Teachers have to sit and take it as the propaganda against public schools is catapulted.

[madfloridian]

There are at least four documentaries that espouse charter schools and make public school teachers look like fools.

Teachers can not do much about it, they don't have the resources. They don't have the money of the huge corporations backing the privatization of public schools. They are hindered in speaking out much because they can be given poor evaluations for not respecting authority.

Of course the major one getting the superbig, super glitzy attention with now is Waiting for Superman. It was introduced at Sundance by Bill Gates. It is the kind of propaganda that teachers have to sit and take because they can not fight back against Guggenheim and Gates.

This review is from the NYC Public School Parents' blog. There are other bloggers who denounced its propaganda as well, but none count very much or get much attention. With Bill Gates signature on the documentary, it is as good as sold.

Coming Soon: The "AN INCONVENIENT TRUTH" of Ed Reform?

Arguably the single most important spur to public acceptance and concern over global climate change as an issue came from Davis Guggenheim's 2006 documentary, "An Inconvenient Truth." With that video, global warming moved from being a topic of scientific conferences, technical journals, and environmental activists to being a household term familiar to parents and children alike.

What "An Inconvenient Truth" and Al Gore did for climate change, Guggenheim's "Waiting for Superman" and Bill Gates may soon be doing for American education reform. Judging from reports emanating from this year's Sundance Film Festival, a popular-media tidal wave is taking shape, and it could well make all previous efforts to sell the Bush/Spellings/Obama/Duncan education reforms look like ripples in a backyard wading pool.

And make no mistake...it is correct to refer to it as the Bush/Spelling/Obama/Duncan education agenda. This administration is bringing it to fruition.

Here's part of one Sundance attendee's review (Matt Belloni, from the Hollywood Reporter):

"In fact, for all its focus on underprivileged, inner-city kids, sections of SUPERMAN feel like they could have been cut together by Bill O'Reilly. Slo-mo footage of union leader speeches opposing reform that could help problem schools. Hidden-cam video of a teacher reading newspapers and checking his watch as his class goofs around. New York educators being paid millions to not teach. A major subject of the film, reform-minded DC schools chancellor Michelle Rhee, runs into a crippling teachers-union road block in her effort to shift pay structures to reward good teachers."

..."And who are the stars of Guggenheim's film? None other than NYC's own Geoffrey Canada, supported by Michelle Rhee and KIPP founders David Levin and Mike Feinberg, backed by a song written and performed just for this movie by John Legend.

So where is the Superman who can save our little blond children from these incompetent teachers and their devil's-spawn unions? Where's Clark Kent when we need him? Never fear, that bespectacled, geeky guy is here, only this Superman's street-clothes identity is Bill Gates. Numerous reports from Sundance indicate that billion-dollar Bill has shown more than a passing interest in this film. In fact, he was a highly visible participant at the Sundance Festival's "Waiting for Superman" screening, actually sharing the stage at the Q&A afterward with Guggenheim and Canada. He even twittered gushingly from the screening that there was "not a dry eye in the house." (Sniff, sniff).

Someone today told me I was wrong to criticize the film, that it was worthy of seeing. I am quite sure with all the power and money behind it that is truly a work of art. But it is damning of public education, which is its goal.

Speaking of education by chance, one of the first ones was called The Lottery.

"Education by Chance" Review of "The Lottery." NYT review points out one-sided view.

With a little tweaking “The Lottery” would fit nicely into the marketing materials for the Harlem Success Academy, a public charter school founded by Eva Moskowitz, a former New York City councilwoman. On one level, this heart-tugging documentary recounts the experiences of four children competing in the academy’s annual intake lottery. On another, it’s a passionate positioning of charter schools as the saviors of public education.

Though infinitely classier — and easier on the eyes — than “Cartel,” the recent documentary exploring public education, this latest charter-school commercial is no less one-sided. Virtually relinquishing the floor to Ms. Moskowitz (who delights in vilifying the “thuggish” tactics of the United Federation of Teachers) and her supporters, the director, Madeleine Sackler, captures a smidgen of naysayers in mostly unflattering lights. Ignoring critical issues like financial transparency, Ms. Sackler sells her viewpoint with four admirable, striving families, each of whose tots could charm the fleas off a junkyard dog.

..."But as an avowed marketing tool for a product that depends on public money and good will, the lottery itself, with its publicly dashed dreams, may have backfired. As we see during a vitriolic public hearing on Ms. Moskowitz’s bid to open a second facility in an unused public school, pitting neighbor against neighbor for the future of their children can be a dangerous strategy.

“I don’t even go to lotteries anymore, because they break my heart,” says Mayor Cory A. Booker of Newark.

There is also The Cartel. Here is a review that was given by the NYT and posted at the blog of the NYC Public School Parents.

"The Cartel" Documentary Earns an "F" from the NY Times

Clearly, the latest wave in the "education reform" movement (anti-union, pro-voucher, pro-charter, anti-tenure, pro-teacher accountability via standardized tests) is manifesting itself in high-end documentaries supported by the likes of Bill Gates. Sundance saw the release of "Waiting for Superman," with Gates at hand and even on stage for the post-showing Q&A. Then there's Bob Compton's upcoming "A Right Denied," featuring Harvard MBA, Wall Street investment manager, and KIPP Academy Charter Schools of NYC Vice-Chairman Whitney Tilson.

And just this week, "The Cartel" (about NJ public schools, particularly Camden's) hit the big screens and was reviewed on Friday for the NY Times by Jeannette Catsoulis. Actually, "reviewed" is hardly the word for what she wrote; better to say trashed, skewered, shredded, ripped, and thoroughly humiliated in every possible sense for its argumentation, presentation, and even film-making values. As a film project, she obviously rates it a total F. There's a vast (and, too often, intentional) gulf between reasoned advocacy and flat-out propaganda, although few seem really to care any more.

Catsoulis's review is so devastatingly harsh, it would be positively hilarious if it were not for the knowledge that so many of the converted will just see this as further support of their "ed reform" positions. Regardless, for those who might, like me, take some comfort in having the "emperor's clothes" publicly called out for what they really are (or should I say, aren't) by an objective reviewer with no particular stake in the issue, I have included the full text of her review below. Those wishing to try a second (and critically similar) review source, as opposed to Kyle Smith's slavish, slobbering write-up in the NY Post, try Stephen Whitty's review from the (NJ) Star-Ledger.

Here's a portion of the NYT review:

Children Left Behind
By JEANNETTE CATSOULIS
Published: April 16, 2010

A mind-numbing barrage of random television clips and trash-talking heads, “The Cartel” purports to be a documentary about the American public school system. In reality, however, it’s a bludgeoning rant against a single state — New Jersey — which it presents as a closed loop of Mercedes-owning administrators, obstructive teachers’ unions and corrupt school boards.

Blithely extrapolating nationally, the writer and director, Bob Bowdon, concludes that increased financing for public schools is unlikely to raise reading scores but is almost certain to raise the luxury-car quotient in administrator parking lots. To illustrate, Mr. Bowdon rattles off a laundry list of outrages — like a missing $1 billion from a school construction budget — and provides a clumsy montage of newspaper headlines detailing administrative graft.

There's even a film called Teached. I know nothing about it, but here is a trailer with Michelle Rhee's face showing first. She's a common factor in many of these documentaries.

Teached: The Video trailer

Public schools and public school teachers are the victims here, have no doubt. This is truly a case of big money having its way with education.

[phantom power]

1. Public education for everybody was one of America's greatest strengths -- and we're dismantling it.

:(

[Recursion]

2. Are you willing to concede the possibility

that there is a problem with many public schools today that is not about funding?

[MadHound]

3. No, acutally I'm not

The root problem with education in our country can be traced back to funding. This is abundantly clear in the difference between suburban schools, who have a large, wealthy tax base, and both inner city and rural schools whose tax base is considerably smaller.

Are there bad teachers out there, certainly. You know how you get rid of them, pay for quality teachers.

In the top two education systems in the world, Japan and Finland, they actually put their money behind the rhetoric that education is one of the most important components of our society. They fully fund each and every school, have top notch facilities, and teachers are paid, and treated with the same sort of regard our society gives to doctors, ie six figure salaries and societal respect. I have seen far too many bright young college students who would love to teach, but looking at the amount of money it costs to get a teaching degree (it requires the most hours of virtually any college degree) and the small return on that investment (starting pay can be under $30,000), they drop out because they simply can't afford to get an education degree.

Money is the root problem, and until we start addressing the issue of money, our education system is going to remain a mess.

[madfloridian]

4. Yes, hire good educators, pay them well. Respect them.

And you will have good schools.

[Recursion]

19. I'll definitely agree with that NT

[Recursion]

7. Schools still let students out for three months to help with the summer planting

And on formal occasions wear clothes that look the way they do because medieval lecture halls didn't have central heating.

As the example I've worked with, DC's school system is awash with money, and spends three times as much per-pupil as Maryland does (almost 10 times if you count special education). It's really not the case that underfunded students always mean underfunded schools.

[Hannah Bell]

9. are teachers in charge of the dc system? i hadn't heard that.

[Recursion]

17. Depends on what you mean

They are much more powerful in DC than they are in other places I hear about. The system was pretty much left to fend for itself for several years when the city was in receivership, and a lot of politically-appointed teachers migrated into administration and preserved a very infamous old-boys network (or more literally old-gals network).

[Hannah Bell]

24. bullshit.

[kenfrequed]

44. Maybe you could provide some substance to that claim...

Seriously? A sinister cabal of evil teachers that are somehow draining one of the most impoverished and difficult metro areas in the United States?

Politically appointed teachers? Appointed by whom? Seriously, deal in facts not this large steaming pile of innuendo and accusations of corruption.

[DailyGrind51]

80. You can lead a student to knowledge, but you can't make them learn!

Keeping students in school during the summer months when their minds are outside playing becomes an exercise in futility. Try teaching an "enrichment" course over summer school and you will understand my point!

[Rosa Luxemburg]

83. we get paid pittance and we are not allowed to strike

[HuckleB]

94. Yes, funding is a huge issue.

But how we teach kids should not be ignored either. For instance, we now know too much about brain plasticity, and thus we know the costs of long summer vacations on the learning process. Yet, no one seems to be talking about improving education with a very simple adjustment: Have more short breaks, rather than a long summer break.

It's mind boggling to see such obvious items be ignored by almost everyone.

[Hannah Bell]

8. are you willing to concede the possibility that the problems aren't about teachers?

are you willing to concede the possibility that the duncan ed deform isn't helping, but in fact making it worse?

[Recursion]

11. Some are, some aren't

Look, I base my argument on the fact that I've worked for a completely dysfunctional and corrupt urban school system that was essentially used as a jobs program for a man not-so-affectionately called "Mayor For Life Barry". I saw several teachers that were doing the kids more harm than sitting in an empty room and reading would do, and I saw a politicized union that cared more about protecting those jobs than actually making the schools better.

Are you willing to concede the possibility that the duncan ed deform isn't helping, but in fact making it worse?

It might be; most of the evidence I've seen is that education has been gradually improving for about 20 years by most metrics.

[Hannah Bell]

14. marion barry's not been mayor for NINETEEN YEARS.

You'd better review your metrics. multiple studies have demonstrated the failure of ed deform & recently we've been treated to major revelations about the charter school "miracle" in every major city where it was instituted.

[Recursion]

23. He's still on the city council, voting against recognizing gay marriage

multiple studies have demonstrated the failure of ed deform & recently we've been treated to major revelations about the charter school "miracle" in every major city where it was instituted.

I've seen more studies trotted out by everyone from every perspective that I'm reminded why the social sciences aren't actually sciences. We can't even agree on how much money is actually being spent per student, for God's sake -- pro-charter people say 17K and anti-charter people say 6K. I don't really care where in the middle it falls because it should probably be more in any case, and it's definitely more than neighboring, less dysfunctional districts are spending.

[Hannah Bell]

28. bullshit.

[Recursion]

32. Which is why my original post was about whether even conceding a simple fact was possible

Nope, not on this. We should all STFU and just keep pouring money down a black hole of trusting seniority and stopping every attempt to change the way things are done. Got it.

[Hannah Bell]

35. non-stop bullshit talking points. got it,

[kenfrequed]

10. Are you willing to conceded the possibility

That school privatization on the corporate model will result in a gradual erosion of all possible programs and/or an unending vacuum that will constantly demand more local, state, and federal funding and more budget cuts, all in the name of profit.

See, that is sort of how a publicly traded corporation works.

Moreover, where do you think the money from this spate of slick and glossy anti-public school propaganda came from?

[Recursion]

12. Charter schools are public

Privatization would be funding of private schools.

[Hannah Bell]

15. bullshit. bullshit, bullshit, bullshit.

[Recursion]

18. Um, no. They're a public school with a great deal of autonomy.

They're "chartered" as a non-profit corporation (hence, "charter") and negotiate student performance targets with the chartering authority (usually the school district). But they're definitely public; if they were private, the district couldn't shut them down or demand any other accountability.

[Hannah Bell]

20. bullshit.

[Recursion]

22. Well, no

They are by legal definition public schools; if they were private schools the district couldn't grant or revoke charters.

They are by legal requirement non-profits.

There's really no room to say "bullshit" about either of those.

[Hannah Bell]

27. bullshit.

[AngryAmish]

81. One has to admire your debating technique

[KamaAina]

100. They are by legal requirement bound by state and Federal law such as IDEA

the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act.

Yet we hear this from a top charter principal in NYC: "I'm not a big believer in special ed."

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=389&topic_id=8643594&mesg_id=8643594

Special ed. It's not just a good idea (as evidenced by my Yale degree and tens of thousands of DU posts since). IT"S THE LAW!!!!

[MadHound]

34. As you said, you don't get out of DC much, and thus your knowledge base on this matter is limited

And it shows.

When it comes to charter schools, there are for profit and non profit charter schools. White Hat Management is an example of a for profit charter school, one that has taken millions of dollars of public school money and delivered very little in return.

Furthermore, whereas a public school is owned by, well, the public, a charter school is owned by individual or organization. They may be non profit, but that doesn't mean that they still aren't making a killing off of the school via wages, fees etc.

Nor are charter schools held to the same standards as public schools, either academically or in who they serve.

Furthermore, it has been shown time and again that, at best, charter schools do no better, and in many cases worse, than public schools do. But they do excel at one thing, siphoning off taxpayer money from public schools right into their pocket.

[Recursion]

37. There are for-profit companies that *manage* charter schools

I'm against that, just like you are.

If you can find me an example of a for-profit charter school in the US I'll be very surprised. Not a company managing it (and, yes, that can suck when that happens, though there are for-profit companies that have managed public school systems also), the actual school.

[Hannah Bell]

39. nice dodge. a charter school = the charter paper, not the folks who

get the money, run the school, own the real estate & curriculum, hire & fire the teachers, & own the lobbyists. got it.

you know another reason it's a nice dodge? the management co's can drain the school, take on debt, & walk away, leaving the debt on the taxpayers' rolls.

and they've done it & are doing it. 1/2 of charter schools in chicago, for example, run deficits.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x8942409

[Recursion]

42. Which is why I'm against for-profits managing charters NT

[Hannah Bell]

45. doesn't matter if they're for-profit or non-profit. they can do the same things.

i.e. borrow money, take on debt & "invest" it to funnel capital to themselves, funnel money to *their* curriculum/real estate arms & exhorbitant salaries to management.

[madfloridian]

46. You are right. Thanks so much for all your posts on education.

They are quickly using the charter stuff to get themselves into real estate deals. It's scary.

[MadHound]

54. No, there are for profit companies that *own* charter schools

Their name is on the charter, they run it, they take in the taxpayer's money for their own profit. One example for you, Midwest Creative Investments.

Surprise.

There are many others, including the aforementioned White Hat Mgmt.

[Recursion]

65. Midwest owns the buildings, not the charters

And like I said, if you want somebody to campaign to keep for-profits out of charter management, I'm with you.

[readmoreoften]

92. Private universities are private, non-profit. And they act like for-profits. They are not public.

Private charter schools are private. Period.

[Hannah Bell]

16. .

[Recursion]

21. Both sides are guilty of mythmaking here

The anti-reform side is definitely scaremongering about charters being a plot by huge education corporations to make money by "managing" charter schools (which, I re-iterate, are by definition non-profit). Just like bad teachers, this does sometimes happen, but these also tend to be the schools that don't meet the targets of their charter and get the charter revoked.

[Hannah Bell]

26. bullshit.

[Hello_Kitty]

57. In Arizona they evaluate if a charter school is living up to it's charter every 15 YEARS.

You can get your school chartered as a math/science oriented school and then change it to performing arts and no one can do anything about it.

[madfloridian]

58. That is a long time.

I have noticed in our area the charter schools are often run by people in the community with influence, and no one wants to cross them.

They only keep good students...a luxury public schools don't have.

[Recursion]

82. That's an idiotic way to do charters

I'm glad most places don't do them like that.

[Hello_Kitty]

91. Well, the way you think charters should be run isn't the way they are in most places

Which is what people are trying to explain to you but you won't listen.

[Phentex]

113. At least you threw in the word most...

Not ALL charters are the same. *Some* are even public schools.

[Hello_Kitty]

115. All charter schools in AZ are publicly funded.

They differ greatly in how they are managed. Some are good, others are horrible, but the point is they are NOT held accountable like the public schools are.

[kenfrequed]

43. No.

There are plenty of 'non-profit charters' that are run by private enterprises that completely drain the communities that they are supposed to serve. It is a bad idea on its very face.

The disparity of almost all of the 'failing schools' that these propaganda films demonstrate can be attributed to the very manner in which schools are funded (something charter/privatizing will not improve) and the lack of a culture of education.



Creating a REAL lifetime learning program that would allow adults to go back to school at any time and at no cost would go a lot further towards creating a culture of education and it would help cushion unemployment, transitioning people into new careers.

And the obvious solution to forcing poor kids in poor environments to deal with poorly funded schools would be to change the funding system so that schools are funded over a larger geographic area and not tied to an impoverished local tax base. (Something that Tax Cuts ubber alles will also fail to solve)

[LWolf]

29. Not in those terms.

Schools are a reflection of the society they serve. As long as politicians and many of their supporters are determined to ignore the root causes of ills in our society, schools aren't going to be Lake Woebegone.

There are many things we can do to make schools better at serving students. Very few of those are included in the Obama/Duncan plan, and those that are will be castrated by the primary focus: privatization and union-busting.

Education can't address the conditions that put students on different starting lines when they start school, though. That's the job of our communities, and that's the job of our governments.

[Laelth]

52. Um, no. Throwing money at the problem is how we fix things in a Capitalist society.

It's certainly what we do for the military. In a country like ours, you can see exactly what we value by seeing how much money we dedicate to it. As the saying goes, "Money talks, ..."

-Laelth

[Murray_R]

110. Not quite

"Throwing money at the problem is how we fix things in a Capitalist society."

Capitalist society uses competition and freedom of choice to let the consumer determine which producers are best meeting their demands. Competition drives capital toward the producer that does that most efficiently and effectively, and withholds it from the producer who fails to produce. Capitalism does not reinforce defeat. It rewards success, and in the generation of profits encourages other producers to mimic the goods and services so demonstrably in demand.

Some people want everyone to eat from the government approved menu in the government approved cafeteria cooked by government employees.
Some people want everyone to have 'food stamps', and then freely choose where to buy their food from an enormous and ever evolving market of grocers and restaurateurs.
Some people want only the poor to have 'food stamps', and know that most people can afford to feed themselves, and should be free to do so as they see fit.

Guess which system the government cooks prefer...

[Laelth]

112. Comeptition and free choice? You have got to be kidding.

Capitalists systems drive toward monopoly and no choice. If it weren't for liberal legislation that bans monopolies, we'd have a perfect, monopolized capitalist system.

The capitalist system you describe is beautiful on paper, but it doesn't exist in reality, and it is divorced from the acutal reality of what would happen if liberals didn't work hard to keep your allegedly free market in check.

-Laelth

[GreenArrow]

62. The main problem with schools

is that we live in a country that does not value education as an end in itself, but rather as a means to an end, and then only for those privileged enough to partake of it. Instead, we under-fund it, and let policy be dictated by businessmen and speculators rather than by people who actually understand child development and educational principles.

[madfloridian]

66. Good point. Nutshell....our country's leaders do not value education as an end

in itself. They want to manipulate it into something they want it to be.

Good post.

[GreenArrow]

95. Thanks.

Unfortunately, what our country's "leaders" want education to be is a profit based commodity and a form of social control. We have people in charge of policy who apparently have no conception of basic child development theory; it's maddening!

BTW, I appreciate your tireless and pasionate posting on this issue.

[Rosa Luxemburg]

84. and don't forget grades are inflated here

if you compare higher education for instance an A here is a B or C elsewhere.

[Chulanowa]

69. Absolutely; it's called administration

The problems in schools are several layers of management above the teachers; you might as well be blaming the students. The teachers in our public schools are as much victims of piss-poor management as the students are, but no one seems willing to deal with it.

Even the greediest corporation knows that sometimes you've got to ditch the CEO and middle management, that the problem is not with the interns handling hte mail.

[Bluebear]

72. Even here. nt

[laughingliberal]

5. K & R nt

[SheilaT]

6. Why aren't the major

teachers' unions fighting back?

[madfloridian]

13. Some have been infiltrated beforehand with folks like Randi

Weingarten. She was with Eli Broad's Superintendent Academy, actually taught there. All kinds of ways.

[Igel]

56. How?

The problem is that the public's taken the teacher unions assertions to be true and incorporated them as assumptions.

The public has also taken some of the key assumptions of education theorists and incorporated them as assumptions.

The unions have said that if you have better qualification procedures, schools will improve. That if you put more money into schools, schools will improve. If you integrate, schools will improve. If you have smaller class size, schools will improve. If you have more structured curricula, schools will improve. If you have better school buildings and more computers and interconnectivity, schools will improve. If you do X, Y, and Z, schools will improve. Fine: It's harder to be certified, more money overall is going into schools, we've integrated, reduced class size, structured the curricula, we've built new schools, we've introduced computers. Schools didn't improve. That means everything that can be fixed has been fixed--what's left are the people.

Unions also foolishly said that if you paid more, teachers would teach better. Implication: Teachers are holding out on their best effort.

Then there's the assertion that all students can learn. The entire anti-aptitude mindset. If student B doesn't learn, it's because he's an auditory learner, field dependent, a holistic thinker. Or perhaps he's tactile. Perhaps he needs more scaffolding. Better motivation provided by teachers. Greater amounts of guided practice. Advance organizers. Parents and, of all people, the student him/herself aren't part of it. If a student doesn't learn it's because the teacher wasn't "effective." True. But a great teacher in one school can be hideously ineffective in another. Oddly, lots of effective teachers put into certain schools become ineffective. Lots of ineffective teachers, when they go to a different school, are suddenly effective.

When teachers fight back, they're stuck saying that the problem isn't them. Then what is it? Do they blame the parents for lack of funding? Parents for raising unmotivated or non-academically motivated kids? The kids, for lack of discipline and forethought? Administrators, the primary fault of which is that after slowly implementing educational reform from 1950 to the present they're still a decade behind--and know that each promised solution to all our problems left the problems essentially unchanged?

You see, the unions have pretty much ruled out everything else.

[SheilaT]

61. I'm thinking they could be running serious

ads showing what teachers actually do, and what they accomplish so often in the face of genuine adversity (poor funding, indifferent parents, hostile voters_.

[YvonneCa]

67. Wouldn't that be lovely? I'm not...

...holding out much hope on that front. They won't do anything unless teachers DEMAND it...and teachers are too busy starting up the school year to pay enough attention to what is being done to them.

[proud2BlibKansan]

76. I'll ask you the same question

How are unions supposed to PAY for these ads?

[proud2BlibKansan]

75. With what, Sheila?

Ads cost money. I know my local union could never begin to afford to enter the media market and start buying ads. Not even radio ads.

Our national dues are going up 55 cents a month this fall and that was a hard sell. I am a national delegate and I opposed the dues increase because so many of us aren't getting a raise and haven't gotten one in years. Symbolically I thought it was a bad idea. I can't even imagine the uproar if our union started spending money on ads.

Just like so many other things, we are up against a well funded media campaign that we are inequipped to fight. You know the meme here in this city - the schools suck, there's a revolving door of administration, the state needs to take over, etc, etc, etc.. I have taught in more excellent schools in our 'failing' urban system than failing ones. The most recent school I worked at outscored many suburban schools on last year's test. But you won't see a story in our media about that. The day the scores came out, our local late breaking investigative TV team led with a story that claimed our district failed to make adequate progress on last year's test. They failed to mention that NO DISTRICT in the metro area on the MO side made adequate progress and that several schools in the scary urban district outscored the suburban schools.

And you expect the unions to fight this crap? With WHAT???

[Name removed]

90. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[Hannah Bell]

64. it's the capitalist economic system that "you get what you pay for," not teachers.

smaller class sizes have a measurable effect; no one except apologists denies it. it's particularly true where students come to school with special problems or without motivation & background instilled at home.


the ruling class believes putting money into schools works: that's why they send their own little dears to elementary schools that cost $30k year or more. if it's good enough for them, it's good enough for the masses.

[madfloridian]

25. Another piece of propaganda started recently.

That charter schools are the same as public schools. They get public money, but that is about the only similarity.

[Recursion]

30. And they're accountable to the district (or whatever chartering authority)

But, they simply are public schools under a different management and accountability plan; there's just no way around a definition. They are by definition public and they are by legal requirement non-profit.

[Hannah Bell]

36. bullshit.

[madfloridian]

31. It's amazing how much public schools are denigrated now...

even at forums where one would think the value of public education would be understood.

It never moved this quickly under the Bush administration because our party fought it then. Now there are few speaking out for teachers.

The anti-public-education movement is well-organized and powerful.

[Recursion]

33. And I respectfully suggest the possibility that the "anti-public-education movement"...

... (a label that I completely disagree with, but go ahead) is not who you seem to think they are, is not doing the things you seem to think they're doing, and is doing them for motives other than what you seem to think.

[EFerrari]

70. AKA, privatization is fine when Democrats do it. n/t

[suffragette]

86. This happened similarly in the UK under Blair and New Labour

I think there are lessons there for us since they tried this earlier and are now looking at changing because it failed there.
They were called "specialist schools" instead of charter schools but much of the pattern was similar. There was also the pattern of the shift of "New Labour" from "Old Labour."



http://www.guardian.co.uk/education/2009/jan/21/specialist-school-physics-study

The government's £3bn policy of creating specialist schools to raise standards is based on an illusion and has reinforced the divide between academic and vocational schools, says an in-depth study published today.

Specialist schools appeared to do better because the poorer performing schools were not granted specialist status, argued Professor Alan Smithers and Dr Pamela Robinson, of the University of Buckingham's centre for education and employment research.

~~~

This undermined claims by ministers and the Specialist Schools and Academies Trust, said Prof Smithers. "All the SSAT's comparisons amount to is that if you take effective schools and give them extra money they do better than less effective schools without extra money."

When Tony Blair came to power in 1997, there were 222 technology schools. But rather than ditching this Conservative initiative the government was persuaded by Sir Cyril Taylor that specialist status improved performance, noted the report.



Labour to junk Tony Blair's flagship school reform
Headteachers to get more powers as era of centralised control ends
http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2009/jun/25/education-reform-labour-ed-balls

The government is to abandon the most significant education reform of the New Labour era in order to end the centralised control of schools and grant headteachers more powers, the Guardian has learned.

In a totemic break from the Blair years, next week's education white paper will signal the end of Labour's national strategies for schools, which includes oversight of the literacy and numeracy hours in primaries. The changes will strip away centralised prescription of teaching methods and dramatically cut the use of private consultants currently employed to improve schools.

~~~

John Dunford, general secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders, said: "It is now clear that the way to improve schools in difficulty is to organise support from other, more successful schools. I hope the white paper will create a more coherent system of school support based on this principle."

Michael Gove, the shadow education secretary, said: "If Ed Balls is going to scrap the national strategies in their current form, we will support him. They cost a fortune and do not drive up standards. We want to give teachers more responsibility."

[madfloridian]

38. Someone is very angry with this thread.

I don't know who. I hope it does not turn into a problem. I don't want the post to get in trouble, so I am backing off for a while.

[LWolf]

53. I don't know why THIS thread would be in trouble.

I posted a thread with the title "On Education Policy, Obama is Like Bush." I expected a lot more anger just because of the title, but it's received more support than not. Maybe the heat is simply because your posts are too effective for some.

I'm glad to see the discussion of education and teacher bashing coming to the forefront. On DU that is thanks, in part, to your efforts. With more posts, and more discussions, I expect that the message police will also ramp up their attacks. That's okay. I think the issue is important enough, and the current policies dangerous enough, that it SHOULD be getting plenty of front page time.

Keep up the great work.

[eridani]

74. +10

Education is not at all my policy wonk specialty. DU, and especially madfloridian, keep me up to speed. And make me care a lot about what is happening to teachers.

[nadinbrzezinski]

40. We are at the bottom of OECD economies

in many educational data... and one of these days, if these goes on... we will wake up even lower.

Privatizing this system will not help as profit is the driver, not service.

And in a generation or two, people will ask... what to do? And we will see reforms that will look strangely like what we have today, but funded.

OF course that is the happy scenario.

Reality is that in this respect I fear they've won the fight... and it will take Armageddon for Americans to perhaps realize it. And yes, in this case it will be close to Armageddon...

Once again. I am so damn glad we don't have kids. Or we would be forced to consider selling our souls to get them a quality education or moving to a country that does... care about education. We don't. This is the worst anti-intellectual phase in American History, I fear.

[The Northerner]

41. It can be so saddening to see that some of the hardest-working public officials

have to endure this kind of berating.

Many of them spend hours learning, grading, and also spending money out of their own pockets and to be condemned as something so sinister is difficult for me to read.

[YvonneCa]

68. Thank you for your kind words. It is nice to know that...

...people care about what is happening.

[madfloridian]

47. More about "Teached", connected to Teachers for America.

"•Teached, directed by activist and one-time Teach For America corps member Kelly Amis: It tackles teacher tenure, bureaucracy and "anti-child work rules that permeate every school in America," among other issues."

http://www.usatoday.com/news/education/2010-06-30-edufilms30online_ST_N.htm

More about Superman:

"Guggenheim, who narrates Superman, slams public school bureaucracies and unions, extolling charter schools. But he notes in passing, "Only one in five charters is producing results" — even though they're free from both bureaucracy and union rules."

More:

"Dennis Van Roekel, president of the National Education Association, says it may seem appealing to focus on just a few high-performing schools, but that it's a "cop-out" to think that this is a solution. He says unions have long pushed for improving the system "for every single kid" in the USA.

"It ought to be that, no matter where you live, there's a great public school," he says. "It shouldn't be a lottery — it should be right down the street."

Still, the question arises: Why are we seeing all these documentaries now? Perhaps it's the impact of President Obama, a Democrat and onetime community organizer, pushing for expanded charter schools and teacher pay reforms? Or crusading Washington, D.C., Schools Chancellor Michelle Rhee— a key figure in virtually all every one of the four new films — on the cover of Time magazine, clutching a broom as she "cleans up" D.C.'s historically underperforming schools?"

[Hannah Bell]

48. "Why are we seeing all these documentaries now?" - exactly.

guggenheim = a member of *the* (superrich) guggenheim family, btw.

if you took the time, you'd find everyone connected with those flicks = superrich/connected to.

[madfloridian]

49. Super rich versus teachers...not a fair competition.

:hi:

[Whisp]

50. o great. yet another Obama=Bush.

:eyes:

[proud2BlibKansan]

77. Or you could just remain in a state of denial

How's that workin out for ya?

[Starry Messenger]

51. This year is going to suck with these.

Where is the pro-teacher movie? This crap is like Cold War propaganda.

[Hannah Bell]

55. "Cold War propaganda" = exactly.

[Fire1]

88. Well, guess who is groing to be the grand marshall of the

"back to school" ralley and parade in Detroit? None other than, William H. Cosby Ed.D, himself!LOL!! Ricky Smiley will perform, too! Kinda glad I retired in June. Charters here don't want experienced and highly credentialed teachers. Top salary here at charters is 46k. Ain't that nothing?! Fuckin shame. People gave universities all that damn money, just to be told, "you're over qualified and we can't pay you" This is a train wreck in slow motion.

[Starry Messenger]

99. Oh man.

Is there any right wing thing that "Dr. Cosby" does *not* get himself involved in? lol Thanks for the report Fire1. I read the news on what is happening in Detroit and I think this train wreck is coming next to California. I wouldn't be surprised if we got R. Bobb back when he leaves Detroit in March. Kevin Johnson and Michelle Rhee are getting married next month in Sacto and the buzz is, she's moving out here. Is 40 too young to retire??

[Fire1]

103. In Mich., you can do 30 and out but you only get the pension and

most of us can't get by on just the pension. I'm back in school and hope it's not more wasted time and money, cause I want an ed. job on the state level. Not old enough for SS.;(

[PufPuf23]

59. Big money to drain $ away from education and pro-rightwing brain washing - Reced before

reading comments.

$$ chasing more $$ at a taxpayers cost versus actual cost and lest effective education.

Shameful. Watch for associated corporations to charter school management particularly in real estate taken from the public commons.

Did I mention shameful especially from a Democratic leadership?

[LWolf]

60. I wonder if, in future decades,

people will refer to these documentaries the way they refer to "Nation at Risk" to bolster their degradation of the system?

[madfloridian]

63. Probably they will.

.

[McCamy Taylor]

71. They want to raid public pension funds. All the rest is smoke and mirrors.

[madfloridian]

73. I read that charter schools were envied because they did not have to worry

about pensions and stuff like that. Like insurance.

Yes, you are right....a major reason is getting rid of all public pensions.

[RandomThoughts]

78. He can use what skills or methods he thinks best.

And so can other people.

If his goal is an ideological change to create a system that fits his world view, as shown by his methods, then that will be the outcome for him also.

:shrug:


He might get it right. Although from what has been read, and the characteristics of billionaires, I am a bit skeptical of the intent.


That is actually a doctrine. Don't wait for some help, but get it done yourself. The same thing was said with "we are the ones we been waiting for" It is not new, it is a comment on people that wait for someone to help them, versus those that get things done, based on a view of both what matters, and how it is achieved.

I do agree people have to try to make a difference, but that does not equate to what they do as being the best methods, nor not being them. Although hearing he has that doctrine is interesting.


Note, did he show up?

[zenj8]

79. The Los Angeles Times

has been producing articles recently that promote the idea of publishing to the public individual teacher data on test scores. The rationale is that parents have a right to know how the teacher of their child is performing (according to the tests). Is this something that would happen in the private sector?

[Rosa Luxemburg]

85. it's nonsense

how can they possibly judge individual teachers on state assessments or other tests? Most of our kids hate the tests and they don't want to well in them for a variety of reasons. Now the school has decided to have pre-test rallies with funny hats and cupcakes. The children are stressed out and don't want to do them.

[madfloridian]

87. Florida has had pre-test rallies with fun and games and pom-poms for years

It has not helped the state's education rating at all.

It just frustrates everyone.

[Fire1]

89. See my post upthread. n/t

[Rosa Luxemburg]

96. stresses them out!

[certainot]

93. the attack on teachers and pub schools starts at your local rw radio station

and goes on every day

if there is any place teachers and teachers unions and concerned americans ought to be protesting it's the cowardly limbaugh hannity radio stations that get to trash them all day long and have been for years, with no one talking back to them. and their local sponsors need to be asked WTF?

[mstinamotorcity]

97. Public school has some problems

The major one is funding. When ever you hear the term " spending cuts " it usually means everything public. Point Blank. When you have more children and fewer dollars to do anything with then you cannot serve the masses well. Our public school teachers are great compared to all of the things they must deal with. Yes environment has a lot to do with a child learning.Yes good teachers who are up to date with educational tools have a lot to do with a child learning. But when you have teachers teaching to the standardized test with no room for any of the other things that are needed to help elevate a child's critical thinking skills and creativity,what is it you want.A child who can pass the test and nothing else. And with the rise of the need for more special education there will soon be a charter system to start tapping into that end of the money tree. There are hundreds of millions of dollars poured into school systems all over the country,why is it that anyone has the nerve to not believe that big corp would not find a way into the public education system. They are using the lack of funds to tell you that the very system that the majority of the country uses is no longer any good for you. Seems a little too repugish for me. Our children can learn in public education. But I do feel its time for some fresh thinking to engage our young people in the critical process of education.And on all the myths that they have told people along the years while they fucked over the education system to grasp the grimy little hands on taxpayer dollars, Ms Hannah you are right. Bullshit.!!!

[KamaAina]

98. “I don’t even go to lotteries anymore, because they break my heart,”

I wouldn't even have been allowed into one, because, you see, I have a disability. Moskowitz' school principal actually stated, for the record, that he was "not a big believer in special ed"! :grr: :banghead:

[cjbgreen]

101. More evidence!

There is a lot, lot, of money invested in promoting this "brand of reform". This is being pushed and propygandized. Facts do not matter. There is one goal, privatize education, get rid of all costs associated with education that do not go into the profit margin (teacher pensions, salaries, transportation). If you own education you can market and sell anything. This is not about reform or improving teaching and learning. It is about money and profits.
This is the face of reform. Seriously!
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/video/2010/08/13/VI2010081305444.html

[Jakes Progress]

102. This shameful legacy of ignorance will be what Obama

will be remembered for. There is not one shred of evidence supporting his program. No republican backed him in the corner. No RW nut job radio host scared him into it. It is not a war that bush trapped him in. It is his own folly, the product of a man who cannot tell the difference between those who know what they are talking about and charlatans.

[Catshrink]

104. Arne failed in Chicago

a fact that is becoming clear and yet his pogrom is being unleashed nationally. It's criminal.

[Jakes Progress]

105. But maybe he is a great b-ball buddy.

A shame that a little court action will kill the future for so many millions of children.

[Catshrink]

106. His jump shot is his #1 job qualification.

[Starry Messenger]

107. I adore your new sig. image.

<3

[Catshrink]

108. Thank you!

:blush:

[Overseas]

109. Another painful K&R. I hate privatization, especially in education.

I don't see why they can't take what bright ideas they love in charters and apply them within the existing system. There are great small businesses that can do that. Take innovations into existing school systems and engage all participants.

It's those damn unions-- is the convenient excuse. Discussions can be readily mischaracterized, as they seem to be in the documentaries coming up.

And it is disgusting to see Democrats going along. Don't they realize yet that the unions are the ones that sustain the social and economic justice in a capitalist society? Don't they understand the wisdom of European capitalism, or Japanese, in which unions are retained to help balance out the gains from productivity increases, and be sure there is a vibrant middle class to buy the goods and services produced in those societies? They bitch about it when their unions have strikes and all, but they are still there. They know the unions provide the momentum for a greed-dominated system to introduce a bit of equity into the mix.

So very disgusting to see Democrats of all people, going along with the disgusting push to Go Cheap on good government and public services. But it is more like-- Pretend to Go Cheap. We gave up Marines guarding our embassies in favor of Blackwater/Xe. They have cost us a lot in terms of our reputation. And other war profiteering has really bankrupted our nation unnecessarily and I had deeply hoped we would have had those Truth & Reconciliation Hearings at least. I thought the national security Truth & Rec would have shown the nation how disastrous entrusting our national security (which could include national health and educational security) to private companies obsessed with quarterly profits really was-- and that would undo the plutocratic grab for every shred of earning power in our society.

I am so sad that this new administration could not have worked harder at introducing exciting innovations into our public schools, and not just set things up among privateers.

[newblewtoo]

111. k/r

I wish I had time to comment more fully but for now thank you for posting this and
:kick:

Wake up people teachers are not the enemy!!

[cjbgreen]

114. Painfully clear

What is clear is that results test scores do not matter, this is a done deal. Declining scores in DC don't matter, horrible results in Chicago don't matter. What does matter is that teacher pensions and health care will no longer exist. The 2nd most powerful union (following the auto industry) is dismantled.
Massive funds are being spent on propaganda, Hollywood movies, Newsweek, PBS, and a media blitz that has been occurring ever sense Arne was appointed. This is a replay of the Shock Doctrine. And there is big money to be made, software, textbooks, computers, and pushing goods and ideas on children. Parents have a hard time saying no to children. Say goodbye to public education. Thomas Jefferson and FDR must be weeping in their graves. And Arne advocates for mayoral control. Imagine what Sara Palin would do unchecked with our schools.

[Jefferson23]

116. Michael Moore is the only chance the teachers and unions may have

left to counter this garbage by Gates and Duncan. I mean it, who else has the money and name to get their documentary out there?

I hope the unions talk seriously to him, and that he listens. Diane Ravitch should be the lead in for the documentary, I want
Duncan approached to have a conversation with her on film...no holds barred.