tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6534665086749553287.post5191960581670714588..comments2024-03-28T11:57:21.902-04:00Comments on CURMUDGUCATION: Nicholas Kristof's Tourist BallsPeter Greenehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16511193640285760299noreply@blogger.comBlogger23125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6534665086749553287.post-34711911951744227052015-11-20T21:17:02.787-05:002015-11-20T21:17:02.787-05:00That is the law of life.That is the law of life.Hòa Nguyễnhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02673227983487968740noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6534665086749553287.post-4859229479977585972015-04-28T18:06:53.966-04:002015-04-28T18:06:53.966-04:00I understand your disdain for carpetbagging reform...I understand your disdain for carpetbagging reformsters, and appreciate your desire to administer a thorough smackdown, but is Kristoff really a suitable proxy? He has always seemed to me to be more focused on income inequality broadly, and his suggestion that the reformsters turn their fickle attentions elsewhere might not be such a bad thing for the K-12 set...Joehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05467011432962777589noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6534665086749553287.post-41659384230160074582015-04-28T15:04:58.363-04:002015-04-28T15:04:58.363-04:00Right on.Right on.erichttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15459764573179565354noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6534665086749553287.post-64247238647339230692015-04-27T07:51:52.504-04:002015-04-27T07:51:52.504-04:00The fear is that it's not about investing in e...The fear is that it's not about investing in education to get it right but rather about the profiteers and data overlords switching their interest to early ed because they've milked the rest of it dry. Rebecca deCocahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13168718846105012814noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6534665086749553287.post-28361755427024599712015-04-27T00:32:00.168-04:002015-04-27T00:32:00.168-04:00I think you missed the point of Nicholas Kristoff&...I think you missed the point of Nicholas Kristoff's article. Wasn't it more about investing in early education and less about getting education reform right?Gemm Learninghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12353582957360781709noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6534665086749553287.post-12522970295636304312015-04-25T12:21:51.054-04:002015-04-25T12:21:51.054-04:00Haha! Nor I the art of elaboration. : )Haha! Nor I the art of elaboration. : )Rebecca deCocahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13168718846105012814noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6534665086749553287.post-39607494972973496132015-04-24T20:49:25.843-04:002015-04-24T20:49:25.843-04:00How it looks when you piss off a real teacher. Tha...How it looks when you piss off a real teacher. Thanks, Peter!laMissyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00516322307725011313noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6534665086749553287.post-56329749491682530212015-04-24T19:25:13.571-04:002015-04-24T19:25:13.571-04:00Dear Ms. Westbrook:
Yes. Have worked-taught- in ...Dear Ms. Westbrook:<br /><br />Yes. Have worked-taught- in poor communities and also worked -taught- in Native American Communities, I know you are correct. <br /><br />I will work for any candidate for president who wants to put his/her "shoulder to the grindstone" and work to reverse income inequity. It will be a hard job to do with all of the entrenched (paid off) legislators. That person should also understand that all the "reform" ideas in education are only opportunities for some favored person to make a profit.<br /><br />LeilaLeilahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02447044081130341196noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6534665086749553287.post-32796420274383501982015-04-24T19:13:06.640-04:002015-04-24T19:13:06.640-04:00Dear Andrew Evans:
I guess I'm not up on my B...Dear Andrew Evans:<br /><br />I guess I'm not up on my Betty White. Please say the quote, or No Fair! I want to know!!!! I love Betty White!Leilahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02447044081130341196noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6534665086749553287.post-26141879373114952632015-04-24T19:11:58.885-04:002015-04-24T19:11:58.885-04:00"Education inequity is America’s original sin..."Education inequity is America’s original sin."<br /><br />No, it's not. America's original sin is a two-fold one. It is the double whammy of slavery (and its generational legacy) and the treatment of the original peoples of this land. As well, it is not education inequity that is really the problem - it's income inequality. My belief is that you will not solve one without the other and that is the likely reason that you only see pockets of change rather a mass moving of the needle. Melissa Westbrookhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17179994245880629080noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6534665086749553287.post-12157160062353669742015-04-24T19:08:47.714-04:002015-04-24T19:08:47.714-04:00Reformsters find education hard? Hardly. They fin...Reformsters find education hard? Hardly. They find it hard to monetize, s'all. <br /><br />They thought it would be a cakewalk and we pushed back. We have to continue to do so because they are only heading into ECE (Early Childhood Education) because they think parents of little kids are naive and gullible, wanting what reformsters will tell them is best for their children. <br /><br />Parents of babies, toddlers, preschoolers and kindergarteners need to be made aware as each step of this takeover of little lives is happening. Let ECE be the new frontier for the Opt-Out movement. Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6534665086749553287.post-60434322100760109592015-04-24T16:42:43.294-04:002015-04-24T16:42:43.294-04:00I'm disappointed that you didn't find a wa...I'm disappointed that you didn't find a way to work in a particular Betty White quote. Otherwise, well said, sir.Snavehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00791842506865658394noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6534665086749553287.post-10432164453887211842015-04-24T14:53:21.488-04:002015-04-24T14:53:21.488-04:00Thank you! It's what you said, only I have nev...Thank you! It's what you said, only I have never mastered the art of pith....Madeleinehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16055922376249533020noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6534665086749553287.post-67498461842200257052015-04-24T14:52:39.578-04:002015-04-24T14:52:39.578-04:00Yes indeed. It goes back to the old belief that ed...Yes indeed. It goes back to the old belief that education alone can "fix" high-poverty neighborhoods. I guess the school can become ground zero for transforming the neighborhood, but only if it also acts as a health clinic, food bank, social welfare network, etc. etc. etc. And that costs mega $$$$.<br />Madeleinehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16055922376249533020noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6534665086749553287.post-12461367525132046532015-04-24T14:01:27.528-04:002015-04-24T14:01:27.528-04:00Once again, someone with no pedagogical background...Once again, someone with no pedagogical background who arrogantly thinks he can "fix" education.Rebecca deCocahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13168718846105012814noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6534665086749553287.post-33201202974855658692015-04-24T13:59:28.857-04:002015-04-24T13:59:28.857-04:00Teachers aren't more effective in wealthy dist...Teachers aren't more effective in wealthy districts; kids learn easier.Rebecca deCocahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13168718846105012814noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6534665086749553287.post-79668666650435639582015-04-24T13:57:32.881-04:002015-04-24T13:57:32.881-04:00Well said, Madeleine.Well said, Madeleine.Rebecca deCocahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13168718846105012814noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6534665086749553287.post-32289407299601516512015-04-24T13:14:24.579-04:002015-04-24T13:14:24.579-04:001. He's confusing "average" with &qu...1. He's confusing "average" with "median." OK, that was pedantic.<br /><br />2. He may have a point about pay and conditions. Hence the importance of the federal initiative to shower money in huge quantities on schools in poor neighborhoods to lure in really committed teachers, as well as equipping poor schools with extra outreach and food services and - oh, wait, sorry, that never ever EVER happened. Madeleinehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16055922376249533020noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6534665086749553287.post-67952621685671265322015-04-24T13:10:10.449-04:002015-04-24T13:10:10.449-04:00Such a good post, and one that *so* needs saying.
...Such a good post, and one that *so* needs saying.<br /><br />There is something so immature in this kind of reformster "passion." It's not passion; it's enthusiasm. The rhetoric borrows from corporate and military problem-solving approaches, and it's all about the thrill of breaking stuff up and getting things *done." Hence all the semi-macho rhetoric about "bottom lines" and "bucks stopping here" and "dialing it in" and "problem-solving." Kids not able to read and write? "Goddamit, Hank," growls the take-charge-kinda-guy in a suit, "just find the problems and fix them by 9:30 tomorrow or you're fired." Accountability! Data! Results analysis! Let's get this stuff out in the open and deal with it, once for all.<br /><br />But in most human institutions, there *is* no "once for all." Trying to help people towards a useful, active and cheerful life is like trying to carry a huge comforter down the road. You grasp one corner, and another one sags. You pick that one up, but you overbalance. You set an impossible goal - EVERY student will walk out of my room transformed! - and however close you get, you keep your eyes fixed on the gap between the ideal and the reality, and keep nagging at it. There is no end. You're always progressing, but never finishing.<br /><br />This is not purposeless. A whole tradition of humanities has made clear that the point of life is to always strive, not necessarily to finish. And there's a hell of a big difference between bad policies and good ones, between a society that doesn't even bother and one that never stops trying. <br /><br />But to reformsters, it must sound so exhausting and pointless. What, there ISN'T a single fix? Sheesh. Forget it then. They have the kind of enthusiasm that gets you through a clearly defined mission - say, landing on the moon. And that's great and so on, but when the mission is "Students will be strong critical thinkers," I can tell you there will never be an "Eagle has landed" moment. And if you can't deal with that, you need to go somewhere you can make yourself useful.Madeleinehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16055922376249533020noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6534665086749553287.post-26568864375171470982015-04-24T12:37:41.685-04:002015-04-24T12:37:41.685-04:00Nurse for America! Brilliant. Love it.
Nurse for America! Brilliant. Love it.<br />Madeleinehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16055922376249533020noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6534665086749553287.post-85260095018974744542015-04-24T11:29:52.310-04:002015-04-24T11:29:52.310-04:00Dear Mr. Greene:
Oh, Honestly. This is why you&#...Dear Mr. Greene:<br /><br />Oh, Honestly. This is why you'll never make any big bucks, Peter. Mr. Kristof is generously giving us the tips about where to invest next, and all you do is whine about it.<br /><br />Anyone out there who is on board with the new next big market for ground-floor investing, join me. We will be on the lookout for the following or similar:<br /><br />Pearson Toddler Division<br />Lil' KIPP <br />Success Academy Charter Daycare<br />and, last but not least: <br />Nurse For America<br /><br />LeilaLeilahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02447044081130341196noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6534665086749553287.post-12173132470465998522015-04-24T09:28:37.433-04:002015-04-24T09:28:37.433-04:00This comment (below) at Kristof's facebook pag...This comment (below) at Kristof's facebook page really angered me. (I don't use FB so can't comment there.) I live in one of those rural midwest school districts where the majority of the kids get reduced price lunches. We have excellent teachers, truly excellent! I moved to this district purposely from a wealthy exurb of Boston and my children are doing much better now thank you very much. His tourism is nothing more than a quick drive through a place where he didn't expect he'd have to get out a passport.<br /><br />Nicholas Kristof: "Look, all teachers are not above average. Half are above average and half are below average. Not all are first rate. Some are second rate. Same with teachers, journalists, students and everybody else. And teachers are drawn to better working conditions, like everybody else, which means that many prefer to work in districts with higher pay, smaller classes and better work conditions. That's why researchers see that, on average, teachers in the wealthy districts are more effective. Sure, sometimes the wealthy districts err and hire an ineffective teacher, but mostly they get it right--and of course that creates inequity. That doesn't mean that many teachers in poor districts aren't excellent and committed, but there's an obvious gap--and that's why parents vote with their feet and prefer to put their kids in wealthy districts."JamieLizhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05767070932681671137noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6534665086749553287.post-72483700056293060792015-04-24T08:02:49.615-04:002015-04-24T08:02:49.615-04:00Thank you Peter. One of your best, which is saying...Thank you Peter. One of your best, which is saying a lot! Do check the comments on Ravitch's post about the Nick Also, I followed your link to Agincourt. It wasn't a draw, it was a huge victory for the English. Huh?Fred Bartelshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05004825099993087292noreply@blogger.com