Charter Schools and Civil Rights: What Kind of 'Movement' is This?

[Hannah Bell]

Perhaps the most important element of the progressive élan surrounding the charter school "movement" is its claim to be nothing less than the "Second Coming" of the Civil Rights Movement. Arne Duncan referred to the opening of the film, Waiting for 'Superman' as a "Rosa Parks moment"... This cause, a banker from Goldman Sachs declared, is the "civil rights struggle of my generation."

But this "civil rights struggle" has many features that distinguish it from the historic movement of the previous generation. And these should give progressives reason to pause... it is a "movement" that claims that the interests of adults (specifically, teachers) are in conflict with the interests of children (students)... the current education "reformers" are convinced that inequality can only be undone by weakening the teachers' unions.

Second, this "reform" effort is a "movement" that takes power away from ordinary people, while claiming to do the opposite. In the name of "parent power", charter schools have reduced actual parent power. Charter school parents do not have a right to have any say in the governance of their child's school, and do not even have a right to place their child in it. The child must win a lottery...

Third, while it has black faces perched in important places, the charter school "movement" is not a "black movement" for education. Whereas folks participated in the civil rights movement at great personal risk, many of the influential black supporters of charter schools stand to profit handsomely... Rather than coming to the rescue of black children, the growth of such competitive school reform schemes has exacerbated inequality in education (the NAACP & other civil rights groups have) charged... Worse, evidence is growing that charter schools are systematically pushing the lowest-scoring students, the disabled students, the English Language Learners, out the door...

A fellow activist recently raised another issue to my attention: the disappearing black and Latino educator. Anyone familiar with the demographics of charter schools -- especially in Harlem -- cannot help but be struck by the complexion of the workforce. They are overwhelmingly young and white...Historically, it was people of color who experienced seniority rules as a barrier to the kind of good union jobs that other immigrant groups used to pull themselves out of poverty. But now that there are significant numbers of black and Latino teachers -- especially in America's urban school districts -- seniority represents the obstacle to dislodging them from those positions...

http://queensteacher2.blogspot.com/2010/10/charter-schools-and-civil-rights-what.html


Black teachers have been the biggest victims of the mass firings that have taken place so far; this is the case because the majority of them have been in low income, majority-black schools.

[leveymg]

1. Charter schools movement is astroturf, part of White, urban gentrification.

The fact that it also breaks public sector unions is an added bonus feature. This article makes several good points.

[dkf]

3. So you haven't noticed it is mostly successful black men that are heading the reform?

Fenty, Booker, Obama, Canada... I personally was struck by this sometime ago. After all the most underserved segment of the population is black boys who flunk out at higher rates and land up in jail.

[Hannah Bell]

4. no, i notice wealthy neo-libs & hedge-fund types are heading the deform. they come in all colors.

not to mention the fundies, union-bashers, & walmart spawn.

[dkf]

5. The leading public advocates are black men.

They are the ones who sacrificed the big bucks to go into public service. When they are accused of wanting to ruin public education I gotta laugh as it is their people who are most dependent on the public school system.

[msanthrope]

6. You make an excellent point about race and the charter movement--

I've posted this article about Black parents and the Teacher's Union in NYC before---sure, it's Hentoff writing it, but I think he charts the utter paternalism and neo-racism that many of the 'intelligentsia' have for Black parents who choose and support the charter system.

Sadly, many posters on education reform here tend to describe Black parents as 'deluded' or worse, for their support of the charter school movement. It's paternalism at its worst, because the people taking shots at leaders like Fenty and Booker seem to think they know what's best for Black children, regardless of what the parents of those children think.


Black Parents vs. the Teachers' Union
Union intransigence hits a low point
By Nat Hentoff Tuesday, Jun 1 2010
In Harlem—as elsewhere in this city, state, and nation—there is a sharply rising struggle between teachers' unions and black parents.

That dispute is over parental choice of schools, especially in regards to publicly financed charter schools which can, and usually do, refuse to recognize teachers' unions. Geoffrey Canada, whose Harlem Children's Zone is nationally known for making charter schools a working part of the community, recently sent out a rallying cry to black parents everywhere when he said, "Nobody's coming. Nobody is going to save our children. You have to save your own children."

In Harlem, where thousands of parents apply for charter schools on civil rights grounds, State Senator Bill Perkins—whose civil liberties record I've previously praised in this column—is in danger of losing his seat because of his fierce opposition to charter schools. The UFT contributes to his campaigns. His opponent, Basil Smikle—who has worked for Hillary Rodham Clinton, the Bill Clinton Foundation, and, unfortunately, Michael Bloomberg—says: "Education has galvanized the community."

Also galvanized is the two-million-member state AFL-CIO, which has declared that a vote in the state legislature to expand the number of charter schools is anti-union. And the Working Families Party, financially backed by the United Federation of Teachers and the state teachers' union, has a litmus test for candidates seeking its support—will they back strict limitations on charter schools? (New York Post, May 10, 2010).

SNIP

As a union man since I organized my first union at 15 during the so-called Great Depression at a Boston candy store that employed students on nights and weekends—and then helped unionize radio station WMEX in Boston where I became shop steward—I am plain disgusted at the low point that the union crusade against charter schools has reached. Dig this from an April 29 Daily News editorial: " perniciously turned the world on its head by complaining that, because charter schools are concentrated in poor minority neighborhoods, they segregate 'African-Americans and Latino students in a separate school system.' " Bill Perkins also makes this "segregation" charge.

SNIP
My question to leaders of organized labor (including the other big national union, the National Education Association): Are these black parents stupid or so gullible that, seeing so many other parents mobilizing for charter schools, they go with the crowd?

http://www.villagevoice.com/2010-06-01/news/black-parents-vs-the-teachers-union/

[dkf]

11. Everytime I see teachers saying poverty is the problem I'm thinking they are blaming black parents

I think it is the unspoken underlying dog whistle behind those words and I resent it.

Blame the victim for their bad scores by blaming their poverty. I have to admit when I get upset about education it is mostly indignation over the plight of black kids.

[leveymg]

14. The billionaires don't want to pay taxes to end poverty, so they want to end public education.

Charter schools are all about social policy on the cheap, and transferring more public functions (money) into private hands and distributing it upwards.

If this were about sending underprivileged minority students to Andover, Yale and Harvard Biz School, I might agree that this was about helping the underclass with quality educations. The same could be accomplished by combining urban and surrounding suburban school districts. But, instead of taxing the rich to improve inner city schools and pay for a comparable education for the poor, we get school privatization schemes that convert public funds to private purposes.

And, this would not be the first time that some were willing to sell-out as front men for the elites.

[dkf]

17. Taxes don't end poverty. Good jobs end poverty.

Why in the world would taxes end poverty? If individuals must depend on government largesse to live and we want this to be the foundation of our country then no wonder people don't think getting an education is worth the trouble.

[proud2BlibKansan]

27. Taxes fund programs that end poverty

Duh.

[dkf]

36. They don't end poverty. They leave people in sad limbo.

Someone who is in poverty isn't going to increase their living standards much til they get a decent paying job. Getting an education that leads to a good job is the way to ending poverty.

[Hannah Bell]

41. taxes fund public jobs & education.

[leveymg]

28. Taxes pay for public education. Raise taxes and budgets grow, education improves.

Grow the budgets -- raise teacher salaries, improve facilities, offer a wider range of early childhood, remedial and enrichment activities -- and the quality of education will improve. Kids who come out of quality educational programs generally get good jobs and don't stay in poverty. That is how the process of public education should work, but underfunding and privitization bleed off funds, halting the rise out of poverty.

[dkf]

37. That is a local issue and who knows if the municipalities are letting the rich off lightly or not.

I for one don't know what the tax rates look like at that level. Are you challenging the way property taxes are levied?

[proud2BlibKansan]

42. It's a federal issue

The federal govt funds education for the disabled and the poor.

[leveymg]

65. It's a local, state and a federal issue.

Most school budgets are based on local property tax levies, with some funding from states in a (largely inadequate) effort to smooth out disparities between localities, and (even more inadequate) federal targeted funds for antipoverty, Head Start, etc.

There should be a federal education tax surcharge imposed upon all high-income persons and corporations that would fund the sort of programs needed to provide quality education for all.

So, yes, it is most largely a federal tax issue. Another approach would be to combine urban with affluent suburban systems.

[Hannah Bell]

40. both taxes & jobs reduce poverty. tax structures that prevent the rich from

amassing disproportionate amounts of wealth, & funnel the tax monies into universal social programs & public jobs.

which is why poverty rates in the european welfare state are lower than in the us, despite comparable or higher rates of unemployment.

america's pitiful welfare state & public employment is the only thing preventing mass poverty at the moment.

[proud2BlibKansan]

25. Poverty is indeed the problem. And I blame our society for failing to address this.

I have spent my entire career teaching kids whose families live at the poverty level. I watched as our community voted to spend tax dollars to renovate a sports stadium where millionaires play football for 3 months out of the year. That same community has refused to support a tax increase to fund their schools for 40 years.

I watched as mothers were forced off of welfare to work minimum wage jobs at convenience stores and fast food restaurants. I watched as they struggled to get by on LESS than their welfare checks paid them. I watch them quit jobs to go back on welfare because they can't afford to work and put food on the table and pay the rent.

I am not blaming the 'victim' (a term I disagree with in this instance). I am blaming our society for not valuing kids more than sports stadiums and for not insisting on policies and legislation that actually eliminate poverty.

[Hannah Bell]

39. poverty isn't caused by black parents. poverty is caused by elites taking the majority

of the value of production.

[Name removed]

56. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[kwassa]

63. I think this entire "black parent" argument in this thread is actually a red herring.

Which black parents are you talking about?

Black parents threw Adrian Fenty and Michelle Rhee out of their jobs, because they didn't like either of them. Black voters in DC voted against Fenty by a 4 to 1 ratio. Rhee was a key factor in Fenty's defeat, as well as Fenty's own behavior.

Many black parents do support charters, but only 17% of charters do a better job than the local public school, and 34% do worse.

Waiting for Superman is about getting into those few charters that are better, or perceived as better.

Of course black parents want their children in these schools. Charters are also perceived as not having the discipline issues that the larger public schools have, one feature of their attraction. This in no way means that they educate better.

Clearly, the argument should be about what educates children best, not charter vs. public school.

[msanthrope]

67. If race is a Red Herring, then why are you discussing the racial issues in the DC mayoral election?

I don't get it.

[kwassa]

80. I never said that race was a red herring. Try again. Respond to what I wrote this time.

I won't hold my breath.

[msanthrope]

88. Ok. If "black parents" are a red herring, then why are you discussing "black parents" in the DC

mayoral election?

I don't get it.


If you really think that "black parents" are a red herring--then what do you think of this quote?

"If those same black parents had bothered to come to PTA meetings, we wouldn't even be discussing charters."

That's a teacher, BTW. I don't think "black parents" are a red herring--in fact I think the attitudes expressed toward them on this thread are fundamental to understanding just what the agendas and purposes of some of the 'education' threads are.

[kwassa]

106. I'll break it down for you.

I think you are playing a race card to shut up discussion on this topic.

you said:
"this blatant lack of respect for minority parents..."

By saying this, you mis-characterize two things: the opposition to charter schools on DU, and the actual beliefs of black parents, who have a wide range of different opinions on education. As I pointed out to you already, most black people in DC disapproved of Rhee, and Fenty, and dismissed them. You ignored this point, of course.

further along you say.

"On edit--I suggest reading some of the comments on this thread....about parents. Apparently, parents who don't go to the PTA meetings don't care, and parents who show up for lotteries for charter schools have been duped by the hype. Oh--and apparently, if PARENTS had gone to the PTA meetings, then the public schools wouldn't need reform...."

The underlying point, which you don't get, is about parental involvement in their children's education. Parents who are involved are usually also involved in the PTA, as it takes both the parents and the children to successfully educate children. You attempt to make a criticism of those who don't attend PTA meetings as an attack on minority parents. No, that is simply you trying to manipulate the conversation by injecting race to stifle criticism.

I am a public school teacher in Montgomery County, MD, just north of DC. I am totally neutral on the subject of charters, though I think the charter vs. traditional public school argument is a false one. The idea that charters really offer a successful alternative is not born out except in a few charter schools. The real challenge is to replicate successful methods of educating poor urban children; charter vs. public is irrelevant.

[msanthrope]

109. "If those same black parents had bothered to come to PTA meetings,

we wouldn't even be discussing charters."

Regarding the mostly minority parents depicted in Waiting for Superman, who show up for the lottery to a charter....

"No those are the parents who were convinced by the hype that there was a problem
If they had really been involved with the traditional schools serving their kids (and I seriously doubt they were) there would be no need for a 'reform' movement."


Interestingly, you didn't repeat the comments in question.

Do you agree with that teacher's assessment?

[kwassa]

111. I agree somewhat.

Though she stated a little strongly.

I just made this point in my last point, which you apparently didn't read. Parents that are involved with their children's education usually get involved with the school PTA. That is part of involvement.

What do YOU think on this topic, since you keep dragging it out, repeating it over and over?

[KossackRealityCheck]

133. WTF??? "playing a race card"

Is this Free Republic??? Or maybe stormfront?

Anytime anyone mentions the reality of race or racism they are PLAYING THE RACE CARD???

[Hannah Bell]

145. lol.. you guys crack me up, kos reality check. you in particular.

[Starry Messenger]

147. Anyone else smell ham?

[Name removed]

148. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[Starry Messenger]

149. You're a riot.

Go back to Daily Kos and say hi to HamdenRice. Ask him how his novel is coming and tell him Starry Messenger wants to know.

[kwassa]

107. dupe

[readmoreoften]

127. Talking about systemic poverty is the opposite of blaming black parents.

It's blaming racism and capitalism.

[Hannah Bell]

45. hentoff shilling for neolib/free market policy -- what a surprise.

black parents voted michelle rhee & her bossman gone.

here's some more black & latino parents:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x9329482

please stop generalizing about black people.

[msanthrope]

59. As opposed to your 'shilling for neolib/free market policy' on the Tennesse fire threads?

Did not the irony strike you?

[Hannah Bell]

62. i wasn't shilling for the policy: the county had already put the policy in place.

i was against making city taxpayers have to pay for the failures of the policy.

you're a lawyer, surely you can make the distinction.

[kwassa]

64. and we know what a liberal Nat Hentoff is, don't we?

How many years has it been since he has belonged to a union? is he trying to restore his liberal creds?

[Hannah Bell]

114. hentoff opposed obama due to obama's stance on abortion. otoh, hentoff supported the invasion of

iraq.

because unborn fertilized eggs must all live, but born iraqi children should die.

yeah, *there's* a principled position.

hentoff hasn't been relevant since 1960. he's a fraud.

[Number23]

78. That is one HELL of a read.

Thanks for posting that.

[JackRiddler]

84. Hm, what about the black parents who voted in DC?

Care to back up your assertions with actual numbers?

[msanthrope]

94. What about 'em?

I asserted that black parents don't get much respect on the 'education' threads---and I think the postings on this thread prove that beyond a shadow of a doubt---

"If those same black parents had bothered to come to PTA meetings, we wouldn't even be discussing charters."

Regarding the mostly minority parents depicted in Waiting for Superman, who show up for the lottery to a charter....

"No those are the parents who were convinced by the hype that there was a problem
If they had really been involved with the traditional schools serving their kids (and I seriously doubt they were) there would be no need for a 'reform' movement."

Those quotes are from a teacher.

[JackRiddler]

96. cite please

The existence of a teacher saying things like that is more anecdote, like much of what you rely on.

[msanthrope]

98. Dude. read the thread. The teacher in question is on this thread---

and so are the quotes....try posts 10 and 22 if you don't believe me.

[proud2BlibKansan]

103. You disagree that parental involvement is vital?

Interesting.

[msanthrope]

108. Given your postings, I cannot see how parental involvement with you

would in any way benefit a family.

If your views on "black parents" reflect the views of other staff at your school, then I believe I can account for why few parents want to get involved.

[kwassa]

112. You ducked the question.

[proud2BlibKansan]

113. My view is that parental involvement is critical

Feel free to disagree. Or post my remarks all through this thread. You seem talented at misinterpretation.

[Catshrink]

104. So?

Those who showed up at the lottery were still a small percentage of all the parents of any color in that community. Parental involvement is the number one predictor of student success in school regardless of the demographic. But go on, continue your bashing. It's so predictable and so old.

[Recursion]

135. The DC election had nothing to do with charter schools

And it actually had a lot less to do with Michelle Rhee than the national media made it out to have, or maybe it would be better to say that Michelle Rhee was a stand-in for a lot of problems with the Fenty administration.

[KossackRealityCheck]

128. Excellent post, excellent linked article

Lots of people are throwing around opinions about neighborhood struggles they know nothing about -- especially struggles in Harlem and Brooklyn that have their roots in the Ocean Hill Brownsville debacle of over 40 years ago.

I listen to these rants against reforms and charters and from the NYC perspective, a lot of it sounds like the sort of thing you would hear from upstate prison guards -- how dare you come up with alternatives to long term incarceration for petty drug crimes!!!

Schools are not prisons. Students are not a product to keep failing schools going for the convenience of administrators and teachers.

The first thing everyone has to realize is that WE LOVE OUR CHILDREN UNCONDITIONALLY AND WILL USE ANY MEANS NECESSARY TO GET THEM AN EDUCATION. Sorry if the principle of keeping failing schools going loses to the principle of getting my child an education.

When everyone involved in schools realizes the lesson of the great psychologist/lawyer Joseph Goldstein then we will have a more fruitful discussion. Before Goldstein, in family law matters, there were all sorts of ideas about how children should be treated. Goldstein came up with the simple idea that all decisions come down to one thing, what is in "the best interests of the child."

In the schools debate nothing -- NOTHING -- else matters except what is in the BEST INTERESTS OF OUR CHILDREN. PERIOD.


“When school children start paying union dues, that's when I'll start representing the interests of school children.”

-- Albert Shanker, President UFT, 1964-1984

Woody Allen, writing in Sleeper, on waking up in the future from suspended animation and asking how the old world had been destroyed:

"over a hundred years ago a man named Albert Shanker got hold of a nuclear warhead"

[proud2BlibKansan]

142. Al Shanker also recognized the need for alternative schools

and developed the first concept of charter schools.

President Clinton called him "one of the greatest educators of the 20th century."

Shanker stressed that the battle went beyond the certain loss of thousands of public school jobs. He urged the nation to consider what would happen to public schools should Congress approve tax credits. "Eventually the public schools will be left with only with those students who cannot be accepted by any private schools, or those expelled from private schools or those too poor to pay tuition," he warned. More than any other leader, Shanker brought a wider perspective to the fight against tax credits and, later, to vouchers. At stake was more than turf and vested interests, he believed. At stake was the nation's commitment to universal public education—a theme he would stress repeatedly as AFT president.
http://www.ashankerinst.org/AT/teacher1.html

If any single person could be said to be responsible for the astonishing shift in public sentiment that recently prompted the president of the United States to call for national educational standards—a proposal that would have been unthinkable a few years back—that person would be Al Shanker.
http://www.ashankerinst.org/AT/teacher1.html

More Shanker quotes:

“There is no more reason to pay for private education than there is to pay for a private swimming pool for those who do not use public facilities.”

Public schools played a big role in holding our nation together. They brought together children of different races, languages, religions and cultures and gave them a common language and a sense of common purpose. We have not outgrown our need for this; far from it. Today, Americans come from more different countries and speak more different languages than ever before. Whenever the problems connected with school reform seem especially tough, I think about this. I think about what public education gave me—a kid who couldn’t even speak English when I entered first grade. I think about what it has given me and can give to countless numbers of other kids like me. And I know that keeping public education together is worth whatever effort it takes.
http://www.ashankerinst.org/AT/teacher10.html

[Hannah Bell]

38. no they're not, dear. the leading advocates are very white men with lots & lots of money.

otoh, seven civil rights organizations joined forces to slam the charter school movement.

[Chan790]

100. Actually they're not.

You're giving credit where not due...and conveniently avoiding giving it to people like Gates, Rhee and Guggenheim where it is due because it foils your lie/argument.

[KossackRealityCheck]

122. Well said

The OPer needs to come to NY -- Harlem and Brooklyn -- to understand what is going on.

This goes back all the way to the struggles around Ocean Hill-Brownsville and community control.

It's a civil rights movement because it's a last ditch attempt of an end run around an educational bureaucracy and resistant union that has been thwarting reform and promoting failure in minority neighborhood schools for 50 years. The leaders are African American teachers who simply couldn't get anywhere through official channels.

[Hannah Bell]

124. african-american teachers are leading the charter school movement in nyc?

i'll have to ask for a link on that factoid.

[KossackRealityCheck]

132. Better yet!

I'll offer you the chance to purchase a plane ticket to NYC where you can walk around and talk to parents, children and teachers. There is this thing called an "airline" that offers "plane tickets" that will enable you to see first hand the contours of the complicated struggle here, rather than spout off on the basis of little information.

[proud2BlibKansan]

143. In other words, you have no link

Not surprising.

[CBR]

8. I have noticed around here that black parents are often the ones

fighting for more charters or for charters to remain.

[proud2BlibKansan]

10. If those same black parents had bothered to come to PTA meetings,

we wouldn't even be discussing charters.

[dkf]

12. Aren't PTAs mostly about raising money?

Maybe they don't want to be roped into having to come up with funds.

[proud2BlibKansan]

15. No, they are about involving parents in school activities

At my school, we have 450 kids and TWO parents who are organizing a fall festival for the kids on Halloween weekend. TWO. Just imagine how much they could do if they had more parents involved.

Our parent organization has no dues. The last one I heard of that had dues charged only $5 for a year. Who needs to be roped into coming up with $5 for membership in a parent organization? Yesterday after school, a church in our neighborhood took kids from our school to an amusement park for a discounted rate of $20. I couldn't get out of the neighborhood to go home, the traffic jam was unreal, there were so many parents dropping their kids off at this church to go on this $20 trip. We have 90%+ free lunch kids. Don't tell me these families are too poor to pay PTA dues. If we even had them. Like I said, we don't. But they still don't get involved.

[dkf]

16. My nieces PTA asked for $100 per kid to hire a math bridges and music teacher

Then they asked for a minimum $40 donation per child for running laps. I know they will be asking for more funds for something similar to the MS read a thon but it goes to the school. That is aside from the carnival, the spaghetti dinner, the gift basket auction, etc. I wouldn't blame a parent who tries to get out of these meetings.

[proud2BlibKansan]

19. And your niece goes to school in a high poverty area?

I doubt that.

I also question any parent who can afford it not wanting to support the school. I was a working parent who also managed to be on PTA board, be a scout leader, sports coach and room mother. I have little sympathy for parents who fail to get involved. Very little sympathy.

[dkf]

21. They got a district exception so we pony up all the requests and my sister makes sure they are there

For all events.

The scores at this school were higher than the one they were supposed to go to and I have to admit I am impressed with the amount of homework they get and how much they have learned.

[proud2BlibKansan]

23. Again. Obviously a school serving higher income kids than the ones in the OP.

Charters are targeting low income kids in high poverty areas.

[dkf]

24. My co-worker is sending her daughter to a charter school...the University Lab school.

They were asked for $2,000 a kid donation. She got in by lottery.

[proud2BlibKansan]

26. That's insane

Imagine a traditional public school asking each kid to pay $2000 for anything. The outcry followed by the court case would be front page news.

The charters here don't have a lottery. They pay kids with cash and video game systems to enroll. Again, imagine if traditional public schools did this.

[dkf]

35. I was shocked.

And the lab school is supposed to make sure they cover every demographic so that the teachers there get every type of kid. It's attached to our local university and is where they test teaching techniques.

A lot of our other charters are Hawaiian Centric where they are trying to revive the Hawaiian language. Maybe that is why I look at the accusations against charters with a skeptical eye because the charters I see dont fit the bill.

[Number23]

79. Holy shit.

[msanthrope]

87. Sorta smacks ya in the face, doesn't it?

I refer you to my post upthread about some common attitudes found on the 'education' threads...

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=389&topic_id=9329366&mesg_id=9331952

[Number23]

89. You should make that an OP

I have to admit, this is my first trip into an "education" thread in a long while. I avoid most of them because they seem so unhelpful and borderline manic.

Now, perhaps that person's comment is based on a whole history or back story, but as an outsider looking at that one comment, the racial tones behind that post just about kicked me in the throat. You should have seen what I'd written before my edit.

[msanthrope]

92. Oh--there's other posts, right on this thread....

Sadly, that's not the only one....

"unhelpful and borderline manic?"

Pretty much.

[Hannah Bell]

115. yeah, it's pretty shocking how you & 23 imply you speak for "black people" & those who are opposed

to the privatization of public ed = racists.

sick & humorous at the same time.

[Name removed]

120. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[Hannah Bell]

121. right. you were only talking about poop.

[proud2BlibKansan]

129. Nice personal attack

That's all you got I suppose.

[KossackRealityCheck]

123. Dontcha know? Blacks don't go to PTA meetings -- evah!

The mind reels!

The recent threads are about what's happening in Brooklyn and Harlem and the OPer lists her whereabouts as Seattle. Of course from there she can tell us what's happening in Brooklyn and Harlem and how we are being manipulated by "the man" and how the local reform leaders are just tokens.

Reminds me of how Martin Luther King was always called a front for the communists by his opponents on the right and as a front for the Ford Foundation elites by his opponents on the left.

Same old, same old.

[proud2BlibKansan]

130. So you can look up a user profile. Congratulations.

Use some of those research skills to educate yourself on this topic before you equate charter school opponents with Martin Luther King's opponents.

That is beyond lame.

[KossackRealityCheck]

131. When you make blatant, banket statements about black parents

then it is appropriate to analogize you to opponents of Dr. King.

Oh, brother! Black parents don't go to PTA meetings. What planet do you live on?

[Name removed]

136. Deleted message

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[Name removed]

137. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[proud2BlibKansan]

139. I was responding to this post:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=389&topic_id=9329366&mesg_id=9329767

Now learn to argue with FACTS instead of making personal attacks.

Alerted.

[proud2BlibKansan]

140. Also please answer my question

What experience do you have that gives you expertise on this topic?

[Number23]

146. Exactly. And the response appears to be to instead of checking their attitudes

about certain things, just get the posts calling them out on their shit deleted.

[Hannah Bell]

43. .

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x9329482

[CBR]

48. I live in Wilmington, DE not Denver. Thanks though. nt

[Hannah Bell]

52. "around here" = wilmington de? thought you meant DU.

concord high = wilmington.


Parents lagging behind in
'race' to school reform

As one of only two states to receive the initial dose of massive federal financial aid to improve its public schools, the Delaware education establishment has devised complex plans, but it would seem that a key component may be missing. Governor Jack Markell and education secretary Lillian Lowery on Sept. 29 brought the second in a series of public meetings to Concord High School to gather 'public input' for the process of implementing 'Race to the Top' programs, but parents were conspicuously outnumbered by administrators, teachers, members of Markell's cabinet and a few legislators. The governor responded by saying that districts will be required to include measures to improve communication with the public as part of their individual implementation plans.

Treading a fine line between portraying the state's 19 districts as presently offering quality education and the need for improvement that the federal program is intended to provide, Markell warned that the new achievement-testing system which starts this school year will initially show an apparent decline in the proportion of students demonstrating academic proficiency. That, he said, will be the result of gearing the test to higher standards, not a fall-off in performance. In return, he explained, more frequent testing will provide timely data to enable teachers to address shortcomings. "Kids in other countries have leapfrogged American kids," Markell said. "Many students are doing just fine, but many others are not," Brandywine superintendent Mark Holodick added.

http://www.delaforum.com/2010/Jul%20-%20Sep/Education%20meeting%20(9-30).htm


Markell trucks in his cheerleaders and the district brings in warm bodies. Markell wants parents to feel as if they are partners and stakeholders but were where these public events prior to applying for Race to The Top, the RTT MOU, SIG and Common Core Standards?
It’s so ironic that Markell wants the district to step up communications but yet Markell moves forward with radical unproven reckless reform plans without including the most valuable stakeholders called parents.

Mark my words, Jack Markell will go down in Delaware’s history as the worst governor on education.
If you attend one of these Markell traveling circus shows ask the legislators in attendance wh there were town-hall meetings prior to applying to Race to The Top and agreements made by Jack Markell to participate in Common Core Standards that “will” produce a nationalized standardized test? Ask these legislators who will be funding these Race to The Top programs after the four-year RTTT funding runs out? Also, ask the legislators will all those new DODOE employees working in the new school turnaround department be laid off in four years? But more importantly ask the legislators why they standby an allow Markell free hand at reforming Delaware’s public schools with unproven methods?

http://kilroysdelaware.wordpress.com/page/3/

there's quite a bit of black opposition to markell's 'reforms'

[CBR]

60. Where does this say anything about black parents?

Also, of course all black parents do not support charters but due to the odd way the local schools are set-up in Wilmington (broken in to four districts -- court ordered to aid desegregation ), many parents are supporting charters. Some charters are good, some suck. I cannot fault parents (black, white, Hispanic) for doing what they think is best for their child. I certainly would and I attended public schools my entire life.

[Hannah Bell]

61. it doesn't. but since wilmington = majority black, i took it for granted that the

opposition includes black people.

i have no particular disagreement with your contention that black people, like everyone else, have a range of opinions on charter schools -- as with all topics.


what chaps my ass is the folks who pretend otherwise.

[proud2BlibKansan]

9. I'm waiting to see if they can get parents to come to conferences and school events.

Convincing parents to send their kids to school regularly would help also.

But really, it's about time they got involved. Hopefully they'll see the error in supporting charters and help support our traditional public schools, as some of us have been asking them to do for years now.

[dkf]

13. What about teachers visiting with the parents?

I've heard the better schools do this.

[proud2BlibKansan]

18. We do home visits when we can verify an address.

Parents still don't come to school. I guess they know we will come to see them.

Most of the elementary schools I have worked at do home visits. Many parents are still largely unwilling to come to school and get involved.

I can't even imagine not wanting to meet the person my child spends most of his waking hours with in the classroom. I can't imagine not wanting the school to be able to contact me at any time if there is an emergency involving my kid. But nearly every day, there is a sick child in the nurse's office who has no current parent contact information on file. I've seen kids running high fevers carried away from school in an ambulance because we had no current working phone number on file for the parent. I've sat alone in my classroom on way too many parent teacher conference days and nights waiting for parents to come to school to pick up their child's report card. I don't give report cards to students. I let them see them but I only give them to parents. And nearly every year, I have a file full of report cards parents never bothered to call about or come to school to pick up. And this is elementary school.

So yes, this scene in Waiting for Superman with an auditorium full of concerned parents waiting for their child's number to be pulled enabling them to go to a charter is just a bit misleading, IMO.

[dkf]

20. Those are the parents who care. Why would you discount them?

It probably is more desperate in DC or New York though.

Maybe those parents are working or are simply too ashamed to admit they can't help with homework or some other thing.

[proud2BlibKansan]

22. No those are the parents who were convinced by the hype that there was a problem

If they had really been involved with the traditional schools serving their kids (and I seriously doubt they were) there would be no need for a 'reform' movement.

[Recursion]

30. Parents in DC were not "convinced by hype" that there is a problem with DCPS

I mean, really. Come on.

[Hannah Bell]

47. they're not convinced charter schools & mass firings are the answer, either.

which is why michelle rhee's bossman no longer has a job, & neither does michelle.

[Recursion]

49. You're conflating Rhee and charters -- they're enemies of each other

To way, way oversimplify it, black parents hate Rhee and like charters, white parents like Rhee and don't want anything to do with charters (because black parents and kids get as much attention as they do).

[Hannah Bell]

50. "enemies" = lol.

[Recursion]

54. Hmm. Do you have any idea what Rhee has said about charter schools?

Just curious.

[Hannah Bell]

57. michelle's fiancee *runs* charter schools. michelle's "reforms" & firings *enable* charter schools.

didn't anyone ever tell you to watch what they *do* not what they *say*?

michelle is a charter school "enemy" like randi weingarten is a friend of teachers.

[Recursion]

86. How do the firings "enable" charter schools?

The point was to convince rich white yuppie parents to keep their kids in public schools rather than sending them to charters.

[proud2BlibKansan]

58. “I don't see charter schools … as a drain on the system,” said Ms. Rhee. “

Almost a year after Michelle A. Rhee was named the chancellor of the District of Columbia school district, she stressed at a May 20 gathering here on educational entrepreneurship that she sees the infusion of entrepreneurial practices and ideas as vital to her work of trying to transform the long-beleaguered urban system.

In one example, Ms. Rhee said she is seeking external organizations to take the reins of low-performing schools identified for “restructuring” under the federal No Child Left Behind Act .

“What I’m trying to do is create an incredibly fertile environment and the right dynamics to bring these providers in,” she told participants at the 10th annual summit hosted by the NewSchools Venture Fund , a San Francisco-based philanthropy that invests in charter-management organizations...

http://www.edweek.org/login.html?source=http://www.edweek.org/ew/articles/2008/05/21/39newschools_web.h27.html&destination=http://www.edweek.org/ew/articles/2008/05/21/39newschools_web.h27.html&levelId=2100

Yes sure sounds like they're enemies. :eyes:

[Whisp]

71. there IS a problem.

and blaming black parents is way off. wtf?

[Chan790]

99. I would actually contest that assertion.

Of the people you listed only Canada truly fits the label you're giving. Ed Reform was and is not a huge issue for any of the others electorally. I'll talk in specifics about Fenty though.

Knowing Adrian Fenty I can tell you that he's about as culturally-black as Condy Rice. A privileged private-school educated child of upper-class parents who has as much in common with the "underserved segment of the population" as I do as a white suburban DC resident who also went to prep-school and grew up with money. He's not all that much on the forefront of this issue...he hired Rhee and went hands off because he didn't care...until he saw success and thought he'd take credit. He's always been good for being an opportunistisc shit who takes credit, earned or otherwise. He never advocated for education reform before or during his first campaign or after leaving office, he didn't run on the issue either (actually his issue was urban renewal. It's too bad he went about it by ending housing assistance and selling the city off part-and-parcel to developers and corporations.) You should note that from the time he was on city council to the present, Fenty's highest approval ratings have always been among conservatives and the DCGOP...if DC wasn't a one party town and the D wasn't necessary to be elected, Fenty would likely be a Republican. He's the winner of the current DCGOP nod for mayoral office (which he declined only because not only wouldn't he win under that banner, it'd be the end of his political career. Through backroom channels though, he's encouraged those people to spearhead the "write-in" campaign he's *wink wink* not condoning. (but he'll accept the office if he wins.))

I did notice you excluded Kevin Johnson, the mayor of Sac-mo though, a successful black man who actually ran for office on education reform and was active in heading that reform movement prior to running for office. I guess suspected pedophiles don't fit your argument paradigm though.

[Scuba]

2. It's the same as all the other movements. If goverment is doing it...

...let's demonize them and their performance, take it over, slash wages, benefits and services, and make a profit to help satisfy our greed.

If it's good for business, it's good for America, right?

:sarcasm:

[Recursion]

33. A lot of anti-charter people come from places where the public schools more or less work

Where public schools actually do what the theory says they should do: educate all children, for free. If you've never seen a place where public schools are corrupt, hateful, concrete boxes kids are kept in until they're ready for jail, I could see it would be hard to imagine such a place.

[Scuba]

51. Besides the fact that I think having for-profit corporations...

...teaching kids is a bad idea, the 'charter' schools are cherry-picking the best students, leaving those most in need of special services to the public schools while taking a full per-child share of the bucks.

Then the fail the students by not teaching them while denigrating public school teachers.



I've not seen anything to like about charter schools. Anyone?

[Recursion]

53. I'm against for-profit corporations educating kids too

Which is why I oppose both charter schools and traditional public schools outsourcing curriculum and instruction (both do this, neither should).

In most jurisdictions (all?) charter schools cannot be for-profits. (Also, just as a point of terminology, all charter schools are public: they must take all comers, charge no tuition, and can be shut down by the school district -- actually, in DC, one of the things that pisses parents off is that it's easier to get your kid into a charter school than into one of the "good" public schools, since those seats are mostly apportioned by neighborhood, and they don't have to do a lottery for the open seats).

I've not seen anything to like about charter schools. Anyone?

I've worked with some very good charter schools in neighborhoods with very bad public schools. And, no, they weren't one of those fly-by-night corporation-comes-in-and-builds-a-school thing; they were a group of teachers and parents who got together and formed a school. They get far less money per student than the regular public schools (DCPS is absolutely swimming in money: a billion dollar budget, with more money spent per student than neighboring Montgomery county, the richest county in the nation) and do a much better job.

Chicago has some charter schools run by the teachers' union there; I've heard good things about those.

[kwassa]

66. uh, where do you get your information?

Charter schools in DC get more money per student than the local public school

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charter_school

Although charter schools may receive less public funding than traditional public schools, a portion of charter schools' operating costs can come from sources outside public funding (such as private funding in the form of donations). In the case of DC charter schools, private funding was found to have accounted for $780 per pupil on average and, combined with a higher level of public funding in some charters (mostly due to non-district funding), resulted in considerably higher funding for some charters when compared to comparable public schools.<25> Without federal funding, private funding, and "other income", D.C. charter schools received slightly more on average ($8,725 versus $8,676 per pupil), but that funding was more concentrated in the better funded charter schools (as seen by the median DC charter school funding of $7,940 per pupil). With federal, private, and "other income", charter school funding shot up to an average of $11,644 versus the district $10,384 per pupil. The median here showed an even more unequal distribution of the funds with a median of $10,333.<25>

[Recursion]

69. Sorry, receive "from the city" less than public schools

They all go out and find grants.

There's also a lot of controversy about how to count how much money a school receives.

[ibegurpard]

68. I can imagine it

But you're pushing something that threatens public eduation AS A WHOLE
instead of solutions to help the areas where it's failed

[Recursion]

70. I don't "push" charter schools, I just stick up for them...

...when people say the whole concept is some huge corporate takeover, avoiding the fact that both traditional public schools and charters are vulnerable to corporations taking them over. And far from all charter schools are fly-by-night moneymaking schemes.

And I oppose the idea that the problems with public schools all stem from lack of funding. DCPS (along with other urban districts) are swimming in money. But it's not helping. Rural school districts like the one I went to in Mississippi are underfunded, but their problems are very different.

[msanthrope]

72. Indeed, the amount of money isn't always the problem. Often, it's the allocation.

When you have only 52 % going to instruction, you have a problem. (That's a nationwide average.)


"U.S. Department of Education, Digest of Education Statistics 2007, Table 165. Instruction is defined as "encompass all activities dealing directly with the interaction between teachers and students. Teaching may be provided for students in a school classroom, in another location such as a home or hospital, and in other learning situations such as those involving co-curricular activities. Instruction may be provided through some other approved medium, such as television, radio, telephone, and correspondence. Instruction expenditures include: salaries, employee benefits, purchased services, supplies, and tuition to private schools."

http://nces.ed.gov/pubs2008/2008022.pdf

[proud2BlibKansan]

73. Yet another right wing talking point posted here on DU

And why this is allowed is a mystery to me.

How much education funding should go directly to classrooms?

Patrick Byrne, the CEO of overstock.com who promotes this nonsense, is a right wing republican who donated to John McCain and Mitt Romney. http://www.campaignmoney.com/political/contributions/patrick-byrne.asp?cycle=08

[Recursion]

77. "A right wing person said it" does not refute facts

If you have better numbers, share them.

[proud2BlibKansan]

81. He's been promoting this policy for years

Anyone following education issues knows this. Byrne is a voucher supporter who tried to buy a voucher law in Utah. He gave away copies of Farenhype 911 with every overstock order in 2004. And he supported Bush and his war.

[Recursion]

83. So, what is the number, if not 52%? NT

[proud2BlibKansan]

95. The point is - why a mandate?

Local control means each school district can make its own decisions. A mandate like this 65% solution cripples school districts and removes local control.

[msanthrope]

90. The Department of Education is rightwing? Is the 52% calculation wrong?

I'd never heard of Patrick Byrne, but I think that spending MORE money on instruction--which includes teacher salaries, according to the Department of Education, is a very good idea---

In your first link, Byrne discusses spending MORE money on teachers' salaries and materials. How is THAT a bad thing?

"His organization, First Class Education, aims for all 50 states and the District of Columbia to reallocate school spending so that at least 65 cents on every dollar goes directly into the classroom - on books and teacher pay - by the end of 2008."

[proud2BlibKansan]

101. Here is a great resource on this topic. And thank god it's a dead issue.

Most troubling is the claim made by creators of the 65 Percent Solution that no amount of money spent outside of the classroom can boost student learning in school. This plan clearly ignores the critical role that teachers play in fostering student learning — they are the single most important factor in whether and how much students learn — and therefore disregards the importance of ongoing, high-quality teacher professional development. Instead of focusing efforts on sound solutions to improve academic achievement, the 65 Percent Solution serves to maintain the current system that is, all too often, ill-preparing the nation’s children for the demands of a global society.

A recent USA Today examination of school nursing underscores the problems the 65 Percent Solution poses to the nation’s students. In school districts from the District of Columbia to Utah to California, a shortage of school nurses is putting children at risk. School districts do not have the money to hire enough nurses and the salaries they are able to offer are too low to attract well-trained and experienced nurses. Often, schools within a district must share a lone nurse, who travels miles to see students at different schools and is not immediately available when a student needs medical assistance. These nurses are sometimes responsible for thousands of students, even though federal guidelines call for one nurse for every 750 students. Consequently, students who suffer from serious conditions like diabetes, asthma attacks and attention deficit disorder often rely on teachers and other school staff with no medical experience for assistance. Five years ago, for example, teachers at a California high school watched a 17-year-old student die of cardiac arrest after collapsing during badminton practice. The teachers could not identify the student’s symptoms and no nurse was available to provide prompt medical attention. Under the 65 Percent Solution even less money will be available for adequate school nursing.

In addition to cuts to school nursing, the 65 Percent Solution would also lead to a decrease in library resources, which are not included in the definition of classroom instruction. While there is no proof that spending 65 percent of the educational budget in the classroom improves student performance, several studies — including ones on Florida, Missouri, Ohio and Texas, where the 65 Percent Solution will either be on the ballot in 2006 or has recently been implemented—have shown that funding library services does. A 2005 study (PDF) of the impact of library services on academic achievement in Illinois indicates that students have higher reading, writing and ACT scores when their school libraries are well-funded and staffed more fully, their school libraries carry larger collections, educational technology is available in school libraries, and there is more collaboration between teachers and librarians. Diverting money away from library services in order to fund classroom activities would be severely detrimental to academic achievement, particularly among low-income children, many of whom are minority and already attend schools with limited resources. The Department of Education reported in 1996 that approximately 60 percent of low-income children live in homes without a single children’s book.

Teacher professional development, library and school nursing programs are not the only ones that suffer under the 65 Percent Solution. Resources for school safety, transportation, building maintenance, and school lunches are also among the many programs that would have to be eliminated or significantly reduced because the 35 percent of school budgets allotted to “outside the classroom expenses” would not be sufficient to adequately fund all of them. Teachers, who proponents of the 65 Percent Solution claim would benefit most from the reallocation of school funds, have joined the National PTA, the American Association of School Librarians, the National School Boards Association and the American Association of School Administrators in opposition to the measure.

more . . . http://www.americanprogress.org/issues/2006/03/b1491619.html

And another source:

REPORTS CAST DOUBT

"The Issues and Implications of the "65 Percent Solution.", a report released in the fall of 2005 by Standard and Poor's, concluded " is no minimum spending allocation that is a 'silver bullet' solution for improving student achievement. Spending more on instruction is generally thought to help raise test scores; however, the data reveal no significant relationship between instructional spending at 65 percent or any other level and student performance."

The Education Policy Studies Laboratory at Arizona State University also prepared a report, "A Policy Makers Guide to 'The 65 Percent Solution' Proposals", that concluded that the 65 Percent Solution "has no solid evidence to support its promise of increased student achievement."

Gerald Bracey, the author of ASU's report, found that school districts currently spending 65 percent or more of their budget on in-class instruction don't report higher achievement levels than districts that spend less.

Bracey also took issue with the definition of in-classroom expenses. He noted in a press release that, using First Class Education's guidelines, "administrators, library/media services, guidance counselors, testing, and professional development for teachers would not be considered 'in the classroom,' expenses, but football uniforms would be."
http://www.educationworld.com/a_issues/issues/issues424.shtml

This plan was endorsed by Jeb Bush, Matt Blunt, Tim Pawlenty and other GOP governors whose other policies crippled schools.

[Hannah Bell]

117. why anyone would *ever* listen to anything big-head bush said about education after what he did to

florida --- i don't know.

that guy needs a to be sent to somalia for a long vacation.

[Hannah Bell]

116. Pennsylvania charter schools average 50% on instruction. Guess that blows your theory.

Nelson, chief of the division that collects spending and revenue data at the Department of Education, called the school's spending "off-balance" compared with other charters and school districts.

The school spent 44.6 percent on administration and business in 2006-07, compared with the average for all charters of 17.3 percent, and 30.5 percent on instruction, compared with the charter average of 50.3 percent.

http://www.schoolsmatter.info/2008/12/charter-school-corruption-2009-style.html

[proud2BlibKansan]

74. How are traditional public schools vulnerable to corporate take over?

[Recursion]

75. My school purchased its curricula from some "education solution company"

It was ridiculously expensive and crap. That was back in the 90s; it's getting worse now.

[proud2BlibKansan]

82. Selling curriculum materials to a school is the same thing as a takeover?

LOL whatever floats your boat I suppose.

[Recursion]

85. Taking all the district's money and deciding what gets taught and how?

Yes, I call that a takeover.

[msanthrope]

91. Achieve 3000 and the Philly School District for example....

The public school teachers LOVE that software. Much less work for them, and the District is tied to a contract--all the teachers have to do is set a student level, and the software delivers lessons....

They could have gone open source. Heck, they could teach--but now, they are working towards a model where kids sit at a computer, and press buttons to have their lessons delivered to them.

[proud2BlibKansan]

93. Did this corporation write the curriculum the district uses?

There's a big difference between curriculum and materials purchased by a school district.

[msanthrope]

97. That's the whole point of the software---they write the lessons.

They deliver them, once the teacher inputs the student and their level--the kid presses a button, and up pops the lesson.

Here in Philly, you are moving toward computer-delivered lessons for all students in certain schools. The teacher's union loves it because it is significantly less work...and because the teachers can screw with the student performance ratings.

[proud2BlibKansan]

102. Lessons are components of curriculum

They are NOT curriculum.

A corporation selling lessons to a school district is not proof of a corporate takeover of the school.

It's also a lot different from a corporation using tax dollars to form a charter school and profiting from it.

[Hannah Bell]

118. you're so humorous: "the teacher's (sic) union loves it because it is significantly less work"

what a flood of crap.

[proud2BlibKansan]

125. That comment speaks volumes

[Chan790]

105. Interestingly,

I'd like to note for you that two of the staunchest opponents of charter schooling all over this thread are from places where the public schools don't "move or less work":

*Washington DC
*Seattle, WA.

It's a lovely talking point to use to dismiss inconvenient opposition though.

[Starry Messenger]

7. k & r

[Overseas]

29. K&R.

I appreciate the further information I get from DU about the intense push to privatize our public education system.

It scares me because it has long been a right wing goal to abolish the Dept of Education.

And privatization has been a failure in many other areas, like our military, and of course, our healthcare system.

[madfloridian]

31. Remember how the 7 civil rights groups went silent when Obama and Arne stepped in?

Seven civil rights groups which criticized Arne's education agenda apparently fall in line.

"Seven leading civil rights groups, including the NAACP and the National Urban League, called on U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan today to dismantle core pieces of his education agenda, arguing that his emphases on expanding charter schools, closing low-performing schools, and using competitive rather than formula funding are detrimental to low-income and minority children.

..."The supporting groups are: the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP); the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund; National Urban League; The Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights Under Law; National Council on Educating Black Children; Rainbow PUSH Coalition; and The Schott Foundation for Public Education."

..."There is an interesting update at the link:

What's even more interesting is that a big event planned to release the framework this morning in conjunction with the National Urban League's annual conference was mysteriously cancelled (or postponed, depending on whom you ask) after a lot of press releases went out last week trying to drum up interest. The official explanation is that there was a "conflict in schedules." However, I can't help but wonder if the facts that President Obama has agreed to deliver a major education reform speech at the conference on Thursday, and that Duncan is scheduled to address the conference on Wednesday, had something to do with it. Surely the Obama administration was none too pleased to see that these groups planned to criticize his education reform agenda.

In addition, the National Action Network, led by the Rev. Al Sharpton, was listed on the press releases that went out late last week announcing the event as a supporter of the new framework, but in the framework released today, the group is conspicuously missing."

[Hannah Bell]

44. yep, some kind of policking going on there. and sharpton is notoriously bought.

[jotsy]

32. Rec'd.

Greg Palast's Armed Madhouse has a chapter on the class war, containing a subsection titled No Child's Behind Left.

<http://www.gregpalast.com/no-childs-behind-left-2/>

The link is to an applicable excerpt, which I quickly scanned, but didn't see the specific passage I was looking for.

"Under NCLB, millions of eight-year-olds are given lists of words and phrases. They try to read. Then they are graded like USDA beef: some prime, some OK, many (most in fact) failed.

Once the eight year olds are stamped and sorted..."

stamped and sorted? Not my babies, tyvm.

On edit: Know I see all children in my reach as my babies!

[Dappleganger]

34. Giant K&R!

[blondeatlast]

46. Big k/r. nt

[leftstreet]

55. K&R

[Canuckistanian]

76. OMG, the poor, white millionaires. They're SO oppressed

They get beaten up every day, refused jobs and called "subhuman".

Is there ANYTHING we can do for this suppressed class of underprivileged rejects of society?

I can donate about $5. It's all I can afford.

:cry:

[TheKentuckian]

110. The movement is toward school for most becoming a mix of

Walmart training, political indoctrination to promote compliance and limited aspiration, and day care.

Eventually, they hope to make that a profit center rather than a social investment but one step at a time.

[laughingliberal]

119. K & R nt

[readmoreoften]

126. Bowel?

[newportdadde]

134. The real color is green, the schools have money and they want it.

They want one of the last strong unions in the country, the teacher unions destroyed. They want those nice fat pensions funds available for Wall Street gambling instead of something secure. They want all of that nice federal and state money to be funneled into what will become for profit schools.

It is always about the money and what is funny is they have enough idiot parents buying into it. In 30 years nothing will be different except your kids will be taught by an even less qualified and poorly paid teacher, their mascot will be corporate branded (we go to Wal-Mart high) and we will see all kinds of fake test scores because good scores = money.

[proud2BlibKansan]

138. Bingo!

[maryf]

141. Kick nt.

[The Midway Rebel]

144. k&r

informative thread