Sunday, May 9, 2010

"Mommy, When's Daddy Coming Home?"

If daddy is David Levin, founder of the KIPP program, not for a long, long time.

An exercise in fellatio masquerading as a human interest story/personality profile in today's NY Times explains how the KIPP founder works 75-90 hours/6 days a week "training teachers, raising money and shuttling among six schools."

Levin is married to a marketing consultant and has a 15 month old child.

Sundays are reserved for spending time with wife and son.

Monday through Saturday there is no time for family concerns - just time to work, work, work.

And of course this is the lifestyle model that we see promoted in journalism and by politicians as the best way to go about life and the way we ought to be teaching our children to go about it.

This is what Mistress Eva and For-Profit Geoffrey and Sex Scandal Rhee and the rest of the education deformers push in their schools as the way to raise living standards for lower income children.

It is also what Barack Obama and Arne Duncan are promoting in their Race to the Top casino scheme and the re-authorization of No Child Left Behind.

Additional school hours, additional school days, fewer days off.

Excuse me for asking, but how is bringing back the 90 hour/6 day work week/no vacation time raising the standards of living of people?

Perhaps Levin and Obama and Duncan don't give a shit about their own families and kids and like spending 90 hours a week working.

But many humans actually have interests outside of work and reasons for living outside of making money.

Hell, some of us actually like spending time with people outside of the work sphere.

Some of us like spending time with our families.

Some of like spending time outside work to rest, relax, rejuvenate, ruminate, contemplate, reflect, meditate and grow emotionally, intellectually and spiritually.

Clearly David Levin, founder of KIPP schools and proud worker of 90 hour work weeks, is not one of those people.

One wonders what emotional damage was done to young David to have him grow up to be such a fucked up person that he'd rather spend 90 hours a week with fundraisers and training teachers than raising his young son grow and watching him grow and learn about life.

8 comments:

  1. Right you are, and the real truth is that many of the corporate millionaire/billionaire types do spend hours socializing and shooting rounds on the golf course on the workers dimes. They perpetuate this lie of all work the Protestant work Ethic lie from the Industrial period.

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  2. Yeah, I bet Levin is full of shit about the 75-90 hours a week. That's what he tells his wife he's doing, but I bet there's time in there for fundraising (i.e., golf), staff development (i.e., girlfriend and/or hookers), and curriculum work (i.e., cocaine and booze.)

    That's what we see when we draw the curtain back from the lives of so many of these "hard workers" - from Mark Sanford to Eliot Spitzer to Jack Welch.

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  3. Oops - forgot my favorite education deformer/politician in that mix - Michelle Rhee's fiance, Kevin Johnson, who spends his off time massaging the backs of his 22 year old teachers and developing curriculum for his schools while lying on their beds (and lying to Congressional committees later about the whole mess!)

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  4. California TeacherMay 9, 2010 at 2:49 PM

    I just read the dumb little puff piece to which this blog post refers.
    Excuse me while I wretch... What a bunch of stinkin' B.S.!

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  5. How can anyone in their right minds expect you to care for their children when you have no time to care for your own. The concept behind all this is so pathetic.

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  6. All of these types are hoping to kiss Bloomberg's ass enough to be included in the party posse, or otherwise glean the advantages of being in "the chosen" of a mayor worth 20 billion dollars, one of the richest men in the world.

    People like Klein, and even the Police Commissioner Kelly have glitzy lives on the social scene, partying it up with celebrities and attending very elite events. I'm not saying this KIPP guy is in that scene, but it doesn't hurt to say all the right things to "get in" with the right people. According to a recent article, Kelly is out nearly every night making the scene.

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  7. Pissed Off Teacher, I totally agree with you about the insanity of turning over children to somebody who would rather work 75-90 hours a week than help raise his own kid or even spend more than one day a week with him.

    Seriously, this guy is emotionally deficient. Workaholism is just as damaging to families as alcoholism. They both stem from the same place - people running from emotional issues and seeking solace in either activity/booze in order to NOT feel. That kid is going to grow up with serious self esteem issues because who wouldn't when they have a dad who would rather hob nob with hedge fund managers then play ball with you or help you with your homework.

    What bothers me is how nobody in the ed deform world points to this and says how screwed up this is - instead they use KIPP (and the KIPPSTERS) as models for what education should be.

    That, in my opinion, is even more fucked up. Pardon my French.

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  8. These comments are just too ugly. I happen to know David and his wife, Nikki. He is a very dedicated husband and father. He is also a very dedicated educator. He loves his wife and son, and they love him. Their time is their time, and they use it wisely. There have been a couple of times when I suggested we get together. "No, that's family time>" What is wrong with that? They are very balanced, happy, and lovely. They are fortunate to have the support of a wide-reaching family.

    From what I have read about the KIPP program, the students flourish and are respectful of each other. Why the complaints? Why the criticism?

    KIPP students are fortunate to have an advocate in David Levin. His family is happy. Maybe those who are critical could learn a thing or two from them.

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