A reader sent this today:
CHRIS HEDGES: Well, you know, the tactic is clear. And, you know, the secretary of education, Duncan, is behind it. And that is essentially the stripping away of—you know, of qualified teachers. We’re watching it in New York. You know, the mayor of New York is very much a part of this effort. The assault on the New York City teachers’ union is as egregious as the assault against the Chicago Teachers Union.
And it really boils down to the fact that we spend $600-some billion a year, the federal government, on education, and the corporations want it. That’s what’s happening. And that comes through charter schools. It comes through standardized testing. And it comes through breaking teachers’ unions and essentially hiring temp workers, people who have very little skills. This is what Teach for America is about. They teach by rote, and they earn nothing. There’s no career.
http://www.democracynow.org/2012/9/11/chris_hedges_on_9_11_touring
Diane Ravitch's blog 
Isn’t it $60 billion? Not $600 billion.
He is right. It is $600 Billion plus
I would take it a step further – Obama, the man who hired Duncan, is behind this stripping away of qualified teachers and the move toward privatization. That’s what Race to the Top is all about, that’s what tying teacher evals to test scores via the NCLB waivers is all about, that’s what Central Falls was all about. Obama is behind this – and he’s behind it because the people who fund him – the hedge fund managers and the bankers and the corporate CEO’s and the media moguls – want to do exactly what Hedges says. They want to gobble up the $600 billion in public education money.
We need to remember that Rahm Emanuel is simply putting Barack Obama’s education policies in place. Obama is not the only pol promoting these policies, of course. These are the same policies that George W. Bush tried to enact, they are the same policies Jeb Bush promotes wherever he goes. Bloomberg, Christie, Walker, Booker, Rick Scott, Emanuel – Dems and Repubs alike – are all promoting the same ed policies.
Privatization, De-skilling of teachers. Profit.
There is a reason why Obama won’t come out with his comfy shoes and walk with CTU members.
It’s because he’d be walking in protest of his own policies.
Diane, I commend you for posting the interview with Chris Hedges on Democracy Now. I happened to see the interview- I put the television on after I awoke and I was absolutely transfixed- I had to sit and listen. Hearing about the areas of sacrifice sent chills through me. I ordered his book today as well. Mr. Hedges said it so plainly- 600 Billion spent on education each year by the government. What corporation wouldn’t want a piece of that pie. As so we are being sold, one school, one teacher, one child’s education at a time.
Keep saying it…
If you really want to understand education reform…
Follow the money
just follow the money!
Not only do they want our money, they want our children. Charter schools, staffed by TFAs, will put the kids in lock-step. Learning only how to take tests, they will learn nothing. This sort of schooling will prepare them to do what they are told, not to think critically. Therefore, children will become widgets (just like the assembly line!) who will not question authority. They will be unprepared for any types of jobs other than those corporations would want to wedge them in. And, of course, they will be forced to work at minimum wage. This is as Chris Hedges, in fact, has foreseen–a frightening, dystopian oligarchy. Parents, step up & join up–go to Parents of America, find out what they’re doing & what you can do to help…your children. Hurry, please–time is of the essence.
The other piece I see is that Race to the Top is diverting teacher know-how, skill, talent, passion, etc to numbers crunching and reporting. taking valuable time away from figuring out how to teach well. We are heading rapidly to where the only people who will be able to get a deep enough education to be capable of being in charge of anything in the world will be those who can go to private schools. Race to the Top is a misnomer – it is Crawl off the Bottom because it does not allocate any”measurable” value to AP classes, college credit offerings. art or music. Our numbers are measured by scores on academic tests. To comply with Race to the Top, we have to give our students a “pre-test” at the beginning of our classes this September, a test designed for students to fail because it is similar to what they will take as final exams at the end of the year. the point being to show improvement, but it means students all over NYS are starting off their year by massively taking tests they will fail miserably on, per requirement of NyS’ compliance with RTT.Every teacher I know learned in their earliest classes & experiences, that testing to show failures is VERY bad pedagogy.
And to keep things in perspective, 60% of the federal budget goes to war & defense, compared to 2% to education. The rest of the cost of public schooling is carried by state & local governments. is that the kind of support that will allow this generation to run the country any better? I don’t think so.