A reader points out that few if any children of the business leaders who signed the ad for the Common Core will be affected by what they support.
He suspects that most are sending their children to tony private schools, which do not give standardized tests and will likely ignore the Common Core, even though it is important for our survival as a nation (according to the Council on Foreign Relations).
Diane Ravitch's blog 
The money buys the power to buy the very means by which people might learn what they need to learn to do what is necessary to prevent their being owned outright by the corporate elite. Our classrooms should be the places where students learn of their own intelligence, are encouraged to think for themselves in an informed and reasoned manner, and where they are exposed to many views and not just those of the owners. Business does seem to think that the minds of the people are their property, to be done with what is necessary to keep the money flowing in the direction of those who own and manage businesses. Oddly, there is much in the Core that, if taught properly, just might cause students to grow in effectiveness as they deliberate to their truths about the wold in which they live. Some very good goals have been co-opted by entities that work to make schools safe for the business agenda. It is time that we discussed with students why what they are taught is taught and who it is that forces the hand of teachers to teach in ways that harm rather than help. We can start by simply doing what any sensible person does when reading for information and ideas, do what is necessary to discover the nature of the author and publisher. That would be a significant step toward proper literacy and toward the development of the “bullshit detectors” Postman and Weingartner suggested should be a critical element of the well educated person’s mental tool box.
Reader Suspects Rich People Send Their Children to Private Schools
Reader Suspects Rich People Send Their Children to Private Schools, While Imposing Self-Enriching, Test-based Curriculum on Other People’s Children.
There, fixed it for you.
You know, after much deliberation, I have come to understand what teachers must do in order to survive the tsunami of corporate education reform that is sweeping our nation.
It’s very simple, really.
Step One: Go to a bookstore, or just go online if there are no more bookstores in your area.
Step Two: Buy a collection of Dilbert cartoons. Any one will do.
Step Three: Read it.
Step Four: Do your best to emulate Wally.
Hi Diane,
I thought this article might be of interest. It is about Harry Phillips, the only NYS Regents who gets it.
http://www.lohud.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=2013302100041
Thanks for all that you do.
Yours truly, Kathleen Triana
Here’s what Harry Phillips seems to get: The mega-rich Westchester suburbs should be left alone because, well, how dare you lump Scarsdale in with NYC and Buffalo.
“A common complaint of educators from the Lower Hudson Valley is that state reforms are really aimed at New York City and other urban districts and ignore the fine done by most suburban districts. Many wince when Cuomo repeatedly talks about New York’s poor graduation rate, since most suburban rates compare well with the best-performing states.
“’I’m very sympathetic to their frustration,’ Phillips said. ‘We have a lot of great schools. When you factor out the poorest kids, we do great. Number one in the world. Scarsdale has said for years, Leave us alone. Our tests are more rigorous than yours.’”
“Phillips wasn’t sure why the state can’t focus on helping needy students in big-city schools without clamping down on everyone else.”
Well, why can’t we invest all those accountability dollars into providing supports for the kids who need the most help, instead of pummeling all students with mind-numbing assessments of proficiency?
Fund wrap-around services, lower student-teacher ratios, alternative curricula, housing, enrichment? How about programs like the Nurse-Family Partnership, paid parental leave, and parent education? Some of it seems to be because there is a lack of leadership and vision, and some perhaps because of government bureaucracy and union protectionism.
Into that void come the corporate education reformers who are gleeful to capitalize on our educational investments, irregardless of the outcomes for our communities and young people.
Diane,
Watch this video…CPS closings.
http://atthechalkface.com/2013/02/13/whos-this-alderman_moreno-guy-he-called-himself-a-hipster-really/
They are with it as long as it is the privatization and corporatization of education. Last night Obama stated that education was the “BUSINESS OF AMERICA.” And this is where we are at now, shamefully.