Ravitch: Let's all push back as hard as we can

A few weeks ago, I sent a letter to Representative Posey asking about his position on the proposed FERPA regulations and his position on sidestepping parent consent on the sharing of student information. A reply came in the mail today thanking me for my question about Medicare and a two page letter on the Ryan Plan and what I didn't have to worry about. The letter came after sitting patiently for 70 minutes waiting to ask my question on a recent telephone townhall.

I find Diane Ravitch a brave voice and one that has spoken facts that the advocates for current and past education reform have not been able to shut out or ignore. She is not the only voice, but has been able to get attention in a sea of no reporting. The public can form no opinion, up or down, unless all the information is presented in a way that can be understood. Read her words:

A LETTER TO MY FRIENDS AND READERS

Many people have asked what they can do to try to change the conditions and misguided policies that I describe in my book. Wherever I go, the same question comes up: What can we do? How do we stop these bad policies and programs? Whether they are parents, teachers, administrators, school board members or citizens concerned about the future of our children and our society, they want ideas about how to persuade our elected officials to change course.

Education used to be a state and local function. Unfortunately, since the passage of No Child Left Behind in 2001–02, the levers of power now are in the hands of federal officials. With Republicans and Democrats both advocating policies that endanger the future of public education, the situation seems dire indeed. Unfortunately, many of our nation’s wealthiest philanthropies and individuals embrace the misuse of testing and accountability and the advance of privatization.

The odds against us seem overwhelming, but we cannot afford to do nothing. We must take action. At present, the Obama administration is embarked on a course of action that many find repugnant. The Race to the Top is built on the foundation of No Child Left Behind. It emphasizes high-stakes testing, judging teachers by their students’ test scores, closing low-performing schools instead of helping them improve, and promoting a huge increase in private management of public schools. These approaches will narrow the curriculum and promote teaching to the test, which will rob children of the opportunity for a good education. Furthermore, none of these strategies has a solid research base, none has been proven effective in practice, all have the potential to disrupt students’ education, demoralize teachers, and shatter communities. The burden of these policies will fall heavily on low-income, minority communities, but many other communities will be affected as well.

What we need to improve education in this country is a strong, highly respected education profession; a rich curriculum in the arts and sciences, available in every school for every child; assessments that gauge what students know and can do, instead of mindless test prepping for bubble tests. And a government that is prepared to change the economic and social conditions that interfere with children’s readiness to learn.

We cannot improve education by quick fixes. We will not fix education by turning public schools over to entrepreneurs. We will not improve it by driving out experienced professionals and replacing them with enthusiastic amateurs. We will not make our schools better by closing them and firing teachers and entire staffs. No high-performing nation in the world follows such strategies. We cannot be satisfied with the status quo, which is not good enough for our children, nor can we satisfied with the Bush-Obama-Duncan “reforms” that have never been proven to work anywhere.

This is what I suggest:

Join the Save Our Schools organization created by outstanding teachers. Their website is www.saveourschoolsmarch.org. Whether you are a teacher or a parent, join the march on Washington, D.C., from July 28 - 30, 2011. I will be there, supporting the dignity of the teaching profession and our public schools.

Join Parents Across America. Their website is www.parentsacrossamerica.org. This is a group of parents who want to work together to strengthen public education and restore common sense reforms.

Write your elected officials. Find out whether any Congressmen or Senators from your state are on the education committee in their House of Congress. Write the members of the education committees even if you don’t live in their state. Ask your colleagues to write letters to them. Write letters to the editor. Comment on education blogs. Call in to talk shows. Speak up at school and community meetings. Speak up, speak out.

As the great Southern writer Flannery O’Connor wrote in a letter to a friend, “You have to push as hard as the age that pushes against you.”

This age is pushing mighty hard against children, against educators, and against the very concept of good education.

Let’s all push back as hard as we can.


Diane Ravitch

http://www.dianeravitch.com/action.html

Diane Ravitch Keeps It Simple: No Desired Results From NCLB

Ravitch describes briefly, clearly, and concisely what is wrong with the federal mandates of NCLB in a way that non-educators can understand.




Ravitch is scheduled to appear in the following debates on education reform.

JUNE 29-30 Diane to Discuss/Debate with Founder of Teach for America, Wendy Kopp (to be aired on C-Span)

JULY 29-30 SAVE OUR SCHOOLS MARCH RALLY w/M DAMON ON 7/30;

AUG 18 Diane to debate Michelle Rhee on Achievement Gap on Martha's Vineyard - set up by Harvard Inst of African Amer Studies. (To be aired on C-Span)

Deconstructing the Debate: Ravitch v. Alter

After Diane Ravitch's NY Times op-ed criticizing President Obama for holding up a Denver school as an example of the success of current education reform policies, Jonathon Alter rebutted Ravitch's views in a Bloomberg Times article. This written exchange drew widespread attention and led to a debate on the David Sirota talk show, which aired yesterday. If you missed the debate live, a podcast is available here.

For non-educators who are concerned about the current education reform policies, listening to this debate is highly useful. Few opportunities exist to become informed. The debate was well moderated by Sirota, key points made, and for non-educators short enough and non-technical enough for easy understanding. There are a couple of items that caught my attention.

Ravitch restates her criticism of the way politicians, including President Obama, are using some failing schools as models of success. For example, Denver's Bruce Randolph middle school is in a neighborhood that Alter calls a "gang zone" and heavily Latino. President Obama cited this school as a turnaround success story in his State of the Union address. Alter brought statistics to show the "stunning improvement" of where the school had been and where it is now:

• Reading: (2007) 15% (2010) 36%


• Writing: (2007) 7% (2010) 15%


• Math: (2007) 5% (2010) 14%

Alter complains that Ravitch is "using and abusing statistics to disrespect great progress."

Ravitch counters that progress has been made, but it is minimal. The students may go on to graduate high school, but their abilities will still require remediation and lots of it if they choose to go to college.

Alter picks on the word "miracle" that Ravitch used in the NY Times, but doesn't have a problem with using "stunning progress." He accuses her of "gross oversimplication" and suggests she supports sticking with the failed status quo. He complains Ravitch uses generalizations that make caricatures and cartoon-like images of education reformers. He repeats that current education reform policies are intended to reverse the national "disaster" related to the inability to fire teachers who are manifest failures in their jobs, including those who are drunks or those who write sexual-oriented notes to their students. I don't know where Alter got this data, but I can say that in Florida teachers do get fired and prosecuted for such failures. Those cases have been reported in newspapers and I have read them. Florida communities do not tolerate criminal and unethical behavior in public schools.

Ravitch reminds listeners that current legislation across the nation is not simply targeting "bad teachers" but changing the professional landscape for all teachers, including those who are high performing.

While Ravitch points to Right wing promotion of President Obama's policies, Alter notes support for education reform by Democrats, citing a group called Democrats for Education Reform. Ravitch reminds the audience that this group is comprised of hedge-fund managers and questions both their interest and expertise in determining what is best for the nation's education system.

Frankly, this is a "must listen" debate. My personal view is that Alter maintains the narrative that is all too familiar now. If you criticize or ask policy makers to justify their decisions, you belong to the group who wishes to maintain the "status quo." If that isn't a caricature or cartoon of parents, community members, and taxpayers across the nation with legitimate concerns on many levels, I do not know what is.

Ravitch will be appearing in more debates this summer, including a televised one on C-SPAN with Michelle Rhee. More information on these events to follow.

Education Reform: Let the Debates Begin

Education reformers have thus far controlled the narrative, with national media outlets by and large cooperating. Those interested in education are covering the developments in education-oriented news sites and in the blogosphere; however, wider coverage is missing and the general public underinformed. This state of affairs may be changing.

Diane Ravitch is the most visible voice questioning current educational reform initiatives. While she is not the only voice, she has emerged as a favorite for personal attack versus healthy debate on the facts of the matter. One outcome of journalist Jonathan Alter's recent Bloomberg article asking the public to "believe" in education reform, is an online debate:

Diane Ravitch will debate Jonathan Alter on David Sirota's Denver radio show, at 7 am Denver time, 9 am Eastern time, on the morning of Wednesday, June 8.

Live online here, select Listen Live!, and later by podcast here.

Ravitch has several debates scheduled this summer including one with Michelle Rhee, which will get C-SPAN coverage. Grumpy Educators will post reminders as these debates come up.

Many are questioning and uncomfortable with the role the Gates Foundation is playing in molding American education. Many see the Gates Foundation dominated the process and the public narrative. NPR reporter Wendy Kaufman asked Jeff Raikes, Gates Foundation CEO to respond to Ravitch's views that opposing voices are drowned-out:

I think Diane is really underestimating the number of voices that are out there, including her own," says Jeff Raikes, CEO of the Gates Foundation.

He dismisses Ravitch's contention that the foundation has commandeered the education debate. At the same time he makes no apologies for the organization's doggedness in trying to achieve its objectives.

NPR is partially funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.

The Foundation recently announced a new initiative called Teach First. The plan includes the Foundations intention to ensure “frequent placement ... in local media coverage of issues related to teacher effectiveness and equitable distribution of effective teachers” in accordance with the Gates approach, "to build “strong ties to local journalists, opinion elites, and local/state policymakers and their staffs.” The plan includes "campaigns to reach out to parents, teachers, students, business and civic and religious leaders."

With Gates money and powerful connections, I wonder who exactly is underestimating what. Tune in tomorrow morning or listen to the podcast when convenient. Get informed.

Education Reformers: Running Scared?

Asking simple questions deserve straight-forward fact, evidence-based answers, particularly when the public is asking about public education. Instead, there is a clear pattern by education reformers to deflect meaningful answers by getting personal.

Diane Ravitch is one of many expert-level voices questioning current educational policies; however, she has emerged as a favorite for educational reformers to rebutt by getting personal. In a May 31, NY Times opinion, Waiting for a School Miracle, Ms. Ravitch points out the divide between facts and manipulating facts for artful public relations. She suggests caution when overnight success for failing schools is present and provides support to her position.

What is to be learned from these examples of inflated success? The news media and the public should respond with skepticism to any claims of miraculous transformation. The achievement gap between children from different income levels exists before children enter school

Ravitch is not the only one who has expressed this point of view, but certainly gets education reformer supporters hot under the collar. In response to this specific article, journalist Jonathan Alter provided a rebuttal titled "Don't Believe Critics, Education Reform Works." Here are some highlights:

"Arne Duncan, President Barack Obama’s normally mild- mannered education secretary, has finally had enough. “Diane Ravitch is in denial and she is insulting all of the hardworking teachers, principals and students all across the country who are proving her wrong every day,” he said when I asked about Ravitch this week."

"What’s most infuriating to me about Ravitch is the way she assembles straw men."

"Ravitch and her allies specialize in sliming reformers by creating powerful myths. The most pernicious is that reformers aren’t professional educators and therefore don’t have the standing to criticize the status quo. This isn’t true -- many reformers, including the heads of many charter schools, have education experience -- but what’s wrong with business executives or other interested outsiders devoting time and money to public schools? Would it be better if they ignored them as they did for so long? That went well for this country."

Alter concludes with we just need to "believe" that education reform works, because well...he says so. Alrighty then. What will he ask me to just believe next? We have a chance to hear first hand on Wednesday. I will be tuning in, will you????

Diane Ravitch will debate Jonathan Alter on David Sirota's Denver radio show, at 7 am Denver time, 9 am Eastern time, on the morning of Wednesday, June 8.

Live online here and later by podcast here.

Read Anthony Cody's rebuttal to Alter's rebuttal here.

For more information on the schools Alter's children attend, read here.