The bankrupt 'school reform manifesto' of Rhee, Klein, etc.

[proud2BlibKansan]

There are so many things wrong with the new “school reform manifesto” signed by 16 school district chiefs -- including New York’s Joel Klein and Washington’s Michelle Rhee -- and published in The Washington Post that it is hard to know where to start.

There’s the intellectual dishonesty and scapegoating: It starts by saying that everybody is responsible for improving schools but then proceeds to bash teachers, and doesn’t say a single thing about the responsibility of superintendents.

After eight years as the czar of New York City’s public schools, Klein might want to stop blaming other people for his failures.

There's historical myopia: The document says kids are just sitting around waiting for adults to do something, without noting that adults have been pushing eight years for test-centric reform favored by many of these superintendents with disastrous results.

more . . . http://voices.washingtonpost.com/answer-sheet/school-turnaroundsreform/the-bankrupt-reform-manifesto.html?wprss=answer-sheet

[Starry Messenger]

1. Awesome comments at that great article, too.

Posted by: natturner | October 9, 2010 8:52 PM | Report abuse

One chancellor down, one to go.

New York City Chancellor Joel Klink*, I sincerely want you to enjoy your warm fuzzy delusions about "Waiting For Superman" and the power of your "manifesto" because they may not last very long. I mean, did you hear what happened to Michelle Rhee? She's plays a "chancellor" just like you right? And she was one of the stars of your movie right?

<snip>

Correct me if I'm wrong, but didn't she like to mouth the same hypocritical blather you do about education being "the Civil Rights struggle of our generation" while overseeing a thoroughly racist public school system. You may want to retool that Newt Gingrich-ish slogan, paragon of the Civil Rights Movement that he is. It looks like people may be on to you folks. Rhee kind of made it easy. Just before the election she entertained her new teachers with a story about taping the mouths of Black children shut to keep them quiet. According to her, there was blood when the tape came off, but for some reason she wasn't arrested. Would have been off to the rubber room under your leadership right? And I know you are slicker than Michelle, all that CEO training, and you don't have any classroom stories to tell, because you've never set foot in a classroom, except to visit one of your precious charter schools and say hello to Eva (Moskowitz) or Geoff (Canada).

But I digress, because I just have to tell you the most startling thing of all. As a civil rights crusader, you need to really put your ear up close to this essay now. D.C. is broken up into eight or nine wards for purposes of voting. In the wards where white voters are concentrated, four out of five supported Adrian Fenty. I mean Joel, those people love themselves some Bill Gates, some quisling mayor, and a chancellor who will tape those Black kids mouths shut and take a broom to the teachers. But listen, in the African-American wards, where parents actually have their children in the DC public schools, and where the Black teachers replaced by white Teach For America missionaries live, they voted four out of five to run Michelle Rhee out of town!

Joel, you do know that Superman is fictional character? Ironically, he was a D.C. Comics creation. Seems like an omen maybe. You might want to check and see if there's a seat for you on Bloomberg's plane to Bermuda when Superman doesn't show up.

Hot damn. :thumbsup:

[Tatiana]

2. Damn. That comment deserves an award! n/t

[Starry Messenger]

4. I keep rereading it in awe and reverence. n/t

[proud2BlibKansan]

5. Here's another good one:

Teachers don't just magically will themselves to appear in front of a classroom of children on their own volition! They're hired by principals. They're not hired by colleagues. Yet, colleagues (as represented by their unions) are somehow supposed to be responsible for disciplining and policing personnel they had no say in hiring? That's just one of the intellectually dishonest underpinnings of Rhee's screed. This "manifesto" amounts to Rhee's version of Palin's "Don't retreat, RELOAD" philosophy of doubling down when your philosophy and methodology are so thoroughly repudiated as was Rhee's in the defeat of Mayor Fenty. Shameless!

[Starry Messenger]

6. Wow, that is beautiful!

Usually I can't read the comments because they are full of teacher-haters, but the tide seems to be turning lately with some great statements.

[Tatiana]

7. I think teachers have finally had enough.

At least that's my feeling. In my school district, hundreds of tenured, quality, NBC teachers were fired for no reason other than to attack tenure. Our union had to sue the Board in order to stop future firings of this nature.

People always want to blame teachers for the problems with our education system. They never take into account administration. We don't hire anyone. If a teacher is not qualified for the job, the answer is simple - do not grant them tenure; you can refuse to re-hire without difficulty.

We've been through three "CEOs" and yet our school district is still said to be "failing" even after importing all the new TFA recruits and neighborhood school closures and charter openings. As was stated in the WaPo article above, maybe things will start to improve when we stop treating public education like a business and more like a civic enterprise.

[Starry Messenger]

8. And the worst part is knowing that kids are really suffering in this "reform".

We know the stressful effects all of this turmoil and upheaval. It's bad enough to be fired, excoriated, demonized and see your profession belittled...but to also know that it isn't going to change a damn thing for the better is completely heartbreaking. It's either fight back or curl up in a demoralized heap.

[proud2BlibKansan]

3. Wow

LOL!!

[maryf]

9. Superman shot himself, didn't he?

Thanks for posting this Starry; new hero du jour and second lesson today to read the comments (dutifully as much as I can)! :)

[Starry Messenger]

11. Usually it's painful, but there's been some brilliant stuff lately.

A couple of times I've been tempted to quote comments in an OP. :D

[maryf]

12. Is there a reason why not?

seems the same rules would apply? (kick btw!)

[Starry Messenger]

13. I can't figure out how to link them.

Directly I mean. Otherwise I would. :) Good morning maryf!

[proud2BlibKansan]

15. I believe you can just post the link to the article

I've done that when linking comments.

[Starry Messenger]

17. I'll do that then!

Thank you! :hi:

[maryf]

10. K&Rnt

[LWolf]

14. k&r

[hfojvt]

16. here is the actual manifesto

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/10/07/AR2010100705078.html

I really had to laugh at this part.

"When teachers are highly effective -- measured in significant part by how well students are doing academically -- or are willing to take a job in a tough school or in a hard-to-staff subject area such as advanced math or science, we should be able to pay them more."

That does not fit my experience. When I was in the math education department every student there was hoping to teach the advanced math courses. Teaching trig or pre-calc or calculus or matrices and linear algebra to a bunch of motivated smart kids who love math. Ueah, who would want to do that? The course nobody wanted to teach - algebra to a bunch of surly 8th graders who say every day "why do I need to learn this stuff?"

Seriously chancellors, if advanced math is hard to staff. Then call me. I scored 800 (out of 800) on the qualitative GRE and I would be willing to teach advanced math all day for about half of what the average teacher makes.