Hidden Agendas & Half Truths On WTTW

In the segment, Civic Committee report author Eden Martin talks about how the elementary ISAT got easier in 2006 and how much easier the state tests already were than the national (NAEP) ones.--  but then he acts like charters are some sort of miracle cure and suggests that this report isn't all an effort to soften us up for the rollout for Ren-10 2.0. 

Catalyst editor Lorraine Forte makes some useful points about resources vs. governance (and the possibility that Chicago students have improved somewhat  if just not as much as the ISATs suggest) but she's infuriatingly tentative about answering the basic question of whether the report is fair or not.  I hate to say it, but if Catalyst folks can't provide expert analysis and interpretation then shows like WTTW should stop having them on.

Most irksome of all is how Martin tries to suggest that Duncan and Daley aren't themselves vested interests, aren't accountable for the abysmal results that his report decries, and haven't themselves used the hopped-up test scores in promoting their own accomplishments.