Laugh of the Day

So over at LEV's blog there's the exciting recap of the Kevin Johnson event. Here's a bit of it:

Johnson is engaged to Washington, D.C., Public Schools Chancellor Michelle Rhee, who played a significant role in the education reform documentary Waiting for Superman. One teen who was waiting to film a video segment on truancy prevention with Johnson had just seen the documentary and was thrilled to learn that Johnson was dating Rhee.

And I'm thinking to myself - this kid is "thrilled" that Johnson is dating Rhee? Hmm, not your typical teenager. Then I read this:

After asking Johnson a couple of questions on video about the importance of staying in school, the teen mentioned Rhee and then jokingly asked for her phone number. Johnson pulled out his cell phone and called Rhee on the spot. He then handed the phone to the excited kid to talk to his new hero. The first words out of his mouth: “You’re my favorite actress!”

Out of the mouths of babes. She's one of mine, too.

Comments

dan dempsey said…
Speaking of Michelle Rhee, this is from NY Times Magazine section on 10-1-10: Is Michelle Rhee’s Revolution Over?

Around the country, supporters of education reform — or at least of the test-scores-driven, tenure-busting, results-rewarding sort of reform epitomized by organizations like Teach for America and championed by Education Secretary Arne Duncan — gave a collective gasp of dismay last month when voters in a number of districts handed primary defeats to candidates closely associated with just this type of reform.

In New York, three state-senate candidates who ran on pro-charter-school platforms each failed to garner more than 30 percent of the vote.

In Washington, voters overwhelmingly rejected Mayor Adrian Fenty in favor of the City Council chairman, Vincent Gray, as the Democratic candidate in this year’s mayoral election. The Fenty defeat worried many people particularly because he was inextricably linked with his crusading, nationally celebrated schools chancellor, Michelle Rhee.
.
Josh Hayes said…
Oooh, that explains a lot -- if this is the NBA "KJ", who is now mayor of Sacramento. I heard him on the Kevin Calabro show on the radio last week, talking about how enthused he was about "education reform". Now the penny drops.

It's a little weird to hear, however, that the mayor of Sacramento is engaged to the PS Chancellor of Washington DC -- are we supposed to think that either of them is dedicated to the job? Maybe, now that the DC mayor situation has fallen out, Ms. Rhee is planning a move to the west coast?
dan dempsey said…
From Accountable Talk comes:
Ed Deformers on Ice.....

"When I posted that I thought the ed deform movement had jumped the shark, I heard some rumblings. Then I started telling my fellow teachers how I felt, and there was talk of breaking out the strait jacket for me. But I don't think I'm crazy--or at least not for believing that the deform movement has run out of steam.

Think about it. The deformers have had a major documentary released from an Oscar winning director. They had two Oprah shows humping their cause. They had a week dedicated to them by MSNBC. They have Mark Zuckerberg tossing out 100 million dollar door prizes to cities that will do his bidding. They are backed by enough billionaires to start a softball team. Billionaire-owned newspapers have fallen all over themselves to get on the bandwagon. And yet...what has changed?

Not much, that I can see.


So, given that the ed deformers' media blitz has been a failure despite all the fanfare, what could the deformers possible do next to try to sway public opinion?

Oprah and documentaries didn't work.

What's next? Dancing with the Ed Deformers? America's Next Top Deformer? How about Ed Deformers on Ice?

The only tangible result of all fanfare is that Michelle Rhee got her ass voted off Survivor: DC.
"
Sahila said…
Check this out, would make AuntyBroad proud...

CRAP - The Corporate Reform Action Pack
dan dempsey said…
Sahila,

Thanks for that link -- a real beauty.
Here is the link to her blog.

Introducing "CRAP" the "Corporate Reform Action Pack"
dan dempsey said…
Federal education official offers public forums in Tacoma and Federal Way

Tuesday 10/12/2010

Alberto Retana, director of community outreach for the U.S. Department of Education, will hold two community forums for South Sound residents. The meetings will offer information on federal education initiatives and policies.

The forums are scheduled for:

9-10 a.m. Tuesday at The Evergreen State College Tacoma Campus, 1210 Sixth Ave.; and

7-8:30 p.m. Tuesday at Federal Way High School, 30611 16th Ave. S.
Chris S. said…
check out this CRAP quote:
"I want to take part in ending practices that favor adults instead of children (as long as no one ends practices like the one where I could get a five-figure bonus on top of my six-figure salary, even if there was no measurable improvement in my district, while students in my district’s schools are crammed 30+ to a poorly-supplied classroom)."

Sound familiar?
Sahila said…
Could public schools use $2M?

Here's a link to the $2M grant Bill Gates donated just to PROMOTE Waiting for Superman.

I guess Oprah's dedicated hour long show wasn't enough promotion!

Had to get those print ads out there too!

http://www.gatesfoundation.org/Grants-2010/Pages/Participant-Media-LLC-OPP1019819.aspx

"money, money honey, its a rich man's world... aha - all the things I could do, if I had a little money, in a rich man's world"... like buy and shape public education in my own image...

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