How can you talk about cooperation and shared responsibility in the same breath with a “race” to “the top” for our children?How can you say “we are all in this together” while you are telling children that they have to race to see who is best at taking tests and the poor kids almost always are the losers? --- Diane Ravitch on Clinton's speech last night.
I hate to spoil the party, but Democrats lie too. Obama lost votes of educators every time Rahm Emanuel's face came on the screen, especially if you read this Ravitch post:Is Chicago a National Model for School Reform?
Chicago public schools have been under mayoral control since 1995....Then Mayor Daley promoted Arne Duncan to reform the schools. Duncan called his reforms “Renaissance 2010.” Before he left for DC in 2009 Duncan opened 100 new schools and closed many neighborhood schools....Then came Ron Huberman to continue the Daley reforms....And now Mayor Emanuel carries on in the Daley tradition, having recently instructed his hand-picked school board [and chose as Supt John Claude-Brizard who screwed up schools here and in Rochester] to close or privatize more schools. And what’s the upshot of nearly two decades of reform?- READ THAT SAD STORY
Diane Ravitch has been on the case exposing the fault lines in the Democratic Party approach to education.
If you hear that rousing speech by Dem ed deform Mass. Governor Deval Patrick, he lauded the one-year turnaround of a school named Orchard Gardens where they fired 80% of the teachers, a number to challenge the Romney/Bain Capital firings. Another ed deform "miracle" on the backs of teachers. Diane and Gary Rubinstein nail Patrick in this post by Diane:
Gary Rubinstein Fact-Checks Mass. School
We all would like to believe in miracles. There aren’t many, especially with reference to schools that miraculously “turn around” in one year.And then we come to Clinton's speech, which I loved, though I'm still voting Green. Clinton really did what none of the Obama people seem capable of doing – actually defending him. But let's not forget how far to the right of the Democratic Party Clinton has been. Or moderate Republican.
It is comforting to believe that a school can change from the worst to the best almost overnight. It is a made-for-Hollywood scenario.
Last night at the Democratic convention, Governor Deval Patrick talked about the one-year turnaround of a school named Orchard Gardens.
Gary Rubinstein checked and learned that 80% of the teachers were fired. Then he went to the Massachusetts Department of Education website. Not exactly one of the best schools in the state. Why do so many politicians think that the best way to fix a school is to fire almost everyone (or everyone) and start over? Wouldn’t it be more productive to help the school, add resources where needed, remove those who are truly incompetent, do whatever it takes to make the school work well for its students? Why is mass firing the preferred solution?
When it comes to education policy, Clinton touched on it when he mentioned the Bushes. Clinton's "Goals 2000" preceded Bush's No Child Left Behind which led to Obama's Race to the Top, each iteration worse than the one before. What is not well-known but well covered Kahlenberg's Shanker bio was the work both Clintons did in Arkansas in the 80's in ed deform --- retesting of teachers for instance. Shanker and Clinton were on the same page in many areas on education.
Diane posted this soon after Clinton's speech.
He didn’t mention K-12.
I listened closely.
He didn’t mention Race to the Top.
Maybe it was an oversight but I doubt it.
How can you talk about cooperation and shared responsibility in the same breath with a “race” to “the top” for our children?
How can you say “we are all in this together” while you are telling children that they have to race to see who is best at taking tests and the poor kids almost always are the losers?
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