John Merrow, Former Ed Deform Supporting Journalist, Saw the Light

I used to take PBS ed reporter John Merrow over for some of his awful reporting on Michelle Rhee, New Orleans, a major attack on teachers and their unions in the NY Times (or WSJ) 10 years ago.

Over the past 5 years Merrow has seen the light and has become a warrior against ed deform - as Diane Ravitch did. Here she posts links

John Merrow Questions Rick Hess’s Contrition about the Failure of Reform in D.C.

I posted Rick Hess’s article chastising his fellow reformers for their celebration of D.C.’s “success” as a model, which led to their embarrassment when the falsification of graduation data was revealed.

John Merrow posted a lengthy comment following Hess’s article, which is worth reading. - continue - Merrow

Then in 2013 - he began to look at the Michelle Rhee cheating scandals - Ed Notes reported in May 2013:

John Merrow's Growing Relentlessness on Rhee Cheating Scandal Sparks Rhee Scrutiny

John Merrow has been relentless in connecting the dots in the Michelle Rhee cheating scandal. Remember those glowing reports he did on PBS about Rhee (and Vallas in New Orleans?)

Don't underestimate how important the move of media people like Merrow away from supporting the deformers will prove to be.
Connect these dots to Walcott's almost hysterical response to the mayoral candidates.

I see on Dec. 31 Tweedies burning and shredding documents like they did in the US Saigon embassy on the day before the fall.

The New Republic, which I seem to remember being a cheerleader for ed deform (I may be wrong so check my work) has this:

How Michelle Rhee Misled Education Reform A memoir illustrates what's wrong with her brand of school

I think Merrow's turnaround is pretty remarkable. See some of the things I posted about Merrow in the bad old days to see just how far he's come.

And I always love it when John Merrow, who applauded the LA Times for publishing teacher names and scores, gets taken down. I can't resist a few comments on Merrow:

* Deborah Meier: "Shocking, awful, embarrassing–especially since I have long admired you both--Grant and, John. I often thought Grant's thinking cool/cold/logic without the common human touch, but I also respected the insights that flowed from his logic. I just can't believe you and he wrote that junk, John. What do you think it does to kids, families, human beings--even if the test evaluations were a good measure. Nobody in the field of testing would argue for it--as you surely know."

* Diane Ravitch: "The naming of names based on dubious measures is truly disgraceful. I am disappointed and shocked to see you endorsing this approach."

I'm shocked that Meier admires Merrow and Diane is shocked. Merrow is a long-time ed deformer and I've gone after him a bunch of times. (See after burn below for a selection of my hits on him.)

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Taking Note of John Merrow and Grant Wiggins
Joe Bower
For the love of learning blog
2010-08-22
http://susanohanian.org/outrage_fetch.php?id=737

Jan. 10, 2013: Can You Trust John Merrow?

August 25, 2010:  Today's Hot Links: Doofus Duncan and John Merrow too

John Merrow Cover Blown

Aug 07, 2008

Merrow chaired an online conference this week on what to do about NCLB. Lots of familiar faces: Sol Stern, Randi, Ravitch, Cerf, Finn, Hess (American Enterprise Institute) and lots of others- Alexander Russo's TWIE has pics of them here ...

http://ednotesonline.blogspot.com/

 

Are Merrow Reports on PBS Fair and Balanced?

Feb 27, 2008

Are the Merrow reports and podcasts fair and balanced? He's based in NYC. When will he take on the bloomklein story or is that too delicate in that he might have to actually hear the voices on these listserves? ...

Eduwonkette's take: Who Slipped a Mickey in John Merrow's Kool-Aid? [Link no longer active -- but the title says it all].