Jonathan Alter does puff piece on Arne Duncan. Slimes teachers and the left.

[madfloridian]

Jonathan Alter starts his article with reference to Arne Duncan's wonderful basketball skills...just like it has something to do with education which it does not. He says Obama wanted Duncan on his team "partly because Duncan is tall (6 foot 5), a former pro player in Australia, and such a good passer that Michael Jordan asked Duncan to help him train for his legendary comeback in 1995."

Wow, that must make Arne really knowledgeable about education. :sarcasm:

From Newsweek:

Obama’s Lesson Planner


Matthias Clamer for Newsweek

On Duncan’s left, teachers’ unions (especially the National Education Association) try to impede common-sense reform ideas like tenure reform and merit pay. But the liberal chorus that slimes many reasonable reformers as “anti-teacher” can’t do that with Duncan. His lavish praise of teachers (“unsung heroes”) and support for new-teacher training give him cover to push essential reform that the unions don’t like.

It's amazing how Alter does it. He is an example of what has happened to our media...he has a whole article filled with spin and talking points. One would think from reading that article that Arne has a deep appreciation for public school teachers...which he definitely does not have.

But here's the best part. Republicans LOVE Arne.

The good news is that even the most incendiary Republican has nothing but nice things to say about Duncan personally. That’s because of his extraordinary emotional intelligence.“On the street I had to learn to read people and situations and judge character well, because my life depended on it,” he says. Duncan, whose mom, Sue, runs an after-school tutoring program in a rough Chicago neighborhood, sees education as the dividing line between life and death: “Kids who got an education got out. Kids who stayed on the streets—a lot of them died.”

His record of achievement is already secure. After talking about national standards for decades, the U.S. has finally adopted them. This is an example of Duncan’s quiet skills. By deleting the word “national” and working through the governors, he bested conservatives who have long refused to accept standards from Washington. Using the lever of Race to the Top, 41 states have adopted “common core” standards in just two years. “For the first time, a child in Mississippi and a child in Massachusetts will be judged by the same yardstick,” he says.

Duncan’s passion is evident every day. “I’m in two, three, four schools a week. I totally need it,” he says. “It gives you energy and lets you know why you’re fighting.” He shoots hoops often with students and brings each school a signed ball.

And the article ends as it begins...with references to Arne's basketball skills.

Arne Duncan knows this debate won’t be ended with a three-pointer at the buzzer. It’s about energetic and imaginative play that changes the flow of the game.

I find that a pathetic article on a deadly serious topic. Public education is under fire from both parties now, and it has nothing to do with being 6' 5" and playing basketball with the president.

[Aryo]

1. People don't read Newspeak do they?

I used to have subs to both Newsweek and TIME but gave them up years ago.

[madfloridian]

2. I did also, years ago.

I mostly get my news from bloggers now.

[frazzled]

3. Where does he slime teachers?

All it says is that he doesn't slime teachers, depsite the allegations that he does.

[madfloridian]

4. I think the article does, Arne simply ignores us.

I did not say Arne "slimes" teachers.

He simply pretends we don't count.

[frazzled]

5. You say the article slimes teachers in your headline

Try reading what you wrote.

[madfloridian]

6. Yes, it does. That is what I said.

You need to lose the smart alec replies with me. Not appreciated.

[frazzled]

24. I'm sorry, but

in my original post I explained that I read the article and I can find no sliming of teachers in it. None.

[madfloridian]

25. I bolded it.

I am not sure what else you would call it.

[frazzled]

26. Bolding it does not make it so

I think we should end our discussion, because we are speaking from different planets apparently.

[madfloridian]

27. When you said "Try reading what you wrote"....I knew right then.

I find it also insulting that you use the "different planets" thing on me. I really do hate when people do that.

[Plucketeer]

34. mad, you know I'm with you on this.

I would like to know why just about everything has to be compared to sports acumen. Screw pro sports! I'm weary and wary of the constant comparisons of someone's agility with some sorta ball to their ability in their working lives. Hell - what sports did Stephen Hawking and Einstein excell at?

I wouldn't take the different planets thing too personal. Some of us aren't even sure what GENDER we are!

[chervilant]

33. The sliming

is by proxy--teachers comprise the decision-making echelons of their unions, which Alter asserts "try to impede common-sense reform ideas like tenure reform and merit pay." Alter then slimes the left by calling it 'the liberal chorus' and accusing the left of 'sliming...many reasonable reformers.' He follows these not-so-subtle slams with a BLATANT lie: "{Duncan's} lavish praise of teachers (“unsung heroes”) and support for new-teacher training give him cover to push essential reform that the unions don’t like."

The entire article is garbage. I strongly encourage you to fine tune your comprehension skills (and educate yourself about this administration's egregious assault on teachers and unions.)

[spedtr90]

7. Alter got lazy

All he had to do was research Arne's "Chicago Miracle" that wasn't. They are still selling the same old failed program under another name. The truth is there, but no one looks for it. LAZY and unprofessional.

[Hannah Bell]

19. your mistake is that you think it's mere laziness. it's worse than that.

[JoseGaspar]

21. You are right. Jonathan Alter is a consistent pustule...

...on every subject he touches. His history of the New Deal is revisionist history, fabricated to support his vapid preconceived conclusions, rather than being the other way around.

[KamaAina]

28. My favorite was the vaunted inner-city charter that got 100% of its kids accepted to college

thing is, the City Colleges of Chicago have open enrollment. So if you're a Chicago resident, and you fill out an application, there is a 100% chance you'll be accepted.

[madrchsod]

8. wow what a load of bullshit

i`m having a hard time finding anything close to the truth.


i guess johnny boy does`t fact check before he writes.

[senseandsensibility]

9. That's it. I've had it with Alter. Not

giving him the benefit of the doubt anymore. The guy is lazy and in a self-imposed beltway bubble. An important topic such as education is not an opportunity for a pampered journalist to show off his "clever" writing skills. Facts, and the admission that there are two sides to the story are much more important.

[madfloridian]

11. Good point...it is lazy writing.

:-(

[iwishiwas]

23. I used to like Alter but the few years I barely read him anymore.

[proud2BlibKansan]

10. And yet again we see the civil rights reference

Which is just unbelievable.

For all the depressing news about education, the Obama years are a time of great excitement in the reform movement—like the 1960s for civil rights.

[madfloridian]

12. Remember the reference "a Rosa Parks moment" to Waiting for Superman?

I thought I would scream when I heard Arne said that.

"Calling it a "Rosa Parks moment," U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan put a momentous stamp on the upcoming release of Davis Guggenheim's education-reform documentary "Waiting for Superman."

That is when they had the nerve, he and Obama, to squelch the report put out by the Civil Rights groups.

[proud2BlibKansan]

13. I had planned on forgetting that

LOL

[madfloridian]

20. Hard to forget.

:)

[blackspade]

37. Do you have a link for that?

I missed that report, or I don't remember it.
I assume that Civil Rights groups were pointing out the problems with the 'Race to the Top' program.

[madfloridian]

38. Here is the link.

Arne Duncan calls "Waiting for Superman" premiere a "Rosa Parks moment"

"What Arne said:

Calling it a "Rosa Parks moment," U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan put a momentous stamp on the upcoming release of Davis Guggenheim's education-reform documentary "Waiting for Superman."

[blackspade]

42. Thanks for the link!

Arne is a total corporate tool.

[xchrom]

14. Recommend

[ThatPoetGuy]

15. I remember when people here were using Alter's "analysis" to trash Krugman.

It was stunning. The degree to which people were ready to turn on their heroes rather than listen to the truth.

[madfloridian]

16. Alter's a media tool. Krugman is for real.

[Dawson Leery]

17. Arne Duncan is Obama's Alberto Gonzales.

Duncan received his appointment for the same reason Gonzales did, they are friends of the President.

[madfloridian]

18. Wow I missed his slam at teachers back in November.

Wish I had not seen it now.

http://www.newsweek.com/2010/11/28/alter-education-is-top-priority-for-gates.html

"Gates had just finished giving a speech to the Council of Chief State School Officers in which he tried to explain how administrators could hope to raise student achievement in the face of tight budgets. The Microsoft founder went through what he sees as false solutions—furloughs, sharing textbooks—before focusing on the true “cost drivers”: seniority-based pay and benefits for teachers rising faster than state revenues.

"Seniority is the two-headed monster of education—it’s expensive and harmful. Like master’s degrees for teachers and smaller class sizes, seniority pay, Gates says, has “little correlation to student achievement.” After exhaustive study, the Gates Foundation and other experts have learned that the only in-school factor that fully correlates is quality teaching, which seniority hardly guarantees. It’s a moral issue. Who can defend a system where top teachers are laid off in a budget crunch for no other reason than that they’re young?

In most states, pay and promotion of teachers are connected 100 percent to seniority. This is contrary to everything the world’s second-richest man believes about business: “Is there any other part of the economy where someone says, ‘Hey, how long have you been mowing lawns? … I want to pay you more for that reason alone.’ ” Gates favors a system where pay and promotion are determined not just by improvement in student test scores (an idea savaged by teachers’ unions) but by peer surveys, student feedback (surprisingly predictive of success in the classroom), video reviews, and evaluation by superiors. In this approach, seniority could be a factor, but not the only factor.

..."There’s a backlash against the rich taking on school reform as a cause. Some liberals figure they must have an angle and are scapegoating teachers. But most of the wealthy people underwriting this long-delayed social movement for better performance are on the right track. Like the rest of us, they know that if we don’t fix education, we can kiss our future goodbye."

Yep, there is a backlash. The rich are not educators, and they are out for profit.

[liskddksil]

22. Jonathan Alter and his DLC /ed deform speak is hereby on my "ignore list"

[Jakes Progress]

29. Obama's biggest fail - arne duncan.

There is no pretty face to put on this mess. There is no argument that would support arne.

So Obama

(a) is complicit with the neocon hit job that arne is spearheading or

(b) is just rewarding a basketball buddy and doesn't really give a shit about children and learning or

(c) is stone cold stupid and really can't see through this crap.

Put that multiple choice in you scan-tron and shove it.

[drokhole]

30. I'm surprised he can play basketball with his head lodged so far up his ass...

Duncan, and the entire Obama administration, have a woefully archaic view on education. Rather than try to prop up a system that is completely antithetical to actual learning, they should be focusing on something along the lines of this:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zDZFcDGpL4U


I'd bitch and moan some more, but I've already exhausted my thoughts on the matter here:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=439&topic_id=583919&mesg_id=583919


And, here's a great critical essay on the entire matter that Arne should read between rounds of b-ball:

http://www.soilandhealth.org/03sov/0303critic/030301studentasnigger.html

[madfloridian]

31. Thanks, I missed that post here. Good work on that.

Things move so quickly, I miss a lot of good stuff.

[drokhole]

32. My pleasure, thanks for taking the time to read it!

Was a fast board that day, so it got buried pretty quickly. Took awhile to write, figured I could justify the recycle (color me shameless B-))

Thanks again, I appreciate the kind words. :toast:

[russspeakeasy]

35. Arnie's reference to sports sure makes him sound folksy doesn't it.

 Alter IS a puff piece. He goes out of his way not to offend
anyone in authority.

[blackspade]

36. Disgusting.

Duncan and his minions are all about shifting public money to private corporations.

[msanthrope]

39. Where does Arne Duncan slime teachers? (And, you've missed the most important part of the article!)

In fact, where does Alter slime teachers?

Having read the article, I can't find a single negative thing that Arne had to say about teachers.

But, I want to point something out to you, madfloridian....

Your personalization and anger over the article has allowed you to miss the most important fact in the article--the fact that 41 states have adopted RTTT standards.

This is stunning--do you realize that Arne Duncan has managed to institute national standards through the back door? Without a legislative fight? Without the Repukes being able to do a frakin' thing about it? Without the cries of 'Obama's taking over local education?' You've missed the forest for the trees--Arne and Obama have done what was thought impossible, with really firing a shot, so to speak.


Frankly, a more cogent and neutral read of articles such as is would probably lead to better OPs on education, rather than your Omnia Vanitas approach.

[RaleighNCDUer]

40. See post #33, above.

And as for 'with the Repukes being able to do a frakin' thing about it' - why would they want to? It is dismantling the public schools, and handing education over to corporations. That's a REPUBLICAN goal. And exactly why unions and Democrats are against it.

[Smarmie Doofus]

41. I Fired That Rag Last Week, Mad Flo.

http://upload.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=439&topic_id=798509&mesg_id=798509

If you're smart you'll do the same.

[defendandprotect]

43. K/R

[ElsewheresDaughter]

44. I never like him...Alter. I always felt he was a toadie