Dean's words from 2003 on education are quite different than now.

[madfloridian]

At his meeting in Kansas this week-end his words sounded hollow to me.

Quite different from the powerful words he spoke in 2003 about the harm that Bush was doing to public schools.

Now that this administration is doing the same things to public schools, he seems fine with it. He even is allied with a NY charter school group.

I knew he did not get it when he said not to be critical of "all" charter schools. He missed the point right there.

He seems unaware that those of us who criticize the charter school movement do so because of the goal of that movement, not because we are criticizing an individual school. The goal is to take education out of the hands of the people and give control to private companies. Without much regulation.

So we know now he won't be speaking out in support of public school teachers. That time was in the past.

It almost makes me bitter to look back at his words now and to remember all the time and money we spent on the campaign.

Dean says ultimate goal of Bush is to starve public schools of money

To starve them of money like other social programs were starved of money, to make them so bad it will drive people away.

"The president's ultimate goal," said former Gov. Howard Dean (D-Vt.), one of the Democrats who now harshly attacks NCLB, "is to make the public schools so awful, and starve them of money, just as he's starving all the other social programs, so that people give up on the public schools."

And these words from another campaign stop:

Dean criticized President Bush, saying his administration will lower the standards for good schools in New Hampshire, making them more like poorly performing schools in Texas. The Bush administration believes ''the way to help New Hampshire is to make it more like Texas,'' Dean told supporters in Manchester, adding that ''every school in America by 2013 will be a failing school.''

''Every group, including special education kids, has to be at 100 percent to pass the tests,'' Dean said. ''No school system in America can do that. That ensures that every school will be a failing school.''

And at another appearance in 2003, powerful words:

"The standards are so ridiculous that every single public school in America will be deemed to be a school in need of improvement or a failing school by 2013," former Vermont governor Howard Dean said in a teleconference yesterday. He said the law, which he has pledged to dismantle, was "making education in America worse, not better."

..."As governor, Dean opposed No Child Left Behind and said Vermont would have to raise $80 million more from property taxes to implement it. Yesterday, he called the law an "intrusive mandate" and said Democratic candidates who voted for it were "co-opted" by Bush's agenda, which Dean says aims to "put public schools out of business."

Dean wasn't talking charters back then. They are just now coming into their own as part of Arne Duncan's philosophy.

He really did "get" the war on public education back then. Now he does not.

[msongs]

1. has he sold out to the conservative obama dems corporatists crowd? hope not nt

[stray cat]

2. Anyone who holds a different opinion is a sell out?

[madfloridian]

3. Please don't.

I said nothing like that.

I don't think he and the other Democratic leaders are fully aware of the harm they are doing that can never be undone.

I think they set Arne's goals in motion without fully thinking about the consequences.

It may be too late now.

I think he is "unaware", and it makes me bitter that he has lost his powerful voice.

[dkf]

4. Well what is the solution to our crappy schools then?

The teachers solution seems to be better kids and parents and that isn't going to happen. We are losing the global race for education.

I don't believe corporations are the way to go but I do think making sure all teachers keep their jobs regardless of inadequacy is bad too. Some people are simply not suited to be teachers. Critics probably lean to corporate structure because of the ability to move underperformers out if the system. The traditional model of not being able to do remove a public employee doesn't work.

[madfloridian]

5. All those "crappy" schools....

:cry:

Reagan's propaganda really worked.

[dkf]

8. We are behind what used to be third world countries.

Too many of our kids can't graduate from high school that I would say we are failing in this area. So maybe crappy is too loaded. Failing is a better description.

[madfloridian]

9. Perhaps the fact the public schools are being defunded

might have something to with that.

[madfloridian]

10. Could you give me statistics on that and a link, please?

I would appreciate it.

[dkf]

13. Here are some stats. I'm sure I can find more.

http://www.realonlinedegrees.com/education-rankings-by-country/

http://ourtimes.wordpress.com/2008/04/10/oecd-education-rankings/

[madfloridian]

15. Well, let's see now. Could it be?

That for years now educators have been left out of the decision making in education, and billionaires and good old boys have taken over?

Could it be because one of the leading private groups pushing their way into education via charters says his group doesn't know anything about how to teach or reading curriculum or anything like that (see below)...but that they only know how to manage?

Cheaper teachers, less experience, no job security?

Hmmm...

Taking the "public" out of public schools.....happening quickly.
http://journals.democraticunderground.com/madfloridian/5680

Faces of school reform. Too many billionaires.
http://journals.democraticunderground.com/madfloridian/5655

"a great and terrible charade"..school leaders and entrepreneurs triumphant at school closings?
http://journals.democraticunderground.com/madfloridian/5640

Discipline methods from a charter school that would get public school teachers in serious trouble.
http://journals.democraticunderground.com/madfloridian/5623

"Democracy Privatized!"...education blog talks about turning over public functions to “the market”.
http://journals.democraticunderground.com/madfloridian/5610

Eli Broad: “We don’t know anything about how to teach or reading curriculum or any of that."
http://journals.democraticunderground.com/madfloridian/5817

Oh, BTW one of those sites appears to be a how to globalize site.

[Hannah Bell]

25. your statistics don't even back up your overblown rhetoric.

looking at your first link, i see US (math) = "most improved, 1995-2007" & = most of the "improvement" took place before Bush got his hands on ed policy.

US = # 8, below japan, taiwan, singapore, korea, hong kong, netherlands & hungary.

none of which have been "third world countries" for at least half a century, & the combined population of which is about 70 million less than the US.

oh, the humanity!



plus, i'll bet you have no clue as to what TIMMS is, what it measures, how many students are tested, how the students are chosen, or how the scores are "adjusted".

do you?

[Catshrink]

6. Respect education.

Kids get so many messages that smart is bad. Not only that, there are so many other things competing for their time and their choice isn't always studying. In my experience, the parents who limit TV, computer game, and phone time have children most likely to succeed in school. I see my students for 1 hour a day. I can't follow them home and make sure their homework is finished or that they read the supplemental materials. I'm one piece of the puzzle: parents and students are two of the others.

You seem to believe the myth of there being a huge proportion of incompetent teachers in our schools. This is akin to the belief that if we just cut all the waste out of government we wouldn't have a deficit. It's magical thinking. I'm not denying that some people should not be in the classroom and that there should be mechanisms in place to remove them - in fact, there are. Even if all these teachers were removed, the problems are going to remain. The problems in education are deeper and symptomatic of the problems in society.

There isn't an easy way out of this situation. We teachers do the best with the tools we have but we cannot control what happens outside of school - I can't force a parent to feed their child a good breakfast or to make the kid go to bed instead of playing video games until 3am. I can't be there at night to nag a child to study. Education is a shared responsibility but for too long the burden has been borne by teachers only. Until parents, children, and admins step up and do their part, we won't solve this.

Pointing to the inabililty to remove incompetent teachers as a cure all ot only trivializes the issues, it isn't true.

[madfloridian]

7. The insults toward teachers here explain why kids have no respect..

anymore for teachers. If our nation's leaders treat teachers with disrespect then it becomes ok for everyone else to do so.

[dkf]

11. See... teachers blame parents and kids and parents blame teachers.

As none of the above I look at what can be changed and what can't be changed. I can't do anything about parents and their kids but as a taxpaying member of the public I can ask for excellent teachers.

[madfloridian]

12. Parents and kids are not being held responsible anymore.

Just teachers.

You are spreading misinfo that teachers overall are bad.

That is wrong on many levels.

[dkf]

14. Not all teachers are bad but some are.

And when a kid misses out on a concept and then can't build on it how are they ever supposed to catch up? A child can't afford to have ANY bad teachers. Boring and uninspired teachers don't cut it either.

To my mind a student's grade is actually a grade of the teacher's ability to teach. I would expect a demonstration of a lack of comprehension to trigger extra time with that student and an effort to being them back on track.

You will probably think I am unrealistic I'm sure. But if an effort was made to ensure every child was treated this way shouldn't every child at least graduate?

[madfloridian]

16. You don't hold the parents and kids responsible.

That's okay, neither does Arne, and he is sec. of education and plays basketball very well.

[Catshrink]

17. So let's say I have a student

one of 120, who has missed over 20% of the school days with half of these absences unexcused. When he's in class, he makes no effort to do anything and, if he turns in an assignment, it's copied from someone else. Since he's made no effort to learn - and very little to be in school - he fails tests and quizzes. This student's grade is an F. How is that a reflection of my ability to teach? Am I supposed to go to the kid's house, drag his ass out of bed in the morning and get him to school, stand over him to be sure he exercises enough integrity to do his own work, and "make" him pay attention? Do you expect his 5 other teachers to do this also? This is not an extreme example. I've just described one of my current students. I have been in constant contact with his parents, counselor, administration, and the school social worker all year about him. The parents say they don't know what to do, the counselor, admin, and social worker have tried to help the kid realize the importance of being in school. The bottom line: neither he nor his parents give a damn. The desire to learn and succeed has to come from within and it just isn't there.

I have 120+ students. Most of them manage to get to class and to do their work. If I had to micromanage the few who don't, I wouldn't have time to devote to the kids who do care and make an effort. And, due to another salary decrease next year, I am looking for a second job to supplement my income so my time will be even more limited. That's the reality. I am an excellent teacher, by the way. Most of my students are successful and find my lessons relevant and worthwhile. Students know I know my content well and don't try to bullshit them. And I don't read out of a book at them. I'm not always entertaining but that's life.

It is clear to me that you have no idea with a teacher's job entails and prefer to hold onto your belief that the reason kids fail is that the teacher is incompetent. That is simplistic. Education is very complex and boiling it down to a soundbite shortchanges students far more than an incompetent teacher.

[adnelson60087]

23. Boring teachers? Is this how we are evaluated now?

So now I need to be an entertainer too? They sure as heck didn't cover that in my Educational Prep classes. But seriously, I appreciate your point, yet every single profession has people who are bad and should not be allowed to practice. Every school district has mechanisms in place to remove bad and ineffectual or harmful teachers. I would like to know what percentage of teachers should be removed from practice?

[tonysam]

18. NEITHER has ANYTHING to do with what is going on.

The World Bank is pressuring our country to destroy public education in order for this country to "compete" with China, India, and whatever low wage country is out there. They want to limit higher education for the vast majority of people, as it sees it is a waste of money, and teachers should not have much more education than middle school since THAT is a waste of money.

The ONLY thing standing in the World Bank's way in industrialized countries is the existence of teachers' unions. And at least in this country, they are being compromised.

[mbperrin]

24. Yep, all we've done is double the number of patents granted in 1988.

http://www.uspto.gov/web/offices/com/annual/2008/oai_05_wlt_06.html

1988 - 83,584 patents granted by the US
2008 - 182,556 patents granted by the US

Looks like those crappy schools can't produce people with ideas!

[LWolf]

19. It's a disappointment.

I notice that charter school discussions inevitably ignore the reality; get rid of the mandates that standardize schools, and there is no need for a special "charter" to allow schools within a district flexibility. Fully fund schools, including transportation, and choice within public districts would be easier to provide.

The only real reason for an outside "charter" is to privatize and union-bust. Different models of teaching and learning can be adopted by schools in the same district if they aren't all on standardized "improvement plans" because of AYP scores.

[Dinger]

20. K & R But

I'm starting to wear down. I'm not changing the way I feel, but I'm tired, really tired.

[madfloridian]

21. We are supposed to get tired and give up the fight.

It's worked on almost every issue, just think about it. Women's rights, war funding, the bankruptcy bill....things we fought so hard for and then had to accept the failure in the end.

[Dinger]

22. Well, I'm Hanging In There

A glimmer of hope would be nice.