Perdido 03

Perdido 03

Saturday, December 7, 2013

Is Obama Administration Lobbying De Blasio To Go With A Pro-Testing Chancellor?

In the DN article that reported Carmina Farina is back on the short list to be de Blasio's chancellor pick is this doozy:
Montgomery County Superintendent Joshua Starr has been mentioned, but may have Obama administration heavyweights lobbying de Blasio not to consider him because of his strong anti-testing positions, sources said.

Not a surprise, given how much weight they have put on high stakes testing in their ed policy.

Still, it's screwed up if true and just one more example in a long list of them why I regret voting for Obama in '08.

One other interesting point in the article - Kathleen Cashin now seems to be a long shot:

Also mentioned by sources is Stanford University professor Linda Darling-Hammond, who does not have administration experience, and Kathleen Cashin, a former city superintendent and member of the state Board of Regents, who has yet to get an audience with de Blasio, sources said.

I'm not biting on the Darling-Hammond mention.  I am skeptical she is on the list.

I did think Cashin was on the list, but if de Blasio hasn't yet had "an audience" with her and the pick is expected to be announced next week, then maybe she isn't a serious contender.

Someone on twitter said, if the Obama administration is opposed to Starr, then there must be something very, very good about him.

I'd have to agree with that.

7 comments:

  1. I also voted for Obama in 08 and sat out 2012. The Hope and Change candidate is the biggest disappointment in my lifetime. His Affordable Health Care will destroy the Democratic party in 2013 and I fear the right wing agenda of the Republican party especially what has transpired in Detroit. No doubt our health care costs will go way up, perhaps Obama should be the Republican candidate as many of his agenda items have done damage to public schools, unions, and health care costs for middle class workers.

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    1. Manchurian Candidate - a Bush third term. RttT is NCLB Jr. Drone bombings as murderous as wars, even if the fatality numbers are less, the moral complicity (and blowback) is just as bad. Obama spying much worse than Bush. Wall Street bailouts, screwed working classes and middle classes. Yeah - Obama is really just Bush III in many ways IMO.

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  2. I knew there was a reason Rhambo met with dB--the strong arm him. I would like one strong Dem to give Obama the middle finger. Did you read how our own senator is bucking the system and not following the rules to get her military rape legislation through? Enough of this stepping in line. deB ran against this and if Carmen, who I love personally, is chosen, she may keep a lot of the stuff Klein started. Had she been a vocal opponent of the reforms since leaving the DoE, I would feel differently, Starr would shake up Albany too. These backroom deals have to stop somewhere.

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    1. There certainly does seem to be some backroom stuff going on here. We'll see if BdB picks a decent chancellor despite that. But the backroom lobbying by Duncan or whomever at USDOE is troubling.

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  3. I agree with the Carmen comments - her ed philosophy has always been something I could agree with - until she fell into the Klein crowd and tried to shove his crap that couldn't work down everyone's throats. She went along until Tweedies at the top told her she didn't have the skill set for the job - maybe she just wasn't willing to put the knife in all the way. Cashin is another story. Top-down, heavy handed, diva, test prep, core curriculum - which got her favor with the Sol Stern and old Ravitch because they were against the Farina style of education. Compare Farina's district 15 (fairly well off so she could do some stuff) with Cashin's Dist 23 in Ocean Hill where Cashin was more limited but never exhibited signs that she was anywhere near Farina philisophically. Given Farina worked with de Blasio when he was pres of the d. 15 school bd I think she is the front runner. And in fact I believe that out from under Joel Klein she may be the best bet. Except for the fact that she never seemed to think that having a classroom with 30 kids, half of whom could be special ed, should stop you from doing stuff that is only possible with classes half that size.

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