Section » K12
Winning the “Global Competition” Must Be Rejected as the Purpose of Education
Claiming to represent the views of teachers on the occasion of teacher appreciation week, Arne Duncan said: “Nothing is more important than preparing our children to compete and succeed in the global economy”. The purposes for which schools...
Ravitch: The Problem Is Bigger Than a Pineapple
I’m intrigued by Ravitch’s born again status, her being embraced by those who would have otherwise turned their nose at this social conservative decades ago. And note that Ravitch, while playing to lead the “rebellion,”...
The Common Core and the Public/Private Distinction
In a previous post, I noted that the Core are protected by copyright and “owned” by the NGA and CCSS. From the website of the Common Core State Standards Initiative: “The National Governors Association...
Bruce Baker: Charter Schools Are… [Public? Private? Neither? Both?]
This is a key point to raise, and suggests very significant shifts in the governing arrangements being put into place under the guise of “school reform”. Privatization is not simply about making money; it is about...
The Common Core “Standards” are the Global Competition Warriors’ “Product Specifications”
One common criticism of the English Common Core Standards revolves around Core advocates’ dismissal of the value of personal prose (and fiction more generally). Core architect David Coleman captured the ideological spirit of the Core and education “reform” more generally when he
The Common Core: Whose Standards Are They?
Over the past decades, testing has played a central role in justifying and brining about some of the most controversial reforms, such as school choice via charter schools, merit pay for teachers, and military academies for inner city youth. But possibly the most politically significant reform of all is the adoption of national standards and assessments....
Clever rhetoric won’t save your undemocratic reform from failure: An open letter to Arne Duncan on the occasion of teacher appreciation week
Dear Secretary Duncan, I am sure many have read your May 2, 2011 Open Letter to teachers. I am impressed with its rhetorical slight of hand, how it gently yet forcefully pushes — with all apparent conviction —...
Bruce Baker: Smart Guy (Gates) makes my list of “Dumbest Stuff I’ve Ever Read!”
Bill Gates (clearly a very smart guy) has just topped my list of Dumbest Stuff I’ve Ever Read for the first few months of 2011. He did it with this post in the Huffington Post and with his talk to State Governors (in which he also naively...
Teachers have a right to unionize
The recipe is as follows: use “research” and phony evaluation systems to create a wedge between teachers and the public. Then, legally dismantle...
Stephen Sawchuk: States Aim to Curb Collective Bargaining
In this February 9 article, Sawchuck writes: First it was changes to pay, then evaluation systems, and then tenure laws. Now, lawmakers in several states are challenging collective bargaining, the foundation of teacher unionism. In Idaho and Indiana,...
