Corporate-Driven Report Exemplifies Failed Thinking on US Education
Published on Tuesday, March 20, 2012 by
The Washington Post
Corporate-Driven Report Exemplifies Failed Thinking on US Education
Condi Rice-Joel Klein report: Not the new A Nation at Risk
by Valerie Strauss
A new report being officially released today by a Council of Foreign Relations task force chaired by Joel Klein and Condoleezza Rice seems to want very much to be seen as the new A Nation at Risk, the seminal 1983 report that warned that Americas future was threatened by a rising tide of mediocrity in the countrys public schools.
Its a pale imitation.
The U.S. Education Reform and National Security report, to be sure, has some similar language and themes of a Nation at Risk. It says (over and over) that Americas national security is threatened because Americas public schools arent adequately preparing young people to fill the ranks of the Foreign Service, the intelligence community, and the armed forces (or diplomats, spies and soldiers).
But it takes a very different view of the public education system than the authors of A Nation at Risk, who sought to find ways to improve public schools and treat the system as a civic institution. The new report seems to look at public schools as if they are the bad guys that need to be put out of business, with a new business taking over, funded with public dollars. ..............(more)
The complete piece is at:
http://www.commondreams.org/view/2012/03/20-7