Shakin' his money maker
When Mitt Romney says that it was "hard work" that got John McCain all those houses that he got for marrying Cindy Hensley, what does he mean exactly? --Josh Marshall at TPMFrom the Veep
"A child is more then a test score. So how can you expect our students to build a new economy if all they are doing is filling out bubbles? How can you expect them to think critically if all we are doing is testing their ability to memorize things?" --Joe Biden
Rothstein saw it in Park Ridge first…
PREAPrez shares some history as he welcomes teachers back to school.
Have Karl Rove’s boys, now running the McCain campaign, succeeded in making this election revolve around Obama’s “relationship” with Chicago educator and school-reform leader Bill Ayers? Probably not. But reading the front page of USA Today would certainly make one wonder. Here's some of the best quotes:
Tom Hayden, an anti-war activist who met Ayers in the 1960s and later was elected to the California Legislature, says Ayers' past should be forgiven:
"I have met and like John McCain, but he bombed, and presumably killed, many people in a war I opposed," Hayden says. "If I can set all that aside, I would hope that Americans will accept" that Ayers has changed, too.
McCain asked after April's debate how Obama can "countenance someone who was engaged in bombings." In May, McCain said his campaign "is not going to be about" Ayers nor other Obama associates.
LOL! I wonder who he’s referring to?
For a great analysis of the McCain/Rove Swift Boating campaign, complete with flow chart, see Media Matters Action Network.
Klein knows what's best to read
The chancellor is basing the district’s new reading program on the assumption that he—not the teachers-- knows what’s best. Forcing E.D. Hirsch’s Core Knowledge program on schools will further enable Klein to teacher-proof the curriculum.
Core Knowledge will soon replace the BalancedLiteracy reading program which taps into student interest and which is largely responsible to recent increases in reading scores, claimed by Klein (disputed by many others). Teachers are getting the Reading First agenda without the scandal-ridden Reading First program. My assumption is that this change has little to do with the teaching of reading and much more to do with Ownership Society politics that have become hallmarks of the Bloombert/Klein era. Here he’s funneling $24 million in contracts to Hirsch’s consulting group for a pilot program.
Hi Mike,
ReplyDeleteI need to correct a few things here. First, and most importantly, we’re talking about a three-year pilot program here, not the entire NYC school system--10 schools, about a thousand kids. And it’s $2.4 million, not $24m, all of it raised through private donations. As for “forcing” the program on schools, that’s exactly what we did NOT want to do. The ten schools in the test had to raise their hands and volunteer to be a part of (how could you do a decent test of a curriculum without the enthusiastic support and faithful implementation of the teachers?) And lastly, Hirsch’s consulting group? Do you mean the Core Knowledge Foundation? If so, it’s a non-profit. Hirsch is the founder and chairman of the board of trustees and receives no compensation.
Robert Pondiscio
www.coreknowledge.org/blog
Robert,
ReplyDeleteThanks for straightening me out on the $2.4 million. I assure you it was a typo and not intentional. You can see why I can't keep my bank account straight. Every time I deposit $24, I put $2.4M on the deposit slip, hoping they won't catch it.
So Hirsch's program won't exactly break the bank. I know that $2.4 mil doesn't go as far as it used to.
And if you say it's "just" a 10-school pilot and won't be pushed top-down on post-pilot teachers, I believe you and apologize to Mr. Klein. I don't know how I could have ever thought him to be a top-down guy.
Finally, if you tell me that Core Knowledge is a non-profit, and since non-profits are, well, non-profits and that therefore Mr. Hirsch isn't making out on this deal--short nor long-term, I also believe you. Well, almost.
Anyway, I'm not down on Core Knowledge and I'm glad you and E.D. have made it available to schools that want to use it. But I must ask, why do we need Joel Klein to make it a 10-school "pilot." I'm sure you already have tons of research data showing the program's benefits.
Why can't he leave it up to schools and reading teachers to adopt it, or not?