Joe Williams' Blog
December 7, 2008
Education 2008: The Game Has Now Changed
Here's an edu-prediction: History is going to show that this is the moment in time when the center officially moved on the issue of education reform.
And the poster child for that dramatic shift (and someone to whom we all owe a tremendous debt) will be none other than Congressman George Miller (D-California), chair of the House Education and Labor Committee. (Pictured here visiting a Harlem charter school in 2007.)
Miller's willingness to proudly declare himself to be a "disruptor" in the Great Disruptor vs. Incrementalist War of 2008 changes the game for good. (See here, here, and here.)
Miller is one of the most highly-respected, even-keeled lawmakers in the nation. His endorsement of fundamental change has always mattered, but now that the battle lines have been drawn within the Democratic Party, his public "disruptor" declaration is a good sign that the Party won't get caught sleeping on the job again when it comes time to ensure that all children have the opportunities they need and deserve.
Buckle your seatbets. Democratic education reformers no longer need to whisper or do the secret handshake to find other like-minded folks. Thanks to Miller, this is now in the mainstream.
Now we need to make sure we don't blow the opportunity.
Thanks, Congressman Miller. You won't regret it.
Posted by Joe Williams on December 7, 2008 2:33 PM
December 4, 2008
Sara Mead Is Damon Weaver's Homegirl
Alexander Russo flagged a YouTube video of Florida elementary school student Damon Weaver, the kid who made Joe Biden his homeboy after interviewing him on the campaign trail. Young Damon, one of the most scrumptious kids you'll ever see, is enlisting NBA stars like Dwyane Wade to help him snag an interview with President-Elect Obama.
But then Sara Mead takes it to the next level, providing a sobering look at Damon's school and offering this meta point:
Damon's clearly a smart, charismatic kid with the potential for a bright future ahead of him: Will his education prepare him to make the most of that potential? Is he getting the kind of education we should demand for all our kids? What about his less famous peers? We think it'd be pretty cool if Obama did agree to let Damon interview him. But we think a much more important question is: What will Obama's education policy agenda do to improve outcomes for Damon, his schoolmates, and kids like them across the country?
Posted by Joe Williams on December 4, 2008 1:58 PM
December 3, 2008
Which Is In Deeper Detroit Doo-Doo, Big Auto or the Detroit Public Schools?
The auto CEO's may have flown to DC in luxury jets, but DPS appears to have crashed and burned.
Superintendent Connie Calloway: "The bottom line is this: No longer can our expenses exceed our revenue."
Oomph.
Cash those DPS paychecks quickly...
Posted by Joe Williams on December 3, 2008 10:58 AM
Is College Affordability The New Black?
Reading Tamar Lewin's piece in the NY Times this morning made me antsy. My oldest son just handed in his NYC high school application packet yesterday, which means we have only four years to figure out how in God's name we're going to pay for his college education. (And his brother is right behind him.)
So I totally get the push right now to deal with the college affordability issue.
I worry what happens, though, when this issue starts to edge out college readiness as the focus of our national education push.
The higher ed lobby is doing a great job getting people to understand the economics here. It would be nice if professors would start piping up about the quality of the students they are getting, and that for too many of our nation's students, affordability isn't what is standing between them and a successful college career. We've got a LONG way to go.
Posted by Joe Williams on December 3, 2008 9:31 AM
Michelle Rhee Named Sexiest Woman Of 2008
Time magazine's long-awaited "Sexiest Woman of the Year" issue is out and DC Schools Chancellor Michelle Rhee managed to edge out Tina Fey in what must have been a tough battle. (Word is that Richard Whitmire was lobbying hard on the outside for Sarah Palin.)
The Flypaper goes back to 1991, when Lamar Alexander was featured on the cover, as the last time an education official was considered remotely attractive. But Alexander never turned out to be the chick magnet he was built up to be. For that, you have to go back to Feb. 1, 1988, when a photographer handed Paterson, NJ principal Joe Clark a baseball bat and an edu-legend was born.
At the very least, this has to have been the last time that a school official was featured on the cover holding a weapon of minor destruction. Broom vs. bat, which will deliver better results?
Posted by Joe Williams on December 3, 2008 9:04 AM
November 5, 2008
What A Moment In Time
Posted by Joe Williams on November 5, 2008 8:59 AM
October 28, 2008
In Defense Of A Klonsky
This may sound strange, considering I have in the past boasted that I could kick the asses of both of the blogging Klonskies and have on many occasions complained of their reckless regard for the Truth in their posts, but the newest brand of McCarthyism making the rounds in attempt to smear both Mike Klonsky and Obama totally creeps me out.
Is this how far the right has sunk?
So the flap surrounds Klonsky, who temporarily had a blog on the Obama campaign site. The rub seems to be that - gasp - 30-years-ago he did the whole communist thing. Yawn...
For those of you who don't follow Klonsky or his blog, he's a college professor who is passionately involved in the small schools movement. We disagree on a lot of things and we lob shots at each other (he calls me names like Republicrat Twit and I sometimes point out that he is totally full of shit/factually bankrupt, etc.) But I do enjoy his blog and admire/appreciate how much of his life he gives to this stuff. (And I actually agree with him on a lot of things he writes, but I don't usually go there because the Klonsky style involves twisting your words around until you no longer recognize them if you're on his secret enemies list.)
But now the right-wingers want us to run away from him because he was hot for Trotsky 30-years-ago? That some past allegiances with some Bolshevik buddies makes him different than 95% of our nation's college professors over the age of 50? Even stranger, we're supposed to get all wigged out about Obama because Klonsky the blogger is a dangerous commie? I'm not buying it.
We're talking about Klonsky, not Stalin. Yeah he's a lefty, but so what? Don't his ideas deserve an airing? This whole crusade is as crazy as calling Obama a socialist because of his tax plans and the redistribution of wealth. But that's what government does. (The scary thing is that the McCain camp is pushing this stuff with a tottally straight face, which should scare the heck out of everyone.)
A vote for McCain/Palin is apparently a vote for extreme intolerance.
PS - Besides, who wasn't a communist back then? (Even Checker Finn reportedly grew his own vegetables when he worked for Moynihan.)
Posted by Joe Williams on October 28, 2008 10:11 PM
