Dropping Richard Rothstein on Chester Finn

I attended the Manhattan Institute luncheon at the Harvard Club for Chester Finn's new book "Troublemaker." Finn, known as Checker to his friends, is one of the gurus of the corporate attack on teachers and public schools. His old friend Diane Ravitch, who the phony ed reformers think has gone over to the dark side, was there to introduce him. Before they served the chicken she stopped by to whisper, "I see there's another troublemaker here.'

I asked a 2 part question (with just a little embellishment.) Basically I dropped a Richard Rothstein on him.

1. Finn had extolled Kipp,pointing to how they were doing things with kids that the public schools were not - meaning the hard core kids that are so tough to teach.

So, I asked Finn:
Are you claiming that if every child in America attended a KIPP school every one would become middle class and go on the college? He admitted that wouldn't happen but that 70% would which many dispute. I pointed out that in my school about 30-40% of the kids were doing ok and as Rothstein pointed out these are often the kids that end up at KIPP, not the 60% who are the most difficult to teach. I didn't get a chance to drop Rothstein 2-10 on him, since the Man. Inst.never wants real debate.

For a fuller picture, check Rothstein's Response to Chester Finn which can be found at

www.epi.org/webfeatures/viewpoints/www.epirothstein_finn/rothstein-response_to_finn.pdf

2. Part 2: Given that you have a close relationship with Diane Ravitch and her criticisms of the so-called reforms instituted in NYC, where do you stand on the implementation of so many of the ideas you espouse in NYC?

Finn saying he was not based in NYC said he would defer to Diane's judgment (can we take this as a slam at BloomKlein?). But if asked about Washington DC whose Klein Klone Michelle Rhee is running the schools and whom he praised on Thursday he could make a more informed comment. If Finn is deferring to Diane on NYC, and we know that Rhee is functioning along the same lines, then, excuse my math, can we assume if a=b and b=c, then a=c?

What was clear is that Finn is setting up an excuse for Rhee's failure by talking about the special interests like the union and others. Like there are no special interests on their side?

Thanks to Diane Ravitch for making me feel comfortable in what can be an intimidating pro-corporate environment (one guy told me after he managed Milton Friedman's money for years - since the business community thinks they can run school systems better than educators I was going to ask if I could manage some of their hedge funds in return.)

I was so inspired, I wrote lyrics to the Band's The Weight in honor of Diane:

Lyrics by Norm Scott
To the tune of The Band’s "The Weight"

I pulled into Harvard Club, was feelin' about half past dread;
Just need some place where I can lay my progressive e-e-ed.
"Hey, mister, can you tell me where a man might find a red?"
He just grinned and shook my hand, and "No!", was all he said.

(Chorus:)
Take a load off Testing, take a load for free;
Take a load off Testing, And (and) (and) you can put the load right on accountabilty.

I picked up my Rothstein, I went lookin' for a place to hide;
When I saw Diane and the Devil walkin' side by side.
I said, "Hey, Diane, come on, let's go and some trouble make."
She said, "I gotta go intro this guy, but m'friend you can stick the stake."

(Chorus:)
Take a load off Testing, take a load for free;
Take a load off Testing, And (and) (and) you can put the load right on accountabilty.

Go down, Chris Cerf, there's nothin' you can say
It's just ol' Joel Klein, and Joel’s waitin' on the Judgement Day.
"Well, Joel, my friend, what about the young uns been screwed?"
He said, "Do me a favor, son, woncha keep schools in the hands of the few?"

(Chorus)

Crazy Chester went on and on, and he made me see through the fog.
He said, "If you accept KIPP, you’ll be allowed to eat your hot dog."
I said, "Wait a minute, Chester, you know KIPP can’t educate em all."
He said, "That's okay, boy, we’ll take 70% and public ed will take a fall"

(Chorus)

Catch a new governance now, t'take me down the line
Public ed is sinkin' low and I do believe it's time.
To get back to democracy, you know it’s the only one.
For teachers, parents, students and regards for everyone.

(Chorus:)
Take a load off Testing, take a load for free;
Take a load off Testing, And (and) (and) you can put the load right on accountabilty.

Margaret Spellings on The Daily Show

The biggest challenge to low student performance: the winner is low expectations!

Hey! Just change perceptions and miracles will take place.

I'm working on a report from the Manhattan Institute luncheon this past Tuesday where Spellings was a speaker. We were served a crock of crap and I got to pee next to Reading First's Reed Lyon. And it was so nice to see so many colleagues taking a day off from their duties at the UFT enjoying themselves. If they're there why not at least say something or ask a question to challenge the many assumptions that teachers are the problem. That is if they actually don't believe that themselves. Look for a full report soon.

I’ve been invited by the Manhattan Institute…

… to attend a conference sponsored by the right wing think tank on the science of reading instruction and No Child Left Behind. I didn’t expect to be invited again after my critical comments at the last luncheon I attended with Chris Cerf and my subsequent columns in The Wave. Sol Stern, a commentator on education who bases his expertise on his experiences navigating the NYC school system for his children, will moderate the panel. I hope he never has to go through a medical procedure with someone with the same level of expertise. Following the conference, I get to eat and listen to Margaret Spellings, the Secretary of the US Department of Education speak about the prospects of the disastrous No Child Left Behind legislation being renewed. I hope they have enough wine to dull the pain.

You can read about Spellings' progressive views at Freedom Socialist • Vol. 26, No.2 • April-May 2005

The education Terminator An excerpt:
The new education secretary's first official act was proudly described by the Christian News Service: “Spellings demanded PBS return money given for an educational program because it became a show that promoted the homosexual lifestyle.”

The dastardly program, Postcards from Buster, is a cartoon about an 8-year-old rabbit who travels around the country with his dad, learning about different children and their various ways of life. One such child has (horrors!) lesbian parents.

Not surprisingly, Spellings is also an advocate of government funding for abstinence-only sex “education” to the exclusion of instruction on safe sex.

Spellings was a key architect of Bush's No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB), a program that holds schools “accountable” by imposing standardized tests and withdrawing federal funds, or even closing schools, if test scores are not high enough.

The National Association of School Psychologists reports that “being held back in school has now replaced losing a parent as a child's number one fear — and being held back a grade or grades is one of the leading predictors of whether a student will drop out of school.” (See the FS article "The Hypocrisy of No Child Left Behind" )

The Phonics Police Are Out in Force

In today's NY Sun Andy Wolf echoes Sol Stern and makes the phonics argument again while heaping praise on Region 5's Kathy Cashin, one of the 4 Regional Superintendents to survive the DOE reorganization. They must each peddle their wares to get schools to sign up and the rumor is that Cashin is not doing as well as the others.

Wolf wrote: "This Bush Education Reform Really Works, by Sol Stern, appeared in the Winter, 2007 issue of City Journal." Sol should ask the NY Teacher, the mouthpiece of the UFT leadership, to reprint his praise for Bush since they so generously gave him space in this week's issue.

I always believed in teaching phonics and did so with the materials at hand - a workbook and some chalk and a few charts. I did not need Reading First to do it.

When I had the top 6th grade class where all kids could read there was no point and the administration left that to me to decide. Kids that can read at a certain level do not need phonics. Those who can't decipher words do. Teachers have always made those basic decisions. Just as Klein took the decision out of the hands of teachers, aren't Wolf and Stern doing the same thing?

When my school changed principals in 1979 she made us use the kind of traditional materials Wolf is talking about and it did not make all that much of a difference. One of the ironies is that she brought in a book salesperson to talk to us about some of these materials back in the early 80's at a scintillating monthly faculty conference. The saleswoman's name? Kathy Cashin.

The Manhattan Institute will be hosting a praisefest - er - luncheon for the Reading First success story, with Ed. Sect'y Margaret Spellings in New York on May 22. Now that would be a good place for a rally against idiocy. I haven't received my invitation yet. All I can say is, "phuque"!

You can find the complete article
Applying the LaGuardia Principle to our Schools
BY ANDREW WOLF
April 30, 2007
URL: http://www.nysun.com/article/53492

When a Rose is Not a Rose

I've put up articles posted by Leonie Haimson related to Joel Rose's scams, Edison and Christopher Cerf on the Norm's Notes archive blog. Note how the NY Times has the least consequential article buried in the Metro briefing. Is there any institution in this city that has its nose buried more up Bloomberg's butt than the NY Times? Next they'll be printing articles about how Bloomberg's enemies have weapons of mass destruction. Oh! They've been there, done that already. Where's Judith Miller when they need her?

Coming soon:
My account of the Manhattan Institute luncheon at the University Club (which didn't admit women until 1987) featuring Christopher Cerf and the corporate ed-speak nonsense he spouts. Just about any NYC teacher can challenge this guy to a debate and whip his ass. I am issuing an official Education Notes challenge to the Manhattan Institute to set up a true dialogue with Cerf or anyone else they choose to debate key educational policy issues someone like Leonie Haimson, myself or any number of capable people I can think of to defend public education.
Hey guys, no guts, no glory.


Cerf preparing for the debate. His ideas are even fuzzier than he is.







Note to Unity clones:
Don't even suggest Randi Weingarten to defend our side. I've seen her on panels with these characters and all I can say is - weak weak weak!
But just watch the Manhattan Institute take up the challenge and chose Weingarten to debate Cerf. They know an easy mark when they see one.