This is the first of five parts needed to document and lay the background for what unfortunately promises to be a pitched public relations battle, if not a serious battle to rescue a California school from being crushed by a corporation making a hostile takeover of a school using California’s “parent trigger” law. Follow-ups may be needed.
Diane Ravitch in Dallas, April 28, 2010 – Copyright 2010 Ed Darrell (you may use freely, with attribution)
If you’ve followed education issues, you know Dr. Diane Ravitch is a professor of education at Columbia, one of the most respected schools of education in the world. Her work on education reform was popular with the Reagan administration in the period after the Report of the Commission on Excellence in Education in 1983, and particularly with education reformers at the time I was tapped to work at the Department of Education, in the old Office of Educational Research and Improvement. Dr. Ravitch was appointed to head that arm of Education in the administration of George H. W. Bush, but after I had left government for the private sector.
More recently, Dr. Ravitch has looked hard to find evidence that the testing regimes imposed by the “No Child Left Behind” Act (NCLB) actually produce benefits to the education of students.
Finding no such evidence, Dr. Ravitch has called for an end to unproven methods of destruction of schools and school systems in pursuit of foggy, unattainable goals.
Recently, big-dollar guys have backed efforts to kick out teachers and trained educators from schools, and in particular with “parent-trigger” laws, which allow a group of parents to petition for the removal of professionals at a school, and for a group of parents to then take over the management of that school.
Oddly, the first places these laws have been applied is against teachers in schools where parental involvement has been historically abysmal. A closer look shows that in these cases professional organizers, well-financed by businessmen who fancy themselves education reformers, did the load-carrying to get the petitions signed, and to get the educators ousted.
One of the schools where this process is moving is Weigand Avenue Elementary School in Watts, that troubled, poverty-ridden section of Los Angeles more famous for riots and gangs than educational attainment.
Dr. Ravitch wrote on her blog on May 25:
Parent Revolution Force Out Excellent Principal
The billionaire-funded Parent Revolution flexed its muscle and got enough parent signatures to force the resignation of a highly effective principal.
Please read the story.
This is the principal who was ousted by Parent Revolution:
“Third-grade teacher Kate Lewis said Irma Cobian is the best principal she’s had in nine years at Weigand Avenue Elementary School in Watts.
“Joseph Shamel called Cobian a “godsend” who has used her mastery of special education to show him how to craft effective learning plans for his students.
“Los Angeles Unified Supt. John Deasy praised a plan developed by Cobian and her team to turn around the struggling campus — where most students test below grade level in reading and math — calling it a “well-organized program for accelerated student achievement.” He thanked Cobian for her commitment and hard work.”
21 of the school’s 22 teachers have requested transfers because of Cobian’s ouster.
Parent Revolution is a malevolent organization funded by Walton, Gates, and Broad.
There is a special place in hell reserved for everyone who administers and funds this revolting organization that destroys schools and fine educators like Irma Cobian.
Dr. Ravitch has a good sense of justice, and injustice in my opinion. This situation got her thinking, and she had more comments later.
Earlier today, I posted an article that appeared in the Los Angeles Times about Parent Revolution forcing the ouster of an excellent principal, Irma Cobian.
I keep thinking about it. I think about the way her staff admired and respected her, how 21 of 22 teachers requested a transfer when she was targeted by the phony Parent Revolution.
Ben Austin is loathsome. He ruined the life and career of a dedicated educator. She was devoted to the children, he is devoted to the equally culpable foundations that fund his Frankenstein organization–Walton, Gates, and Broad. His biggest funder is the reactionary Walton Family Foundation [line added here], which spends $160 million every year to advance privatization.
Ben Austin is Walton’s useful idiot. He prattles on about his liberal credentials, but actions speak louder than words.
Here is my lifelong wish for him.
Ben, every day when you wake up, you should think of Irma Cobian. When you look in the mirror, think Irma Cobian. Your last thought every night should be Irma Cobian.
Ben, you ruined the life of a good person for filthy lucre. Never forget her. She should be on your conscience–if you have one–forever.
W. Edwards Deming,Wikipedia image. Oddly, few, if any, education reform efforts work to incorporate any of Deming’s rules for running high-efficiency, highly-productive, championship-quality organizations; its as if there is a different agenda being pursued.
Ravitch makes a good point. Organizational turnarounds rarely work when they start with mass firings. It didn’t work in the French Revolution, it didn’t work in Russian in 1917. Management experts like W. Edwards Deming, the most famous of the tough-reorganization management consultants in the drive for high quality organizations, bluntly warn that such efforts generally are destructive — the people fired are not the problem, nor do they have the authority to fix the problems, most often. People on the front line know the problems better than anyone else, and can provide the leadership to turn organizations around, however — and for those reasons, you don’t get rid of them, if your goal is to effect an organizational turnaround.
Mr. Austin should have a framed photo of Mrs. Cobian on his desk so he must see her, every day.
Mr. Austin disagrees.
See part 2.
This series, on the dustup between Prof. Diane Ravitch and Ben Austin in California:
- War on Teachers and Education, Part 1: Prof. Ravitch’s emotion-touching call for a cease-fire
- War on Teachers and Education, Part 2: Ben Austin of Parent Revolution attacked Prof. Ravitch
- War on Teachers and Education, Part 3: Prof. Ravitch’s response
- War on Teachers and Education, Part 4: The fight gets a little weird
More, different views, and resources:
- How to survive our education battles (educationviews.org)
- My Vicious Attack: Sad Educators vs. Poor Parents (scholasticadministrator.typepad.com)
- Popular principal’s dismissal leaves a South L.A. school divided (latimes.com)
- The parent revolution and the ancien regime (educationviews.org)
- Why The Business Model is Not an Appropriate Way to Improve US Schools (pdfadown.wordpress.com)
Posted by Ed Darrell 
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