Fwd: [oaklandteachers] Klein, Sharpton take their show to Denver

[Susan Harman <susanharman@igc.org>]

Begin forwarded message:

> From: Jack Gerson <jackgerson@mac.com>
> Date: Wed Jul 16, 2008  12:59:13 AM US/Eastern
> To: oaklandteachers@lists.riseup.net
> Subject: [oaklandteachers] Klein, Sharpton take their show to Denver
> Reply-To: oaklandteachers@lists.riseup.net
>
> Last month, Rev. Al Sharpton and New York schools chancellor Joel  
> Klein proclaimed that they had launched "a national movement" called  
> the Education Equality Project. This project is another of the  
> seemingly endless initiatives that use the woeful state of inner city  
> schools as an excuse to promote the corporate "reform" agenda--in this  
> case, they're pushing merit pay and increased accountability, ending  
> or weakening seniority, and expanding charter schools. Foot soldiers  
> in the Klein/Sharpton "national movement" include Jeb Bush, Newt  
> Gingrich, and Roy Romer (former LAUSD superintendent, former Colorado  
> governor, former head of the Democratic National Committee, and  
> current chairman of the Eli Broad/Bill Gates Strong American  
> Schools/Ed in '08 campaign). Oddly enough, once again these crusading  
> reformers fail to identify the true source of the "achievement  
> gap"--social inequality, most clearly evidenced by the huge and  
> growing income and wealth gaps.
>
> This week, Klein and Sharpton are peddling their snake oil in Denver.  
> Here's the Denver Post's account.
>
> Jack Gerson
>
> ----------------------------------------------------------------------- 
> ------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> Time is Ripe to Fix Education, Experts Assert
> By Allison Sherry
> Denver Post, 7/14/2008
>
> Fixing the nation's schools is the civil-rights priority of this  
> century because so many of them ? particularly those serving poor kids  
> ? are not delivering high-quality service, a group of prominent city,  
> civil-rights and education leaders said Sunday.
>
> In the lobby of one of Denver's sterling charter schools, New York  
> City schools chief Joel Klein, Denver Mayor John Hickenlooper, state  
> Senate President Peter Groff and Lt. Gov. Barbara O'Brien, among  
> others, said they would do whatever it takes to push education onto  
> the crowded political agenda this fall.
>
> "It's hard to imagine another environment or another endeavor where so  
> many people invest so many resources ... with so little success,"  
> Hickenlooper said at a media briefing at the Denver School for Science  
> and Technology. "We've been so slow."
>
> In Denver, a little more than half of the students who start school  
> finish with a high-school diploma. Statewide, about one in five  
> ninth-graders will graduate from college within six years of > enrolling.
>
> The national movement, called the Education Equality Project, began a  
> little more than a month ago with Klein and civil-rights leader Rev.  
> Al Sharpton. In a short time, it has attracted an odd cast of  
> bedfellows such as former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, former House Speaker  
> Newt Gingrich, former Colorado Gov. Roy Romer and a handful of urban  
> superintendents and pastors across the country.
>
> The group's message: In the last generation and a half, education has  
> become too much about serving adults.
>
> "It's children we need to worry about," Klein said. "Even if they  
> graduate, they're woefully unprepared. ... Every kid should get a shot  
> at the American dream. It's not about politics."
>
> By that, Klein and others generally mean the long-standing chasm in  
> the Democratic Party on education reform, which creates tension with  
> national teachers unions.
>
> Several of the solutions Klein and others are pushing for ? more  
> autonomous charter schools, paying teachers on merit and on which jobs  
> they take rather than seniority, and holding them directly accountable  
> for how well kids do in class ? draw sharp rebuke from city teachers  
> unions.
>
> Of the long list of supporters of the advocacy project, no one from  
> the American Federation of Teachers or the National Education  
> Association has signed on in support.
>
> "If this means tackling union politics, we're willing to do that,"  
> Klein said.
>
> Colorado Senate President Groff agreed.
>
> "I applaud Sen. (Barack) Obama saying to unions we need to do things  
> better," he said.
>
> The Colorado Education Association had no comment about Sunday's  
> briefing.
>
> The year is ripe for a debate about changing the nation's education  
> systems, education advocates say, because there are so many examples  
> nationally of schools working well.
>
> Experts working on seemingly intractable problems of high dropout  
> rates and chronic underachievement among poor students can point to  
> schools in cities all over ? including Denver ? where these kids are  
> excelling.
>
> "In every sector of the education-reform movement, there are examples  
> of success," said Michael Johnston, a prominent high school principal  
> in Mapleton Public Schools, and an education adviser to presidential  
> hopeful Obama.
>
> Generally, that means intense accountability on principals and  
> teachers for student success, and a sharp emphasis on teacher quality.
>
> The Education Equality Project will circle back to Denver for a bigger  
> rally at the Democratic National Convention. It also will go to  
> Minneapolis for the Republican National Convention.
>
> The group is not endorsing one candidate, Klein said. "I want the  
> candidates to endorse us."
>
> Jennifer Gonzalez, who has four kids in some of the poorest schools in  
> Denver, said Sunday that none of them aspires to work in fast food or  
> as a janitor.
>
> "Our kids want more," she said. "And they deserve it."
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