In a recent interview in Milwaukee, Diane Ravitch made these comments.
From the On Milwaukee.com website:
Ravitch's book has lessons for Milwaukee schoolsOMC: Is this a kind of game that states are forced to play in order to get that money?
DR: Yes, Race to the Top is encouraging state legislators to take punitive steps towards schools and teachers that will lead nowhere.
OMC: What's the administration's theory about how withholding this money from districts in need affects the children in that district?
DR: This is simply a threat. It should never become reality. No child will benefit if the funding to his or her school is withheld. Race to the Top has ignited an outburst of meanness, not a race to help kids and teachers and schools.
One thing for sure. Arne Duncan's Race to the Top philosophy and the billions that he has at his discretion have caused huge divisions among parents, teachers, students, and brought havoc to communities.
He is paying money to states and districts to do more testing, make more testing databases, and allow more and more charter schools....schools that are funded with public money but are free from most regulation. Schools run by private companies and groups.
Since this administration took power there appears to be far more criticism toward and condemnation of public schools teachers. That is because of the very nature of competition.
There is much profit at stake in the field of education, and the "reformers" are going for broke.
Ravitch in her interview also hits on the topic of mayoral control. It is a highly divisive topic, and it takes power from a school system to give to a mayor who may or may not be connected to the reformer movement. Consider Bloomberg's mayoral power, for example. Much tension there.
OMC: Last year, the discussion of mayoral control of MPS was extremely divisive. What have the results of mayoral control been in other cities?
DR: Mayoral control solves no problems. Of the cities that take the national test administered by the federal government, the highest performing do not have mayoral control, while some of the lowest performing -- Cleveland and Chicago -- do have mayoral control. Since New York City adopted mayoral control in 2002, it has seen very meager improvement on its national scores, less than other cities that are tested.
She also pointed out that majoral control
"leaves parents feeling angry and disaffected because decisions are made about their children without their participation. Taking the public out of public education is not a school improvement strategy."
This is one of the main strategies that Arne is pushing. He wants mayors in charge of schools. He worked to get that control for Bloomberg.
Duncan demands mayoral controlArne Duncan, the U.S. Secretary of Education, has become a laughing stock here in New York City. He has rashly inserted himself into local politics by repeatedly urging the New York state legislature to renew unlimited mayoral control, with no checks and balances and no parent input allowed.
In June, at the behest of Mayor Bloomberg, Duncan wrote a letter to the Citizens Union, a local good government group, stating that fixed terms for school board members whom the mayor could not fire at will would have "profoundly negative consequences for New York City's students."
The Milwaukee interviewer asks Ravitch why it has become so easy to scapegoat teachers. I like her answer.
DR: Teachers are being blamed for all the ills of society. They are being blamed for the achievement gap. We can't fire poverty; we can't fire families; we can't fire students; so we fire teachers. This mindset will discourage good people from becoming teachers. It will destroy the teaching profession. Whenever we meet a teacher, we should say two simple words, "Thank you."