Obama gives Bush education policy a third term. Corporatism over civil society.

[Metta]

While President Obama and his secretary of education, Arne Duncan, have focused on public education, they have done so by largely embracing the Bush administration's view of educational reform, which includes more testing, more empirically based accountability measures, more charter schools, more military academies, defining the purpose of education in largely economic terms, and punishing public schools that don't measure up to high-stakes testing measures. For instance, his recent reforms aimed at higher education consists of providing 12 billion dollars to improve community colleges by developing new assessment tools and developing a standardized national curriculum. What comes to mind from this piece of reform is an attempt to upgrade bad secondary schools by adding computers and turning them into trade schools while producing an army of students prepared to take their place in low-skill, low pay service sector jobs.

more at truthout.org http://www.truthout.org/072409A

[Honeycombe8]

1. So...what do YOU think about that? Instead of just regurgitating an article...

how about giving us your thoughts on the article you regurgitated? That would start a discussion.

[NYC_SKP]

4. Agreed.

It's a chicken shit cowardly flamebaity thing that a handful of members do.

:donut:

UNrecommended.

[MichiganVote]

2. All part of the end of local control over schools by the very citizens who fund them

This trouble is at least brought on by the very educators who have left a gap in planning from cradle to the grave when it comes to education. If all this continues to fail, don't blame the teaching staff. They have had NO input on any of this.

[Metta]

3. I agree; ... the corporate takeover of schools. People as fodder, to be led.

I really hope enough people wake up to change this else we're doomed to be a second class society. Happy karma, I say, to those intending to keep us down.

[MichiganVote]

5. Yes and if they can work it here they can work it anywhere. Reform is needed but this n/reform.

This is simple subterfuge.

[Leo The Cleo]

6. Agreed

I don't know that I'd say it is corporatism, however, corporatism is a goal of neoconservatives. After all, these neo-cons are a bunch of fascists.