Seeing thro' the eye...

We are led to believe a lie
When we see not thro' the eye,
Which was born in a night to perish in a night,
When the soul slept in beams of light.

William Blake 

I found the light above after it passed through the multiple lenses of a horseshoe crab that no longer needed them. The light was there whether or not I saw it, but I saw it, so now I share it.

It's been an interesting year. I sat directly across the Governor Christie in my school building, and next to the NJ Acting Commissioner Cerf in his.

I listened to both of them, and they both deigned to listen to me. I heard their words, then parsed the meaning of those words. I am blessed with moderate intelligence and keen curiosity, so I have little doubt of how they expected me to interpret their words.

And, sadly, there is nothing true from either meeting worth sharing.

It's been an odd year here in New Jersey.

I'm sticking to the classroom--where I can still effect change.

Cerf the oceanographer

New Jersey got a piece of the Race to the Top action yesterday. Given Arne's track record in reform, this may not bode well, but there's a glimmer of hope:

“This award today will help us to accelerate the tide of reform across New Jersey.”
Chris Cerf, NJ Acting Commissioner of Ed, another portentous sound bite

I'm a clammer, and know a little bit  about tides. They go up, they go down, about twice a day, every day. And every clammer knows, a receding tide can bring joy.

So here's hoping he meant a new moon ebb tide with a stiff northwest breeze, a blowout tide, the kind that blows away the muddy water, exposing the detritus on the tidal flats.

Mr. Cerf introduced me to a former state ed commish as an "ankle biter."
I'm hoping to advance to a shin-kicker.

One more thing--Cerf is the Ed Commish because the prior one made the mistake of pointing out
Christie's gaff wth the last application for these funds.

"Keep, ancient lands, your storied pomp!"

A few of us got to meet with Governor Christie and the Ed Commissioner Chris Cerf, behind closed doors, no camera, no press, for almost two hours. I didn't even have to wear a suit.

A passionate, civil discussion took place, about, among other things, the purpose of public schools.

Governor Christie is bright, charming, and well-versed in educational policy. I expected nothing less. His message to us was consistent with his public statements. Mr. Cerf, likewise, knows his stuff.

For those of us still holding the quaint notion that a functioning democracy requires truly public spaces, truly public schools, truly informed citizens, a smidgen more idealism (and a lot less elitism), well, I failed to make any change in the destructive path Jersey's following, though I did get to show the Governor a blister I got clamming on public waters.

And yes, I get the irony of pushing for public schools while immersed in a private meeting.

The other irony? It's not what's happening inside schools that creates the huge inequities we see, and ultimately it's what's happening outside our walls that determines the success of our students.

The "storied pomp" are killing the rest of us.

Maybe our next meeting should be in a boardroom at  

CitiGroup, home of the Plutonomists, their word, not mine.

I am not your Cerf

“If the single biggest variable is the effectiveness of the teacher in the classroom, shouldn’t we do everything in our power to influence that?”

Christopher Cerf, NJ Ed Commissioner

Ayep. But the premise is false, Mr. Cerf. The single biggest variable is not teacher effectiveness. It may be the single biggest variable that the school can control, true, but poverty matters more. The quote above is disingenuous.

Mr. Christopher Cerf, our (NJ) acting education commissioner, wants us to believe his proposals are "pro-teacher."

Well, Mr. Cerf, let's take a look at a "pro-commissioner" idea:

You spent a good chunk of your career overseeing the financial collapse of Edison Schools, Inc., a company started by Chris Whittle, a company whose purpose was to privatize schools. Shouldn't we put past data to good use? Let's limit our education commissioners to those who have successfully led other enterprises in the past.

***

When I was still succoring the afflicted, one of the best obstetricians in our county specialized in high-risk deliveries. Because he specialized in high-risk deliveries, his statistics were skewed a bit when compared to obstetricians who handled the safer pregnancies. Obtaining malpractice insurance became prohibitive. He stopped catching babies, though he still got paid to offer advice to the docs who had enough normal deliveries to keep their malpractice insurance intact.

Poor students are, as a group, at higher risk for school failure than wealthy children, for a whole lot of reasons independent of who teaches them.

Teachers matter, and they matter a lot. Their results matter. If you rely on state testing to determine a teacher's effectiveness, those of us who choose to teach high-risk students will take a hit, no matter how effective we might be.

The rational among us will head to the hills--Short Hills and Far Hills--places with remarkable wealth and remarkable students with remarkable resources.

All of our children can learn, and all of them are remarkable students. Until every child I teach has the same full belly in the morning, the same warm bed at night, the same bookshelf full of books, the same access to libraries, and the same electronic media sitting on the same desk in the same bedroom at home, even Albus Dumbledore and his merrie wizards would not fare well under your proposed system.

The great experiment of Edison Schools failed for a lot of reasons, most of which were likely out of your hands. It was a lousy idea, anyway, at least if you have any truck in democracy and public institutions.

How ironic that you, with a checkered history in private industry, now lead the move to dismantle public education here in Jersey.

The photo is via Shorp, taken in Foster, Missouri, in the 1920's.