Oprah enabled the catapulting of propaganda about teacher tenure.

[madfloridian]

This is an interesting summary of her show on Monday by Anthony Cody at Teacher Magazine. More about Cody, info at the link of the article.

After 18 years as a science teacher in inner-city Oakland, Calif., Anthony Cody now works with a team of experienced science teacher-coaches who support the many novice teachers in his school district. He is a National Board-certified teacher and an active member of the Teacher Leaders Network. With education at a crossroads, he invites you to join him in a dialogue on education reform and teaching for change and deep learning.

Turns out he has for some reason been banned from the "Just Others" section of NBC's Facebook page for Education Nation. Interesting. A National board-certified teacher is banned from the section of "just others."

That is the Facebook section to which parents were sidelined for being too outspoken.

NBC has deleted some and moved other comments of parents (including me) about the lack of parent voice in their upcoming "Education Nation" events off of their main Facebook page and onto a section called "just others."

Wow. Just others. What a slap in the face.

NBC's reason for censoring and sidelining parents? "In order to keep the conversation focused and allow everyone to have their voice heard, we will be moderating the discussion by deleting repetitive comments."

Right. They obviously want the conversation focused on their privatizing, teacher-bashing, "Waiting for Superman" agenda and not on what parents really want, which is well-funded, well-supported schools open to every child in their neighborhoods.

Read the comments there. People are noticing he has been banned.

Now to the propaganda catapulting about teacher tenure. I have never seen anything like the way the attacks on teacher job security have escalated since Arne was put in charge of education.

From Anthony Cody at Teacher Magazine:

Quotes from Oprah's show about teacher tenure.

And why are these schools so hopeless? Because they have bad teachers that are impossible to fire, that's why. Michele Rhee describes teacher tenure as "a job for life." Oprah says "After two years you have a job for life and you can't be fired! Who does that?" Davis Guggenheim, the movie's producer, intones "Everybody gets it. It's automatic. You show up for two years, you got tenure."

That is a flat-out lie. In my district, which is known for a strong union, teachers do not get tenure unless their principal wants them to. Many teachers are released at the end of their first or second year. Tenure is by no means automatic. And there are indeed ways to get rid of tenured teachers, who do not have "jobs for life," but rather have rights to due process. In fact, a few moments earlier, we were told "Michelle Rhee has fired a thousand teachers and principals," many of whom had tenure. We do need to improve our evaluation systems, and I have written some suggestions here. But this is a lie, and it should not have been presented without a challenge.

In Florida it is three years before you can even be considered for tenure. Three years worth of evaluations and observations. And with tenure you most certainly can be fired for cause.

He scorns Oprah's reassurance that they are only talking about "bad" teachers. So do I.

Oprah tries to reassure those of us who might be having a reaction to this.

"Everybody knows I love good teachers, and there are so many thousands of you great ones in this country, so we're not talking about you, if you are a good teacher. Okay? So save your time gettin' upset. And what I know is that you who are the good and great teachers out there, you also want good and great teachers, because you really care about the kids."

The answer of one of the kids who was featured in Waiting for Superman is so odd that it really sounds practiced.

Oprah asks, "If you had gone to your neighborhood high school, what would have happened?" Emily replies,

"The thing is, I'm very smart and intellectual, but I don't test well. If I had gone to my neighborhood school I would have been put in the low classes with the teachers who, you know, they have their tenure, so they're protected, but they're not really excited to teach you. I'd be with the kids who wouldn't be willing to learn. I feel like being in that environment I'd be on the road to failure, and it breaks my heart, and I'd hate to have to go to a school where everyone else wouldn't learn."

Oprah: "You articulated that so well!"

A couple of comments from Facebook Just Others:

Quell some rumors here--is it true that you blocked Anthony Cody's Letters to Obama link, or posts, or questions? You don't block responses, do you?
23 minutes ago

.."Has Anthony Cody been blocked from this site? His Teacher's Letters to Obama group has some great solutions to the education crisis in America. If he is blocked, why?
about an hour ago · Comment

It's shocking to me how hard it is now to defend public education and teachers. Today I have had to defend myself from being told I sound like a teabagger, that I am spouting garbage, and not very bright.

If that is what it takes to defend public education and teachers, I guess I am up to doing it.

[proud2BlibKansan]

1. Five years in my state

And even with tenure, they still treat you like shit and pay you far less than you're worth. And every day, there are new hoops to jump through.

Sure there are a handful of 'bad' teachers who need to go but the admins are incapable of compiling paperwork and submitting it on time so the ones who need to leave get to stay. But tenure has nothing to do with that. It's just Rhee's excuse for being an incompetent administrator.

The ones who do leave, voluntarily, do so after years of frustration in dealing with a screwed up system where what is best for kids is at the bottom of the list.

I could literally fill a blog every day with stories. Maybe one day I will.

Oh and let's not forget, the answer is boarding schools. Like Exeter. Or Andover. Yep, let's put these poor little children in class with the George Bushes of the country. That will solve ALL of our problems. LOL

[madfloridian]

2. Oh, I won't forget. Trust me.

"oh and let's not forget, the answer is boarding schools. Like Exeter. Or Andover. Yep, let's put these poor little children in class with the George Bushes of the country. That will solve ALL of our problems. LOL"

I won't forget.

:hi:

[Pisces]

5. I won't either.

[Name removed]

4. Deleted message

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

[madfloridian]

6. Add pathetic. You can continue this on your own.

Me and my lofty ideals are updating our list.

[proud2BlibKansan]

11. I wasn't responding to you

I was responding to madfloridian.

Sorry to burst your bubble. I see you thrive on attention.

[Norrin Radd]

3. That kid was obviously scripted.

[Starry Messenger]

7. Good counter-page on Facebook.

Proud2Blib put the link in the Ed forum this week and it's my favorite page now: http://www.facebook.com/MiseducationNation They linked to your journal today too, mad!

[madfloridian]

9. Great site, thanks! Miseducation nation...

http://www.facebook.com/MiseducationNation

:hi:

[proud2BlibKansan]

12. You're being quoted all over the internet, mad!

Thanks for all your hard work. I so appreciate what you do. You and my other teacher friends here are the main reason I have remained here and haven't left. :hug:

[Starry Messenger]

14. *megadittos*

:thumbsup:

[madfloridian]

10. Outstanding. Just read this post there. Powerful

"I just got off the phone with the admin over at Education Nation's Facebook page. He is a nice guy.

"He asked that I take down this page, and I told I would not. I won't because our voices need to be heard, and they are not being heard at his place, yet.

He told me he needs to work with his team to re-instate those of us who got banned--some were banned because of the complaints of others. I said he should ignore those complaints unless he and NBC want to remain seen as teacher-bashers in the eyes of those of us here.

I did tell him that if I saw evidence that those who were banned were now back, and if he could make it clear on his site that he welcomes all perspectives--even perspectives that some don't like--I would tell all of you dear "Like"ers that this page is no longer necessary. We're not there--yet. So for now, this page will remain. Until this page becomes moot, we will keep up our efforts."

:applause:

The NBC guy asked them to take their page down? What nerve!!

[Starry Messenger]

13. Insane nerve.

They want to control all aspects of the narrative. It's getting as creepy as Amway. Dare to criticize and you are targeted and silenced. I'm glad he's sticking to his guns.

[madfloridian]

15. Asking teachers to take their sites down is a scary move.

It's terrible NBC tried to do that.

[Dappleganger]

31. It's the WRONG move.

Don't diss the teachers. Remember SB6 and how pissed they were!

[ibegurpard]

18. thanks...i liked it

[madfloridian]

42. Is the site down or is Facebook itself down?

[madfloridian]

8. Heartfelt comments at Cody's blog.

"Did Oprah or Mr. Gates note that the Justice Department is investigating charter schools who do not accept all children and tend to discriminate on the basis of disability and ELL status?
The issue with the programming on the part of NBC and Oprah is that a) the spin is directed toward the voting public who may not have any problem with the local public schools their children attend or their own kids' teachers, but might be alerted to the issue of how someone has to "Save America's Tough Schools" - the cover blurb of a Readers' Digest issue a few years back- aimed at mainstream Americans. The voting public doesn't realize that public education enculturated all children, even those of immigrants (my mother was one) and taught them English without segregating them for 4 instructional hours per day (the bulk of learning time in schools) that is current policy forced upon teachers by state-mandated policies.

My mother and her five siblings' household was one where English was NOT spoken and her factory worker parents (who were illiterate) couldn't help her with homework. Her public school CREDENTIALED teacher, taught all subjects to all children and she learned English, and speaks and writes it fluently. Today two of her daughters hold terminal degrees, (Ed. D. and M.D.)

My mother was not subjected to a constant barrage of testing that narrows the curriculum for her own grandchildren, today.

[leftstreet]

16. K&R

Thank you for your tireless efforts on education posts here. This stuff isn't even near the radar on the M$M.

DU is fortunate to have you and a few other members researching and compiling all this.

:thumbsup:

[madfloridian]

17. The comments of outrage continue at Oprah's site tonight.

Here's the link to one page, maybe the latest. Up to over 130 pages now.

http://www.oprah.com/package_pages/education/conversation.html

"Posted: Tue 9/21/2010 11:57 PM
am watching the show again and I want to rip my hair out. Ms. Rhee and Mr. Guggenheim have their facts wrong. I am not angry and incredibly sad because of the negative words towards teachers. I am devastated because misinformation was given on your show. As teachers, we face adversity EVERY day, and to know that millions of viewers now actually believe that tenure means a job for life, among other things, is sad. This uproar by teachers is not simply a knee-jerk reaction to criticism, as I'm sure we all agree that there are certainly bad teachers out there, just as in any profession. The issue is that the information on your show was incorrect. And now people believe it. I beg of you, please do a show about the realities of teaching. Lets stop being politicaly correct and tell the truth. That is the angle of this show, right? So let TEACHERS tell the truth. Of course, if I speak out against parents, I will get fired. Yes, fired and I am a tenured 12th year teacher. I can be fired. Surprise, general public."

Posted: Tue 9/21/2010 11:49 PM

.."OPRAH!!! I am appalled that you did not do your homework before displaying to the world your ignorance of what the real problems of America's school system and Michelle Rhee are. I am an active parent in Washington, D.C's public school system and an educator in the charter school system and one of the major problems is racism and everybody wants to dance around it. You really and honestly need to look into Michelle Rhee and Hardy Middle School. Have Michelle Rhee explain to you why she was having secret meetings with the White families of Georgetown promising to give them Hardy Middle School by kicking out (through lottery) excelling (AYP passed) students, because they were predominately African-American and from the lower income wards! Michelle Rhee talks about this great pay raise....those words sound AWESOME to those who are not filling the shoes of teachers, assistants, principals etc. What she doesn't mention is that many of us have students come to us two and three grade levels behind, as many others have said, no parental involvement and really, at the end of the day politicians who just really don't care, forgetting that they were once taught. So is it truly fair that I am "judged" based on the test scores of children who are being failed by the system? Yes, the system is completely broke, but no it is NOT the fault of teachers. Most of the charter schools here in the district are horrific!!!!!, they are all about the money and see dollar signs not students!"

[laughingliberal]

21. Good!

Perhaps she'll consider a show presenting the other side of this issue.

[olegramps]

27. Don't hold your breath.

[Dappleganger]

32. She's a corporatist.

They make her feel great about herself.

[EFerrari]

19. K&R

[McCamy Taylor]

20. Teachers are being scapegoated for administration decisions that have resulted

in a two tier education system, with poor schools in minority and poor districts and well funded schools in white and wealthy districts. If your kids go to one of the former, of course you are mad. You pay the same property tax that everyone else does, but your kids do not get the same education opportunity.

However, teachers do not make the decisions about classroom size, equipment or curriculum. That is the administrators bowing to public pressure.

Instead of blaming teachers, maybe concerned parents should run for school boards.

As much as a like Oprah, she sure loves to ride a wave of public opinion. Do not look to her for alternative viewpoints. She gives her audience exactly what they want.

[zehnkatzen]

22. Oprah: Just Another Part Of The Problem

The root of this difficulty is that Oprah tends to believe whatever she's told and only corrects or retracts anything if it makes her look foolish - like the James Frey autobio.

I am not an Oprah fan. For a very long time, as far as I'm concerned, she forwards someone else's agenda and promulgated a whole lot of foolishness because she's powerful enough to believe that she knows what other people are talking about, when the actuality is she'll promote something based on passion rather than smarts.

[chervilant]

23. OMG!!!

When did Oprah lose interest in advocacy and become the clueless hedonist I watched duplicitously bash 'bad teachers' as the problem du jour in public education?! And, who IS Michele Rhee, and how can she possibly aver that teachers are impossible to fire when she bragged that she has single-handedly fired over a 1,000 'bad teachers'?!

And, we're supposed to believe anything that comes out of either pie hole?!

[JDPriestly]

24. Does Oprah's job ever end? She's the one who seems to have

unending tenure. Why not give someone else a chance, Oprah?

[ooglymoogly]

43. Oprah; Queen of dumb down, dumbed down boob tube. nt

[JDPriestly]

25. Why don't we just give all employees due process rights?

I've never understood why we couldn't do that.

Why should an employee who has done nothing wrong be fired at will?

Why do we have at will employment for anyone?

[earcandle]

26. I have to admit it is pretty disgusting when you get the courage to stand out for your fellow men

and women in general, only to find yourself backlashed by
those very people who are among those you hope to help.

But you know what, fuck them.  I am still going to make a
difference and feel grand anyway... so just fuck off, losers.

That is what this guy has the opportunity to consider as well.


And thanks for letting us know who one of our real heroes is. 

It will get confusing.

Just know this:

The ability to deal with ambiguity is a sign of mental health.

And also, communicating about it asap works best no matter
whose precious ego gets hurt. 

[xchrom]

28. recommend

[Fire1]

29. K&R

[KitSileya]

30. K&R

Thanks, madfloridian, for reminding me, after half a day spent on a useless seminar on the research on class room control (what, they didn't think we teachers actually keep up to date on research concerning our own profession?), that things could be a heckuvalot worse than they are here in Norway. Whenever I complain about my own work situation, I think about how teachers in the US have it right now, and count my blessings and keep on fighting to improve our schools even more. Your work here on DU is not unappreciated!

[madfloridian]

33. I have been wondering about school systems in other countries.

I appreciate your comment so much. I have heard that this privatization movement is international, gone global so to speak.

I found myself reading an article the other day that was talking about some companies, one was Edison, that were controlling the schools so much. I realized soon it was an article about British schools...I need to find the article.

[Starry Messenger]

37. Speaking of that:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=219x28662

I posted that in the Ed forum this am. It's not an article, it's a brochure on the companies controlling the schools in England. Also from Facebook. :D http://www.facebook.com/pages/Anti-Academies-Alliance

[madfloridian]

38. Thanks, and I found this on business running schools in UK

I love how they mention it is being done by politicians.

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/article7082058.ece#cid=OTC-RSS&attr=797084

"Businesses are looking to revolutionise state education by bidding to run hundreds of schools, as politicians open the door to new education providers.

Companies want to create national chains of state schools, eclipsing the current groups of charitable academy sponsors, which tend to be small and geographically based.

Although both the Government and the Conservatives say that organisations driven by profit should not run schools, both have created a path for them to enter the sector. Governing bodies of new, or existing, schools can appoint a contractor to operate the school on their behalf — a model used widely in the US.

VT Group, Serco and EdisonLearning are among companies that have applied to be accredited schools providers under a vetting system established by Ed Balls, the Schools Secretary, allowing them to be involved in running of a handful of schools."

[KitSileya]

47. In Norway, they've been very restrictive.

Most private schools are alternative paedagogy - Montessori, Steiner, or some Catholic schools. They have really strict rules, they have to be non-profit if they're K-10, the years that are obligatory schooling in Norway. High schools are less restrictive, but the Swedish John Bauer charter schools, who tried to establish themselves, had to close many of their schools very quickly because they weren't using enough of their money on the students and their financial records were a mess.

The political parties on the right are all for privatization, of course, but the left coalition government was re-elected last fall. The problem in Norway is that the last 20 years of education have been wasted because of too-leftist educational politics where they've been too focused on students' rights and too little on students' duties. The really left parties have tried to remove grades altogether, let everyone move on to the next year regardless of whether they've passed their subjects, and generally felt that knowledge was less important than socialization. This was fronted by the main teacher's union, who seriously claimed that teachers didn't need to be educated in subjects they taught, as their most important task was to guide the student to find knowledge on their own (Henri Holec's learner's autonomy.) In fact, it was an advantage, according to some of them, that the teacher knew as little as the students, because then he could mentor them better. I am organized in a smaller union for teachers with master's degrees (the pre-2006 reform master' degrees that were the equivalent half phds, unlike the current degrees, which are US-compliant) who are fighting for stricter education requirements for teachers, stronger demands on students, and better status for higher education in general.

(edit:spelling and grammar - just home from a loooong day at work.)

[madfloridian]

34. Good! Anthony Cody got unblocked by Education Nation.

http://www.facebook.com/educationnation?ref=ts

Anthony Cody I appreciate being able to post once again. Here is the blog I wrote last night.

http://blogs.edweek.org/teachers/living-in-dialogue/2010/09/education_nation_frustration_w.html

Update: I have now been unblocked. I do not know if that is true for others who have had this problem. Several questions remain. Why were we blocked for several days in the first place? Why did it take going public in this manner to bring about a correction? And why do the panels and Summit continue to be almost entirely lacking the voices of anyone willing to step out of line with the Department of Education's agenda? For more, read on:

The mission statement for the project states:

Education Nation seeks to engage the public, through thoughtful dialogue, in pursuit of the shared goal of providing every American with an opportunity to pursue the best education in the world.

When I discovered the Education Nation Facebook page a few days ago, I went there, clicked "like," and posted a link to the Teachers' Letters to Obama Facebook group, inviting the people there to come visit us and discover the rich discussions we have been having regarding the future of education in our country. We have had teach-ins this summer with guests like Dr. Yong Zhao, former Nebraska Commissioner of Education Doug Christensen, Diane Ravitch and many more. Over the summer, we developed a set of seven principles to guide Congress in reauthorizing NCLB, and collected numerous letters from teachers and parents expressing our views. These letters are now available for download and distribution here.

I am not a Facebook member, can't see the letters, but looks like are a couple of thousand members at the Teachers' Letters to Obama.]

[blondeatlast]

35. Oprah's dangerous. She leads a faithful flock while having no idea that she is being led by

the nose by others spouting pretty words that mask silly, often dangerous, ideas--and her followers eat it all up with a spoon because she parrots those ideas.

[madfloridian]

36. Matt Lauer to interview Obama for Education Nation on TV

You can bet your bottom dollar I will watch it and listen carefully.

From Education Nation Facebook:

http://www.facebook.com/educationnation?ref=ts

"Education Equality Project As a part of NBC's Education Nation, President Obama and Matt Lauer will have a one-on-one interview on the state of education in America next Monday (9/27) at 8pm EST. Got a question? Submit it via this link. Hats off to NBC for devoting serious air time, money, energy, and star power to the crisis that is education in our country."

In case you wonder about EEP and why they would cheer the star power and serious air time devoted to change??

Look at the signatories: Reformers galore.

Makes one realize the uphill battle being fought by teachers. The rich and powerful will rule education.

http://eep.bluestatedigital.com/who_we_are/the_signatories

Arlene Ackerman, School District of Philadelphia Superintendent

Jeanne Allen, The Center for Education Reform President

Andrés A. Alonso, Baltimore City Public Schools CEO

Seth Andrews, Democracy Prep Public Schools Founder & Superintendent

Ben Austin, Parent Revolution Executive Director

Tiki Barber, Tiki Ventures LLC Chairman

Steve Barr, Green Dot Public Schools Founder and Chairman

Michael Bennet, U.S. Senator (D-CO) and former Superintendent of the Denver Public Schools

Richard Berlin, Harlem RBI Executive Director and Chairman of DREAM Charter School

Reverend A.R. Bernard, Christian Cultural Center Senior Pastor

Michael R. Bloomberg, New York City Mayor

Tom Boasberg, Denver Public Schools Superintendent

Cory A. Booker, Newark Mayor

Derrell Bradford, E3 Executive Director

Rev. David Brawley, St. Paul Community Baptist Church Associate Pastor

David L. Brewer III, Former Los Angeles Unified School District Superintendent

Jean-Claude Brizard, Rochester City School District Superintendent

Eli Broad, The Eli and Edythe Broad Foundation Founder

Richard Buery Jr., Children's Aid Society President and CEO

Jeb Bush, Former Governor of Florida

Kaleem Caire, Urban League of Greater Madison President and CEO

Sarah Calderon, Casita Maria Center for Arts and Education Executive Director

Geoffrey Canada, Harlem Children's Zone President and CEO

Marlene Canter, former Los Angeles Unified School District School Board member

Victor Capellan, Dominican American National Roundtable (DANR) President

Thomas W. Carroll, Foundation for Education Reform & Accountability President

Meria Carstarphen, Austin Independent School District Superintendent

Michael Casserly, Council of the Great City Schools Executive Director

Julián Castro, San Antonio Mayor

Christopher D. Cerf, Sangari Global Education President and CEO

Kevin P. Chavous, Black Alliance for Educational Options Chairman

Iris Chen, "I Have a Dream" Foundation President and CEO

Stacey Childress, Gates Foundation Deputy Director of Education

Henry Cisneros, Former Secretary of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and Former Mayor of San Antonio

Jeffrey Cohen, Educate, Inc. CEO

Jordan Coleman, Youth Filmmaker, actor, student

Anthony J. Colón, The Avanti Strategy Group Managing Partner

Bob Compton, Two Million Minutes Executive Producer

John Conyers Jr., U.S. House of Representatives (D-MI)

Ramon Cortines, Los Angeles Unified School District Superintendent and former New York City Schools Chancellor

Michael M. Crow, Arizona State University President

Richard M. Daley, Chicago Mayor

Timothy Daly, The New Teacher Project President

Marc Ecko, Marc Ecko Enterprises Founder and Chief Creative Officer

Jonah Edelman, Stand for Children Co-Founder and CEO

Chaka Fattah, U.S. House of Representatives (D-PA)

Mike Feinberg, Knowledge is Power Program (KIPP) Co-Founder

Adrian M. Fenty, Washington, D.C. Mayor

Terry Fields, State Representative (D-FL)

Chester Finn, Thomas B. Fordham Institute President and Senior Fellow at the Hoover Institution, Stanford University

Harold E. Ford, Jr., Democratic Leadership Council Chairman

Yolie Flores, Los Angeles Unified School District Board of Education Vice President

Howard Fuller, Former Milwaukee Public Schools Superintendent, Distinguished Professor of Education and Director of the Institute for the Transformation of Learning at Marquette University

Hector Gesualdo, Aspira New York Executive Director

Newt Gingrich, American Solutions for Winning the Future General Chairman

Deborah A. Gist, Rhode Island Education Commissioner

Terry Grier, Houston Independent School District Superintendent

Peter Groff, National Alliance for Public Charter Schools President & CEO

Dr. Beverly L. Hall, Atlanta Public Schools Superintendent

Phil Handy, President & CEO, Strategic Industries

Eric Hanushek, Hoover Institution, Stanford University Senior Fellow

David Harris, The Mind Trust President and CEO

Kati Haycock, The Education Trust President

Kristy Hebert, Advance Innovative Education CEO

John Hickenlooper, Denver Mayor

Jim Hunt, Former Governor of North Carolina

Walter Isaacson, Aspen Institute President and CEO

Bill Jackson, GreatSchools President

Craig M. Johnson, State Senator (D-NY)

Kevin Johnson, Sacramento Mayor

Alex Johnston, Connecticut Coalition for Achievement Now (ConnCAN) CEO

Jason Kamras, 2005 National Teacher of the Year & D.C. Public Schools Director of Human Capital Strategy

John Katzman, The Princeton Review and 2tor, Inc Founder

Lisa Graham Keegan, Founder, Education Breakthrough Network

Caroline Kim Oh, iMentor President

Joel I. Klein, New York City Schools Chancellor, Education Equality Project Co-Chair

Matthew Klein, Blue Ridge Foundation New York Executive Director

Suzanne T. Kubach, Policy Innovators in Education Network Executive Director

Marc Lampkin, Strong American Schools - ED in '08 Former Executive Director

John Legend, Entertainer & Education Activist

Ernest A. Logan, Council of Schools Supervisors & Administrators President

Michael L. Lomax, UNCF -- United Negro College Fund President and CEO, Education Equality Project Co-Chair

Carlos Louimet, New America Alliance Chair of the Board of Directors

Marc Porter Magee, 50CAN President

Michael Magee, Rhode Island Mayoral Academies Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer

Dannel Malloy, Stamford, CT Mayor

John McCain, U.S. Senator (R-AZ)

Mike McGalliard, MLA Partner Schools President and CEO

Daniel J. McKee, Cumberland, RI Mayor & Board Chair of Rhode Island Mayoral Academies

Rev. James Meeks, Illinois State Senator & Illinois Legislative Black Caucus Chairman

Matt Miller, Author, The Tyranny of Dead Ideas

Bill E. Milliken, Communities in Schools Founder and Vice Chairman

Ted Mitchell, NewSchools Venture Fund CEO

Sydney Morris, Educators 4 Excellence Co-Founder and Co-Executive Director

Alisha Thomas Morgan, Georgia General Assembly State Representative

Scott Morgan, Education Pioneers Founder and CEO

Eva Moskowitz, Success Charter Network Founder and CEO

James Mtume, KISS FM Radio "Open Line" Host

Janet Murguía, National Council of La Raza (NCLR) President and CEO, Education Equality Project Co-Chair

Monique Nadeau, Hope Street Group Executive Director

Michael Nutter, Philadelphia Mayor

Brian G. Osborne, School District of South Orange & Maplewood Superintendent

Rod Paige, Former U.S. Secretary of Education (2001-2005)

Paul G. Pastorek, Louisiana State Department of Education Superintendent

Theresa Pena, Denver Board of Education President

Bart Peterson, Former Mayor of Indianapolis

Earl Phalen, Reach Out and Read CEO and Summer Advantage USA Founder

Dianne Piché, U.S. Department of Education Deputy Assistant Secretary in the Office of Civil Rights

Jared Polis, U.S. House of Representatives Colorado Second Congressional District, and former Chairman of the Colorado State Board of Education

Charles B. Reed, The California State University Chancellor

Michelle Rhee, Washington, D.C. Schools Chancellor

Greg Richmond, National Association of Charter School Authorizers President & CEO

Gerard Robinson, Virginia Secretary of Education

Roy Romer, The College Board Senior Advisor to the President

Amy Rosen, Network for Teaching Entrepreneurship President and CEO

Andrew Rotherham, Bellwether Education Partners Founding Partner

Hank Rubin, Institute for Collaborative Leadership President and Founder

Arthur Rothkopf, U.S. Chamber of Commerce Senior Vice President

Edward Rust, State Farm Insurance Companies Chairman and CEO

Abe Saavedra, Houston Public Schools Superintendent

Dave Saba, American Board for Certification of Teacher Excellence President

Madeleine Sackler, Filmmaker, The Lottery

Gwendolyn Samuel, State of Black CT Alliance Co-Founder and Chairwoman

Lucinda Sanders, National Center for Women and Information Technology CEO and Co-Founder

Jon Schnur, New Leaders for New Schools CEO and Co-Founder

Van Schoales, Education Reform Now Executive Director

J.B. Schramm, College Summit CEO and Founder

Eric Schwarz, Citizen Schools CEO and Co-Founder

Rev. Al Sharpton, National Action Network President

Colin Smith, Change for Kids Executive Director & CEO

Eric Smith, Florida Department of Education Commissioner; Former Superintendent, Charlotte Mecklenburg, NC

Nelson Smith, National Alliance for Public Charter Schools Sr. Advisor

Shirley Smith, Hunter College Associate Professor

Margaret Spellings, Margaret Spellings and Company President & CEO; Former US Secretary of Education

Joshua P. Starr, Stamford Public Schools Superintendent

Evan Stone, Educators 4 Excellence Co-Founder and Co-Executive Director

Cate Swinburn, DC Public Education Fund President

Whitney Tilson, Democrats for Education Reform Co-Founder

Dacia Toll, Achievement First Co-CEO and President

Paul Vallas, New Orleans Recovery School District Superintendent

Tom Vander Ark, Revolution Learning Managing Partner and Vander Ark/Ratcliff Partner

Antonio R. Villaraigosa, Los Angeles Mayor

Kate Walsh, National Council on Teacher Quality President

J.C. Watts, Jr., Strong American Schools - ED in '08 National Spokesman

Martin R. West, Harvard Graduate School of Education, Assistant Professor

Chad Wick, KnowledgeWorks Foundation President and CEO

Amy Wilkins, Education Trust Vice President for Government Affairs and Communication

Roger Wilkins, Civil rights leader, professor of history, and journalist

Joe Williams, Democrats for Education Reform Executive Director

Steven Wolfe Pereira, MediaVest Multicultural Senior Vice President and Managing Director

Raul Yzaguirre, Nominee for Ambassadorship to the Dominican Republic

[Starry Messenger]

39. Holy shit!

All the assholes have joined forces. Gulp. That's like the Death Star.

[cjbgreen]

40. One of the most damaging directions

I agree with Starry Messenger. Privatizing education and I include (non-profit) and advocating for Mayors to run schools, politicizes education and will contribute to a system that responds primarily to corporate interests. Sadly the diverting/shifting of dollars to Charter schools results in public schools becoming less effective. The school year is shortened, class sizes are increased and teachers must teach to a test that limits and undermines critical thinking and creativity which leads to an increased drop out rate. There is a horrible misinformation campaign or really propaganda campaign that is using corporate media. I believe that we were played by Obama and Rahm Emanuel and that education was handed over to Eli Broad, Gates, etc.

[madfloridian]

41. It's a scary list of names. Here's more about EEP and other related groups.

Timeline of Sharpton, Klein and Bloomberg's educational political machinations

"Today, in the Daily News, Adam Lisberg reports that Mayor Bloomberg gave $110,000 to Al Sharpton in 2008, apparently to gain his assent for overturning term limits, money that was laundered through the Education Equity Project, Joel Klein’s vanity non-profit that supposedly works for education reform.

This revelation comes on top of the earlier finding that Sharpton received a secret contribution of $500,000 from a hedge fund to join EEP in the first place, funds that were washed through Education Reform Now, a pro-charter lobbying group, to help him avoid federal indictment for tax fraud. Below is a timeline of events."June 4, 2008: According to an article in the NY Times, Bloomberg and his advisers are exploring overturning term limits so he can run for a third term.

June 11, 2008: Education Equality Project, co-chaired by Joel Klein and Al Sharpton, is launched at a DC press conference.

Sharpton says: "There have been a lot of old alliances being protected, and the children are not being protected," he said. "And if we're going to move forward, we're going to have to be able to have new alliances here — that might mean some old relationships with teachers unions, principals unions and all are going to be a little troubled.”

..."October 17, 2008: The National Action Network receives another $60,000 payment from EEP. The same day, the NY Times reveals that the mayor and his top aides have asked leaders of community and arts organizations which have received contributions from Bloomberg and/or city funding to testify on behalf of overturning term limits during the City Council hearings. At least 11 Doe Fund employees, testified in favor of the mayor’s plan, without identifying their employer, describing themselves only as neighborhood residents. The DOE Fund also shipped homeless men to the hearings in support. It is later revealed that just weeks after the hearings, Bloomberg gave at least $5 million to the DOE Fund, and a year later, less than 48 hours before he was sworn in for a third term, another $5 million."

Much more of the timeline at the link.

[Fire1]

44. Well, John Conyers just lost my vote. n/t

[Jakes Progress]

45. Oprah only did this show

because the ideas come from Obama (via the Chicago fake educator). If this kind of shit wasn't sanctioned by Obama, it never would have gotten on the air. Oprah has argued against this kind of crap before. Now that Obama is selling it, she is buying.

We voted. Then we got screwed.

[madfloridian]

46. Apparently Education Nation has ended the "Just Others"...

link and put back some posts at the regular site.