…who want to break the backs of the teachers’ unions.
Many of us have said that before, now you can see and hear it for yourselves.
This video was taken at the Aspen Ideas Festival which is heavily funded by Bill Gates. Stand For Children’s Co-Founder Jonah Edelman explains how he, with the support of Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel and Arne Duncan’s senior advisor Jo Anderson, out foxed the Chicago teachers’ union.
This is where the money that Stand for Children raises actually goes to, to gain power for the billionaire boyz club, DFER and all of those hedge fund millionaires who want to take over and privatize our pubic schools.
SFC received $4.5M last year from Bill Gates and $3M from wealthy donors for destroying the teachers’ union in Chicago. Substance News did an article in January about the wealthy who financed the big push to bust the unions in Chicago, see: Emanuel’s Billionaire donors also bankrolling Stand for Children, pushing union busting organizations in Illinois. Oregon, also, has been infected by the virus by way of Stand for Children as well as Texas.
This is what Edelman had to say about our state:
“We’re already getting going. We’re doing this level of work in every state. ..In Washington state, same goal. We could readily outspend the WEA. MA, very similar. It might be a ballot measure in WA. It might be we have a ballot measure on the ballot in MA, and we use it as a lever.”
Thanks to Jennifer Marshall for capturing the video and providing the clip and to Fred Klonsky for posting this video on his blog.
Dora
A transcript of Edelman’s 14 minute presentation can be found at the Parents Across America website.
I would also highly recommend reading Susan Ohanian’s article about the Aspen Institute in Substance News,
Aspen Institute Session on SB7… How the Ruling Class works against public schools and teacher unions…
Post Script: Remember the mantra of “effective teachers” that began with NCTQ two years ago in Seattle and how that mutated into “bad teachers” by groups like LEV and SFC? And how that mutated into unions are bad because they protect bad teachers? Are you starting to see the end game to all of this?
Charter schools, low paid teaching staff with no union protection, pre-packaged lesson plans and tests developing route memory but nothing else and everything on the computer including lessons and of course testing all brought to you by Broad, Gates, the Edelmans and all the other wealthy “liberals” who have everything to gain financially in one form or another whether it is immediate gains or having a mass of workers who can “compete with the global economy” by being happy with low wages and no union protections such as long hours, unsafe working conditions and no medical benefits.
Are these the first few steps towards that brave new world?
Post Script Deux: This story keeps growing by the hour! Much information has come to light in the last 24 hours, at least for me, in terms of the Edelman link. George Schmidt with Substance News covers Jonah’s brother, Josh Edelman, through his tenure as Chief Officer, Office of New School (where do they come up with these job titles!?) in an article titled Josh Edelman Ousted.
Interesting read.
By the way, Josh and Jonah both attended the Sidwell Friends School, the one that Obama’s daughters attend now in D.C. I would hazard a guess that if Josh and Jonah have school aged children that they do not attend a public school but somehow these two manage to know what’s best for the rest of us in our underfunded public schools.
Seattle Education 
Dora, I appreciate your site very much, but please don’t believe stupid rumors like this. Here are the facts:
http://arstechnica.com/microsoft/news/2010/05/apples-stock-rise-could-have-meant-5-billion-for-microsoft.ars
David, why on earth would you bother to post nonsense like this when you obviously have no idea what you’re talking about?!
FWIW: Microsoft does not own ANY Apple stock, and has not for years (other than a very tiny fraction of a percent, 0.0046% owned through a Private Capital Management fund). In 1997 they bought 150,000 *non-voting* convertible shares, which they sold a few years later at a profit.
Thank you for that information, me.
Dora
Dora, its interesting to note that the connection between Apple and Gates is that Microsoft owns something like 15% – 30% shares of Apple stock. That might explain why Apple is helping the Gates-funded Teach For America.
David Fisher
David,
Interesting. I didn’t know that Gates owned part of the Apple.
Dora
This story is now a front page on dailykos! BTW – I commented and linked to your blog!
GREAT work citizen-parents!
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2011/07/13/993696/-Education-reformer-caught-in-rare-moment-of-anti-union-honesty-?detail=hide
R.Murphy
Thanks for including a link back to Seattle Ed.
Dora
David,
Thanks for the information.
If anyone wants to be involved in the leafleting at the Apple store, please contact me at dora.taylor@gmail.com.
By the way, if Apple knew that Bill Gates was behind TFA and all things ed reform they might not have jumped on the bandwagon so eagerly.
Dora
Dora, I have included a link to a new propaganda tool being used by Teach for America. In a promotion to sell ipad 2’s, the Apple store in U Village is asking for donations of ipad 1’s, which will go to quote ” The Teach for America program which places well-trained teachers (sic) in 39 urban and rural school districts across the country……..”
I guess this lie is protected by the first amendment free speech provision. There is a group of Seattle teachers who may picket this store and hand out leaflets exposing this sham. I doubt that the store employees will tell the unsuspecting donators that these are not-well trained teachers nor will these pseudo-teachers most likely spend more than 2 years teaching, at which time they will leave the classroom with their donated ipads.
http://www.slashgear.com/apple-accepting-old-ipads-for-donation-to-teach-for-america-15140179/
David
Why the long apology, Jonah, were your owners upset that you revealed their strategy to break the backs of public school teachers?
Or that the world is now aware of the entrenched fraud that your corporate masters claim is education reform?
Or that your financial backers are fearful that citizens will learn how you and your bought and paid for elected officials set up public schools for an endless stream of public/private looting?
Spare us your mea culpa and tell it to your hand.
lol! I love it!
Thanks for making my day with that comment.
Dora
On Sat. 12 March I posted a re-written response to “Waiting for Stuporman”.
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2011/03/12/955784/-Leafleting-AGAINST-Bill-Gates-Ed-Deform-istas?detail=hide&via=blog_704270
IF this country ever has a multi party system, we’ll have:
1. A couple of BIG parties representing the bottom 90% of us in some way or another – HOPEfully offering competing solutions for the improvement of our communities.
2. a party for the top 1% of rich pigs, dedicated to rich pigs staying rich pigs and staying on top.
a.1. a branch of fire breathing, bigoted, sexist, racist rich people ass kissers who’ve been fooled into thinking they’re 1 or 2 promotions away from kicking it with the rich pigs,
a.2. the controllers of a.1. who are also rich people ass kissers.
b.1. a branch of the hopelessly deluded, fed a mountain of tele tubby pap about being POSITIVE, and being bipartisan, and being moderate, and being centrists – people who can be sidetracked with endless pointless happy happy meetings while the rich pigs rig the rules and rip everyone off, people who are NOT bigots, racists and sexist twits,
b.2. the controllers of b.1. who are NOT bigots or racists or sexist twits, and who are rich people ass kissers – the current Arne Duncan / Rahm DLC – Third Way – Blue Dog “Democratic” DISGRACES to that silly document published on 4 July 1776, who are also DISGRACES to that silly “government by the people, for the people, of the people” stuff of 1864.
ROBERT MURPHY
Seattle.
Robert,
You need to join us at the SOS rally and vent some of that frustration.
It will be a great time to meet other teachers, parents and concerned citizens who feel the same way and are authentically concerned about the future of our children and this country.
Dora
I posted it to YouTube not Fred. He has a full length copy if it but I was the one who took the 14 min video off of education nation’s web site and put it on YouTube. It is on my channel. plug it but get the credits right.
By all means I do want to provide credit where it is due.
Nice work on the video, it distills down to the essence the frame of mind of the reformists and privateers.
Dora
wow- I’ve never read such a long “I’m sorry for being an arrogant ass.” post to a video. Mr. Edelman – there is a southern saying “pretty is as pretty does,” and it is clear what you do and it is not pretty. If Stand for Children really cares about education you will think about working on issues of poverty and opportunity rather than the holy grail of “teacher effectiveness” that is ephemeral and almost impossible to detect. Thanks Dora for posting this. Whenever I tell folks the fight for education is getting really slimy they don’t believe me until it hits their school and their kids.
lol! That is the long and the short of it, isn’t it?
Dora
“sorry i got caught”
Seattle Education Readers:
After watching the fourteen minute excerpt and then viewing the whole video of the hour-long session, I want to very sincerely apologize.
My shorthand explanation in the excerpt of what brought about the passage of Senate Bill 7 had a slant and tone that doesn’t reflect the more complex and reality of what went into this legislation, nor does it reflect my heart and point of view in several ways:
–It left children mostly out of the equation when helping children succeed is my mission in life, as I know it is yours,
–It was very unfair to colleagues leading Illinois teachers’ unions, and,
–It could cause viewers to wrongly conclude that I’m against unions (Note: I said later in the session – not in the “juicy part” — that I do not view teachers’ unions as the problem. If that were true, I said, schools in states whose unions are less powerful would be among the nation’s best rather than some of the nation’s lowest performing.)
Stand for Children and I share a common commitment with teachers and teachers’ union leaders to ensuring the most qualified individuals choose the teaching profession, that teachers have the preparation, tools, support, and school climate they need to do their best work, that teachers should be compensated at a level that reflects the high skill and intense effort required by the teaching profession, and that evaluations of teachers need to become more meaningful and useful. We share a common commitment to ensuring adequate resources for schools and early childhood education. And we share a common commitment to ensure school districts and schools have effective administrators that create healthy work cultures within which teachers are respected and can be creative and innovative.
You wouldn’t know that from excerpt and that’s my fault.
There are quite a few things that I want to take myself very strongly to task for and which I’ll learn from and improve upon in the future, but first
I want to emphasize how Senate Bill 7 will impact students and teachers.
–After the improved teacher evaluation framework stipulated by the Performance Evaluation Reform Act of 2010 is developed through a collaboration of the state board of education, teachers’ unions, management groups, and advocates, Senate Bill 7 will make performance rather than seniority the basis for granting tenure and it will make performance the primary criterion for layoff decisions (with seniority being a tiebreaker in situations of comparable performance ratings). In addition, based on advocacy by teachers’ union leaders during our negotiations, with which I wholeheartedly agreed, tenure will be granted on an accelerated basis to teachers with three excellent ratings in a row and teachers with tenure who switch districts will be able to earn tenure in their new district within two years.
–The dismissal process for teachers with tenure with poor performance or conduct maintains due process while being substantially streamlined and improved to ensure that consistently ineffective teachers or teachers with poor conduct are not teaching children in Illinois. Before the dismissal process can proceed, based on advocacy by teachers’ unions, with which I again wholeheartedly agreed, a second evaluator must corroborate that dismissal is warranted. This will ensure fairness and should cut down on conflict and cost in the subsequent dismissal process.
–There will be more transparency in the contract negotiation process statewide, which will hopefully lead to fewer divisive conflicts and better, more student-centered decisions, and Chicago Public Schools’ will be able to lengthen its school day and school year in order to give teachers more time to help students learn and to plan and collaborate.
For committed, capable teachers throughout Illinois, all of these changes are incredibly good things, and it made complete sense therefore for teachers’ unions, who were at the table shaping Senate Bill 7, to back Senate Bill 7. Also, by virtue of negotiating in good faith for four months, Illinois teachers unions, management groups, and advocates achieved a much better law than Stand and Advance Illinois’ original Performance Counts proposal.
This leads to my self-critique, which is fairly harsh and extensive.
First, in a session I approached from the perspective of being brass tacks and blunt about politics, I deeply regret that I had an “us vs. them” tone. That tone contradicts my deeply held view that key aspects of the current education system are the problem, not teachers’ unions, and that the us vs. them far too often prevents real dialogue that results in better solutions like Senate Bill 7. As I said throughout the session (but not during the excerpt), my colleagues at Stand and I are always looking for opportunities for win-win rather than win-lose scenarios. That’s why I’m disappointed in myself for the way I framed the Senate Bill 7 story – a framing that does not reflect the good-faith and substantive negotiations that drove this process on all sides.
Second, I was wrong to state that the teachers’ unions “gave” on teacher effectiveness provisions when the reality is that, indeed, there were long, productive negotiations that led to a better outcome than would have occurred without them.
Third, I was wrong to make assumptions or comments about the unions’ political strategy. In future presentations, whether on video or not, I will refrain from supposing why a particular party made a particular decision. Having watched the video, reflected on it a lot in the past couple of days, and discussed it with my wife and colleagues, that was not only presumptuous but, in this particular case, wrong and ungenerous. I know from conversations with Audrey Soglin, Jim Reed, and Dan Montgomery that Illinois’ union leaders are deeply committed to teaching and learning, that they have exhibited that consistently in the past, and that they exhibited that commitment in spades throughout the negotiations on a series of Senate Bill 7 provisions that will improve teaching and learning. I want to apologize specifically to Audrey Soglin, Ken Swanson, Mitch Roth, Jim Reed, Dan Montgomery, Karen Lewis, and the other capable union leaders who represented their membership and negotiated creatively and seriously to help craft a bill that addressed tough issues in a fair and thoughtful way.
Fourth, the way I talked about the endgame wasn’t fair. I said we decided the fine print regarding the way the dispute resolution process will work in Chicago going forward but the specifics are that we submitted our proposal late at night on April 12th, Senator Lightford was receptive to it, got feedback from all sides over the next 24 hours, and made several changes based that feedback. The end product was similar to our proposal only because all sides judged it to be acceptable.
Fifth, and finally, I deeply regret what I perceived in watching myself as an arrogance in my tone. This underlies the other critiques and is the most difficult thing to admit, but it’s also the most important thing to hold myself accountable for if I’m to be worthy of the leadership role I’m fortunate to have. I was raised to be humble and respectful and reared on stories of my grandfather and grandmother’s service within the African-American community in their small South Carolina town, service which my mother always reminded my brothers and me is “the rent we pay for living.” Based on that upbringing, I view my role and the opportunity it provides for positive impact on children’s lives as a blessing and a privilege. Also, I am constantly aware and readily admit that I don’t have all the answers. I seek counsel from outstanding educators about what works in their experience, read as much as possible about what’s happening in all corners of the country and world that appears to be working, and have shifted my perspective on many issues as a result. Humility and respectfulness are hallmarks of effective leaders and I will ensure going forward that my tone always reflects the humility and respectfulness with which I seek to live my life.
Last thing – a word of apology to my wonderful colleagues at Stand, whose hearts, motivations, and approaches to the work in no way resemble the flaws I apologized for above. I fully understand your judging me harshly but I hope you’ll meet and engage them with openness.
Jonah Edelman
Say what you want, Mr. Edelman. We don’t want you, Stand for Children or your kind in our state. We can handle things just fine without you.
Oh yeah, and by the way, how about putting back up the video that you tried to scrub off your website? The one that shows the entire performance.
Dora
Well Jonah thanks for your insights. Let me tell you what Stand for the Children has done. It has taken a band of individuals who, where not individually prone to following the letter of the contract (i.e. working extra hours for kindergarten round up, IEPs that run till 5pm and so on, without pay) to start looking at the contract as the bible and not willing to readily give of themselves as freely as before. You guys have done more to polarize education, and increase cost, than help it. This is evident in my wife, who has been a speech therapist in education for almost 30 years, who was not particularly active in the union and saw the union as a necessary evil and made her a dye in the wool unionist. Me too!
THANKS FOR THAT.
Everyone needs to know this story. Be sure to read Fred Klonsky’s link at the bottom.