Did CNN's Randi Kaye Ask Rhee About the DC Cheating Scandal Coverup Under Her Watch?

[Randi Kaye] and her researchers are totally uninformed. And they feed their uninformed views to the American public. This is what is frightening! --- Diane Ravitch

Biased journalism 101

See the Kaye/Rhee Interview. What any person who considers herself a journalist would ask when Rhee brought up the term "effective" teacher. Define an effective teacher? Then didn't that definition result in a major cheating scandal under your watch as head of DC schools? What about the level of alienation of people that led to the mayor losing the election due to the impact of your policies? That was the type of interview Randi Kaye did with Ravich while letting Rhee off the hook.

I thought Diane had an opening when talking about the failures of merit pay and the testing used to measure it by pointing to the Rhee regime in DC and how it lead to a cheating scandal that was covered up (as even a former Rhee fan Jay Matthews points to).

See my last post earlier in the day: Biased CNN's Randi Kaye Does Not Deserve Merit Pay

And Diane Ravitch's follow-up post today: What Readers Said About CNN and Randi Kaye

I went to CNN assuming I was invited to express my differences with Rhee, who gets far more airtime than I to present her agenda of attacking US education, smearing teachers, calling for an end to tenure and seniority, and demanding merit pay, charter schools, vouchers, for-profit charter schools, for-profit virtual schools, and more testing.
But there was no discussion of my views, no opportunity to present them. Instead I faced a series of loaded questions intended to put me on the defensive (some of the worst were left out of the televised version). They were “gotcha” questions. What do you say to this? And what about that?

Last year at Education Nation, another biased reporter, Raheema Ellis, had Rhee on a panel with a former Atlanta school board member but only talked about the Atlanta cheating scandal. I got to the mic and asked Ellis why she was letting Rhee off the hook.

Rhee almost choked. One of the fun moments although all too brief.

Biased CNN's Randi Kaye Does Not Deserve Merit Pay

[Randi Kaye's) question was nonsensical and made CNN look stupid. Journalists have an audience in millions. That's why US public is so misinformed. Shame on CNN. There was no effort to elicit my views, only a determination to prove me wrong and to assert that US education is terrible.
... Diane Ravitch on her appearance on the CNN Interview: What They Dropped Out

... who needs to read about lack of homework preceding interview.- Tweet from Arthur Goldstein regarding @RandiKaye interview.

Compare how Randi Kaye questioned Diane Ravitch (I can't find the video yet) with her gentle interview where she allowed a grotesque-looking Michelle Rhee to bloviate.

Perdido Street School posted this before the interview but he was totally right:

 CNN Does "Gotcha" Interview With Ravitch After Softball Interview With Michelle Rhee (UPDATED)

Diane Ravitch posts the following:

I taped the interview a few minutes ago.

It airs tomorrow at 9-10 am EST.

It was a gotcha session.

This is the letter I sent to my contact at CNN.

This was one of the most biased interviews I have ever done, and I have done many.
Randi Kaye asked me about NAEP scale scores, which was technically a very dumb question, and I was stunned.
She thinks that a scale score of 250 on a 500 point scale is a failing grade, but a scale score is not a grade at all.
It’s a trend line.
She asserted that the scale scores are a failing grade for the nation.
That is like saying that someone who scores a 600 on the SAT is a C student, because it is only 75% of 800. But that’s wrong.
The scale is a technical measure. It is not a grade, period.
Then she asked me about an issue in Michigan, which fortunately, I had written about. But it was clear she was trying to blindside me.
The point of her question was to blame teachers, and I refused to be pushed into her trap.
Then she read two hostile comments about my CNN post and asked for my response.
Was that supposed to be a balanced or fair interview?
There was no effort to elicit my views, only a determination to prove me wrong and to assert that US education is terrible.
Shame on CNN.

I have already called and expressed my disgust that CNN did a hit piece on Ravitch after doing a softball interview with Rhee.

I also noted that since CNN's ratings are in the toilet and nobody really watches the channel anymore, if Ms. Ravitch goes on another news network and responds to the CNN attack, more people will hear and see her anyway.

You can leave feedback about Randi Kaye, the CNN "journalist" who conducted the attack interview here:

http://www.cnn.com/feedback/#cnn_FBKCNNTV

You can call and leave feedback here about the interview verbally here: 404.827.1500 option 1. That's the "News Tip" line, but they'll transfer you.

Shame on CNN indeed.

Some tweets after the interview:

Arthur Goldstein ‏@TeacherArthurG

At @CNN, since they know nothing about merit pay, they let Rhee blather on about it, and are shocked when @DianeRavitch calls them on it.

1h Diane Ravitch ‏@DianeRavitch

@TeacherArthurG @CNN Share your comments with @randikaye

53m Arthur Goldstein ‏@TeacherArthurG

@DianeRavitch Over at @CNN, @RandiKaye is shocked and stunned that an electronics industry lobbying group supports outsourcing.