tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3164556861454970487.post2563623971501607206..comments2023-10-08T05:00:23.559-04:00Comments on Clarissa's Blog: The Economist on the Events in WisconsinClarissahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11027134365260069910noreply@blogger.comBlogger11125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3164556861454970487.post-79905362018553681092011-02-23T21:18:59.651-05:002011-02-23T21:18:59.651-05:00Charter schools as a group have not been shown to ...Charter schools as a group have not been shown to outperform public schools with comparable socioeconomic status students. That is WITHOUT controlling for the parental motivation factors and stable home situations that are more likely to be present in charter school applicants than in non-applicants.<br /><br />The film "Waiting for Superman" presents anecdotes, not data. (All widely successful films present anecdotes because the general viewer doesn't want too many facts and talking heads interspersed with the anecdote.) Some successful charter schools are presented, but the average and disaster charter schools are not shown. Showing "a" success story is a good way to stimulate new ideas, but a bad way to formulate public policy.NancyPnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3164556861454970487.post-67908514685721246552011-02-22T12:36:15.706-05:002011-02-22T12:36:15.706-05:00Public workers in this country are among the last ...Public workers in this country are among the last remaining remnants of the post-war middle class. It doesn't take two brain cells to figure out that stirring up resentment against them in the form of some perverse inverted class warfare, in the name of "debt reduction," is but another in a long parade of schemes to transfer money and power, irrevocably, to the uber-rich.ericnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3164556861454970487.post-90054352962315693832011-02-22T11:12:42.426-05:002011-02-22T11:12:42.426-05:00I agree that The Economist has been going downhill...I agree that The Economist has been going downhill for a while. I wouldn't call it a mouth-piece of the Tea Party movement, though (even though they had a Lexington section a while ago were they praised some aspects of it). They did endorsed Obama, and they are pretty liberal with certain issues like gay rights and abortion. I would say they are an example of extreme free-market dogmatism that can't change its ideas even in front of evidence that shows that there is something wrong with them.Spanish profhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04248530328973177920noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3164556861454970487.post-5332452139003026262011-02-22T10:05:19.295-05:002011-02-22T10:05:19.295-05:00This last quote is as strange as the entire articl...This last quote is as strange as the entire article. The governor of NY is "rattling his sabre". What does it mean and who cares? What is he on the left of? Sarah Palin? What does it mean to be "impeccably liberal"? Is the author at all familiar with the English language? How can any one "perpetuate a broken system"?<br /><br />And most importantly, what is the name of the institution that allowed this journalist to graduate?Clarissahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11027134365260069910noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3164556861454970487.post-83056837692766552282011-02-22T07:20:26.821-05:002011-02-22T07:20:26.821-05:00I'd strongly recommend that anyone who reads t...I'd strongly recommend that anyone who reads this post read the entire article in <i> The Economist</i>. They discuss the issues across many different countries, and they make a lot of valid points. One doesn't have to agree with every word in the article to find it informative.<br /><br />Here's a quote you didn't use, Clarissa:<br /><br /><i>Even people on the left are beginning to echo these complaints. Andrew Cuomo, the incoming Democratic governor of New York, is rattling his sabre against public-sector unions despite the fact that they make up an important part of his base. Davis Guggenheim, an impeccably liberal film director whose credits include Al Gore’s “An Inconvenient Truth”, subjected the teachers’ unions to a merciless critique in “Waiting for Superman”, flagellating them for perpetuating a broken system and presenting Randi Weingarten, the head of the American Federation of Teachers, as “something of a foaming satanic beast”, as the Variety reviewer put it.</i>Tom Carterhttp://opinion-forum.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3164556861454970487.post-28941569987237233102011-02-21T18:14:11.035-05:002011-02-21T18:14:11.035-05:00My husband who is in quantitative finance used to ...My husband who is in quantitative finance used to subscribe. Every time he would hiss at the new issue, "I don't care about your opinions. Just give me facts, facts!" he doesn't subscribe any more.<br /><br />"Even as an avowed conservative, with a legitimate and well founded distrust of unions, it is insulting to suggest that unions (public sector or otherwise) are remotely responsible for the current economic mess. "<br /><br />-Substitute conservative for progressive, and I could sign my name to this entire statement. :-)Clarissahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11027134365260069910noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3164556861454970487.post-38659666359950102972011-02-21T17:59:03.280-05:002011-02-21T17:59:03.280-05:00There was a time when "The Economist" wa...There was a time when "The Economist" was a decent, informative magazine - but I haven't read it in over fifteen years.<br /><br />I can attest, having worked in both the private and public sector, with and without unions, that the reality is far more complex than the snippets of the article allude.<br /><br />Even as an avowed conservative, with a legitimate and well founded distrust of unions, it is insulting to suggest that unions (public sector or otherwise) are remotely responsible for the current economic mess. <br /><br />I guess allowing my subscription to lapse so long ago was money well saved.Patricknoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3164556861454970487.post-62020785621130137612011-02-21T17:17:47.929-05:002011-02-21T17:17:47.929-05:00I forgot about "merit metrics" which are...I forgot about "merit metrics" which are used to determine how much of a merit raise we qualify for each year.Pagan Topologisthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01611788563582362688noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3164556861454970487.post-33880548893475293762011-02-21T16:36:13.035-05:002011-02-21T16:36:13.035-05:00In the Army, the "performance measures" ...In the Army, the "performance measures" and the criteria on which I was evaluated were <b>far</b> more stringent than any I've ever been required to meet in a civilian job, and I've had a lot of civilian jobs.<br /><br />What a terrible article.<br /><br /><br />-MikeAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3164556861454970487.post-37411408503104555592011-02-21T15:39:22.554-05:002011-02-21T15:39:22.554-05:00Yes, between the cliches of the conservatives and ...Yes, between the cliches of the conservatives and the jargon of the Liberals, we are all screwed. :-)Clarissahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11027134365260069910noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3164556861454970487.post-69401662020688145802011-02-21T15:37:24.155-05:002011-02-21T15:37:24.155-05:00"Performance measure" is more clear than..."Performance measure" is more clear than our own "evaluation metric" or sometimes "performance metric" which is defined in a piece of writing (called a document, of course) worthy of the same kind of note as the prose quoted in your subsequent post.Pagan Topologisthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01611788563582362688noreply@blogger.com