tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14707730.post8458286737695037644..comments2024-02-24T19:49:45.687-05:00Comments on Schools Matter: Attacking Diane Ravitch? Or Questions Too Uncomfortable for the Comfortable?James Hornhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04462754705431590571noreply@blogger.comBlogger12125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14707730.post-14999718272428122342014-08-05T08:38:14.342-04:002014-08-05T08:38:14.342-04:00According to Ms. Schneider's preface in her bo...According to Ms. Schneider's preface in her book, she owes Diane Ravitch for helping get her book published. I guess I didn't realize how much indebtedness could be worth. I think, too, that sitting at the right hand of an aging saint may be seen by some to be advantageous to one's own future salvation.James Hornhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04462754705431590571noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14707730.post-34720930416310973012014-08-05T08:31:34.408-04:002014-08-05T08:31:34.408-04:00I, too, was once "grateful for what she does ...I, too, was once "grateful for what she does do," but that was before she became preoccupied with 1) making excuses for NEA and AFT misleadership, and 2) doing the soft shoe around the fetid Common Core, which she now claims can be fixed by teachers if given the chance. Despite Ravitch's assurances, there is no evidence that teachers would be better off without the union prostisuits who have sold them down the river with their support of the CorpEd agenda. Teachers would be better off if the scum at the top of the unions was scraped off so that new leadership may have a chance to save the profession before Rhonda and Lily sell it off. <br /><br />In terms of the thought disorder that teachers may "fix" the rotted Core, this presumes that there is a single curriculum that all children should learn, from coastal Maine to Death Valley, CA. Diane has always been a supporter of the social control function of public schools, and that hasn't changed. She has simply adopted a populist rhetoric to achieve that end.James Hornhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04462754705431590571noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14707730.post-86961104312777788252014-08-05T08:29:27.760-04:002014-08-05T08:29:27.760-04:00This comment has been removed by the author.James Hornhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04462754705431590571noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14707730.post-21021780894670302302014-08-04T21:35:54.235-04:002014-08-04T21:35:54.235-04:00I agree with Anonymous @ 2:09 pm.
I've been ...I agree with Anonymous @ 2:09 pm. <br /><br />I've been following Mercedes Schneider's blog for a while. In fact, Schools Matter and Deutsch29 were both instrumental in my understanding of what's been happening to our education system over the last 40 years. I began that journey when I found videos on privatization from both Kathleen Carroll and ex-pat investigator Danny Weil, the latter first. This was in January, and when I googled prvatization + education back then, it was really hard to find infomration. I had to read articles from Europe and the writings of American bloggers, mostly K-12, for higher ed hadn't yet caught on. Not that higher ed has caught on yet, really, but a couple handfuls of us are working on it.<br /><br />As I say, I was surprised as well. In fact, I had to double check that I was reading her blog and hadn't confused her for someone else.<br />Anonymous2noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14707730.post-4405364697125384582014-07-19T14:09:03.567-04:002014-07-19T14:09:03.567-04:00I thought the Carroll/Horn attack piece was unchar...I thought the Carroll/Horn attack piece was uncharacteristic of Mercedes Schneider - it's the first time I have seen her be so savage on such flimsy evidence; the savagery was breath-taking - I haven't seen her be so cutting even about ed reformers. My gut - which has been infallible in my six years of digging into ed reform - says there's something else going on, tho what that is I haven't the foggiest; time will tell... <br /><br />I wish Diane would have the courage to take that last step into the real world.... she has come a long way over the past three-four years but is dragging her heels crossing that final boundary. I understand how hard that is for her, and maybe, at her age, with her history, her position in the world and with her health challenges etc, it's not appropriate to expect it of her. Tho I won't stop calling her out on her blog, maybe we should just be grateful for what she does do... Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14707730.post-79584323727708855332014-07-19T13:00:01.700-04:002014-07-19T13:00:01.700-04:00Thanks for your note. Thanks for your note. James Hornhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04462754705431590571noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14707730.post-45429469746913690912014-07-19T12:56:01.167-04:002014-07-19T12:56:01.167-04:00Do you want to blog at Schools Matter?Do you want to blog at Schools Matter?James Hornhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04462754705431590571noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14707730.post-82683734189635158182014-07-19T12:55:32.636-04:002014-07-19T12:55:32.636-04:00See comment below by Sean Crowley. Helps explain ...See comment below by Sean Crowley. Helps explain some things.James Hornhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04462754705431590571noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14707730.post-25894588475595829742014-07-18T19:56:51.915-04:002014-07-18T19:56:51.915-04:00Thank you for saying what needed to be said. We ne...Thank you for saying what needed to be said. We need to work together. Ms. Schneider's post was unnecessarily vicious. This type of thing will hurt our cause, which means we are not able to help our children when this ridiculousness is the focus. Unacceptable. Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14707730.post-41988852426769280472014-07-18T13:22:17.894-04:002014-07-18T13:22:17.894-04:00I think to take on St. Diane one must truly be uni...I think to take on St. Diane one must truly be uninvested in the business of advancing one's career outside of the classroom as a blogger, union hanger on, teacher book writer or any of the various forms of Celebucators we now see in this desperate scramble to cash in on the time spent as a classroom teacher. We have Teachers Speaking, we have Diontes Infernoing, we have BATS flapping and Schneider Schneidering her own with the best of them. It has come to me that none of our high profile Edufrontrunners are willing to call Ravitch out because they fear she or her minions could torpedo their book deal, union gig or spot on The Daily Show. After the putrid showings of NEA and AFT, electing another President who can't get over her Gatescrush and wagging a lawyerly finger at Arne Duncan -- I know people think Weingarten was a teacher but she's never been anything but a lawyer -- these self serving, Gates adoring Vichy Quisling union "leaders" have spit in the faces of their constituency yet again. If you listen to the only surviving union leader in captivity, that rare flower blooming in the manure fields of Rahm Emanuel's Chicago, she will tell you what makes CTU work. It's member driven. It's member driven. It's member driven. Period. NEA and AFT are contemptuous of their members. At AFT's convention it was noted by another eyes wide open member of CTU that teachers spoke against Common Core while Union insiders and "leadership" spoke in favor of it. What exactly is Diane Ravitch waiting for before she will acknowledge the turncoat elephant in the room and admit that our two biggest unions have abandoned us and are under the sheets with Gates, Murdoch, Koch, Blooomberg and anyone else with a checkbook who can fatten it by putting the wood to rank and file teachers? Why does she insist that we support these "leaders" who have done nothing but sell teachers out and shove us under the bus at every single turn? I aspire to last until retirement. I have no hopes for a book deal and aside from my mother I think I have about 4 readers of my blog. My local union is infested with slugs looking to worm their way into any gig that will cut down on their teaching time, my President did not even know what TFA was when the local paper asked his thoughts on welcoming them to our district. I am purely disinterested as it gets and I say it's time for Diane to do something courageous and call our union leadership out for the disreputable and disgraceful collaborations they've engaged in at teacher expense. As I plan to live til retirement however I am not holding my breath. Thanks for hitting some notes nobody wants to go near. <br /><br />This is my own piece from a while ago: http://b-loedscene.blogspot.com/2014/05/my-three-top-reasons-for-being-mean-to.htmlAnonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08125018774502675730noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14707730.post-73536436339750630352014-07-18T13:05:50.264-04:002014-07-18T13:05:50.264-04:00Ah the invaluable understrapper…the "moderato...Ah the invaluable understrapper…the "moderators" among us.<br />stormnemesishttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11176778911355352751noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14707730.post-51006503157961161922014-07-18T00:32:49.752-04:002014-07-18T00:32:49.752-04:00Schneider is filled with a particular type of vitr...Schneider is filled with a particular type of vitriol that it is sure to tear any grassroots effort against corporate education reform apart if left unchecked. My experiences from reading her has been that she cares not who she attacks, nor over what reason she attacks. Holding the line' with anything Diane (who has become less and less involved with discussion and more and more involved with professing as DR.net has become ubiquitous) says and against anyone who disagrees with DR seems to be *the* priority for her. Not relationships. Not building more voices within the movement to end for-profit education reform. Certainly not allowing for engaging, open minded discussion, which she has time and again demonstrated she has no wish to be part of.<br /><br />That said, I certainly do not envy you in publicly disagreeing with her or with DR. While I would not have raised the original questions you raised (I feel DR should be paid by any entity who has money and the will to pay her), it is true that anyone (anyone) who disagrees with anything DR has said or done will probably have Schneider's vitriol -which is really all her blog has become- to deal with. That vitriol is made more difficult to deal with when DR links to the vitriolic attacks that Schneider writes. (and she does this often). That's no fun (nor is it fair) and I wish you luck in dealing with it. A. Bloggernoreply@blogger.com