says. “We have more students coming next year, but we can’t buy new instruments.”
Dennis explained that he is going off to college in the fall, but that he still deeply cares about his school: “I won’t be here next year but I want to see Roosevelt High School growing and doing well academically, with a good theater program.”
That desire is diametrically opposed to the CRPE agenda.
Sarah Lahm is a Minneapolis-based writer and former English instructor. She blogs about education at brightlightsmallcity.com.
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Does anyone have information about the Teacher Preparation Transformation Centers that are funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation?
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Teachers being bullied by principals. It’s out of control. Here’s a blog post by the VP of the Washington Teachers Union – part of the AFT.
http://thewashingtonteacher.blogspot.com/2015/05/principal-bullying-in-dc-public-schools.html
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During the 30 years I was a teacher, I was bullied by two of the 9 or 10 principals I worked with and one assistant superintendent. For some reason, they always eventually stopped. I was told by three or four VPs and a few teachers that they feared me all the way up to the superintendent. I have no idea why. I was just another helpless teacher who was a former U.S. Marine and Vietnam Vet who came home from the war with PTSD and related anger issues and kept an arsenal at home. But I never carried any weapons on campus because that could get me fired. Kids could bring weapons and maybe get suspended and face expulsion if caught, but not teachers.
Anyway, on that note, I dated and then married a teacher at the same intermediate school where I taught from 1978 – 1986 (we would divorce in 1999—that PTSD has a way to wear out marriages), and we kept our marriage a secret because there was a rule in that district that a husband and wife couldn’t work at the same school (the rule would change a few years later). Thinking she was single and a perfect target, she was bullied horribly by no less than the president of the school board, the superintendent and the principal because the school board president wanted his son to be on the honor role, and he was only earning a C in her class. They harassed her to change the grade. She refused, and when I couldn’t stay quiet any longer, I went to the school counselor, who I trusted, and told him we were married and that he better warm the idiots who were harassing my wife to stop. I made no threats but maybe that crazy PTSD look in my eyes was enough.
They stopped harassing her as if she had been a hot potato that blistered their hands, and the counselor came to me a few days later and asked if it the principal had anything to worry about.
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http://www.gatesfoundation.org/How-We-Work/General-Information/Grant-Opportunities/Teacher-Preparation-Transformation-Centers-RFI-RFP
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México is undergoing a major Educative Reform. It is also a labor reform. On May 29 , one of the two main teacher´s unión made the government to go back on the Reform and Teacher´s evaluación regarding political issues with a huge local and International impacto.
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Never said we should return to the 90% tax rate. Theft is theft. Be it you directly seizing most of what someone else has earned, or electing someone else to do it.
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Tax havens, trusts, foundations and on and on and on. Those wealthy enough keep from paying most taxes. Its the middle class and upper middle class who get soaked. And I must add, why is it greedy to want to keep what you earned and not greedy of those who want to take it from you?
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Please help me, I’m confused. If I make $10,000 a day manipulating the stock market, or reducing my employees benefits — I earned it more than someone who did manual labor the whole day? Or taught in a school the whole day?
It’s amazing how in mainstream American economic theory, money always seems to go proportionally to the people who most deserve it. And it’s greedy to want enough food or security — but not greedy when I refuse to give up part of my excess to help others, or when I go out of my way to undermine the welfare of others.
Dang it, I’m in bizarro world again.
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teacherbatman, why don’t you become that person that makes $10,000 a day in the stock market? Furthermore, will you reimburse him if he loses $20,000 the next day? Why don’t you start your own company, take the risk, invest the capital so you can UP the benefits of your employees? And tell me, what is excessive? Making money is not evil. Those who manipulate the playing field are.
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“teacherbatman, why don’t you…”
You went around the issue. The point is that a progressive income tax is fair. If you make more, then you are taxed more. That tax money goes to social programs, education, healthcare, infrastructure. Not politicians. Now society benefits, not just a few people.
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So Carol, you must agree with me on two issues:
1. Raise taxes to 60% marginal rate on all income above $1,000,000. That way the middle class and upper middle class don’t have to worry about being “soaked”.
2. Return the inheritance tax to the levels it was in the 1950s, with a larger exclusion of the first $750,000 and an increasing marginal tax rate on income up to $5,000,000 with income over that taxed at 60%. Obviously, you want to make sure that the children of the rich get lots of money, but I can’t imagine you’d argue that any person needs to inherit 100% of wealth unless you know that the children of wealthy people are lazy bums who can’t make it with less than at least $50 million! lol!
That way we can make sure the middle class and upper middle class aren’t paying too much, but the truly rich are still paying LESS than they did under that Communist President Dwight D. Eisenhower, when this country was strong. But if you hate America and are a traitor and not a patriot, you probably think that we should continue policies to insure the wealthiest Americans keep all their money, just like they did in all the countries where the immigrants who made this country strong came from.
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Go back further to the source.
The XVI Amendment was intended to TAX only the Wealthy and Corporations. Look at the Wikipedia citation for some basic knowledge of the intent at the time.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sixteenth_Amendment_to_the_United_States_Constitution
This Amendment and subsequent legislation, regulations, policies, and court decisions has drastically modified the intent to where everyone is subject to all manner of Taxation no matter the source of income.
What drove the Amendment was the growth of the Federal government under the Progressive politicians like Roosevelt & Wilson.
Progressivism also was imbued with strong political overtones, and it rejected the church as the driving force for change. Specific goals included:
The desire to remove corruption and undue influence from government through the taming of bosses and political machines
DO YOU THINK THIS IS NEEDED TODAY, I DO.
the effort to include more people more directly in the political process
BUSH-CLINTON-BUSH-OBAMA-CLINTON or BUSH?
the conviction that government must play a role to solve social problems and establish fairness in economic matters.
REALLY? More government means you need more money with the subsequent accrual of more power centralized which means more corruption and special interest influence.
Repeal the XVI Amendment and force the Federal Government to live within the original Constitution:
Article I, Section 2, Clause 3:
Representatives and direct taxes shall be apportioned among the several States which may be included within this Union, according to their respective Numbers…[1]
Article I, Section 8, Clause 1:
The Congress shall have Power to lay and collect Taxes, Duties, Imposts and Excises, to pay the Debts and provide for the common Defence and general Welfare of the United States; but all Duties, Imposts and Excises shall be uniform throughout the United States.
Article I, Section 9, Clause 4:
No Capitation, or other direct, Tax shall be laid, unless in proportion to the Census or Enumeration herein before directed to be taken.
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NY parent, Wow, your rationale would make Karl Marx proud. NO, I want to make sure my kids can get rich if they want. What is keeping a certain class wealthy NY is regulations, loopholes and taxes that destroy freedoms and competition. The progressive taxation through class envy gives the corporate types and politicians more and more power to enslave you and I. Why can’t you see this?
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“From the end of World War II until 1981, the richest Americans faced a top marginal tax rate of 70 percent or above. Under Dwight Eisenhower it was 91 percent. Even after all deductions and credits, the top taxes on the very rich were far higher than they’ve been since. Yet the economy grew faster during those years than it has since. (Don’t believe small businesses would be hurt by a higher marginal tax; fewer than 2 percent of small business owners are in the highest tax bracket.)”
From Robert Reich, “The seven biggest economic lies” http://www.pbs.org/wnet/need-to-know/opinion/the-seven-biggest-economic-lies/12007/
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Hi Diane,
Please feel free to run my latest, which is my local Jersey-girl reaction to Chris Christie’s “No More Common Core” announcement yesterday: http://parentingthecore.com/2015/05/29/chris-christie-has-a-bridge-to-sell-us/
Best regards,
Sarah
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http://fox11online.com/2015/05/28/wisconsin-may-be-first-to-license-teachers-without-degree/
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Want to know the real story of Baltimore and poverty in America. Watch I Have a Name by Morgan Bengel. You will never think the same way again!
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No it’s not. There is no across the board rate. The more you make, the more success you have, the higher the rate you pay. You are penalized for discipline, success, risk taking, ingenuity, hard work and ambition. Again, people vote for individuals that will take more from others to give to themselves. Karl Marx explained it all to us in the Communist Manifesto. NOT what our founders had in mind. As a matter of fact, they warned us about such thinking and where it would lead. Are teachers teaching children that the harder they work, the more they will be penalized in the name of “equality and fairness”?
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Um, Carol, there are, in 2015, 7 federal tax brackets for those whose taxable income is $0 – those whose taxable income is somewhere between $413,201-$464,850, depending on filing status as an individual or married couple filing jointly (married filing separately is $232,426).
BUT THERE ARE NO TAX BRACKETS ABOVE THIS $400,000 SOME-ODD AMOUNT, SO, NO, IT IS NOT TRUE THAT THE MORE YOU MAKE, THE HIGHER THE RATE YOU PAY.
And are you equating how hard people work with how much money they make? Funny, I’ve been reading in the New York Times and elsewhere that there are lots of people who work 2-3 different jobs day and nighttime just to make ends barely meet. Seems to me they’re working pretty hard.
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Nope, not saying hard work means more money. It’s the VALUE of that work and what the market demands and can bear that determines what you make. I can assure you, all people, in all professions are not the same and what they put out is not of equal value. There are very good reasons someone who busts their butt as a stone mason gets paid much more then someone who works hard waiting tables. Do you think this is “unfair”?
I’m trying to understand you. Are you saying you don’t think 7 different tax rates means what it is…………7 different tax rates? Just because the rates don’t go as high as you would like, it doesn’t mean those 7 rates don’t count as increases.
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Great piece by Frank Breslin in Huff Post: “Why America Demonizes Its Teachers” http://www.huffingtonpost.com/frank-breslin/why-america-demonizes-its-teachers_b_7463084.html?utm_hp_ref=tw
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Chi, Please read this article and the comments that follow to see the truth about this issue of 90% tax rate. http://almostclassical.blogspot.com/2011/03/90-tax-rate-myth.html The comments that come after are just as informative.
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Nope, already read it and similar diatribes put out by the 1% who don’t want their taxes raised and I did not fall for any of that hogwash. YOU are the one perpetuating myths.
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On the other hand, many will also say:
Nope, already read it and similar diatribes put out by those who want taxes raised on the 1% and have fallen for all of that hogwash about entitlement to the wealth of others. YOU are the one perpetuating myths.”
The middle ground in this discussion, is the creation of jobs for the middle class.
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Don’t count on the 1% for that. We learned long ago from the failure of trickle down economics that the 1% are not the job creators in this country. They’re the job outsourcers. And, if you read the article in my post below, you can see that what the wealthy and corporations have been creating here is a new army of service employees who are misclassified as “independent contractors,” so that they don’t have to pay minimum wage, payroll taxes, unemployment insurance, workers comp. etc. This is not new, but it has been growing for the past decade and it’s across professions. The last three out of four jobs that I was offered in the last 10 years were as an independent contractor working for schools. (Yes, I am an educator.)
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“Welcome to feudalism, America: How the 1 percent is systematically destroying the middle class”
http://www.salon.com/2015/06/01/welcome_to_feudalism_america_how_the_1_percent_is_systematically_destroying_the_middle_class/
It won’t be long before your kid also has three college degrees and decades of experience but can only find jobs as an “independent contractor,” with no benefits nor job protections, which includes not even qualifying for minimum wage, just like me.
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I read the article and it is the polar opposite of
http://almostclassical.blogspot.com/2011/03/90-tax-rate-myth.html
therefore my point is that all these moebius strip articles really hide the main issue: viable jobs or the lack of jobs.
The government, elected to represent the people after the voters are heavily influenced by the monies of 1%, creates these rules that ironically seem to penalize your efforts at finding the job you feel entitled to. Voters cast ballots and the officials repay their benefactors. It’s all legal but is it moral or ethical? Know any elected officials who aren’t part of the 5%?
I never took a job that didn’t allow me to support my families needs.
I do not know your personal situation, but it seems like you might want to consider not working as an independent contractor and seek employment that has an organized labor affiliation.
You are right it is not the 1%’s job to create your job, it is the government’s role under free enterprise to create conditions where more people want to create employment opportunities and make a profit.
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Actually Chi-Town, This is NOT Feudalism. Please look up the definition. This is Crony Capitalism. Most Capital in this country is owned by fewer and fewer people because of the laws, regulations and special tax favors passed by POLITICIANS, those we elect. The companies can not just decided that they will or won’t pay or what rules they will have to follow. They do what they have to in order to survive in whatever climate is set up by the political class. Sure they lobby for influence. But WE elect these corrupt individuals and need to hold THEM accountable. Right now, we have an administration that loves regulations. So do the large corporations you are rallying against. You see the more regulations passed, the less competition for the mega corporations since the smaller businesses and mom and pops can’t afford them. Obama Care has cause much heartache in job creation since employers are cutting their work force or hours for employees in order to avoid the penelties. http://news.investors.com/politics-obamacare/090514-669013-obamacare-employer-mandate-a-list-of-cuts-to-work-hours-jobs.htm So many factors as to what is transpiring. We need to raise revenue by creating more tax paying citizens through jobs not by taxing the wealthy more. By the way, during the Reagan years the federal government took in more revenue, more jobs were created and we had an economic boom. http://www.forbes.com/sites/peterferrara/2011/05/05/reaganomics-vs-obamanomics-facts-and-figures/ Why do you say trickle down economics didn’t work? Please explain if you believe “trickle up economics” is the answer and how that would possibly work.
Please look at all the factors of why we have lost our factories, full time jobs and so on.
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Sorry, typo, penalties.
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Jim Realini, The article I posted wasn’t an opinion. It was an explanation on the tax rates work and terms that can mislead or be confusing. I must point out, just creating jobs won’t fix the problem. Our system of checks and balances has been destroyed and until we return to the original intent of how Senators are elected, they will continue to work for Mega Corporations interest instead of States interest. The Mom and Pops have always been the back bone of employment in this country AND the means for people to better themselves and grow wealth. Right now with the punitive regulatory environment, Mom and Pops are scaling back, closing down, or being gobbled up by the Mega Corporations.
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Chi-Town Res, below you state that “Our system of checks and balances has been destroyed and until we return to the original intent of how Senators are elected, they will continue to work for Mega Corporations interest instead of States interest.”
I submit that the current system of corporatocracy is the inevitable, intended result of what the Constitution’s Framers wanted. See the following article by Paul Street from Z Magazine, then see Paul Craig Roberts’ latest article, then Chris Hedges’ latest article:
ZNet Commentary: Paul Street: The Undemocratic Constitution
http://zcomm.org/sendpress/eyJpZCI6OTc0MTg5LCJ2aWV3IjoiZW1haWwifQ/
Rule By The Corporations — Paul Craig Roberts – PaulCraigRoberts.org
http://www.paulcraigroberts.org/2015/06/01/rule-corporations-paul-craig-roberts-3/
Chris Hedges: Karl Marx Was Right – Chris Hedges – Truthdig
http://www.truthdig.com/report/item/karl_marx_was_right_20150531
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In this economy, people no longer have choices about which jobs, they will take if they want to survive, so they take what they can get, That is why we have so many underemployed college graduates in working in jobs waiting tables, as sales clerks, taxi drivers etc.
The government should be promoting jobs programs and taxing the undertaxed wealthy could go far in helping to pay for that, such as for rebuilding our collapsing infrastructure, Instead, they are giving free rides which make billionaires out of hedgefund managers, who contribute nothing of value to our society, while they profit off fees for high risk investments of public pensions and pay no transaction taxes. They “deserve” high paying jobs no more than anyone else, but all people “deserve” a living wage.
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False premise, REDPILLED. I did not state that “below.”
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Are we stuck in the 19th century? http://teacherbatman.org/2015/05/31/old-educational-outcomes-in-the-21st-century/
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Carol,
I vote for no penalties. Typos reveal we are human. :o) Perfection is great but we aren’t gods.
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I’m very bad about typing and running without proof reading before posting. Don’t you think perfection just might be really, really boring! 🙂
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Argh, yes, chasing perfection is not only boring, it is also tedious, and impossible to achieve because so few actually ever arrive at that destination. And for the few who think they arrived, all it takes is one 1-star review on Amazon to blow that perfection into more pollen blowing with the wind.
It also doesn’t help when one has dyslexia like I do and doesn’t see the types in my brain because my eyes have deceived me. And if a typo is a wrong word spelled correctly, the spell check is useless.
To be human is to be imperfect. Sigh!
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I say yippee!
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LOL
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The NY Supreme Court has denied a motion by the NY Education Department to dismiss the Lederman v. King lawsuit, in which a 18 year veteran Great Neck teacher has challenged a rating of “ineffective” based upon a growth score of 1 out of 20 points, even though her students performed exceptionally well on standardized tests.
This means that the NY Education Department must now answer to a Judge and explain why a rating which is irrational by any reasonable standard should be permitted to remain. The NY Education Department argued that Sheri Lederman lacked standing to challenge an “ineffective” rating on her growth score since her overall rating was still effective and she was not fired. A judge disagreed an determined that an ineffective rating on a grow store is an injury which she is entitled to challenge in Court.
Now, Sheri will have her day in Court. A hearing will likely be scheduled in in August.
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“The government should be promoting jobs programs”. No, the government should be allowing for an environment (by getting out of the way) where people can create or build a business which in turn creates jobs.
“The government should tax the under taxed wealthy”. What government have you ever seen anywhere that has taxed it’s people into prosperity?
Social programs have grown. Costly federal mandates have grown. And you wonder why we can’t afford to keep up with infrustucture? Again, the answer isn’t to tax more. The answer is for job growth through the private sector.
Do you know Chi-town why those hedge fund managers get away with so much? Who sets the rules Chi-town? Who do you think are some of the largest contributors to campaigns? We are being played for suckers.
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Just because you ignore facts in order to continue to support your ideology does not mean we are all fools who believe that nonsense, Carol. Give it up. This is Diane’s About page, not a place for long winded rants and promotions of the 1%.
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Carol,
Ever read about the Great Depression? FDR put millions of people to work. That beat starvation. What would you have done? The private sector is outsourcing jobs to low-wage countries. They look forward to a future in which nearly half the jobs have disappeared due to a combination of outsourcing and technology. I hope you live in a gated community.
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Diane,
If possible, please post this excellent article, Open Carry Letter to our STAAR Legislature by Leslie Midler of Friends of Texas Public Schools.
http://fotps.org/uncategorized/open-carry-letter-to-our-staar-legislature/
Thank you!
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Correction: her last name is Milder.
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Diane, FDR’s Treasury Secretary said in sworn testimony before congress, “We have tried spending, we are spending more than ever before and it is not working.” He also testified, ” I say after eight years of this administration, I say we have as much unemployment as when we started………..and enormous debt to boot.”
Have you ever thought about the possibility of government intervention making a situation worse? The idea that you can take money from your bank account, pay your child to do house work in your home as a way of improving the families financial situation is insane. It might make your child think things are better, but it hasn’t solved the underlying problem. That’s the idea of “stimulus”. And creating jobs has never been made easier by more rules and regulations. You say it’s greedy of business to move in order to make a profit. Why do you not look to those who impose regulations, taxes, fines and forced wages as the manipulators who run business off. Do you really believe these politicians pass such laws for your benefit? And you wonder why they, along with the corporations, have such power? It all makes me sick. Please excuse me for a while. I have a very, very sick older dog on my hands this morning.
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Carol, FDR was elected in 1932 on a promise to cut the budget. Then he got into office and realized that the economy was collapsing and real people with real families were starving and homeless. And that is how the New Deal was born. Yes, we need more spending. We need an investment in our crumbling infrastructure. I urge you to read “Losing Our Way” by Bob Herbert. I would not be happy living in a country where a small percentage of people live in luxury, the middle class is shrinking, and the poor are sleeping in the streets and starving. Would you?
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I completely agree with you Diane. I would not want to live in such an unsatisfying country either.
FDR built massive projects, Dams, Roads, Bridges, the TVA. If our government did that it would be great.
The San Francisco-Oakland (now Willie Brown) Bridge was built over budget with materials manufactured mostly overseas (China).
It is a not congruent to compare FDR with today’s politicians. He believed in what was best for America, not what would keep him continually in power.
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From Rodney Ellis, NCAE president. . . good news in NC.
“Today is a great day for our veteran teachers! The N.C. Court of Appeals ruled this morning that the 2013 state law to strip the career status rights from our veteran teachers is unconstitutional. The court upheld an early decision that said the law violated the constitutional protection of contracts and the prohibition against taking a person’s property.
NCAE, along with six public school teachers, filed the lawsuit to protect the rights of teachers. We are pleased the court has heard the voices of veteran teachers that North Carolina should honor its commitment of basic employment rights. Without this NCAE lawsuit, all career status teachers would have been required to go on contract in 2018, which could have resulted in an exodus of teachers leaving the profession.”
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Diane, because we have been living above our means for decades now, we can’t even pay the interest on the debt we owe. Manipulation of our monetary supply by the Fed is not making things better for anyone but the banking interests, and I think it is shameful of our generation to enslave and put into such debt our children and grandchildren. I do not believe handing bureaucrats more money is the answer. Most everything is much better handled on a State and local level which would also helps us to keep a handle on corruption. I believe FDR’s policies prolonged the financial difficulties and much of what he did was not necessarily for the well being of the people, but a power grab for the establishment politicians and their crony allies. The more power and control you give them Diane, the less freedom we have. Is that what you want for our grandchildren?
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Jim, there is so much information out there on what and why FDR did what he did. He was most definitely a progressive who believed in Socializing this country. Socialism has always brought about the kind of Cronyism we see today because it centralizes power and takes control of a countries economic activity. http://www.americanthinker.com/articles/2010/03/the_supreme_court_and_fdrs_pow.html
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I think I forgot to paste the article. http://www.americanthinker.com/articles/2010/03/the_supreme_court_and_fdrs_pow.html This keeps me from having to regurgitate.
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Can you get to this debate in New Jersey, Diane? Michael Petrilli is representing the Common Core and the need for high-stakes testing.
http://www.nj.com/hunterdon-county-democrat/index.ssf/2015/06/debate_on_common_core_standards_and_parcc_test_sla.html
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A glimpse into the Jeb Bush-Arne Duncan relationship and political strategizing in maintaining their education reform agenda: http://dailycaller.com/2015/05/29/obama-admin-went-to-jeb-for-common-core-tips/
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“Neoliberal education reform’s mouthpiece: Analyzing Education Week’s discourse on Teach for America”
http://ices.library.ubc.ca/index.php/criticaled/article/view/185228
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NV will give parents about 5K per year (about what it spends on students) to parents who keep their kids out of public schools and put the money into a savings account for alternate education use.
SB302 — Giving parents more control
Arguably one of the most drastic pieces of school choice legislation in the United States in recent years, the law will allow parents to put the money the state would normally pay a school to educate their child into a savings account.
That amounts to around $5,000 per student per year, which parents could use to pay for things like private school, tutoring and other educational services. Critics, such as the teachers union, say redirecting public money to pay private companies will take money from already struggling public schools. Supporters, including Sandoval, say it will inspire innovation.
But first the program’s regulations must be written by the State Treasurer’s Office before it takes effect at the beginning of next year. That could prove controversial, as Treasurer Dan Schwartz has been heavily criticized by both parties and parents ever since he released his own state budget that left out funding for a number of education programs.
Regardless, the law has the potential to spark a massive shift.
“I think it is the biggest game changer of any education bill that has been passed this session,” Rau said.
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Interesting read about Dallas ISD supplanting regular Ed funds to build up funds for special projects, leadership academies. Also, civil rights issues with lowest prrforming schools with highest new teachers/TFA.
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Correction: The $5000 is lower than the actual per-pupil spending. (Although the per-pupil spending is relatively low nationally.)
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Teacher Evaluation in Michigan (from the perspective of someone who loves high-stakes testing): http://www.mlive.com/education/index.ssf/2015/06/how_a_single_powerful_senator.html
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A “breakthrough” in school choice! This is new this week!
NV will give money to parents to take to any school or use for home schooling. Who’s not going to like that?
http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/education/in-nevada-school-choice-on-steroids-and-a-breakthrough-for-conservatives/2015/06/03/3cdd2300-09ff-11e5-95fd-d580f1c5d44e_story.html
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