Weekend quotables

Gerald Bracey on the “hatchet job on Linda Darling-Hammond”

Aside from a few letters to editors and blogs, about the only published support for Darling-Hammond came from John Affeldt in the Huffington Post, Alfie Kohn in The Nation, and the San Francisco Chronicle in an editorial. Fred Klonsky's blog called the one-sided and often loaded language used by the pro "reformers" bunch as "The hatchet job on Darling-Hammond." Fairness & Accuracy in Reporting (FAIR) emphatically agreed and headlined its take on the sad affair, "The media's failing grade on education 'debate.'"

(Huffington)

Darling-Hammond on Arne Duncan

Linda Darling-Hammond, a Stanford University education professor and the leader of the education policy team for the Obama transition, praised Mr. Duncan as a “very thoughtful and collaborative reformer” who “is deeply steeped in urban education.” Mr. Duncan has been able to bring disparate groups together to support his policies, she added.

(Edweek)

The business of philanthropy

Tom Hoffman at TuttleSVC has us thinking about the way power philanthropy has reshaped the national dialogue on teaching and learning based mainly on what’s good for the funders.

For business-minded philanthropy, direct payments to kids for higher test scores makes a lot of sense. It is consistent with their general view of human nature and the philosophies of schools they like, such as KIPP.