Privatization, Profits, and Politicians
A reader noted the similarity between Governor Chris Christie’s plan to privatize low-performing public schools, and Governor Rick Snyder’s reform plan in Michigan. Other readers have commented on the irony of conservative Republican governors–allegedly committed to small government–aggressively using the powers of government to undermine local control and privatize schools.
The similarity goes beyond Christie and Snyder. The same ideas–privatize low-performng schools, close low-performing schools–are embedded in Race to the Top, also in the Boston Consulting Group’s plan for Philadelphia, the Mind Trust plan for Indianapolis, the Bloomberg reforms in New York City, Mayor Frank Jackson’s plan for Cleveland. None of these plans ever works, other than by pushing out the low-performing kids and sending them to other struggling schools. It makes you wish that these guys would take a peek at evidence
The similarity goes beyond Christie and Snyder. The same ideas–privatize low-performng schools, close low-performing schools–are embedded in Race to the Top, also in the Boston Consulting Group’s plan for Philadelphia, the Mind Trust plan for Indianapolis, the Bloomberg reforms in New York City, Mayor Frank Jackson’s plan for Cleveland. None of these plans ever works, other than by pushing out the low-performing kids and sending them to other struggling schools. It makes you wish that these guys would take a peek at evidence
What’s the Purpose of TFA?
A teacher in Chicago asked this simple question in an article on Huffington Post.
He noted that TFA was created to fill “chronic teacher shortages,” and he quotes Wendy Kopp saying so.
He asks why Chicago is hiring TFA when 2,000 certified teachers have been laid off and remain jobless.
He notes that some of the teachers who were laid off are nationally board certified.
Why are these experienced teachers being replaced by young college graduates with only
He noted that TFA was created to fill “chronic teacher shortages,” and he quotes Wendy Kopp saying so.
He asks why Chicago is hiring TFA when 2,000 certified teachers have been laid off and remain jobless.
He notes that some of the teachers who were laid off are nationally board certified.
Why are these experienced teachers being replaced by young college graduates with only
What We Can Learn from Japan
The New York Times had a front-page story about a generational divide in Japan.
The article begins, “As Japan has ceded dominance in industry after industry that once lifted this nation to economic greatness, there has been plenty of blame to go around. A nuclear disaster that raised energy costs. A lack of entrepreneurship. China’s relatively cheap work force.”
The article says that the government’s decision to have a strong yen favors the elderly and protects their pensions, but makes Japanese products prohibitively expensive, which is “hollowing out the country’s industrial base” and “exacerbating the nation’s two-decade-long economic stagnation.”
As I read the article, I thought about how American policymakers look enviously at Japan’s high test scores on
The article begins, “As Japan has ceded dominance in industry after industry that once lifted this nation to economic greatness, there has been plenty of blame to go around. A nuclear disaster that raised energy costs. A lack of entrepreneurship. China’s relatively cheap work force.”
The article says that the government’s decision to have a strong yen favors the elderly and protects their pensions, but makes Japanese products prohibitively expensive, which is “hollowing out the country’s industrial base” and “exacerbating the nation’s two-decade-long economic stagnation.”
As I read the article, I thought about how American policymakers look enviously at Japan’s high test scores on
