Remember those funny television commercials where two sports celebrities faux-argued about the benefits of Miller Lite beer?  One would shout and pound the table to make the point that Miller Lite “Tastes Great,” and the other would (supposedly) disagree by responding with equal fervor that it was “Less Filling.”

I’m suggesting an Education Reform version after a generation of high-stakes testing pressure brought on by No Child Left Behind and continued in the Obama Administration’s “Race to the Top” program.

If I were producing a series of ads, I would cast Arne Duncan, Michelle Rhee, Joel Klein, Kaya Henderson,  John King, Kati Haycock, Pearson Education President John Fallon, Eva Moskowitz, Campbell Brown and a few other prominent supporters of test-based reform.

One would pound the table and proclaim that our students “Test Great!”

Another would respond with equal fervor that our students are “Less Knowing!”

But yesterday I scrapped my plans for the campaign, because it turns out that, after years of test-based reform, our kids do NOT “Test Great,” although apparently they are “Less Knowing.”

Here’s what Jennifer Kerr reported for the Associated Press:

WASHINGTON (AP) — It’s not a promising picture for the nation’s high school seniors – they are slipping in math, not making strides in reading and only about one-third are prepared for the academic challenges of entry-level college courses.

Scores released Wednesday from the so-called Nation’s Report Card show one-quarter of 12th-graders taking the test performed proficiently or better in math. Only 37 percent of the students were proficient or above in reading.”

It turns out that scores are down five points over the last 23 years on the (poorly named) “National Assessment of Educational Progress.”  The newest NAEP scores also reveal a widening gap in math and reading between those who score well and those who do not. That has to be particularly disappointing to those reformers who go on and on about ‘Closing the Achievement Gap.’

Only 37% of students scored well enough in both reading and math to be deemed academically ready for college, roughly the same percentage as in 2013.

The executive director of the National Assessment Governing Board, which manages NAEP, told reporters, “We’re not making the academic progress that we need to so that there’s greater preparedness for post-secondary, for work, for military participation. These numbers aren’t going the way we want.”

Bill Bushaw did not try to explain why this is happening, nor did he blame the victim, but perhaps it’s time someone pointed out that test-based accountability, which has meant more drill and test prep and cuts in art, music, drama and all sorts of other courses that aren’t deemed ‘basic,’ has failed miserably–and there are victims.

Students have been the losers, sentenced to mind-numbing schooling. Teachers who care about their craft have been the losers. Craven administrators who couldn’t or didn’t stand up for what they know about learning have been the losers.  Add to the list of losers the general public, because the drumbeat of bad news has undercut faith in public education.

There are winners: The testing companies (particularly Pearson), the academics who’ve gotten big grants from major foundations, profiteers in the charter school industry, and ideologues and politicians who want to undermine public education.

As I see it, the underlying message of the newest NAEP results is that “The emperor has no clothes.” We’ve actually known this for some time, so isn’t it time to acknowledge the truth?

The always reliable Patrick Wall of Chalkbeat has been following an intriguing story, Schools Chancellor Carmen Fariña’s efforts to roll back or close down many of the programs and projects begun when her predecessor, Joel Klein, was Chancellor.  She seem to have targeted for extinction what are known as ‘partnership support organizations’ like New Visions for Public Schools and the Center for Educational Innovation. As Chalkbeat’s Wall reported on February 13,

Bloomberg and his long-serving schools chief, Joel Klein, launched the partnership program in 2007 as part of their push to let schools choose the type of support they received. Nonprofit groups such as New Visions and the Urban Assembly — which had also opened new schools — joined the program, as did universities such as CUNY and Fordham.  Schools paid the groups up to $60,000 or so each year for their services, which include everything from help with hiring and budgeting to teacher training and data analysis.

Chancellor Fariña has also made clear that she does not support small high schools, which are central to the New Visions for Public Schools approach.  Again quoting Chalkbeat’s Wall:

The small schools it designed were essential to former Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s policy of closing large, low-performing high schools — a tactic despised by many parents and educators, and condemned by de Blasio. De Blasio’s schools chief, Carmen Fariña, expressed skepticism about a multiyear study that found that students who enrolled at the small schools were more likely to graduate and attend college than peers who ended up at other high schools.

When Fariña was preparing to overhaul Bloomberg’s school-support system, New Visions board members grew so concerned that they met with a top official at City Hall to argue for a continuing role under the new structure.

“Met with a top official at City Hall” doesn’t quite capture what happened. My sources say that two of New York City’s major power brokers went to the Mayor and told him, point blank, that he wouldn’t get a dime from real estate, finance and law for his re-election effort if he didn’t tell Fariña to keep her hands off New Visions.  

The result: New Visions is doing better than ever. “It would have been a political nightmare for the mayor to pull the plug” on New Visions, said David Bloomfield, an education professor at the CUNY Grad Center and Brooklyn College, who has called for more scrutiny of the PSOs,” Wall reported.  

However, what is equally important here is that Mayor de Blasio did not order her to cease and desist with CEI, Fordham or any other non-governmental organizations connected with Bloomberg and Klein, and so she has continued to centralize authority and shut down programs begun during Michael Bloomberg’s 12-year Mayoralty.

What in the world is Chancellor Fariña doing?  Why?

Here are four theories:

1) Fariña, a veteran bureaucrat, is doing what comes naturally, consolidating her power;

2) Vindictiveness;

3) It’s a re-election strategy; and

4) Mayoral incompetence.

Theory #1: She is consolidating power in order to impose her vision on the system.  Chancellor Fariña often talks about “restoration,” but skeptical observers wonder what ‘good old days’ she harkens back to.  The New York City public school system has never worked for most Black and Hispanic students, and it has not done well by special needs kids either.  However, in those ‘good old days,’ power was concentrated at the top, and that’s what she’s doing.

Bloomberg and Klein believed in letting 100 flowers bloom (as long as school principals were the gardeners and unions were on the sidelines).  In contrast, supporting teachers is clearly central to Chancellor Fariña’s vision. In the two speeches I heard her deliver early in her tenure, she talked about elevating teachers, restoring respect for them and so on. But that was the extent of it, from what I heard. I didn’t detect any grand vision for the million+ students she’s responsible for.

Theory #2: Vindictiveness.  Could closing down Bloomberg/Klein initiatives (including successful ones) be nothing more than an effort to erase Bloomberg’s legacy?  Those who remember how the new Mayor allowed speaker after speaker at his inauguration to attack the departing Mayor (who was sitting in the front row) believe this is more of the same petty behavior.

As one non-fan of the current Mayor says, “It’s bad to be a sore loser, but it’s really unforgivable to be a sore winner.”

Is Chancellor Fariña vindictive?  I don’t have a clear reading. In public, she’s still seen as the “Sweet Grandmother Who Was Persuaded to Come out of Retirement to Serve,” but her critics describe her as controlling, small-minded and mean-spirited, adjectives that have also been employed to describe her boss.

Theory #3: It’s all about being re-elected, and that requires getting close to teachers. The lobbyist that Mayor de Blasio has met with most often happens to be Michael Mulgrew, the President of the UFT, the local teacher union.  

“The men usually chat weekly and sometimes daily. The mayor has become a regular at union parties, lunches and other events. Mr. Mulgrew says he often suggests education policy to City Hall,” Josh Dawsey reported in the Wall Street Journal on March 15th.  He continued:

The teachers union, which has about 200,000 members, didn’t originally warm to Mr. de Blasio. It endorsed Bill Thompson the 2013 Democratic primary for mayor. It went on to endorse Mr. de Blasio in the general election, making him the first winning candidate for mayor endorsed by the union since David Dinkins in 1989.

With an eye to the 2017 election, the mayor’s political team sees the union as an important ally. With polls showing that New Yorkers aren’t happy with the city’s public schools, the issue is a vulnerable one for the mayor.

So, erasing Bloomberg/Klein could be de Blasio’s way of cozying up to teachers and their union. Perhaps he’s gambling that putting his re-election eggs in the teacher union basket will be enough to win him another term.

Theory #4: Another Rookie Mistake:  This could be just another fumble by de Blasio.  He wanted Montgomery County (MD) Superintendent Josh Starr as his Schools Chancellor. Starr is a true progressive as well as a New Yorker. I have it on good authority that Education Secretary Arne Duncan called de Blasio to voice his disapproval, and it’s possible that the UFT made its objections known as well.  Rather than search for another progressive, de Blasio turned to Fariña, a conventional educator.

That isn’t the Mayor’s only fumble in the education arena. Although de Blasio campaigned on a promise to create universal free pre-kindergarten and had Governor Andrew Cuomo’s financial commitment, he did not move to close that deal on Day One. Instead, he chose to attack Eva Moskowitz over the issue of co-locating her Success Academy charter schools in traditional school buildings.  Enraged, the fiery former City Council Member went into full attack mode.  She enlisted the support of Daniel Loeb and other billionaire donors and bused hundreds of Success Academy children and parents to Albany for a rally that Governor Cuomo spoke at.  In sum, she gave de Blasio an old-fashioned schoolyard whupping.

After his ill-timed attack on Moskowitz, a desperate de Blasio tried an end run with the Legislature.  When that failed, our Mayor lost more credibility, and Governor Cuomo put the City’s ‘mayoral control of schools’ on a very short leash.  From that day forward, Governor Cuomo has gone out of his way to embarrass the rookie Mayor.

Whether the explanation for what Chancellor Fariña is doing is a classic bureaucratic power grab, vindictiveness, a re-election strategy, or incompetence–or some combination, two things seem clear to me: Good programs are being cancelled and much-needed supports for struggling students are being removed.  That’s a crying shame.

Retirement sucks!  Although I officially retired from the PBS NewsHour last August, it hasn’t worked. I am back, but not as an even-handed and scrupulously objective reporter. I’m now an activist supporting public education through “Stars for Schools,“my new not-for-profit organization

If you are wondering about the catchy, clever name, here’s the backstory:   With the help of focus groups, we chose “Stars for Schools” because of the double-entendre. ‘Stars’ can refer to outstanding public performers and the ‘gold stars’ that are often affixed to students’ work by their teachers, particularly in the early grades.

I’ve been reaching out to celebrities (stars!) to engage them in this work.  Among those who have already agreed to participate or have been invited but haven’t yet responded are Matt Damon, Claire Danes, Joe Biden, Oprah Winfrey, George Clooney, Mike Huckabee, Jane Pauley, Spike Lee, Charles Barkley, Billy Jean King, Steven Spielberg, Ryan Gosling, John Legend, Tina Fey, Steph Curry, Charlie Rose, Gwen Ifill, Judy Woodruff, Tony Bennett, Steven Colbert, Whoopi Goldberg, Marco Rubio, J.K. Rowling, Monica Lewinsky, LeBron James, Johnny Mathis, Peyton Manning, Jim Lehrer, Amy Schumer, Bill Clinton, Laura Bush, Justin Bieber, Mitt Romney, Samantha Bee, Chris Rock, Helen Mirren, Kim Kardashian, Will Ferrell, John Travolta, Jon Stewart, and Michelle Rhee.  The list goes on and on…..

If you are a big star, I urge you to sign yourself up.  Even if you aren’t a big enough star, you can still be involved by donating to contribution at starsforschools.org.  It’s tax-deductible!

Every year “Stars for Schools” will sponsor a Day of Action to call attention to the vital role that schools play in American life.

We’re calling the 2016 Day of Action “Celebrity Crossing Guard Day,” when some of America’s biggest stars will don the crossing guard’s bright yellow (orange in some states) uniforms and actually do the important work of making sure our children get across dangerous intersections and into their schools safely. That’s right: these dedicated men and women aren’t just sitting on the sidelines; they’re in the mix, in the arena.  Of course, this media event will attract hours of local and national television coverage and set the social media world of Twitter, Facebook and Instagram afire.

The 2017 “Day of Action“is going to be even more dramatic.   We intend to superimpose the faces of America’s best teachers on Mount Rushmore.  Over a 24-hour period, 5,760 teachers will replace Lincoln, Washington, Jefferson and Teddy Roosevelt, each teacher’s image on all four faces for 15 seconds.  This event will be live-streamed, of course.  We will begin soliciting nominations later this year.

“Stars for Schools” is also going to change the public image of teachers, who for too long have been stereotyped as boring and unsexy.  In fact, in the latest Gallup/Phi Delta Kappan poll, teachers scored lower on the ‘Sexy’ scale than even dentists and accountants. That has to change, and I believe that these subtly suggestive T-shirts will turn that image on its head.

DRAMA TEACHERS DO IT BACKSTAGE!

BIOLOGY TEACHERS KNOW ALL YOUR BODY PARTS!

MUSIC TEACHERS DO IT RHYTHMICALLY!

BAND TEACHERS KNOW THE SCORE!

LET A COMPUTER TEACHER PUSH  YOUR BUTTONS!

GUIDANCE TEACHERS CAN SHOW YOU THE WAY

GEOMETRY TEACHERS KNOW THE ANGLES

CHEMISTRY TEACHERS DO IT PERIODICALLY

When they see their children’s teachers wearing these snappy slogans, parents will certainly see them in a new light.  Shirts are $39.95 and come in four sizes, S, M, L and XL.

Frankly, I had expected to work from ‘inside the machine’ to reform the system, by serving on the Board of Directors of either Pearson or McGraw-Hill.  After serving on the Pearson Board for a very short time a year ago, I fully expected the mega-company  to approach me again, but nary a word.

As for McGraw-Hill, it dumped me from the Committee that selects the winners of the McGraw Prize in Education.  I’d been serving on that Committee since 2012 and was awaiting word about the time and place of this year’s meeting—when, out of the blue, I saw a Twitter announcement of the winners.  So I guess this means no seat for me on the McGraw-Hill Board.   No big deal. I am better off working from outside the establishment, through “Stars for Schools.”

I urge you to support “starsforschools.org” today.   Contribute today if you can. Or wait until tomorrow, April 2, but please don’t delay…..