| The question really isn’t whether Obama or Romney would do worse for education. They have both indicated they will push for privatization and testing.
Understand that those who are running the game have been playing it for 30+ years, infiltrating both sides and playing us all against each other. We have few, if any, politicians who truly appeal to their constituents instead of their contributors. The states which had campaign financing laws no longer have the right to apply them, leading to a massive injection of corporatist politicians in our local, state, and federal positions.
If the teachers want public education to continue to exist, they will need to support measures which eliminate corporate personhood and the conflation of money and speech. Between the ALEC, Heritage Foundation, CATO Institute, Reason TV, Americans for Prosperity, and other such groups funded by the Koch brothers, there has been a massive push to privatize education. The same groups, which claim to be libertarian while pushing for corporatocracy, pushed heavily for the Citizens United ruling so that they could inject massive sums of money into our political campaigns. They have been in trouble in the past for illegal campaign contributions from a foreign subsidiary, so they figured out how to do it legally.
“A foreign subsidiary of U.S. corporate giant Koch Industries acknowledged making thousands of dollars in illegal contributions to state candidates between 2005 and 2009 and agreed to settle a case brought by the Federal Election Commission.”
http://abcnews.go.com/Blotter/foreign-company-admits-illegal-cash-donations-us-state/story?id=13979521
Romney has already stated that he would shift the Supreme Court further right with justices similar to Clarence Thomas and Anthony Scalia, both of whom ruled on the Citizens United case under extreme conflict-of-interest.
“As a candidate, Romney has pledged to nominate judges in the mold of the Supreme Court’s four most conservative justices.”
http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/04/19/us-usa-campaign-court-romney-idUSBRE83I18U20120419
If this happens, corporate rule over our politicians, and therefore our taxes and how they are spent, will be solidified for at least a generation. |
Diane Ravitch's blog 
I read this and agree. I am equally as troubled by Obama’s strong ties with Axelrod and the Democrats hedge fund ‘reformers’. To paraphrase, here is the new guy same as the old guy. It seems the money is the denominator these days not ideas, or justice or even do no harm. Wealth is not the problem per se, Kennedy came from a very wealthy background and withstood tremendous pressure to do the right thing for social justice, Now comes another president, another first, who has not shown the ‘cajones’ to stand for what is right in light of tremendous pressure.
I am so very saddened by this state of affairs.
And this is the writing that was written, MENE, MENE, TEKEL, UPHARSIN.
I had a reform principal once who liked aphorisms, to illustrate that the public private partnership is already a done deal . He’d say things like,
‘Education reform is like a bus. You’ll either be on it, or you’ll be under it.”
“The handwriting is on the wall”.
I asked him, “Does it say you have been weighed and found wanting?” He just looked blank, because he really is an ignorant and shallow fraud. So, I explained: It means your “data” doesn’t hold up to scrutiny, and by the way, the Persians are coming.
I love your response. Keep the faith.
Speaking of aphorisms, I thought everyone knew that the root of all evil is the love of money!