What to do when school "reform" is actually its *opposite*.

[Smarmie Doofus]

What does one *call* it?

REFORM - in quotes? What do you call its opponents? ( "Real reformers"? It's had a little traction but..... I don't think so. ) Interesting and well written write-up of a vexing problem: the theft of a perfectly good word by people determined to corrupt and damage pubic education as best they can.


So if the bad guys are "reformers".... what are the good guys?

http://parentsacrossamerica.org/2011/06/lance-hill-on-the-way-the-privatizers-have-hijacked-the-word-reform/







>>>The ed deformers have spent a lot of time and money in the branding game. They are reformers. We are status quoers (though that game is wearing thin given that they control so many school systems for a decade or longer and are now the status quo themselves - something we need to point out at every opportunity). In their branding game, they are for children, we are for adults. Another term we need to turn around by showing how the adults like Rhee and Klein and Moskowitz are doing very well on the backs of the children they claim to represent and that teachers and parents who oppose them truly represent children.

One of the goals behind the GEM movie "The Inconvenient Truth Behind Waiting for Superman" was to turn the tables on the so-called ed reformers by reframing the debate using our terms, not theirs. Thus they are not reformers but deformers, a term I take credit for creating years ago. The current vogue seems to be referring to them as "corporate reformers" and us as the Real Reformers – thus the reason we call the GEM committee that work on the film "Real Reform Studio."

It is important for us to take back the language of reform from the deformers. It is important to label them for what they are - when we talk to people, speak publicly, leave comments on blogs, etc. If you are in a school, hold a seminar on this topic when you get back to school - make these points at union meetings and to parents.>>>>>

[Smarmie Doofus]

1. A better link now. Lance Hill is actually the author. n/t

[proud2BlibKansan]

2. I used to complain about the way the GOP uses vocabulary

The deformers have borrowed this little trick. And they aren't all GOP. :mad:

[Smarmie Doofus]

3. Not by a long shot.

>>>>And they aren't all GOP. >>>>>

I don't particularly like "deformers" ( i.e. the word), though. It works as short hand among ourselves but the broader public doesn't get it.


I also am not wild about "privatizers"... although that's probably the most descriptive term for exactly what *most* of the alleged 'reform" is really about. People can relate to that word... at least politically literate people. Hill makes a good analogy ( I THINK it's in this article) between prison privatizers and school privatizers.
That's something that people can relate to.

'Course the moneyed "reform" elite will swear up and down that privatization has nothing to do with it.

[Fearless]

4. So why is this administration supporting things like...

high stakes testing, privatization/corporatization, union breaking, and charter schools... when each of these things has been proven harmful to student learning?

[Smarmie Doofus]

5. For that answer, I'll refer you to your HST by-line.

If we think what we're seeing in DC these days is the "party" , then I'm afraid "the party's over".

Or maybe Leslie Gore said it best:

"It's my party and I'll cry if i want to."

[Fearless]

6. +1

[durablend]

8. Cuz there's $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$ in it

Answer your question?

[Fearless]

9. Clearly.

[Reader Rabbit]

7. I refer to them as "deformers" whenever possible.

K&R, by the way.

[LWolf]

10. He makes a good point here:

n a sense, we are defined by the other opposition—we are resisting “reforms” that don’t make education “better” and don’t remove “faults.” We are “anti-privatization, “anti-business model,” “anti-market-based model” and anti teacher-deproffesionalization. Defining us in oppositional terms may makes sense—the “anti-war” movement had its appeal. But is there a positive, visionary and universal definition that would serve us better; one that would denote our belief in educational excellence, equity, and democracy?

We are against all of those things, but should we define ourselves that way, or should we define ourselves according to what we are FOR?

I am FOR:

Fully funded, fully staffed schools.

Educators in charge of education policies.

A fully public system.

To begin with.

I'm also for:

Less testing, and ethical, appropriate uses of standardized tests and every kind of assessment.

Inquiry based education that teaches higher-level thinking and learning skills used for a lifetime.

Small schools, small class-sizes, and flexible structures that create environments that more closely fit the way people learn.

Abolishing poverty, and building deep safety nets in every community for all.

Universal, FREE, PUBLIC pre-school through college and/or trade school.

How do I define all of that?

[Smarmie Doofus]

11. I don't think you can, LW:

>>>How do I define all of that?>>>>


For better or for worse, I think we're locked into their frame of reference. They simply got the drop on us in framing the debate, linguistically.

Which doesn't mean that we have, necessarily, to define ourselves as anti-*anything*. Although it may come down to that.

They got the drop on us by seizing the term "reform" . Which they then sold to the media.... which of course was not much of a "sell"... since the same people who are trying to "reform" education also own the $$$media.

To me , "privatization" is the closest term that accurately describes 90% of what ed "reformers" are actually pushing for.

I personally don't object to my constellation of ideas on this topic as being "anti-privatization."

[LWolf]

13. I agree that privatization is the goal.

I'm for equal opportunity. For me, that means fully free, universal, excellent public education pre-school - college or trade school, including adult ed at any point in someone's life. "Excellent," because public ed needs to be structured to offer the best education possible in the nation.

[maryf]

12. kr nt