What happened if NBC's Miseducation Nation put on a show and only mindless sycophants showed? Oh wait. It happened. This past Sunday. That's who Miseducation Nations plays to. Those that are uninformed and don't wish to learn the truth.

The guess of The Crack Team here at SBSB why anyone would go to Miseducation Nation is to curry
favor with upper echelon types and to show that, "Hey, look at me and how hip and down with it I am." Now I know OTHERS went to see Miseducation Nation live this past Sunday, but I believe those others were led astray and have the smarts enough to see through the facade of what Miseducation Nation truly is.

What exactly is Miseducation Nation? It's about education of course. It's about everybody other than educators sharing with us how education should be in this country whilst perpetuating the myth that there is some kind of "education crisis" in this country. Sadly, those that frequent such events aren't aware of The Shock Doctrine for reasons such as, the book is too big, there are no pictures in the book, or just ignorance. But, if one were to actually read the book, one would come away with the truth of what has been foisted upon the American public.

Because what one sees at Miseducation Nation is nothing more than pure unadulterated self serving propaganda. Propaganda? Where have we seen leaders of a country misleading mainly ignorant, sycophantic people in the past?? Hmmmmmm, let's see (As chins are rubbed and flashback mode is enabled);



Oh, those pesky Commies!! And oh those pesky Teachers!!

Just as in the 1950's and the Red Scare that never existed, the 2000's have had to deal with the "Education Scare" that never has nor will exist. But like those that hunted non existent (WAIT!!! Is a hyphen supposed to be there? I know someone that has OCD issues with hyphens) Commies, what we are seeing is people hunting a non existent education crisis, with teachers as the fall guys.

But of course, Miseducation Nation will never let that be known. The teets of Bill and Melinda Gates, the Walton Family, Broad Foundation are being suckled by what were once responsible journalists like Brian Williams, and to a lesser extent (being a respected journalist) Matt Lauer. Suffice it to say, The Crack Team has more journalistic integrity than NBC. That's pretty sad.

Why did not one person at Miseducation Nation comment on the omission of Diane Ravitch being on any of the panels? Why not let her voice be heard? Oh, I know why. Because her ideas are contrary to the garbled spew coming out from the New York Public Library on Sunday. I also tend to believe that if Diane ever was allowed on a panel at Miseducation Nation the p3wnage that she will inflict will be of such a massive scale the Red Cross would have to be called in.

Hey, but those that believe in Miseducation Nation, don't listen to me. Show you are truly interested in the truth and not NBC's reality.  Buy Diane's new book, "Reign of Error," in which I reviewed here. Time to open the eyes and see what is really happening.

Remember, this is not an attack, just opinion and not against all in the audience this past Sunday. Usually at events like this there is just one person that goes overboard in the sycophanticity and tends to make it all about themselves (Like Delma in North Dallas Forty during the reading of Coach Johnson's poem).  Though one would wonder, how or by whom, the ducats were gotten.

Oops, almost forgot. #whatittakesNBC #whatittakesNBC #whatittakesNBC #whatittakesNBC

Oh, and by the way, this is when one only should brag about having awesome seats.

Even though this is addressed to the parents of Harrison, NY and NYC, it is for all the parents of New York State and the USA.

Lexington and Concord. The first battle in the American Revolution in 1775, almost 240 years ago.

The Journal News. Saturday, September 28, 2013, the first battle in the Revolution to Take Control
Back of Our Children's Education. All led by a humble reporter, Gary Stern.

I predicted this revolution back in June of last year.

I walked into Vassi's Deli on Underhill Ave in West Harrison this morning to get my breakfast and coffee. My son just had a hitting lesson and we were looking forward to spending some time together. I grabbed my copy of the Journal News and on the front page saw the headline. "Critics: Test Scores Failing, Not Students," by Gary Stern.

What a joy it was to read an honest and thought provoking education article by a reporter that has not been tainted by the poison of Uncle Mike Bloomberg;

Is it possible that 56 percent of sixth-graders in Bedford are not proficient in math? How about 70 percent of eighth-graders in Dobbs Ferry? Or 75 percent of seventh-graders in Nyack? 

Could 50 percent of seventh-graders in Irvington not be meeting expectations in English/language arts? What about 58 percent of eighth-graders in Ramapo Central? Or 80 percent of sixth-graders in Port Chester?

 
This, parents of Harrison is our reality. Not just yours, but mine, your neighbor's, your friend's, and your enemy's. Wake up, this is what has become of education in New York State thanks to the millions our elected officials in Albany have collected from such organizations as DFER and Students (oops!) MichelleRheeFirst.

My son got 2's on both ELA and Math. This after receiving 3's in ELA and 4's in Math from grades 3-5. Some putz who decides what goes on the tests, how to score it, how to take it is telling me my son is not proficient in Math or ELA?

At this past Thursday's parent-teacher meetings I handed out hundreds of fliers sharing with parents of Harrison the dangers and evils of the Common Core Standards from a fantastic organization, Stop Common Core in New York State. I could not believe how, UNINFORMED the parents of Harrison NY are. One parent actually believed that Bill Gates is a great person!

But then again, Governor Andy, Uncle Mike, NYSED, and John King (No link to who John King is. You have a child in school, then you should know. GOOGLE HIM!) all want you uninformed. They want ignorance, they want compliance, they want servitude. This is what is happening in NYC right now and across all urban school districts nation wide. You probably heard about it in passing, saying to yourself, "Well, why should I care, it doesn't effect me or my children."

But guess what? NOW IT DOES!!! It's time to wake up and see the corporate and Federal takeover of education is now in your backyard.

Bill Gates, the Lord and Savior who blessed us with the Common Core, let's see what he said the other day; 

“It would be great if our education stuff worked, but that we won’t know for probably a decade.”

What you talking about, Willis, I mean Bill?

He does not know if it will work? Bill Gates feels it is OK to experiment on THE CHILDREN OF HARRISON? Why didn't Bill test it out on his kids?

Know that teacher you love at your child's school? Well, thanks to Bill Gates and Governor Andy, 40% of their evaluation is based on assessment (TESTS)! Two years without growth, that teacher is rated ineffective and you can say goodbye.  Opt your child out of the NYS tests! You can and it is time!

Parents of Harrison, did you know that EngageNY (No link to EngageNY. You have a child in school, then you should know. GOOGLE IT!), a subsidiary of NYSED is not only in control of your child's school data, but personal information as well and plans on selling it to InBloom (No link to EngageNY. You have a child in school, then you should know. GOOGLE IT!)? What you don't know this? Well, you need to now.

Fight back. You are your child's best advocate for his or her education. Not a politician, not someone who works on Wall Street, not a hedge fund hack, YOU ARE.

And while you are at it, by Diane Ravitch's new book, "Reign of Error," and see how education is being taken over in this country by those who only wish to enrich their wallets.

And please sign this petition  to Assemblyman Al Graf.

I leave you with a clip of George Carlin's take on education today.

What a day yesterday was! The new phone books arrived, I, with other education bloggers, got to engage in a video conference with Diane Ravitch, and I found out that not only had Whitney Tilson finally make some sense, but he confirmed that he is in education for the moolah and lying hypocrite as well.


So Whitney, in a obvious display making up for some Freudian shortcoming shows just how smart
and investor he thinks he is. Remember, this is the guy who shorted Netflix.

I know the company and the space well (K12’s primary business is running online charter schools in 33 states and DC), and it’s a VERY high conviction short (meaning the funds I manage will profit if the stock price declines). I think that the company has run amok in many, many ways, inappropriately targeting the most at-risk students, with dismal academic results, off-the-charts student turnover, coming under increasing scrutiny. K12 reminds me of the subprime mortgage lenders and for-profit colleges when they were flying high – and the ending will be similar I believe.

Funny how this email was sent by Whitney at 9:32 PM, many hours after the official release of Diane's book. My bet is, and I doubt I am incorrect or Whitney can be that smart, is that Whitney read what Diane wrote in "Reign of Error" about K12 and decided to short K12 based on Diane's unveiling of their incompetency. We here salute Diane and her stock portfolio acumen.

Whitney goes on in a blabbering manner; K12's aggressive student recruitment has led to dismal academic results by students and sky-high dropout rates, in some cases more than 50% annually;

I wouldn't be short K12 if it were carefully targeting students who were likely to benefit from its schools – typically those who have a high degree of self-motivation and strong parental commitment

But K12 is instead doing the opposite; numerous former employees say that K12 accepts any student and actually targets at-risk students, who are least likely to succeed at an online school

But K12 is instead doing the opposite; numerous former employees say that K12 accepts any student and actually targets at-risk students, who are least likely to succeed at an online school

One former employee said: "K12's recruitment of inner-city and at-risk "last resort" students had another benefit – these students used up less of K12's educational and teaching resources while permitting K12 to collect full funding from the states."

Hmm, this sounds so familiar. This might not have been Diane's exact words about K12, but what Whitney has written is pretty much the gist from "Reign of Error." Plagiarism, Whitney? Copyright infringement? For shame

The Crack Team has commanded me to suggest Diane put a call into my brother in law who is a crack Copyright and Trade Dress attorney. He is a fine attorney, but he is suspended from the bar and hiding out in Thailand due to back child support and  teaching English. 

In fact The Crack Team believes that Diane has action for a lawsuit against Whitney for publishing an excerpt of  "Reign of Error" with out hers or Salon's permission. That excerpt does not fall under Fair Use.

More spewing from Big Head; There have been so many regulatory issues and accusations of malfeasance that I'm convinced the problems are endemic. Enrollment violations, uncertified teachers, conflicted relationships with nonprofit charter holders.

Gosh, diddly darn Whitless, you have just about described 90% of charters including your favorite run by the Sith Lord, Eva.

I have been looking for years and have not found a single K12 school that is free of scandal and posting even decent (much less good) academic results.

Guess who been saying that for years Whitless? Guess. That echo Whitney hears in his head are all the education bloggers and real teachers throughout the country.

 States (and the IRS) are waking up to what K12 is doing and the company is coming under increased scrutiny, which is beginning to impair K12's growth – and I believe this trend will accelerate

Oh please send the IRS into Success, Bronx Classical Charter, KIPP, Whitney Tilson's hedge fund, his palatial 5th Ave home. It is time to see the truth. Time the IRS goes after the charters instead of Mike Tyson or Jerry Koosman.

Face it Whitney, the jigg is up. It's time to find another toy in your Hamptons sandbox to play with. You have been exposed.

Whitney just exposed himself in that he is all about the money, has no loyalty, and really does not want those with learning issues anywhere near KIPP, Success, him, or anywhere lest he gets a case of hedge fund managers remorse.

For those who are not aware, Whitney has written some pretty mean and misogynistic stuff about Diane. He even created a website for the sole purpose of attacking her. Last night, I wanted to tease Diane that Whitney is her nemesis, her super villain. Then I thought better. Whitney does not have the brains or the class to be in the same league as Lex Luthor, or Bane, or Scarecrow, or Dr Octopus. He's just a street level stick up man, if that. Yeah, or a thug.

There was one particular point, the chapters about charter and the e-learning, in reading Diane Ravitch's new book, "Reign of Error: The Hoax of the Privatization Movement and the Danger to America's Public Schools," in which it all seemed so familiar.  Like something out of a Mel Brooks movie. I pondered.

Yes, I seemed to satired the charter movement in this post about 3 1/2 years ago. But due to what I
learned by reading "Reign of Error," the satire might need updating;

Max Bialystock: Don't you see, darling Bloom, glorious Bloom? It's so simple. STEP ONE: We found the worst charter school ever , a surefire flop. STEP TWO: I raise a million bucks. Lots of little old ladies, NYCDOE, hedge fund managers, foundations created by billionaires, lawyers,Wall Street, presidents, mayors . STEP THREE: You go back to work on the books, two of them - one for the government, one for us. You can do it, Bloom; you're a wizard! STEP FOUR: We open a charter in the South Bronx. STEP FIVE, We act like we care, like we really believe the crap we're laying on the public And before you can say STEP SIX we kick all the kids who are not doing well and keeping up !!! STEP SEVEN: We take our million bucks and fly to *Rio!*

I wish this deform movement were a Mel Brooks comedy, but it is turning into a Shakespearean tragedy and right now the only ones ahead are the money people.

I'm now more scared than ever for the children, the families, the communities, and the real educators of this country. I thought I had a pretty good handle on what has been done to destroy education in this country. My knowledge just scratched the surface before reading "Reign of Error."

Diane is methodical and relentless in the first part of the book. Like a conductor leading an orchestra she begins to introducing to the layperson who and what are behind this so called reform, or rather, deform movement. So many of the players, so many of their games. So many of the worst of the worst. We learn how this corrupt web of education deform has all the players; the politicians, the hedge fund managers, the charters, the Rhees, the educational companies all in cahoots with one another all looking out for each others interests and all feigning interest in what really matters, the children.

She takes the lay person through the fabrications of the deformers by the hand, step by step as if even someone like myself is hearing this for the first times. Her crescendo is building. At this point she is no longer just conducting in front of the orchestra, but rather now from the the mountain top telling the country to open their eyes, look around and see what has become of education in this country and that something must be done, but it is not hopeless. That we all can fight back, we must fight back and not only save our schools, but to save our communities, ourselves, and most importantly, our children.

Diane comes up with solutions, not catch phrases, or talking points as her critics do when criticizing her, but solutions that are common sense, that won't break banks, that is except the Wall Street firms and hedge fund managers. One can only wish, no?

Common sense like what we know as teachers and parents that actually works. Class size, true early learning for children, services for the most needy and desperate of children, their families and the communities.

But it is time for the country to listen to Diane and take ownership and control of education away from those who only wish to subvert it for their own money making ways.

I predict, in fact I know, that Diane will go down in history as have Jacob Riis for "How The Other Half Lives," and Upton Sinclair for "The Jungle."

I was going to end this by insisting parents or would be parents to buy "Reign of Error." No, I can;t do that. If you care about the future of America, the future of the millions of young minds out there desperately seeking someone to lead them out of the wasteland of what the deformers had wrought us, you must buy this book.

Diane has shared her knowledge with is, it is up to us to deliver what she has bestowed to the masses.