Much of the education reform movement has become a battle for public opinion. And news personality Campbell Brown is posing challenges for teachers union leaders in ways that her predecessor, Michelle Rhee, never could.
Brown has been making the rounds on news and talk shows pitching the idea of overturning teacher tenure laws. Her strategy is to attack the unions on two fronts: legally in the halls of justice, and by taking her cause to the media. The strategy seems to be working.
Her husband’s law firm just filed one of two suits in New York arguing that the tenure law hurts the educational prospects of children because it protects the jobs prospects of adults — namely incompetent teachers.
Chris Matthews, host of “Hardball” on MSNBC, tossed Brown nothing but softballs in a recent interview.
And Brown’s PR team must have been thrilled with her recent appearance with comic Stephen Colbert. Where Rhee always seemed a bit edgy and contentious, Brown has likability working in her favor. She’s smart, charming, and a bit maternal. She can deliver hard news, and moments later sell Girl Scout cookies. When Colbert sent a few union-busting zingers her way, she giggled politely and went right back to her talking points.
Why the anti-union camp seems to be winning the PR war even among Democrats is sometimes baffling. For instance, Alyssa Hadley Dunn, an assistant professor at Michigan State, did some fact-checking for the Washington Post regarding Brown’s claims on Colbert and found that most were nuanced, while others were simply not true.
And considering Brown’s newsroom experience, her lack of transparency is more troubling. Her unwillingness to reveal who is donating to her organization, Partnership for Educational Justice, makes you wonder what she’s hiding.
A recent blog by education historian Diane Ravitch suggests that there’s a lot more to Brown’s back story than the fact that her husband, Dan Senor, is on the board of Rhee’s EducationFirstNY organization. Senor’s connection to Wall Street hedge fund manager Paul Singer and how Singer has used his money to influence the GOP is a good read.
As a city school board member said to me recently, it seems that lately, a lot of people who have never set foot in a classroom, have never taught, or have no scientific understanding about how children learn sure have a lot of solutions to sell.
This article appears in Jul 30 – Aug 5, 2014.
Perhaps the city school board member should explain why experts such as him/herself have completely failed I their responsibilities to provide a decent education to city students. Look no further than Easy high. The “education establishment” has a vested interest in maintaining the status quo. Getting rid of tenure will not make the schools perfect, but it will certainly help by enabling the system to get rid of the dead wood, opening up opportunities for talented teachers to succeed.
Michael,
I guess I am a little ignorant on this subject. Could you please explain how having due process rights will prevent talented teachers from succeeding? Are you saying that we have thousands of incompetent teachers in the city school district who just keep hanging on to their jobs because of tenure. If only we could fire them all and replace them with the thousands of talented teachers just waiting around for the chance to work in the most dysfunctional district in the area. Getting rid of due process is simply a means to break the union and finish the privatization of urban education.
Brown failed to disclose that her husband sits on the board of the New
York affiliate of Michelle Rhee’s education lobbying group. Makes you wonder why these “journalist ” didn’t confront her directly about this. Her hubby Dan Solar also: co-founded the investment firm Rosemont Capital LLC[2] before joining Elliott Management, the hedge fund firm owned by Paul Singer, a billionaire Wall Street investor who has given millions to Republican political campaigns and neoconservative advocacy groups.( from Diane ravich’s blog)
Tell me again whose best interest she has?
An Open Letter to Stephen Colbert Regarding Campbell Brown
I’m a fan of your show, but I’m disappointed that you gave Campbell Brown a platform to discuss education policy. She taught for one year and hasn’t ever taught in U.S. schools. She doesn’t have an Education degree. Until very recently, the 46 year old was a journalist far removed from students. You may as well have invited an angry Jets fan who’s never coached football to present his map to the Super Bowl.
Sure, she’s the spokesperson for a frivolous lawsuit filed on behalf of seven people. But hey, New Yorker Frank Fazio filed a class action lawsuit against Apple Inc. because Siri didn’t work as he thought it should on his iphone. He didn’t get to appear on your show.
While you landed a few light jabs, I expected you to absolutely own her claims and lack of experience in Education. As a host, you have a responsibility to make sure your guests have credibility and at least a semblance of a clue what they’re talking about. Or, when they don’t, you should nail them like the excellent satirist you are for their lack of credentials and truthfulness.
In June of 2013 Brown founded the “Parents Transparency Project”, but said, “I’m not going to reveal who the donors are” when you asked her who funds her new “Partnership for Educational Justice.” That’s about as transparent as your desk. She sits on the board for Success Academy Charter Schools, a group in favor of profit schools that would benefit from ruining teacher tenure laws by firing experienced public school teachers and replacing them with low-cost inexperienced teachers. Tenure laws exist for many reasons, the most obvious is to prevent administrators from firing effective senior teachers and replacing them with cheaper new ones. Brown’s case should be dismissed like a lame CNN news show.
If you’re looking for a guest who has a clue about Education Policy, I suggest New York education expert Mark Naison. If he’s not available, I’d be happy to oblige. I don’t claim to be an expert, but I’ve taught in an urban setting for 12 years, have two Education degrees, the students in the grade I teach at my school had the highest math scores and second highest reading scores in my school district last year, and doggone it, kids and parents usually like me.
As for Brown, it’s really nice that she’s taken an interest in Education. She could start by serving as a substitute teacher. She could also review the “research” she discussed on your show. For example, teacher turnover is actually highest in high-needs schools and teachers only account for up to 20% of what makes a kid successful. And while I’m not a journalist, when Brown stated, “EVERYBODY thinks these laws should change” she lost any resemblance of a reasonable argument.
Please, please, please stop giving air time to Education charlatans unless you’re going to absolutely lambaste them.
Chris Hansen, Michigan
References:
http://deadspin.com/5963675/heres-an-angry-mob-of-jets-fans-mercilessly-heckling-the-team
http://www.forbes.com/sites/greatspeculations/2012/03/20/siri-is-this-frank-fazio-apple-lawsuit-for-real/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Campbell_Brown