Whats the difference between the right and left on education since the 1990's?

[The Straight Story]

I sided with the right back then on the issue of Outcome Based education (OBE). The right was all against teaching to the test, etc, and the left was for it.

Then - the rw 'won' in 2000 - and then enacted the same thing under a new name, NCLB.

Now the left was against it and the right was all for it (accountability for teachers and such).

The left decided it was 'bad' because the 'right' thought it was good.

Obama gets in and things stay the same - except now the right is mostly silent on the issue and the dems in power are still promoting it and empowering it.

Who got played? The left? The right? Or us little folks who sit here wondering if there is any political party left that is really concerned with our needs and not with just winning elections (ie, come out against anything at all one party does, then when you win do what they did and now it is ok).

I think, sadly, that our two main parties have come to depend on the fact that people in that party will vote for them no matter what - so they can just ignore you because your vote is a lock. They play to the moderates now because those on the 'fringes' will always, always, vote for the party and therefore whatever they do they know they have your vote locked in.

When you make your vote to a party, instead of an ideal, this is what you end up with - they can do what they want because, like a group of religious folks to their leaders, you will always defend your party and vote for them because you have come to believe there is no other choice.

If bush were to run as a dem tomorrow we would have to endorse him here and back him - because it is now about party and not about ideals.

And that is when you really lose.

You WILL vote for a party, You WILL vote for someone based upon what you are told - because to do otherwise means you are not loyal. And you would not want to hurt the 'party' would you? No good citizen would do that.

You lost when you committed to a party and not an ideal - you lost when you said "I am against teaching to the test" when before you were all for it because people in your party were.

The difference between the dems and repugs since the 1990's when it comes to education? Is which side you were cheering for. The topic did not matter. Both sides told each other their ideals were wrong and bad, and both sides went ahead and tried to do it.

[DJ13]

1. As I've said before, the GOP comes up with (stupid) ideas

and the Democrats (rightfully) criticize those ideas to act like the opposition, then they enact (or keep in place) those same stupid GOP ideas once in power.

At this point I think its more often the rank and file Democrats who are getting played.

[ProgressiveEconomist]

2. Rs but not Ds generally support vouchers for "private" education. 80 percent of private

schools are religious schools where Rs can have their kids segregated by religion as well as race. They can also be taught how to use firearms, the virtue of selfishness, social Darwinism, how slavery was the best thing that ever happened to African-Americans, what a raw deal Nixon got, etc, all at taxpayer expense.

[ProgressiveEconomist]

3. Kick!

[LWolf]

4. I see the current mess starting before the 90s.

It started with Ronald Reagan in the 80s. He wanted to abolish the Dept. of Ed, bust teacher's unions, and privatize public education.

The 90s brought us the dlc, the "new" democrats who adopted many bad ideas from the republicans. Just like they've done on other issues, the Democrats have, until Barack Obama, been the "kinder, gentler" face of neoliberalism since the 90s. That includes their ideas about education "reform."

I was working in the 80s when OBE was the fad. In my district, it was MLOBE: "Mastery Learning/Outcome Based Education."

FWIW, I'm seeing some of that making a comeback. Not as "outcome based education." As "standards based education" and "proficiency based education." Re-branding. It's what you do to survive under the top-down, authoritarian, high-stakes loving regime.

Based on what I'm seeing happening under the Obama administration, the difference between dems and repubs since the '90s is about the same on most issues: it's which side you are cheering for. The cheering must continue regardless of the positions on issues.