But he has been "successful" in his reform efforts, and therefore he is deemed smart.
The education "reform" movement is all about "smart" people who don't possess a lick of intelligence or common sense and are ruining an underpinning of democracy because they think they know everything. Just because they went to school, they think they know all about education.
Since the "reforms" affect children, these efforts are nothing short of criminal.
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American journalism used to be about being fair (so-called "objectivity"), but since Murdoch and Ailes polluted this country's media to be like Britain's media, it doesn't exist anymore. How else can you explain the existence of media watchdog outfits whose sole aim (no pun intended) is to make sure mainstream media become funnels of mere propaganda?
A lot of veteran journalists are beside themselves with this news of Sharyl Attkisson accepting this award. Her credibility is down a rathole now. She has won Emmy awards for her investigative reporting and has worked very hard over the decades to have the great career she has had.
I am not at all clear why AIM has chosen to honor her, and I guess that is secondary to the fact she is receiving any kind of award with an outfit that is considered fringe by journalistic standards.
Update: According to Politico, the reason AIM gives for honoring her is actually not controversial in the least, but my understanding of it is the fact she is accepting an award from a media watchdog organization with an obvious political slant that is the reason for the widespread criticism. It's a major ethical breach, not unlike K-12 teachers imparting their political or religious beliefs in the classroom.
In certain professions, one has to leave his or her political opinions at home.
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The answer is "no," Diane. That's why politicians along with the "reformers" are trying their damnedest to destroy public education in this country:
Although elected officials like to complain about our standing on international tests, did you know that students in the United States have never done well on those tests? Did you know that when the first international test was given in the mid-1960s, the United States came in 12th out of 12? Did you know that over the past half-century, our students have typically scored no better than average and often in the bottom quartile on international tests? Have you ever wondered how our nation developed the world's most successful economy when we scored so poorly over the decades on those tests?
Facts are stupid things.
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I would think some heads need to roll, not that anything will happen:
The Dallas school district took about 5,700 fifth-grade boys this morning to see a new movie about African-American fighter pilots in World War II, but female students were excluded._____
Busloads of Dallas school children began arriving at the AMC Mesquite 30 theater around 10 a.m. this morning to watch Red Tails about the Tuskegee Airmen, a group of black American male pilots who flew missions in World War II. But girls were kept from seeing the movie.
A teacher at the theater this morning told DMN photographer G.J. McCarthy that the movie was part of Black History Month instruction, and she was told it was something the boys would be interested in because it was about African-American men.
The rarest of the rare: a fired principal:
D.C. school officials have now fired a principal they had recently hired without knowing that she had been accused of “unethical” behavior when she was a principal in Dallas, a district spokeswoman said Friday.
Roslyn Carter had run an elementary school in Dallas until last summer, when she was forced out. According to her termination letter, she was accused of directing some teachers not to teach science, music and social studies, to falsify grades in those subjects and to focus on math and reading in preparation for standardized testing.
D.C. schools spokeswoman Melissa Salmanowitz said in an e-mail that officials in the school system who hired Carter were unaware of her troubles in Dallas. Salmanowitz said that Carter had been hired by the D.C. system’s Office Of Human Capital, which handles all hiring of school principals and teachers. Carter was a mid-year hire, a process different than for hiring at other times, she said, and now D.C. officials are using the Carter episode “as an opportunity to strength and improve our hiring process as a whole.” It remains unclear why D.C. officials did not know about an investigation into her conduct by the Dallas Independent School District, which was reported last November by the Dallas Morning News , and on this blog.
Here is the notice of termination from Dallas ISD.
Why hasn't she had her administrative license revoked?
This comment following a Dallas Morning News editorial from last fall is worth posting here:
How do you know that no teacher sounded the alarm? District gossip is that they did and no one would listen. You might want to see if there was a complaint made to the state... that is what other teachers are hearing. Most of us had heard of her "management style" as the editioral staff is so fond of calling it._____
This is what you get when all avenues of real communication are dismanteled and turned into a show for the public. Teachers really have no means of reporting since AD's are also promoting this since their paycheck also depends on "scores" and that is all. Teachers are treated like hourly employees and so everyone seems surprised when the act like it and do as they are told to keep their jobs. Make no mistake about it, teachers are bullied all the time and since most are the breadwinners of their families they must keep their jobs. It sounds so easy to sound the alarm yet check to see what has happened to the teachers who have? I bet you will be surprised! Teachers on the other hand won't be. The only teachers to sound the alarm will be ones who are retiring or leaving teaching altogether. No one will risk thier income for retribution from administrators.
Obama grants 10 states waivers on NCLB, but the alternative, Race to the Top, is a million times worse than NCLB.
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