DFERs should be nervous. Serious. Many Thank you’s!
As I discussed in the Storify curation entitled Will @ShavarJeffries chicken out? I discussed how the Shaver Jeffries, President of Democrats for Education Reform (DFER), popped into a conversation about charter schools on Twitter.
Who are the DFERs? Go here.
After he went for a few tweets about parents and choice that most could probably conjure without even having seen them, I challenged him to a debate on choice. Shavar said he would and needed to check his “West coast” schedule. I then offered to pay his way.
Then he said I should show up in Newark. So I offered him dates, October 9 or 10 to be exact. Today he tweeted this:
I understand his nervousness. It’s rare that education reformers arguments for anti-democratic, top-down, private control and privatization of our public schools are subjected to a balancing perspective in the media and elsewhere. He may have reviewed my prior discussions about charters with Michelle Rhee (here). Or watched my conversation with Steve Perry, charter operator and neoliberal media contributor, at the 2016 National Urban League Convention here:
Or maybe he listened to this week’s live radio discussion with Howard Fuller, Chair of the Walton and Gates funded Black Alliance for Educational Options,
After he backed out, I let Shavar off easy. Well, fairly easy. I’d like to do a few thank you’s along the way.
@TragerUFT @ProfessorJVH find someone serious on the status quo side and I'm happy to debate
.@shavarjeffries... Trust me. You made the right decision to back out your debate acceptance. @DianeRavitch @leoniehaimson
One of the most important volunteer roles that I treasure in my life is being a founding board member of the Network for Public Education. It’s been an incredible experience since that day four years ago I was on Diane Ravitch’s sofa in Brooklyn and she asked if I would join the NPE Board of Directors. It’s been such an honor working with Carol Burris, Anthony Cody, Leonie Haimson, Mark Miller, Jitu Brown, Phyllis Bush, Bertis Downs, Xian Barrett, Yohuru Williams, Robin Hiller, Sonya Horsford, Chris Howard, and many others. Thank you Network for Public DFERs should be nervous. Serious. Many Thank you’s! – Cloaking Inequity: