Shame on Michelle Rhee by Diane Ravitch

[proud2BlibKansan]

Diane hits it out of the park once again. I'm only posting the last two paragraphs because they are a great summary of the results of this horrible accountability movement. But the whole piece is a great read.

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Her celebrity results from the fact that she has emerged as the national spokesman for the effort to subject public education to free-market forces, including competition, decision by data, and consumer choice. All of this sounds very appealing when your goal is to buy a pound of butter or a pair of shoes, but it is not a sensible or wise approach to creating good education. What it produces, predictably, is cheating, teaching to bad tests, institutionalized fraud, dumbing down of tests, and a narrowed curriculum.

This formula, which will be a tragedy for our nation and for an entire generation of children, is now immensely popular in the states and the Congress. Most governors embrace it. The big foundations endorse it. The think tanks of D.C., right-wing and left-wing, support it. Rhee helped to make it fashionable. If she doesn't pause to consider the damage she is doing, shame on her. If our policymakers don't stop to reflect on the damage they are doing to public education and to any concept of a good education, then our nation is in deep trouble.

http://www.thedailybeast.com/blogs-and-stories/2011-03-29/michelle-rhees-cheating-scandal-diane-ravitch-blasts-education-reform-star#

[Starry Messenger]

1. k&r

[fishwax]

2. k/r

:kick:

[Smarmie Doofus]

3. Oh, Ms. Rhee. I'm so disillusioned.

And I thought you were the real deal. The deal we could believe in.

Hey, that sounds familiar. Where have I heard that before? Let me see......

K and R

[EFerrari]

4. K&R

[midnight]

5. In Baltimore Rhee uses a private co. to test students..

and not standard state testing......

"I checked Richard Whitmire's new biography of Rhee, "The Bee Eater," to see if he has more on her Baltimore teaching years. He does not mention Brandenburg's research, and appears somewhat neutral on the argument over this issue. He quotes Rhee as saying on her resume that after two years 90 percent of her students had reached the 90th percentile in reading and math, but he also quotes other officials casting doubt on that statement. Rhee's principal, according to Whitmire, backed up Rhee. She said the students' achievement level climbed impressively. But she did not have the results to confirm that. These were not official state tests that would have been preserved and made public, but private company records."

"Now we know how Rhee's kids did. Their scores went up, it appears, but not that much."

http://voices.washingtonpost.com/class-struggle/2011/02/michelle_rhees_early_test_scor.html

[proud2BlibKansan]

6. She's been a liar about test scores from the start of her career

Her prominence is a disgrace.

[Reader Rabbit]

7. Unfortunately, you probably won't see this story in the corporate media.

That would mean admitting that their Superwoman is just a fraud who manipulated the crap out of them.

[proud2BlibKansan]

8. Just now on CNN!!

It's a Blue Ribbon School.

Good grief. They didn't even cheat smart. LOL

[Reader Rabbit]

9. Seriously? Maybe there is hope for public education after all!

Was Rhee mentioned, or just the cheating schools?

[proud2BlibKansan]

10. It was about Rhee and the cheating school

Alleged cheating school.

[Snoutport]

11. kr