Thanks, David Brooks, for adding to the unlimited library of poorly researched articles on public education. Way to spend a day in a classroom. Way to beat up on the teachers' unions. Way to denigrate public servants yet again. Have at the "troops" next, I dare you!
Yes, Obama's Race to the Top grants sound like one more "innovative" initiative to use free market methods to improve public schools. To reward innovative thinking with federal dollars. Right! This is more of the neoconservative wet dream of wholesale privatization of every sector of government, and ultimately, the death of public education altogether.
Let's look at the highlights:
1. Teachers' unions are bad. Awww...did teachers' unions, I don't know, stick up for their members' rights? Did they bargain for as much pay and the best benefits and working conditions that they could get? NO SHIT! As a member of the NEA, that's what I pay them almost $100 per month for! They should go to work on every state legislature with lead pipes and blow torches for that kind of cash! But seriously, the WEA (Washington State's branch of the NEA) has given in on all kinds of bargaining positions for education reform, including seniority and site-based hiring. Sometimes I have to yell at my union president that he runs a LABOR UNION, not a CHILD ADVOCACY ORGANIZATION!
Seriously, unions will look out after their members. They are supposed to! Is David Brooks, or worse, President Obama suggesting the unions should not fight hard in collective bargaining for their members? The problem is not that the teachers are asking for too much, it is that they are asking for a fair slice of too small a pizza. And unfunded mandates like NCLB don't help that pizza go 'round.
2. Vouchers - Why not just turn public education over to Dick Cheney? That's how we will provide public education - just divide up the state education money and give it to every family with kids and say "have at it!" This is what we are talking about. Do we really want to privatize public education? You think the achievement gap is bad now, wait until we give white middle class families vouchers. This idea will doom our public schools, and our nation to social and economic obscurity.
3. Charter Schools - The easiest to sell, and perhaps the most insidious idea. Don't get me wrong, there are wonderful charter schools. They do great things, and serve their students and families well. BUT, I have never heard of one that doesn't impact the public education system adversely. I"ll give you an example: The City School. The City School is a wonderful charter school in Spokane, Washington. They offer a project-based education for students up to 8th grade. It is a world class, and highly engaging curriculum taught by caring professionals. I was psyched when I saw their presentation at a seminar put on by our state's education department.
Then, one of my colleagues asked a question: "what happens when a student disrupts class, or doesn't do his/her work?" The answer from the principal (the same answer from some half-dozen other charter school videos I have watched): "they're gone." They sign a contract to be here, and if they violate it, they are kicked out.
The problem with this is that EVERY CHILD in the United States is guaranteed a free public education. Charter schools can only be this selective if there is a school like the one I teach at down the road that will take them, warts and all. The real American public school system does not get to cherry pick students or supportive families. We take everyone.
I teach in an 82% poverty school, of which maybe 25% would make it at the City School. But these are American kids, and we need to stop dicking around and develop some strong NATIONAL standards. And then, have the fight in Congress to put some real FEDERAL MONEY into the schools. To make them truly world class. Funded well enough to compete with a global marketplace of economics and ideas. If we don't, if we leave it up to retired rural voters to decide how much county's will fund schools in their property tax-based levies, then we will get our asses kicked. It's simply a numbers game: China and India have more honor students EACH, than we have students total.
Having said that, I will proceed with my usual rant: American public schools, as they stand now, are the best in the world. Period.
No question - unless you are in the top 10% of income or status in your country, you want your kids in American public schools. That is because WE TAKE EVERYONE! Downs syndrome, autistic, behavior disordered, it doesn't matter. We send a bus. We send a bus to the fields for the children of migrant workers. We send a bus to the homeless shelter, or the the corner for the kids who live in a car. We send a bus to the "hood," and to every neighborhood, and put them on a track for a four-year university education and beyond. And we do this every day. Tell me China does this - or India. Or even Western Europe, where kids are trade-school tracked by eighth grade. Hell no, we do what no other country even attempts, every day.
So, put your federal money where your mouth is, or get the fuck out of my way and let me continue doing the fantastic job that no other nation on earth even dares to have its educators attempt - putting every child, no matter their family or disability, on a university track. And, to elected Democrats (Obama), how's about easing up on the unions. Beating up on unions is the Republicans' job. At least is used to be.
Wednesday, October 28, 2009
Tuesday, October 20, 2009
Ed Shultz is a Crybaby - a new Reality Show
I fucking hate reality TV.
I never watch it. If my kids are watching it, and I don't feel like fighting for the remote, I leave the room. I can't stand watching shmucks parade their foibles on TV for celebrity status. It tarnishes the word celebrity - a term developed with the root "celebrate," as in, to acknowledge people worthy of celebrating.
This is why I hate the Balloon Boy story, it was a three to four hour reality TV show, foisted on unsuspecting haters (like me) as "news."
The day of the story, I was passing through the break room at work and saw the limp UFO zooming across the landscape. I got the update from my coworkers and then listened to the CNN feed for about five minutes. Then, I had to get to work. I checked back a couple of times (but mostly, I was working), and then listened to the radio on and off during my hour commute home.
I was wondering, how did the kid get in? How cold was it at 8000 feet? Who was going to have to find a dead, six-year old body in the wreckage? Then, at the end of my commute, more than three hours later, I heard for the first time, that this was a reality TV show family.
At which point I said: "Bastards!"
Not the balloon family - their motivations were completely transparrant - no, the cable news channels. They suck. I mean, really? You're not going to tell me for three hours that these knuckle-heads are veterans of reality TV? I mean, FOX, CNN, MSNBC - you haven't been talking to the local affiliate? Who have already done features on this family! That within 15 minutes of the balloon being on TV you aren't reporting the STRONG likelihood that this whole thing is a hoax? A stunt to get back on TV?
Oh yeah, and verifying the story you are covering. Before the day was over, "aviation experts" were chiming in. No, not the one that was being interviewed about the possibility of rescue. The ones that were saying that there was no way that the balloon could have carried a 40 plus pound person.
No no no no no. They knew. They just milked us for ratings. And that is bullshit from any organization that has the word "news" anywhere in their title or description of what they do. This was presented as "breaking news," but the obvious doubts about the story were left out until hours of ratings had been recorded. Either through extreme incompetence, or through a quest for those same reality TV ratings. We should be pissed off, because either way we were sold a bill of goods, and provided ratings to the networks, for what turned out to be bullshit.
Now, of course, we know the truth - after many hours more of "news" coverage. We even have video of this family releasing the balloon. We have an admission from the kid, on TV (mission accomplished) that it was "for the show." And people are pissed. Arianna Huffington was among the first to express her displeasure on the Ed Shultz show.
And today, after days of milking this non-story, Ed was whining on his radio show like one of my kids about criticism he received for preempting guests to cover Balloon bullshit. "This was a breaking story!" he cried. "We do news too, and this is a news network!" "I'm gonna' go back to Fargo, I don't need this!" he lamented. "Our ratings, and the ratings of all three cable networks were huge" [sic] "Progressives can be mean!"... Jesus, he went on for at least five minutes.
First of all, Big Eddie, go the fuck back to Fargo if you can't man-up to a little criticism from Arriana. Second of all, the point you made about ratings was key - that's what the journalistic decision making on this story was all about: ratings. The artificial drama that this family provided was (according to my conjecture) the sole factor in how much coverage the three cable networks devoted to this story. At your news network, nobody cared about the facts, just the drama-driven ratings. Not fact-checking, background investigation (by the way, an assistant producer, with a computer, the dad's name and five minutes could have come up with a YouTube channel of hoaxes by this family), or objective reporting (like, was it even possible for the balloon to fly with a kid in it?). No, it was about reality TV ratings. Congratulations Ed, you are a reality TV star. And so are all of your colleagues.
Whiney Ed Schultz is a reality TV star because this story reveals what the cable, and probably broadcast news has become: reality TV. The old axiom of "if it bleeds, it leads" has become the production focus, not just the teaser. And this has ramifications for how we understand what is happening in our world. The shiny, UFO-shaped health care object was "Obama and his death panels are killing your grandma!" This was untrue and crazy, but Newt was saying it on NPR without challenge or postscript investigation on the morning of Obama's health care speech. Reported as "news" and driving people to town hall rallies for serious drama. The Balloon Boy story shows us just how far down the reality TV rabbit-hole our news media has fallen. And this is why people are pissed...
...we might have to go back to reading newspapers.
I never watch it. If my kids are watching it, and I don't feel like fighting for the remote, I leave the room. I can't stand watching shmucks parade their foibles on TV for celebrity status. It tarnishes the word celebrity - a term developed with the root "celebrate," as in, to acknowledge people worthy of celebrating.
This is why I hate the Balloon Boy story, it was a three to four hour reality TV show, foisted on unsuspecting haters (like me) as "news."
The day of the story, I was passing through the break room at work and saw the limp UFO zooming across the landscape. I got the update from my coworkers and then listened to the CNN feed for about five minutes. Then, I had to get to work. I checked back a couple of times (but mostly, I was working), and then listened to the radio on and off during my hour commute home.
I was wondering, how did the kid get in? How cold was it at 8000 feet? Who was going to have to find a dead, six-year old body in the wreckage? Then, at the end of my commute, more than three hours later, I heard for the first time, that this was a reality TV show family.
At which point I said: "Bastards!"
Not the balloon family - their motivations were completely transparrant - no, the cable news channels. They suck. I mean, really? You're not going to tell me for three hours that these knuckle-heads are veterans of reality TV? I mean, FOX, CNN, MSNBC - you haven't been talking to the local affiliate? Who have already done features on this family! That within 15 minutes of the balloon being on TV you aren't reporting the STRONG likelihood that this whole thing is a hoax? A stunt to get back on TV?
Oh yeah, and verifying the story you are covering. Before the day was over, "aviation experts" were chiming in. No, not the one that was being interviewed about the possibility of rescue. The ones that were saying that there was no way that the balloon could have carried a 40 plus pound person.
No no no no no. They knew. They just milked us for ratings. And that is bullshit from any organization that has the word "news" anywhere in their title or description of what they do. This was presented as "breaking news," but the obvious doubts about the story were left out until hours of ratings had been recorded. Either through extreme incompetence, or through a quest for those same reality TV ratings. We should be pissed off, because either way we were sold a bill of goods, and provided ratings to the networks, for what turned out to be bullshit.
Now, of course, we know the truth - after many hours more of "news" coverage. We even have video of this family releasing the balloon. We have an admission from the kid, on TV (mission accomplished) that it was "for the show." And people are pissed. Arianna Huffington was among the first to express her displeasure on the Ed Shultz show.
And today, after days of milking this non-story, Ed was whining on his radio show like one of my kids about criticism he received for preempting guests to cover Balloon bullshit. "This was a breaking story!" he cried. "We do news too, and this is a news network!" "I'm gonna' go back to Fargo, I don't need this!" he lamented. "Our ratings, and the ratings of all three cable networks were huge" [sic] "Progressives can be mean!"... Jesus, he went on for at least five minutes.
First of all, Big Eddie, go the fuck back to Fargo if you can't man-up to a little criticism from Arriana. Second of all, the point you made about ratings was key - that's what the journalistic decision making on this story was all about: ratings. The artificial drama that this family provided was (according to my conjecture) the sole factor in how much coverage the three cable networks devoted to this story. At your news network, nobody cared about the facts, just the drama-driven ratings. Not fact-checking, background investigation (by the way, an assistant producer, with a computer, the dad's name and five minutes could have come up with a YouTube channel of hoaxes by this family), or objective reporting (like, was it even possible for the balloon to fly with a kid in it?). No, it was about reality TV ratings. Congratulations Ed, you are a reality TV star. And so are all of your colleagues.
Whiney Ed Schultz is a reality TV star because this story reveals what the cable, and probably broadcast news has become: reality TV. The old axiom of "if it bleeds, it leads" has become the production focus, not just the teaser. And this has ramifications for how we understand what is happening in our world. The shiny, UFO-shaped health care object was "Obama and his death panels are killing your grandma!" This was untrue and crazy, but Newt was saying it on NPR without challenge or postscript investigation on the morning of Obama's health care speech. Reported as "news" and driving people to town hall rallies for serious drama. The Balloon Boy story shows us just how far down the reality TV rabbit-hole our news media has fallen. And this is why people are pissed...
...we might have to go back to reading newspapers.
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