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Obituary: Alexander Cockburn, columnist for many publications like The Nation and CounterPunch, has died after a two-year battle with cancer. He was either 70 or 71 years old and died in Germany.
He wasn't perfect, however, and peddled nonsense about the Clintons and Gore like the late Christopher Hitchens. Still, it's sad to die somewhat before your time.
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Why Bill Gates is bad for education:
It all starts with a lie. A very compelling lie that has the weight of common sense reinforced by the proclamations of people with wealth, Bill Gates, and power, Secretary Duncan: Teachers are the single most important element in the learning of a child.
The problem is, of course, this is factually untrue. Nonetheless, the follow up lie (when you base a conclusion on a false permise, that conclusion is also false) is also compelling: Teacher quality must be improved!
The balance of evidence shows that measurable student outcomes (itself a serious flaw in how we draw conclusions about both student learning and teacher quality) is overwhelmingly linked with out-of-school factors—anywhere from about 2/3 to well over 80% of that data correlated with out-of-school factors.
His Microsoft "stacking" scheme didn't work there and undermined morale. Now Gates wants to put the same poison in public ed, an institution that must be a collaborative, not a competitive, effort.
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