The Censoring of Teachers----An Ominous Trend?
The American classroom and free speech----Still compatible? I wanted to share this piece by Julie Hilden at Counterpunch.Alas...Just a sign of the times.http://counterpunch.org/hilden03182006.html
Excerpt:
"Teachers are going to have political positions. If they teach inherently political subjects -- like Social Studies, Bennish's subject, or Government, Kyle's subject--it's senseless and oppressive to force them to hide these beliefs. We wouldn't do it to students--who surely can't constitutionally be punished for voicing political sentiments in class. Restricting the speech of the very teachers who are supposed to help define and referee the free speech arena for students would be ironic at best, and tragic at worst.
It's also counterproductive: When teachers must present arguments they think are dead wrong as if they were just as compelling as those with which they passionately agree, students will easily catch on to what's really going on. The only thing gained will be an atmosphere of taboo for the teachers: 'Oooh, Ms. Green let slip she's a Republican in Civics! Like we didn't already know.' "................................................................................................ And it's happening in colleges as well:http://www.counterpunch.com/mclennen03212006.htmlAnother article on the topic:http://www.guardian.co.uk/usa/story/0,,1746227,00.htmlAnd here's one, with even a spot of humor amidst the craziness, from Kansas:http://www.kansas.com/mld/kansas/living/education/14331100.htm....................................................................................................................................................................
The Corporate and Conservative war on Public Education--Some links
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$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$ $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$ $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$ ====================================================== ====================================================== Here are some links that may open a few eyes...and minds:
http://www.counterpunch.org/nader01272003.html
http://www.corpwatch.org/article.php?id=889
http://www.thirdworldtraveler.com/Education/Business_GoesTo_School.html
http://eserver.org/clogic/2003/saltman.html
http://www.aaanet.org/cae/aeq/br/saltman.htm
http://www.jobseducationwis.org/
http://www.rethinkingschools.org/special_reports/bushplan/body.shtml
http://newdemocracyworld.org/edspeech.htm
http://www.math.yorku.ca/sfp/newslett/s4p40.html
http://www.zmag.org/ZMag/articles/girouxjulyaug98.htm
http://www.rethinkingschools.org/special_reports/bushplan/index.shtml
http://www.newenlightenment.com/education_index.htm
http://www.educationforthepeople.org/Voucher%20vultures.htm http://www.wsws.org/news/1998/mar1998/edu-m20.shtml
http://www.jobseducationwis.org/229%20The%20Big%20Con%20in%20Education.doc
http://www.jobseducationwis.org/87%20A%20War%20Against%20MPS.doc
http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/archives/individual/2004_09/004639.php
http://www.jobseducationwis.org/231%20The%20War%20Aginst%20Public%20Education%20Economic%20Superiority.doc
http://www.jobseducationwis.org/232%20The%20Wars%20of%20the%20World%20and%20the%20United%20States.doc
It's happening in
the U.K. and Europe as well:
http://www.indymedia.org.uk/en/2002/01/20137.html
And on and on...
http://www.counterpunch.com/sandronsky04152006.html
http://www.fairtest.org/care/What_is_The_Goal_of_Education_Reform.html
http://www.weac.org/resource/nov96/vouchers.htm
http://www.zmag.org/zmag/articles/oct96cardella.htm
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And one from before NCLB that seems to foretell
what was to come:
http://www.ranknfile-ue.org/polact_isu_pe.html
Once again, on the absurdity of NCLB's requirements:
http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/archives/individual/2004_09/004639.php
On the use of tax money (via vouchers) for religious schools:
http://www.slate.com/?id=2067471
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Higher Education is also a target:
http://www.henryagiroux.com/online_articles/corporate_war.htm
http://www.counterpunch.com/mclennen03212006.html
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A recent, close-up view of Voucher schools in action--
(Excerpt: "The voucher schools feel, and look, surprisingly like schools in the Milwaukee Public Schools district. Both MPS and the voucher schools are struggling in the same battle to educate low-income, minority students.")
Read about it:
http://www.dailyhowler.com/dh032306.shtml
And, by the way, Voucher Schools NEVER have to be subject to achievement test scores as do public schools:
http://www.palmbeachpost.com/state/content/news/vouchers/a8a_testing_0413.html
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And here's a related bibliography:
http://www.bctf.bc.ca/education/notforsale/bibliography.html
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Pretty disturbing disclosures and discoveries, some of these.
To see Vouchers, and other so-called "reform" efforts as an offensive weapon AGAINST Public Educationis something a lot of folks don't really want to do.I know it's a hard thing to face----It seems like such a betrayal of our American principlesthat some people just aren't ready to acknowledge it--Just too creepy an idea to be real, for some people. It is an idea we naturally, as Americans, resist.Just like facing the nasty reality of a son or daughter's drug use, or the possibility thatthose human remains in your beloved uncle's basement are evidence that he may be a serial killer.NO... NO! IT CAN'T BE!! That is our natural reaction.
But the more one looks at the "big picture", the more
alarming the state of things appears to be. Be ready to face the unthinkable.
WHY?
Because, (almost reminiscent of a typical turning point in some B-budget sci-fi/horror movie), as so many people are now realizing...
This nightmare is really happening.
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Achievement test scores--A weapon against public schools?
Get those scores upor else!
============================================================================================================================================================================================I posted a version of this on the Huffington Post recently.
Feel free to respond...===============================================================================================
So-called "conservatism" will be the death of public education if it has its way (ah, but that is the point, isn't it?).
Once schools go over to vouchers, ALL STANDARDS TESTING CEASES. This has happened wherever a voucher system is instituted (see Wisconsin, etc).
That is a red flag right there.
Low test scores are used to batter public schools until vouchers are in place. Then, abruptly, the testing is phased out (or the results are no longer published).
Excerpt from a Daily Howler article linked to in a post higher up the page from this one:“…there are no systematic testing programs in the (Wisconsin) voucher schools whose data can be analyzed.”That is an alarm bell for any observant person.
Conclusion: Test scores & the attendant pressures they can exert, have become merely a gimmick--Simply, a WEAPON to blow a hole in Public Ed so vouchers can be put in and private companies with good lobbyists can make a mint off the public dime.
In reality, it is all about money.
The private sector sees all those billions of dollars the government spends on public education (and we probably all agree the money is not always spent wisely or effectively), and they obviously, drool.
Corporate America wants IN to that cash stream
very very much.
And with weapons like NCLB testing, they are
making real progress towards their goal.
But after their goal is achieved--the privatizing of much or all of public education--Testing will no longer be needed, and costs will be "kept down" much in the manner that insurance companies and HMOs keep costs down in medicine.
NOT!
The way things look now, that is the future of
American public schools.
And in the long run, corporate-schooling America's children will cost much
more than public education does today.
Got to keep those stock prices going up, after all.
The conservatives are coming...Hang on to your wallets!!
And say goodbye to public schools.
================================================================================================Some wise folks in Virginia agree:http://www.epi.elps.vt.edu/cross.htm http://www.solreform.com/More and more states are responding to NCLB'sabsurdly unrealistic test-score requirement "goals"in the only way available to them----By finding loopholes:http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060418/ap_on_go_ot/no_child_loopholeMore and more people are starting to realize--The whole point of NCLB is to make Public Schools "failures", so they can be taken over and privatized by schools which will no longer be subject to the pressure of test scores.Yet another "anti-NCLB" site by a teacher:http://www.debracraig.com/================================================================================
How are recent Reform efforts, or other changes affecting YOU and YOUR STUDENTS at your school? Don't be afraid. Be bold.
OPEN THREAD---Rant, rave, cry, sing or rejoice, to your heart's content--ABOUT YOUR TEACHING EXPERIENCES
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DataWorks as consultants in California schools, and similar corporations
Educational Consulting companies----
Angels or
Devils?
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The education consulting company,
Dataworks, has been acting as consultants for a number of California schools, and other schools in other states as well.
My school (which I choose not to disclose, for privacy's sake), has spent at least a 6-figure amount on
Dataworks to
ostensibly assist the school in making higher test scores on the mandated NCLB tests.
Here is their website:
http://www.dataworks-ed.com/At my school, there has been quite a bit of grumbling and complaining about Datawork's demands on the faculty, as well as the qualifications of the presenters (1 presenter was changed, after a bitter complaint from the Math dept).
However, in true teacher form, nearly all faculty members have been cooperative and prompt in their responses to Datawork's demands (for sets of lesson plans to evaluate, suggested lesson-plan formats to follow, etc).
After all, many teachers were the "good kids" in class themselves--You know, the ones who were usually cooperative, polite and reponsive. So it is not surprising that the faculty did what they were told to do, and delivered on all requests, even the "grumblers".
But there remain some doubts about Dataworks. They are a young company, apparently formed in the late 1990s, not long before the drafting of NCLB. This writer wonders if there are connections between the lobbyists and business interests who wrote the bill, and the company. They are making good money OFF THE TAXPAYER, and certainly increasing the pressure on classroom teachers.
There are other such consulting corporations at work in California as well. Another is called
Action Learning.
And there are certainly a few others around.
Some teachers, in private, say they sense a
"hidden agenda" with
Dataworks.
But at this stage, to be fair, it is just a feeling some
folks have, rightly or wrongly.
But it is an uneasy feeling nonetheless.
There is a desire to find out more about Dataworks, either to alleviate the feelings of unease about them, or justify it, whichever way it goes.
For right now, while this Blog is young, feel free to post about ANY of these companies at work in your school.
So how is Dataworks (or other educational consulting corporations) doing at YOUR school?
=============================Here's a site with some info/opinions on the subject:http://www.susanohanian.org/show_nclb_outrages.html?id=839Quote from article:"...Robert Schaeffer, of the National Center for Fair and Open Testing, said he is wary of the long-term effects of private consulting services on public education. Many services encourage teachers to focus their lessons solely on what might be covered on a standardized test, Schaeffer said. 'When politicians make test scores all that matter, what you get are schools becoming coaching factories that outsource the work to boost test scores, whether that helps education or not.' Test scores might improve, Schaeffer said, but students might not be learning. 'It's like being in a room that's too cold and holding up a match to the thermostat.' Morale also can be damaged when teachers are asked to follow advice from people outside the school community who aren't always educators, he added."=======================================
TEACHERS KNOW THE TRUTH
This Blog is intended as a meeting place where teachers from all over the USA can come and post their ACTUAL EXPERIENCES AT THEIR SCHOOL with the various reform laws, policies and programs that currently are inundating public schools all over the country.
These include NCLB, the nationwide Standards push, schedule "reforms" and any other significant policy that may be affecting YOUR TEACHING and YOUR SCHOOL, either positively or negatively.
We are especially looking for (honest and truthful, obviously) accounts, including any anecdotal information you can share, as to how a particular program or policy is impacting YOU (as the teacher) and YOUR ACTUAL, LIVING BREATHING STUDENTS.
I myself have been a secondary school teacher for 25 years in California. I have many impressions and opinions myself, but the real purpose of this Blog is not so much to share MY experiences, as to gather experiences and opinions from teachers all over the country.
I do not aspire to be a world-class Blogger such as an Atrios or KOS or any other of the famous Bloggers.
To be honest, I'm not nearly as good a journalist or opinion-shaper as those folks.
That is not my purpose.
Instead, I look to YOU, my fellow American teachers, for YOUR opinions, information, insights and amazing, but true stories of what the current wave of change, reform and challenges to public education is doing in ACTUAL SCHOOLS.
If the truth is ugly--Share it. If a disclosure is shocking--Disclose it.
Of course, If you have joy to share as well as horror, share that too.
It is my deeply-held belief that the general public does not really grasp what is happening in American
public education today.
This Blog is intended to clear up the mysteries, expose the frauds, and TELL THE TRUTH.
Initially, I plan not to restrict postings in any way.
If chronic abuse starts happening, then I will change that policy. But for now, this forum is free and clear
for anyone to share their thoughts and anecdotes about what is happening at their school. Feel free to post anonymously if you desire.
I will express my own views to some degree, but mainly, I will try to kick off things by posting links to a few articles and/or sites which I feel are pertinent to an honest discussion and honest sharing.
OK, Teachers. This is YOUR FORUM.
It's time to share some TRUTH.
The American classroom and free speech----
