There is a "well-funded, well-coordinated campaign to privatize as many schools as possible"

madfloridian

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Sat Nov-26-11 01:53 AM
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There is a "well-funded, well-coordinated campaign to privatize as many schools as possible"

Those are the words of Diane Ravitch, former assistant Secretary of Education of Bush I. Because she is one of the few now fighting for public education, she is fast becoming a target of the education reformers.

Here is more of what she said:

From the Seattle Times:

Historian blasts education reforms

Education historian Diane Ravitch blasted the education-reform movement as a "well-funded, well-coordinated campaign to privatize as many schools as possible" during a sold-out speech in Seattle on Thursday night.

During an hourlong appearance, Ravitch criticized teacher-evaluation systems as "crazy," called the No Child Left Behind Act "the death star of American education" and argued charter schools "divide communities."

"American public education is under attack," Ravitch said. "False claims are made about achievement. False claims are made about teachers. False claims are made about what's needed to improve the schools."

Ravitch, a former assistant secretary of education for President George H.W. Bush and an early champion of education reform, eventually concluded the reform movement was misguided and led by corporations.

In effect there is no one really fighting this stunning move to end public education in America as we know it. We have always had this tradition of a free education for all. It seems as though it has been very easy for the process of its dismantling to continue.

It would, I think, have been different if George Bush had pushed it so hard. I think we would have fought him fiercely on it.

Now the few of us who are speaking out on it are pretty much ignored. In fact I got a message passed to me anonymously that people were getting tired of my gripes about education. Actually it was not said that nicely, it was a vicious thing. So with the new DU3 my posts won't be as noticeable....so that part will be settled.

They are a powerful group, those reformers. They are being very effective using the tons of money that teachers in the public school system don't have. They are using that money to fill school boards with candidates who see things their way. It's happening quickly.

From Huffington Post:

America's Education Reform Lobby Makes Its Presence Known At The Voting Booth

Meet the new education lobby. It's ambitious, expansive and, in some cases, modeling itself after sprawling single-issue lobbying organizations like the National Rifle Association and AARP. The groups, which have in large part been created by hedge fund managers and lapsed government officials, count political operatives inside state legislatures and even the Democratic National Committee among their ranks. And they're using the power of their fundraisers' purses and sophisticated messaging outfits to push their agendas in local and school-board elections across the country.

"We've been trying to win this battle by blogging and making compelling arguments," said Michael Petrilli, executive vice president for the Thomas B. Fordham Institute, which supports charter schools, accountability and tough teacher evaluations.

"That dynamic is changing now," said Petrilli, who used to work at the Education Department official in the George W. Bush administration.

Here is one tactic.

Two of the central reform groups, Democrats for Education Reform and Stand for Children, flexed their muscle in a Denver School Board election earlier this month. The two groups deployed campaign workers and together spent over $150,000 on the race, pushing through a majority that supports their favored reforms such as charter schools and closing down failing schools and backs the tenure of Denver Public Schools superintendent Tom Boasberg.

There are many others groups as well. The reform movement has the undying support of Arne Duncan, who was appointed by President Obama as Secretary of Education. Also the Clinton Global Initiative helped launch the international version of Teach for America. It is called Teach for All

Bill Clinton and former Prime Minister Tony Blair of Britain announced Teach for All�s founding at the 2007 meeting of the Clinton Global Initiative, but the group has gotten little media attention. On Thursday, Ms. Kopp is to review the network�s growth in a speech at this year�s New York meeting of the Clinton initiative.

The countries in the program, which has a two-year commitment similar to Teach for America�s and a similar focus on needy schools, are Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Bulgaria, Chile, China, Colombia, Estonia, Germany, India, Israel, Latvia, Lebanon, Malaysia, Pakistan, Peru and Spain. Ms. Kopp said local social entrepreneurs in many other nations were working to recruit teachers.

So public education and public school teachers are being attacked from all sides.

I talked recently with a mother of a kindergartner who is reading at 4th and 5th grade level at a charter school. He sounds like a typical child in kindergarten otherwise. He wiggles, he squirms, he doesn't keep constant eye contact with the teacher. Instead they have a system they follow without deviation. There is the usual click of a button, and one chance to get total attention back.....or a monitor comes and takes them out of the room. This probably gifted child goes home every day kind of sad that he is not making his teachers proud.

For goodness sake he is five years old. Yet he is being subjugated by a button click.

It's very obvious that public education will likely be dismantled before many years as we attempt to follow the party rules of not making the perfect the enemy of the good, of not criticizing the policy of the administration.

Soon I doubt you will see much posting here about the corporate steamroller that is crushing public schools and teachers. The propaganda about bad teachers worked well, very well.