There’s an instructive, long article at Common Dreams on what happened, and is happening, to the public schools in Washington, D.C., after the system was taken over by an unqualified and obviously incompetent person named Michelle Rhee. Despite having only three years teaching experience and no management experience, the mayor of Washington named her Chancellor of the public school system, and the schools have suffered ever since.
It’s one more example of corporate and conservative philosophy treating people as ciphers, as things to be manipulated to make numbers look good on balance sheets. It’s a great example of what happens when arrogance, ignorance, and ideology gain power.
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Technorati Tags: Michelle Rhee, Washington Public Schools, Adrian Fenty, Education, Politics, Wall Street, Conservatism
Grumpy Lion 
Let me just get this out of the way: Rhee is a sick bitch. Up the performance by making the environment hostile to the poor and minority so that they leave the district. Let whitie know, psst…we’re on your side.
In my community, “underperforming” students (students that’ll skew test scores down) are routed to alternative education, unless of course they are awesome at football or some other sport. There was a recent scandal here where administrators just went in and changed grades to higher marks for underperforming students in athletics.
Those people lost their jobs, thank god.
But I’ve seen how teaching to the test detracts from the educational experience overall. There are no standardized kids…which is the first thing I thought when I was reporting on the NCLB crap becoming law. Another disturbing trend was how shitty conservative companies (that other Bush brother that isn’t George or Jeb) began hocking their “educational products,” Halliburton disguised as a variation of Scholastics.
Good article.
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ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha. Fenty lost, fenty lost, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha.
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C’mon, tell us how you really feel!
(I heard he plans to run as an independent…)
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Fucking cheater.
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I’m lost a little…
(D) Mayor put her there.
Abides by policy desired by Obama and Duncan.
Walks the line drawn by Ted Kennedy a co author.
Bill Gates Foundation supports the school model.
How is this a (or just a) conservative issue?
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Read the CD article again. Conservative model. Conservative think tanks. Conservative funding. And the usual conservative slash and burn tactics that trash the human element in order to promote the ideological element, whether the ideology is reality-based or not.
And just because a Democrat (Fenty) hired this twit doesn’t mean I think it was a good move. Whatever good intentions Kennedy may have had with NCLB were trashed by the Bush/Conservative implementation, and frankly I think the whole model of NCLB is ridiculous. Yeah, let’s teach kids to the tests, and forget about teaching them anything else. And not even provide the funds to do that, but let’s upend the whole educational system anyway.
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OK Ric I’m trying to get your B/P up and I’m not trying to be rightie troll.
I read and reread the article and other than the AEI bit I don’t get your view. That’s not to say I don’t get your ire over NCLB which I think is a joke and disgrace all at the same sick time.
Its not just a conservative issue that’s really where I draw the line. Gates involvement speaks to that. You still have the corporatism there just like everything else Bill and Melinda touch in their elitist fashion. I imagine the same holds true to the philanthropy of Broad.
Just in a sharing kind of way Ravitch is found in CityJournal often and has others that side and oppose her there. makes for interesting reading.
Cheers.
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Sorry, I agree it’s not just a conservative issue, but there is a heavy conservative hand in it. Then again, we might disagree on the definition of ‘heavy’.
I know you’re not a rightie troll, Alfie. My memory hasn’t gone yet. 🙂 And leave my blood pressure alone.
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akademia rozwoju…
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