"A child's learning is the function more of the characteristics of his classmates than those of the teacher." James Coleman, 1972

Wednesday, September 15, 2010

DC Voters Repudiate Education Deform

The prognosticators on CNN like David Gergen and Paul Begala are already shaking their heads and clucking about the smashing of the Fenty/Rhee front for the corporate education machine.  Begala is urging the audience to see the big money propaganda film, "Waiting for Superman," a documentary made by a director who gets totally snookered by producers who are funded by the billionaire boys' club. Gergen nods, yep.  Another of the talking heads, a black one, notes that Fenty lost the black vote, even though he was trying to "save the schools."   All three nod.  And so it goes.

Will the pundits ever ask the voters why they soundly rejected the arrogant, hateful, anti-union, anti-teacher, anti-parent, anti-public school approach to reform that sees the solution to urban education as cheap charters with uncertified white short term teachers and no libraries or services for students with special needs?  Cheap charters with high-priced CEOs running them, cheap charters that are based on a no excuses total compliance anti-cultural model of penal pedagogy that treats children as potential test scores who must be behaviorally and psychologically modified. Will the pundits ask the parents and the teachers and the children, all who want a say in how their public school run and their monies are spent, rather than being treated like enemies that have to be conquered?

Will Mr. Gray talk with the voters to see what kind of public school the public wants, rather than reporting to the Broad Foundation and the Gates Foundation and the Walton Foundation?  Parents and teachers don't want schools to prepare mind-scrubbed test-takers and obsequious drones for the corporate state.  Teachers want to be treated like respected professionals, and parents want to be treated like the people who love their children and who pay your salary, Mr. Gray.  Mayor Gray.  I like that.  Let's see what you can do with it.  I'm hoping your people are preparing a pink slip right now for one of the stars of that new documentary on that popular new education reform movement in DC.

Last updated 12:35 am with this:
26,915 now. Gray 56.37%, Fenty 42.11%

Goodnight, Michelle. 

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