Obama's 3 Stooges (Gingrich, Sharpton & Duncan) for Corporate "School Reform"

[teacher gal]

The following is cross-posted at GD.

Bruce Dixon of the Black Agenda Report gets it and exposes public education deform with humor. I'll post excerpts from his right-on-target article below the cartoon but you can find the entire message at http://tinyurl.com/naskao

Despite a decade of hard sell by right wing think tanks, foundations, and big media, the American people have not bought the corporate version of school reform. Most people just don't believe public schools should be privatized or militarized, or operated by business people like businesses instead of by educators, parents and communities in the interests of children, parents and communities, like the best schools always have been run. And most educators doubt that high stakes testing improves educational outcomes in any meaningful way.

Since the public debates on charter schools and privatizing education are ones that our elite cannot win, they have decreed there will be no debate. Instead of an honest public examination of the disastrous impact of No Child Left Behind, and its attendant decade of creeping educational privatization, corporate media, the Obama administration and its bipartisan allies are sending in the clowns with a 21st century three stooges remake starring the Rev. Al Sharpton, along with Republican former Speaker Newt Gingrich and Obama Secretary of Education Arne Duncan, elbowing and slapping at each other, yukking it up about their supposed political differences while they all come together around the corporate elite's version of “school reform.”

I encourage you to read the whole Dixon article at the URL posted above. And if you're willing, support the thread at GD.

[teacher gal]

1. I am hoping

that some of you will give this post some recs at GD, even some discussion maybe? Sorry if this comes across as pushy but public educaiton is being destroyed, not strengthened and improved. And that's the whole vision behind corporate ed reform. It undermines public education in every conceivable way.

[teacher gal]

2. Oops...

Guess I should've posted the URL for the cross post at GD:
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.ph...

Someone helped. Thank you!

[teacher gal]

3. Still hoping to get some discussion

going on this thread cross posted at GD.

[donco6]

4. The best you'll get in GD is a thrashing.

GD is all about how to bash public ed. You can't post ANYTHING there without someone coming in and talking about how schools should be teaching THIS WAY, not THAT WAY (often at odds with others who say just the opposite). That public ed sucks and should be eliminated. That teachers suck and shouldn't get more pay. That teacher's unions are what keeps reform from happening. ON and on and on. I can see why this post would sink there. They don't want to hear it.

[LWolf]

5. You were right.

You should have left Obama's name off. Even many of those more friendly to public ed won't step in to comment when it reflects poorly on him.

For example, this one, who steps in to attack teachers and teachers' unions on a thread about NEA's statement:

"No Freeper. Just a defender of the president."

Some will defend ANYTHING he does, supports, promotes, or is responsible for.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.ph...

[donco6]

7. LOL! He says that like it's a good thing.

"Just defending the president."

Maybe we should stop to ask WHY once in a while. But some around here are just bonkers.

[LWolf]

9. Yes.

Meanwhile, students are paying the price, and when public education suffers, we all do.

They are, after all, future voters.

[Dinger]

6. teacher gal, May I Borrow That?

Pretty please?

[Dinger]

8. Done K & R!

[teacher gal]

10. Just a quick note

before I'm off to bed to say thank you to all of you for supporting this thread. I just took a look at GD. I'm actually quite surprised it has ended up with 13 recs. Better than I expected, could've been lots worse.

Anyway, thank you!