Two political leaders—Arne Duncan and Dannell Malloy, governor of Connecticut–recently held a press conference where they both pretended to disdain high-stakes testing. Duncan went so far as to claim that he had decreased standardized testing when he led the Chicago public schools.
If only it were true! Jonathan Pelto and Sarah Darer Littman did some fact-checking, and the only question is why these guys don’t own up to their public record. They are both champions of standardized testing. Their unwillingness to own up to their own record shows how unpopular the testing-accountability movement has become. Now if they would only practice what they preach!
Diane Ravitch's blog 
It is abundantly clear that the neoliberal reform movement is not about providing quality education to all students. The criticism has been loud and clear for far too long to be ignored. Their own worship of data has got to be telling them the same things that we see. They have accused teachers of self interest and greed; I am afraid that any altruistic claims on the part of corporate interests fall flat.
I would be very careful calling the reform movement “neoliberal”. Don’t forget, NCLB and the call for “teacher accountability,” merit pay, etc., were sponsored by the GOP. I do agree that both major parties are now carrying the reform banner. Therefore, we need to seriously begin looking for an education and democracy friendly third party.
The reform movement is the very definition of neoliberal. Do not confuse neoliberalism with anything we recognize as liberal. Neoliberalism goes back to the original definition of liberal – protecting private property from the government. Read Locke, Hume and Adam Smith to get an understanding of what neoliberalism is all about. It’s just the economic side of neoconservatism. That’s why the Republicans and Democrats are getting so hard to tell apart these days.
Right on, Dienne. Just what I am teaching this term in History of Economics.
You are right, Bill. The movement has a long GOP history that predates the Democrats’ contribution. I think our first battle must be to repeal the Supreme Court decision on Citizens United although I am ready to support a third party that is interested in returning us to democracy. I lost my career to this idiocy; I am not ready to lose my country.
Malloy is the one who said that he is “fine with teaching to the test as long as the scores go up.”
He may not remember what he said not so ling ago, but I sure as hell do, and so do many others.
And we will remember DINO Dan’s words if he ever has the chutzpah to run for reelection!
Dienne is correct: neoliberalism has nothing to do with the New Deal/ Great Society connotations of the word Liberal, and it is politically bi-partisan.
Oh, and I should have also mentioned that it is a misnomer to call Arne Duncan a “leader:” salesman (as in used cars or penny stocks), functionary or mouthpiece would be more accurate.
I learned the term “meat puppet” from one of my graduating seniors. It seems apt for Arne.
What offends me more than their bone-headed policies;, (although they are beyond offensive) is the fact that they hold the public in such contempt. In the age of Google, Twitter, FB and the internet- it’s just so easy to fact-check them. Why do they persist in lying? It makes no sense. Perhaps they’ll stop or we’ll have to storm the gates. I thinking something on the order of:
You should have played the video of the Mexican teachers on strike. They were literally storming the gates.
All reformers are running straight to the Orwellian diversion of claiming ownership of history and policies that are the opposite of their true intentions and actions. Their agenda has been outed so now the only course of action remaining to them is total deception while continuing to push the same toxic mess.
There is no way Duncan limited testing when he was in Chicago because it would have impeded the corporate education reform agenda.
Arne Duncan was on the board of the Broad Foundation while he was the leader of Chicago schools. The modus operandi of Broad Foundation is deception. It is the method of implementing the Broad Foundations anti-democratic agenda.
On Page 10 of the 2009/2010 Broad Foundation Annual Report http://tinyurl.com/6w5sps2
it says:
“Prior to becoming U.S. secretary of education, Arne Duncan was CEO of Chicago Public Schools, where he hosted 23 Broad Residents. Duncan now has five Broad Residents and alumni working with him in the U.S. Department of Education.”
On Page 35 of the same annual report it says:
“The election of President Barack Obama and his appointment of Arne Duncan, former CEO of Chicago Public Schools, as the U.S. secretary of education, marked the pinnacle of hope for our work in education reform. In many ways, we feel the stars have finally aligned.
With an agenda that echoes our decade of investments—charter schools, performance pay for teachers, accountability, expanded learning time and national standards—the Obama administration is poised to cultivate and bring to fruition the seeds we and other reformers have planted.”
They can continue to lie because they adhere to Lani Guinier’s 3 rules.
1. Who are the winners and losers?
2. Who made the rules to the game?
3. What are the stories the winners tell the losers to keep them playing the game?
The lie is “we don’t want you to teach to the test”. Of course not, they want you to fail the tests so they can close your schools down and/or hand them over to the privatizers.
They get to decide who the winners and losers are – they get to set and reset the rules as they see fit. It’s time for all of us to change the rules. Starve the beast