Don’t underestimate the power of my polls. The last one I did was on Michelle Rhee. A year later, DC Mayor Fenty was defeated and Rhee was gone. Okay. It took a year. I’m just sayin’
Don’t basketball buddies always make the best Education secretaries? 3rd option- Obama should be made AWARE that he will lose the votes of teachers, and stop trotting out Randi thinking that’s the magic pill. Why would he necessarily just fire Arne?
Anybody but Rhee, is my common refrain in Philly, Heck we just got rid of one hot mess of a superintendent ,who now after leaving with over $900,000 wants to apply for unemployment benefits.@@. Still anyone but Rhee- anywhere!
When so much is at stake, not only for America’s teachers and their students, but also for families in jeopardy of losing their homes, millions more in poverty, countless hungry, and adults without the prospect of employment, I think it dangerous to advocate single-issue voting? The nation’s woes are far too complex to allow Arne Duncan or personhood or “corporations are people” or Afghanistan or a downed drone to divide and conquer us. The voting agenda must be to raise up all, to defend and protect what matters to everyman, including teachers and students, but not at the expense of others. A close examination of the agendas each of the frontrunners has advanced should render a broader understanding of what is at stake. Will further tax cuts save our schools and our jobs? Should we invest in America or starve it into prosperity? Standardized testing seems to be a long-term path to privatizing education, a path that merges with a multi-lane highway at the end of which is a great deal of disenfranchisement and suffering. Please, for all of us, keep an eye on the highway while fighting against harms to students.
Firing the fool would not change my opinion of the President, who’s supported and enabled the fool at every juncture, including the firing of an entire staff in RI, the statement that Katrina was the best thing to happen to education in NOLA, and the echoing of whatever nonsense spouted by Bill Gates. In fact, Obama boasted of his independent streak re education on his 60 minutes interview.
He fooled me once, but I’m never voting for an anti-teacher corporatist candidate again, Democrat, Republican, or whatever they choose to call themselves.
That’s the attitude of the staff at my school. Almost everyone voted for Obama a few years ago, and almost no one is voting for him again next November. Arne Duncan is not the problem. He’s a symptom of a larger problem, which is Obama going over to the “Education Reform” movement. The beginning of the end was when Obama himself publicly praised the mass firings at Central Falls. People at my school were just dumbfounded. Since then he has made it clear that he is not on the side of the teachers. He’s lost our vote.
I too voted for Obama, and there have been a number of disappointments re: his presidency and what he has (or has not) done – Arnie Duncan being among the biggest of the disappointments. But I will hold my nose and vote for him anyways this next time around. We’ve already seen in Wisconsin, Ohio, Florida, etc. what the Republicans will do if elected to office.
Are you implying that there still exists a difference between the Democrats and Republicans? Newt himself has praised Obama’s education policy. Now that’s a ringing endorsement.
Back when Bush was president, my union contract prevented my principal from seeing test scores and using them against the teachers. Now, thanks to Obama, our unions can’t negotiate that anymore and our principals have our scores. My principal uses them to pit teachers against each other. We teachers used to collaborate with each other to help the kids learn. That has come to an end now that we are competitors, and it’s the kids who suffer.
The current attack on unions we see going on in Wisconsin and elsewhere got its impetus from what Obama did to the teachers’ unions. It was Obama who made teacher bashing a bipartisan sport, and who turned our unions against their own membership. The NEA now advocates the linking of evaluations to test scores, for crying out loud. If someone five years ago had told me that would happen, I would have laughed. Now, thanks to Obama, it’s a sad reality.
Teachers supported him back in 2008, and he repaid us by vilifying us and doing everything he could to eliminate our job security. Most of the teachers at my school supported him in 2008. We are not making the same mistake twice.
Republicans and Democrats are clearly identical. And pointing that out saves us the time and trouble of making any concrete analysis of their differences.
Fred, you are so right–there’s no difference between Democrats & Republicans. You don’t have to bring up Wisconsin, Michigan & Indiana– just look at ILLAnnoy & Chicago! The teacher bashing & co-opting NEVER end, whether it’s taking our pensions away or pitting teachers against their union (CPS).
Once again, people–99% beats 1% (%agewise, that is). So, yes, Fred, RUN (& NOT away!), & any of you out there who are highly qualified, know others who are highly qualified, & who ALL are SQUEAKY CLEAN (& there’s GOTTA be a bunch of you out there!) –RUN! After all, what are our senators & representatives & all elected officials but public servants?! And, aren’t teachers already public servants? And–contrary to the public opinion climate of today–MOST are GREAT public servants! Sooo–the best (& ONLY) way for us to make things better & right in this country is to have the 99% BE Congress, BE elected officials! AND–because of technology, we actually CAN get this done (a REAL “Yes we can!”) THEN, and only then, can we do things such as have Diane Ravitch appointed Secy. of Education.
Fred Klonsky 
Fire and then hire Dr. Ravitch.
I also vote to correct the spelling of ‘losing’
Fixed. Need more coffeeeeeee.
If he fired Duncan, he’d probably hire Michelle Rhee to take his place.
Don’t underestimate the power of my polls. The last one I did was on Michelle Rhee. A year later, DC Mayor Fenty was defeated and Rhee was gone. Okay. It took a year. I’m just sayin’
Don’t basketball buddies always make the best Education secretaries? 3rd option- Obama should be made AWARE that he will lose the votes of teachers, and stop trotting out Randi thinking that’s the magic pill. Why would he necessarily just fire Arne?
Anybody but Rhee, is my common refrain in Philly, Heck we just got rid of one hot mess of a superintendent ,who now after leaving with over $900,000 wants to apply for unemployment benefits.@@. Still anyone but Rhee- anywhere!
When so much is at stake, not only for America’s teachers and their students, but also for families in jeopardy of losing their homes, millions more in poverty, countless hungry, and adults without the prospect of employment, I think it dangerous to advocate single-issue voting? The nation’s woes are far too complex to allow Arne Duncan or personhood or “corporations are people” or Afghanistan or a downed drone to divide and conquer us. The voting agenda must be to raise up all, to defend and protect what matters to everyman, including teachers and students, but not at the expense of others. A close examination of the agendas each of the frontrunners has advanced should render a broader understanding of what is at stake. Will further tax cuts save our schools and our jobs? Should we invest in America or starve it into prosperity? Standardized testing seems to be a long-term path to privatizing education, a path that merges with a multi-lane highway at the end of which is a great deal of disenfranchisement and suffering. Please, for all of us, keep an eye on the highway while fighting against harms to students.
Firing the fool would not change my opinion of the President, who’s supported and enabled the fool at every juncture, including the firing of an entire staff in RI, the statement that Katrina was the best thing to happen to education in NOLA, and the echoing of whatever nonsense spouted by Bill Gates. In fact, Obama boasted of his independent streak re education on his 60 minutes interview.
He fooled me once, but I’m never voting for an anti-teacher corporatist candidate again, Democrat, Republican, or whatever they choose to call themselves.
That’s the attitude of the staff at my school. Almost everyone voted for Obama a few years ago, and almost no one is voting for him again next November. Arne Duncan is not the problem. He’s a symptom of a larger problem, which is Obama going over to the “Education Reform” movement. The beginning of the end was when Obama himself publicly praised the mass firings at Central Falls. People at my school were just dumbfounded. Since then he has made it clear that he is not on the side of the teachers. He’s lost our vote.
I too voted for Obama, and there have been a number of disappointments re: his presidency and what he has (or has not) done – Arnie Duncan being among the biggest of the disappointments. But I will hold my nose and vote for him anyways this next time around. We’ve already seen in Wisconsin, Ohio, Florida, etc. what the Republicans will do if elected to office.
Are you implying that there still exists a difference between the Democrats and Republicans? Newt himself has praised Obama’s education policy. Now that’s a ringing endorsement.
Back when Bush was president, my union contract prevented my principal from seeing test scores and using them against the teachers. Now, thanks to Obama, our unions can’t negotiate that anymore and our principals have our scores. My principal uses them to pit teachers against each other. We teachers used to collaborate with each other to help the kids learn. That has come to an end now that we are competitors, and it’s the kids who suffer.
The current attack on unions we see going on in Wisconsin and elsewhere got its impetus from what Obama did to the teachers’ unions. It was Obama who made teacher bashing a bipartisan sport, and who turned our unions against their own membership. The NEA now advocates the linking of evaluations to test scores, for crying out loud. If someone five years ago had told me that would happen, I would have laughed. Now, thanks to Obama, it’s a sad reality.
Teachers supported him back in 2008, and he repaid us by vilifying us and doing everything he could to eliminate our job security. Most of the teachers at my school supported him in 2008. We are not making the same mistake twice.
Republicans and Democrats are clearly identical. And pointing that out saves us the time and trouble of making any concrete analysis of their differences.
Fred, if you ran for president, I’d vote for you in a minute. 🙂
I have an idea…..Fred, how about running in a grassroots write in campaign for the office of President of the United States?
Great minds think alike.
Fred, do it.
Fred, you are so right–there’s no difference between Democrats & Republicans. You don’t have to bring up Wisconsin, Michigan & Indiana– just look at ILLAnnoy & Chicago! The teacher bashing & co-opting NEVER end, whether it’s taking our pensions away or pitting teachers against their union (CPS).
Once again, people–99% beats 1% (%agewise, that is). So, yes, Fred, RUN (& NOT away!), & any of you out there who are highly qualified, know others who are highly qualified, & who ALL are SQUEAKY CLEAN (& there’s GOTTA be a bunch of you out there!) –RUN! After all, what are our senators & representatives & all elected officials but public servants?! And, aren’t teachers already public servants? And–contrary to the public opinion climate of today–MOST are GREAT public servants! Sooo–the best (& ONLY) way for us to make things better & right in this country is to have the 99% BE Congress, BE elected officials! AND–because of technology, we actually CAN get this done (a REAL “Yes we can!”) THEN, and only then, can we do things such as have Diane Ravitch appointed Secy. of Education.
RUN, Fred, RUN! But…he can’t be the only one…