CAT Tracks for March 15, 2010
BEHIND THE CURTAIN

Very short, but VERY revealing column this morning by regular public-school-bashing, Washington Post columnist Jay Mathews.

An avid supporter of President George W. Bush and his "signature" No Child Left Behind law...

Now that it's "OBAMA'S PLAN", Jay wants the President to drop the "ACHIEVEMENT GAP" feature of "OBAMA'S PLAN".


Uh, Jay...

Please...a question, if you will.

I'm getting old and all, and my memory isn't as good as it once was...but, uh, wasn't the existence of an "ACHIEVEMENT GAP" between whites and minorities the whole basis for George W. Bush pushing for No Child Left Behind?

Uh, Jay...

Wasn't one of the catch phrases of the Bush Administration's educational policy - designed to put bleeding-heart Democrats on the defensive - "the soft bigotry of low expectations"?

Uh, Jay...

I mean...correct me if I am wrong!!!

Hmmm, I didn't think so...


So, let me get this straight, Jay...

Based upon YOUR PLAN, a couple of questions, Jay...

  • What about the teachers of the "low achievers" in T.C. Williams? Surely they get "a pass" also! I mean...since YOU don't care about those students, since YOU have written them off, since YOU don't feel that they are worthy of valuable district resources or attention, why, surely you do would not hold the teachers accountable for teaching such miscreants!!!

  • And, Jay...if you "excuse" the teachers of the "bottom dwellers" at T.C. Williams - "baby sitting" those whom YOU deem unworthy - what about teachers in the vast majority of urban school districts across the United States...or in rural districts like Cairo, Illinois (or Century or Egyptian or Meridian)...where the disadvantaged and the under-performing constitute the vast majority of the student body??? Are you going to give those teachers a pass also?

Jay...

Methinks that you have opened your mouth and inserted foot!

Methinks that you have revealed a not-so-soft bigotry!


Jay...

I shall leave you to ponder two appropriate and timely adages:

  • The truth will out...

  • Beware the Ides of March!

From the Washington Post...

Link to Original Story

Class Struggle
By Jay Mathews

Obama plan flaw: achievement gap

We will know much more about President Obama's plan to replace No Child Left Behind in a few weeks than we do now. When both the White House and the Congress are engaged on an issue this important, lots of changes happen.

For now, I think it is important to note that my colleague Valerie Strauss's distress about the president's emphasis on teachers improving student achievement harks back to an earlier era that will never return. It is politically impossible to pass a plan that doesn't make teachers accountable for student performance. We will never return to the good old days (in the minds of some) when we ignored that factor. I agree with Valerie that there are better measures of schools, but for the moment they are way too expensive (like regular inspections) and way too complicated for voters to understand and trust.

Also, I see a problem in the president using the achievement gap as a measure of schools in his suggested revisions. This could mean that a wonderfully diverse school like T.C. Williams High in Alexandria, a recent subject on this blog, would be motivated to ignore its best students, who want to get even better, and focus all its money and time on those at the bottom of the achievement scale so they can narrow the gap. That is not a good idea, and I hope the president will get it out of his proposal.