This Piece is Right on the Money,

but it really doesn't matter to education "reformers" because their assault on public education and teachers has nothing to do with perceived "failures" in the system as it is it is being deliberately destroyed as a matter of ideology.

These neolibs aren't interested in facts about poverty and parental involvement being far better indicators of student success than teacher "effectiveness," whatever that means. The neolibs believe the masses shouldn't be educated beyond a middle school grade level for the simple reason the jobs aren't there in any great numbers for people with more formal education; therefore, it is a waste of money to educate them further and to have a professional teaching force to do the job.

The sooner the neolibs are outed, the better chance we have of salvaging a system which is the cornerstone of democracy, a concept the neolibs like Obama despise.