Hot Stuff for Today

I'm off to the city to do a video shoot for this Manhattan Neighborhood Network TV show - Active Aging - that I work on. An artist in the Village. What else is new? I need to take a shower first- still feel dirty after seeing a great performance by Mark Rylance in Jerusalem last night - but 3 hours of watching people who are basically despicable? My wife is trying to find the meaning behind it. I don't really care that much. Worst part of the evening? The long line at Junior's at 10pm. I had spent the entire 3 hours dreaming of that cheese cake.


Diane Ravitch nails 'em again in this op ed in the NY Times:

OPINION   | June 01, 2011 Op-Ed Contributor:  Waiting for a School Miracle  By DIANE RAVITCH Be skeptical of stories of rapid educational transformation. Also check out this video recommended by Diane: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=55fhCi2dBag ------------ Michael Paul Goldenberg illustrates the Ravitch piece Please read the latest post at Rational Mathematics Education: An Open Letter to US Secretary of Education Arne Duncan "According to news reports, press releases, and other records, from 2003 through late 2006 you lent your support to Spizzirri's organization in various ways, including appearing as an animated cartoon character on SALF's website. Subsequently, a November 2006 ABC7 I-Team story reported that SALF and Spizzirri engaged in a variety of serious misrepresentations. In that broadcast, you yourself raise doubts about SALF's claims. Since then, the organization has been the subject of dozens more media exposes including an October 11, 2010 article in The Hill reporting that SALF was under investigation by the Illinois Attorney General's Charitable Trust Bureau. An investigation by the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention also appears to be underway. MORE at http://rationalmathed.blogspot.com/2011/06/open-letter-to-us-secretary-of.html ---------------- Here is Susan Ohanian's daily digest for today, stuff that will keep you busy: I know you'll want to see the two cartoons. One of them is related to Gus Garcia-Roberts' experience with a Florida diploma mill. This will be a classic: http://susanohanian.org/show_nclb_cartoons.php?id=697 And the other one is laugh-out loud funny: http://susanohanian.org/show_nclb_cartoons.php?id=696 What a relief to find something funny in these days of constant outrage and horror that pose as public education. Susan \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ To the editor Stephen Krashen New York Daily News 2011-05-30 http://susanohanian.org/show_letter.php?id=1360 This letter is a wowser!! \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  I Cheated My Way Through High School Last Week  Gus Garcia-Roberts Miami New Times 2011-05-31 http://susanohanian.org/outrage_fetch.php?id=959 How is it that a student attending a legitimate high school for four years cannot get a diploma without passing the FCAT but this for-profit outfit can hand over a diploma with the only requirement being payment of $399? Take a look at exams that qualified him for the diploma. \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ Standards Supports for Teachers Eyed Stephen Sawchuk Education Week blog 2011-05-27 http://susanohanian.org/outrage_fetch.php?id=958  Another Gates-funded standards delivery system. \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ Avoiding the Poverty Issue Paul Thomas New York Times Online Room For Debate 2011-05-30 http://susanohanian.org/outrage_fetch.php?id=957 New York Times online forum Room for Debate asked the question  What do we know about using student achievement tests to judge teacher performance? Paul Thomas was the only respondent who addressed the real issue.

Keeping UP With the Susans (Ohanian)

I know, we are call overwhelmed with incoming info and I can't post it fast enough. And I'm sure in this holiday with people busy and travelling a lot of these posts will go by the wayside. But I am trying to space these at least a couple of hours apart.


Susan Ohanian produces such quality summaries almost every day, we just can't stop reading. In fact you almost don't have to read the entire article she links too. Her comments are so right on. Here is a selection from her last post but you can get the links to all of it at Norms Notes.

By the way, as you read you will be reminded of how deep this attack on public ed, teachers and the unions go while the only institution that could provide any sort of defense - in our case the UFT/AFT - lies helpless, wiggling on the fence. The only defense is to capture the union. The main focus of organizing our fellow teachers must first be to give them the kind of info Susan and others are providing to try to get the rank and file move to action - remember the mantra of this blog is: EDUCATE, ORGANIZE, MOBILIZE! 


The UFT will continue to miseducate and obfuscate the issues so we have to do it ourselves. That was the idea behind the founding of Education Notes in 1996. It gave me a way to communicate with the people who attended the DA even when so many were Unity. But I made enough contacts with others there to help create ICE in time for the 2004 elections after the New Action sellout to Randi (perhaps her most brilliant move) and we then helped create GEM in 2009, which is not a caucus but an organization geared toward defending public education. I've seen the base expand but is is a slow and sometimes painful process. Still, we are all reaching such a limited audience and need a broader base, which can only be provided if we can activate more people - even if just to pass on the info.


Read John Powers' missive giving you some blueprints for action in the post below this. Create your own list of contacts in your school and beyond. Pick the stuff that appeals to you and send it out. Even once a week. Here's the link to John's comprehensive list of ideas:  What Can You Do To Counter the Unity Spin? Suggestions from John Powers


First, a couple of cartoons:

The Attack on  American Education
Robert Reich, with  info from Death of the Liberal
Wall Street Pit
2010-12-22

A must read.

Ohanian Comment: Putting these cuts to education in context, in Death of the Liberal Class, Chris Hedges points out that US military spending consumes half of all discretionary spending. And the corporations that profit from permanent war need us to be afraid. Fear keeps us penned in like livestock.

The collapse of liberalism, whether in imperial Russia, the Austro-Hungarian Empire, Weimar Germany, the former Yugoslavia, or the US, was intimately tied to the rise of a culture of permanent war.

The US spends $4 billion a month in Afghanistan, where there are 1.5 corporate employees for every member of the military.

The education agenda is a war agenda.
Logic and facts won't stop big money. We need a revolution.

Reader Comment: From the article: We should experiment with vouchers whose worth is inversely related to family income.

Yeah, just what I need from people with zero background in education: more experiments on my kids.
 
http://susanohanian.org/outrage_fetch.php?id=826


Funds misuse, nepotism feared at Texas charter schools

Ohanian Comment: There's gold in those charter hills in Texas.
I like this justification for charter school nepotism: "relatives bring a unique passion." I wonder how many of the public realize that these are their taxpayer dollars. Here's what deregulation brings:

Sherwin Allen's family, including two brothers, his wife and their two children, earned nearly $700,000 last year working for Children First Academy campuses in Dallas and Houston, according to Texas Education Agency records. The campuses enrolled a total of 750 students.

I repeat: These are taxpayer dollars. 
http://susanohanian.org/show_atrocities.php?id=9573


Rick Scott's School Plan for Scoundrels
Stephanie Mencimer
Mother Jones
2010-12-20

Conservatives have been plotting for years to blow up the public school system. Now, Florida's incoming governor Rick Scott is poised to light the fuse.

The Florida governor-elect's proposal to overhaul the state education system is a fraudster's dream.

Reader Comment: If Jeb Bush carpet-bagged his way to fame and fortune raping the fortunes of the state of Florida and insuring his brother was crowned President of the United States while destroying what was at one time the most progressive public school system in the south: well, wait. This is Jeb Bush on steroids.

Yes, Rick Scott is a criminal ... he is already talking about what he is going to do with Medicare and Medicaid (means testing) and reducing reimbursement rates while concurrently the state is opening up a for-profit medical school (yes, in six short weeks you too can be a teacher, preacher ...) ...
Rick Scott is a dangerous man, having him as Gov. will destroy what is left of our beautiful home, a tropical paradise now lost. . . .  

http://susanohanian.org/show_atrocities.php?id=9572 

Calls to action for teachers -

There are increasing calls for to take action. The overwhelming majority of teachers have been missing in action as the assault continues with the Cathie Black appointment. What will it take? Maybe experiencing Cathie Black's upcoming assault on teacher seniority. Do you think Black and Bloom have any intention of laying off teachers based on last in? Watch the assault with Cuomo as their ally arguing that by they can get twice as many teachers by getting rid of teachers who make more money - especially ATRs. Some think the union will hold the line. Do you? What if B&B ignore all the rules and dare the UFT to do something about it? Would the UFT strike? You  know they won't. So it's off to court while thousands wait without pay checks. Outside the realm of possibility?

Think about it and Heed these calls:

Susan Ohanian speech to NCTE convention, Nov. 20, 2010

I read Susan's speech last night, soon after hearing of the sham going down with Shael and Cathie.

Susan Ohanian is one of the earliest handful of people who battled the ed deformers when they were still in diapers in the 90's. (Go to her website and subscribe to her daily posts and also buy every book she ever wrote.)

Here is her speech to the National Council of Teachers of English, an org that Susan has been critical of for cowtowing to the ed deformers.

Teachers - heed this call to action. As you see every day, the UFT/AFT is in bed with the deformers.
I know the fear out there but think of joining The Resistance within and without the UFT. Also read Arjun's poem below. There's a similar theme when he says:

But truth be told, it's all of us,
Together, who're to blame.

Excerpts from Susan's speech:

In Homegrown Democrat, Garrison Keillor warns, "When you wage war on the public schools, you're attacking the mortar that holds the community together. You're not a conservative, you're a vandal."
-------
Teachers, You Need to Know This

Contempt for teachers
Is deliberate, cerebral, planned, purposeful--
Part of education in the Global Economy.
--Susan Ohanian, When Childhood Collides with NCLB

As Richard Allington observed in Big Brother and the National Reading Curriculum, "What seems to be under way is an attempt to portray teaching as a blue-collar job: No special skills are needed. Heck, even intellectual capacity doesn't really matter! Teacher education is portrayed as unnecessary--and even damaging."
---------
Bill Gates and Arne Duncan & Barack Obama and the Business Roundtable are systematically destroying the profession of teaching, and our professional organization must help us stand up for who we are.

Duncan and Gates are wrong: The 'best and the brightest' are not the people we need in our schools: We need the savvy, rock steady, dependable, loving, forgiving people who have an enormous capacity for wait time and the psychological equilibrium to be able to enter the classroom every day not holding a grudge for what happened the day before.

Lest you doubt the triage metaphor, consider Vicki Phillips' recent remarks to the National PTA. Phillips is the Education Director for the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.

So we know master's degrees have almost no value.
We know certifications don't make a difference.
We know that after three years, seniority doesn’t really matter . . . After year three, teachers usually don't get significantly better or worse.

Consider how Secretary of Education Arne Duncan's remarks echo those of the Gates Foundation officer.

Here's the entire must read speech which was  posted at:  

http://susanohanian.org/show_commentary.php?id=865

Chris Hedge's article on Truthdig (thanks to Karen for the tip)
=-=-=-=-=-=-=
Power and the Tiny Acts of Rebellion
There is no hope left for achieving significant reform or restoring our democracy through established mechanisms of power. We must take to the streets, armed with the tiny acts of truth and kindness that throughout history have exposed the oppressor’s cruelty.
http://www.truthdig.com/report/item/power_and_the_tiny_acts_of_rebellion_20101122/



South Bronx School has an idea (see my comment):
How To Beat Unity And The UFT

Another great poem from Arjun Sanah and his commentary:

Even though his own board voted against granting Cathie Black the waiver (needed for her lack of any education credentials -- not to speak of teaching experience) and against Steiner's suggested face-saving compromise, NY State Education Commissioner David Steiner has caved in, from our viewpoint, and agreed, as expected, to that compromise.

Knowing Bloomberg, this will be a farcical whitewash. All the power will reside in Ms.Black's and ultimately Bloomberg's hands.

But that is what the union agreed to when it backed myoral control.

Now, if the system crashes even further, or is purposely dismembered, as has been taking place, we can blame the mayor. But where does that leave the teachers and their students? And you know that the dismemberment will be portrayed as a heroic success, by almost all the politicians and media (from Obama to John Boehner at the national level, and from the Times to the Post locally).

Why would a union (and its members) participate actively in union busting? What is the rationale? I'm sure they have one. But it's beyond simple folks like me.

Ultimately, we, the teachers, are responsible for this. We spoke with our votes at each step.

The carrot and the stick succeeded.  And it will again.

Forever on the defensive. Forever facilitating the obscene by invoking fear of even greater obscenities.

"Be thankful it wasn't Rhee. And look, we won. Bloomberg backed down. Now she knows she will have to work with us."

Let's pray that sense will ultimately prevail. But one is less and less hopeful.

So was my own country of birth conquered and colonized, by wave after wave of invaders, from the Arya to the Afghans and Turko-Mongols to the British, even as most of our great landlord-kings (the Rajahs and Maharajahs and later the Nawabs and Sultans) collaborated. 

How Many Feel the Shame?

Alas, our Steiner's true to form,
He'd rather bend than stand.
Our union will follow suit.
What's hard to understand?

When teachers and all workers see
That they must act together,
Only then, will they break free
From whip and binding tether.

But if they only fear the whip
And run towards the carrot
That's dangled just in front of them,
They too, must orders parrot.

So if they're told to teach, within
A term, what should take three,
They'll grumble, but they'll follow suit,
And expert speedsters be.

And if the kids must sit in groups
And gab, in grade eleven,
Then that is what they'll have them do,
And make believe it's heaven.

And if our Cosmo Cathie tells
Our women what to wear,
That outfits must be sexy, smart,
They'll hardly shed a tear.

And if she says to men, "You must
Wear shorts and matching tie!"
Then those resisting will be told,
"Why must you question why?"

And even if we're ordered to
Dance naked, spouting verse,
We'll do as told. Our union heads
Will hint at orders worse!

The nations that were colonized
Had hierarchies in place,
And all the newest rulers did
Was grab the highest place.

Violence and fear were used,
As they had always been.
Each rung below was used to it,
And workers toiled unseen.

Some use the whip, while others use
The carrot (color, green).
But both have equal ends in mind:
Your slavery, obscene.

The revolutions come and go,
And yet, all stays the same.
And there are those who think that's fit,
While others feel the shame.

This day is called "Black Friday"
By the merchants. That's because
The ones who're in the red can use
This day for profit's cause.

But we will call it this because,
We've got, today, Ms. Black,
Because of David Steiner, weak,
Who's made this Friday black.

So those who still may persevere,
In struggle will recall
In years to come, this day of shame,
And Steiner, "scoundrel" call.

But truth be told, it's all of us,
Together, who're to blame.
Some work so hard, for long decades,
And never douse the flame.

But few can see, that work alone
Can never do the job.
Together, we must set things right,
Or yield to waiting mob.

Arjun Janah
2010 November 26th, Friday.
Brooklyn

Today's Hot Links: Doofus Duncan and John Merrow too

August 25, 2010
 
There is so much valuable info coming in. Check Gotham's Rise and Shine, but they can't do it all.

From Susan Ohanian's daily posts. Yes, she does this every day. And her comments to go with the articles are spot on.

So many great links, so little time. I highlighted the ones I am most interested in. Doofus Duncan, the NY Mag article on testing and the Seattle parents on Gates. 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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Can Our Schools Run on Duncan?
David Moberg
In These Times
2010-08-23
http://susanohanian.org/show_nclb_atrocities.php?id=4029

This article gives a good rundown on how Secretary of Education Arne Duncan 
pushes Chicago's ineffective reforms on America's children.

Wishful Testing

New York Magazine
2010-08-20
http://susanohanian.org/show_nclb_atrocities.php?id=4031

New York Magazine takes a look at Mayor Bloomberg's school reform.

 
The Lines of Influence in Education Reform
Dora Taylor
Seatle Education 2010
2010-08-23
http://susanohanian.org/show_atrocities.php?id=9450

A Seattle parent connects some dots on Gates money.

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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

MORE if you have time

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Carvers Bay enlists ninth grade: Freshmen all put in JROTC
By Gina Vasselli
The SunNews.com
2010-08-23
http://susanohanian.org/show_atrocities.php?id=9449

The entire freshman class at Carvers Bay High School has been automatically 
enrolled in the Junior Reserve Officers Training Corps, a military-sponsored 
program that trains high school students in military discipline and concepts.

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To the editor
Don Perl
Washington Post
2010-08-24
http://susanohanian.org/show_letter.php?id=1252

Don Perl rebuts Podesta's dangerous rhetoric.

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Personal to the Los Angeles Teachers Union
Sam Smith
Undernews
2010-08-23
http://susanohanian.org/outrage_fetch.php?id=738


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Uniting 4 Kids
Uniting 4 Kids
Facebook
0000-00-00
http://susanohanian.org/show_yahoo.php?id=575

Take a look at Uniting 4 Kids.


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What some teachers don't want you to learn
John Diaz
San Francisco Chronicle
2010-08-22
http://susanohanian.org/show_nclb_atrocities.php?id=4030

The editorial page editor of the San Francisco Chronicle gives an enthusiastic 
thumbs up to the Los Angeles Times. He invites reader comments.

After Burn

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/

 

John Merrow - Only an Idiot...

May 12, 2008

...would overlook Merrow's one-sided coverage of education on the News Hour With Jim Lehrer. (What other news are they doing one-sided reporting on?) A supposed non-commercial station, which always pleads for money because they claim to ...

http://ednotesonline.blogspot.com/

 

John Merrow, NCLB - and Randi Too

Aug 11, 2008

I post a few snippets from this discussion on NCLB, narrated by pbs's John Merrow, Education Correspondent for The newshour with Jim Lehrer and President of Learning Matters Incorporated, as a warning. Should you wish to inflict more ...

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? ...

Ohanian Comment Triggers Memories

Susan Ohanian, one of the leading progressive educators in the nation, kindly mentioned me in a recent post on the trip we all took to The Woo in Birmingham, Al in an introduction to this post:

Another Comment on Believe Charter

In March 2003, about 30 people traveled to Birmingham, Alabama to pay tribute to Steve Orel and The World of Opportunity (The WOO), giving the WOO The Courage in Education award. That's where I met Norm Scott, who made a number of trips to The WOO, taking needed supplies. Those of us who traveled to The WOO formed bonds that will never break.

Susan is so right about bonds being formed amongst people meeting for the first and in some cases only time (the only time I met her). I can never stop thanking John Lawhead for taking me down there. Face to face still works in building relationships, though the web certainly helps you keep in touch.

Just think of it - Steve Orel, Susan Ohanian, Bill and Joanne Cala, Juanita Doyon, Kathy Emory and too many others to name were there. Bill Cala, who should be state ed commissioner, and I are still in touch. I remember we just found so much to laugh about and had a lot of fun thinking about running a make believe campaign against the former awful State Ed Comm Richard (Dickie Boy) Allen. (Actually, on a subsequent visit to NYC Bill asked me to attend a meeting where I met Ann Cook from Urban Academy and Time Out From Testing's Jane Hirschman for the first time.)

Bill ran the Fairport schools for many years before retiring and then was asked to run the Rochester schools briefly before they hired Kleinite John Claude Brizzard, sort of like going from Cinderella to Godzilla. Bill is one of the leaders of the fight to keep Mayor Duffy, now Cuomo's choice for Lt Gov, from taking over the schools.

Susan's post gives me an excuse to talk a bit about Steve Orel, who is one of the great heroes of education. We made one trip down with supplies and got to see Steve when he was still hanging in and still running The Woo - saw him once more when he visited NY for medical care. I actually get ill at times just thinking about him not being with us. And I only met him 3 times. I captured just a flavor of Steve in my Wave column:

I recently revisited the WOO when I hitched a ride with friends driving down south. We were on the highway following our sketchy Mapquest directions to the WOO, which is in a remote high poverty area on the edge of Birmingham across the street from a housing project (with buildings no more than two stories tall) when a van cut in front of us and the driver started gesturing to follow.

Not sure if this was a carjacking or someone with a barbecue restaurant looking for business (we had been doing our share of damage to our cholesterol counts), we hesitated until out popped a yellow piece of paper that said "The WOO" on it. The driver was Steve Orel who just happened to come across our van. "You think I couldn't recognize three Jews from New York?" Steve told us later. Steve is Jewish and a civil rights activist - which must go over real big in Birmingham -- he has had his house shot at.

Steve paid me one of the greatest compliments I had as a teacher. I was working with a student doing one on one tutoring for about 2 hours when we were at The Woo. Steve was rushing around all over the place and I never thought he noticed me. The next day he told me he could tell what kind of teacher I was by the way I interacted with the student - who was a 24 year old high school dropout. "You never saw me with an entire class," I told him. "One on one I easy." "I can tell," he said. Steve understood what teaching was all about - a relationship between student and teacher. He made me think of that angle in judging teachers. Not the outcome only crap they are throwing at people.

Of course, Steve's immense sense of humor was always there. I wish I had a video of Steve telling stories of Steve the Jew at southern revival meetings with his wife's family. My side hurts just thinking about how hard I laughed.

I am reminded of Steve because The Woo suffered greatly with his death but is still functioning.

Contributions would be welcome. Here is an email sent out by his wife Glenda Jo.

Dear WOO Friends:

It has been far too long since you have heard from the World of Opportunity, but we now have to turn to our friends to help sustain us. There have been many changes at the WOO in the last few years following the untimely death of our founder and guiding spirit, Steve Orel. Over the last few years, the students who come to see us are younger and younger and, today, we are seeing 15-year-olds pushed out of high school and referred by their schools to us. We have just learned that other agencies that get these referrals are paid for each student they receive, but we have never received such an offer, although we are now regularly receive funds from the City of Birmingham. We have moved to a new location and, even without a listed phone number, we are seeing dozens of new students monthly. We keep a constant number of 15 students in our Patient Care Assistant (PCA) program and we have over thirty names on the waiting list. Almost everyone who has completed our Patient Care Assistant (PCA) program has found employment.

In short, the WOO has been remarkably successful in its mission. Unfortunately (and you knew this was coming), we have been less successful in getting money for our work, which is why we are writing you. We have been working virtually without pay for months and, while we have grant proposals in the works, we cannot sustain ourselves without immediate funding. The good new is that we have a new web site at www.worldofopportunitywoo.com and the even better news is that if you go to it, you can donate directly to us through PayPal. If all of you on our email list donate as little as $10.00, and as much as you can, and forward this appeal to your friends who believe in education, we will be able to continue our work until our other funding requests come through. Regardless, the WOO has always sustained itself through the generosity of hundreds of our supporters across the country. Because of the crush of the work, we have neglected our friends and for that we apologize. We hope you will forgive us. If you do, we will not make that mistake again.

I thank you and, even more importantly, our wonderful students thank you for the keeping their world of opportunity open to them.

David Gespass on behalf of the WOO Board

Ohanian Does Tennyson, Schmidt Does Ravitch

In the middle of the night I got a poetic inspiration: Tennyson's Charge of the Light Brigade." I scribbled it on a scrap of paper in the dark. And this morning I wrote a parody for our times. Some lines do not change:

Theirs not to make reply,
Theirs not to reason why,
Theirs but to do and die.
http://susanohanian.org/outrage_fetch.php?id=667

Maybe I should have stopped there, but I decided to read the Appendix for the Delaware RTTT grant submission. This has just about done me in. I mean this quite literally. In the middle of writing this I went to the doctor for asthma relief. I could not breathe. Turns out I have bronchitis too.

I hope you'll read the Commentary. Delaware is being rewarded for a horrifying plan. And considering April 15 is near, we should all stop and think about the fact that they are doing it with OUR TAX DOLLARS.
http://susanohanian.org/show_commentaries.php?id=794

Miracle of modern medicine: I'm already better. No thanks to Delaware.
Susan


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Broad Alumni Making It Big in Corporate Takeover of American Education
Jim Horn
Schools Matter
2010-04-04
http://susanohanian.org/show_atrocities.php?id=9266

It is critical that people who care about public schools, people who know the importance of public schools, see the links here. What is happening in large urban districts today has been carefully orchestrated by vulture philanthropists. Here's the tip of the proverbial iceberg.

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Race to the Top: Delaware's Application for Initial Funding
Susan Ohanian

2010-04-05
http://susanohanian.org/show_commentary.php?id=794

Whew. Ohanian takes you through Appendix A of the Delaware application. Appendix a goes from Appendix A-1 to A-123. And then there are Appendices B through F.

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MORE THAN A BOOK REVIEW NEEDED: A closer look at Diane Ravitch's book 'The Death
and Life of the Great American School System'
George N. Schmidt

2010-04-04
http://susanohanian.org/show_commentary.php?id=792

In his review of the Ravitch book, George Schmidt acknowledges that it's an important book but also insists that we not forget history.

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To the editor
Alan Ettman
New York Times
0000-00-00
http://susanohanian.org/show_letter.php?id=1195

This letter breaks the myth that The Times never prints criticism of editorials. In this fine letter a teacher effectively shows the odds facing a high school teacher for influencing students.

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To the editor
Jane Watson
Time Magazine
2010-04-01
http://susanohanian.org/show_letter.php?id=1194

Jane Watson notes the lack of transparency, something that letter writers should continue to note, as they point out that Race to the Top is even worse than NCLB.

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To the editor
Stephen Krashen
Newsweek
2010-04-03
http://susanohanian.org/show_letter.php?id=1193

We must follow Stephen Krashen's lead in describing the Obama plan as radical.

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The Charge of the Obama/Duncan Plan
Susan Ohanian
with some apologies to Alfred, Lord Tennyson
2010-04-05
http://susanohanian.org/outrage_fetch.php?id=667



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Mass Closures of Public Schools, Promotion of Charters Raise Fears of Privatized
Detroit Education System
Amy Goodman and Nate Walker
Democracy Now!
2010-04-03
http://susanohanian.org/outrage_fetch.php?id=666



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States Skeptical About ‘Race to Top’ School Aid Contest
Sam Dillon
New York Times
2010-04-05
http://susanohanian.org/show_nclb_atrocities.php?id=3942

Governors of states not receiving Race to the Top funds in the first round whine. Some claim to be reconsidering joining the second round. None admit the error of their ways. Ohanian comments on the way quoted people are identified.

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Why Obama's education reform plan can't work
Jim Horn
Washington Post: The Answer Sheet
2010-04-04
http://susanohanian.org/show_nclb_atrocities.php?id=3941

In a letter to President Obama, Jim Horn points out that teachers will work no harder when their tenure or their salary depends upon their students' test scores, but the kind of work they do, if such plans are adopted, will not resemble the work of the attentive gardener tending these tender tendrils of humanity that constitute our future.
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Order the CD of the resistance:
"No Child Left Behind? Bring Back the Joy."
To order online (and hear samples from the songs)
http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/dhbdrake4
Other orders: Send $15 to
Susan Ohanian
P. O. Box 26
Charlotte, VT 05445

Satire, collated by Susan Ohanian

From the Eggplant:

U.S. Department of Education Orders Confiscation of All Teacher Plan Books

WASHINGTON, D. C.-In an effort to address both the waste and the lack of uniformity exhibited by public school teachers' use of individualized plan books, the U. S. Department of Education announced today a new policy prohibiting all teachers from access to individual plan books, a plan taking effect on January 15, 2010.

"After watching the messy, haphazard use of these planbooks when teachers are entrusted with autonomy, we can see that it is time to exercise a little Federal oversight," said Undersecretary for Planning, Evaluation, and Policy Development Sallie Songster.

"Unlimited access to planbooks is not scientific," Songster continued. "It's unpredictible and unverifiable. To compete in the global economy, we have to be assured that every teacher is following the Common Core Standards in a timely and uniform manner." MORE

Over the Top: Winning Strategies for the Race to the Top Fund
by Yong Zhao

Susan comments:

'November 16, 2009, from Yong Zhao blog Michigan State. Suggestion #1 is a brilliant take on what's happening, almost too close to Arne's dream to be a parody. Go to the site and read the comments, too.

I have been reading through the 775-page final notice document to be published in the Federal Register on November 18, 2009. It includes the final versions of application guidelines, selection criteria and priorities for the $4.35 billion Race to the Top Fund (RTT), the largest education grant in U.S. history.

I can guess from news reports, op-ed pieces, and blog posts that many states are working hard to prepare their applications. From my reading of the criteria, I think the following are the winning strategies and actions to include in the application, although they may be inconsistent with research findings or common sense.

Suggestion #1:

Stop paying teachers and principals a salary. Instead pay teachers and principals on a per standardized test point basis each day. At the end of each school day, students should be tested using a standardized test, what a teacher and principal is paid is calculated at the end of the day based on the growth of the student, i.e., how much has the student improved over the previous day. This is true accountability and will for sure keep teachers and principals on their toes!

MORE

More on Moo-Moo Here

Thanks to Susan Ohanian for mentioning our spoof of the NY Times article about a class trip taken by Harlem Success as a way to do test prep. She sent me a nice note that she was rolling with laughter. Unfortunately, an hour later she sent a note that Gerald Bracey had died and she didn't post her daily list that evening. So, I just came across the full range of her wonderful comments on the article in the Times titled, A Moo-Moo Here, and Better Test Scores Later, which she includes on her web site at the end of her comments.


Ohanian Comment: I made a 'regular' comment on this nutty news item [see below] but now the penultimate comment has just appeared over at Ed Notes. I wish I'd thought of this, I wish I'd thought of this, I wish I'd thought of this. Test Questions on Outer Space Lead Eva Moskowitz to Book Space Shuttle for Harlem Success Field Study.

Eons ago, I was a teacher in a special federal program, given the mandate of helping urban kids do better in school. In those days, if a school got a federal grant, teachers made the decisions on implementation. I know, I know: Some people are smarter than others. But I didn't hear of any systematic abuse of children, which is so pervasive in schools now that I can't keep up with it.

One thing we did was take a busload of kids from upstate New York to the Barnum & Bailey Circus in New York City. It wasn't a matter of thinking "clowns: or "elephants" might appear on the standardized test kids took in the Spring. It was a matter of expanding children's horizons, helping them see beyond their insolated and isolated neighborhoods.

Hell, when I taught in Queens, New York City, I used Federal dollars to take two busloads of students to the Cloisters, also in New York City: expanding children's horizons, helping them see beyond their insolated and isolated neighborhoods.

Back with the circus trip: I've never forgotten one 5th grader asking, "Do they have different money in New York City?"

Unlike the five-year-old in the story below who thought he was visiting the farm so he could "get smarter on tests," our students looked forward to a good time for the sake of a good time. Only we teachers looked to the possibility of some deeper, longterm benefit. Unlike the folk at the Harlem Success Academy, we didn't have "a relentless emphasis on data," but we did believe that children should have many opportunities to explore the world--in books and in field trips."

Imagine reading stories of King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table so children will "glide through questions" on this topic.

For Eva S. Moskowitz, even a visit to a farm has to be "rigorous." And when children are required to come up with an "I didn't know" statement, they'll tell you they didn't know chickens made eggs. . . right on schedule.

In my analysis of the NAEP items for fourth grade I found that topics include an American female astronaut on Mir, crab hunting, wombats, and life in the American Colonies. Two items, a West African tale and a pourquoi story from William Bennett's edited collection The Moral Compassare in the folklore genre. There are two stories about rural children and their dogs. Field "study: possibilities are staggering.

Take a look at the spot-on comments of a teacher who quotes a great observation a New York City principal left in the "comments" section of the article.

Klonsky and Meier on Arne Duncan

From Susan Ohanian

Obama’s Choice for Education Secretary, Arne Duncan, Seen as Compromise Between Divided Strands

by Mike Klonsky and Deborah Meier

Democracy Now
2008-12-18

http://susanohanian.org/show_atrocities.php?id=8375

Susan says:
There is a lot of game-playing and positioning in this discussion. Is Mike Klonsky keeping his options open, or what? Duncan as a "centrist" candidate when he says?

I think Arne Duncan has the potential to be a good Secretary of Education, and I
think he has some real positives going for him.

Read Henry Giroux and Kenneth Saltman on Duncan's corporate brand of schooling and Obama's betrayal of public schools.


After reading Susan's comments I took a good look at what Deb Meier said. Read it all but here are just a few words and though I think she is being careful, she makes some important points:

So, first of all, I think we’re—it’s not two sides. It’s sort of a—it’s different views about the purpose of education, and there are different views about how human beings learn well. And I think there’s a very predominant view right now that gets—has been called by the name of reform and that has nothing to do with red and blue. It’s a kind of market view of education, though. And I
think there are a lot of people on the red side who are more close to my views and a lot of people of the blue side who are more close to Arne Duncan’s views. And that part does worry me, maybe even more than it does Klonsky, my friend Mike Klonsky, because it’s—I think we need a different discussion about what the point of education is.

[O]nce you’ve posed the issue as being union lackeys or reformers—and the Washington Post, the New York Times, the Los Angeles Times, a variety of magazines, as you mentioned earlier, have said there are two sides: unions lackeys, people who want to—who are worrying—you know, who are dependent upon the union, and on the other side are real reformers. I think it made it hard for the union to speak for its own membership on this question. And the history of reform has almost nothing to do—I shouldn’t say that. There has always been a struggle between these two wings in reform. But they have posed me as an anti-reformer, as though there are—since I’m not for market-style reforms, this testing mania, this narrow focus on prepping kids for a small selection of skills, that makes me a dupe of the union and an anti-reformer and someone who doesn’t care for the future of the economy or democracy. I think it’s been posed that way for so many years now.

Since I'm still cavorting in Mexico and having trouble with keyboards, getting online and the impact of a constant influx of mohitos and margaritas, here are some nice links from Susan Ohanian. And Antonucci at Intercepts makes sure to focus on the anti-Duncan positions of the left with this headline: Commies Don’t Like Duncan

Gee, next Mike will be telling us to hide under school desks because of the Soviet threat.

Susan says:

Much of the news items concern Arne Duncan.
Read them all because each offers a somewhat different perspective.

If you can read only one, then Henry A. Giroux and Kenneth Saltman's piece is not to be missed. http://susanohanian.org/show_commentaries.html?id=640



Gary Stager's Huffington Post piece. "Obama Practices Social Promotion"

http://susanohanian.org/show_atrocities.html?id=8370



No School Left Unsold: Arne Duncan's Privatization Agenda

Jesse Sharkey 2008-12-18

http://susanohanian.org/show_atrocities.php?id=8374

A Chicago teacher continues to speak out about Arne Duncan.



17,000 kids have no school library
Meredith Koloner, New York Daily News2008-12-11

http://susanohanian.org/show_atrocities.php?id=8373

Ohanian suggests that we call on our professional organizations to redress this grievance.


Controversy brews over move of Richard R. Green High School from Upper East Side to Harlem

Joe Kemp and Merdith Kolodner, New York Daily News, 2008-12-18

http://susanohanian.org/show_atrocities.php?id=8372

Charge of racism surfaced over a plan to move a mostly minority Upper East Side high school to Harlem to make way for the children of wealthy white local residents.

John Merrow, NCLB - and Randi Too

Last week we posted on the clear bias of John Merrow who chaired a loaded on line conference on NCLB which included few if any people who taught for more than 10 minutes.

But AFT/UFT President Randi Weingarten was on the panel to defend teacher interests - ha, ha, ha - see one of her quotes below.

Susan Ohanian in her daily Outrages put up quotes from some of the participants.

________________________
Ohanian Comment:
I post a few snippets from this discussion on NCLB, narrated by PBS's John Merrow, Education Correspondent for The NewsHour with Jim Lehrer and President of Learning Matters Incorporated, as a warning. Should you wish to inflict more damage on your psyche, the url for the complete discussion is below.
http://newtalk.org/2008/08/do-we-need-a-basic-rewrite-of.php

Note how Merrow sets the tone: Any talk of abandoning No Child Left Behind is foolish. . . . So nobody who advocates ending NCLB is invited to the table. No grassroots activist was invited. "Activists" by definition in this atmosphere have ties to places like the Manhattan Institute, Hoover Institution, and the American Enterprise Institute. As I’ve been pointing out incessantly, those who come close to saying "dump NCLB" do so only as part of their strident calls for national standards and a national test.

But don't miss these [Merrow] gems:

NCLB as the vehicle for "beaming sunshine" down on public schools.

We as a nation have no aversion to national standards; we set them for everything from food to cars to toys. Why not national standards for all students in reading and math?

[L]et me throw into the mix Education Sector's finding–that we spend 15 cents of every $100 education dollars on NCLB testing. I know from conversations with the folks who make kitty litter, flea powder and other Hartz pet products that it spends at least 10 times that much testing its products.

I am struck by the wisdom of Achieve, Eli Broad [who funds Merrow] and others who talk about 'Common Standards,’ perhaps recognizing that 'national' and 'federal' are widely confused concepts and red flags to many Americans.

Count how many times panelists proclaim, "I agree with Checker/Chester [Finn].
______________________

Here is Randi's namby pamby quote:

Randi Weingarten, newly elected President American Federation of Teachers (AFT); a lawyer and active member of the Democratic National Committee

"John Merrow is right: Helping all kids achieve, particularly kids at risk, was always the main goal of federal education law. NCLB correctly set high standards, but it over-emphasized testing and sanctions at the expense of helping all kids achieve. . . . It's great that Achieve has been able to find a way to move toward national standards by working with the states and moving the consensus outwards, rather than starting at the top and moving down. Their work shows it's doable and I'd like to see more of it, more states, more subjects."

Does Weingarten want NCLB eliminated or modified? Where exactly does she stand? Which direction is the wind blowing? And there's too much testing? Randi made sure to jump into the photo when Bloomberg/Klein got the Broad prize, bragged about high test scores in the NYC test all the time system and agreed to a merit pay scheme based on test scores.

If anyone finds more fun Randi quotes at the site, send them along. I've had enough.

Susan O has a selection of comments from classroom teachers.

Lynn: I got through about 15 responses in this discussion before I got bored. Mainly because these folks keep saying the same thing in different ways. I have two questions for these participants: Have you ever taught in a K-12 public school classroom? If so, how long has it been since you were there? If any of these people have never had K-12 experience, I'm not particularly interested in what they have to say. The only real experts in a discussion like this are current and recently former teachers.

John Thompson: John [Merrow], I'm frustrated by your opening questions. I've always admired your work, but they sound like a "bait and switch." You started with an endorsement of NCLB, but shouldn't the question be about NCLB-type accountability. If I heard correctly, most panelists challenged national test-driven accountability. You said that we spend 15 cents of every $100 on testing, but isn't that the problem with NCLB I? Its another example of "Fire! Ready. Aim." Then when you started off today with the issue of National Standards, you started us off on the path that gave us NCLB. The next step is "better tools, curricula, and instruction stategies." No! That's not the only way!

Read Susan's full treatment http://susanohanian.org/show_nclb_outrages.html?id=3492

Notes on a visit to a school in New York City

See how schools have improved under BloomKlein? Susan Ohanian reprints a letter from teacher Bill Schechter.

I grew up in New York City and graduated from its (non-exam) public schools. For 35-years, I worked as a history teacher at a progressive, upper middle-class high school in a Boston suburb. These two poles anchor my educational history.

Last Tuesday, I traveled down to the city to watch one of my former students teach at Chelsea High School (formerly Chelsea Vocational High School) in SOHO. The visit was a shock that managed to deepen my already very deep sense of the folly of punitive high stakes testing.

The school is in a state of advanced physical dilapidation. I felt like I was walking through the pages of Kozol’s Death At An Early Age –the 50-year old school building that my school district demolished was a palace by comparison)– or had gotten dropped into the Third World. Chelsea High received an “F” from the NYC Board of Ed, and the teachers there have been given the message that these kids have to drilled to pass those tests so the powers-that-be will finally be
appeased.

Read more of Bill's letter at Susan's place.
Bill adds a P. S. to this very distressing account:
To those who deal with these realities very day, I send my admiration.

On a less depressing note, Susan reports some of the great satire from
The Eggplant (Index is here):

4th grader Completes Last of High Stakes Exams, First in Nation To Take Tests in All 50 States.

Washington D. C.--
Greeted by a standing ovation from members of Congress, meeting in joint session with the Business Roundtable and National Education Association president Reg Weaver, nine-year-old Bingo Benny arrived to celebrate his feat of taking state assessments required by NCLB in all 50 states.

"From the October NECAP (New England Common Assessment Program) in Jericho, Vermont, to the May WASL (Washington Assessment of Student Learning) in Seattle, Washington, Benny proved that he is indeed standardized," exclaimed Sen. Edward Kennedy, chair of the Senate Health, Education, Labor & Pensions Committee.

"Benny refuses to be left behind," chimed in George Miller, Chair of House Education and Labor Committee, and, like Kennedy, determined to reauthorize the contentious NCLB law.

Benny agreed that it was exciting for Mayor Bloomberg to be on hand to wish him well when he took the CTB/McGraw-Hill tests in January. "I didn't have time to use the key to the city he gave me," Benny said. "I was in a rush to catch a plane for the ITBS (Iowa Test of Basic Skills) in Las Vegas and the PAWS (Proficiency Assessments for Wyoming Students).

Bill Gates was on hand in Washington to congratulate Benny on his rigor, and in Long Beach, California, Eli Broad presented him with a special award of merit for competition in the global economy.

Read the rest here.

Teachers Who Say NO to Testing

I've been working with the NYCORE Justice Not Just Tests group this year (coming soon: a blog). We've talked about teachers boycott or subvert the testing mania but that means instant death - if people do it individually. Imagine if people did it en masse? Imagine if there was a union that led such a movement instead of making mealy mouth complaints of how high stakes testing subverts education, while at the same time pushing for merit pay for entire schools based on these tests? Not in our lifetimes (but then I don't have all that long to go, so maybe there's hope for some of you young 'uns.) Send Doug and Carl messages of support.

From Susan Ohanian: http://susanohanian.org/show_nclb_atrocities.html?id=3404

Doug Ward, ethical North Carolina teacher of exceptional children, explains on YouTube his refusal to give the state test to his students. He speaks of his exceptional children's deep spirituality. He also speaks of being inspired by a fifth grader who reflected on doing what is right.

Doug's school is
Cullowhee Valley School
240 Wisdom Drive
Cullowhee, NC 28723

Here is a parent's comment:

Doug is a dedicated teacher who works hard to create inclusion experiences for his students. My son with autism is not in Doug's class, but will take the Extend1 EOG and fail. He has made amazing progress this year thanks to his teachers at CVS. No standardized test measures the value of my son's inclusion in his regular classroom,the friendships he's made or the compassion his classmates have learned. I want my child LEFT BEHIND to learn and progress at his own pace. You Go, Doug!!

— Doug Ward
YouTube.com
2008-05-15
http://youtube.com/watch?v=Tj_bJkGTC8U

The May Substance just arrived. It contains Yvonne Siu-Runyan's excellent interview with test resister [from Washington State] Carl Chew.

I refrain from posing this interview because we need to support the only newspaper of the resistance.

Subscriptions are only $16.00 a year. You can contact Substance by phone - 773-725-7502, or by email, Csubstance@aol.com. http://www.substancenews.net.

Order Susan's book:
When Childhood Confronts NCLB
$8.95
Box 26
Charlotte, VT 05445

Eli's Bold New Play - from Ohanian

(No, not the Giant QB)
REVISED: Note comment #2

Eli Broad is an ally of Joel Klein and Michael Bloomberg - the Broad Foundation gave them the Boobie - er - Broad Prize.
Eli Broad is also an ally of the UFT and Randi Weingarten - he gave their charter school $1 million.
Eli Broad and his brood have spent money attacking teacher unions - see San Diego conflicts where his surrogates Anthony Alvarado (yes, that Alvarado) and Alan Bersin attacked teacher unions.
Eli Broad spends lots of money on school reform related to high stakes tests - hmmm, hasn't the UFT task force been critical of high stakes tests - maybe on another planet.
Eli Broad is a pro-business, anti-union education "reformer."

Lots of people have been saying the standards and accountability education reform movement is all about making every school seem a failure so they can be privatized.

From Susan Ohanian's Daily Digest comes this satirical piece by Tauna Rogers
Press Release
2007-12-01

Billionaire philanthropist, entrepreneur, and public education expert Eli Broad has teamed up with the International Star Registry to promote a provocative plan of action to raise individual student achievement (as measured by standardized test scores) and overall achievement in Title I schools across the nation.

"Asked about public schools which fail to meet the much prized 2014 standard, Broad said they should probably lower their flags to half-mast and be taken over by private companies."

Read it in full:
http://susanohanian.org/show_nclb_news.html?id=696

NAEP This

Stories this week about NAEP results bringing into question the impact of NCLB make this article on Susan Ohanian's web site a must read. We DO NOT NEED ANOTHER TEST!

How Does NAEP Label a Reader Proficient?
An Inside Look at Children's Responses Labeled "Inadequate"

Susan Notes: This research provides the inside dope on media headlines screaming, "NAEP Finds 71% of 4th graders score below the proficient level." This is important because corporate politicos are pushing for NAEP to become the national test.

Down the Rabbit Hole with the Reading Passages
Read it at
http://susanohanian.org/show_research.html?id=103

Vermont Design for Education

Susan Ohanian Notes:
The good news is that such a document exists. The reality is that it was written in a more hopeful time, 1968. After it was published by the state department of education, 30,000 teachers applied from out of state for 900 jobs. And now we have No Child Left Behind. This is the vision that inspired me to go into teaching eons ago. We must revive it. This is what children deserve--rather than the scholastic boot camp that is the regime in schools today.
Contrast this 31-page Design with the 435-page offal Miller and crew call a draft of NCLB revisions.

Read the entire document at Susan's web site. http://susanohanian.org/show_yahoo.html?id=321

NCLB: Test the Kids

Susan Ohanian and the gang at the Educator Roundtable have concocted this fabulous video:

Now showing at:
http://susanohanian.org/show_nclb_stories.html?id=347
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=520DAgjCHdc