An organization called Students for Education Reform is popping up on various campuses to advocate for corporate reforms.
This article by George Joseph in The Nation explores who they are and who funds them.
It is hard to understand why students would demand more standardized testing and why they would support a movement that attacks teachers and wants teachers to be held accountable for what students do. Shouldn’t students be held accountable for what students do?
All around the nation, brave students are saying “no” to the corporate reform movement that wants to turn them into standardized data points.
But not SFER, which is an offshoot of the Wall Street hedge fund managers’ group called DFER. They want to be standardized. They want to be data points. They want more tests. Please, won’t someone test them and publish their scores?
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“But not SFER, which is an offshoot of the Wall Street hedge fund managers’ group called DFER.”
That’s literally not true. The names are similar, but they are two different organizations.
Bill – Please read this document that shows their relationship: https://docs.google.com/document/pub?id=1X8uq9kuhoC42kVgg1QRQxtIgfv_WSfh0EqmUml6EUus
Doesn’t matter…semantics…they have the same purpose: increase testing, increase teacher churn, tie test scores to evaluations…break unions, charterize, voucherize, privatize…pour money into eduvultures…..the kids are props and teachers are robots.
Appropriate. SFER=Suffer.
Not only is SFER connected to DFER but this dangerous organization (DFER) just launched a new organization, TFER (Teachers for Education Reform) on January 8th. I am going out on a limb and guess that TFER may have a lot of TFA, KIPP folks etc. What compedent teacher would agree that corporate reforms are good for education?
Answer to your question: the kind that never taught or temped for a few years and then anointed themselves experts while quickly advancing to a higher paying job knowing very little, but saying all the right things that privatizers, eduvultures, political hacks and exploiters like to hear. It is group think on a massive scale while feigning concern for the poor brown children living in poverty.
TFER will be comprised of former and new TFAers, innocent charter newbies, paid pretenders and fawning Rheeformers.
There is an episode of “Til Death” on TV. The teacher gets merit pay. One student gets “A”s in all the classes except his. The difference is that this teacher did not give him a $100 bribe to work in class.
Far fetched? “Hey teach. I only need a “D” to get through. What will you do for me so I get “A”s?
Right now, my former school has a no fail policy. Couple that with merit pay and life will be………………….so much different.
The DFER is a democratic party right wing organization which is against public education and due process rights for employees which also promotes privatization and corporatization of education and to end “Real Public Education.” Why they are democrats I do not know as all of their policies are right wing republican. Actually, Obama and Duncan’s policies are the same as theirs. I do not know why people call Obama a progressive or liberal. If you look at his policies and what he does he is way right of center. Has he done anything about the “Banksters?” No. Who has prosecuted more whistleblowers Bush or Obama? Well, it is Obama. Who is out privatizing and corporatizing education. Once again Obama and Duncan. Is Guantanamo closed? No. Has the offensive looking at all of our personal communication stopped. No, in fact Obama is worse than Bush when it comes to that. So, think again about what is really going on here and who is really in controll. In other words who are the puppets and who are the puppet masters.
As the article states, I have a feeling a lot of the members who joined SFER have no idea who funds them, or what they stand for. They hear the words “Education Reform” and assume its good. Hopefully they will see the truth.