"A child's learning is the function more of the characteristics of his classmates than those of the teacher." James Coleman, 1972

Thursday, November 10, 2016

Irrelevant Ravitch Finds Silver Lining in Trump Election

For the past months, Diane Ravitch has turned her blog over to promoting the DNC's failed presidential candidate, Hillary Clinton.  (By the way, the Democratic Party has decided that the humiliating loss is Clinton's fault, even though it was the DNC and its media henchmen who made sure that Sanders didn't win and that Clinton did--even as everyone who was asked told the Democratic establishment that Sanders had a better shot at beating Trump).

Not even a historic and devastating loss of all three branches of the federal government, however, can quell Diane's enthusiasm for her own heroic possibilities to save the world, one speech at a time.  Witness her latest sunny spinning on the rise to power by the fascist demogogue, Donald Trump. 
Our fight for public education continues. Now, with Donald Trump as President, the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) works in our favor. He will turn over federal funds to the states without strings, and we will fight in every state to make sure that those funds are allocated to provide a better education for all children. From the results in Massachusetts and Georgia, we know that the majority is on the side of public schools.

We will win some, we will lose some, but we won’t give up. We will do what is right for children. We will defend teachers and the teaching profession. We will defend democratically-controlled public education. We will protect the public good.
How does Ravitch know what Trump will do?  What is the source of her information?  Is this from Lamar's office?  Or did Diane's crystal ball tell her all this, and is that why she supported ESSA to begin with?  So that Donald Trump could turn it into "our favor?"

And finally, here's something to take those election coup blues away.  Diane ends her post with another ad for the next NPE talk festival in Oakland next Fall (ED will likely be dismantled by then).  But there should be ample opportunity to talk tough and to get autographed books.  Oh, and don't forget to send a check.
Do not despair. Join the Network for Public Education. Plan to join us next October in Oakland, California, and help us plan for the future.
Here is a more sane and sobering assessment of Trump's education $20 voucher plan, with a few more details and bit more connection to reality.
Under Trump's plan, 11 million low-income students would have to split $20 billion. That comes out to a little over $1,800 per student, an amount unlikely to cover tuition at any decent private school when the national average private school tuition is over $11,000.

But it gets worse. This plan to "reprioritize" federal funds would decimate existing federal programs for low-income kids. The largest of those programs, Title I, serves over 24 million of the nation's students, including 66 percent of black students and 68 percent of Hispanic students. So at least 13 million kids would no longer receive services.
Trump's plan has strings, Diane.  Many strings that will make many ropes and many nooses.

1 comment:

  1. Randi Weingarten's friends at the American Enterprise Institute are giving Trump advice on how to "streamline" the Department of Education.

    ReplyDelete