Watch this video of the Philadelphia All-City High School Orchestra.
Because of the budget cuts, this might be their last performance.
The governor, the legislature, the business leaders, the foundations of Pennsylvania should hang their heads in shame.
Will this be the year the music died in Philadelphia?
Diane Ravitch's blog 
It will be the year the music died in Chicago too. One of the closing schools (Lafayette?) had a very strong elementary orchestra program which will simply die rather than transition to another school. But hey, why do poor kids need music anyway? It’s just an interruption from working for their masters. When there is work to be had, that is.
Yea, but the false promises of the Charter School movement will make up for this. Fragmenting public monies does harm to the offerings of traditional public schools. In a competitive dynamic, degrading the services of your competitor is part of the game….TFA plays it well in their sneering condescending attitude toward the teaching profession.
This is actually a problem that really could be helped by a philanthropist writing a check. Where are they now?
Alan, philanthropists show what they care about by the checks they write. They care about privatizing public schools, so they invest millions and hundreds of millions in charters, which typically do no better than public schools. Obviously they don’t care about music, or this student orchestra would not be on the brink of extinction.
In the neoliberal era, there are very few philanthropists aiding the public schools, but school systems nationwide are infested with malanthropists, who use their taxpayer-subsidized wealth to further entrench their interests and privatize the schools.
That a public school orchestra should be allowed to die so that the Overclass’ education project can succeed demonstrates the barbarity of their agenda.
Actually, philanthropy wouldn’t help. The orchestra is endangered because classroom instrumental music instruction has been eliminated from the budget (hence, no musicians to play in it). The cut was among those made to close a $300 million budget deficit caused largely by state cuts that fell particularly hard on the poorest districts. This is precisely the kind of problem that does not have a private solution but requires a public commitment to public education. (Though I wouldn’t be surprised if there isn’t a raft of charter applications for schools specializing in instrumental music).
very sad news.
Michael, you wrote: That a public school orchestra should be allowed to die so that the Overclass’ education project can succeed demonstrates the barbarity of their agenda.
From my district, many veteran teachers believe Core will eventually die because there’s no quality teacher preparation or any real concern about student achievement. API scores will drop nationwide and when this happens, that’s when federal officials will reconsider their political decision on our nation’s future.
I hope you are right, Zee, but my fear is that, unless teachers, parents and students resist on many fronts, those declining scores will be used as a pretext for continuing attacks against public education.
Reconsideration of this depraved project will only occur when elected officials’ fear of an informed and engaged citizenry overrides their dependence on the Overclass’ campaign money and post-government lobbying gigs.
When factory workers in Italy revolted at turn of 20thC for higher wages and better conditions, owners ridiculed them for supposing that their daughters had the right to wear silk stockings like the children of the elite. Now, in 2013, in the wealthiest society in the world, at a moment when vast wealth piles up in the hands of corporations and the 1%, our society’s leaders mock the idea that everybody’s children deserve the right to make music.
Re the first eight comments on this posting:
This is why I come to this website.
Thank you all.
P.S. Michael Fiorillo: “malanthropists” indeed! That’s right up there with “edufrauds” and “eduvultures.” Another candidate for entry into the Devil’s Dictionary of Eduspeak.
🙂
Where can we find the Devil’s Dictionary of Eduspeak?
Well, I’m working on a Devil’s Dictionary of Education. I would appreciate any and all suggestions with a proper TOTH (eduacronym for tip o’ the hat).
A few examples so far:
ABCs: What used to be taught very early on to children in the public schools in the halcyon days of yore.
BBC: Billionaire Boys Club-comprised of the elite of the elite of those providing funding for the edudeformer’s teacher bashing and public school destroying agenda. They suffer from an extremely virulent and incurable form of the White Man’s Burden. If they had a conscience they would have committed hari kari by now. See Broad, Eli, Gate, Billy the, Walton’s, the.
Bovine Excrement: That which exudes from the mouths of the edudeformers on a too frequent basis. Also what the edudeformers base their perfidious claims concerning the current state of public education is this great land.
Quality: See trait.
Trait: See Ability
Ability: See Characteristic.
Characteristic: See Construct.
Construct: That invisible entity or imperceptible something that educational psychometricians claim to be able to measure accurately using standardized tests of course-except for that little dirty secret standard error of estimate.
Edudeformers: A certain elite hubristic breed who have had minimal contact with the teaching and learning process in public education but propose the most outrageous solutions to imaginary problems they say plague American public education that are, of course, leading to the tragic downfall of American Imperiousness. See: Gates, B., Duncan, A., Broad, E., Rhee, M., King, J., Vallas, P., Bush, J., Levesque, P.
Going Along to Get Along: Nefarious practice of most educators who implement the edudeformers agenda even though the educators know that those educational malpractices will cause harm to the students and defile the teaching and learning process.
Innovative Spirit: That esprit de esprit that only true teachers of excellence take into the classroom every minute of everyday and every other minute of their lives.
Karmic Gods of Retribution: Those ethereal beings specifically evolved to construct the 21st level in Dante’s Hell. The 21st level signifies the combination of the 4th (greed), 8th (fraud) and 9th (treachery) levels into one mega level reserved especially for the edudeformers and those, who, knowing the negative consequences of the edudeformers agenda, willing implemented it so as to go along to get along. The Karmic Gods of Retribution also personally escort these poor souls, upon their physical death, to the 21st level unless they enlighten themselves, a la one D. Ravitch, to the evil and harm they have caused so many innocent children, and repent and fight against their former fellow deformers. There the edudeformers will lie down on a floor of smashed and broken ipads and ebooks curled in a fetal position alternately sucking their thumbs to the bones while listening to two words-Educational Excellence-repeated without pause for eternity.
Psychometrician: A slowly dying species of charlatans eventually ending up in the dust bin of education history much like the dodo ended up in the dust bin of evolution.
Psychometrics: A school of thought akin to scholasticism, phrenology and eugenics.
Public School: Originally designed to so that the citizenry would be educated enough to enjoy their rights and liberties as guaranteed by the Constitution. Now considered by many to be “gubmint” socialist indoctrination camps.
Tenure: A misnomer for “due process rights” for public school K-12 teachers in some states. It assures that the teacher cannot be arbitrarily dismissed for something like your administrator’s lover is in need of a job and yours is the one he/she wants. It also ensures that if a teacher is involved in a job action he/she will have the right to go before an arbitration committee of a kangaroo court usually made up of the superintendent and a few of his/her toadies
As a music teacher in New York City public schools for 25 years, I can attest to the importance of the arts in the schools, especially music. In addition to the numerous cognitive development and self confidence building rewards, there is also the bonus of being in a group over a number of years instead of a semester or two. My band gave students a home base and a feeling of belonging. While the powers that be push for testing, the people in the know push for situations in which students get that feeling of worth and belonging because that is the real way to foster growth.
I like the Devil’s Dictionary of Eduspeak. This is organized destruction and chaos. Diane is correct that the “Malanthorpist’s” do not care. People relate to these terms in the proper manner. They understand. I use “Broadfather” for Eli Broad and “Deform Board” for their phrase “Reform Board” as people then really understand the doublespeak. Language is powerful and there is nothing wrong with creativity for communication both in language and presentation. It is theater, after all. And there is only one outcome desired and that is to communicate the truth so as to cause a reaction. Sometimes that is throwing boulders thru the windows and then setting the agenda for them to respond to. If that is the only way to get their attention, so be it. It is our government and schools, not theirs. They work for us.
If anyone would like to contribute to my compilation of Devil’s Dictionary of Education please email me at dswacker@centurytel.net . If you wish I will include whatever form of acknowledgement that you would like, from anonymous to full blown real name or screen name.