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

Wednesday, February 18, 2015

Rudd's Doomed Plan to Use Public University $ to Fund Bogus Relay Teacher Program Slogs On

Over the past two weeks, the embattled U of Memphis president, David Rudd, has promised meetings that were later cancelled, has pretended to put the Relay program on hold while proceeding with the plan, and has called for a "task force" to stall resistance as the Relay giveaway moves forward.

Today's Commercial Appeal has a update on where things stand, and in doing so, offers some insight into the depth and breadth of the resistance to Rudd's losing scheme.  The only people supporting Rudd at this point are the profiteers and officials who stand to benefit by the privatizing of Memphis  urban schools.  The big takeaway of the story: the Faculty Senate at University of Memphis voted  unanimously to launch an investigation of the Relay giveaway plan.

What the faculty senate investigation can do is open the door to much-needed state investigations into Rudd and Shelby County Schools' violations of open meetings laws during the secret planning phase to turn over $5 million in University of Memphis funds annually to pay Relay to miseducate future "teachers" for Memphis's poorest schools, where beginners will stand in for the much needed professionally trained and experienced teachers that these kids require. What will be uncovered, too, is the whereabouts of millions of missing funds committed to this ill-fated project.

Of course, ASD superintendent, Chris Barbic, and the corrupt Hyde Foundation, are enthusiastic, since Relay teacher "training" is based on the chain gang methods of Doug Lemov, whose book, "Teach Like a Champion" is used to "train" KIPP and Uncommon School charter teachers. And with a 50-60 percent teacher attrition rate in these hell schools, a publicly funded teacher replacement plan works to benefit the out of state profiteers who are the beneficiaries of school privatization via charters. 

Rudd's participation in this loser scheme to drain public funds for corporate benefit will be exposed, for sure. His pursuit of this ill-fated scheme will be his Waterloo. But then, what else can he do but to continue on his doomed course. To do otherwise would lead to his replacement by another corporate stooge, or maybe not. From where I sit, it looks like the U of M faculty members have found their voices and, perhaps, other parts of their anatomy. It just could be that the faculty, staff, students, and alumni of a great institution of learning will insist on a president who is committed to the university, rather than tearing it down.

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