P  E  Y  T  O  N     W  O  L  C  O  T  T
The Media
What's been wrong with
American edu-reporting:  
A textbook example
ABC's JOHN STOSSEL:  
Smart on schools
Many of us believe that John
Stossel's "Stupid in America" (ABC's
 20/20, January 13, 2006)--in addition
to being smart about the state of
public schools in America--
represents the beginning of a sea
change in how education news is
reported.   At the very least it
represents a departure from the
"mo' money" mantra put forth by our
increasingly liberal MSM, one
example being Wal-Mart bashing
Hedrick Smith and PBS (at left).
"Schools That
Work," which aired
October 2005 on PBS,
was produced by
Hedrick Smith,
whose earlier effort
also for PBS was the
anti-WalMart special,
Hedrick Smith
"Is WalMart Good for America?"  For
STW's sources Smith says he went to "a
score of highly qualified educational
evaluators at major organizations," such
as Michael Casserle, executive director of
 "The Council of the Great City Schools"
(more below) whose executive committee
chair is Arlene Ackerman (see "What's
Wrong With This Picture" at right, plus my
Commentary page (Feb. 11, 2006) and
Ackerman's bio in "Administrators on the
Move, Educators in the News).  Another
source was Tony Alvarado, late of San
Diego USD.   STW  ends with references
to a "sense of urgency" in order "to get
change done right" and, of course, a need
for "more money" for public schools.  
Funding:  The Broad Foundation (which
helped fund some of Alvarado's changes
at SDUSD) and Carnegie Corporation,
founded by Andrew Carnegie.   
(SEE below for more on Carnegie)
It was unexpected and
great that Stossel's
special happened at all.
Among my favorite
moments was Inez
Tenenbaum's insisting
again and again that her
state's education was
"improving" despite its
John
Stossel
consistent cellar status.  Another
was the roomful (six) of South
Carolina educators all passing the
buck as to why an 18-year old
couldn't read.  All of America has
been talking about it.  I'm looking
forward to a follow up show looking
at solutions to our edu-problems.  
And in the meantime, predictably,
Education, Inc. is up in its righteous
arms.  (See the American Ass'n of
School Admin.'s response below.
right)
Further proof of media
bias--As if it were needed
In its December 2005
"Society's Watchdogs" report,
the Clare Boothe Luce Policy
Institute (principal writer, Lil
Tuttle) found that 95% of news
stories in their survey sample
were from "government/public
school-affiliated sources," with a majority
triggered by announcements or press
releases from the education establish-
ment.  Further, the taxpayers funding our
In the meantime, much of America's
MSM has ignored the Stossel special,
continuing to move in lockstep with
the edu-establishment, continuing to
tout the "good news" about public
schools.
public education enterprise were
referenced almost not at all.  Also, 65% of
published articles "related to topics of
foremost interest to the public school
industry, namely, public school funding,
public school staffing, and public school
wage and benefit proposals."    
South Carolina ed head
Inez Tenenbaum
See "CONTINUED"
below for news of the
effect Stossel's
special has had in
South Carolina.
Comments Jay Mathews of the
Washington Post, "After trying and often
failing to get reporters to write more
articles about expanding parental choice,
[Institute founder and president Michelle]
Easton and Tuttle decided to find out
exactly what we WERE writing about."
The report touches on Disenfranchised
Voices:  "Citizens who rely on the press
to serve as watchdogs over those in
power may feel their trust is misplaced if
they sense that the press is telling them
only what those in power want them to
know. They can also feel
disenfranchised," and includes this quote
from Byron Schlomach of the Texas
Public Policy Foundation:  “Education is
a service, just like computer repair or
medical care.  Therefore, it is just as
subject to the laws of economics as any
other sector of the economy. This means
that if education is monopolized,
consumers of education will suffer from
high prices (high taxes), lower quality of
service (too little student accomplishment
and too few graduates), slothful
productivity (lots of wasted money), and
rent-seeking behavior (lobbying).  All of
these behaviors are exhibited in the state’
s government school system.”
(SEE "Society's Watchdogs" below for
an excerpt of the report)
Why reporters
should not get too
friendly with the
supes they cover
+
A little background
When our forebearers came
together in 1776 to throw off the yoke
of tyranny imposed on them by
George III (at right in gold and ermine,
clearly en route to the American
Association of School Administrators
conference later this month in San
Diego where he's going to be a
keynote speaker),
they joined in a
national dialogue
given expression not
only by newspapers
but also by broad-
sides and pamphlets
--forerunners all of
today's xeroxed flyers
and email.
Why then haven't newspapers been
part of the revolution going on in
American public education this
decade?  Follow the money.
1.   "The San Francisco
Chronicle’s Heather Knight
devotes her columns to
repeating the Ackerman and
the 'Office of Public
Engagement' mantra about
the 'Dream Schools' initiative.
Never mentioned is that at its
core is Rojas era
reconstitution. This approach
to failing schools involves
firing en masse principals and
teachers from a reconstituted
school and moving them to
other schools."
(SOURCE--Eileeen left/SF-
Frontlines.com)
2.   "Media coverage of local
public education is totally
neglected. The dailies skirt the
real issues by focusing on
three narratives written over
and over again: Ackerman
raises test scores (but don't
look too closely at who is
doing well and who isn't or
how such results can be
manipulated); the BOE split &
Green Party nemesis; 'Dream
Schools.' Nothing else gets
any attention from Heather
Knight."  (SOURCE--BeyondChron)
3.  Why didn't Knight follow
through when Scott Parks
reported in the Dallas Morning
News that Ackerman was an
ERDI consultant in July 2004?
FROM SOCIETY'S WATCHDOG'S
Daily newspapers hold an honored place
in American tradition as the principal
forum for the public’s conversation, but
that seems to be changing.  Americans
today rate daily newspapers less
“believable” than local and national
television news, and a majority think
newspaper reporters are out of touch with
mainstream society.
This study, based on telephone surveys
of education print reporters and analysis
of 403 education-related articles
published over eight months by four
daily news publishers in Virginia,
suggests the criticism may be warranted
when it comes to daily newspaper
coverage of elementary and secondary
education. Newspaper reporters
unanimously agree that K-12 education
is a complex issue, and nearly two-thirds
(63%) say too little attention is paid to it.
Most Americans would likely agree.
Public education consistently ranks at or
near the top of their domestic concerns,
in part, because it is undergoing
dynamic reform and innovation.
Yet readers would have to look long and
hard to find the larger education story in
their daily newspapers.
Newspapers rely on the public school
industry to set the education news
agenda:
The American Ass'n of
School Administrators'
20/20 Response
Tool Kit
FROM AASA IN THEIR OWN
WORDS:
AASA has created a
communications kit for
members to help express
their outrage to their local
ABC affiliate and media in
response to the vicious, one-
sided report presented by
John Stossel during the
Friday, Jan. 13, edition of
ABC News' "20/20" called
"Stupid in America: How
Lack of Choice Cheats Our
Kids Out of a Good
Education." The kit contains
a copy of AASA’s open letter
to ABC News, ABC local
affiliates and The Walt
Disney Company; a copy of
AASA Executive Director
Paul Houston’s statement
distributed to the national
media; a sample open letter
to send to local ABC News
affiliates for airing the report;
a sample press release to
send to local media for
broadcasting the report; and
five talking points that
identify errors and
misstatements in the report
about public education in
America.  Please log in to see
the content.
(SOURCE--AASA)
Which explains why over and over and
over most local media carry little if
anything in the way of real school
news, and why so many times it's the
parents and taxpayers doing the
digging through open records they
requested and paid for who are
uncovering the fraud and scandals
occurring in our schools--often
uncredited by the media if and when
they deign to carry the story at all.  And
as I have often observed, the supe is
generally given the final word in such
coverage, something like, "We have
seen the light and will mend our ways
and are grateful for the opportunity to
learn from this great truth-building
experience and will go forward and
sin no more."
• Nearly two-thirds of journalists
surveyed (63%) say the most common
trigger for an education news story is
“an announcement or press release
by a federal, state, or local education
agency.”
• All journalists named federal and
state Departments of Education, local
public school boards and officials,
teachers, and parents as sources
used by their news organizations in
the last six months. Half or fewer
named public policy “think tanks” and
independent research organizations
as sources used during the same
period (50% and 38%, respectively).
• Journalists cited the public school
industry as their primary source of
information on vouchers and tuition
tax credits, despite that industry’s
open hostility to these innovations.
PW NOTE:
See my queries at right
to both South Carolina's Inez
Tenenbaum and AASA's Paul
Houston, both of which  remained
unanswered as of Feb. 21, 2006
(almost a month later)
For more:   
www.choices-k12.org/Society's_Watchdogs.htm
C O N T I N U E D
ANDREW CARNEGIE, CONT'D
So who really  was this Andrew Carnegie
whose Carnegie Corporation funds PBS specials
advocating for public/government schools?
"Men like [Andrew Carnegie] and the brilliant efficiency expert
Frederick W. Taylor, who inspired the entire 'social efficiency'
movement of the early twentieth century, along with providing the new
Soviet Union its operating philosophy and doing the same job for
Fascist Italy and Nazi Germany; men who dreamed bigger dreams than
any had dreamed since Napoleon or Charlemagne, these were the
makers of modern schooling."  (SOURCE--John Taylor Gatto)
Update on South
Carolina's reaction to
ABC's "Stupid in
America" special by
John Stossel
“John Stossel’s education
special ‘Stupid in America’
removed the scab that has
protected South Carolina’s
ailing education system for
decades," says Denver Merrill,
communications director for
South Carolinians for
Responsible Government in
Columbia, SC.  "It revealed a
gaping wound and has generated
a tremendous amount of
‘chatter’ amongst the general
public and the SC General
Assembly.  We now have two
pieces of school choice
legislation–one in the House
with 40 co-sponsors and one in
the Senate with 11 co-sponsors–
that offers educational options
to every South Carolina
student.  The impact was so
great that the lack of coverage
by certain left-leaning print
media tethered to the education
establishment did nothing to
slow the tremendous amount of
momentum gained as a result of
the program."
SCRG has 80,000 supporters
statewide, and is at the forefront
in South Carolina's push for
tuition tax credits.
Andrew Carnegie's
propaganda machine
"To get where we got, public imagination had to be manufactured from
command centers, but how was this managed? In 1914 Andrew
Carnegie, spiritual leader of the original band of hard-nosed dreamers,
gained influence over the Federal Council of Churches by extending
heavy subsidies to its operations. And in 1918 Carnegie endowed a
meeting in London of the American Historical Association where an
agreement was made to rewrite American history in the interests of
social efficiency. Not all leaders were of a single mind, of course.
History isn’t that simple. Beatrice Webb, for instance, declined to
accept financial aid from Carnegie on her visit, calling him "a reptile"
behind his back; the high-born Mrs. Webb saw through Carnegie’s
pretensions, right into the merchant-ledger of his tradesman soul. But
enough were of a single mind it made no practical difference.
"On July 4, 1919, the London Times carried a long account reporting
favorably on the propaganda hydra growing in the United States,
without identifying the hand of Carnegie in its fashioning. According to
the paper, men "trained in the arts of creating public good will and of
swaying public opinion" were broadcasting an agenda which aimed first
at mobilizing world public opinion and then controlling it. The end of all
this effort was already determined, said the Times—world government.
As the newspaper set down the specifics in 1919, propaganda was the
fuel to drive societies away from their past:
"Efficiently organized propaganda should mobilize the Press, the
Church, the stage, and the cinema. Press into active service the whole
educational systems of both countries...the homes, the universities,
public and high schools, and primary schools...histories...should be
revised. New books should be added, particularly to the primary schools.
The same issue of the London Times carried a signed article by Owen
Wister, famous author of the best-selling novel The Virginian. Wister
was then on the Carnegie payroll. He pulled no punches, informing the
upscale British readership, 'A movement to correct the schoolbooks of
the United States has been started, and it will go on.'
"In March 1925, the Saturday Evening Post featured an article by a
prominent Carnegie official who stated that to bring about the world
Carnegie envisioned, 'American labor will have to be reduced to the
status of European labor.' Ten years later, on December 19, 1935, the
New York American carried a long article about what it referred to as
"a secret Carnegie Endowment conference" at the Westchester
Country Club in Harrison, New York. Twenty-nine organizations
attending each agreed to authorize a nationwide radio campaign
managed and coordinated from behind the scenes, a campaign to
commit the United States to a policy of internationalism. The group
also agreed to present "vigorous counter-action" against those who
opposed this country’s entrance into the League of Nations. Pearl
Harbor was only six years away, an international showcase for
globalism without peer.
"Soon after this conference, almost every school in the United States
was provided with full-size color maps of the world and with League of
Nations literature extolling the virtues of globalism. That’s how it was
done. That’s how it still is done. Universal schooling is a permeable
medium. There need not be conspiracy among its internal personnel to
achieve astonishingly uniform results; multiply this tactical victory
thousands of times and you get where we are. Today we call the
continuation of this particular strand of leveling 'multiculturalism'—
even though every particular culture it touches is degraded and
insulted by the shallow veneer of universalism which hides the politics
of the thing."  (Ibid.)
THE
WASHINGTON POST'S
JAY MATHEWS
UNCLEAR ON THE
CONCEPT:
"It may be true that reporters
should be writing more about
parental choice innovations, but
it would also be irresponsible
for us to pursue Easton's and
Tuttle's agenda for them.  
Virginia state officials and
school districts have shown
little interest in vouchers."
------
PW COMMENT:  THERE YOU
GO, JAY, DEFERRING TO
GOVERNMENT SOURCES.
------
ALSO NOTED:   USE OF THE
WORD, "AGENDA."
Why Carnegie wanted to
extend childhood via forced schooling
"From the beginning, there was purpose behind forced schooling,
purpose which had nothing to do with what parents, kids, or
communities wanted. Instead, this grand purpose was forged out of what
a highly centralized corporate economy and system of finance bent on
internationalizing itself was thought to need; that, and what a strong,
centralized political state needed, too. School was looked upon from the
first decade of the twentieth century as a branch of industry and a tool
of governance. For a considerable time, probably provoked by a climate
of official anger and contempt directed against immigrants in the
greatest displacement of people in history, social managers of schooling
were remarkably candid about what they were doing. In a speech he
gave before businessmen prior to the First World War, Woodrow
Wilson made this unabashed disclosure:
"We want one class to have a liberal education. We want another class,
a very much larger class of necessity, to forgo the privilege of a liberal
education and fit themselves to perform specific difficult manual tasks.
"By 1917, the major administrative jobs in American schooling were
under the control of a group referred to in the press of that day as "the
Education Trust." The first meeting of this trust included
representatives of Rockefeller, Carnegie, Harvard, Stanford, the
University of Chicago, and the National Education Association. The chief
end, wrote Benjamin Kidd, the British evolutionist, in 1918, was to
'impose on the young the ideal of subordination.'
"At first, the primary target was the tradition of independent
livelihoods in America. Unless Yankee entrepreneurialism could be
extinquished, at least among the common population, the immense
capital investments that mass production industry required for
equipment weren’t conceivably justifiable. Students were to learn to
think of themselves as employees competing for the favor of
management. Not as Franklin or Edison had once regarded themselves,
as self-determined, free agents."  (Ibid.)
For more of John Taylor Gatto's Underground History of
American Education:   www.johntaylorgatto.com

How we take back our children's education:
one person, one question, one school at a time.
From a printing press to
entire city blocks of prime
real estate
Not only have newspapers and TV
stations become substantial
economic investments occupying
prime real estate, but their owners, far
from being the firebrands and
radicals whose inner courage helped
light the American Revolution in 1776,
have become pillars of the
community, important and integral
parts of the local economy--and
understandably hesitant to bite the
hand that feeds them.
Where Patrick "Give me liberty or give
me death" Henry tackled all comers at
the  risk of not only his life and limbs
but also his entire financial weal in
the cause of speaking the truth, today
we see our newspaper editors and
TV station owners being cozied up to
by the local school superintendent at
Chamber and Rotary mixers and
meetings. They're buds, joined at the
hip in their commitment to only putting
forth the "good news" about the local
schools, supported in such an
outpouring by local realtors and
anyone else feeding at the Education,
Inc. trough.
Lil Tuttle
H e l p i n g   A m e r i c a ' s   M o m s   &   D a d s ,    s t u d e n t s   a n d   t a x p a y e r s


WHAT'S WRONG
___

WHO'S RESPONSIBLE

Education, Inc. &
the big pot o'money

Administrators
on the Move,
Educators in the News
(Aa-Ald) (Ale-Alp)
(AlQ-Anc) (And-Arz)
(As-Az)

Featured educator



Where are they now?

Lax oversight

The media

___

WHAT YOU CAN DO

Accountability

Practical how-to's

Success stories,
Kindred spirits

What to expect
___

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About

Contact

AASA - American
Association of School
Administrators

ASA - Association of
School Administrators

CSD - Consolidated
School District

DOE - Department
of Education

ES - Elementary School

HS - High School

ISD -  Independent
School District

JHS - Junior High School

MS - Middle School

MSM - Mainstream media

NSBA - National School
Boards Association

NSPRA - National School
Public Relations Association

PS - Public School(s)

SBEC - State Board for
Educator Certification

SD - School District

Sup't - Superintendent

TAKS - Texas Assessment of
Knowledge & Skills

TASA - Texas Association of
School Administrators

TASB - Texas Association
of School Boards

TASBO - Texas Association
of  School Business Officials

TEA - Texas
Education Agency

TEKS - Texas Essential
Knowledge & Skills

USD - UnifiedUnited School
District
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QUOTES

HOW WAS
"SCHOOLS
THAT WORK"
FUNDED?

Our project budget is
between us and our
funders, but the total
budget, which includes
considerable outreach
activities, promotion with
the media, web site,
tune-in advertising, in
addition to the production
was in the range
of $1.6 million.
We receive no royalties
whatsoever from PBS
or its stations either from
the original broadcast or
any rebroadcasts. To
repeat, PBS does not in
any way pay for the
broadcast. We raise the
money ourselves from
foundations and others
who support such
projects. The funders
are listed on air both
before and after the
documentary, and also
on our website.

--Hedrick Smith
Helping
parents &
taxpayers
implode
Education,
Inc.
I n
p r o g r e s s
ATTENTION EDUCATORS AND ADMINISTRATORS:
Every attempt possible has been made to verify all sources and information.   In the event you feel an error has been made, please contact us immediately.  Thank you.
Copyright 1999-2006 Peyton Wolcott

POP QUIZ:
What would be your
supe's idea of a
good TV show on
public education--
Hedrick Smith's or
John Stossel's?

David v.
Goliath:

How
America's
Moms & Dads
are taking on
Education,
Inc.

PEYTON WOLCOTT
QUERY
THE ED HEADS
TO:  
PAUL HOUSTON,
EXEC. DIR.-AASA
DATE:  
Jan. 23, 2006

1.  You mention your
outrage that "John
Stossel is allowed to
abuse his free press
privileges by using ‘20/20’
as his personal bully
pulpit to attack the very
institution that makes
democracy possible."  
Which specific
statements in the
Special do you
consider to be a
"vicious" attack on
public education in
America?  
2.  Could you please
comment on the
roomful of educators
in South Carolina
shown in the Special
who have failed to
teach 18-year old
Dorian Cain to read
beyond first-grade
level?  
3.  In light of your
statement that Stossel
was abusing his free
press privileges, do you
find it more than a little
ironic that you have
restricted access to
your AASA "Response
Tool Kit" to only AASA
members whose dues
and fees in most cases
are ultimately funded
by American taxpayers
--yet those same
taxpayers are
prohibited by AASA
from viewing the Kit?  
4.  Are you able to
appreciate that many
parents and taxpayers
believe the Special to
have been thoughtful
and restrained
journalism?  
5.  Would you proffer
Hedrick Smith's
"Schools That Work"
as a good example of
public school
reporting?  
6.  Do you see any irony
in the fact that Hedrick
Smith sold his special
to public broadcasting
(PBS) whereas John
Stossel sold his to a
commercial network,
ABC?
7.  Wondering why you
have apparently assumed
that AASA members were
similarly outraged by the
Stossel special.  Did you
receive a number of
emails and telephone
calls expressing such
outrage?
8.  In the interest of
AASA's anticipated
openness and
transparency, I am
requesting a copy of the
full "Response Tool Kit"
along with a press kit.  
9.  Unrelated to the
Special:  Would you
please comment on
ERDI's affiliation with
AASA and the fact that
ERDI conferences are
held each year in
conjunction with
AASA's annual
conference in
February, plus the fact
that in addition to both
events attracting the
same administrators they
also attract many of the
same vendors.
While I am eager to
present both sides of this
story, it is difficult to
present AASA's so long
as AASA continues to
hold pertinent information
such as the Kit so close.  
Your comments to the
above questions will help
greatly.


Andrew Carnegie
was homeschooled
until he was nine.
He was coaxed
into attending
school after that,
but by the age of
thirteen Carnegie
left school and
never went back.
School attendance
is not the only way
to become
a successful,
sociable adult.

--Pat Farenga
STATUS:  No
response--
NONE--as of
Feb. 23, 2006
Hot off the press!
TO:
INEZ TENENBAUM
SOUTH CAROLINA'S
SUP'T OF
EDUCATION  
("SCSOE")
DATE:
JAN. 15, 2006        

1. What is your salary
and what perqs do you
receive as SCSOE?

2. What income have
you received since Jan.
1, 2005 from any and all
sources for consulting
and any other
services other than
your salary as
SCSOE?  What are
those sources and what
services have you
rendered to those
sources?

3. Do you feel the amount
of time and energy
you spent on your
2004 campaign for
U.S. Senator took away
from your duties as
SCSOE?

4. Specifically, do you
feel that perhaps had
you might not spent
time and energy
campaigning for U.S.
Senator that South
Carolina might not
still be in the United
States' education
cellar?

5. Also, had you not
spent time campaigning,
there exists the
possibility that perhaps
you might have had
time to assist students
such as Dorian Cain,
featured on John
Stossel's special on
ABC's 20/20 "Stupid in
America" (hereafter  "
the Stossel Special").  
Do you feel there's a
connection? Hard to
imagine your being
comfortable with the idea
of a South Carolina
18-year old who can't
read despite a roomful
(six) of school district
employees who
presumably are
responsible and
accountable.

6. What is the name
of Dorian Cain's high
school and school
district featured on the
Stossel Special? If
student identification
such as this is
confidential, I will be
happy to email you a
photograph of the adult
South Carolina school
district employees;
presumably their names
are not confidential as
they are adults and on
the public payroll. Any
assistance you or [by
copy of this copy to Jim
Foster] South Carolina
Department of Education
Director of Public
Information Jim Foster
can give me such as a
link to the district and/or
the high school and/or
contact information will
be most sincerely
appreciated.

7. Following the
Stossel Special, what
if any steps are you
taking to require
greater accountability
at Dorian Cain's
school district and to
improve his reading
skills?

8. In the Stossel Special,
you appear to
emphasize process
over results, and to
accept no
responsibility for the
present dismal state of
education affairs in
South Carolina. You do
not appear to espouse
fellow Democrat Harry
Truman's dictum of "The
buck stops here." Just
where at the South
Carolina DOE does the
buck indeed stop?

If any of the foregoing
is a misperception on
my part, please help
clear this up for me. I
do understand that
sometimes in
interviews editing
occurs.

9. Any  further
comments,
explanatory or
otherwise?

STATUS: No
response--NONE --
as of Feb. 11, 2006.
So I followed up by
phone on Feb. 21
with Jim Foster,
Tenenbaum's
communications
chief, and will post
more next week.
WHAT'S WRONG
WITH THIS
PICTURE?
Is it the white linen
tablecloths & napkins?
No.
Is it the high
ceilings?
No.
Is it the
tasteful
decor?
No.
What's wrong with
this picture is that
the name of a San
Francisco journalist
(Heather Knight of
the San Francisco
Chronicle) appeared
on Supe Arlene
Ackerman's expense
report for a meal at
the Hayes Street
Grill (above), one of
the City's many fine
dining establishments.
 PW note (Feb. 11, 2006):
I have written Knight
in hopes that her name
was reported in
error on Ackerman's
expense report.
Thomas Paine's
Common Sense

Heather Knight
(left) of the
San Francisco
Chronicle.