sam_handelman - Slashdot User

Journal Journal: Connect the dots - censoring corruption in Race to the Top grants

Journal by sam_handelman on Sunday February 14, 2010 @07:40PM

A now-former writer for scholastic, Marc Millot, wrote an article accusing wide-ranging corruption in Obama administration awards of Race to the Top grants, implicating Andrew Rotham of EdSector. Rotham complained that the report was hearsay, which is not true but Scholastic pulled the report and fired Marc Millot anyway. As an advocate for clean government, I've got my fingers crossed hoping for a Streisand effect. Also, some of those need mirrors, ANDREW ROTHAM is trying to take down his own blog entry.

Journal Journal: Mirror this QUICKLY!

Journal by sam_handelman on Sunday February 14, 2010 @07:04PM

http://www.eduwonk.com/2010/02/hogwarts-on-the-hudson.html/comment-page-1

More to come later.

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<h2><a href="http://www.eduwonk.com/2010/02/hogwarts-on-the-hudson.html" rel="bookmark" title="Permanent Link: Hogwarts On The Hudson?">Hogwarts On The Hudson?</a></h2>

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<p>Wow. Jaw meet floor. <a href="http://www2.scholastic.com/browse/home.jsp">Scholastic</a>, a serious publisher in the education space (that produces some good products, for instance Read 180) <a href="http://scholasticadministrator.typepad.com/thisweekineducation/2010/02/millot-three-data-points-unconected-dots-or-a-warning.html">is now allowing its bloggers to call out senior government officials as corrupt on the basis of <em>anonymous third party hearsay and no evidence</em>.</a> We’ve crossed into a strange new - and unfortunate - world if this is the new norm or somehow even remotely acceptable.</p>

<p><strong>Update:</strong> As you can tell from the now broken link it’s to Scholastic’s credit that they’ve removed the post.</p>

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<h3 id="comments">13 Responses to “Hogwarts On The Hudson?”</h3>

<ol class="commentlist">

<li class="alt" id="comment-151201">
<cite>steve f.</cite> Says:
<br />

<small class="commentmetadata"><a href="#comment-151201" title="">February 5th, 2010 at 4:38 pm</a> </small>

<p>seems like a reasonable blog post to me – he’s just asking for a bit more transparency to clear up any perception of favoritism. </p>
<p>as he said, it’s not like it hasn’t happened before <img src='http://www.eduwonk.com/wp-includes/images/smilies/icon_wink.gif' alt=';)' class='wp-smiley' /> </p>

</li>

<li class="" id="comment-151218">
<cite>Ed Pol</cite> Says:
<br />

<small class="commentmetadata"><a href="#comment-151218" title="">February 5th, 2010 at 5:00 pm</a> </small>

<p>Steve F.-</p>
<p>The first sentence is:</p>
<p>“I have now heard the same thing from three independent credible sources – the fix is in on the U.S. Department of Education’s competitive grants, in particular Race to the Top (RTTT) and Investing in Innovation (I3). ”</p>
<p>Not implying anything but just asking?</p>

</li>

<li class="alt" id="comment-151225">

<cite>steve f.</cite> Says:
<br />

<small class="commentmetadata"><a href="#comment-151225" title="">February 5th, 2010 at 5:04 pm</a> </small>

<p>it’s a blog, i’m not sure of the ethics of blog publishing.</p>
<p>but the post is asking whether there is favoritism at the dept of ed? that’s reasonable in my book and could be cleared up easily through a transparent process.</p>

<p>the ny times uses anonymous sources all the time.</p>

</li>

<li class="" id="comment-151233">
<cite>Ed Pol</cite> Says:
<br />

<small class="commentmetadata"><a href="#comment-151233" title="">February 5th, 2010 at 5:15 pm</a> </small>

<p>“Over the last several months a national education reporter, a senior manager at a national education research organization, and the head of a national nonprofit working in the field all volunteered that the Department’s senior officials know exactly who they want to get RTTT and I3 money – in brief, the new philanthropies’ grantees and the jurisdictions where they work. ”</p>
<p>That is a reasonable question but the blog post is not asking whether there is favortism, it is *saying* there is favortism. The first line is “the fix is in” not “is the fix in?”</p>

</li>

<li class="alt" id="comment-151236">
<cite>JSP</cite> Says:
<br />

<small class="commentmetadata"><a href="#comment-151236" title="">February 5th, 2010 at 5:24 pm</a> </small>

<p>Pleeeez! Favoritism at the Dept of Ed? Who’s the secretary? While he may be a nice man and a class warrior, his position derives from the favoritism we now find problematic.</p>

</li>

<li class="" id="comment-151303">
<cite><a href='http://ljohnson562@charter.net' rel='external nofollow' class='url'>Linda/Retired Teacher</a></cite> Says:
<br />

<small class="commentmetadata"><a href="#comment-151303" title="">February 5th, 2010 at 8:56 pm</a> </small>

<p>I feel certain that the taxpayers are about to be fleeced in the name of educational “reform.” Let’s hope someone with the right skills can find out what’s coming down the pike before it’s too late.</p>
<p>The Reading First fiasco hurt a lot of children and lined a lot of pockets before the fraud was exposed. I don’t want to see this happen again.</p>

</li>

<li class="alt" id="comment-151305">

<cite>Edharris</cite> Says:
<br />

<small class="commentmetadata"><a href="#comment-151305" title="">February 5th, 2010 at 9:02 pm</a> </small>

<p>Some of the article is here:<br />
<a href="http://www.schoolsmatter.info/2010/02/millot-asks-about-conflict-of-interest.html" rel="nofollow">http://www.schoolsmatter.info/2010/02/millot-asks-about-conflict-of-interest.html</a></p>

</li>

<li class="" id="comment-151569">
<cite>KL</cite> Says:
<br />

<small class="commentmetadata"><a href="#comment-151569" title="">February 6th, 2010 at 1:04 pm</a> </small>

<p>Entire article available here:</p>

<p><a href="http://74.125.155.132/search?q=cache:http://scholasticadministrator.typepad.com/thisweekineducation/2010/02/millot-three-data-points-unconected-dots-or-a-warning.html" rel="nofollow">http://74.125.155.132/search?q=cache:http://scholasticadministrator.typepad.com/thisweekineducation/2010/02/millot-three-data-points-unconected-dots-or-a-warning.html</a></p>

</li>

<li class="alt" id="comment-151798">
<cite>Mary Porter</cite> Says:
<br />

<small class="commentmetadata"><a href="#comment-151798" title="">February 7th, 2010 at 6:41 am</a> </small>

<p>Clearly, we must applaud Scholastic’s journalistic integrity for not allowing its bloggers to call out senior public officials. Especially when, as you point out it sells “a lot of good products” and the senior official in question is capable of serious payback if the serious publisher were to allow such a breach in respect for senior government officials.</p>
<p>That’s what journalistic standards are for: to protect our vulnerable senior government officials from unwarrented intrusion into their power to dispense payouts.</p>

</li>

<li class="" id="comment-151866">

<cite>Edharris</cite> Says:
<br />

<small class="commentmetadata"><a href="#comment-151866" title="">February 7th, 2010 at 1:02 pm</a> </small>

<p>Two classic moments from film and TV come to mind.<br />
“I’m shocked, shocked, to find gambling going on in this establishment.”<br />

Casablanca</p>
<p>“Nudge, nudge, wink, wink, grin, grin.”<br />
Monty Python’s Flying Circus.</p>

</li>

<li class="alt" id="comment-153620">
<cite>Marc Dean Millot</cite> Says:
<br />

<small class="commentmetadata"><a href="#comment-153620" title="">February 12th, 2010 at 11:27 am</a> </small>

<p>I’ve responded to Rotherham’s charge starting here at the blog “Schools Matter.”</p>

</li>

<li class="" id="comment-153652">

<cite><a href='http://www.thefrustratedteacher.com/' rel='external nofollow' class='url'>TFT</a></cite> Says:
<br />

<small class="commentmetadata"><a href="#comment-153652" title="">February 12th, 2010 at 12:48 pm</a> </small>

<p>The saga is being followed by me as well as others. Several bloggers, including me, have given Millot space to respond. Check my blog for updates if you are interested.</p>

</li>

<li class="alt" id="comment-154163">
<cite><a href='http://ljohnson562@charter.net' rel='external nofollow' class='url'>Linda/Retired Teacher</a></cite> Says:
<br />

<small class="commentmetadata"><a href="#comment-154163" title="">February 13th, 2010 at 7:54 pm</a> </small>

<p>Mr. Millot:</p>

<p>You sound like a very wise man. You were one of the first writers to predict that Michelle Rhee couldn’t possibly succeed given her disdain for teachers.</p>
<p>I hope you can continue to expose “reformers” who are poised to line their pockets with tax money meant for schoolchildren. Your skills as a lawyer should prove very helpful. Our country cannot afford another Reading First scam. Thank you.</p>

</li>

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<ul id="recentcomments"><li class="recentcomments"><a href='http://www.billigtflygtilllondon.com' rel='external nofollow' class='url'>Jason Jagow</a> on <a href="http://www.eduwonk.com/2009/12/eliza-krigman-ringmaster.html/comment-page-1#comment-154202">Eliza Krigman: Ringmaster</a></li><li class="recentcomments">ateacher on <a href="http://www.eduwonk.com/2010/01/five-strikes-and-youre-out-plus-houston-we-have-a-problem.html/comment-page-1#comment-154181">Five Strikes And You’re Out! Plus, Houston We Have A Problem…</a></li><li class="recentcomments">ateacher on <a href="http://www.eduwonk.com/2010/01/five-strikes-and-youre-out-plus-houston-we-have-a-problem.html/comment-page-1#comment-154178">Five Strikes And You’re Out! Plus, Houston We Have A Problem…</a></li><li class="recentcomments"><a href='http://ljohnson562@charter.net' rel='external nofollow' class='url'>Linda/Retired Teacher</a> on <a href="http://www.eduwonk.com/2010/02/hogwarts-on-the-hudson.html/comment-page-1#comment-154163">Hogwarts On The Hudson?</a></li><li class="recentcomments"><a href='http://www.churchcoaching.org/' rel='external nofollow' class='url'>Coach for Awakened</a> on <a href="http://www.eduwonk.com/2009/08/reinventing-ed-school-2-coaching-dosagestyle.html/comment-page-1#comment-154107">Reinventing Ed School 2: Coaching dosage/style</a></li></ul>

</li>
<li id="execphp-156478711" class="widget widget_execphp"> <div class="execphpwidget"><ul><li id="linkcat-3" class="linkcat"><h2>Education News and Analysis</h2>
<ul class='xoxo blogroll'>
<li><a href="http://www.aft.org/american_educator/index.html" target="_blank">American Educator</a></li>
<li><a href="http://www.smartbrief.com/news/ascd/index.jsp" target="_blank">ASCD SmartBrief</a></li>
<li><a href="http://chronicle.com/" target="_blank">Chronicle of Higher Education</a></li>
<li><a href="http://www.educationnext.org/" target="_blank">Education Next</a></li>
<li><a href="http://www.edweek.org/" target="_blank">Education Week</a></li>

<li><a href="http://www.ednews.org/" target="_blank">EducationNews.org</a></li>
<li><a href="http://www.eschoolnews.com/news/current.cfm" target="_blank">eSchoolNews</a></li>
<li><a href="http://www.insidehighered.com/" target="_blank">Inside Higher Ed</a></li>
<li><a href="http://voices.washingtonpost.com/class-struggle/" target="_blank">Jay Mathews’ Class Struggle</a></li>
<li><a href="http://www.nytimes.com/pages/education/index.html" target="_blank">New York Times Education</a></li>
<li><a href="http://www.pdkintl.org/kappan/kappan.htm" target="_blank">Phi Delta Kappan</a></li>
<li><a href="http://www.schoolwisepress.com/" target="_blank">School Wise Pres</a></li>
<li><a href="http://www.stateline.org/stateline/" target="_blank">Stateline.org</a></li>

<li><a href="http://www.teachermagazine.org/" target="_blank">Teacher Magazine</a></li>
<li><a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/education">Washington Post Education</a></li>

</ul>
</li>
<li id="linkcat-4" class="linkcat"><h2>Policy and Political Blogs</h2>
<ul class='xoxo blogroll'>
<li><a href="http://andrewsullivan.theatlantic.com/" target="_blank">Andrew Sullivan.com</a></li>
<li><a href="http://bloggingheads.tv/" target="_blank">Bloggingheads TV</a></li>
<li><a href="http://bookerrising.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">Booker Rising</a></li>

<li><a href="http://www.danieldrezner.com/blog/" target="_blank">Daniel Drezner</a></li>
<li><a href="http://voices.washingtonpost.com/ezra-klein/">Ezra Klein</a></li>
<li><a href="http://www.newvisioninstitute.org/foresight/" target="_blank">Foresight</a></li>
<li><a href="http://geniusblog.davidshenk.com">Genius Blog</a></li>
<li><a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/" target="_blank">Huffington Post</a></li>
<li><a href="http://www.instapundit.com/" target="_blank">Instapundit.com</a></li>
<li><a href="http://www.kausfiles.com/" target="_blank">Kausfiles.com</a></li>
<li><a href="http://yglesias.thinkprogress.org/" target="_blank">Matthew Yglesias</a></li>
<li><a href="http://www.motherjones.com/mojoblog/" target="_blank">Mojo</a></li>

<li><a href="http://oxblog.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">Oxblog</a></li>
<li><a href="http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/" target="_blank">Political Animal (Washington Monthly)</a></li>
<li><a href="http://www.politico.com/" target="_blank">Politico</a></li>
<li><a href="http://www.politicsdaily.com/">Politics Daily</a></li>
<li><a href="http://www.realclearpolitics.com/" target="_blank">Real Clear Politics</a></li>
<li><a href="http://redbrownandblue.com/">Red, Brown, and Blue</a></li>
<li><a href="http://www.scotusblog.com/movabletype/" target="_blank">Scotusblog</a></li>
<li><a href="http://washingtonindependent.com/author/spencer_ackerman">Spencer Ackerman</a></li>
<li><a href="http://takingnote.tcf.org/" target="_blank">Taking Note</a></li>

<li><a href="http://www.talkingpointsmemo.com/" target="_blank">Talkingpointsmemo.com</a></li>
<li><a href="http://www.prospect.org/weblog/" target="_blank">Tapped</a></li>
<li><a href="http://www.theamericanscene.com/" target="_blank">The American Scene</a></li>
<li><a href="http://www.nationalreview.com/thecorner/corner.asp" target="_blank">The Corner</a></li>
<li><a href="http://www.thedemocraticstrategist.org/strategist/" target="_blank">The Democratic Strategist</a></li>
<li><a href="http://www.slate.com/?id=3944&cp=2120447" target="_blank">The Has Been</a></li>
<li><a href="http://www.tnr.com/blogs/the-plank" target="_blank">The Plank (TNR)</a></li>
<li><a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/linkset/2006/04/03/LI2006040301493.html" target="_blank">Think Tank Town</a></li>
<li><a href="http://volokh.com/" target="_blank">Volokh Conspiracy</a></li>

<li><a href="http://www.usnews.com/usnews/politics/whispers/whisphome.htm" target="_blank">Washington Whispers</a></li>
<li><a href="http://www.opinionjournal.com/federation/" target="_blank">WSJ’s Blog Federation</a></li>

</ul>
</li>
</ul>

<P><h2>EduReading</h2>
<br>


<table width="290" border="0">

<tr>


<td class="publications" valign="top"><a href="http://www.hepg.org/hep/Book/5"><img

src="http://www.eduwonk.com/graphics/Collect_Barg_120x147.gif" width="120" height="147"

border="1"><br>Collective Bargaining in Education: Negotiating Change in Today's Schools</a><br>
<font color="#000000" size="-2">Edited by Jane Hannaway and Andrew J. Rotherham</font>
<P>


<td class="publications" valign="top"><a

href="http://www.educationsector.org/analysis/analysis_show.htm?doc_id=358299"><img

src="http://www.eduwonk.com/graphics/challenged_index_120x147.gif" width="120" height="147"

border="1"><br>Why Newsweek's List of America's 100 Best High Schools Doesn't Make the Grade
</a><br>
<font color="#000000" size="-2">By Andrew J. Rotherham<br> and Sara Mead</font>
</td>

</tr>
<tr>


<td class="publications" valign="top"><a href="http://www.hepg.org/hep/Book/39"><img

src="http://www.eduwonk.com/graphics/teacher_quality_120x147.jpg" width="120" height="147"

border="1"><br>A Qualified Teacher<br> in Every Classroom</a><br>
<font color="#000000" size="-2">Edited by Frederick M. Hess, Andrew J. Rotherham, and Kate Walsh</font>
</td>


<td class="publications" valign="top"><a href="http://www.democracyjournal.com/article.php?ID=6535"><img

src="http://www.eduwonk.com/graphics/DemocracyJournal.gif" width="120" height="147"

border="0"><br>America's Teaching Crisis</a><br>
<font color="#000000" size="-2">By Jason Kamras and Andrew J. Rotherham</font>

</td>
</tr>
<tr>


<td class="publications" valign="top"><a

href="http://www.ppionline.org/ppi_ci.cfm?knlgAreaID=110&subsecID=900030&contentID=3344"><img

src="http://www.eduwonk.com/graphics/SpecialEd_120x147.jpg" width="120" height="147"

border="0"><br>Rethinking Special Education For A New Century</a><br>
<font color="#000000" size="-2">Edited by Chester E. Finn, Jr., Andrew J. Rotherham & Charles R. Hokanson, Jr.</font></td>


<td class="publications" valign="top"><a

href="http://www.educationsector.org/analysis/analysis_show.htm?doc_id=385844"><img

src="http://www.eduwonk.com/graphics/EXPCutScoresCover.gif" width="120" height="147" border="0"><br>Making The Cut: How States Set Passing Scores on Standardized Tests</a><br>
<font color="#000000" size="-2">By Andrew J. Rotherham</font></td></tr>
<tr>


<td class="publications" valign="top"><a

href="http://www.brookings.edu/reports/2008/1016_education_mead_rotherham.aspx "><img

src="http://www.eduwonk.com/graphics/MeadRotherhamCover.gif" width="120" height="147" border="0"><br>Changing the Game: The Federal Role in Supporting 21st Century Educational Innovation </a><br>
<font color="#000000" size="-2">By Andrew J. Rotherham and Sara Mead</font></td>


<td class="publications" valign="top"><a

href=" http://www.philanthropyroundtable.org/store_product.asp?prodid=210"><img
src="http://www.eduwonk.com/graphics/TeacherExcellenceCover.gif" width="120" height="180" border="0"><br>Achieving Teacher and Principal Excellence: A Guidebook for Donors
</a><br>
<font color="#000000" size="-2">By Andrew J. Rotherham</font>
</td>
</tr>
</table>
<P>
<ul><li id="linkcat-5" class="linkcat"><h2>Education Blogs</h2>

<ul class='xoxo blogroll'>
<li><a href="http://americanedreview.blogspot.com/2010/01/teaching-as-leadership-live.html">American Ed Review</a></li>
<li><a href="http://ascd.typepad.com/blog/" target="_blank">ASCD</a></li>
<li><a href="http://www.assortedstuff.com/" target="_blank">Assorted Stuff</a></li>
<li><a href="http://teachingquality.typepad.com/building_the_profession/" title="Secondhand NEA smoke?" target="_blank">Barnett Berry</a></li>
<li><a href="http://blogs.edweek.org/edweek/Bridging-Differences/" title="And lemme tell you another thing about those punk reform kids today…" target="_blank">Bridging Differences (Meier and Ravitch)</a></li>
<li><a href="http://www.publiccharters.org/media/blog" title="But do they like charter schools?" target="_blank">Charter Blog (NAPCS)</a></li>
<li><a href="http://charterschoolpolicy.org/yes/" target="_blank">Charter School Policy Inst. Blog</a></li>
<li><a href="http://dormont.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">Chez Dormont</a></li>

<li><a href="http://thecite.blogspot.com/" title="A blog on Course materials, Innovation, and Technology in Education">CITE Blog</a></li>
<li><a href="http://athenslearning.org/blog/" target="_blank">College Ready Blog (Athens Learning Group)</a></li>
<li><a href="http://www.burkescarbrough.com/" target="_blank">Conversation Starters</a></li>
<li><a href="http://www.coreknowledge.org/blog/" title="Bring on the classics! Panic At The Pondiscio holds forth!" target="_blank">Core Knowledge Blog</a></li>
<li><a href="http://www.erinoconnor.org/" target="_blank">Critical Mass</a></li>
<li><a href="http://www.curriki.org/xwiki/bin/view/CurrikiBlog/">Curriki</a></li>
<li><a href="http://d-edreckoning.blogspot.com/" title="You’d better bring evidence " target="_blank">D-EDreckoning</a></li>
<li><a href="http://dcteacherchic.blogspot.com/">D.C. Teacher Chic</a></li>
<li><a href="http://www.dangerouslyirrelevant.org/" target="_blank">Dangerously Irrelevant</a></li>

<li><a href="http://www.cobranchi.com/" title="Homie Central" target="_blank">Daryl Cobranchi</a></li>
<li><a href="http://www.abcte.org/blog/" target="_blank">Dave Saba (ABCTE)</a></li>
<li><a href="http://daveshearon.typepad.com/" target="_blank">Dave Shearon</a></li>
<li><a href="http://dcedublog.blogspot.com/" title="Education dysfunction central" target="_blank">DC Education Blog</a></li>
<li><a href="http://www.dfer.org/posts/blog/" title="Should be as redundant as ‘Republicans for lower taxes’, but isn’t yet" target="_blank">Dems for Education Reform</a></li>
<li><a href="http://www.newamerica.net/blog/early_ed_watch" title="Sara Mead tells you what it all means for little kids" target="_blank">Early Ed Watch</a></li>
<li><a href="http://www.earlyedcoverage.org/" title="Colvin saves education journalism" target="_blank">Early Stories</a></li>
<li><a href="http://learningmatters.tv/blog/news-desk/" title="Daily education news summaries and links" target="_blank">Ed Beat</a></li>
<li><a href="http://www.ediswatching.org/" title="He’s five and he likes school choice" target="_blank">Ed is Watching</a></li>

<li><a href="http://ed-policy.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">Ed Policy Blog</a></li>
<li><a href="http://blogs.edweek.org/edweek/edbizbuzz/" target="_blank">Edbizbuzz</a></li>
<li><a href="http://blog.centerforpubliceducation.org/?paged=2" title="The Center for Public Education Blog">EDifier</a></li>
<li><a href="http://www.varpartners.net/%3fpage_id=101" target="_blank">EdReformer Blog</a></li>
<li><a href="http://www.edspresso.com/" title="Vouchers yes! Dems no!" target="_blank">Edspresso</a></li>
<li><a href="http://educatedguess.org/blog/" title="The Educated Guess is a forum on education policies in California and Silicon Valley.">Educated Guess</a></li>
<li><a href="http://www.educatednation.com/" target="_blank">Educated Nation</a></li>
<li><a href="http://educationnext.org/blog/" title="The Ed Next empire expands to the blogosphere">Education Next Blog</a></li>
<li><a href="http://blog.eduflack.com" title="He wants you to look good!" target="_blank">EduFlack</a></li>

<li><a href="http://eduoptimists.blogspot.com/" title="The blogging Goldricks!" target="_blank">Eduoptimists</a></li>
<li><a href="http://www.edwize.org/" title="Teacher union voice!" target="_blank">Edwize (UFT)</a></li>
<li><a href="http://eponymouseducator.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">Eponymous Educator</a></li>
<li><a href="http://www.essentialblog.org/" title="Authentically good!" target="_blank">Essential Blog</a></li>
<li><a href="http://extracredit.wordpress.com/" target="_blank">Extra Credit</a></li>
<li><a href="http://www.edexcellence.net/flypaper/" title="Petrilli & Friends" target="_blank">Flypaper (Fordham)</a></li>
<li><a href="http://www.edexcellence.net/fordhamfellows/blog/" title="Young, brash, and prolific!" target="_blank">Fordham Fellows</a></li>
<li><a href="http://thetrenches.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">From The Trenches</a></li>
<li><a href="http://www.ajc.com/metro/content/custom/blogs/education/index.html" target="_blank">Get Schooled (AJC)</a></li>

<li><a href="http://www.daytondailynews.com/blogs/content/shared-gen/blogs/dayton/education/index.html" target="_blank">Get On The Bus (Dayton Daily News)</a></li>
<li><a href="http://gothamschools.org/" title="24 hour-a-day coverage of the vipers’ nest that is education policy in NYC" target="_blank">Gotham Schools</a></li>
<li><a href="http://blogs.greatschools.net/" target="_blank">GreatSchools Blog</a></li>
<li><a href="http://www.grumpyprofessor.com" target="_blank">Grumpy Professor</a></li>
<li><a href="http://www.newamerica.net/programs/education_policy/higher_ed_watch/blog/" target="_blank">Higher Ed Watch</a></li>
<li><a href="http://hipteacher.typepad.com/schoolblog/" target="_blank">Hip Teacher</a></li>
<li><a href="http://ithoughtathink.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">I Thought A Think</a></li>
<li><a href="http://www.learningalternatives.net/" target="_blank">IALA</a></li>
<li><a href="http://mspappas.preknow.org/" target="_blank">Inside Pre-K</a></li>

<li><a href="http://insideschools.org/blog/">Inside Schools Blog</a></li>
<li><a href="http://www.eiaonline.com/intercepts/" title="Education’s union man" target="_blank">Intercepts</a></li>
<li><a href="http://www.ivygateblog.com/" target="_blank">IvyGate</a></li>
<li><a href="http://jaypgreene.com/" title="TV reviews, education commentary, and vouchers for everyone!" target="_blank">Jay Greene</a></li>
<li><a href="http://drcookie.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">Jenny D.</a></li>
<li><a href="http://www.joannejacobs.com/" title="Come for the excerpts, stay for the comments!" target="_blank">Joannejacobs.com</a></li>
<li><a href="http://gwu-kindlingflames.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">Kindling Flames</a></li>
<li><a href="http://kitchentablemath.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">Kitchen Table Math</a></li>
<li><a href="http://www.pbs.org/teachersource/learning.now/" target="_blank">Learning Now (PBS)</a></li>

<li><a href="http://www.publicschoolinsights.org/" title="The Blob Blogs! But guaranteed at least 75 percent tendentious - or your money back!">LFA – Public School Insights</a></li>
<li><a href="http://www.linkeducation.org/blog" title="Education social networking" target="_blank">LinkEd</a></li>
<li><a href="http://www.matthewktabor.com/" title="He’s pissed and pointed" target="_blank">Mathew K. Tabor</a></li>
<li><a href="http://www.pbs.org/teachers/mediainfusion/" target="_blank">Media Infusion</a></li>
<li><a href="http://stsg.wordpress.com/" title="Good luck with that!">Meeting the Turnaround Challenge Blog</a></li>
<li><a href="http://mikerosebooks.blogspot.com/">Mike Rose’s Blog</a></li>
<li><a href="http://www.speedofcreativity.org/" target="_blank">Moving At The Speed Of Creativity</a></li>

<li><a href="http://bgenglish.blogspot.com/index.html" target="_blank">Mr. B-G’s English Blog</a></li>
<li><a href="http://msfrizzle.wordpress.com/" target="_blank">Ms. Frizzle</a></li>
<li><a href="http://education.nationaljournal.com/" title="Eliza Krigman plays ringmaster for a three ring educircus!">National Journal's Education Blog</a></li>
<li><a href="http://blogs.edweek.org/edweek/NCLB-ActII/" target="_blank">NCLB Act II (Ed Week)</a></li>
<li><a href="http://www.letsgetitright.org/blog/" title="Now seen mostly on milk cartons" target="_blank">NCLBlog (AFT)</a></li>
<li><a href="http://schoolnerdblog.blogspot.com/" title="She’s smart, snarky, and teaching! (And she’s missed!)" target="_blank">Newoldschoolteacher</a></li>
<li><a href="http://boardbuzz.nsba.org/" title="In the first place, NSBA made this blog" target="_blank">NSBA’s BoardBuzz</a></li>

<li><a href="http://nyceducator.blogspot.com/" title="He fiddles, and burns" target="_blank">NYC Educator</a></li>
<li><a href="http://www.usnews.com/papertrail/" target="_blank">Paper Trail (USN)</a></li>
<li><a href="http://parentalcation.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">Parentalcation</a></li>

Journal Journal: Privitization Ideologues

Journal by sam_handelman on Sunday October 11, 2009 @02:23AM

First, read my comment, now look around at the other comments.

This is what happened:
* The guv'mint hands over development of this service to private parties.
* Those private parties rip off the guv'mint, it's extremely wasteful.
* People at a public institution (part of the guv'mint) pointed out that this could've been done way cheaper, by the guv'mint without private parties involvement.

This is what everyone says which gets modded as insightful:
* The guv'mint is wasteful!
* We should let private parties handle stuff instead, they're more efficient.

You have a large group of people who are so blinded by their "Capitalist" ideology that even events *directly contrary* to their thesis are interpreted as validation of it, instead. This would be like saying that the fall of the Soviet Union proved the soundness of state socialism - which even advocates of state socialism do not say! It's off the end of the crazy spectrum.

Journal Journal: Hey, pudge! 6

Journal by sam_handelman on Tuesday March 31, 2009 @11:28PM

Okay, let's briefly review how the whole AIG thing blew up. When fire-breathing right wingers started talking about it, the major news media noticed, and it becamse a real political liability. So getting mention only on dailykos (or elsewhere on "our side") is not sufficient to achieve something here.

This means there are *two* benefits to having Dems in power - the filthy pachyderms have it together to function as an opposition, at least some of the time. So how do we get them to do it, in this case?

The Obama administration's sec. of education is Arne Duncan. Eli Broad (a "philanthropist") has been going around bragging about how he now controls the department of education. I have all kinds of left-wing-flavored objections to "public-private partnerships" (including stuff like privatized prisons,) but let's start here: "crooked self dealing" is not popular, so the crooked and corrupt rebranded their policies as public-private partnerships or as venture philanthropy. My Mom goes into it in some detail: http://www.dailykos.com/story/2009/3/20/710776/-Who-is-Running-Our-Schools

Republicans have been, historically, as bad or worse than the Dems on this - but I don't care! *I* just want the system cleaned up, I want these scum thrown out. If this means that the Republicans can score political points, fine - better that than tolerating people like Arne Duncan.

A lot of the more libertarian wing of Republicans, with whom I ordinarily have more in common, like privatization or market-incentive based systems for delivering public services. I think it's crazy for a dozen reasons, but I don't want to get into that: there's pretty well universal agreement that outright corruption, that business and other ties between those who actually get the public money and those in government, are not acceptable. That's what we have here.

So, do any of my fellow slashdotters have any advice on how to get the right wing blogosphere (pudge specifically for all I care) to notice this as an issue and take it up? The whole thing could be a major embarassment for Obama, which it damn well should be. OTOH, it's a family of policies that Republicans have historically supported, so does this have a chance of changing those? Any way we can add provisions requiring transparency and accountability (not of the teachers, but of the *people who actually get the money*) to the education stimulus?

I can also discuss the underlying issue of government-services privitization, if anyone wants.

Journal Journal: l'esprit de voltaire 4

Journal by sam_handelman on Sunday January 04, 2009 @05:58PM

WTF am I supposed to do with 15 mod points? I have enough trouble spending 5, chrissakes.

Anyway, I regard down-modding this as mod-abuse:
http://tech.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=1079987&cid=26322341

He's expressing a (clearly unpopular) opinion with which I disagree. I'd certainly up-mod the person arguing with him. But is this flamebait because most people disagree with it? He seems sincere to me.

Later on he could legitimately be called a troll since he starts insulting people.

Journal Journal: Ooh, underrated again 1

Journal by sam_handelman on Saturday December 20, 2008 @12:24AM

I know that I've put together something good when people mod me underrated.

Journal Journal: Building a new society in the shell of the old 5

Journal by sam_handelman on Friday November 14, 2008 @07:48PM

Assume with me, at least for the moment, that it is possible to build a just society through gradual progressive initiatives, rather than through revolution, and that enough cultural progress has been made that increases in democracy will translate into increases in social justice. Also, let us accept what I'll call the populist democratic thesis - regardless of leadership, even overtly democratic institutions will only function in a democratic way under orchestrated popular pressure.

Given these assumptions, what should our policy priorities be?

Point 000504: (that's the inverse of 1984) This contrasts notably "worse is better" doctrine promulgated by certain types of revolutionary Trotskyist. In reference to the policies of the Party in 1984, which used general economic strangulation to keep the population quiescent and disorganized. Policies which will increase employment and economic growth, stimulate demand, and generally improve the economic situation of the populace tend to provide ordinary people with the time and energy they need to organize.

Democracy and Education: Republicans generally, and the Bush administration in particular, have orchestrated a major attack on the system of public education. In addition to defending this institution and reversing most of NCLB, we need to reduce class sizes and cycle younger teachers into the system. In addition to the economic benefits, John Dewey (in Democracy and Education) generally held that certain educational practices (diametrically opposed to those promoted by NCLB) can be radicalizing - with younger (and, socially at least, more liberal) teachers, motivated teachers with the resources and training to improve their students welfare, it will be. It's very nice that Obama *talks* about such a program, but: talk is cheap.

The Employee Free Choice Act: Labor unions are a major vehicle for reform, and, especially in the post-Reagan American political realignment, a platform to build longterm, broad based vehicles for coordinated popular action. The Reagan, Bush II (and to an extent, Clinton) administrations gutted union organizer protections in executive ways that will be difficult for Obama to reverse (assuming he even tries to do so - unfortunately not a given.) The employee free choice act would largely circumvent these, and effectively restore the right to form a union in this country. And now a brief plug: my aunt, who is a major supporter of the Employee Free Choice Act, is possibly-about to engage in a series of legal battles with her Republican opponent in US House OH-15. She's down by ~150 votes, but 2 years ago she gained 1,500 votes when the provisional ballots were counted, so when that happens, we expect her to take the lead, but the Repubs are trying to block the secretary of state from counting the ballots. Given that the employee free choice act is going to be a major battle, you should give her some money: http://www.actblue.com/page/kilroycountsvotes

What are our other progressive priorities?

We might also discuss Obama himself (who I think is more progressive than some of his rhetoric would indicate - but this doesn't matter) and the means by which activists can best exert pressure on their elected officials to execute a progressive agenda.

Journal Journal: More mod system abuse 2

Journal by sam_handelman on Thursday September 18, 2008 @08:31PM

So, once again, some right-winger has modded down one of my posts at the last second. At least it wasn't "overrated" this time.

Those with a desire to slavishly serve the powerful are intrinsically dishonest - they can't help but game the system as hard as they can, it's simply an expression of their nature.

Journal Journal: Help my aunt googlebomb here wingnut opponent 2

Journal by sam_handelman on Thursday September 11, 2008 @07:02PM

Steve Stivers

In case this isn't obvious, I'd like the gag page to have a higher pagerank in response to a search for "Steve Stivers" than his actual homepage.

Journal Journal: Larry Wall and you are both dreams 1

Journal by sam_handelman on Tuesday May 06, 2008 @02:05PM

Firstly, let's assume, for the sake of argument, that the entire observable universe - you, me, this dinner party - is, indeed a simulation.

It's probably true that this dinner party has been run through in its entirety, at least once. So in the sense that things inside the simulation are real - this dinner party is probably real.

However, it's also probably true that whoever is running the simulation is going to choose interesting segments, and run them over and over again with slightly different parameters.

The total simulation time of these small repeats probably greatly outweighs the simulation time of the entire age of the universe.

So, while it's true that this dinner party is probably real, in each particular moment that we occupy, we are vastly more likely to be in some instantaneous slice of simulation - disconnected, in a sense, from everything that may have happened before or since - than in a continuous run that includes the entire dinner party.

So the Buddha is probably right, most of the time. The only thing that exists is the now.

If we assume that all of this is true, this also helps to explain why it is so difficult to reconcile relativity and quantum mechanics.

Relativity is a pretty straightforward simplifying assumption on large distance scales - if I want to simulate what happens in this room for the next 45 seconds, my simulation only needs to include a sphere, 90 light-seconds across, centered on the room. The simulation can shrink as it runs.

Likewise, quantum mechanics is a simplifying assumption on small distance scales.

If we assume that quantum mechanics are relativity are both kludges, tacked on at the last minute to save CPU cycles, maybe coded by different people looking at the problem from opposite ends, it makes sense that they don't reconcile cleanly or easily.

Given that it's such a dirty hack, the universe probably was written in perl.

Journal Journal: Meme? Meme! MEME! 15

Journal by sam_handelman on Sunday February 10, 2008 @01:41AM

Post a comment to this thread, and I will:

1. Tell you why I befriended you.
2. Associate you with something - fandom, a song, a color, a photo, etc..
3. Tell you something I like about you.
4. Tell you a memory I have of you.
5. Ask something I've always wanted to know about you.
6. Tell you my favorite user pic of yours.
7. In return, you must post this in your Journal/Blag/whatever.

Journal Journal: Education, Differences between Repubs and Dems 2

Journal by sam_handelman on Wednesday January 09, 2008 @11:06PM

More NCLB-related musings.

Venture philanthropy: you use your philaonthrophic foundation (like the Gates foundation) to "leverage" your donations in order to pursue your policy goals.

To run this at a direct profit - you donate $30 mil to a philanthrophy (which you run), and then you get the state to "match" your donation, and then you get the philanothropy to spend the $60 mil buying services form a company which you have set up to provide them. There are all kinds of ways to use this kind of leverage to further your policy goals (directing policy towards "market based" solutions), but this is the most egregious.

Not only is the Emperor naked - he has invested in the invisible cloth manufacturing concern, and when some kid says "why is that man naked?" they hold him back for a year and he drops out of school instead of graduating.

Getting back to the difference between the Dems and Republicans: if you study the training offerings which the current crop of educational services have for science education, there is very clearly nothing there. There are warehouses and warehouses all over Texas (also CA and MA) full of invisible cloth that these hucksters want to sell.

These are all programs that were envisaged and flourished under the administrations of Republican governors.

The Democrats are also willing and eager to use venture philanthropy as an ideological tool to sell off the country at firehouse-sale rates. But they, at least, are competent enough to produce some kind of useable educational services out of it.

It's Iraq and Katrina writ large - the Dems have constiuents such that they have some concern over maintaining a functioning society. The Republicans have no such interest - there's no substance at all to their proposals, just the graft.

Journal Journal: NCLB and Education Hucksters in Science 1

Journal by sam_handelman on Friday December 28, 2007 @07:32PM

Firstly, as background, a 2004 report from the Boston Phoenix on policies to push minority kids out of the high schools. My mother is a chemistry teacher in a low income district in MA. This is a variant on a letter that she's been circulating among colleagues and potential political allies; I thought my fellow slashdotters might be interested, since MIT is the hero of the piece, and Harvard Business School is the villain.

"Educational Entrepreneurship" is an enormously powerful nation-wide effort to sub-contract educational administration, curriculum, and professional development services in low-income public school districts to private for-profit partners, after districts are taken over under NCLB. Mass Insight is a leader in this drive, and you can view its proposal to coordinate the takeover process for its partners in a report on its website. They are explicit, in their report, that their eventual target is to take over the entire public education system and run it, free of "bureaucratic interference."
Another powerful player is New Schools Venture Fund, which has just added former Mass. Education Board chairman Jim Peyser to its partners; The Gates Foundation is a backer, and the Harvard Business School now offers MBA classes in
Educational Entrepreneurship.
The eventual for-profit providers of services are located under several layers of interlocking "advocacy" organizations, with a conscious strategy of leveraging investment of public and private money to promote the takeover. Texas, Massachusetts, and California are epicenters of the project, where Republican governors have built Education Boards dominated by adherents. An example of a "partner" might be K-12 Inc, which went public last week with a stock offering that raised $108 million, according to the current issue of Education Week.
The rationale for forcing public schools to consume these private services is that the services are "research-based" and have proven their effectiveness. A problem is that the research is often biased or distorted by researchers with hidden agendas. In many cases, especially in Texas, it was fabricated outright [she means Reading First]. Most activity has been in math and reading, since those are the high-stakes targets of NCLB. But as concern has risen over the condition of science instruction, vast amounts of money have been appropriated to improve it, and entrepreneurial attention has now focused on science education.
As you may know [remember this was originally sent to other teachers], the federal "What Works" clearinghouse has failed to recommend very many marketed educational programs as showing "research-based" effectiveness.
In the current effort to create a follow-up reading commission to get approval for more programs, many public-interest advocacy groups function as lobbyists for partner programs.
A favorite way to profiteer as well as to consolidate control is to force dumbed-down, "standards based," for-profit professional development programs on teachers in urban districts. Texas is exporting these. I am convinced the only way to save my students or science teaching is to bring the whole monster down.
If anything, the forced drop-out situation is worse now [compared to the background article before the blockquote] because of the structure of the AYP requirements under the NCLB law. With the requirement that every school's test scores continually increase toward 240 ("proficiency"), even a kid who would pass the test and graduate from high school is a score suppressor. My students have cried when they came to me to turn in their chemistry text and be signed out to Alternative Ed; then they disappeared from my roster and the school system, and didn't even get counted as dropouts somehow. We have been putting our little girls out onto the street with less than a 10th grade education to leverage our MCAS scores. Our graduation rate hovers in the 50-60% range, but we report 0%-5% dropout rates. I promise you I have been fighting it with all my heart every day, and the only reason I still have a job is teacher tenure.
It may change this year (or not), because our Alternative Ed has been "taken over" by the same Board of Education and private education reform consultants who have been showering my district with awards for our supposedly rising test scores. [This may make it harder to use the alternative Ed to disappear students] If we do succeed in increasing the number of 10th graders who make it through to the test in my school, the MCAS average will undoubtedly fall. So, who is circling over our heads waiting to pick off the urban schools when NCLB finally brings them down? What is Education Reform? Briefly, it is a for-profit "solution" to the problems Ed Reform consultants cause, while they dominate school boards under cover of "non-profit" advocacy groups (with their hidden for-profit partners). Here is an example.
Nobody can seem to take an aim at the real enemy, who hide behind a dizzy profusion of glossy websites linked to "social capital" and "venture philanthropy" at one end and "market strategy" and profits at the other. They are all over the Education Departments, "leveraging" this and "leveraging" that. The flow of corporate venture philanthropy to its ideological partners becomes an overwhelming tool to shape opinion and policy.
I think I've found a way to get some traction against the real perpetrators of these outrageous and cowardly education policies: We can demand transparency and accountability. We do have some allies - Deval Patrick has appointed Ruth Kaplan to the Board of Education in my own state, and there is an organization of scientists centered at MIT who have not been and cannot be bought off or scared away. You can meet them through the Parents Care website.
Exxon has given a $250 million "gift" to improve AP science instruction (the NSMI), and it is being distributed to leverage the take-over of public school science by hucksters. The FAQ for applicants for funding, on the NSMI website, includes the question,
what if there is no suitable non-profit recipient? The answers include the information that a for-profit can only be a cooperating partner, and MUST CREATE a non-profit entity to receive the funds. Demonstrating your political connections in your own state, especially with the governor's office, will also help your application. You will even find helpful links to create your own tax-exempt non-profit.
We have to reframe the "accountability" debate, and get terms like huckster and for-profit and leveraged take-over out into public consciousness. Is it possible that internet savvy people could discover the identity of for-profit entities currently awarded contracts by their own state and local school boards? The kick back schemes by Reading First never would have been investigated unless competitors complained. Can somebody please advocate for the actual children? Low-income districts with low graduation rates are crucially vulnerable. The data base from the 2007 Gates Foundation Diplomas Count report will help you find them in your state.
My alarm goes off at 5:30 every morning. I dress professionally, and go into a low-income public school building and teach chemistry all day until, frankly, I can barely stand up. Somebody else needs to expose the Board of Education. Maybe you could help, or maybe you know somebody who wants to.

Journal Journal: Double Troll? Come on! 5

Journal by sam_handelman on Friday December 14, 2007 @01:26PM

Evidently, the position that the Dems are marginally better than the Republicans is actually *trolling*, and two moderators have modded it as such. Is it Republican or Democratic partisans whom I am supposedly trolling for flames?

Journal Journal: Robert Fisk Retires 1

Journal by sam_handelman on Friday August 24, 2007 @08:11PM

Robert Fisk, the outstanding middle-east correspondent for the London Independent has announced that he will retire. A loss for journalism, a loss for human rights advocates, a loss for the world, he will be missed. Slashdotters may know him best for being the origin of the term "fisking" - the practice common on usenet and in forums where a piece of text is broken into little bits and disparaged, commonly characterized by a complete failure to grasp the overall content. He doesn't think he's done any good: I am among those who would disagree - we don't know how much worse it could have been.

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