Michigan Governor Rick Snyder has his own plan to hack away at the foundations of universal, free public education.
He is vying to be one of the national leaders of the education reform movement.
Like Bobby Jindal, his Southern counterpart in the far-right of the Republican Party, Snyder would love to offer vouchers but the Michigan state constitution doesn’t permit it (neither does the Louisiana state constitution, but who cares when you are a reformer?). Leaving constitutional niceties aside, Snyder wants to promote, encourage, expand, and fund with taxpayer dollars anything that is not a public school.
Governor Snyder wants to reshape the state’s school finance system so that public money “follows the child,” instead of just automatically going to public schools. This is part of the rightwing agenda to defund public education, cloaked in alluring terminology. The governor has created a panel to figure out how to make this happen.
He won’t come right out and say (reformers never do) that public education is bad, instead he will parrot Michelle Rhee’s absurd claim that public education is rigged to support “adult interests,” not the needs of children. I think what that means is that people who work in public schools get paid for doing so, which shows how selfish they are.
Far better, in the eyes of this education reformer in Michigan, to allow public money to go to for-profit corporations who put children first or anywhere else where there are no unions.
This is one of the peculiar views of the reformers in Michigan. It released a memo saying “the existing School Aid Act of 1979 generates $14 billion for public education, but the group believes that the existing law “serves the interest of legislators and representatives of the educational interests who control the education system, it is generally inaccessible to the general public.”
See the reasoning: That $14 billion now spent on public schools for all is controlled by “the educational interests” who “control the system” and it is not really for “the general public.” Get that: the money spent for public education is not for the public.
So if you follow the logic here, what is needed is more school choice, with money not targeted to any particular district or any particular school. No student would be assigned anywhere, and any choice the student or family made would be accompanied by state funding. Needless to say, that includes online learning and charters. Be it noted that Michigan has a very large for-profit charter sector; somewhere between 70-80% of its many charters operate for profit.
The governor wants funding to be allocated to “proficiency-based funding instead of “seat time” requirements,” which means that testing will be the sole criterion of education value. This again is a green light for the online corporations, because students can pass the state tests on computers and won’t need to go to a brick-and-mortar school at all.
And of course, we can’t have “reform” without “innovation.” In this case, the governor wants “A system that embraces innovative learning tools and reflects changing from a static approach to education delivery to one responsive to individual learning styles.” There we go again: code words meaning that we don’t want public money to pay for the current status quo system of public education, which is “static,” but to pay for online delivery system where the computer can adjust to “individual learning styles.” Apparently that is something that individual teachers, mere human beings, can’t possibly do. Only computers can do that.
And most certainly the governor wants to allow “nonpublic and homeschooled students maximum access to public education resources within the constraints of the state constitution.”
There you have it, folks, Governor Rick Snyder’s plan to reform public education by funding everything other than public education.
Diane Ravitch's blog 
Hard to see how public schools — even if serving “adult nterests” — could be less responsive to students’ needs than for-profit charters or for-profit private schools where, by definition, the entity exists principally to make $ for its owners and its managers must always put owner profit before student welfare.
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in the eyes of Tea Party governors, those who make a profit have children’s interests at heart moreso than teachers.
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It’s not just the Tea Party governors but folks like Obama and A. Duncan also. Think of the complicit democrats is this R. Emmanuel, MO’s own J. Nixon who just signed an ALEC sponsored law to expand charters in the state.
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These politicians never include current private and homeschool students in their figures when talking about a “follow the child” voucher system. Those parents are going to want to participate in this program since they are paying taxes as well. They already feel shafted since they have to pay taxes when they don’t have kids in the system.
In Florida, there are 339,582 private school students (according to educationbug.org) and 60,000 home school students (according to the FL DOE website). So, Florida is NOT providing FTE money for about 399,582 students. At the current per pupil spending rate of $6,357, providing these students with vouchers will cost the state an additional $2.5 BILLION.
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no, the politicians do include the homeschool students in their calculations. They want the votes of their parents and they are quite willing to spread public funding to them, as it reduces the amount available to public schools. They are “starving the beast,” as a conservative writer once said about the conservative attack on public programs in general.
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A voucher by any other name stinks all the more for the ruse of disguise.
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I’m a tad slow today. I always thought that computers could enhance and enrich learning opportunities. Back in the day, I use it as a substitute for classroom pen pals. We would set up a project with a school and communicate via email. It was fun, rich and productive.
I never dreamed that computers would be used to deliver online learning to the exclusion of school and class discussions and interactions. I’m disturbed that it’s being marketed as the learning savior or salve. You have to be dedicated and motivated to engage in online learning. I don’t see that happening with students and children long term. The novelty after a while wears off. In addition, studies show that it isn’t the miracle it’s all pumped up to be. I guess you can pay for this “new” technology if you fire teachers, hire an online company whose teacher may be responsible for monitoring 300+ students and close down all the physical facilities. Too bad the kids will become more socially inept and awkward. Isn’t that one of the reasons or benefits we have school: to promote civility and collaboration?
One last thing, do parents really want their children at home, learning, unsupervised? Am I missing something? Like I said, I’m a tad slow today.
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Like all of us who have seen the potential of information technology for the last half century keep saying, computers are just tools, and it makes all the difference who wields them. Tools in the hands of artisans and craftsmen will tend to serve human ends — tools in the hands of fools will not.
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The Republican party – and the Democratic party not far behind – has turn into a semi fascist party that matches what the founding fathers of fascism envisioned years ago:”Fascism should rightly be called Corporatism, as it is the merger of corporate and government power” Benito Mussolini.
Corporatism via “reformers” is anxious to dismantle any public service that does not benefit the rich. Education might also create active population that would have the ability to think and question exploitation oppression and injustice that are the pillars of corporatism.
If one wants to look into our new future, it is recommended to read the new Texas GOP platform. It is ridden with neo-fascist, pro corporate criminal and cruel guidelines, which could not be dismissed for Texas state and its GOP are indeed influential.
Among the more interesting and relevant policy points,some of the cruelest and most mean spirited includes: On welfare to the poor and hungry ” Denying benefits to individuals who cannot prove citizenship” . They of course:”oppose the United States Senate’s ratification of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child.”
But the greatest atrocity of them all – and the most relevant to this blog – is their education “reform” which corresponds with all the trends we have been seeing dominating public education.
They support extreme nationalism in class since: “We believe the current teaching of a multicultural curriculum is divisive” They dislike other languages: “We encourage non-English speaking students to transition to English within three years.”
But they like discipline:”We recommend that local school boards and classroom teachers be given more authority to deal with disciplinary problems. Corporal punishment is effective and legal in Texas” .
Regarding standards they state: “We support a return to the traditional basics of reading, writing, arithmetic, and citizenship with sufficient discipline” In other words all the traits one needs in order to have a low paying job at Walmart, but without the ability to think. One should be ignorant, passive, loyal worker/consumer, all to accommodate the corporate power and greed. Feed it rather then challenge it.
Anti-intellectualism is quite honestly presented on their plan. They dislike science:”theories such as life origins and environmental change should be taught as challengeable scientific theories subject to change ” and hate thinking: “We oppose the teaching of Higher Order Thinking Skills, critical thinking skills and similar programs ….(theories that) focus on behavior modification and have the purpose of challenging the student’s fixed beliefs and undermining parental authority.”
The document can be read: http://www.texasgop.org/about-the-party
Chris Hedges the journalists and activist, in a recent article described the US population as a group that has been colonized by:”tiny corporate entities that have no loyalty to the nation and indeed in the language of traditional patriotism are traitors”. He explains his claim:”The poor are plunged into desperation. Mass movements, such as labor unions, are dismantled. The school system is degraded so only the elites have access to a superior education. Laws are written to legalize corporate plunder and abuse, as well as criminalize dissent….ensure political passivity by diverting all personal energy toward survival. It is an old, old game” his remedy: “We must accept the hollowness of electoral politics, the futility of our political theater, and we must destroy the corporate structure itself.”
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Well said.
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NOt semi-facist, but fascist. We’re already there. Drones. Kill lists. NDAA and indefinite detention. Lack of war crimes and Wall Street prosecutions. Voter supression.The list is endless.
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The static approach to education ushered in the enlightenment and industrial revolution, resulting in the advancement of society, and a dynamic, thriving civilization. The belief in learning styles has no scientific basis, at all. It isn’t even a hypothesis. It has never been tested. It was dreamed up by an ed professor, who speculated about the differences in learners, and learning outcomes. Because non-educators are not trained professional educators, their claims of knowing anything about educating people should at the very least be taken with a grain of salt, and in general disregarded. Unfortunately, reality has been turned on its head, from a scientific perspective, when it comes to education today, politicians and business people are the education experts, but the trained professional is not. That is why many people will miss the distinction between public and private, and will fail to grasp the clear and present danger they face by being misled about the causes of and the solutions to our crumbling, dying, under funded public schools in Michigan.
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I went to the public meeting which introduced this effort on Tuesday, with less than 24 hours notice to most people. The really nifty part of this is that they are framing the whole thing as an effort to “remove the conflicts” between our main school code and the law that governs school funding. This would imply that it’s a very narrow, technical effort. But every issue they mention is a critical policy dilemma or major policy goal, all of which need to be discussed by the broader community and not buried in legislation billed as only fixing technical problems.
BTW, Rick Snyder is not a Tea Party governor; he’s just a traditional, business-oriented, conservative. Thus his complete faith in markets and competition. However, many of our legislators, who were elected with strong Tea Party backing, view Gov. Snyder as hopelessly moderate. We are definitely living in interesting times.
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School choice never worked for my kids – we moved from GPW to Charlotte NC in 1995. We weren’t rich enough to live within the boundaires of a preferred magnet. But we also weren’t poor enough to get into any magnet. School placement lotteries are skewed for the “free-lunch” kids. Charlotte Public schools are actually zoned by the county! Doesn’t matter if you live in a 2 million dollar house or are homeless – there’s no guarantee as to which child your school will attend – and this has changed yearly at times! I believe a good education is a right for all children. Parental envolvement is a big key to a successful school – and low income families tend to lack time & transportation due to their circumstances. Now don’t get me started on the disrespectful, rude students – whose parents blame everything on the teachers!!! Or the IEP students that are excused for continually interupting teaching time with nonsense – taking away from the students that are trying to listen and learn. IEPs are necessary – but it rules should be consistent at home and at school. My kids’ teachers for the most part are awesome & always willing to talk with me or my kids – communication people! Grosse Pointe – don’t ever let go of your school system!!
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They are “re writing” school funding currently. They won’t call it vouchers, but the plan is to have the money “follow the student”. Many of us are not fooled and realize it is a voucher plan and will significantly damage public schools in Michigan. The Republican controlled legislature is voting “party line”. Very discouraging…trying to inform and ignite folks…but it is difficult to do so.
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