Fox in the Schoolhouse: Rupert Murdoch Wants to Teach Your Kids!

[marmar]

from Mother Jones:



Rupert Murdoch's reputation precedes him—but one thing he's not well known for is his education reform advocacy. But that could soon change. Next month, Murdoch will make an unusual public appearance in San Francisco, delivering the keynote address at an education summit hosted by former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, who has lately been crisscrossing the country promoting his own version of education reform.

The high-profile speech to a collection of conservative ed reformers, state legislators, and educators is just the latest step in Murdoch's quiet march into the business of education, which has been somewhat eclipsed by the phone-hacking scandal besieging his media empire. (On Tuesday, word of Murdoch's appearance at Bush's conference came just hours after reports that News Corp. had agreed to pay more than $4 million to the family of a 13-year-old British murder victim, Milly Dowler, whose voicemail was hacked by reporters for Murdoch's News of the World. ) But Murdoch has made it very clear that he views America's public schools as a potential gold mine.

"In every other part of life, someone who woke up after a 50-year nap would not recognize the world around him…But not in education," he remarked in May during a speech at the "e-G8 forum" that preceded the G8 summit in France. "Our schools remain the last holdout from the digital revolution."

Last November, News Corp. dropped $360 million to buy Wireless Generation, a Brooklyn-based education technology company that provides software, assessment tools, and data services. "When it comes to K through 12 education, we see a $500 billion sector in the US alone that is waiting desperately to be transformed by big breakthroughs that extend the reach of great teaching," Murdoch said at the time. ...........(more)

The complete piece is at: http://motherjones.com/politics/2011/09/rupert-murdoch-news-corp-wireless-generation-education

[proud2BlibKansan]

1. "we see a $500 billion sector in the US alone"

PROFIT!!

It's all about profit. Rupert Murdoch doesn't want to improve education because it's the right thing to do. He wants to get his hands on that $500 billion. So does Bill Gates. And Eli Broad.

Wake the fuck up America.

[Riley18]

2. The thought of those two, Jeb and Murdoch, teaming up to steal what is left of our country's

education dollars is disgusting. Will Americans wake up soon enough? I can't even get some teachers I know to see what is happening. One thing I have noticed with all the silly testing I have to do on a daily basis is that parents are beginning to lose respect for my skills. The kids are going home, and telling them about the hours they spend testing instead of learning. I don't see where we as educators are able to honestly inform the public about these tests. It started with the Bush/cat tests that spread from Texas, and now has spread to almost weekly tests. All of these tests are moneymakers for the powerful, but do nothing for teachers and students. I hate to say it, but it looks like Jeb's "devious plan" (his words - not mine) is working.

[Reader Rabbit]

3. There are a lot of other foxes in the schoolhouse already.

Basically, that's the hidden agenda of Bush's NCLB and Obama's Race to the Top: Create an educational system where money can be drained from existing educational efforts so that private sector can make obscene profits from taxpayer money.

Anyone who tells you ed deform is different is selling something. And making assloads of money at the expense of our nation's schoolchildren.