I don't hate the conservative Pioneer Institute, I really don't. I've quoted their stuff here liberally. They've done interesting work on housing vis-a-vis zoning, did a nice report on crumbling bridges … all fine and well and interesting.
Unfortunately, the two bigwigs at Pioneer, Charles Chieppo and Jim Stergios, recently wrote a tendentious and uninformative piece for Weekly Standard, with the already dull riff that “Obama:Prez::Patrick:Gov; and that's real bad!“. (This was followed up by a similar piece by the so totally not partisan Jon Keller for … the Wall Street Journal op-ed page.)
You might think things are going pretty well here, with the laughable lengths they go to to make the Governor look bad. The name-calling (“Patrick has proven to be little more than a machine politician”) should be a tip-off that they really don't have much to work with. First, they criticize a supposedly Patrick-packed Board of Ed for turning down a (ie. one, “1”) charter school application, and then this:
Even the Boston Globe, which enthusiastically endorsed Patrick, is losing patience. In February, it published an editorial calling on the administration to support charter schools and to reject the “pre-1993 state of flat expectations, phony promotions, and torpid teaching.”
“Losing patience?” Here's the op-ed. The Globe advocates for a position, sure, but our Pioneer friends are flatly mischaracterizing its tone:
THE PATRICK administration's education priorities should come into focus with the spring release of its 10-year strategic plan – the so-called Readiness Project – for classroom improvements. Until then, one reliable way to judge the administration's commitment to innovation is to track its willingness to expand charter schools.
Acting Commissioner of Education Jeff Nellhaus has recommended that the state Board of Education approve four new charter schools at its Tuesday meeting. […]
Governor Patrick expressed unequivocal support for the MCAS test in a recent interview at the Globe. His support for the new charter school applications would also show that he wants no part of any retreat to the pre-1993 state of flat expectations, phony promotions, and torpid teaching.
So here's the kicker: The Board of Ed approved three of the four charter school proposals, turning down the application that even the Globe admitted would be “contentious”. Not everything the Globe wanted, to be sure; but wouldn't that information have been useful to Weekly Standard readers?
Well, as they say in Italy, Se non e vero, e ben trovato … Unfortunately, there's a dissonance between the useful, empirical stuff they often do, and the willful distortions of the WS piece. Too bad, really.
But wasn’t Chieppo involved in a pay-for-propaganda situation a la Armstrong Williams with the Romney administration a few years back?
Where can I get some of that action?
But here’s what I wrote about Chieppo at the time.
McCain? Operation Chaos? If you don’t mind, I’s like to reprint your aptly provided link to provide readers with a quicker route to the Globe piece identfifying Chieppo as an officially paid propagandist:
Chieppo of the Pioneer Institute worked for Romney and the Herald writing conservative propaganda
<
p>By the way, is “Barack Obama” actually “Deval Patrick”, or are they unique individuals with their own separate identities and even souls? Maybe some of it is Barack’s own fault, but the media has gotten awfully comfortable treating the two men as identical twins or doppelgangers or something.
Give me a break.
Yes that would be the same.
Break granted.
She’s to the left of Peter Porcupine, perhaps.
He’s bringing back casinos!
<
p>Yes siree, the toppling of diMasi has NOTHING to do with it! It’s just GOOD POLICY!
<
p>Why would anyone call a visionary like THAT a machine politician? Perhaps they meant SLOT machine?
Link?
Nothing explains the Govenor’s vision of “Hope” louder than a picture of some hopeful rube at a slot machine.
some people see it as an instrument–when it suits.
if you held control over the state board of education for more than a decade and someone took it away from you.
<
p>I’ve said it before, starting to clean house in the state’s regulatory boards is one of the best things Patrick did in his first year. Seeing the Pioneer Institute whine about the changes in Malden is further evidence that Patrick is on the right track here.
While the real debate centers on Barack and his campaign’s similiarities to Deval and his campaign and therefore can we expect Barack’s presidency to mirror Deval’s governorship you argue that if it is it ain’t a bad thing.
<
p>Is that what you are saying? Because the reason this is being discussed is it is sort of a given that Deval so far has been a disappointment and it is percieved by many that it has been more like a disaster. So far.
<
p>Charley, help Barack out. tell us why he would be different. Not why Deval ain’t so bad.
<
p>Oh, Let me get off topic here for a second.
<
p>Deval is pushing casino gambling again. It must be bonus time again at Choate Hall and partners must earn their keep. And mortgages have to be paid. It’s just the way it is.
<
p>What a shame we can’t have a Governor in favor of casino gambling on its merits and a Speaker of the House against casino gambling on its merits.
<
p>Sorry Charley, I got off topic.
<
p>BTW Charley, you never answered my question to your question of what do I have against socialism.
<
p>Hmmm
Are you a socialist Charley?
Maybe a preview of Obama by comparing him to Deval is a bit of a leap, but I didn’t find too much out of alignment with the Weekly Standard article.
<
p>Maybe that’s because I agree that the Gov has placed anti-choice and testing supporters on the board of ed. It’s less about the 3 out of 4 approved applications than realizing what damage Kaplan and Reville are going to do to education in the state through their appointments.
<
p>I guess “cleaning house” means it’s okay to pack the board with anti-choice and anti-testing zealots, as long as you agree with those zealots.
<
p>That Patrick is in the teacher union’s bag is just how it looks to me, so the Weekly Standard read pretty much like the actual Patrick administration’s performance so far.
<
p>Is Barack Obama far behind? It’s fun asking the question.
“Laughable hatchetry?” Few would argue that Massachusetts has become the unquestioned national education reform leader since 1993. What among the following isn’t true?
1) Patrick eliminated the the Office of Educational Quality and Accountability, the Commonwealth’s main tool for holding districts accountable for the more than $4 billion we spend annually on state aid to education.
2) He eliminated the independence of a Board of Education that has been independent since Horace Mann led it in 1837. If education policy had not been protected from the political process, few of the reforms that have defined our success since 1993 would be in place.
3) Closing the achievement gap is the top priority of education reform, but Patrick’s Board of Education recently denied a charter to a Brockton school that would have been operated by the same organization that has eliminated the achievement gap in its Springfield school. It’s no wonder that most of the nation’s best charter school leaders have left Massachusetts.
4) The administration recently endorsed providing waivers to those who fail the state teacher test three times. Passing the test generally requires a high school level of proficiency.
<
p>All that’s left of reform is MCAS and funding. His core constituency is the biggest advocate for funding, and he knows support for MCAS is too strong to challenge.
So your contention that Reville is a “charter school opponent” holds water, huh?
<
p>Folks, google “Paul Reville charter schools”, read what the man has written, and tell me if he sounds like an anti-charter zealot. He is no such thing.
<
p>Perhaps you might talk about the reasons why that charter got rejected in Brockton. no reason? Zealotry? Or the typical issues of funding that, support them or not, are a genuine problem for the districts involved?
<
p>Furthermore, does Mr. Chieppo characterize the other Patrick administration appointments to the board as “anti-MCAS”?
<
p>You’ll notice Mr. Chieppo basically says that Patrick’s responsible for “bad” stuff; but he only goes along with the “good” stuff because he has to. Uh huh.
<
p>Hatchetry.
People may as well call the Pioneer Institute the We [Heart] Charters Club.
The notion that the Globe has something neutral to say about charter schools is off the charts. The Globe has been a cheerleader for charter schools and the MCAS. The Globe has had difficulties recognizing the C-change at the Board of Education where two new appointments of Patrick have brought a breadth of fresh air. For years, the only voices of reason were the labor and student representatives; now with the Kaplan and Reville apppointments, the Board has meaningful discussions about education policy. The Pioneer Institute no longer has a straight inside track getting its ideological pronouncements accepted without discussion.