Was the KATRINA disaster a BLESSING for those who want to PRIVATIZE Public Education?
GET YOUR BRAIN AROUND THIS:
Powerful politicians and wealthy corporate interests are apparently combining their forces and connections to exploit one of the greatest disasters in American history, in order to transfer (read: STEAL) Americans' tax dollars and hand them over to private concerns. WHY?
In order to, ultimately, on the pretense of educating children,
enrich stockholders and CEOs (which is, unarguably, the primary goal of all private corporations).
Scared yet? Perhaps you should be.
Read this: http://counterpunch.org/davis08302006.html---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Excerpt:
Within days of Katrina, Gov. Kathleen Blanco (D) convened a special meeting of the state legislature to talk about a takeover
of the Orleans Parish Public School District, a district with a half-billion dollar budget serving New Orleans, the summit's keynote speaker, Nat LaCour, secretary treasurer of the
American Federation of Teachers, told the gathering.
"This meeting took place while there were still people on roofs and at the Superdome waiting to be rescued," said White.
A few months later, the state legislature passed legislation giving the state control of 107 of New Orleans' 128 public schools, by placing them under the authority of the Recovery School District (RSD).
Orleans Parish's public schools have now been divided into three categories: public, (privately run) charter, and the Recovery School District. A school receives the RSD designation if it is categorized as "failing", in some cases receiving the label only after a change in criteria since the hurricane. RSD schools are then managed by the state, not the local school board, and may be turned over to private foundations or other groups to be run as charter schools. Of the 57 public schools set to operate in New Orleans this school year, more than 30 are charter schools.
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Is Public Education HELPLESS in the face of a POWER-POLITICS/CORPORATE NEXUS?
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ARE WE FIGHTING THE WRONG BATTLES IN EDUCATION REFORM?
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Here is a very timely article from the TRUTHDIG site:
Paul Cummins: Fighting the Wrong Battles in Education Reform
EXCERPTS:
"For too many years now, we have allowed the wrong issues to dominate the debate over the reform of public education.
We are too caught up in questions of who will control the schools and how we implement our obsession with testing; we pay far too little attention to improving the content of what we teach and finding new ways to fund that teaching."
AND...
"Whether the mayor or the superintendent has the ultimate authority is less important, I believe, than the conditions in which teachers teach and the content of what their students are asked to learn: It is possible, in overcrowded classes, to force-feed students enough regurgitable information and to administer enough practice tests to raise test scores some. But it is not possible, in overcrowded conditions, to really teach—to have dialogues; to attend to individual differences; to carefully read, correct and return essays; to get to know your students. For an English teacher who has five or six classes a day of 35 to 50 students per class, it matters not a whit whether the mayor, superintendent or board is calling the shots. Furthermore, if the classroom teachers are so bound to teaching-to-tests, then the real values and critical issues of our time will go unattended."
LINK:
http://www.truthdig.com/report/item/20060905_education_reform/
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Is the purpose of American Public Education to "dumb us down"?
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An interview with John Taylor Gatto
==============================
Excerpts:
"You can be given—or subjected to—a schooling, but nobody can give you an education except yourself. Education is assembled from the inside out."
"Reflexive obedience is at the heart of the thing. The principal way this is measured is through testing, and most recently through standardized testing. Other vital attributes of a model modern citizen—each necessary to the health of a mass production economy—are an indifferent or poor ability to speak in a public forum or to write cogently (hence rendering all protest ineffective and short-lived) and an inability to think critically (which opens the mind to receptivity to various forms of coercion, like advertising)."
" Consider the short-answer test which requires the commitment to memory of disconnected bits of information. Good, perhaps, for quiz show contestants, but utterly detrimental to the high order thinking skill of reasoning from whole contexts. For most of us, the ability to think like a policy maker has been destroyed upon our emergence from high school."
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Read the whole interview here:
http://www.altpr.org/modules.php?op=modload&name=Sections&file=index&req=viewarticle&artid=372&page=1
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EDUCATION IS NOT A HAIRCUT and other uncomfortable truths about student responsibility and one-size-fits-all education strategies
And when I'm done, you'll know how to:Write a 1,000-word persuasive essay and a 10-page research paper, work out quadratic equations, explain cellular respiration, describe Rembrandt's style and use of light and shadow, analyze the causes of WWI, and prove the Pythagorean Theorem. Just hold your head still, please!
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If only teaching and learning were this simple!
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Someone can give you a haircut against your will;It happens on sports teams, in fraternities, and in the military, all the time. You can be given a haircut while you sleep.
In fact, you can be given a complete haircut without doing anything else besides sitting down and holding your head reasonably still.
Could a person be given AN EDUCATION in the same way?
Of course not.
Acquiring an education is a very ACTIVE process, and not at all a passive activity. In truth, one could say, that without active participation of the "recipient", NO ONE could be "given" an education.
So it is safe to say that an
EDUCATION IS NOT A HAIRCUT. Not at all. Not even close.
An education is something that is ACHIEVED, and not merely received, like a haircut or a shoe-shine, or an appendectomy.
It is assembled. It is BUILT--One day at a time, one assignment at a time, one experience at a time.
So why, then, are STUDENTS so seldom held accountable when test scores are low, or "too many" kids fail, or drop out?
It seems like it is ALWAYS "The School's", or "The Teacher's" fault (note: NEVER the politicians, though).
Sometimes it IS the fault of the school or teacher, but from my experiences, it is usually, NOT.
And many school actions and policies related to the classroom are administered on an almost totally "supply-side" concept, with teachers often dealt with and thought of (by administrations and politicians) as mere "deliverers" of curricula to vast numbers of passive "recipients"----As if the student's state of participation were always constant, as with some emotionless, ever-predictable "widget", or machine!
Facing large numbers of low-motivated-to-UNmotivated kids in the current test-score-crazy environment can be a lonely feeling, even for a veteran teacher, feeling so distant from the lofty powers-that-be that send down the standards and expectations so frequently, and sometimes, so arbitrarily.
But this is not to deny that, just like ballplayers, golfers and musicians, some teachers are better than others; Some are much better. A few are crap; some are brilliant.And ALL teachers can keep learning and improving, no matter how long they've already been at it. Just like it is in many other professions, I suspect.
But most teachers I have seen in 25+ years in education are pretty decent at it, or even quite solid----MORE than good enough to teach meaningful skills and knowledge to almost any kid who cares enough to listen, follow directions, ask for help when needed, and work on assignments until they are done.
As critical as I have been of schools, politicians and administrative policies, and a hostile media, I must share this disturbing fact with you:
The most frequent and ubiquitous barrier to learning in classrooms today is----The student.
Yes, THE STUDENT.
In some classes I have seen, as many as 1/3 to 1/2 of the class sits passively throughout the lesson, and if not pushed constantly by the teacher, won't even write a word down on the paper. These same students seldom turn in homework as well, and usually fail the class, often not even coming close to passing, in spite of having no particular learning disability or lack of intelligence.
Surely, it would be amazing to the opinionated politicians, pundits and many loud critics of public Education to actually experience how many kids sit inertly in class, completely ignoring any instruction that is going on, and only showing energy or enthusiasm in defying, or bogging-down the teacher when the teacher takes time out from the lesson (and valuable time away from the cooperative students) to try and get the "non-workers" involved, most often to no avail.
To be fair, most of my teaching experience has been in low-income schools, where these problems are more common.
And certainly, it is understandible when Johnny-X, who may have witnessed something as harrowing as seeing his father punching his mother around the kitchen that morning in a screaming rage, may be a little too distracted to focus on writing his essay dealing with character motivation in "The Scarlet Ibis" that day. (Another all-to-frequent reason is when a student admits to a "hangover", but that is another topic).
But overall, teachers must learn to balance their compassion for kids' hardships with the firmness necessary to move a class forwards towards worthwhile, or even "lofty" educational goals.
I said, A CLASS.
Classroom teachers do not generally have the luxury of just being able to stop everything to meet the needs of 1 student--That is what counseling sessions and afterschool 1-on-1 meetings are for.
And school outsiders would be shocked at just how few academically needy teenagers are unwilling to come in for help or makeup work afterschool, even if just for a few minutes!
Outsiders would also be stunned at how many parents of failing students seem to never get the grade reports which are mailed or taken home each quarter--The student intercepts them!
Shockingly, I've talked to the astonished parents of seniors, literally hundreds of credits short of graduation (due to chronic fails in coursework)----Parents who had never seen a report card from the school!
OK, obviously these sound like dysfunctional families, and parents lacking even basic trust and communication with their own children. Tragic. But all too common.
Over the years, my biggest struggles in the high school classroom have not been about how to teach writing better, or to get a piece of literature across, or to teach an important concept well (that is the FUN part of teaching, and the kids who are engaged, generally get it).
Unfortunately, some of the biggest challenges have been more on the level of how to get Jimmy, Jerry and Marie to bring materials to class, to sit in their assigned seat, or just to cease their nonstop socializing and follow simple directions for the assignment. And now, in the age of the cellphone, the miniature video game and ever-smaller digital music headphone systems, the challenges are even greater.
I know this sounds like mundane stuff. But this mundane stuff is stifling the education of, I would guess, perhaps a few million students coast-to-coast.
Discipline is part of teaching, and probably always will be. At least until Utopia is achieved.
But simple classroom management these days seems harder than it has ever been in my quarter-century in the classroom.
I have talked to teachers in many schools, and these problems are common in all but the most highly-academic environments.
In low-income areas, they can seem epidemic.
And that brings me to my second point, about one-size-fits-all education strategies so common these days.
It seems that my high school, and most others I know of, now seem to be oriented towards aiming every child toward a college education.
Vocational programs and trades-training are a thing of the past in many schools, leaving kids who are not academically-oriented basically hung out to dry.
Let's face it--Not everyone loves to read and has an academic leaning.
So-called "book-learnin'" is not for everyone.
Just like everyone is not an athlete, everyone is not a natural handyman/gadget-fixer, or master craftsman/woman.
But academic test scores and college admission rates are where the money and status is for schools, so now it's ACADEMICS FOR EVERYONE, better or worse.
Back in the 50s and 60s when I was in school, there were plenty of kids who were not academic--They weren't lacking in intelligence, they just weren't folks who loved reading, writing, thinking and analyzing--Academic concerns.
Can and will society accept that some folks are simply this way and can't, or won't, be changed?
But in the past they made perfectly good electricians and mechanics, contractors and yes, factory-workers.
But most of America's factories have long-since departed overseas in the constant search for cheap labor, leaving many non-academic people with few alternatives but to pursue an education they actually do not want in their hearts, and which they will only halfheartedly "attain".
Sure, some kids will fight the educational process, and disrupt classrooms, and intercept their failing report cards before their parents can read them,and refuse to cooperate with the teacher, and fail to do their homework, and if they graduate at all, graduate with minimal skills.
A good part of the responsibility for failure will ALWAYS be the student's, because education is not a haircut.
But how much less an obstacle to their own education would they be, if schools started offering a wider spectrum of career and skills training, to address the wide spectrum of living, breathing human beings we have in our society.
Currently, the way many schools are set up to operate seems to be based firmly on the notion of the educational process being administered, unfortunately, like a haircut---All "supply-side" emphasis and the same track and goals for nearly every student.
Someday, perhaps our society will regain its sincerity about education, give up on the "everybody is on college-track", one-size-fits-all fantasy of today's test-score-obsessed educational policies, and then we will find out just how many of our kids will still want to fight the process of their own education.
One size does not, and never will, fit all.
Even if every child in every school loved reading and was intensely academic, the sad truth is that there are not nearly enough college-degree-type jobs for them--not even close, as this article reminds us:
http://www.capitolhillblue.com/artman/publish/article_8436.shtml
Various criticisms and
doubts regarding the one-size-fits-all
approach to education:
http://irascibleprofessor.com/comments-08-24-02.htm
http://community.thenewstribune.com/?q=one_size_fits_all_doesnt_work_for_our_students
http://www.jobseducationwis.org/252%20Why%20must%20all%20high%20school%20graduates%20be%20prepared%20for%20college.doc
http://www.nea.org/lawsuit/laredo.html
http://www.schoolfunding.info/news/federal/10-29-04nclburbanrural.php
http://www.zwire.com/site/news.cfm?BRD=1344&dept_id=433794&newsid=15095329&PAG=461&rfi=9
http://files.ruraledu.org/docs/charleston_gazette_editorial.htm
http://www.okea.org/ESEA/legislativeactionkit/fix/whatnclbdoes.html
http://www.susanohanian.org/show_nclb_outrages.html?id=1445
A teacher's devastating critique of NCLB:
http://www.debracraig.com/
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Does the media HATE public Education?
============================================Again and again, in one newspaper and magazine article after another, Public Education is skewered mercilessly.Criticism is heaped upon criticism, as if the Public Education system is such a dismal failure that the prospect of improving it seems utterly hopeless.And we seemingly never get any positive suggestions or new ideas from the same self-righteous press which is so unrelentingly hostile in its neverending attacks.It is true that many Educators in Public Ed, including this writer, are frequent critics of Public School systems' faults and often misguided solutions and policies. But such criticisms come from people who nonetheless still believe in the idea of public education and feel it needs to be overhauled and re-tooled for a changing world in a new millenium in order to meet the needs of a free society in flux.It is easy to speculate that the almost totally corporate-controlled media is attacking Public Ed for far more sinister and deliberate reasons (i.e. a total discrediting of Public Ed in order to facilitate a future takeover perhaps?). Sounds like a plan.Billions of dollars and the future of Public Education in America are at stake.This article from the Daily Howler Blog (with a link to a sample article from the Washington Post) calls attention to a classic example of this persistent media habit of negativism about public schools, which seems epidemic in America's Media today:(note--Article starts about 1/3 down the pg)http://www.dailyhowler.com/dh041006.shtmlExcerpt:“ 'Baltimore schools need urgent attention.' But omigod! The state itself has no plan for these schools; it will turn them over to unnamed third parties, and let those parties figure things out! Our question: Is there any reason to think that these unnamed third parties will get better results at Douglass? The editors don’t show the slightest sign of having tried to figure that out. They don’t say who these third parties might be. They offer no information—none at all—about the track records of such third parties. They simply prefer to thunder and roar—to pretend that they care about these matters. They trash the people who now run these schools—although they don’t offer the slightest sign that they themselves have any ideas about how to solve Douglass High’s problems.
What should change in Baltimore’s classrooms? The editors have no suggestions—not one."And:"What’s happening inside those charter school classrooms? [reporter] Gootman didn’t bother to check. What’s happening in those endless Sacramento reading classes? Dillon didn’t check that either. Meanwhile, what are Deasy and Janey’s ideas? In each case, the Post didn’t bother to ask. Upper-class editors—like those at the Post—don’t soil gloved hands with questions like that. Instead, they thunder loudly, pretending to care about what goes on inside Douglass High. They insist on “urgent, even dramatic action”—then admit that they’re willing to settle for something which is likely quite different.
So it goes as our upper-class news orgs pretend to cover low-income schools. They rarely soil their dainty hands by stepping inside real low-income schools. (Have any of the outraged editors ever set foot inside Douglass?) In part for that reason, they have zero ideas—none; not one—about the way such schools should be run. But then, no one seems to have such ideas."Ultimately, it's not actually about "hate" (although the visible symptoms look the same).
It's probably not even personal at all.
In truth,
the attacks are about power, and especially,
as one might expect, money.===========================================
Would your local school district turn YOUR child in as a TERROR suspect?
SUSPICION?
Is this a new trend in American schools?
Excerpt:
"Picture this. You're at work one day and your phone rings. It's the principal at your teenager's school. You need to leave work and come to the school right away. When you arrive, there is your son, two policemen and the principal waiting. Your son is about to be expelled for making terrorist threats. Your mind reels. Your son is a good student, well liked by everyone, an athlete and a musician. The two of you are close. This can't be true..."
For more, read this:
http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2006/4/5/8388/95229
A few comments added to the story here:
http://stevegilliard.blogspot.com/2006/04/what-is-dumber-than-school-district.html
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NCLB and the narrowing of curriculum in American Public Schools
................................................................................................From the NY Times, March 26, 2006:SCHOOLS CUT BACK SUBJECTS TO PUSH READING AND MATH:http://www.trueblueliberal.com/2006/03/26/schools-cut-back-subjects-to-push-reading-and-math/
Excerpt:"Thousands of schools across the nation are responding to the reading and math testing requirements laid out in No Child Left Behind, President Bush’s signature education law, by reducing class time spent on other subjects and, for some low-proficiency students, eliminating it.Schools from Vermont to California are increasing — in some cases tripling — the class time that low-proficiency students spend on reading and math, mainly because the federal law, signed in 2002, requires annual exams only in those subjects and punishes schools that fall short of rising benchmarks.
The changes appear to principally affect schools and students who test below grade level.
The intense focus on the two basic skills is a sea change in American instructional practice, with many schools that once offered rich curriculums now systematically trimming courses like social studies, science and art. A nationwide survey by a nonpartisan group that is to be made public on March 28 indicates that the practice, known as narrowing the curriculum, has become standard procedure in many communities."(See link above for complete article)===============================================Lately, some schools are beginning to stop this trend of narrowing the curricula and are adopting "new-old" strategies to accomodate more of their students' needs:
http://mobile.latimes.com/mobile.php?UMPG=article&UM_SCTN=Education&UM_ARTICLE_LINK=http://www.latimes.com%2Fnews%2Feducation%2Fla-me-voced6apr06%2C1%2C5971960.story%3Fcoll%3Dla-news-learningExcerpt:"Chris Walker, a lobbyist for several blue-collar trade groups in Sacramento, predicted that ConnectEd would confront barriers from the University of California and the California State University systems, which are loath to accept some vocational courses as college prep material. Increasingly, California school districts are adopting the entry requirements of the university systems as high school graduation requirements. "More and more, this college pathway is edging career tech out," Walker said. The poll commissioned by Irvine, which was conducted by Peter D. Hart Research Associates among a representative sample of California high school students, found that only 39% of students said they liked going to school and that their school "does a good job of motivating me to work hard and do my best." The remaining 61% who disagreed with that statement were selected for more in-depth interviews. Of those students, 88% said they probably would enroll in a career-oriented school if they had the chance. There was virtually no difference among racial or ethnic groups, but in a departure from stereotype, girls were more likely than boys to say that they would benefit from hands-on learning."=============================
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
.........................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................
DataWorks as consultants in California schools, and similar corporations
Educational Consulting companies----
Angels or
Devils?
=============================================
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.
