In his op ed today in the WSJ Ford joins with Eli Broad of the Broad Foundation and Louis Gerstner, former chairman of IBM. The Broad Foundation has joined the Gates and Walton foundations in giving hundreds of millions to advance charter schools.
From Susan O'Hanian's education blog today, we get the letter and some behind the scenes stories on how we got to this point. She is correct in saying that the DLC has made charter schools its goal.
Race to the Top in EducationIf you doubt that the Democratic Leadership Council had already destroyed every shred of integrity that once rested in the Democratic Party, then be sure to note what Harold Ford, Jr. is doing these days. And remember, no group was a stronger supporter of NCLB than the Democratic Leadership Council. Take a look at
this page. Click on a few of the articles--if you have the stomach for it. And with Lou Gerstner joining the discussion, we come full circle from when he and Bill Clinton stumped for America 2000 for Pres. Bush the Elder. It contained many of the same elements as RTTT but lacked teeth. Pres. Clinton didn't get the national test he wanted but Obama is well on the way to achieving that goal. Without a whimper from our professional organizations. Members of the Executive Council of NCTE say they cooperated on the LEARN (sic) Act so as to keep a "seat at the table."
Now where have we heard this concern for
sitting at a table laden with poison food before?In the ugly piece below, this trio turn the three wise monkeys upside down, shouting pernicious and phony declarations about the beauty of competition. Look at the concern they express about the embarrassing achievement gaps between middle-class children and poor and minority children--at the same time failing to mention the devastating gap in money and the security of food, shelter, and family well-being that money brings, between middle-class children and poor and minority children. No mention of the gap between the $700,000+ average salary of a Goldman-Sachs worker and the 14 million US children living in families with income below the poverty level. Research shows that, on average, families need an income of about twice that level to cover basic expenses. Using this standard, 41% of children live in low-income families.
The US has one of the highest poverty rates among industrialized nations, second only to Mexico.
O'Hanian mentions that she just read Saltman's book on Venture Capitalism and education.
I just read the manuscript of Ken Saltman's new book coming out early in 2010, The Gift of Education: Public Education and Venture Philanthropy, which shows how vulture venture philanthropy, pushing the neo-liberal/corporate agenda, sets current ed policy. There are chapters on Gates and Broad. And here's something you may not have thought about: Big venture philanthropies are operating largely with our money. They get enormous tax breaks and then march off with our money to destroy public education.
Yes, they are doing it all with our taxpayer money. And barely a squeak from taxpayers.
Here is the part of the
WSJ piece today in which Ford urges us not try to water down the education policies being set forth now.
Now, however, President Barack Obama has launched "Race to the Top," a competition that is parceling out $4.35 billion in new education funding to states that are committed to real reform. This program offers us an opportunity to finally move the ball forward.
To that end Mr. Obama and Education Secretary Arne Duncan are pushing states toward meaningful change. Mr. Duncan has even stumped for reform alongside former Republican House Speaker Newt Gingrich. Yet the administration must continue to hang tough on two critical issues: performance standards and competition.
Already the administration is being pressured to dilute the program's requirement that states adopt performance pay for teachers and to weaken its support for charter schools. If the president does not remain firm on standards, the whole endeavor will be just another example of great rhetoric and poor reform. Competition among the states is also vital to reform. The administration is resisting the temptation to award funds to as many states as possible. And that's good. To be effective, Race to the Top funds cannot become a democratic handout. Competition brings out the best performance. That's true in athletics and in business, and it's true in education.
Race to the Top funds will not serve their purpose if they are awarded based on good intentions and promises. Instead, the administration is right to look at results. Has a state embraced rigorous standards? Has it welcomed charter schools? Has it turned around low-performing schools and held teachers accountable?
In case you haven't heard yet, the two main criteria for getting part of Arne's 4.3 billion are more testing, more testing, more testing databases tied to grading teachers on what students score...and allowing more charter schools. In other words, merit pay and charter schools.
Testing companies will get richer, Charter School Management Corporations will get richer...with our taxpayer money. That's a pretty good deal.
Traditional public schools are the only ones who don't benefit.
We already knew the policy shop of the Democratic party was for charter schools and merit pay. Al From wrote about it in 2000. He is getting his way now.
Al From called for charter schools in 2000.The Democratic Leadership Council (DLC) is now calling for reforms including school choice and merit pay for teachers.....America is a tale of two public school systems: one that works reasonably well, although it could certainly be better, and one that is by almost any standard a disaster," says From.
.."From argues that the public school system too often serves the interests of teachers and administrators at the expense of the students themselves. It is a "monopolistic" system that "offers a 'one-size-fits-hardly-anyone' model that strangles excellence and innovation" he says.
Characterizing charter schools as "oases of innovation," From writes, "The time has come to bring life to the rest of the desert-by introducing the same forces of choice and competition to every public school in America."
From also says Democrats should work to redefine the very notion of public education itself.
This administration with Arne Duncan at the head of the DOE is getting way too comfy and cozy with corporations that are not happy with public education.
AP says "ethic rules have been waived" to allow DOE folks to deal more easily with Gates FoundationEducation Secretary Arne Duncan welcomes the foundation's involvement.
"The more all of us are in the game of reform, the more all of us are pushing for dramatic improvement, the better," Duncan said in an interview with The Associated Press.
Duncan's inner circle includes two former Gates employees. His chief of staff is Margot Rogers, who was special assistant to Gates' education director. James Shelton, assistant deputy secretary, was a program director for Gates' education division. Rogers said she joined the administration because she was inspired by the its goals for helping kids graduate from high school and finish college.
The administration has waived ethics rules to allow Rogers and Shelton to deal more freely with the foundation, but Rogers said she talks infrequently with her former colleagues.
Here is the
cached version of the full AP article.We the taxpayers are funding the privatization of public education.
And scarcely a peep about it.
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