John Legend and the Well-Meaning Corporatists. An education blogger's excellent post.

[madfloridian]

John Legend and the Well-Meaning Corporatists

Last Wednesday, Huffington Post Education’s Twitter feed tweeted this out:

John Legend: out to save schools? http://huff.to/14pCkEs
2:58 AM - 07 Mar 13

In the pithiest attempt at a response, I said “From what?”

John Legend’s presence in this debate particularly disturbs me because of the allure and seduction of having a musician stand side-by-side with the very people who condemn poor children, colored or not, to an artless, factory-inspired sense of schooling. Bloomberg’s distaste for public servants and their unions is well documented, as is Michelle Rhee’s bobbing and weaving of cheating allegations, both masterfully playing mainstream media to look like vanguards and radicals. I expect as much from them.

John Legend is different, though. Since my last letter to him, he’s gone further past original thought and more into neo-liberal think tank mode. A line like “If we think demography is destiny, we will allow our school system to confirm that belief” sounds like a Washington lobbyist read up on Deepak Chopra and tried to apply his tweets to education reform.

When the reformers use terms such as "demography as destiny", they are being completely and totally insulting to the whole public school system, and to all teachers there.

I think that is one of the biggest lies the "reformers" have used in their effort to make schools profitable for them.

They are saying that teachers do not expect those in poorer areas to be successful in school. It implies they don't teach them with success in mind.

That is a big fat lie. It is kind of lie that was perpetuated by the failed movie, Won't Back Down, which is still being peddled in local communities where the reformers want to set up shop. They are still using this propaganda around the country.

Filmmakers hope 'Won't Back Down' inspires reform

(AP) — The movie "Won't Back Down" starring Maggie Gyllenhaal and Viola Davis was a box-office dud, barely earning $5 million and disappearing from theaters soon after its September 2012 release.

But the film's creators, and a cadre of influential admirers, have more than ticket sales in mind. They hope the classroom drama about two single moms in Pittsburgh trying to save their kids' failing inner-city school also sparks a wave of activism while igniting widespread legal changes to give parents more control over how their children learn.

The article states they are using it to help get Parent Trigger laws passed.

The private screenings allow the business group's Institute for a Competitive Workforce and lobbyists from organizations such as StudentsFirst, the education reform group created by former Washington, D.C. superintendent Michelle Rhee, to woo state lawmakers over beer and finger sandwiches, as was the case recently in Jefferson City.

Apparently not many in Missouri watched the movie, but a lawmaker did file a bill for a parent trigger law.

He used the same bold lie that John Legend used, he just worded it a little differently.

"Children should not be the victims of the ZIP code they live in when their education is at stake," the Eureka Republican said. "I don't think parents would go such a route unless they have exhausted all other remedies because it is a drastic remedy. But it's only going to be utilized in drastic situations. So I think parents should be the ones who are ultimately in charge of their children's education, and not bureaucrats."

Victims of a ZIP code? Demography as destiny? Who thinks this stuff up?

And how are they getting away with this propaganda?

Oh, wait, I think maybe I know. They are getting away with it because there are no national leaders standing up for public education.

[madfloridian]

1. The "well-meaning" part I do mostly disagree with, though there may be exceptions.

I do not believe this onslaught on public education is well-meaning. I think it is planned to make more profit for the reformers, getting taxpayer money to boot.