Head of charter school praised in Superman tells UK ed sec that unions "kill" innovation.

[madfloridian]

Geoffrey Canada is being given federal funds to grow more of his schools throughout the country. He has close ties to this adminstration.

His attitude toward teachers' unions is appalling, and it reflects the lack of respect for them that is showing in Arne Duncan's actions. In fact Arne makes no secret he will award money to those districts willing to buck the teachers' unions.

So Geoffrey Canada while in the UK made the comments about unions.

From the Guardian UK

Barack Obama's education pioneer says union inflexibility is a barrier to schools reform

Nice, huh?


Geoffrey Canada warns Michael Gove that unions can obstruct education reforms Photograph: Kevin Winter/Getty Images

Geoffrey Canada, the man credited with turning around black under-achievement in Harlem and the star guest at conference, has told Michael Gove that the teaching unions are the biggest threat to the education secretary's reforms.

Canada has been hailed as a pioneer in education by Barack Obama. In an interview with the Guardian, Canada said he had told Gove that in the UK the unions constituted an inflexible brake which was "killing" the innovation necessary to transform children's lives, and that they "cover up" for failing teachers.

Canada said: "Our charter schools were not unionised. My contract with my teachers is fair, and is two pages. The union contract is 200 pages. You cannot manage your business when you cannot make any decision without going back to 200 pages worth of stuff.

"So that is inflexible. It kills innovation; it stops anything from changing. The only thing that we can do is what we did last year, and last year was another failure. So that to me makes no sense."

He has said the full responsibility for the child's learning rests on the teacher, and he fires teachers if the students don't do well.

He is getting 200 million from Obama's administration, and the president is asking for Congress to give him more next year.

Geoffrey Canada's Harlem schools to be replicated around country...200 million of public money.

In 1997, Geoffrey Canada founded Harlem Children's Zone, a comprehensive system of programs and charter schools designed to help Harlem children succeed. Children enter the program as infants and graduate college-bound. In just over 10 years, Canada revolutionized a broken education system in a community where poverty and drop out rates ran high.

The program's incredible success has made Canada one of the nation's leading advocates in education reform. Canada is profiled in Davis Guggenheim's education documentary, "Waiting For 'Superman.' "

Now, the federal government has announced Canada's program will be reproduced in 20 communities across America.

President Obama has requested $200 million in his fiscal 2011 budget to help implement the 21 projects that are being planned this year, along with $10 million for additional planning grants.

As it turns out though, even as Waiting for Superman is touting the greatness of this school.....that there are some real problems with low scoring.

Just like one might see in public schools. Just like we are seeing in many charter schools already.

When you claim to have the magic solution you best produce the scores....if that is the almighty standard you set.

Model School in 'Waiting for 'Superman'' May Not Be So Model After All

"Waiting for 'Superman,'" Davis Guggenheim's much-buzzed-about new education documentary, zeroes in on a "cradle-to-college" education model developed by Harlem activist Geoffrey Canada. Canada's Harlem Children's Zone interweaves a network of charter schools with parenting programs, child health care, and college counseling services in the hopes of breaking a generational cycle of poverty. His model has received enormous amounts of publicity from the media and praise from the federal government, with the Obama Administration distributing grants for neighborhoods to imitate Canada's integrated approach.

But in a New York Times article today, Sharon Otterman highlights concerns about the Harlem Children's Zone efficacy, at least in terms of testing:

But most of the seventh graders, now starting their third year in the school, are still struggling. Just 15 percent passed the 2010 state English test, a number that Mr. Canada said was “unacceptably low” but not out of line with the school’s experience in lifting student performance over time. Several teachers have been fired as a result of the low scores, and others were reassigned, he said.

Giving administrators the ability to fire teachers for poor performance is one of the central suggestions of "Waiting for 'Superman.' " Over all, 38 percent of Promise Academy I's students in third through sixth grade passed the 2010 English test under the state's new guidelines, placing it in the lower half of charter schools citywide, and below the city's overall passing rate of 42 percent. In Harlem as a whole, just 29 percent of children passed.

When you make high stakes testing the goal of education, when you think that firing teachers will solve all your problems, when you blame teachers' union for all the ills of the schools....better to have proof before you start getting featured in documentaries condemning the public education system of this country.

[proud2BlibKansan]

1. And he doesn't really believe in special education

[JDPriestly]

25. Mr. Canada is just another person with an authoritarian streak

who wants to impose his regimen on other people.

Some of the early charter schools were simply schools within the public school system that experimented with a more individualistic, freer form of education and especially of curriculum and classroom structure. But now charter schools are mostly very regimented institutions that resemble the old-style schools that crushed the imaginations, ingenuity and creativity of their students.

We will invest a lot of money in this fad, and it will fail miserably. It is the revenge of the administrators. They already have too much power in education. Give the power back to the classroom teachers, the parents and local school boards and all will be fine.

[MichiganVote]

2. Another SCAM artist.

[Starry Messenger]

3. I'm sure Michael Gove lapped it up.

He's the UK's Arne Duncan.

[Orlandodem]

4. This is why I will not be voting for Obama in 2012.

The Bush/Obama education plan is not working! Period!

Teachers helped put Obama into the WH. He has stabbed us in the back and smiled while twisting the knife.

Obama is toast in 2012. It's not good policy to alienate a major part of your base.

[hendo]

5. So, will you be abstaining?

You do realize that the current president usually runs for re-election unopposed, right?

[Orlandodem]

29. Very likely. Obama is taking Bush's education policies and pumping them with steroids.

The Bush/Obama education agenda is nothing more than an attack on teachers. I helped get Obama elected and I can get him defeated in 2012. I feel like he has stabbed me in my back and I am far from the only teacher who feels this way.

[callous taoboy]

60. I'm with you on that. This teacher mistakenly took him at his word when he advocated

for multiple forms of assessment instead of a one-size-fits-all test.

[chervilant]

64. Well, now,

Let's hope those of us who feel this way can accomplish an enormous revision of Obama's 'reform effort du jour' before we are put in the unenviable position of abstaining from voting or finding another party's candidate to support.

[donco6]

6. Holy Shit.

Our 80% free/reduced schools score far better than that, and we have some listed on "turnaround" here in Colorado. And he gets a pass?

[Starry Messenger]

7. And a trip to England.

If his scores go down even more, maybe he'll get to meet the Queen.

[donco6]

8. This just makes it so obvious that the whole thing is about abolishing the union.

Great OP.

[Starry Messenger]

11. +1000

[madfloridian]

12. Most definitely it is.

[Fire1]

33. No doubt in my mind. n/t

[madfloridian]

9. Yes, he does get a pass. Because he was featured in Superman...

and we weren't.

[Hannah Bell]

10. he's a hypocrite. he attributes his own school success to his mother, a voracious reader

who taught him to read & love books before he entered school, and always had lots of books around.

but in his own schools he demands longer school days & more testing.

[sabrina 1]

13. Thank you for this OP. Keep shining a light on this scam.

It's hard to express how disappointed I am in this president for what he is doing to the Public Schools. I was angry at Bush, but didn't expect anything better from him. But I supported this President based on several things, one of them being his promises to teachers in the campaign.

What a sad disappointment it is to see him rewarding scam artists like this.

[HEyHEY]

14. This won't be popular, but in my experience, they can.

Note, I said "CAN." Large unions are a weird beast. For instance, when I worked at one news organization, you could do TONS of little things with acute angles and such and have some fun. But, you could not do ANYTHING that was a too big because the place was so deeply rooted in guidelines and pragmatic process.

I could go to my boss with a neat story idea and get the green light. Then I'd go there another times saying that I figure out a way to file a story from some remote location so I don't need a tech, send him somewhere else, and they'd say, "Oh can't do it, union rules" shit like that.

And when I worked for the city?! GEESH! I was actually once told "Save some work for tomorrow"

[madfloridian]

15. Let's talk about when there ARE no unions.

And that is going to happen soon.

[HEyHEY]

16. Well, that deflects from the problems unions have

Maybe if we concentrated on some of the problems unions DO have and rectify them we have a better chance at saving them.

[Greyhound]

18. Exactly backward. n/t

[HEyHEY]

20. ?

Sorry, I'm not computing.

[Greyhound]

23. No, I'm sorry. I meant that we have to preserve and expand unions so that we

can address their numerous shortcomings. If continue to be distracted by the problems as they are being decimated, we will lose all that they have gained for us and will have nothing left to fight with.

It is quite the dilemma.
:dilemma:

[madfloridian]

19. TPTB have no intention of saving teachers' unions.

I see we picture a country with no unions and go from there.

[HEyHEY]

21. Why concentrate on a reality that isn't there yet?....

When your toilet leaks to you imagine having no toilet, or do you call the plumber?

[madfloridian]

44. Are you suggesting I Wait for Superman?

Because there are no heroes among the "reformers". They are businessmen, pure and simple, and they are using teachers as scapegoats.

And there is no one to call when teachers are being scapegoated and blamed for all the failures...except the unions. And our government is paying reformers to harm teachers' unions all over the country.

[Greyhound]

17. They are, and will remain, a necessary evil until we reject the 19th century ideas of

work and equating human value with what we do, rather than what we are.

If we abandon them without that change the evil that will prevail is far greater.

[proud2BlibKansan]

27. +1,000,000

[Fire1]

34. It has been proven that unions have nothing to do with

credibility and capabilities. Unions only ensure due process and fair and equal treatment both financially and professionally.

[JDPriestly]

26. Teaching is a unique profession.

The ratio between your annual salary as a teacher in a non-union school and the training you have to get to obtain and maintain certification does not make sense.

Many excellent teachers could not live and repay their student loans on less than union wages.

What the anti-union movement is really about is lowering teacher's wages.

Lowering teacher's wages will necessarily lower the quality of the teachers. That is because teachers need good wages to be able to pay for their education. Most teachers I know continue to take courses off and on throughout their careers. It costs quite a bit to become and remain a teacher.

That's why the teachers' union has a bit of a different function than other unions. It is the teachers' union that upholds standards in the teachers' profession.

[theaocp]

28. Can I get a, "Hell, yea!" n/t

[Fire1]

36. You got one right here!! lol! n/t

[MattBaggins]

40. Lowering teachers wages so they can take the savings for themselves

It's called capitalism and the real force behind the Deform movement.

This is why Mr. Canada is in the U.K.

There is an awful lot of tax payer monies to be siphoned off around the world.

[madfloridian]

63. You hit the nail on the head.

It's all about profit.

[callous taoboy]

50. +1

I am a union member and I'm one innovative teacher. Hell, my union has no bargaining power in the state where I reside. The only teeth they have is a big war chest to help me out if I get sued or accused of something.

[sulphurdunn]

45. All those work rules, pesky labor contracts

and living wages. It's a miracle unions were able to build the military machine that won WWII and to build the modern developed world afterward. Just look at all the progress we've made since we launched the War on Unions back in the 80s and how far we've progressed over countries like Germany and the rest of unionized "Old Europe". :smoke:

[HEyHEY]

74. No, no, no

That's not what I'm saying. I'm saying that there ARE unions that abuse the fact they are one. And I've worked in them. To deny it is just as bad as taking the other side of the argument to the extreme.

[sulphurdunn]

75. Consider this.

Bad unions can be made into good unions by their members. When the government starts fixing bad businesses and reinstates fairness in broadcasting, then we can talk about bad union. Until that happens "bad unions" gets translated "unions bad".

[defendandprotect]

22. More teachers + more unions = better education ....

The left is also heavy into rw propaganda these days! Wow!!

A test is NOT an education!!

How stupid are we???

[theaocp]

30. A lot of people do not understand the value of assessments

Too many people see assessments as an evaluation of what students have learned, rather than a guide to what they have mastered and what they still need to focus on. There are learning tests available that establish where students are in their learning and demonstrates the growth they make throughout their school year. This is not to say that standardized tests do not have value, but to make them the end-all, be-all of a teacher's worth is utter and complete madness. Just step back and think about incentives. If you make students passing a test the major incentive for a teacher to have regarding their career's livelihood, you're really negotiating their level of personal and professional ethics. I've known teachers who do whatever is necessary to make sure their kids "pass" their standardized tests b/c otherwise they're. out. of. a. job. Forget teaching to the test as being a waste of time, at best. Now, you're not even getting the results you want from the kids because everyone's too busy trying to figure out how they're going to save their own skin. THAT's fucking education? Hardly.

But, hey, didn't Gates himself say that teachers' shelf-life is up after three years? A three-year career? Anybody seen Idiocracy by Mike Judge? I gotta go brush up on my Mandarin, so I can ask for a bathroom break from my coming masters.

[Fire1]

38. Essentially, assessments are to be evaluated. n/t

[callous taoboy]

51. The probelm with assessments today is that they are used in exactly the opposite way:

They are used as a big stick to whack the tail ends of schools that quite frankly have so many problems they need no more whacking.

[defendandprotect]

53. Completely agree ... PLUS, we were on our way to ending SAT's ...

because of the foolishness they represent and the COSTS of them --

Many colleges were turning from them --

This is another way to keep the huge profits of those testing companies flowing!!

One of the things I did think that Catholic schools did well was the impromptu test --

very brief -- might be on a day's work -- on any subject -- or on a month's subjects.

Might only be a 10 minute test all told!

Don't know if public schools did that, at all.

But there are many ways for teachers/schools to know what kids are learning without

supporting a TESTING industry!

We also have long known that these tests -- such as IQ tests -- are more often testing

the quality of life the student enjoys -- the level of experiences and enrichment that

travel and wealth can supply.

We need a president who will show his support for public education and teachers and not

a president who is working to move our tax dollars into private hands -- like Gates' !!!



:)

[Solly Mack]

24. k/r

[laughingliberal]

31. K & R nt

[KossackRealityCheck]

32. Canada is of course right

How anyone can deny this is a bit puzzling. Most of the ideological debate in the left blogosphere involves criticism by union partisans of various proposals for change. He's simply saying what's obvious.

The issue is, as it is in most political disputes, the balance between various competing interest groups and proposals.

Sure unions prevent lots of innovation, but what would be the cost of unchecked innovation? How do we balance the well deserved security of tenure for teachers against the innovation of getting rid of (or at least getting out of the classroom) bad teachers who harm our children? How do we balance the need for information through testing with teachers' professional opinions on the relative merits of testing and more holistic evaluations of chidrens' and teachers' performance?

We'll never be able to have a rational political and policy debate about these issues if we keep making certain observations of social reality "verbotten." Let's acknowledge that Canada is right -- teachers' unions resist innovation because that's their job -- and figure out how to compromise in the best interest of children.

Also, it's somewhat strange to demonize Canada who is a hero in Harlem. Even if some of his schools are not performing as well as we'd like, there's no question about the positive holistic impact his all encompassing approach to urban reform has been. It's ironic that people who don't want standardized testing to dominate evaluation of schools and want a more holistic approach to evaluating children, schools and teachers, refuse to look at Canada's programs holistically -- where the positive impact is perfectly obvious and manifest -- and instead focus on the narrow issue of testing.

[JackDragna]

41. How have unions "prevented" innovation?

What, specifically, have unions done in public schools that warrants this criticism? From where I stand, teachers are constantly fighting for the rights to try unique, cutting-edge educational techniques against the wishes of school administrators, who mostly want classrooms to be focused on teaching to standardized tests. I also strongly disagree with the notion that Mr. Canada is a "hero" in Harlem. He receives plenty of flak from NYC parents when he speaks, particularly from those who've had public school space for their children sectioned off to make room for charter schools.

[defendandprotect]

54. It's also a presumption that ALL "innovation" is wise or advisable ... !!

[donco6]

46. If our schools were measured on the "positive holistic impact" of our neighborhoods -

We'd look groovy too. Our parents LOVE our schools. Our surveys come back in the high 90s every single year. But according to their test scores they need to be "turned around." Why does Canada get a pass when my schools' scores are higher than HIS? AND we have unions?

[proud2BlibKansan]

49. 3 decades in education and my expert opinion is Canada is only about half right

Yes we need a more holistic approach and we should focus on teaching the whole child. But he does this via corporate donors and volunteer workers. That well, as any long time educator can tell you, will dry up eventually. Then where will these children be?

The bigger question is where have these private donors been for decades while the children who are suddenly worthy of their time, money and attention, struggled to get an education while their needs were ignored? Unions, yes unions representing teachers, have been promoting Canada's plan for as long as I can remember. The president of my union is the first educator who recommended we create charter schools to serve kids who were not fitting in to traditional public schools. That's called innovation.

So to claim unions, their members or their leaders prevent innovation is proof of ignorance of the facts.

As far as the narrow issue of testing, that is our reality. I know exactly zero educators who believe we should be focusing on testing. It would be nice if Canada would lobby our elected officials to eliminate the ridiculous testing mandate. If he really wanted to do what's best for kids that would be a great place to start. In between his appearances on Oprah and in film, of course.

[madfloridian]

52. Wait, about the word "demonize"....think about what you said.

You think I am demonizing him....I see it totally backwards. He is one of the leaders of the movement to "demonize" teachers and their unions.

That is how I see him.

He blames teachers for everything, and he fires them at his whim and fancy.

So think about how you worded that.

[chervilant]

65. hmm...

Let's see now...you joined DU yesterday so you could post this insupportable piece of El Toro PooPoo today, didn't you?

I was about to sit here and compose a rebuttal to your indefensible post, then I realized that would be a sublime waste of my time and energy.

If you want to be taken seriously, KossackRealityCheck, you must educate yourself about this issue before you troll through here again.

Gotta go teach algebra now. Hope you get a clue soon, and redirect your energy toward positive changes in public education.

[Name removed]

68. Deleted message

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

[KossackRealityCheck]

77. DailyKos

generally welcomes newcomers and a vibrant variety of opinions.

[chervilant]

83. Really?

That's all you've got?

I see that I was on the money in my original reply to your inanity...

[sulphurdunn]

80. Congratulations.

I have rarely seen so many false or misleading statements compacted into such a short post. Each of your paragraphs begins and ends with an unsupportable assumption or logical fallacy. I must attribute such skill to formal training. It takes skill to plausibly peddle opinion as self-evident truth. Let's have a look at your stuff.

Paragraph 1. Canada is not "right" by any evidence you present. Neither is his position self-evident nor obvious. Ad Hominem aspersions on the "left bloposphere" and "union partisans" adds nothing to your lack of a rational position.

Paragraph 2. False analogy, begs the question and is a hasty generalization that also misses the point.

Paragraph 3. Same opinion statement unsupported by evidence as paragraph one and concluding with a false dichotomy that springboards from a quantitative assumption of many "bad teachers" into a weak analogy between testing and holistic evaluations.

Paragraph 4. More absolutist and unsupportable assumptions, this time about society, what is required for rational discourse, and a false cause regarding the purpose of teacher's unions, again unsupported.

Paragraph 5. This is the most egregious of your assumptions: "...it's somewhat strange to demonize Canada who is a hero in Harlem." This little straw man suggests that those who oppose Canada have other than professional and possibly dark motives for doing so. And finally, there is nothing "perfectly obvious and manifest" about Canada's programs or your double standard of assuming that testing is good to evaluate teachers but not good to evaluate Canada's progress even though he is a leading proponent of doing just that, at least for others.

[LWolf]

35. He's wrong, of course.

Unions don't promote OR prevent innovation. They don't exist to determine how teachers teach, or how schools structure themselves.

If he wants to see how "innovation" is stifled, he might want to look at how the standards and accountability movement, of which he is a part, have influenced the politicians setting policy.

[Fire1]

37. +1000

[Turbineguy]

39. Killing innovation?

Like stopping Management from doing something that is stupid and destructive?

In my engineering management class one of the topics is "making presentations". Students are skeptical about its value.

Management introduces chaos as improvement and distracts people by keeping them on a steep learning curve.

[arbusto_baboso]

42. No, what kills innovation is corporate types pocketing shitloads of money.

Rather than pursuing innovative policies.

Types like Mr. Canada.

[defendandprotect]

56. +1000% ---

[RufusTFirefly]

43. But I've gotta feed my family, and Wal-Mart sells things cheaper!

I have a great deal of sympathy for both teachers and parents who are turning to charter schools.

But they are like the folks who shop at Wal-Mart. Their failure to see the big picture is precipitating the disaster that created their dilemma in the first place.

People feel compelled to shop at Wal-Mart because their wages are depressed. Shopping at Wal-Mart will further depress wages.

In the same way, people are fleeing to charter schools because they feel the current public school system is hobbled and under-equipped. The exodus from public schools will precipitate a self-fulfilling prophecy. As more money is diverted from already cash-starved public schools to charter schools with their entrepreneurs and boards of directors, the reality of the public school system will eventually match the gloom-and-doom scenarios.

[proud2BlibKansan]

58. If all of those parents at the lottery in Waiting for Superman had been really involved

in a traditional public school, we wouldn't have any charters. I'd think I had died and gone to heaven if I ever saw that many parents at a PTA meeting in a traditional public school.

[RufusTFirefly]

61. You can thank deliberately fabricated scarcity for that particular air of excitement

As Juan Gonzalez reported

...a Daily News review of Harlem Success financial reports suggests the network's huge backlog of applicants is the result of a carefully crafted Madison Ave.-style promotional campaign.

Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/ny_local/2010/10/01/2010-10-01_behind_parents_desperation_to_get_kids_in_charter_school_the_news_uncovers__harl.html#ixzz12SMvv3TX

[chervilant]

66. No duh!

And, how about the mother who chided the teacher next door to me for calling her about her child, stating, "What are you calling me for?! When he's at school, he's YOUR problem!"

(Notice the dangling participle...I found that so ironic...)

[donco6]

47. Fuck you, Geoffrey Canada.

Sorry, but that's what it's come to, now.

We just had our highest poverty school, Adventure Elementary at 86% free/reduced, come OFF of the Watch List because they MADE AYP FOR TWO YEARS IN A ROW! Only FIVE schools in the state achieved this. They are seeing the highest growth in pupils per year in the entire Metro area.

This is a regular public school that takes EVERYONE, special ed, ELL, physically handicapped. They are a UNION school. More than 50% of the kids arrive MONOLINGUAL Spanish. This is a school operating on regular state funding of about $7,600 per pupil. And they're making achievement even on the mandated tests.

WHERE'S OUR FUCKING MOVIE? Where's my trip to Britain to meet the bloody Queen? OH - it's because we didn't CHARTER! It's because we still work closely with our UNION!

Just . . . Fuck THAT! I'm DONE.

[proud2BlibKansan]

59. I second that

[Starry Messenger]

69. +100,000

[LWolf]

72. And I'll 3rd that. nt

[Tatiana]

48. Some of the first charter schools were led by teachers unions so I think they can innovate just fine

Many teachers write curriculum and design course content as well as differentiate instructional delivery for a variety of different learners.

You have to be innovative in order to do that. Teachers are always thinking on their feet and coming up with ways to meet the learning standards, even in the absence of required curricular materials.

Keep up the good work! The only way they will destroy public education is if we let them. We have to keep pointing out the truth and partner with parents in order to truly improve our educational system.

[LeftishBrit]

55. Ye gods

As though our dear Michael Gove needed encouragement to be any more pro-privatization than he is already!

[madfloridian]

57. I figured that much. Looks like the US is collaborating.

There was an excellent post full of research here a few days ago...found it.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=389&topic_id=9314623

Long and involved but shows what a big international movement it is.

[sulphurdunn]

78. The future our corpo masters

have planned for our children is one in which public money funds private, low wage, for profit schools unanswerable to the people who pay for them. The incentive for this is the approximately $600 billion spend annually on K-12 public education in the US. It's not about charter versus traditional schools, quality education, standardized tests, merit pay, teacher competence or any of those things. They are means only. The end is money and corporate control of a guaranteed corporate friendly, national public education curriculum and classroom instruction. That will be for the lucky students. They'll have cameras in the classroom to insure that the appropriate lessons are delivered by "highly motivated" teachers. At least they'll have classrooms. The less fortunate will receive most if not all of their instruction on-line by "highly motivated" teachers and efficient delivery technologies.

[nxylas]

62. It seems that everything's gone wrong since Canada came along

So prepare a full assault, it's Canada's fault.

[fascisthunter]

67. this man is a charlatan

A fraud... watching him talk smoothly about why he is doing what he is, is nauseating.

[Rex]

70. So do private Mc Corporations.

Next.

[Jefferson23]

71. So how many teachers will need to be fired before the alleged "cure" is

exposed as a fraud? It's going to catch up with them one day, so who will they blame next I wonder.

[madfloridian]

79. With all the media on board I doubt it will be exposed.

And since there is no opposing party to speak out, I imagine it will continue.

[Jefferson23]

81. True, but what I was suggesting is, eventually the lack of experienced

teachers the students will have through the nefarious attempts to limit/remove union protection will
surface to the forefront. It may take longer this way but the scores they imply will be forthcoming
will not likely exist...not to the extent the reformers are claiming anyway.

Duncan's alleged "success" in Chicago will be repeated through-out districts
in states adopting his approach, at some point they won't be able to hide the poor results.

I don't know who the reformers believe could be used as their next scapegoat when the time comes.

Students and teachers will lose a great deal imo; that a Democrat is behind it makes
this beyond sad.

[madfloridian]

82. You are right. I just worry about the truth coming too late.

The reformers will push too hard, and it will eventually backfire. But until then....:shrug:

[Jefferson23]

84. I fear the same, and unfortunately for many students it will come

too late. I don't see how it is possible for the majority of these students to make up for years and years of a terrible education policy.

The scores of teachers being scapegoated now will not take any pleasure in the near future saying I told you so, we warned you...they
are too honorable for such a thing.

Until then? I wish I believed in a more promising forecast for students and teachers, but I do not.

[Jakes Progress]

73. Mindless parroting of right wing talking points seems

to be the new path to the top in today's Democratic party.

[lonestarnot]

76. More styrofoam