My website is dianeravitch.com. I write about two interconnected topics: education and democracy. I am a historian of education.
Diane Ravitch’s Blog by Diane Ravitch is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License.
Based on a work at dianeravitch.net.
Diane Ravitch's blog 
The best teachers in the world cannot overcome the outrageous constraints the present K-12 public education system cripples them with! The present system drives teachers from the profession and students to failure.
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As usual, Glenn Beck has greatly misinterpreted and twisted someone’s words – in this case Bill Gates. He says that Gates says that the CCS will create a major market opportunity for Microsoft. Think about it…. Does Microsoft have any curriculum products that it sells? NO! It sells hardware and software tools that others build products around. What Gates is saying is that having the CCS will give companies that are in the curriculum content business a clearer target for their product development and reduce the risk for other potential entrepreneurial companies to get into the game and develop innovative new curriculum resources. The B&M Gates foundation has made some failed attempts to improve K-12 education, but they truly care and their hearts are pure. They are not promoting a solution that will benefit themselves.
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To Allanjones67
First Bill Gates may “truly care” about k-12 education, but…. are you familiar with the phrase “the road to hell is paved with good intentions”. High stakes testing is not helping student achievement and the Gates Foundation is supporting high stakes testing.
Also, CCSS and related activity (PARCC, SBAC, inBloom, etc) is creating a major market for both hardware and software. A lot of CCSS instructional material is delivered on-line, both PARCC and SBAC tests will be administered “on-line”, and collecting and recording all the test data (inBloom, etc) will require lots of hardware and software.
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A rogue’s gallery of mayors. “On the Road to School Success” editorial. I don’t know how these guys can hang with Kevin “Hey Girl- you legal?/Sweet 16” Johnson.
http://www.politico.com/story/2013/10/on-the-road-to-school-success-98352.html
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Albany’s latest madness. I am a teacher and just walked out of a faculty meeting where I have to doubt the sanity of the NYSED. We were told that the state 20 required us to PREDICT with a 10 point range what our students will get on their final or regents exam. I have also read that 90% of a student’s performance in school and standardized tests depends upon factors that exist OUTSIDE of school. Please, is Albany insane? I’m sorry, but if I were able to predict numbers as they expect, I would have won the lotto by now. I would like to see a probablity statistician calculate and publish these odds as they do on lotto tickets, it would reveal that most teachers are not going to be deemed competant, because the odds are against them. What a clever trick to discredit the teaching profession, isn’t it? To all teacher’s in NYS, I firmly believe that if there was a time to stike, this is it. How can our careers be evaluated on this nonsense?
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Diane, In case you didn’t know, CPS is planning to expand charter schools on the Southwest side and the Northwest side of Chicago, which are higher income, mostly white neighborhoods. The following Trib article failed to mention that, even though this is an entirely different population from the low income neighborhoods with children of color where charters are primarily located now: http://articles.chicagotribune.com/2013-09-30/news/ct-met-cps-charters-20130930_1_andrew-broy-charter-schools-charter-model
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IL “Gov. Quinn again suspends state funding to UNO, putting $15 million on hold” http://www.suntimes.com/news/23208368-452/gov-quinn-again-suspends-state-funding-to-uno-putting-15-million-on-hold.html
The charter chain is being investigated by the SEC now: http://www.suntimes.com/news/metro/23185796-418/sec-probes-uno-financing.html
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Dear Diane,
Until September of this year, I only had a fleeting knowledge of what the Common Core was all about because I didn’t have a school aged child. This year we eagerly put our oldest son in kindergarten in our upstate, rural New York district. The uneasy feeling in my stomach started on the first day when the parents were ushered into the auditorium and the principal started preparing us that we would find stressed out teachers. Parents with older children began asking questions about why the kindergartners needed to participate in the dreaded testing. Upon returning to my son’s classroom, I did indeed find a stressed out teacher, saying things like, “we are all going to have to work together if we are going to get through this curriculum.” This is when I first encountered the word “module” as well, as I looked at my five year old’s schedule and noticed that he would be doing ELA from 10:45-12:25 every day. He is in full day kindergarten, and the day is packed with Fundations, Writing, ELA, ELA modules, and Math modules. To say alarm bells went off would be an understatement, but we continued thinking, “how bad can kindergarten get?”
Back to school night was a presentation by all five kindergarten teachers, which quickly turned into, “we know this sounds awful, but we promise are going to remember that your children are little.” Within a month of school starting, we were told that they needed to do away with the children’s rest period because there simply wasn’t enough time for it with the curriculum. The more I heard these comments from school, the deeper I dug into the EngageNY modules and started following your blog.
I’m sure you get letters like this every day. I listened to your Town Hall phone call the other night (thank you for not interrupting the questions like Commissioner King in Poughkeepsie) and heard lots of sound advice about what parents and teachers can do to fight back against these ridiculous standards. My question is more basic: Do I send my son to this school tomorrow?
I read educated assessments of the EngageNY curriculum that find it “developmentally inappropriate.” Why should I subject my 5 year old to this when kindergarten isn’t even mandatory? I have the unique situation of living in New York state on the Massachusetts and Connecticut border. As renters, we have options, and I have already decided that my son will not attend 1st grade in the state of New York. But what do I do about today and tomorrow? I fear that he will fall behind in this intense academic environment, but I also fear sticking with it. What do parents do right now?
Sincerely,
Rosemary Davis
Copake, NY
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Hi, Diane. How did your meeting with supervisors/principals in NJ go? Also, can you shed any light on what happened to principals/administrators in Dallas some time ago? I recently learned they tried to eliminate the positions and/or change them into roles that paid considerably less and had high turnover.
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Grading system is huge failure in Oklahoma, as grades for some schools have changed multiple times since release. Ironically our state superintendent is hanging out in Boston with Jeb Bush and other reformers..
State Superintendent Janet Barresi, McBee, Chief of Staff Joel Robison, Department of Education legal counsel Kim Richey and state Board of Education member Amy Ford are in Boston for a national education reform conference held by Jeb Bush’s Foundation for Excellence in Education.
http://www.tulsaworld.com/news/education/a-f-school-grades-statewide-released-with-errors/article_3117c668-9b08-59c5-bbbc-ad18e55cc414.html
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http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/answer-sheet/wp/2013/10/16/the-debt-deals-gift-to-teach-for-america-yes-tfa/
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Diane,
This Week with George Stephanopoulas featured an interview with Governor Jeb Bush about his Foundation for Excellence in Education—I sent the following post to him suggesting that to balance and inform the public dialogue that he interview you:
Former Governor Jeb Bush was interviewed on your program this morning, October 20, 2013. I would like to recommend you interview noted education historian and author, Diane Ravitch, to balance your programing and better inform public dialogue on education.
Much of the interview with Governor Bush was about his Foundation for Excellence in Education. The facts do not support either his generalization that public schools in American are failing or the assertion the public schools must be privatized. The interviewer never really challenged him on his facts, assumptions, the real purpose of his foundation, nor his statement that the Common Core standards were “state led”. The interviewer let it pass, but it is a major public policy issue. The effort was not state led.
Dr. Ravitch’s most recent book, “The Reign of Error –The Hoax of the Privatization Movement”, was number 10 on the New York Times best seller list the day it was released, September 17, 2013. The reform movement is more about privatizing public schools through vouchers, charter schools and a for profit interrelated complex of vendors and government policy, than they are about strengthening public schools as institutions embedded in the community to foster the common good.
Her blog has had over 7,000,000 page views. No one is giving voice to the concerns raised by the privatization effort as effectively as she is.
I have no connections to Diane Ravitch.
Respectfully,
John D. Horn
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Somebody sent me this. But of course I know what NCTQ is all about, so I told them.
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I don’t guess that link works, but you can see the title to find it.
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Look, Diane: “Jeb Bush ed reform group accused of abusing nonprofit status to help corporations”
http://www.salon.com/2013/10/21/jeb_bush_ed_reform_group_accused_of_abusing_non_profit_status_to_help_corporations/
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And if I am not mistaken, I seem to recall another ed. group under the auspices of a Bush family member involved in a misappropriation of funds diverting from charitable interests (was it during Katrina) to the organization and claiming charitable donation status on taxes.
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Is this it? “Katrina funds earmarked to pay for Neil Bush’s software program.” http://www.chron.com/news/hurricanes/article/Katrina-funds-earmarked-to-pay-for-Neil-Bush-s-1626048.php
The funds came from the mother, Barbara Bush, so the tax deduction would have gone to her. Must be the 1%er’s method of giving their kids money and free marketing to drive business to their door. What a tangled web. Unbelievable.
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bingo!
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There is a new study by the National Education Policy Center (NEPC). “Data-Driven Improvement and Accountability” by authors Andy Hargreaves, the Thomas More Brennan Professor of Education in the Lynch School of Education, and Henry Braun, the Boisi Professor of Education and Public Policy in the Lynch School of Education, finds that “the use of data in the U.S. is too often limited to simply measuring short-term gains or placing blame, rather than focusing on achieving the primary goals of education.” Link: http://nepc.colorado.edu/newsletter/2013/10/data-driven-improvement-accountability
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Once again, poverty is a significant factor in education!
Language-Gap Study Bolsters a Push for Pre-K
By MOTOKO RICH (NY Times)
A Stanford psychologist found that affluent children had learned 30 percent more words from 18 months to 2 years of age than children from low-income homes.
“Public education is not broken,” she writes. “It is not failing or declining. The diagnosis is wrong, and the solutions of the corporate reformers are wrong. Our urban public schools are in trouble because of the concentrated poverty and racial segregation. … Public education is in a crisis only so far as society is and only so far as this new narrative of crisis has destabilized it.”
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TRIPOD ( a teacher evaluation assessment being used in TN) seems to be asking personal questions of students and asking them to “not tell their parents”. This was from a parent friend of mine from TN. ” Another fun little tidbit about today’s Tripod Survey… Children were instructed they could NOT tell their parents what questions were asked. They (not the teachers- the idiots who created the survey) must not know my kids tell me EVERYTHING! Again, if they would let these AMAZING teachers get to TEACHING… the world would be a better place. ”
http://stoptntesting.com/2013/10/17/tripod-survey-violation-of-privacy/
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Tis a bit invading. Yikes!
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Another long term solution is to expand programs that begin at birth. Home visiting, hospitals, pediatricians all have to be included in the solution, which is to influence the parents of newborn’s to create a literate environment. This link includes an intelligent TED Talk by Dr. Kuhl of the University of Washington.
http://papagreenbean.blogspot.com/2013/07/the-importance-of-language.html
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Minnesota Teacher of the Year Olivia Hall says in high-profile speech, “And from where I stand, teachers are American democracy’s last line of defense against the tyranny of the one percent.” Conservative bloggers go nuts, but it is her comment much different from JFK (“The ignorance of one voter in a democracy impairs the security of all.”) or FDR, (“Democracy cannot succeed unless those who express their choice are prepared to choose wisely. The real safeguard of democracy, therefore, is education.”)?
What do you think? See the story here: http://bit.ly/1cTGvPo
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Diane, thank you very much for your grit when it comes to such an important topic.Today I read this article: http://www.rollingstone.com/culture/news/the-hidden-war-against-gay-teens-20131010 & was appalled at how public funds are being used at such discriminatory private schools (funds taken away from public schools where such practices are illegal). I 1st learned about the article through Slate magazine, but the entire article is worth a read. Public funds should ensure the education of ALL children, & the fact that these schools are allowed to so brazenly discriminate & hurt children is a crime.
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Dear Mrs. Ravitch:
I cannot begin to tell you how RELIEVED I am that you KNOW and are SPEAKING, WRITING, AND PUBLISHING the TRUTH about the current state of affairs in America’s public school system. Thank God you’re alive and ever so present for those of us who must remain speechless!
I am a public school teacher; in my 19th year of teaching. Indeed our children deal with poverty, emotional upheaveal at home, racial discrimination, etc. in their worlds. Rather than America addressing these issues, it is yet another period of seizing an opportunity to market a product, charter schools; not about raising the educational bar. But, you know all this, you are giving me the words to use. THANK YOU!!
I’m reading Reign of TERROR, that’s right, for weeks I’ve been talking about Reign of Terror by Diana Ravitch… recently as I held the book in my hands, I laughed and laughed because it’s ERROR not TERROR. Well, it’s both, error and terror. Am I correct? I’m sending you a link to an article from NYTimes Opinion Page.
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Hi Again… here’s the article from the NYTimes Opinion Page I mentioned in my post.
Or, copy and paste this URL into your browser: http://nyti.ms/16loppU
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Diane, if you can please read this rebuttal to the Star Ledger endorsement of Christie and then the comment left by Tom Moran, the author of the endorsement. Thanks.
http://bobbraunsledger.com/the-star-ledger-wants-us-to-vote-for-a-man-it-calls-a-catastrophe-and-a-fraud-no-thanks/
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http://foxnewsinsider.com/2013/10/23/teaches-unions-object-bill-prohibiting-convicted-rapists-schools
So saw this, listened to it, put it on the BAT page… and am trying to make sense out of this. 1st: It’s FOX News… so suspect… and 2nd: The wording of the title throws in bias and is deliberately manipulative. This is very anti-union… it IMPLIES that teachers want sex offenders in the schools. I’m not particularly gifted with these types of battles. Diane… your perspective on this is greatly appreciated.
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I don’t know the bill. Don’t believe what they say.
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Click to access BILLShr2083-SUS.pdf
What really doesn’t make sense is WHY this even exists… because teachers in all states already are supposed to have criminal background checks… and if the AFT really is against it…I just don’t know… SOMETHING is rotten in Denmark.
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So, I am a faithful follower of this blog, and now need a password to read it?
Not happy.
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4equity2: please read next post with lame explanation.
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Thank you. Admittedly, i don’t fully understand, but it’s late, and I trust you.
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Diane,
Did you see that NYS has suspended the PARCC tests for 2014-205 and any future commitment is in doubt. Reasons cited were cost to districts and technology requirements.
Went to John King town hall meeting in Albany. He listened to about 70 mostly passionate opponents. He did not hear them. Lots of lip service sprinkled with some disingenuous statements and a few outright lies. When smoke cleared he said they will try to make some “adjustments” but are forging ahead with CCSS and APPR. Not sure what I expected but ended up demoralized.
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The only freedom is knowledge and the only way to knowledge is education. Nothing,. nothing, is more important.
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Could you post a reference about the NYS – Suspend PARCC tests… I can’t find anything about this with a google search.
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It went out in an email to school administrators last week. I saw John King in Albany Thursday and he did not mention it. I don’t know why NYSED is keeping it from the public. I have talked to administrators in different districts and that have confirmed the “suspension” of PARCC tests. When I asked if NY would continue with Pearson tests no one seemed to know.
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http://www.indystar.com/comments/article/20131025/NEWS04/310250054/4-State-Board-Education-members-pen-letter-asking-Glenda-Ritz-drop-lawsuit
Wow… it’s getting intense… and the bullying continues.
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http://www.courier-journal.com/article/20131026/NEWS02/310260083/Lesley-Weidenbener-Indiana-education-board-suit-raises-serious-questions-about-Open-Door-Law
And a journalist weighs in on this.
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Diane, thought you might find this to be of interest. Note my comment below the article:
http://www.providencejournal.com/politics/content/20131027-politifact-r.i.-rules-ravitch-claim-on-test-scores-mostly-false.ece
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Eastern MI University COE Faculty Protest Michigan’s Corporate Reform Initiatives:
Please check this story out at: the Washington Post blog the Answer Sheet for coverage at: http://m.washingtonpost.com/blogs/answer-sheet/wp/2013/10/25/faculty-fight-universitys-link-to-controversial-school-turnaround-district/
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It seems to me that all questions about accountability really boil down to the basic question, “What is our moral obligation to children?” Here’s a link to my column on this in the Athens (GA) Banner-Herald. http://bit.ly/17opZbq
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At Wednesday’s School Board meeting Board Member Jody London stated her willingness to commit civil disobedience by voting “no” on future charter petitions in Oakland, even if a charter petition presented a “sound educational program,” in order to underscore the need to change State law.
She noted that with 90 District schools and nearly 45 charters in Oakland, the District’s ability to meet enrolled students’ and families’ needs is increasingly impacted. Director London’s colleagues feel constrained by current State charter law requiring Districts to approve charters presenting “sound educational program”. But, despite her conscientious no vote her colleagues passed the two charter petitions that were voted on that night.
Currently California charter law doesn’t allow for any other criteria, such as demonstrated need or negative economic impact on a District. The only avenue California school board members have for standing against charters is the civil disobedience taken by Oakland School Board member London.
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Diane, if you haven’t read this transcript or seen this video yet, please check it out. Excerpt from testimony by Dr. Bonnie Fischer speaking to the Indiana Senate Hearing on the Common Core….
Key text:
“Make no mistake: approve and agree to implement Common CORE State Standards and you will have surrendered that power that is legitimately yours, as legislators and the people’s spokesmen, to the corporations that control the state and national chambers of commerce, the corporate foundations, such as Gates, Eli Broad and Achieve, that have driven the push to adopt standards and the testing and the publishing companies that will profit so handsomely from the Standards.
It is not likely that you will ever get that power back. Your power will be limited to minor matters like setting the dates for the assessments and voting on the minimum number of minutes per week of mandatory physical education.
It is in your self-interest as a governing body to reject the Standards. More importantly, it is your obligation and responsibility to care for Indiana’s children, who will suffer under the Standards. Indeed Achieve, the above-mentioned foundations, the chambers of commerce, etc. have only touted benefits to the economy of treating children as human resources, You, however, must consider the present and future welfare of these young and vulnerable human beings, who are far more than just economic entities.
I read the Standards printed in contemporary textbooks and cringe when I put them alongside the aims in the vintage textbooks of the Global Education Reforms Watch collection. I cringe because the pupils of decades past were better and more thoroughly schooled in the several subjects than today’s young people.
The Standards, whether the Common Core or Indiana’s, only require that children “do.” They do not have to “know.” Indeed any subject matter they may need in order to “do” is treated as just so much “just in time” or “nice to know” information. And since that information has no organic structure, it contributes little or nothing to a child’s intellect and has no staying power.
The standards will insure an ignorant adult population, who have internalized and acceded to the authorities prerogative to tell them that they don’t measure up and that they themselves are to blame. Such people are not likely to challenge that authority nor involve themselves in public affairs, nor run for public office, nor even join a union. Their lives will be circumscribed by the workplace and shopping mall.
The evidence for this, and what deeply angers me, is the purpose of these Standards, and both the Common CORE and the Indiana Standards have the same purpose that children K through 12 be “college career ready.” That’s it. Nothing more. How shallow. How dehumanizing to our children. How pernicious to our republic.
If the Standards will not provide a true education for our young people, what will? A thorough grounding in the liberal arts, a return to traditional academic subjects, which embody real standards of worth and tastes, character and action, logic and thought, speaking and writing, knowledge and skill…”
Submitted by Christopher Chase
Friend of Phyllis Bush, co-admin at The Art of Learning (on Facebook)
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Hi, wanted to let you know that the so-called Recovery District in Louisiana has decided to close Istrouma High School in Baton Rouge at the end of the year for “lack of progress”. Istrouma is quite historic and was taken over by the Recovery District about 3 years ago. It is located in the poorest and blackest part of Baton Rouge, an area that was once the “place to be”. Most people who grew up in North Baton Rouge it seems, since the 1950s went to Istrouma and they have an active Alumni Association.. But the RSD, of course, has ruined it. Last year they shut down the small lab school that was located there that helped a lot of non-fitting students. John White has no respect for history.. They only have about 300 students who they say can go to other RSD schools, namely Capitol which has a history of takeover and then becoming a charter and then not being a charter after the building was not even able to have graduation in their building last year because of wiring issues. Basically, the kids have gone to Tara, which is a School Board run school in a middle class neighborhood fairly close by..
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The Superintendent of my son’s school district has just sent out this incredible letter about the changes in testing here in Cali, and I wanted to share it with you: http://standardgenericcrazyoldcatlady.tumblr.com/post/65539236636/this-is-the-letter-my-sons-district-sent-out Am I mistaken, or does it seem rather incoherent? Apparently being required to use actual grades to assess student progress, even if it’s only for a year or so, is now more than we can handle here in Sanger? This is nuts.
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Diane,
We are even making progress with the editorial writers at the Dallas Morning News. Note this post. It confirms your research and assertions about the role of poverty. Appreciate what you are doing. Here is the link:
http://dallasmorningviewsblog.dallasnews.com/2013/10/can-disd-overcome-the-30-million-word-gap.html/?nclick_check=1
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http://mashable.com/2012/10/19/katy-perry-firework-autism-jodi-dipiazza/
This girl, Jodi DiPiazza is why we MUST continue to offer a broad curriculum. What an inspiration! Diane, when I saw a snippet of one of your talks on youtube, you said (quoting a friend), “Each child is a precious human being in the sight of God. No one gets thrown away.” This little girl is a beautiful example of that. What would happen to her if she is forced into a narrow expectation of reading, writing, & ‘rithmatic?
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Diane,
Do you know if you are being censured by Google? Something different is happening with Google in regard to this website. It used to be that I could enter a quote from you or anyone else who wrote here on any page of this site, from the present and going back to when the site originated, and easily find that page in Google search results. This has not been the case lately. Now, even quotes of what you wrote on your homepage don’t always show up in search results. This means that Google’s bots are not thoroughly crawling your site anymore, let alone every page in it, or holding them in cache for very long, as they used to do, so people cannot as readily locate information contained here.
I don’t use Bing much but I checked it and found the same problem there. I don’t know if it’s just me but I never had a problem doing this until lately, so I can’t help but wonder if all of a sudden they are intentionally censuring you.
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I don’t know but nothing surprises me anymore
Diane Ravitch
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Story, with audio, about real students — on the US-Mexico border — victimized by high-stakes scam “push out.” Which is still endemic in New York City despite the Advocates for Children lawsuits of a decade ago. http://www.theinvestigativefund.org/investigations/politicsandgovernment/1868/the_children_left_behind/
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during jon stewart’s show, he asked diane what is wrong with school choice and vouchers etc.
she answered that one has to defend public schools but used an empty circular argument (market bad, schools good and civic, etc).
there is a moral reason why public schools are needed:
to avoid that kids whose parents wouldn’t know how to choose a good school don’t get punished for that by spending most of their school years at bad schools while they parents finally learn how to zoom on a good school.
the quality of a child’s education cannot be left to the parents since otherwise the children of educated parents get even more unfair advantages than they already do.
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Your interview with Jon Stewart left me breathless. Someone, at last, agrees with me! Just this week, my very close friend, a veteran teacher of 25 years in a highly rated school district in Florida, and a former high school teacher of the year, was told that her “last year” test scores for Algebra I were low and with the new teacher evaluations she would be labeled “needs improvement” and be put through the humiliation of having a “coach” come in on a regular basis and help her learn to teach. This, of course will involve many observations of her teaching by administration until she “improves.” Of course, she has no idea what her students missed on the test because of the high level of test “security.” This teacher has many years of stellar evaluations at this same school and was voted “teacher of the year” by her peers 5 years ago. The principal was very sympathetic, but had to do her job – as we know, data is “god”!
My friend was already stressed out with all the new evaluation requirements and began taking anti-depressant/anxiety medication two weeks ago. She was so devastated about this situation that she is taking a medical leave for anxiety and depression, and in 11 days she will not be receiving a paycheck because her sick days will run out. She turns 62 in June and thinks that she will extend her leave to the end of the year and retire. Her husband is unemployed, but thankfully they have some savings and no debt. All of her years of excellent service don’t matter because everything is about numbers.
I am just so happy and relieved that I am in my 3rd year of retirement from the very same school district. I am grateful that someone of your caliber is using her voice to present the other side of school reform. I just wish there was something that could be done to help my friend.
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Candance,
As a “neighbor/teacher friend” in Georgia, please tell your friend that I sympathize with her and that I am thinking of her. I, too, left the classroom because of the tremendous stress–and I didn’t even begin to experience what your friend was forced to endure. However, I left because I began to see that this kind of nonsense was soon to come. I, like you, greatly appreciate Diane’s voice.
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Here here!
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Diane,
I so look forward to hearing you speak in Atlanta tomorrow morning. Thank you for your unending support of teachers and our public schools. I wanted to make sure that you saw my post to Robert Shepherd that was meant for you as well….THANK YOU!
Robert,
Thanks so much for your unending support of teachers and your always “right on target”, clear comments. After several years of working in corporate America, I went to the profession of my original passion and became a teacher to teach business electives. I, too, like many others, taught for your a, b, c reasons listed above. I was creative, and “worked very, very hard”, and the students really enjoyed my classes. I knew what students needed to know for success. Sadly, because of all the points of discussion regarding the teacher needs you’ve listed as well as the “gotcha” mentality that pervades education from top-down management techniques and the results of Common Core, I left the profession last spring. I miss it greatly! Until finding you, Diane, and others on Diane’s blog, I felt totally alone and actually thought that something was wrong with ME! Because of your work, along with Diane and others, I hope to see our public schools restored in the near future so that I can return to the career that I dearly love. Thanks again for your supportive, clear, common-sense comments!
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Dear Ms. Ravitch,
I was so excited to see that you would be speaking on the Daily Show, as I was not able to attend your presentation earlier this month at Northern Michigan University (the school where I am currently earning a degree in Emotional Impairment/ Elementary Education).
I agree with many of your thoughts on standardized testing, but you made a comment that I would like to address. As you were defending the individuality of students, you said, “Autistic kids will not get high test scores.”
I have two issues with this statement. The first is that you cannot stereotype all children who happen to be on the Autism Spectrum as being unable to achieve (in any way, shape, or form). I was disappointed that such a respected leader in education would hold such a broad stereotype for children who happen to be on the Autism Spectrum. Many of these children have exceptionally brilliant minds; but each is an individual- not to be defined by their differences.
This leads me to my next issue. You referred to these children as “Autistic kids.” As I am sure you know, there has been a movement towards the use of person-first language. Although the difference in phrasing is subtle, the implications are not. I like to think of it this way- you would never call a child who happens to have cancer a “cancer kid.” Their illness does not define who they are- they are children first.
People who happen to be identified as being on the Autism Spectrum are so much more than that. Some people have illnesses, some have disorders, some have disabilities, but ALL have wonderful unique abilities.
I ask that you use your powerful voice to help promote change by modeling the use of person-first language and acknowledging that every child, every person, is a unique individual… not a diagnostic term.
Thank you for being a voice for those of us who are not heard. Teachers need someone to represent them and all the amazing work they do. Children need someone to represent them and their need for a rich, dynamic education- not one focused around test scores. You are in a position to make real change; you already are. Please keep fighting for us. America’s teachers and students depend on it.
Respectfully Yours,
Michelle Hallwachs
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Michelle, we are very proud of you and we know you are going to be a great professional educator. Thank you for the respectful reply and for your continued support of students with special needs.
Diane Ravitch visited Northern Michigan University on October 10, 2013 and she was/is amazing. She really advanced our understanding of testing and how to advocate for our children and our teachers. We are big fans!
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Diane,
What an honor to be able to meet you and hear you speak this morning in Atlanta! Your points were clear and helped greatly to raise awareness of the many negatives that now exist in education and our public schools. I am so grateful that you were able to bring this important information to Atlanta and Georgia. Thank you for your kindness. Thank you, most of all, for having the courage and stamina to continue to speak out to our nation. You are a true patriot!
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http://jerseyjazzman.blogspot.com/2013/11/exclusive-govchristie-to-teacher-i-am.html
This is going viral among BATs… Chris Christie teacher bashing again.
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Diane, are you aware of the situation or Portland Public Schools in Oregon? The district hired a high-paid consultant to help them try to break the teachers’ union. We’re supposed to be negotiating our next contract, but the district refuses to negotiate. This week, we’re expecting them to declare an impasse and force a strike. Rumor has it thatour district is a test case for destroying the unions in the rest of the districts in the state.
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Diane, After reading through many of the comments, I have a few questions and observations to make. First, isn’t the premise most are basing their concerns off incorrect in the first place? What business does the politicians at the Federal level have in dictating education? Why are the debates stemming from this false premise?
Second, all public unions are a TERRIBLE idea. Picture this, a politician huddled together with a union boss deciding on pay and benefits, leaving out those who foot the bill…..US. Has anyone stopped to think just how much better we could pay our educators if the money weren’t at first seized by the Federal government and then portions of it handed back with dictates attached? Instead we have a system set up for corruption out the wazoo zoo and everyone wondering how in the heck we got to the place where people that aren’t educators are calling the shots on what should be taught and how it should be taught. PLEASE read this article. It’s darn good.
http://www.criticalthinking.org/pages/pseudo-critical-thinking-in-the-educational-establishment/504
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Carol, I agree that the federal government has assumed responsibility for running the nation’s schools, which Congress never intended in 1965. Arne Duncan has revived the idea of state’s rights because so many people are sick of federal interference and dictation.
As to unions, I disagree. The private sector has managed to nearly wipe out all unions. The public sector unions are now the bulk of the union movement. Without unions, you will see a rapid collapse of the middle class in this country. Unions defend working people. I have no problem with that. I have a problem with billionaires making decisions for everyone.
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Diane, The private sector is us. We the people. Because of the cronyism public unions have allowed for, it IS the few billionaires making the decisions. Again, as I said before, the working class people have no say so. Sure people will say we do through elections, but time and time again the politicians say one thing, do an other. The Senate now being elected by popular vote instead of being appointed by state legislators answers to and looks out for big business instead of states interest and we the people. Why do you think your brothers, mom’s and friends wouldn’t pay you well, that you need politicians dictating instead? And, how does anyone think anything is more efficient or money wise with the growth of a large bureaucracy? History shows us how cronyism and corruptions are enabled.
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Carol, don’t fall for the big corporations’ anti union claptrap. Pay attention to how the billionaires evade taxes, then blame problems on working people while the corporations outsource jobs to countries that pay $2 an hour. Unions defend working people and think they deserve a living wage.
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Remember the “spoils system” which dominated public service jobs for so many years? Unions were put in place for public service workers because the previous spoils system permitted patronage in hirings and promotions, which fostered cronyism and nepotism, as well as the firing of skilled workers for political purposes and other erroneous reasons.
The spoils system was a corrupt revolving door of novices who happened to have connections to political clout. Tax dollars should not be supporting patronage, especially if we want career educators, social service workers, police, firefighters, etc., with the proper training, experience and expertise serving our nation.
Having worked as a non-union teacher fro 45 years, I can tell you what life has been like for me without union protections. Although I have multiple college degrees and decades of experience, where I teach, I have no benefits whatsoever –no paid holidays or sick days and no health insurance. I have not been paid livable wages for most of my career and have long struggled with poverty. And, although I’m in my 60s, I have no pension, so I can never retire and I will have to work until I die.
Though you probably don’t hear much about us, there are millions of teachers like me across the country and I’ve worked with many of them. Consider yourself very lucky if you don’t belong to this teachers’ club.
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I, too, am in my 60s, a public high school teacher and understand that although the systems we have in place for betterment may be imperfect, to disband them and leave reorganization to the powers of control to those we already resist would bring critical problems not likely to be overcome. I, like Cosmic Tinker, believe that working to improve the progress already made is milestones better than rejecting the cornerstone and starting from scratch.
“Once you’re aware, you can never go back to being unaware. Awareness is everything.”
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I am a strong supporter of states’ rights in most instances, but not blindly so. In the case of education, we need to look at the 2009 PISA report and the subsequent NCEE report, “Standing on the Shoulders of Giants”, They compared US public education to the major OECD countries around the globe. There are two things that most of the countries ahead of the US had in common: 1) A significant role for the federal government in providing leadership and setting high standards. 2) strong teachers’ unions. It is not that the US federal government is taking a role, it is the role they are taking. They are supporting alternatives to public education instead of providing funding for improving it. They are blaming unions instead of working with unions to improve teachers and transform classrooms.
There is a lot of money to be made in charter schools, testing, etc. There are political reasons to lessen the numbers of teachers in the unions. Those cannot be the reasons for government involvement in schools. Public education must be a non-partisan issue! In the words of the Whitney Houston song, “I believe children are our future, teach them well and let them lead the way…..” We need a few statesmen, not politicians, to step up and lead the way….
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Allan Jones,
Please read the chapter in “Reign of Error” about international test scores
They predict nothing.they reflect test practice. Japan has higher scores and a stagnant economy.
By the way, none of the high performing countries would permit TFA stuff
Diane
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Looking forward to it – Thanks!
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In general, I am a strong supporter of states’ rights, but not blindly so. In the case of public education, we need to look at the results of the 2009 PISA Report and the follow-up NCEE report, “STANDING ON THE SHOULDERS OF GIANTS”. Both of these respected sources compared the US to other OECD countries around the world. In their analyses and conclusions, the countries ahead of the US frequently had two things in common: 1) The federal government played a leadership role and provided high standards for teachers. 2) Strong teachers’ unions played a major role in ensuring the quality of the teachers and the learning environment.
Some of the people commenting on this blog are correct, the present role of the government is doing more to enhance the bottom line of targeted individuals and companies than it is for improving student learning. Some of the anti-union rhetoric is more about weakening the unions politically than anything else. Public education is a non-partisan issue. We need a few statesmen who can see beyond profits and political agendas and work to fix the problems.
Charter schools have succeeded! They were intended to provide examples of innovative programs for public education. There are some excellent charter schools. It’s time to focus on transforming public schools to the successful charter school models. We don’t need more charter schools. We need better public schools.
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Well Diane, most of my family live up in northern Indiana and use to be employed in steel mills. They lost their jobs when the union demands became more then the supply and demand system could support. The steel mills closed and they suffered difficulties because of it. Profit is not greed. Profit is necessary for R&D, paychecks, retirement, investment, expansion and so on.
We have lost our manufacturing base because we moved away from the free market system, thus doing great damage to the ability of future generations to make a living here are home.
You will find a great number of billionaires come from the investment and banking industry followed by Technology. http://www.forbes.com/sites/erincarlyle/2012/03/13/how-americas-wealthiest-get-rich/ And who are the money people naturally in bed with? Politicians. The same politicians who play footsies with the union bosses. Whenever the federal government gets involved, cost of everything goes up (money that could be use to pay teachers better and supply their classroom) and outcomes tank. Our education has not improved as the Federal Government has become more and more involved. I trust the American people, I trust our teachers more then these self-serving politicans and Union cronies. Thank you for hearing me out Diane. I so respect the fact you will allow all to voice their opinion.
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“From 1978 to 2012, CEO compensation measured with options realized increased about 875 percent, a rise more than double stock market growth and substantially greater than the painfully slow 5.4 percent growth in a typical worker’s compensation over the same period.”
http://www.epi.org/publication/ceo-pay-2012-extraordinarily-high/
Greedy executives are culpable for the inequitable distribution of wealth and the outsourcing of jobs, not workers fighting with their unions for livable wages..
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Carol, It sounds like you know need to learn about the dominant economic ideology which has been driving policies in this country for the past forty years. It’s called Neoliberalism and it has been supported by presidents from both parties ever since Reagan.
Here’s a brief primer, “What is Neoliberalism?”
http://www.corpwatch.org/article.php?id=376
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OK Cosmic, lets do some critical thinking on this. What was taking place at the time period you just pointed out? That’s right, the technology sector grew in leaps and bounds. If you look at the info I posted on one of my comments you will see most billionaires come from the technology field or the banking/investment field. We cannot ignore facts if we want to get to the truth of what is going on and I want to believe we all sincerely do. You can take every dime those billionaires make and distribute that money to all workers and it wouldn’t make a dent in our financial circumstances. And, as you also see, the manufacturing base make up a much smaller % of those billionaires so the argument their greed is the cause of unequal distribution of wealth just doesn’t hold water. Anyway, since when is our country about equal distribution of wealth? Why is it the free market system where the value of ones labor according to supply and demand which produced the most wealth and upward mobility to ALL classes of people is vilified while the systems that have produced the most poverty and muder by governemnt (socialist/communist) is lauded today? This makes no sense to me.
Diane, Why do you chose to stay in a job that offers no pension? Did someone force you to do so? Why is it my sister will have a pension and you won’t? Could you have worked for someone or something that would have provided a pension or better pay? Could you have started your own business that would have/ could have created wealth for yourself? Have othes succeeded in doing that? Choices we ourselves make with different outcomes.
As for corruption. I would say the politicians are crafty buggers. Don’t you see the spoiles system is in full swing through unions? Again, having a politician and union boss scratching each others back will absolutey create an environment for corruption and political favor. Throw in regulations and you have the perfect tool to pick winners and losers. It’s not ok no matter who is doing it! It seems to me special interest groups are willing to look the other way when the outcome benefits their group. But that only ensures we all lose over the long run. Truth catches up and the piper has to be paid.
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Free markets are very much alive and serving their masters well. Learn something about Neoliberalism before trashing workers and their supposed “choices” http://www.mit.edu/~thistle/v13/2/imf.html
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Excuse me Cosmic, what makes you think we have had a Free Market since the early 1900’s? Especially since the 1950’s. Ok, if we are to use critical thinking skiils our first question would be, why doesn’t that article show us in what way neocapitalism ruled the day as of late? Where is the proof and examples regulation, taxes, mandates were LESSENED, thus going back to a classic type of liberalism? From everything I have studied, government has NEVER contracted, it has only expanded with time and the interfernce with the market sytem increase through the years. Social Secuarity has NOTHING to do with the free market system. Medicare, Medicaid have NOTHING to do with the free market system. Open your phone book to the Federal Government pages and you will find tons of things that have nothing to do with the free market system but actually destroys it. Case in point is the housing bubble. Would the banks have given out loans to people who really couldn’t afford them had they not been forced by the federal government to do so? The Federal Government forcing banks to change the underwriting of loans so the poor could own homes wasn’t the only problem. A huge problem was the fact these loan companies, investment firms new the Federal Government would protect their investments with TAXPAYERS money through Freddie and Fannie and later the bailouts. And you wonder why individuals dealing in finances along with technology makes up the majority or billionaires these days? The corrupt politicians have manged, using the farce of supposed compassion have put the risk of these wealthy mega corporations on the backs of the American taxpayer. We are all the suckers Cosmic.
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And Cosmic, I also would like to ask you to point out to me a system that is better then the free market system. One that has produces more wealth, upward mobility, more freedom. Please share it with me because there in nothing i have ever read that points to one.
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Wow. Your critical thinking skills have seriously failed if you have not been able to figure out that you have taken the side of big business and all the politicians their money can buy, and you are working against your own best interests if you do not belong to the 1% club. They count on people like you to bolster their cause. Thank goodness so many more of us have been catching on to the game.
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Excuse me, but if you read my past comments in this section, you will see I speak much on cronyism. I believe the mega corporations definately are in bed with the politicians as I believe the public sector unions are also. I too understand how regulations are used to destroy businesses, competition, thus jobs. Just recently there was an aricle on my webmail about the middle class shinking at an alarming rate. Yes, it is happening. I’m taking this from a source you probably would approve of so as not to have you claim bias on my part. http://billmoyers.com/2013/09/20/by-the-numbers-the-incredibly-shrinking-american-middle-class/ Did you read the stories on the increase in part time work? the devaluing of the dollar? What I’m trying to discuss on this blog is the CAUSE of all this. I am not interested in winning an argument. I’m only interested in getting to the truth. You have emoted in your comment but you show no information supporting any position. That is what they are hoping for. That way we never get to the truth.
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The cause was provided: neoliberal economic policies supported by both parties.
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No, a claim was made. No evidence or explaination was provided. I can say Santa did it but that doesn’t make it so. The article on Neoliberalism said Keynesian economics ruled for a while but was replace once again by classic (neo) liberalism. Really? Do you call Social Security Neoliberalism? Medicaid or Medicare Neoliberalism? Welfare Neoliberalism? ALL the Federal programs effect the well being of our economy and government programs don’t go away, they tend to grow so I’m wondering what the heck the article is talking about unless it means when Reagan was in office, the growth of socialism in our system slowed down. (but when you look at what happened to the educational system at that time, you have to wonder…..) As far as I’m concerned, both parties are two heads of the same snake and have been for a long time. Sure there are some individuals who are principled still, but they are far and few between. We are all being played like a fine tuned fiddle, busy putting out small fires all over the place, arguing postions that start from a false premise, all the while we are losing our freedoms and middle class. AND, I don’t believe it’s just a one percent that are the greedy ones. I think it’s we the people who are the greedy ones who have lived a lifestyle we really couldn’t afford so we have borrowed our childrens and grandchildrens future earnings to do so. But back to unions, unions totally destroy the free market (which is nothing more then the free exchange of goods, value for value) AND they drive up cost of doing business.
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I strongly suggest that you take the advice of others here and READ about Neoliberlism and what it has done to other countries, too. Then maybe you will spew your hate-mongering in the right direction: http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss?url=search-alias%3Dstripbooks&field-keywords=neoliberalism+and+inequality&rh=n%3A283155%2Ck%3Aneoliberalism+and+inequality
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I will glady read it when I get back from dinner. But first I would like to ask what hate monering I have spewed?
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While excusing big business for just wanting to make profits. you have been scapegoating workers and labor unions for wanting and advocating for livable wages. Your disdain for them is palpable –and grossly misplaced.
It’s neoliberalism that has enabled the corporate elite to buy elections and corporate friendly policies, including politicians from both sides of the aisle who see them as too big to fail and bail them out, with no strings attached or consequences for their nefarious behaviors. Labor unions do not have anywhere near that kind of power.
“In U.S. electoral politics, for just one example, the richest one-quarter of one percent of Americans make 80 percent of all individual political contributions and corporations outspend labor by a margin of 10 – 1.”
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I know this is completely off topic but did anyone see this story? http://www.suntimes.com/news/education/23495297-418/activists-pound-pavement-to-express-dismay-at-military-coup-at-ames.html
Can they really turn a public school into a military academy mid year or at all?
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Yes, it can and it has happened at a number of local public schools in Chicago, despite parent and community protests, including at my local high school, where a military school was co-located.
Military style education is what neo-liberals want for children of color today and the easiest way to do that within the public schools is as magnet programs that are affiliated with military branches of the armed services, such as the Navy and Marines. My neighborhood military school had been initially an open enrollment program, but their test scores were low and it became a selective enrollment program.
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J. Will you please tell me who the powers of control are that you are so afraid of? Who is the “resistance”? As I’ve understood educational funding to be, it’s us, the taxpayer. Your neighbors, your relatives and friends. Who is it you don’t trust? And why oh why would you trust the politicians more?
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Well Not a Public School Teacher, I looked up the link and am very saddened to see you have embraced communism. That is exactly what those books are about, bashing capitalism and the free market economy. My uncle has been a Russian specialist for over thirty years, he can tell you all you want to know about Socialism/Communism and what this call for equality brings. If you study history, you will also find out about the millions upon millions of people killed by thier own government in the quest for equality. Our government is NOT a democracy. All educators should have learned that in school. Democracies are a horrible form of government and bring nothing but misery for the minorities. Yes, I have seen the tables set up at Union rallies for communist groups and absolutely find it alarming. Will you please show me a governmental system that has brought as many out of poverty as our Constitutional Republic? Will you please show me a governmental system that has created as much wealth for so many AND created a sollid middle class? Will you please show me a governmental system other then ours that has brought about as much innovation and industry? Will you please show me a governmental system that afforded as much freedom as you enjoyed growing up? Please tell me what it is because I know there has been none.
Please explain to me what this inequality is. Inequality of what? What do you think should determine what you or I should get as compensation for our efforts? Please tell me in what way you and I are equal.. And please tell me if you think the Federal government should have the right to sieze my property if you want it? And should the Federal Government be able to sieze it pointing a gun at me? The first books description gave a false basis to begin with. Do people read these things without questioning what they are being told?
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Hmmmm. I see Neoliberalism is the new buzz word of the day. Is that like people who say they are socially liberal but fiscally conservative because that isn’t possible and I always tell anyone that says that they are making no sense. I think you have people trying to confuse the issue. Socialism, on the move to Communism comes in steps. It’s a matter of Government taking control over business, the private sector to create a centalized economic system. It’s done in steps so if you are reading books by people trying to blame this new buzz word, beware. It’s really very simple if you deal with facts. As I have said, you have union officials make behind door deals with politicians and you think corruption and cronyism isn’t taking place? You don’t think political favors aren’t taking place? AND, with public sector employment, it’s the public paying the salaries. All of you are telling me you don’t trust your neighbors and families to be fair. You trust the politcians and unions bosses more? And you wonder why the Federal Government is getting so powerful? I am NOT trying to be mean. I have always been an advocate for teachers but if you look over at Europe, unions and public employment is bankrupting those countries and now they don’t have enough private sector businesses to foot the bill. Is that what you want for your children, grandchildren? Does that denote people who really care about children? Remember it is the private sector that makes a product that creates wealth in which the public sector is paid with. What do you think teachers salaries would be like if they were decided on locally and the tax money was kept locally? Please tell me what you think. Just because some of you disagree with what I am saying, that does not make me a hate monger or hateful. Names are usually called when one cannot make a coherent rebuttal. I would much rather a coherent rebuttal.
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Oh, and concerned citizen, profits pay your pension. Profits pay the salary of employees. Profits allow for research and development which is VERY expensive since most ideas never make it to market. Big profits allow for expansion or the development of a new industry AND big profits help to pay SALARIES OF PUBLIC EMPLOYEES. I agree, the politicans have set it up now where they are in bed with big business. Absolutely. But we must understand it’s not ALL big business. It’s always political supporters. Regulations are being used (thousands and thousands of new ones yearly) to destroy the smaller competitors. The large corporations can afford them. I have a friend who works for a massive insurance company that is in bed with this administration. His company is going around buying up the competition because, well with the new regulations, they can’t make enough of a profit to stay in business. The middle class is being destroyed. Mom and pop establishments that make up the majority of employment in the U.S. is being eaten up by these mega international corporations.
As far as the unions having clout, you bet they do. Unions historically support Democrats and with the country being split 50-50, anything makes a difference. Oh and the ratio for contributions…Since nearly everyone works for someone, and since union affiliation is not listed on FEC reports, totals for business are somewhat overstated, while labor is understated.
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Thank God MOST voters are waking up to the oligarchy that neoliberalism has wrought upon our nation. And wonders never cease… even the GOP is starting to recognize and distance themselves from their nut job factions!
No communism here, thank you, just humanism and ACTUAL critical thinking.
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BTW, Noam Chomsky is no Communist either. He believes in Libertarian Socialism and he despises authoritarian/dictatorial socialists and communists.
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All too often, this kind of discussion appears on this blog and reminds me of the song from South Pacific, “You’ve Got to Be Carefully Taught”
“You’ve got to be taught
To hate and fear,
You’ve got to be taught
From year to year,
It’s got to be drummed
In your dear little ear
You’ve got to be carefully taught.
You’ve got to be taught to be afraid
Of people whose eyes are oddly made,
And people whose skin is a different shade,
You’ve got to be carefully taught.
You’ve got to be taught before it’s too late,
Before you are six or seven or eight,
TO HATE ALL THE PEOPLE YOUR RELATIVES HATE,
You’ve got to be carefully taught!”
By Rodgers and Hammerstein
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A pig can be dressed up to look like a cat, but it’s still a pig. Congratulations, you have embraced communism. You have rejected the principles American was founded on and have embraced the principles of communism. Once you have compromised the principle, you have destroyed it. You don’t think socialism is nothing more then a step, a means towards communism? Equality of what and it’s ALWAYS ended up being enforced at the end of a gun. Then again, you haven’t read history. They say we are doomed to repeat mistakes and they are right. Some of you are teachers and you say I am hateful, I hate others because of the color of their skin, the shape of their eyes? You know nothing, have no evidence and you call that critical thinking? So, does that mean you think critical thinking means criticizing someone? Seriously? Noam Chomsky not a communist. He is beyond that, he is SICK. Just this quote speaks volumes…. So take the Nazis. They weren’t carrying out terror in occupied Europe. They were protecting the local population from the terrorisms of the partisans. And like other resistance movements, there was terrorism. The Nazis were carrying out counter terror. SERIOUSLY? SERIOUSLY? Tell me something reteach for America. Are there any people, fellow human being that hate you? Would kill you without blinking an eye? And if you think there are, what would you do about them? This is all unbelievable…..
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Carol,
I’m invoking Godwin’s Law. We’re done here.
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Werebat73, Noam Chomsky was held up as an example of something to be admired. I simply shared one of his quotes. Intersting how you ignore the quote and what it means and instead shut off conversation. I fear for our country…..
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Do you not know? Are you unaware? This report, published by the NEA with partial funding by the Carnegie Corporation, contains the following statements:
“The idea has become established that the preservation of international peace and order may require that force be used to compel a nation to conduct its affairs within the framework of an established world system. The most modern expression of this doctrine of collective security is in the United Nations Charter …. Many persons believe that enduring peace cannot be achieved so long as the nation-state system continues as at present constituted. It is a system of international anarchy – a species of jungle warfare. Enduring peace cannot be attained until the nation-states surrender to a world organization the exercise of jurisdiction over those problems with which they have found themselves unable to deal singly in the past.” (1948)
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During the past few elections the Republicans have accused the democrats of wanting to engage in income redistribution – as though it is a bad thing; and perhaps it is. Over a couple of decades, the very wealthy have used their money and power to change the rules of the game to redistribute income from the middle class to the very wealthy. In 1970 the average CEO earned $25 for every dollar the average worker in the company made. By 2000, that ratio was $90 to $1. In 2004, it was about $500 to $1 and getting worse. Looking at the issue from the other end, the bottom 80% of the population owns only 7% of the financial wealth. In 2005, the combined wealth of the 400 wealthiest people was greater than the combined of the 155,000,000 other US Citizens. In politico-speak, the Republicans consistently referred to these wealthy people as job creators. It’s just not true. The vast majority of their combined wealth is invested in making more wealth, not creating jobs. Nick Hanauer in his TED Talk titled “Rich people don’t create jobs” does an excellent job of making this point. America is facing a form of tyranny by the rich. Thomas Jefferson feared this possibility and even forecast it in 1779 “. . . experience has shown that even under the best forms (of government), those entrusted with power have, in time, and by slow operations, perverted it into tyranny.”
It’s time to consider changing the rules to a different model of income redistribution. Let’s make these most wealthy citizens the job creators they are pretending to be. In this model, the wealthiest 10% would pay a much heavier tax. The revenue generated from these taxes would be spent on rebuilding America’s crumbling and outdated infrastructure and public services. We would not be giving the money away to people just because they need it. We would be building things (power and water distribution grids, highway and bridge construction and maintenance, water and sewer systems, renewable energy facilities, etc.) and providing essential services (teachers, firemen, policemen, healthcare, national research labs, etc.). These are all things that are needed for maintaining and improving our way of life. All of them create real productive essential jobs; reducing the unemployment rate and lessening the strain on social safety-net programs. Most of the jobs would not be ‘government jobs’. The infrastructure rebuilding would be done by private contractors paid for by tax dollars. Given what is described by economists as the multiplier effect, every job directly created by a government contract results in the creation of 2 – 5 additional local jobs. The benefits of this approach include:
• More people have the personal satisfaction of earning a living.
• Fewer people are relying on social safety net programs – reducing the tax burden associated with funding them.
• Because these people are now earning a living, they will be paying taxes – helping fund additional needed infrastructure projects and creating additional jobs.
• More people working means more people consuming goods and services so all existing companies benefit.
• This model keeps the country’s financial wealth working to the benefit of all of its citizens, not just the top 1%.
It is bordering on obscene that we live in a country with so much wealth and yet children are going to bed hungry every night because their parents cannot get a job.
Please don’t tell me that the wealthiest people ‘earned’ that money. Certainly, they deservedly earned a lot of money; but then they got greedy. They weren’t satisfied with a lot. They wanted more. So they changed the rules to allow them to pay workers less and executives more – much more. They didn’t do any more work. They just changed the rules to get a bigger piece of the pie. They raised executive pay while reducing worker pay and even cutting worker’s jobs. CEOs and other top executives work hard and bring value based on their knowledge and skills. They should be very well compensated for that. But, in the words of the announcing crew on one of the Sunday NFL pregame shows, “C’mon man!” The disparity they have created between executive and worker compensation is irrational, inexcusable – and unsustainable.
So, there are two elements to the needed new rules for the game.
1. There needs to be some system for achieving a more equitable ratio between executive and worker pay.
2. We need to tax the wealthiest among us more heavily to create real jobs and improve the nation’s infrastructure.
Why won’t it happen – Money and Power: The existing governmental gridlock can’t do the easy things, so doing something as important but difficult as rewriting the rules and leveling the economic playing field don’t stand a chance. The gridlock is compounded by the power of money to defeat the idea. The people with large amounts of money have a very strong hold on the politicians.
Why it could happen – People: There are countless ideological issues that arise in every election cycle that divide the electorate and allow the moneyed players to control the outcomes. If enough senate and house candidates would push the ideological issues to the side and focus on this single issue like a laser, they might win. The public is looking for a change and this could be it. Ninety-nine percent is a significant number. If candidates would commit to a program of economic fairness and jobs as the single most important issue – regardless of party affiliation – they could draw support from all voters, not just their own party.
Why it might happen – Elizabeth Warren: We have a toehold by the name of Senator Elizabeth Warren. She gets it! And she ran a successful campaign based on economic fairness and jobs. Her example may provide others the encouragement they need to follow her.
Why it must happen – True Prosperity: Fixing the economy and achieving true prosperity for the vast majority of our citizens is the single most important issue facing the country. If a parent can’t afford to provide a home or food for the family, then national security is just that – providing for the family. That’s their idea of security. Yes, we have security interests around the world, but the biggest security interest is right here at home. If we fix the economy and achieve low unemployment rates, then most of the other socio-economic issues will be taken care of. In that environment, we can have a more rational and informed debate over the other issues. Historically, whey the economy has been in good shape, the government made good decisions on other issues. So, what do you say, Elizabeth, are you ready to assume a greater role in solving the problem?
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Hear, hear! You’d think the powers that be would have learned something from how FDR brought this country back from economic disaster. But that’s too “socialist” for people who feel no responsibility to their fellow Americans and have disdain for social justice..
So, we’ve had over 30 years of neoliberalism instead, which has been particularly ramped up of late. What this has shown us is that Milton Friedman’s neoliberal triumvirate of unregulated free markets, privatization and decreased government spending on social programs only works for a fraction of people at the top –with very little, if any, trickle down effect for the masses. Since 2009, 95% of all new income went to the top 1%.
The “public-private partnership” touted by Obama et al. is just code for privatization, i.e. more neoliberalism, so that won’t cut it. See “Graphing Rising Income Inequality, the Trademark of Neoliberalism” http://www.dailykos.com/story/2011/08/18/1008305/-Graphing-Rising-Income-Inequality-the-Trademark-of-Neoliberalism
When someone is promoting neoliberalism and doesn’t even know what it’s called, or that it originated in their own right-wing party under Reagan via Milton Friedman, that’s a sign you are dealing with “received wisdom,” so one cannot expect reasoned discourse. Just ignore the verbose rantings of people with cotton in their ears.
Now, if only we could get Elizabeth to run for president in 2016!
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Good Afternoon,
I am a teacher in Syracuse City School District in Syracuse, NY. I am currently on administrative leave because I didn’t give the SLO (student learning objective), the pre-assessment for school year 2013-2014. The exam is supposed to be given in the first week of September but because my district can’t seem to handle their job they give the teachers these SLO’s late every year. I didn’t give mine until October 29, 2013 which is after I taught a quarter of the material. Also, I teach Global II (a sophomore history class) and this SLO I was given to give to my students had 50 multiple choice questions. 26 of these questions were based on Global I information, which they all learned last school year (2012-2013) with a different teacher. Therefore, because the SLO was given late and had the wrong information on it, I simply gave the bubble sheets to my students and said bubble in any answers you want. Now, I agree this was an insubordinate act and I should have handled it very differently. But the same thing happened last year and the district realized they made a mistake and eventually threw the SLO’s from last school year out. These scores are supposed to be the large portion of my evaluation. These tests are set up to literally make the teacher fail and because I didn’t “play the game” I am now in danger of getting fired. I am a tenured teacher with amazing results in my class on an academic level as well as an emotional level. These children make mistakes and sometimes call me, “Mom”. Teaching in an urban district used to be so much fun and exciting and I got to be the person who inspired them to become something great. But sadly, because these tests are implemented so much, there is no time to even get to know the students anymore. I no longer have time to build a rapport with my students. Education is being run as if it is a corporation, except there is one large problem with this outlook: Kids aren’t employees, they are unpredictable! I find out tomorrow if my district intends on filing to fire me after they gave an invalid exam late all because I didn’t “play their game”. Honestly, I just want to teach! I have wanted to be a teacher since I was a little kid. I just want my classroom and my students back!
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You could take every penny from every CEO in America and you wouldn’t make a dent in what we owe. And please show me where wages have gone down. In buying power absolutely, these politicians are destroying the value of the dollar. You actually think there is a difference between establishment Republicans and Progressives? Do you ignore the millions and millions in stimulus that was given to companies that then went belly up? And you think taxing more will make jobs? Then why don’t you go advise those in Greece, Spain, England and such………oh that’s right, THEY HAVE BEEN DOING WHAT YOU ARE SUGGESTING. How is that workin out for them? Why oh why would you want to follow their footsteps? With what you know, can you tell me why a free market system, capitalism has brought more prosperity to a larger number of people then any other system known to man. And please tell me if you think that free market system has been adulterated over the past 80 or so years. If it is really a free market system anymore. And last but not least, do you know how a free market system is supposed to work? You don’t think cronyism is going on with the progressives? Half truths dont’ cut the mustard and give a very scewed view of what’s really going on. Yuri tried warning us………http://paulentin.blogspot.com/2013_06_01_archive.html
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I have never understood those who wish to be slaves. Never will. Your idea of social justice is taking instead of earning. No thank you.
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It’s people who ignore facts and continue to support corporate welfare who are the slaves, because they are supporting an oligarchy and fight against their own best interests.
Yes, it’s corporate welfare when billionaires get government bailouts and then receive bonus checks as consequences for their poor business practices.
It’s also corporate welfare when the six Walton heirs, who have more wealth than the bottom 40% of our entire country, give Walmart employees brochures on how to apply for Food Stamps, because they refuse to pay them livable wages.
The 1% will love that you cheer for them, but don’t ask them to pay you a livable wage for your work, because that would be the reprehensible “social justice” that working class people are calling for, so enjoy your service and bondage to big business.
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“The mere absorption of facts and truths is so exclusively an individual affair that it tends very naturally to pass into selfishness. There is no obvious social motive for the acquirement of mere learning, there is no clear social gain in success thereat.” (The School and Society, 1899) John Dewey, the father of progressive education
JOHN DEWEY, THE WORLD-FAMOUS EDUCATOR, WAS RETAINED CIRCA 1920 BY THE NEW RUSSIAN GOVERNMENT TO ADVISE ON THE IMPLEMENTATION OF HIS “PROGRESSIVE” IDEAS THROUGHOUT THE USSR. CIRCA 1932, THE COMMUNIST GOVERNMENT REALIZED THAT DEWEY’S PROGRESSIVE EDUCATION HAD CREATED A GENERATION OF IGNORANT DELINQUENTS. THE COMMUNISTS IN RUSSIA BANISHED DEWEY’S IDEAS FROM THEIR COUNTRY. MEANWHILE, THE COMMUNISTS ET AL IN THIS COUNTRY CELEBRATED DEWEY AND HIS POLICIES
The whole mystery was solved at once. Very soon after this my aunt Jinny and uncle Noah ran away, and the great noise made about it by your father-in-law, made me for the first time acquainted with the fact, that there were free States as well as slave States. From that time, I resolved that I would some day run away. The morality of the act, I dispose as follows: I am myself; you are yourself; we are two distinct persons, equal persons. What you are, I am. You are a man, and so am I. God created both, and made us separate beings. I am not by nature bound to you, or you to me. Nature does not make your existence depend upon me, or mine to depend upon yours. I cannot walk upon your legs, or you upon mine. I cannot breathe for you, or you for me; I must breathe for myself, and you for yourself. We are distinct persons, and are each equally provided with faculties necessary to our individual existence. In leaving you, I took nothing but what belonged to me, and in no way lessened your means for obtaining an honest living. Your faculties remained yours, and mine became useful to their rightful owner. I therefore see no wrong in any part of the transaction. It is true, I went off secretly, but that was more your fault than mine. Had I let you into the secret, you would have defeated the enterprise entirely; but for this, I should have been really glad to have made you acquainted with my intentions to leave. …………. This is from a letter Frederick Douglass wrote to his past owner after excaping. He would not have liked at all the collectivism you all have embraced because it would have enslaved him yet again!
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Tell me, where in the heck are you getting your information from on what I support or believe? Show me where I said I support corporate welfare? What I support is NO government interference. I support a free market where we a free people decide what we will buy, what we won’t. I believe in the market of value to decide what we are paid. If a company doesn’t treat workers well, the work for someone else or start their own company to put the bad one out of business. THAT is what worked in the past. It is government interference that has allowed for cronyism and all the corruuption you see today! Regulations are tools used to destroy the competition of a corporation in bed with whomever is running the show. What is so hard to understand?
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This Carol is making me rethink my opionion of censorship.
Diane: how about some screening of comments.
If I want to follow this nonsense, I can turn on FOX News anytime.
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Tim,
I screen comments but sometimes I am late seeing them, due to travel or other obligations. Some people say nutty things and I let them pass, as a testament to free speech. I usually censor cursing, personal invective, and insults directed at me. But again, sometimes I don’t get to them in time.
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Fox News is right! Nothing like the “fair and balanced” views of people with a “let them eat cake” take on other people’s suffering. How heartless and naive. Time is way too precious to waste on this simpleton nonsense.
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Ah yes, and what the union-hating Fox News pundits et al. never mention is that THEY ALL BELONG TO UNIONS THEMSELVES.
Their blame the victim for “their poor choices” stance might be easy to accept when you have no clue what it’s like to live where there are very few choices. For example, Walmart is the only game in town in many places across America. Many people have had to settle for taking whatever work they can get just to survive, while continuing to look for better jobs –but to no avail.
After stirring anger and inciting hatred of workers for “their poor choices”, the pundits promote the neoliberal agenda, with the “let the markets decide” rally. They know very well that big businesses manipulate markets, such as Walmart’s price “roll backs,” which have prevented mom and pop shops from competing against them so they’ve had to closed down in town after town.
The “deregulation” banner is waved to suggest that unregulated companies would be a benefit to workers, as if government regulations prevent corporations from doing right by their employees. How absurd. Why on earth would oligarchs like the Waltons, who now pay the bare minimum required by law, spend more on employees when they aren’t mandated to do so –and when they could be gaining even more wealth than their current dominance over 40% of our nation? http://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/article/2012/jul/31/walmart-family-wealthier-40-percent-united-states/
People forget how exploited US workers were by big businesses before labor laws were enacted and unions were formed. “Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.”
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I think of Fox News as the key propaganda machine for feeding simplistic solutions to simple minds. By throwing in a conspiracy theory here and there and bloviating their moral authority, they can get a number of working class people to fear and loathe government AND their fellow workers.
That’s not very effective with clever people though, who tend to tune in to Fox every now and then just to see how the Simpsons will be saying the exact opposite of what the Fox News pundits claim.
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Tim, I have not been disrespectful to anyone or made any derogatory comments. I respect Diane and her blog and wouldn’t do that. Because you disagree with me you want to shut me up? When dialogue is shut down that is alarming to say the least. I shall stop with my comments at this point because I never had any intention of getting this involved. I got caught up in responding to comments that have absolutely floored and saddened me that’s all. I know I’m not going to change any minds.
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So many of these tests by officials who have never been in a classroom are completely out of control. It’s cheaper to print miltiple-guess bubble tests than to holistically evaluate what students know and have learned
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I missed this article 2 days ago. Worth a read.what data we should be collecting . . .
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/answer-sheet/wp/2013/11/05/the-school-data-problem-what-we-have-vs-what-we-need/
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Good article, I like the list of unintended consequences of standardized tests: school curriculum has narrowed, test-prep now takes up an inordinate amount of instructional time, teacher autonomy has withered.
The No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 (NCLB) is a United States Act of Congress that is a re-authorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act for 1965. ESEA was supposed to be reauthorized in 2007. Here we are in 2013 and Congress has made little headway on reauthorizing the law.
Meanwhile Secretary Duncan and the U.S. Department of Education has taken action to grant regulatory relief for requirements of NCLB in exchange for adopting the Administration’s preferred policies, including “college and career-ready standards.”(ie. adopt Common Core State Standards and associated tests).
Let your congressperson know this is unacceptable. Is it time to replace ESEA with legislation that returns decision making to states and local school districts?
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Be sure to catch Moyers and Company on PBS tonight (or in reruns this week), “How Big Money and Big Media Undermine Democracy”
http://billmoyers.com/segment/john-nichols-and-robert-mcchesney-on-big-money-big-media/
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I recommend everyone read John Kuhn’s new book, Test and Punish. Kuhn is a superintendent in Texas, who became known nationwide for his fight against inequitable funding and over-testing in Texas. I reviewed the book here: http://russonreading.blogspot.com/2013/11/test-and-punish-by-john-kuhn-reviewed.html
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Hello Diane,
I recently read you book Reign of Error”. Lots of good ideas and things to ponder.
Regarding your solutions, I am very much in favor of #7 – eliminate high-stakes testing.
Regarding #3 – Need for a full, balanced, and rich curriculum.
As you state on p236, “in the past American public schools routinely offered a varied curriculum”.
Clearly the emphasis on standards & testing has dummbed down the curriculum. I would have liked to see more support for the idea that both skills and knowledge are important.
I was surprised to note that this chapter does not describe the efforts by E.D. Hirsch, Jr to highlight the importance of “content”. I recently read Hirsch’s book “The Knowledge Deficit” and found his ideas very interesting. I would think educators should be looking at the Core Knowledge Sequence as a solution to ensuring a “full, balanced and rich curriculum”.
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Dear Carol K,
I was a supporter of ED Hirsh’s advocacy for a content-filled curriculum, as opposed to one based on abstract skills. I was a member of the Core Knowledge board until Don Hirsch called to advise me that he had decided to license the ELA curriculum to Rupert Murdoch’s subsidiary. He knew I would resign, and I did. I still believe in the importance of content knowledge but I don’t think it need be as specific or detailed as CK. Teachers need the autonomy to make decisions about what and how to teach, and who is to say that one specific list is better than another, or that ancient civilizations should be taught in first grade (too early, in my judgment) or sixth grade or 11th grade. I believe they should be taught, but older students can learn more deeply and have more context about the world. I want knowledgeable adults who love to learn.
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Just to keep the conversation going…
It is my understanding that especially history gets a “backseat” in today’s schools. With that in mind I recently saw a YouTube video that highlighted what happens when students don’t understand history.
You Tube video – College students knowledge of holocaust
Perhaps the CK sequence is too detailed, but where are the folks trying to propose other “sequences” that might be better? Here in Colorado, the Colorado Academic Standards – History call for:
2nd grade – Neighborhoods and communities
3rd grade – Communities and regions
4th grade – history of Colorado (our state)
5th grade – North America from 1491 through founding of US governments
6th grade – historical eras of Western Hemisphere (include early civilizations)
7th grade – historical eras of Eastern Hemisphere (include early civilizations)
8th grade – U.S. from the American Revolution through Reconstruction
High School – U.S. History and World History
includes US history reconstruction to present
includes world history (East and West): impact of world religions and philosophies, impact to major scientific and technological innovations, impact of political thought, etc.
Comparing the Core Knowledge Sequence to Colorado standards, I would vote for some exposure to ancient civilizations and key world events in K-5. I particularly like the idea in CK where they pick an area and then tie literature (stories and poetry), geography, civics, history, art, music together … each reinforces the other (even science and math where relevant). I also like the idea that this approach helps build vocabulary in young children.
Without background “content” it is unrealistic to expect “critical thinking” about a specific issue. If K-5 have the vocabulary, timelines, topics, geography in place they would be better able to tackle issues when they get to middle school and high school.
Maybe it is not realistic for a “sequence” that works for all of the U.S. but I would think that, at the state level, a recommended “sequence” with more “content” (vs. the sample above) would be a good idea.
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Diane is right. Core Knowledge is just a list and teachers need much more autonomy in deciding what list is appropriate for their students. K-3 children have limited background knowledge, an immature understanding of time and comprehension of maps, and they are a lot more interested in learning about their immediate world.
When I tried to implement CK with those ages, I found most students had great difficulty relating to ancient civilizations, comprehending their importance in the big picture, as well as understanding maps and timelines. I changed course and taught about their interests instead, including learning about local history, geography and maps, such as by focusing on reading, reconstructing and using class and school floor plans and local maps, and investigations of their neighborhoods, city, state and country.
As long as history and civics are not tested subjects, as has been the case since NCLB –and will continue to be the case, since they are not Common Core subjects– they will take a back seat. That’s very unfortunate, but the narrowed curriculum has been reality in the world of high-stakes testing. However, conscientious teachers still attempt to address important content.
BTW, many states have mandated the teaching of the Holocaust and similar matters to older students.
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If most of what people will need to know 10 years after they graduate is information that didn’t exist while they were in school, then a total focus on a predetermined set of content is not enough. We need to teach content as a means of teaching students how to find, learn and use information. And if we do that while also having them use and learn those soft skills, that is even better. It’s not a choice between the two. It’s a challenge to do all of it well.
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Thoreau taught briefly in the mid nineteenth century. The way he taught geography was to begin with a map of the classroom, then of Concord, and so on. I taught my twelve-year-old some trigonometry when he wanted to figure out how high his toy rocket flew. For children, it’s a good idea to relate learning to something they are interested in.
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Good Lord! I’m glad TechCrunch is reporting on this… it’s bad enough that a teacher already committed suicide over this public shaming… but the LA Times is going at it again… just disgusting! (Posted in BATs)
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Diane,
Has anyone challenged Achieve Inc.’s CCCtools that compare the states standards to CCSS? It seems strange to me that in Alabama, Alabama old standards align with CCSS 96% Math, 93% ELA. Who wrote CCCtools programs and has an independent group analyzed the actual program code. I use to program Mainframes way back when and know you can make a program produce what you want! Achieve is too connected to Gates & GE foundation and therefore too bias to be objective. If they have nothing to hide release the code immediately before they can change it to make them look good. I would not be surprised that the programs may be slanted to make CCSS look good and make the states more willing to have bought in. Just a thought!
By the way, the Bill Gates sponsored Scholastic Survey of teachers and their opinions, which is a joke. They report high % rates of teacher approval of CCSS. However do the math! In Alabama they show 255 teachers took the survey. Alabama has over 40,000 teachers which equates to .5 of 1%. They report 20,000 teachers nationwide took the survey. There are over 3.7 million teachers in the USA, which also equates to .5 of 1%. Yet they use this survey as a way to promote CCSS. This is nothing but deceiving to say the least! If the CCSS are so great, why do they have to deceive the public to get us to buy in?
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Looks like value added ranking got pitched at Microsoft
http://www.geekwire.com/2013/microsoft-axes-stack-ranking-massive-overhaul-employee-review-process/
“Stack ranking does have some supporters, but it also has been blamed for fostering dysfunction at Microsoft and reducing morale among employees. At an internal presentation Tuesday morning, managers clapped when Brummel announced that the employee review process would be overhauled, and by the end of the presentation they gave a standing ovation.”
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What if We Are Asking the Wrong Question about Public Education in America?
When we talk about public education and the challenges it faces and when we talk about reform initiatives there is a question at the center of those discussions. That question is: Why do children fail? Or, “What are the characteristics of the children who perform poorly in school?” Or, more often, “Who is to blame for the failure of education in America?”
We then talk about poverty, racial discrimination and segregation, deteriorating urban and rural communities: and, we talk about bad schools and bad teachers, teachers unions, about giving people choices with charter schools and vouchers; about Common Core; about holding teachers and schools accountable and standardized competency examinations. In the last couple of decades we have begun talking about the privatization of education and other related issues having to do with taking education from the control of communities and making it more accountable much like businesses are held accountable.
What if “Why do children fail and who is to blame?” are the wrong questions? Maybe we are looking at the problems of education from the wrong perspective.
For most of my career, I have been focused on leadership development and helping people develop and then practice the principles of positive leadership. As is the case with most other advocates of leadership development, rarely do we begin by asking what makes a bad leader? Rather, we begin by examining the characteristics and strategies of successful leaders and then helping people apply those characteristics and strategies in their own lives and in their work. Stephen Covey did not, for example, write about the seven habits of highly ineffective people rather he wrote about the habits of people who are “highly effective.”
Returning to the challenges of education in America, consider a different question, for just a moment.
“Why do children succeed in school?” Or, more specifically, “what do successful students have in common and what can we learn from those common characteristics?”
We will likely discover that it is not affluence because, while there are many successful students who are affluent there are also poor children who excel academically. Conversely, there are affluent students who fail as badly as some of their economically disadvantaged classmates.
We will discover that it is not race, because the list of the academically excellent includes white children, and black children, and children with skins that span all of the hues and colors in between.
We will learn that it is not fractured families because there are children who excel in school who live in single-parent homes or with families that are otherwise distressed just as there are children from intact families who fail, miserably.
We will learn that it is not bad neighborhoods because there are children from the most dreadful surroundings who somehow perform well in school just as there are children at the other end of the performance continuum who live in the best neighborhoods in America.
We will also discover that it is not bad schools populated by bad teachers, because students from both ends of the performance continuum can be found in our best and in our worst schools.
The one single characteristic that most links our best students, wherever we find them, is that they are supported by parent(s) or guardian(s) who are determined that their children will get the best possible education and who consider themselves to be partners, sharing responsibility with teachers and principals for the education of their children.
Now, flip the question around and ask, what are the common characteristics of children who are failing in school? If we are honest with ourselves we will discover that the single most common characteristic of children who struggle academically is that they are not supported by parents who are determined that their children will receive a good education. Many of parents of struggling children might vocalize that education is important but they do none of things that determined parents do. They do not talk constantly about the importance of education. They do not make certain that their child has resources that will help them be successful in school. They do not ask, routinely, “How was school today?” nor do they ask to see homework or tests and other papers sent home by their child’s teacher. They do not call and talk to their child’s teacher to see how their son or daughter is doing or to ask what they can do to help and support the child? They do not go to parent/teacher conferences or back-to-school night. Whatever they might be vocalizing their actions provide no evidence that a real commitment exists or that the parent recognizes and accepts responsibility as a partner in the educational process.
Think for a moment, about how the answers to this new set of questions changes, profoundly, everything we think we know about the educational process.
The problem with education in America is that we have a burgeoning population of American mothers and fathers who live under a stifling blanket of hopelessness and powerlessness. These men and women are effectively disenfranchised and no longer believe in the American Dream for themselves or for their children. As a result, they do not stress the importance of education to their children and they make little if any effort to prepare their children for learning; they offer no support to the educators of their children and, in fact, view their children’s teachers and principals as adversaries. Many of these parents have lost control over their children and can no longer claim status as the guiding influence in the daily lives of their sons and daughters.
Because the quality of the education our children receive will determine whether or not the U.S. can maintain any semblance of a competitive advantage as we proceed through the balance of the Twenty-first Century, we are facing two challenges:
1. The first is that we must utilize every resource at our disposal to pull parents into the process as fully participating partners in the education of their sons and daughters. It is the absence of this partnership that results in the lowest level of motivation to learn on the part American children in generations and this is a reality that must be altered at all cost.
2. The second is that we must be willing to admit that our current educational process is poorly structured to get the results we so desperately need to achieve. It is a system that is focused on failure and that sets the overwhelming majority of students up for failure and humiliation simply because it sets all children out on the same academic path, regardless of the cavernous disparity in the preparation they bring to their first day of school, and it judges their performance against that of their classmates. We must create a reality in which children are given sufficient time to master their subjects before they are permitted to move on because we have no illusions that they all will have achieved the same things by the end of twelve years of formal education. We do not need them to achieve the same things. What we need is that they will have learned as much as they are able to learn and that they will be able to apply what they have learned when they enter the next stage of their lives, whatever that may be.
The first challenge is formidable because it demands that we strive to change the culture of American society to one in which the American dream is real and achievable, if not for every man and woman in the nation, at least for their children. It will require that we quit bickering and, instead, come together to achieve a common objective.
The second challenge offers no excuses for failure because the educational leaders in each of our fifty states has the authority to change, by decree, the educational process in their state. That we choose to continue our practice of stumbling around in the dark is nothing short of malpractice and it places our entire future as a society in jeopardy.
Mel Hawkins
Author of:
Reinventing Education, Hope, and the American Dream: The Challenge of Twenty-First Century America, and
THE LEADer, a blog (Thinking Exponentially: Leadership, Education, and the American Dream
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It may be a cliché, but motivation, I believe, is the key to academic success. Motivation may be inspired by parents, the culture of the family, or even the student with demanding goals.
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I wanted to contact Diane Ravitch about a remarkable young man I met last month. He is a person whom by all predictions could have ended up homeless or in jail. Instead, he is a project manager for a environmental clean up agency. The reason he has thrived–his teachers.
Please contact me for his story.
I taught for 17 years in Mott Haven and believe educational success is linked to the power of connection between student and teacher. I am also a free lance writer and write for a local paper here on Cape Cod.
Thanks.
Evelyn Jackson
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Dear Families,
I am writing to update you directly on why the Newark Public Schools was forced to close schools for students on November 7th and 8th at the last minute.
As you know, my team embraces your hopes and dreams. We listen. We know you want your child to graduate with the skills to succeed in college and in life. This is our mission, indeed our deep passion.
It is my job to serve you and to foster ideas, innovations, solutions and results. As I am sure you can agree, the persistent poor performance in Newark demands we have the courage to do things differently.
We -families and my team -know that instructional time matters. The more time your child has to learn, the less opportunity for trouble and the greater possibility for success. We worked very hard to add more instructional time to our calendar: longer school days, more classroom time during the school year.
We were pleased to share this vision with the union. In organizing the 2013 school calendar, we consulted the Newark Teachers Union and unified around a number of new ideas.
For years, because of the annual New Jersey Educational Association Convention in Atlantic City, NPS closed its doors so teachers could attend. Families lost valuable classroom time and with too many young people idle, crime went up. Many Newarkers believe this long-standing tradition simply doesn’t make sense -for our students or our city. After all, the NJEA Union doesn’t even represent our teachers in Newark. The NPS calendar had this Thursday and Friday as regular school days, just like most of the country.
Although the NTU signed off on this proposal, we were dismayed to learn last week that they were actively urging teachers to sign up and go to Atlantic City. This forced us to once again close our doors, hurting schools and making our city less safe.
We are deeply troubled by these events and apologize for the confusion it may have caused your families. With your continued support we will continue to fight to add more instructional time for our children.
Enclosed is an updated calendar for the school year,
Cami
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Diane – here’s a brilliant post by William Mathis, former superintendent in Vermont and current State Board of Education member.
http://connectedvermont.net/m/the_blog/281/when_i_was_in_school,_
I’m proud to work in VT and happy to see someone like Mathis point out the reality of the work that our public schools are doing, with the caveats of areas that we need to improve upon, notably poverty.
Thank you for your tremendous advocacy, your candor, and humility!
Gratefully,
B. Ricca
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And this explains why Arne Duncan does what he does. In an article published on http://www.politico.com which talks about Obama and his cabinet… “I asked Duncan to identify the most important moment at a Cabinet meeting he’d attended. Tellingly, he seized on a personal, not policy, moment. “It’s a surreal experience sitting there with Bob Gates and Hillary Clinton and Leon Panetta—world-class leaders,” he said. “That hasn’t sort of gone away. It’s like, do I really belong here?””
Read more: http://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2013/11/locked-in-the-cabinet-99374_Page3.html#ixzz2kfUcZlAB
Really? Not about helping children but about being with rich and powerful people.
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I’m surprised that Duncan does really know his place! All imposters should be so honest with themselves and the world. Too bad he didn’t have the where-with-all to go a step further and say what Grouch Marx said, “I don’t want to belong to any club that would accept me as one of its members.”
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Groucho that is. Darn typos.
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How can this happen in public education? Please watch the news videos too of our deputy superintendent in Oregon. How can an educator get away with doing all this?
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Dear Diane,
Our downtown San Jose community is putting out a second plea for help from your readers regarding the Rocketship charter school chain. On November 19th we go to San Jose City Council for a vote to add a third Rocketship Charter Elementary School to our tiny 8 block community (vote deferred from late October). We’d love to invite your readers to write an email to our city council, details here:
http://www.stoprocketship.com/take-action-now/
You might also be interested to learn that Rocketship sends $1.8 million per school in “management and facility fees” back to their distant national headquarters, a rate more than twice that of our local school districts. Rocketship schools spend more in those fees than they pay out to local staff in salaries. Employee salaries total 44% of revenue, as compared to local districts which spend 80-85% on salaries, a shocking figure that moves us in the opposite direction of professionalizing teachers, as you so articulately argue. We have some serious questions about what is done with those fees.
http://www.stoprocketship.com/money-diverted/
Rocketship has been recruiting heavily with claims they are in the top 5% of schools in the state serving low income students. We did an analysis and found them to be barely in the top quarter, with two of their five K-5 schools coming in around average. Rocketship continues to publicly claim to run 27:1 student to teacher ratios. However, their own budget and board materials show that they run 41:1 with plans to move to 50:1 to generate more revenue. Some may laud school choice, but it can only work if factual information is presented during recruitment.
http://www.stoprocketship.com/top-5/
http://www.stoprocketship.com/inconsistencies-in-waiting-list/
Rocketship serves low income Latinos, but their primarily Caucasian board and leadership represent investment bankers more than their students. They cram 700 low income students per acre (compared to 100students/acre at public schools), but their leaders sit in fancy spacious Redwood City, CA headquarters.
http://www.stoprocketship.com/diversity/
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Question:
From an informed historian perspective, when did “21st Century Skills” first enter the education vernacular? Who coined it? To whom can it be attributed? Was it associated with marketing, and just made its way into non-commercial vision statements? Does anyone ever point out that it might have worn off in any meaning, mostly because it is an arbitrary delineation (did that much change from 1999 to 2000 that we need to constantly reference the present in juxtaposition to the past as a sole indicator of vision and the state of the world around us)? what other century would things be for? Is the delineation of 21st century as opposed to other centuries revolve primarily around the internet? Is there another word that is synonymous with it? Have scholarly articles, opinion pieces or editorials been written on it? Does it bother anyone else as much as it bothers me?
Why does it bother me? I see it as limiting in scope for what can and should be expected of an educational pursuit and I see it as flat in terms of being a descriptor for characteristics of a community or society. (it implies computers, I suppose. . .but I find it to be lacking in depth or nuance that would elevate a spirit of continuity within society).
Can you help me find out the answers to these questions and others the subject might ignite?
Ever grateful.
J. Best
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Joanna, the Partnership for 21st Century skills was concocted by a non-educator who quickly signed up lots of high tech corporations. It is essentially meaningless, as you note.
Diane Ravitch
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This young man gets it. Common Core is a disaster. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PprP5TCZBRI
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Hello fellow BAT,
Please help me turn the dangerous tide of corporate for-profit “reform.” Teachers know best. Let’s unify and get our message out beyond the teachers’ lounge. Please check out my documentary project and share with your network. http://www.indiegogo.com/projects/hear-our-teachers–2
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There’s another terrific show on Bill Moyers this week, “The Path of Positive Resistance” with Jill Stein and Margaret Flowers, “Fighting the Good Fight”: http://billmoyers.com/segment/fighting-the-good-fight/
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I thought Jill Stein of the Green Party was the best candidate when I voted for her for POTUS and now I’m thoroughly convinced of that. She really gets what’s neo-liberalism has been doing to this country, on so many levels, including the privatization of public education.
Too bad so many voters are tied to the two party system, because it’s really much more like just one party today and that party represents the 1%, not common people who have been struggling so hard just to get by. We can thank SCOTUS for allowing corporations to buy politicians and their preferred policies via their Citizens United decision.
Wake UP America! The politicians from both sides of the aisle that you voted for are corrupt and they have crafted different rules for their corporate sponsors than for us! Vote 3rd Party!
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Be sure to read this article on the Moyers & Company website by Elaine Weiss, “Voters Gave Corporate Education “Reform” a Big Defeat on Election Day” http://billmoyers.com/2013/11/14/voters-gave-corporate-education-reform-a-big-defeat-on-election-day/
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Did you see the YouTube video by a Tennessee student, Ethan Young, about the Common Core and teacher evaluations? It’s amazing!
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I posted this a few days ago. It is all over the Internet: http://www.theblaze.com/stories/2013/11/15/this-could-be-one-of-the-best-cases-ever-made-against-common-core-no-one-expected-it-to-come-from-a-high-school-student/
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I thought you might be interested in this link from a superintendent in a Boston suburb:
http://hollistonsuperblog.blogspot.com/
I’m Mad as Hell and I’m Not Going to Take it Anymore
“Massachusetts, like most states that have sold their souls for a few shekels of Race to the Top money (or at least the few shekels that have trickled down to local school districts), has embraced the feel-good policies of educator accountability and its accompanying bureaucratic insistence of turning students into sources of data in an attempt to solve the real and increasingly terrifying performance gap between our cities and affluent suburbs. Too bad that our leaders, when faced with the notion that these policies have only served to widen that gap, can’t show the courage of their convictions and use the data and hold themselves accountable for those failures.” There’s more…
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I follow your blog every day and am a great supporter. I was wondering if in today’s paper, Newsday (the Long Island newspaper) misstated something you said . The quotes sounded like you, but the article also said that you were calling for educators to “boycott Common Core-related curricula….” I worry about confusing the Common Core standards, the Common Core curriculum materials (some of which are wonderful) and the insane obsession with misused tests and teacher evaluation. Thank you. JD-L
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The Newsday article was not correct. I called for a boycott of the testing and urged districts to work on the standards to fix them; revise them, tinker with them, eliminate what is inappropriate, keep what is good.
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A plea for guidance:
I got my education in the Minneapolis public schools’ Montessori program when it first started in the 80’s, I got my first teacher training from the music department at Teachers College, Columbia, and right now I’m in an Early Childhood license program at the University of Minnesota. I’m progressive all the way and I want to stop the corporate takeover of public schools. But how do I fight the good fight on a beyond my eventual classroom? Where do I best devote my energy? I need a game plan.
Thanks for all you do.
Jessica Parker
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Jessica, Join the Network for Public Education and find other organizations that are fighting the same fight in your neighborhood.
On your own, you are powerless. As part of a group, you have power.
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Diane…
Feel free to link to my new entry: Stop This Train: The Common Core and the Uncommon Student.
It’s about how CCSS are used to destroy programs for Special Ed kids in NYC. Most people won’t believe this is going on, but I can assure you that it is.
Regards.
Paul V. Hogan
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Diane Ravitch’s Reign of Error, A Journaled Review by Mel Hawkins, 2nd Installment
Ravitch’s Chapter 1 “Our Schools are at Risk” Ravitch begins this monumental work by staking out the battlefield and categorically rejecting the assertions of “leading members of our political class and our media elite” that public education is broken.…
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The St. Louis Post Dispatch is doing its best to rewrite the story out of Columbia, Missouri about the sneakiness of the state commissioner Chris Nicastro, but there could be a demand that she be removed from her position…some comments from Byron Clemons:
CONFLICT OF INTEREST . . . private interest agenda (billionaire Rex Sinquefield) over public schools and children. Outrageous. Post-Dispatch should print rest of article and not just in the editorial section.
not onlty was Nicastro re-writing ballot language for right wing Billionaire Rex Sinquefield . . . re-writing projected costs . . . now estimated to cost districts millions of dollars Instead of being advocate of public education and children Nicastro has be come advocate for billionaire enemies of public schools.
Nicastro’s deal with billionaire Rex Sinquefield would cost school districts millions . . . . Rex has a “voucher” and a “tenure” petition drive he is involved with . . . an enemy of public education has commissioner as his consultant
offered this; in the abridged article in this mornings paper….which just says ap, and omits the stuff about her. hiding what she did from the state board..I am also just shocked that the pd would do what i figured they would do.
someone responded to Clemons: …”If she applied the same logic about showing measurable improvements as a result of her efforts to her time as Superintendent in Hazelwood, she would never have been eligible to be Commissioner.”
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Joe Prichard, can you send articles about Missouri?
Diane Ravitch
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The post dispatch seems to have restrictions for reporters on what can be reported in education, but they carried this ap story, no author name about the two senators who called for Nicastro’s resignation….JEFFERSON CITY • Two Democratic state lawmakers called Tuesday for the resignation of Missouri’s education commissioner, alleging she has “demonstrated a troubling tendency to abuse power.”
Emails show Education Commissioner Chris Nicastro interacted with a group developing a ballot proposal that would end teacher tenure and require that student performance guide employment decisions.
In a joint statement, state Sen. Paul LeVota, of Independence, and state Rep. Genise Montecillo, of St. Louis, specifically cited Nicastro’s handling of a cost estimate for the ballot measure. They also mentioned her handling of a Kansas City charter school that was allowed to remain open after a judge reversed a decision to not renew its application.
LeVota and Montecillo said there is a lack of trust and confidence in Nicastro’s leadership among lawmakers, education professionals and the public.
“Dr. Nicastro’s resignation as education commissioner is necessary to restore public confidence that (the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education) is working on behalf of the children,” the lawmakers said.
I will continue……..
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The education commissioner is selected by the State Board of Education. Board President Peter Herschend said Nicastro’s review of the ballot measure was not out of the ordinary.
“Department staff performed routine consultation on this measure just as when staff consulted on charter school legislation with Rep. Montecillo during the 2013 session,” he said.
Nicastro was named education commissioner in 2009 and is the fifth person — and the first woman — to hold the position since the office was created in 1947.
The Democratic lawmakers made reference to an email showing the state auditor’s office made a routine request for a cost estimate for the proposed initiative petition after it was filed. An education department staff member originally proposed saying there was “potential for significant unknown costs” to local school districts, but Nicastro changed that to say “cost unknown.”
The emails were obtained by the Missouri National Education Association in response to an open records law request and were provided to The Associated Press. The teachers union opposes the proposed ballot measure and has said the level of collaboration between Nicastro’s department and advocates of the measure is concerning.
Emails show Nicastro met with an advocate of the initiative more than a year ago, suggested specific wording and reviewed a final draft. Nicastro told the AP last week she has no position on the initiative and provided information as she would for anyone proposing a change to state law.
In a letter Friday to three education organizations, Nicastro said the department focused on the educator evaluation system and made clear it had no position on teacher tenure. She said the department has found every number it suggests for cost estimates receive detailed scrutiny and require justification with “absolute accuracy.”
She said there was lobbying by some wanting a high cost estimate and by others seeking no cost.
“The fact is, in this case, the cost could vary from zero to a lot,” Nicastro wrote. “The cost could be zero for districts that choose to use the state model, forms, procedures and training. For districts that choose to develop their own system, the costs could be in the millions.”
there is more
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The proposed initiative petition would end tenure protections for teachers and certified school staff by limiting contracts to three years. Starting in July 2015, school districts would be required to use a staff evaluation that uses “student performance data” to guide decisions on promoting, demoting, firing and paying employees. Supporters must gather roughly 160,000 signatures for the constitutional amendment to appear on the November 2014 ballot. http://www.stltoday.com/news/local/education/democrats-urge-missouri-education-official-to-resign/article_88bca3a1-86de-583e-9d82-551c1be27a29.html there are nine comments…….this was mine…”gigantic, humongous problem with pd reporting of education issues at the state level:they only quote the republican on the state board who has been there 24 years…or nicastro, who is now suspect, or dese, which is when they want to generalize and obfuscate, or sinquefield stooge of the day..calas, thaman, whoever……..never never never a board member of the majority who have been chosen by jay nixon. they are her boss…not vice versa…according to this article.”
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I began following Diane when my daughter began her training with Teach for America this summer. Like many people who have posted on this blog, I am not a supporter of Teach for America and after completing the training, my daughter agreed that 5 weeks of training was hardly enough to prepare her for teaching our neediest students and chose to leave TFA. I recently read Reign of Error – at first I felt empowered – finally someone gets it. I taught for 33 years and now supervise student teachers. I hear the same things over and over from the teachers I know or work with. Our schools would be in much better shape if our government would listen to Diane as well as the majority of the teachers I know. Kids aren’t numbers – they are unique individuals and there isn’t one magic recipe that will solve all of our problems. Test scores aren’t the ultimate goal of a truly exceptional school. We want our students to be thinkers and problem solvers, life long readers who possess an innate desire to learn and grow. Many of these things can’t be measured by a standardized test. We all know that if a child comes to school without breakfast, a good night’s sleep, warm/clean clothes and lots of love and security that test scores are not going to improve. Until we start to deal with the problems poverty presents we are hitting our heads against the wall. If we continue to have class sizes that get bigger and bigger we won’t give students the attention they deserve no matter what type of home/income their parents have. As I finished reading this book my feelings shifted from empowerment to anger. This really isn’t rocket science – it is common sense and it is time our government starts listening to the people who work in schools with children day after day. I believe the message they hear will be consistent and much different than the path we are on now.
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Thanks, Karl B.,
I agree 100%. The answers are in front of us. They are common sense. We run away from them. I conclude it is because for some people, “school reform” has become a convenient distraction from social and economic issues. The “reforms” don’t work, the metrics are all wrong, but they keep us from talking about inequality and injustice.
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Diane,
Here’s a link to an article in the Detroit News about the sharp decline in EAA attendance in its second year in operation. The EAA is Michigan’s very own state-run recovery district. It’s Rick Snyder’s baby. He even has a donation fund to support it.
I thought you might appreciate it since it’s from the conservative ideological Detroit News which in the past week has published incendiary articles about the MEA (because of the paper’s love of RTW) and has columnist Ingrid Jacques who is nothing short of a charter / choice cheerleader. Her editorials are more like advertisements than opinion pieces.
Here’s the link: http://www.detroitnews.com/article/20131122/SCHOOLS/311220039/Michigan-s-Education-Achievement-Authority-sees-24-percent-drop-students?odyssey=tab|topnews|text|FRONTPAGE
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After my daughter’s TFA experience I began writing to my Congressmen. After several attempts, one responded and led me to believe they would investigate some of my concerns. That was in July and nothing has happened. On of the senators ignored my letters until I mentioned I had heard from the first one. I did get a response then and a promise that he would also investigate my concerns. The third – who is on education committees has not responded at all. I continue to write to them about my disappointment in their lack of responsiveness to my concerns. I continue to be shocked that anyone would support putting someone with five weeks of training in our most challenging situations. It isn’t good for the idealistic 22 years who are really trying to do a good thing and those young children deserve to have teachers who are trained in child psychology and teaching methods, have experience and will stay for the long haul. This blog is a wonderful place for meaningful discussions to occur and I would encourage everyone to communicate with the people who are representing us in Washington.
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Diane,
In an exciting development, New York State legislators are for the first time taking steps to examine the inherent disconnect between CCSS and iep students. Please
consider linking to this:
“State Legislators from the Capitol Region have raised concerns that the Common Core curriculum and standardized testing are inconsistent with Federal laws designed to guarantee a quality education for children with special needs.
They requested that the State Education Department dedicate one of their upcoming public forums on Common Core to the curriculum’s impact on children with special needs.
The Legislators – State Senators Cecilia Tkaczyk and Neil Breslin and Members of Assembly Patricia Fahy, John McDonald and Phil Steck, notified Education Commissioner John King that subjecting school children with special needs to standardized curriculums and testing is not consistent with the Federal Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA). Congress enacted IDEA in 1975 to ensure that children with disabilities have the opportunity to receive an appropriate public education, like all other children.
To comply with the Federal law, New York State develops Individualized Education Plans (IEP) for school children receiving special education services, who often cannot work at their own grade level. The IEP is developed to help these children learn outside the standardized methodology and curriculum. It sets reasonable learning goals for the child and outlines the services that will be made available.”
more at link: http://www.nysenate.gov/press-release/tkaczyk-calls-state-ed-dept-study-impact-common-core-testing-children-special-needs
Regards,
Paul V. Hogan
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Dr. Ravitch’s , your resignation letter deeply touched my hearth. You are a brave woman. Although I am not from this country, eight years working in public schools plus the knowledge I acquired about American education bring similar thoughts and feelings. Fear invade many teachers in this nation, as students cannot learn under pressure teachers cannot teach under the same pressure. In my personal experience too much pressure affected my health, panic attract invaded my mind twice due to the stress. I am planning a research about differentiation on foreign languages classrooms. Electives classes has been underestimated and also affected by NCLB and standardized tests. Most students are passing classes but not acquiring languages. I will follow your blog and share it with my colleagues.
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Hi Diane. I am a public high school teacher and a BAT. I appreciate what you do for us. There was an article in today’s Tennessean. Didn’t know if you saw it. I stood up for you in the comments section.
http://www.tennessean.com/comments/article/20131124/NEWS04/311240048/Reformers-politicians-quick-tie-TN-test-gains-new-policies
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Your post about Frank Bruni reminds me how irritating it is that just about every regular NYTimes columnist has written a column or two about education of children or teachers. Each proves the columnist knows little about the topic. That includes, to my sorrow, Kristoff, who is generally an informed writer. The Times editorial board is both anti-teacher and anti-union, two different things, and has bought into “reform” (the reform that would privatize education) completely.
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There is yet to be any opinion pieces in NY Times to challenge corporate reform dogma
They are all on same page
Diane Ravitch
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Like many in education, Ms. Ravitch points out that there isn’t enough funding. This is a big component of her criticism of Gov Christie. What Ms. Ravitch doesn’t address is Gov Christie’s very accurate criticism of teacher tenure. Why should anyone have a guaranteed lifetime position after three years of adequate work? That is simply insane.PSOE in other professions like medicine, law, engineering, accounting, business execs, etc don’t have any guarantee like that. Is teaching a lesser profession requiring lower standards than those other professions? Furthermore, why are teachers a protected class that one must be ashamed to criticize? No one bats an eye when people criticize doctors or lawyers but criticize s teacher and you must be anti kids. That is simply ludicrous. There must be a revamping of the tenure system so that there is a process to replace ineffective teachers. Even veteran teachers who are assessed to be ineffective. This is a clear, common sense step to improving the quality of education in the U.S.
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Michael Werblin,
New Jersey is at the very top on the federal tests, number 2 behind Massachusetts and tied with Connecticut.
The states with no teacher due process or unions are at or near the bottom. Why don’t you hurry to your local NJ school and thank the teachers for the great jobs they do?
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Michael, tenure does in fact include a process by which ineffective educators can be removed from there positions. The purpose of tenure is to protect teachers from members of the administration or school board carrying out personal vendettas against the teaching staff and removing them from their positions without cause. This disruption of the educational process would only hurt the students in said teachers classroom.
If you want to take a clear, common sense step to improve the quality of education in the US, let’s hold the parents accountable for making sure their students arrive at school, well-fed, dressed appropriately, with appropriate levels of respect for authority. This would improve the educational experience by allowing the teachers to teach instead of redirecting and/or baby-sitting poorly behaved kids in the classroom at all levels of education. The unfortunate part of education is that 1-2 students can create such havoc in a classroom that it disrupts the learning environment for the other 20-25 students in the class.
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