Lewis Black and Mike Rose

When it comes to education, both Lewis Black and Mike Rose seem to be very well on the same page. Black believes that too much money is being put into the way schools look and not the education itself when there are kids trying to win the lottery to get into a charter school. Black also believes that the media is totally changing the way people see education, but in a terrible way. "We rank 21st in math, 25th in science, but we rank number one in confidence." Black states that this is completely ridiculous. Mike Rose agrees on this subject when he writes, "..stop the accountability train long enough to define what we mean by “achievement” and what it should mean in a democratic society. Is it a rise in test scores? Is it getting a higher rank in international comparisons? Or should it be more?" Rose is saying that test scores shouldn't define the way we determine if a teacher is good or not. Like when Black takes another look at the media and shows a man saying that if you're driving by a school you should "walk in and ask how you can help." Okay, this is completely ridiculous. Why should you let a stranger teach when so many teachers are being let off for budget cuts? The new reality television series "Teach: Tony Danza" is about a guy who always wanted to teach but wasn't even certified. Even the children knew he wasn't! Personally, if I had a teacher who didn't know what the heck they were doing I would be completely outraged! Rose also talks about the media when he says, "To have the media, middle-brow and high-brow, quit giving such a free pass to the claims and initiatives of the Department of Education and school reformers. There is an occasional skeptical voice, but for any serious analysis, you have to go to sources like The Nation or Pacifica radio. Journalists and commentators who make their living by being skeptical – David Brooks, Nicholas Kristof, Arianna Huffington – leave their skepticism at the door when it comes to the topic of education." He is also agreeing with Black in how the media blows things out of proportion.