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Michelle Rhee, founder and CEO of StudentsFirst (shown on NBC's "Meet the Press in July): "It's a new day for the Democratic Party. It's not a monolith that's just going to side with the teachers unions come what may."
CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- Michelle Rhee, former chancellor of Washington, D.C.’s public schools, thinks that Democrats have entered a new phase in their relationship with teachers unions. And she thinks a push by Republicans for local control of education is unquestionably wrong.
A political – and often controversial – figure since she started as chancellor in 2007, Rhee will be spending this election season focused on state-level policies. She started her organization, StudentsFirst, to create a counterweight to union political pressure. The organization provides support to politicians of both parties who promise to work for statewide education reforms.
The new effort does not mean that Rhee, a Democrat, doesn’t have opinions about what’s happening on the federal stage. The Hechinger Report sat down with Rhee at the Democratic National Convention to find out what she thinks about President Barack Obama, Mitt Romney and the direction her party is headed in.
Here are some highlights from the conversation:
On the Democrats’ “new day”:
Traditionally, Democrats have not gone against the teachers unions – and many still won’t, Rhee said. But the unions, which have often opposed things like the elimination of the first-in, last-out policy for teacher layoffs or merit pay, don’t hold the same political power they once did.
“It’s a new day for the Democratic Party,” Rhee said. “It’s not a monolith that’s just going to side with the teachers unions come what may.”
Rhee cited education resolutions that were passed unanimously by the U.S. Conference of Mayors this summer. They included supporting teacher evaluations that were 50 percent based on student performance and parent trigger laws -- which allow for a majority of parents at a failing school to take it over.
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“I think that tells you something,” Rhee said. Her husband, Sacramento, Calif., Mayor Kevin Johnson, chairs the education committee for the conference. “We’ve got a lot of people saying we support unions, we support collective bargaining, we definitely support teachers, but a lot of these policies are things that have to be looked at and things that have to be changed.”
On Obama’s performance – and what should come next:
Rhee praised the president’s education initiatives, including Race to the Top, which awarded federal money to states that promised to undergo a variety of education policy changes. But, she said, the concept shouldn’t necessarily stop there.
“There’s still a lot of other federal funding that there’s no accountability around,” she said. Title I funding, given to schools based on their low-income student enrollment, for instance, could be partly contingent on reforms, Rhee said. For the 2012-2013 school year, Congress approved $14.5 billion for Title I.
“It would probably be a big challenge for [the Obama administration politically,” she said. “The Republicans on the Hill don’t want to fund another batch of Race to the Top dollars. You could continue that dynamic forward with those title dollars.”
On Romney’s education plans:
A central piece of Romney’s – and the Republican Party’s – education platform involves pushing control back down to the local level, something Rhee says she “100 percent” disagrees with.
“We had 14,000 school boards in this country making the decisions for a long time and that is why we ended up where we ended up,” Rhee said, noting that often school boards aren’t composed of educators. “I don’t think local folks know everything.”
“We should not say, well, that kids in Jackson, Miss., should be held accountable to different learning standards to the kids in Beverley Hills to the kids in Worcester, Mass.,” she said. “These children are not going to be competing for jobs against each other. They’re going to be competing for jobs against kids in India and China, and we’re going to have to have a sense of how each of these kids is doing.”
That’s not to say that the federal government should dictate everything about education, Rhee said. She supports both national curriculum standards and the creation of a common assessment. States that fall short should face interventions as laid out by the U.S. Department of Education.
“You have to have a balance,” she said. “The federal government should set very clear standards … There should be flexibility with how we’re going to get there.”
On vouchers:
One area where Rhee and Romney find some common ground is in his proposal to expand vouchers for low-income students. But she’s cautious about being overzealous about this support.
“I think where some Republicans tend to go is they think they can take something like vouchers and that’s just the end all, be all,” she said. “’Let’s just voucherize the system and then we’ll solve all the problems’ … That point of view is – I think – naïve. ”
Students First has identified 37 policies that they think states should adopt in order to improve schools. “I just don’t think you can choose one thing,” Rhee said.
This story was produced by The Hechinger Report, a nonprofit, nonpartisan education-news outlet based at Teachers College, Columbia University.
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"Michelle Rhee: How Obama -- or Romney -- should change education"
Yeah, get unions out of our education system.
Michelle Rhee has a pretty skimpy resume to be telling everyone in the US how to educate our kids.
She has very little experience but supposedly all the answers.
I think I'd rather trust the magic 8-ball since Rhee is merely a corporate shill.
We came from a system where the local government controlled what students learned and how much. It didn't work. That is why we need a national standard.
Better yet get the stupid kids and their lazy parents out of the education system...they are the only oines who didn't get a decent education in public schools...
So if your kids are filiing at school it's because they are stupid, stop blaming teachers unions and teachers in general...it's your kids who are the village idiots
If you're looking for something to "get out of education," my vote would be computers. No business in the classroom. In my local school district, they are so far down the technology obsession road (and now realizing the cost of maintaining all those toys), they can't even afford text books.
Got a smart board in every classroom. Kids get a classroom laptop for their daily computer games. But no textbooks. Well, they have them, but not enough to issue one to every student, so the textbooks stay in the classroom. The result of this? No homework, because they can't take the textbooks home. Well, that's also not completely true. They do get homework, but it's not anything that resembles what I remember as homework. They draw lots of pictures and stuff (even in middle school). Now, I'll get an opportunity to see the high school version of all this. So far my son has had one homework assignment. He had to fill out some questionnaire in Facebook. Seriously. My son barely knows his multiplication tables (and what he does know was because I made him learn them, outside of the school curriculum). But he knows how to further his Facebook addiction. Great educational strategy.
Getting computers out of the classroom when almost everything that isn't already controlled by computers will be would make us into a 3rd world country by the next generation. What sense would it make to not train our children in current technology so they can be the ones to advance future technology? I doubt many want to go back to horse and buggies.
Active parental involvement in their education does wonders.
Typical neanderthal comment!
Good luck if Romney gets in! It'll be back to the Dark Ages for Education, Teachers, science, history, facts, our kids future -- in short, total disaster...
Obama 2012 - the only sane choice!
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What a moronic statement Paul M. Maybe you're just not "with it" ya know to understand how important computers roles are in education. I don't know what part of your reality you live in, but here in the real world, computers are allowing students the ability to gain information that we never was even possible.
I have a child in high school and you know why they don't have textbooks...because the textbooks are online with far better modules to work with. Paper is the way of the past and it costs a heck of a lot more than an online version of a book (trust me on this - I'm also a full-time college student and online is the way of the world these days when it comes to books), that not only includes what is needed to learn, but other tools for success.
With access to tablets, students taking biology courses can conduct virtual dissections without the cost of purchasing hundreds of eyes, brains or frogs from the local butcher, etc. With that technology alone, they would be able to conduct a virtual autopsy on a human. Math modules online are showing a rapid increase in test scores and fundamental knowledge due to the ability to get specialized attention while working on homework - something that could never have been done via a textbook (unless you're parents were math wizards).
The fact that you admit that your child has not only the inability to know his multiplication tables and has an insentient addiction to facebook shows that you should easily have your parent card revoked. When you rely on someone else to educate your children, you are the problem. Education is a proactive ever changing battle. I for one, take my role as a parent seriously and make sure my daughter is getting the best education and knows what she is supposed to - but then she's been an honor student for the last 6 years of her education and has been selected to attend very prestigious summits, etc all based on her academic performance.
Don't blame something you know so little about because you're scared of progress - oh and just a little side thought, maybe instead of spending time on the computer commenting on things you have no business commenting on, go spend a little time with your kid and...I don't know...teach him something.
Simple...send 12 spies to China and let them find out what each grade there teaches. Then, have our teachers start teaching the same level and then fail any kid who doesn't pass. All you have to do is raise the standard.
Unfortunately, I'd be willing to be that some teachers wouldn't be smart enough to teach at that high of a level. Therefore, they must be lowered to the grade level they are capable of teaching. Sadly, we probably don't have teachers that could teach grades 10-12.
So teachers should have no rights. Maybe they should just to protect them from people like YOU.
@ haggis -
As I recall, Obama's administration has shown a steady decline in the educational systems throughout America. Only thing upholding what's in place are the states.
Second of all, your spin is so convoluted and so far leftist, you may as well just keep your mouth shut on this topic.
Onto Mrs. Rhee, just shut up already.
Well good for her. Glad she has an opinion. */golf clap*
Moving on to more important news. I hear Jerusalem and God are now back on the Democratic national convention platform! Despite opposition.... lol
mccainisacrankyoldguy
Got some proof to back up the shill claim? Because with out some pretty hard evidence that she is working AGAINST the best interest of the kids you'd have to be an utter moron to choose something that makes decisions at random.
The facts are that in the short time she was allowed to do her job she was INCREDIBLY successful but unfortunately for her, the success of the students didn't necessarily line up with the success of the unions so she was quickly ousted. One thing even the pro-union folks cant deny is that when it comes to teachers unions they (meaning the unions not the teachers) put the best interest of the students pretty far down on their list of priorities.
There is no shortage of marvelous course material in the hands of highly effective teachers these days. It's all available on the Internet [e.g. 'Youtube'] where students -- and their parents too -- can partake of classes offered by some of our most respected universities as well as by some great tutors.
Couple all of these advantages with the increasing shortage of classroom 'teachers' in Mathematics and Science and one comes to recognize that the computer and the Internet have arrived upon the scene in the nick of time. Never mind the latter day Luddites who speak against this new environment; They either have an agenda of their own or they simply do not undrstand what is at stake here.
This is a woman who is being investigated for fraud in the way she conducted her student evaluations. She's lucky she's not in jail
Michelle Rhee was the best thing to happen to the DC school system and she is definitely right on the disaster of the lyin' Ryan/Romney team...
Vote Obama if you value your kids/grandkids education and future!!!!!
Michelle Rhee is right, in my opinion. I am probably in a small minority of ex-teachers who believes that teachers should be federal employees, free from the interference from meddling local school boards who rarely understand the education process and who far too often are pushing a religious agenda.
Here's a religious agenda that many Americans know is true: If you sterilize the American public education system from all things Judeo/Christian, you will create a subjective humanistic environment that is impotent to deal with real human beings that were made to know their Creator.
Your atheism is the root cause of American immorality and subjectivive, self serving behavior.
Yeah, lying to people from when they're in the crib, and telling them there's a sky-daddy.. that's real moral.
The teachers union is fascist enough without making them part of the federal gestapo propaganda machine. Charter schools have already shown the way to the future with higher success rates at a lower cost.
And she is wrong, it is not local boards that got us into this disaster, it is the teachers union protecting incompetents, child molesters, etc.
Republicans are right, move control down to the local level where they are answerable to parents, not hiding behind some government leach bureaucrat agency.
Republicans aren't concerned with better education they're simply interested in cheaper education. For businessmen like Romney why pay for education when countries like China and India are perfectly willing to use government funds to train tomorrows workers. Cheaper to import the next generation of workers than pay for educating our own.
Yes, just what we need,,,,, more federal employees! Yes, maybe things are not perfect at the local level, but it was when the federal government started telling everyone how to run the schools that the downhill slide in education really began. Washington has their hands in so many cookie japs already that they can not keep track of what they are doing.
Yes, just what we need,,,, more federal employees! While local areas may not be perfect at running their school districts properly at all times, and while I agree there should be some across the board standards set up, the federal government does not have all the answers either and already has their hands in so many cookie jars that they cannot run anything properly. Since the Dept of Ed was formed the standards and quality of American education has been on a downhill slide. Perhaps there should be basic educational standards in place, but allowing the federal government to continue to screw up the education system by trying to experiment with it is not the answer for sure. Take some lessons from the school districts out there that are doing it right and learn from them. That is after all what education is all about,,,, learning!
Valhalla Phil
The Fascists are the Right Wing extremists - in other words -Teapublicans. You need to do some reading up in history, einstein!
If it were up to the Teapublicans the agenda would be running Schools like some cut-throat corporation where either "stay at home" moms are encouraged and/or "Home Skoolin" would get the priority..
Oh yeah, forget about any real science - it will be based on the "American Taliban"'s version of science.... LOL Might as well be WWII Germany's version of "Valhalla" being taught as fact ... hey, that's your name...
We can blame religion. We can blame the teachers. We can blame the unions. We can blame the school boards. When are we going to start blaming the students who don't value an education and the parents who allow their kids to underachieve and believe that education is useless? When are they going to be held responsible?
@Don - I haven't seen a single government entity that runs as smoothly as any private enterprise counterpart. If you make all the teachers into Federal employees, we'll NEVER be able to reform or fire any of them. Of course, the teachers will enjoy the protections......
There is no shortage of marvelous course material in the hands of highly effective teachers these days. It's all available on the Internet [e.g. 'Youtube'] where students -- and their parents too -- can partake of classes offered by some of our most respected universities as well as by some great individual tutors... All Free of Charge!!
Couple all of these advantages with the increasing shortage of classroom 'teachers' in Mathematics and Science and one comes to recognize that the computer and the Internet have arrived upon the scene in the nick of time. Never mind the latter day Luddites who speak against this new environment; They either have an agenda of their own or they simply do not undrstand what is at stake here.
Herald,
Just as an FYI, I'm a religious person, and I think it should be a cold day in hell before religious teachings are taught in schools. You want that for your kids, do it on your own damn time. Schools should be for secular, scientific learning only. I don't want you to push any agenda, or even my own, into public education. That's just ridiculous.
Regarding Chuck - you do realize that the current system still has all teachers being paid (eventually) from tax proceeding, correct? Rhee has suggested eliminating the (corrupt) middle management of school boards, districts, and unions that currently make the decisions in teaching and accountability. She's also the one who proposed pay-for-performance, where the most effective teachers receive higher pay, as opposed to the current, union controlled system where just being there a long time means job-security and higher pay, whether you're good at your job or not.
Wholly Molars, you're talking about government v. public enterprise... do you think school districts are public enterprise? And if you think they move smoothly, you have obviously not been to many school board or district meetings.
@Travis, - I have not been to school board or district meetings, true. I'm not arguing that the current system is smooth or effective. It certainly has it's faults, BUT - making the teachers into Federal employees is sure not the answer if anyone is looking for a smoothly-running, efficient business model...
Wholly...
for the love of God, they're already government employees! What change are you talking about? We're talking about elimination of teacher's unions and introducing pay for performance.
The teachers are bloody federal employees already, do you think schools are public enterprise? Holy smokes... I'm thinking this is conversation is a good example of why we need to overhaul the public education system.
Herald9 - you don't have to be an atheist to believe that religion has NO place in public schools. If government cannot be trusted to properly educate kids, why do you trust them to teach religion to kids??
I'm a Christian myself, and I pay enough attention to history and current events to know that when we mix religion and government, religion AND government loses. The reason why Europe is pretty nonreligious today is BECAUSE they mixed their religion with their government. Religion is meant to be taught in the home and by faith institutions (i.e. houses of worship), and should never be taught or specially sanctioned by government.
I hope NBC will give equal time to Diane Ravitch, who knows more than anyone how Rhee's "reform" ideas have shown little to no success when compared to traditional schools. Rhee's Students First group is bankrolled by numerous conservatives who want to make profits from taxpayer dollars that go to public education.
Ravith's biggest supporter? The teacher Unions. How is that any more objective? Please, her agenda is purely social and not about quality education.
In her mind, teachers super heroes but they are people, with jobs, and some of them don't deserve those jobs. I am betting you are an educator.
I find it amusing that people who have never set foot in a classroom THINK they know how to fix a problem that they've NEVER dealt with. I wish I had such insight, maybe I'd have the answer for the global meltdown.
Rhee has abused the education system and now people are catching on to her corporate takeover of education. Students are not just scores, they're learners. Her top donors are mostly corporate elites such as the Koch brothers. Republicans love her because Rhee, who still has not answered questions about her cheating scandal in DC as their chancellor, is helping businesses take over schools and syphon student funding, which leaves public schools with less school resources. Former education reformer and secretary of education, Diane Ravitch, has been a huge critic about Rhee's failed policies. Rhee is one thing on camera, but off camera, she doesn't even have a clue about what a child nee tds in education. She is the darker version of a "Tiger Mom." The suicide rate has jumped due to student stress.
Rhee couldn't handle her first year as a teacher, so she had another teacher come in and help her out the next school year. This is not a realistic situation for teachers. Teacher incentives and middle wage has gone down since she started tackling unions. However, Stanford had done a study in 2011 that proves that charter schools, that Rhee advocates for, show slight improvement than public schools, in some cases, charter schools have done worst.The voucher movement is insulting because students have been discriminated against in getting into voucher-accepted schools. Rhee's movement is disolving and democrats have finally called her out on her corrupted education takeovers.
More pathetic liberal lies, charter schools prove you can do far better at much lower costs by what republicans have advocated all along, end tenure, pay for performance, and allow choice. Charter schools are so superior to the fascist brainwashing public education system that many have to hold lotteries to choose who will be allowed in.
Union run public schools are so pathetic that even home schooled kids run rings around them.
I'm liberal and I think tenure is disgusting. I don't see why anyone would think it's okay to mandate keeping someone who is terrible at what they do. To be honest, this smells of lingering "good ole boy" mentality which I tend to associate more with republicans and their GOP (Grand Old Party). But of course, 100+ years ago, the republicans (made of former Whigs and Free Soil Democrats), were the anti-slavery "liberals" so....
The charter schools in my area are notoriously horrible sadly. Although I like the spirit of the idea, the execution is lacking. The 2 private schools here are exceptional though.
A Thought - Tenure does not mandate anyone keeping a job. It ensures due process. Administrators have always had the power to rid schools of poor performing teachers, for many it was simply too difficult or they were concerned with protecting their friends. I agree this sounds like the "good ole boy mentality" because it is; the blame, however, is squarely on the shoulders of incompetent administrators.
Karen: What an absurd statement, even more absurd that you got 10 thumbs up. I think outside of a few hillbillies in West Virginia you'll find few Americans who've never set foot in a classroom.
You have to be kidding, Larry. "Set foot in a classroom" refers to teaching, not being a student.
Anyone who thinks they know how to run a school just by attending one must also think they can do their own dentistry since they have been to a dentist.
"Vallhalla"...charter school quality is probably the most studied topic in education. There are literally SCORES of peer-reviewed studies. The results of these studies are, like studies of public school quality, all over the proverbial "map". Some good, some bad. But the overall consensus now is that charter schools as a group are no better or worse than public schools.
As far as Rhee goes...many of her opinions are spot on: unions do have too much power, complete decentralization / local control is the going in the exact opposite direction from where we should be going...BUT many are not so great and certainly her style harmed her trying to sell any of her ideas.
First, charter schools can pick and choose their population. Secondly, charter schools are free of many of the regulations that public schools must follow. Thirdly, they do not have to take the standardized tests. Finally, if a student doesn't perform or cooperate, he/she can be dismissed.
Private schools also have selected clients. If you check, many Republican politicians send their children to private school so they have no interest in the public sector.
Only public schools have to accept all children and teach them. This is a difficult task, yet some how they manage.
Oh, and just because you went to school does not mean you know how to teach and manage a classroom. A teacher wears many hats--parent, nurse, counselor, friend, cop, baby sitter, secretary, janitor, first responder, cafeteria aide, all while teaching reading, writing, arithmetic, science, social studies and whatever else is mandated.
I am always amused when a parent is heard saying, " I can't wait for school to start cause you two kids are driving me crazy". Imagine 25 or more of them in a room where you are suppose to teach them something!!!!
There is no shortage of marvelous course material in the hands of highly effective teachers these days. It's all available on the Internet [e.g. 'Youtube'] where students -- and their parents too -- can partake of classes offered by some of our most respected universities as well as by some great tutors... All Free Of Charge!!
Couple all of these advantages with the increasing shortage of classroom 'teachers' in Mathematics and Science and one comes to recognize that the computer and the Internet have arrived upon the scene in the nick of time. Never mind the latter day Luddites who speak against this new environment; They either have an agenda of their own or they simply do not undrstand what is at stake here.
And a teacher who doesn't see or know the teaching styles of anyone but themselves are better judges of what a good teacher or bad teacher than people who spend 12 to 20 years clearly seeing both? I think not. And yes those attending schools also set foot in classrooms.
Before Rhee gives anyone else advice she may want to revisit what she's done to worsen DC's education system. She removed Title I services from schools, using that money to pay "instructional coaches" who schedule field trips and dole out discipline. She took away any counselors who actually work with kids so those who are the neediest have nowhere to go. I worked in DC as a teacher... was choked by a parent who was on drugs, had kids who were extremely violent (3rd graders) and witnessed both certified teachers and paras physically abusing children. 27 students and no help for those children is no improvement. I taught for 13 years before going there. I fell for the Rhee hoopla. I was embarrassed to say I taught there.
Get rid of unions and pedophiles as a start! Then start teaching teachers how to teach! Base there hire of performance not tenure. Raise the standards for education don't lower them, I like teacher being federal employees, that way the best can be placed where need the most.
bubba
Every state has background checks and other measures and those measures are almost always effective. If pedophiles were really one of the serious problems in education they would not make national news with every allegation.
What makes you believe that teachers do not know how to teach? Certainly not every teacher is highly skilled, but most are. It is far more common that a teacher is unable to teach effectively because they have 40 students in a class instead of the 24 student standard.
Oh my if federal employees had performance standards placed on them 45% of them would be fired, states would lose about 30%. But the bright side would be new people who work and earn their pay verses just collecting a paycheck.
Just what we need another federal bureaucracy to "solve" our problems. I think we have seen the poor results from most federal agencies that are responsible for things. Local school boards with parents are fine ..get rid of tenure. Teaching is a passion not a "job". Too many burnt out teachers turning out mediocre students. We are more about unions and making sure all the students ae full of self- esteem. Try getting the right answer..
bubba-1946427 wrote "Get rid of unions and pedophiles as a start!"
Just ask teachers if they are homosexuals. If so, don't hire them. The Catholic Church is riddled with pastors that can't get enough of the choir boys. But it would be unfair to discriminate against homosexual men without an equal discrimination against women.
Vincent
You imply that homosexuals are pedophiles. That is wrong. Those priests who molest boys are pedophiles. The lack of knowledge in those people expressing strong opinions is appalling.
Don you must be a teacher, play the numbers game, I can't teach I have to many students, I have never ever seen a teacher take the time to work with a troubled student, they will do it with the student that is learning, or the student that asks for help ( if they find the time????), but not the student that doesn't know how to ask know matter how small the class is.You will have that one exception. Background checks ha, ya right that's a laugh! That's why we keep arresting teachers going to bead with their students!
Education is another of the issues that really needs to come up to the 21st Century. Kids are being taught the same old way since the 1950s. And NO one should make a profit off of education. The Voucher idea has been around for 30 years. It will not work is why it has not been adopted.
The school day needs to be longer for all grades--school in the morning, extra curricular in the afternoon--computer, art, music, gym, sports, band, study hall.
Grade School--day starts before the higher grades. Parents need to get to work. Feed them breakfast at 7:30 if you have to. And the day is longer with more recess-play time. These kids need to run off their little energies. Eat lunch later or earlier than the higher grades. Grade school does not need a large gym or library.
Higher Grades-pre high school -- for Pete's sake, give them more time to eat. They need recesses too. Field trip to a community library instead of duplication.
High School -- heavy on the computer stuff. On-line courses instead of duplicating teachers. Let them start later in the day and stop giving them so much homework. Give them a course in College Study instead of English book reports. Give them real world stuff--Wall Street, mortgage, car repair, cooking--Give them courses in Parenting, Child Psychology, Child Development, relationships--how to argue fairly etc. EVERYONE of them is going to be in a relationship. MOST of them come from dysfunctional families. It has to stop somewhere.
Come on People -- The choice between unions, states rights and vouchers is not the choice we need to be discussing.
There is no shortage of marvelous course material in the hands of highly effective teachers these days. It's all available on the Internet [e.g. 'Youtube'] where students -- and their parents too -- can partake of classes offered by some of our most respected universities as well as by some great individual tutors... All Free of Charge!!
Couple all of these advantages with the increasing shortage of classroom 'teachers' in Mathematics and Science and one comes to recognize that the computer and the Internet have arrived upon the scene in the nick of time. Never mind the latter day Luddites who speak against this new environment; They either have an agenda of their own or they simply do not undrstand what is at stake here.
Yup, as a teacher I have a number of super-powers including forcing children to learn and getting parents to live up to their responsibilities as parents. Thus, I certainly think it's a great idea to have 50% of my evaluation based on state-mandated exams...exams that all the students take seriously even though they count for nothing on the students report cards. Heck, all the students put forth maximum effort anyway because they all want to show how much they have learned. I also went into teaching because I dislike children and wanted to join a union that purposely did things to hamper those children getting a decent education in order to be successful in life.
Everyone seems to have an opinion on how the education system should be run even though most of those people haven't been in a school for years and quite frankly have no idea on what they are giving an opinion. Rhee starts an organization called StudentsFirst because teachers don't care? They don't work hard and use many strategies to help students become successful? No, now is the time for teacher-bashing. If anyone thinks students of quality will go into the profession in the future, think again, at least until the pendulum swings back and everyone takes responsibility, including the parents AND the students. Teachers can't do it alone.
America has a moral problem. All the other issues are symptomatic.
Secular humanism has no remedy for the corrupt human heart. It can not produce citizens of character since atheists have no true answers for the most important questions of human existence.
Herald9:
In your opinion, what IS the remedy for the corrupt human heart?
Total liberal BS excuses for failure. There are charter schools in Harlem where graduation rate is 96% and college admissions is 98% and these are children of drug addicts, street hookers, career criminals, etc. CBS did an excellent profile of one some time ago.
The secret? No excuses, (you are not your parents!), and demand excellence. It's funny how charter schools all over the US can take in kids that were flunking out and get them all up to standard performance for less money. That's why the teachers union will fight them tooth and nail. As always, no tenure, pay for performance, choice, and no union is the solution.
Republicans have occupied the whitehouse 12 of the last 24 years and haven't solved any of educations problems. For any of you pretending Romney's any different when his only plan is cutting education funding are merely trying to push your agenda.
Hey Phil -
Those charter schools you refer to hand pick their students. And parents, for that matter.
Yeah, I'm sure you're comparing apples to apples. Oh, and you are cherry picking only the top charter schools for your comparison.
Statistically, charter schools fare no better for their students nationwide than do public schools when it comes to graduation rates, test scores and college acceptance.
You may want to check your facts. My daughter attends a charter school and they do not get to pick their students. They also must provide all special ed services that any school receiving public education dollars must provide. There are many students at her school that have started there below grade level. There are also plenty of special needs kids. Maybe some states allow cherry-picking at charters, but not in Michigan.
Michelle Rhee I hope your wishes come true because that is how the gods punish arrogance. If you think that turning learning into a consumer product is going to leave you with well educated, motivated and self-reliant citizens, you are deluded. How is it that conservatives are all for personal responsibility unless they can blame a union, a union worker or a teacher for the behavior of children who are not their own. School is the socialization of the raising of children - comrades. Good luck, you will need it.
More stupid liberal arguments. Conservatives can blame unions for NOT taking personal responsibility for their failures, for their blocking vouchers, for their blocking pay for performance, for their blocking an end to tenure, for their blocking charter schools, all to the detriment of the students.
And yes, for profit is GUARANTEED to produce better results. Public schools get paid no matter how pathetically incompetent they are, for profit schools have to produce results or there are no profits.
And sure enough the liberal fascist rears it's ugly head..."School is the socialization of the raising of children - comrades" Truly pathetic.
They block things that have nothing to do with education, Phil.
Pay for performance improves nothing - it has been tried and proven useless since the 1920s. It is merely another form of privatizing education by trying to drive a wedge between educators.
Tenure has nothing to do with bad teaching - only with bad administrators. Go to your local public school and request a copy of their master contract. The discipline and firing procedure is in there. Prove to us that it can protect bad teachers before you allow your keyboard to waste our time again.
Charter schools were covered above. They do no better than public schools until you cherry pick the top few and compare them to all public schools' average. No point to be made there.
Education is a personal responsibility - period. Before a child is old enough to make their own decisions, it is their parents' responsibility to follow up and make sure their child gets what they need. The teacher, like a doctor, can give them the information and tools that they need but cannot do the work for them, just like your doctor can't be blamed for your fat ass.
You can go back to Faux News now.
Michelle Rhee and her husband Kevin Johnson have only one agenda, themselves. Johnson is the worst mayor in Sacramento Ca history. They are both egomaniacs. Follow the money !
I say give Sir Ken Robinson's ideas a try. He is one of the most profound thinkers for children's education to have come along in decades. Ms. Rhee has some good points but as the above commenters pointed out, not all of them work. Status quo DEFINITELY doesn't work.
Best way to change education is not listen to Michelle Rhee.
She is a FRAUD who is given too much credibility. Especially since in the end her reforms failed. What people need to pay attention to is that she is being sponsored by big dollar hedge fund managers who USED to make all of their money exploiting the mortgage markets (Eli Broad and his foundation-where Christie's new education hires all come from) and now the only "easy" money is in education "reform." Ask yourselves WHY people who NEVER want to help poor brown people all of a sudden care about their education?! They DON'T, but they do care that ed reforms come with tax tricks that provide a guarantee of doubling their money in as little as 7 years. It is the safest money maker out there and that's BEFORE you add in the profits from selling the canned curriculum "fixes" that they are selling and the teacher evaluation software that the states are forcing the school districts all over to buy for hundreds of thousands of dollars. And THEN you'll need somebody to sell and grade the massive FLOOD of standardized tests that will be used to "evaluate" teachers.
Hopefully when all is said and done, these leeches won't leave education the way they left the mortgage and insurance industries.
And yet more pathetic liberal lies. Charter schools are running rings around public schools because they HAVE to to stay in business. They do this by being non union, paying for performance, no tenure, and free choice. Fascist liberals will not tolerate choice, hence all the pathetic fascist propaganda and fear mongering.
Every time someone gets an idea on how to improve education our status in the education ranks drops when the new improved graduating crop is evaluated.
Not true, charter schools were a new idea and they are very successful. Home schooling was another idea that gained traction and succeeded.
Phil, did you ever wonder why home schooling works? Do you think that it could be the parental involvement with students that see a value in education?
Wow! If only ALL students and parents in public schools were like that. Then public education really wouldn't be in the shape it's in would it?
Don't allow Michelle Rhee any where near the Department of Education.
I have a better idea. EXPECT students to show up, do their work, and parents to kick some butt at home. That is the simple answer.
Obama can change education by getting out of the way!
Schools are working. Give hard working teachers some support. Keep you hands off teacher unions. And stop giving mindless "experts," like Rhee, millions of dollars.
That's pathetic, schools are NOT working. We are paying first world wages for third world results. This is common knowledge, sorry but your propaganda won't fly.
Teachers unions are largely to blame, it is almost impossible to fire a bad teacher. One of the reason charter schools are so successful is they WILL fire a bad teacher, and reward good ones with higher pay.
Really, Phil? Almost impossible? Evidence please.
Copy and paste information directly from your local school's master contract and show us how the contract (negotiated by the unions and admin. in equal partnership) makes it "almost impossible" to fire a teacher.
Until then, you're spouting fairy tales.
She helped to further kill Washington DC schools. Now she is making a fortune marketing pseudoscience educational reform. Education is not a business. Kids are not products. She knows nothing of real solutions to improve education. She is a sham. Those who can, teach. Those who cannot, become sham educational reformers. Bring back local control. Stop over-testing our children.
Dr. Peter Osroff, Principal
Anyone supporting Ms. Rhee and her ideas should read up about her. She taught for a mere 3 or 4 years and misrepresented her success rate in raising student achievement during those years. She is politically connected with those in government who want to rid the country of unions. It takes a lot longer than 4 years to become a great teacher or to have the experience with a wide variety of students and learning styles to be put in a position of making policy in education. Who anointed this woman as any sort of education expert? Had to be a politician.
Anyone who wants to eliminate teachers unions gets my vote. They are the predominant problem, protecting incompetent teachers, last in/first out, no pay for performance, and no vouchers, meaning no free choice.
Phil...I'm in California and I'm with you!!!! The teachers union is a corrupt organization and they need to be eliminated. Teachers should be put on annual contracts!!! This is how my daughter's private school is run and it has been successful for over 50 years! All other employees are at-will, as Cali is an at-will employment state. The federal government needs to get out of education and return it to the individual states, which is how it was for years. We do not need a Secretary of Education, which was a Jimmy Carter addition to the cabinet. What a waste.
Show us the contract info. that proves unions protect incompetent teachers.
I'll bet good money that you won't, because if you read the contracts you'll find it simply isn't true.
Sadly I don't even know who Rhee is- I don't have time to pay attention because mty child my beautiful girl is sick and I am focused on her not all of the money grabbing- sicko's out in the world today-with this said-
I just received a e-mail from "students first" asking me for money because they were going to reform the system and save my kid. So I thought to find their actually phone number and call them to ask for detailed plan of change- yes detailed ideas of exactly what "they" any of you" are going to do too effectually make this ideology of change happen-
Just what is this plan of mythic change going to actually come from? Is it going to stop the bulling of the weaker kids regardless of their class or station in life after all their parents are theirs and "they are going to love their" family and think the way their taught is "normal-
Help the kids! Are you kidding me Do any of you even know how many kids are actually on drugs-lost-and dead from SUICIDE today-!? No none of you don't obviously!
When I called the number for Students First I tried to ask the girl questions about this cause she didn't know anything and was rude-Then I called back and got a machine so I pressed it and called back and talked to a guy and he seemed cautious because he knew I was on to them- I ask about the DETAILS of the whole plan He didn't know anything except the format of the "sales pitch for the money they are seeking— Again I ask then He offered to transfer me to someone who Knew the plan-"Again He kept talking me in circles and I kept Him on the phone talking His crap-
Finally I stated I would report this to the state Attorney general then He said it was national and hung His hat" His claim to this woman Rhee having credibility because she's in the system- Please! Really?
I am the American People - am a parent-I am a human with feelings and ideas and I care and love God my daughter and my country and myself last!
The point is that all of this all of you are self-centered and the very reason my great kid is suffering- because all of you won't shut the __— up and just be grateful for what you have and pay attention to your own business and your kids-
Now any-one that is in the right place at the right time can get a turn spinning themselves into a godsend and actually get followers and money for a cause that really does not exist and no-one cares about anyway- Its just a way to make the almighty dollar and the kids are a causality- "thinning of the heard" Listen to that comment at the beginning of this stupid comment sheet I am on- Some-one actually called a mold-able child stupid-this moron who cannot spell the words of hate=-he is letting seep from His or her foul pores could have kids that are doing the very "bullying of children that =killing the very fabric of learning that all of you are trying to SAVE and PROTECT!
I never got my questions answered and never will on any political topic because we are dealing with scam artists on every level-hell I am a great talker too and who knows given the right platform and half a chance i could talk people into believing in my cause "for the sake of the kids" and pay me to do it and travel and live great while the very kids they claim to help die and suffer left and right!
Michelle Rhee is an idiot with half a brain. She thinks she is smart in her own opinion. But, so does the Devil. Another big fool. She deserves to be with him. Looser!!!
Teacher Unions have taken the US from first to basically last in knowledge compared to the rest of the civilized world. In Chicago the Unions demand that incompetent teachers be retained! This is the Obama Way. Chicago Democrats need union money and will hurt children to get it. Note that Obama won't send his kids to a public school. Clearly, the first thing to do with education is to shutdown the unions and the public school system. Move entirely to vouchers! Eliminate the local taxes for schools and the federal grants. Let the parents choose a school. And if no one wants to create a school in a neighborhood? Dang, I don't know! Maybe the neighborhood needs to get together and figure out what to do, ... like hang the drug gang members or throw out the Democrats.
Jamie -
That voucher isn't going to pay to bus your kid to the other school, so I guess you'll have to drive them to and from school every day. It also won't pay for books or meals at a private school, so if you choose a private school GLW those things, too.
No local taxes or grants for schools means all those kids who need them will instead be out on the streets in your neighborhood while you are at work, and they will have nothing to do...
Yeah, good thinking there. "I've got mine. Screw everyone else." Typical.
Rhee is a fraud. There are a lot of people like her who have gained power and influence since NCLB. LIke the TFA, all hat, no cattle. Meanwhile, those of us who really are experts get marginalized and shoved aside by both parties. Shame on them all.
Reduce the federal Department of Education to a bureau that acts as a clearing house for states' departments of education for sharing effective teaching stategies. It would also act as an authority for accreditation for school systems. Take the tax savings from reducing the federal Department of Education to a bureau and let the states increase their taxes proportionally so they can increase what they spend on education.
Finally, and maybe most importantly, require parents to become active in their children's education. Too many parents use the schools as day care. Require and expect students perform to high standards if they are to graduate. Let that high school diploma stand for something significant again.
For those students who are academically challenged, use the per student tuition dollars schools receive to farm them out to trade schools or to subsidize wages while students engage in on the job training. We need people who can actually make things and repair things.
National standards would certainly make a difference in science and technology. A creationism background would make it tough for anyone hoping to do well in science.
And Romney's voucher idea is one more attempt to make schools a for-profit business (his son has invested in) where vouchers could become so small a part of total costs that in time they would become subsidized schools for the wealthy. And, of course, anyone with special needs would not be accepted. Let's be certain that public schools remain public.
And yet more liberal lies. Liberals are against national standards, Obama weakened the NCLB mandate on standards to cover for union teachers incompetence.
As usual fascist liberals will not tolerate freedom of choice, thank you for reaffirming that point.
Too bad your lies are so easily disproved, all of New Orleans is now charter. When the town was wiped out by Katrina, they saw their chance to revamp their entire education program and they are doing far better now.
Phil -
...and if you look into it you'll see that those charter schools in New Orleans rewrote the definitions for "successful" and "proficient" so that more of their students look like they are passing, even though the kids haven't learned anything more than they had before.
Go look it up -- we'll wait.
Local standards and local funding do not work. We cannot compete with the rest of the world as we stand. We need what the top level nations have: national standards and centralized policy. We also need to change our entire system to beat the rest of the world. This means far more individual attention to students, which would mean less goofing off, and what would really stimulate interest, the ability to progress at their own rate and from the start to identify and encourage their talents and interests. We could learn a lot from the Montessori method.
Instead of belittling teachers, who really don't deserve it, we should respect them and pay them good salaries.
Parents need to step up to the plate and insist on good behavior in school, and make sure homework gets done.
We need an effort to involve parents. Many are afraid to try to help with homework because they don't remember the material well anymore, or never covered it in school themselves. Schools that work with parents to help them understand the work can do a great deal to help children.
Better nutrition for children is essential. Offering subsidized breakfast as well as lunch and after school snacks as well will increase interest kids in attendance and it improves test results.
The truth is that there will always be kids whose home lives are lacking nurture for whatever reason. Schools need the tools to fill the gaps. That means food, medical care, and a lot more, highly skilled and caring teachers. Most care, and many are highly skilled, but there are not nearly enough of them. Burnout is a big issue because they are being left in the lurch by us.
Schools should have programs for the youngest children. It is never too early to start reading to them, and what better day care environment than a school?
If we expect schools to produce results, they must be given the right tools. Those tools cost money, but they produce results.
We can be number one, but we must stop passing the buck. If we expect schools to do the job, then they must have the funding to do it right. Then we can fairly hold them accountable.
Instead of spending 5B on this election (what a waste), we should be spending that money to educate our children, and pay our teachers a living wage.
"They included supporting teacher evaluations that were 50 percent based on student performance..."
That would have benefited me personally but it would hurt the great amount of interaction and cooperation that goes on between teachers. I was a good teacher who was "in with the administration" and was also valued because I coached winning varsity sports, a state-ranked chess team, and took a chemistry team and won awards at the University of Maryland Chemathon. I was assigned the gifted and talented kids in chemistry and physics and had the industrial and academic credentials to back it up. My last two evaluations were all 1's (excellent) in all six major categories and 35 of 36 subcategories, the 36th marked "not applicable".
But I was NOT the best teacher in my science department by a long shot. The guy who worked wonders with low level kids was amazing. In fact, one year he was illegally assigned a class of 33 where 30 of the 33 kids were "mainstreamed" special ed kids who were supposed to be put in regular classes to challenge them. He got most of them to master the regular class material!
But he didn't take part in faculty parties. He never had a beer with the Principal on Friday after school or after the Graduation Ceremony. His students didn't stand out like mine did. So he got a lot of 2's (acceptable) on his evaluations.
Michelle Rhee was promoted at a rapid rate so that she never saw enough of what teachers need to do as teams to do well. And her school system in Washington was given tens of millions annually in "anonymous" donations that, of course, gave her system an edge yet one with serious flaws.
If I'm going to be evaluated 50% on student performance and I'm teaching the same class as you, it would not be in my best interest for your students to perform as well as mine. So, if you're sick for a week, I'm not going to give up my lunch period and gulp down half a sandwich while I teach your class (as I've done many, many times in my career) so they don't fall behind. I'm not going to have half a dozen of your kids getting help in my classroom along with my kids after school because you have to leave at the regular time to take your kid to his soccer game. And if I think of a clever way of getting across a tough unit, I'm keeping it to myself. My prosperity and perhaps my job depends in my class doing better than other teachers' classes.