October 19, 2012 7:50 am
The most important voice in state education policy today is the American Legislative Exchange Council, known as ALEC.
ALEC has 2,000 state legislators as members, and dozens of corporate sponsors, including the biggest names in business.
Here is an excellent summary of ALEC’s legislative priorities.
ALEC writes model legislation. Its members carry it home and introduce it as their own in their states.
ALEC promotes charters and vouchers.
ALEC likes the parent trigger.
ALEC likes it when the governor can create a commission to approve charters over the opposition of local school boards.
ALEC favors unregulated, for-profit online schooling.
ALEC wants to eliminate collective bargaining.
ALEC doesn’t think teachers need any certification or credential.
ALEC opposes teacher tenure.
ALEC likes evaluating teachers by test scores.
You should learn about ALEC. Read up on it. It is the most influential voice in the nation on education policy.
Posted by dianeravitch
Categories: ALEC, Charter Schools, Corporate Reformers, Education Industry, Education Reform, For-Profit, On-Line Education, Parent trigger, Privatization, Teacher Evaluations, Teacher Tenure, Testing, Unions, US Education
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And don’t forget that ALEC also provides a non-public venue to enable politicians, public servants, corporate executives, and lobbyists to meet, exchange ideas and strategies, and coordinate soft money. The social aspect of ALEC may be even more pernicious than the model legislation.
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By moosesnsquirrels on October 19, 2012 at 7:58 am
There is no doubt that well-funded organizations like ALEC are formidable opponents.
But teachers and other public school professionals can harness more power than they realize.
Some of you may be familiar with the philosophies of Gene Sharp.
(From: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gene_Sharp)
“Gene Sharp (born January 21, 1928) is Professor Emeritus of political science at
the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth.[3] He is known for his extensive writings
on nonviolent struggle, which have influenced numerous anti-government resistance
movements around the world.
Sharp’s key theme is that power is not monolithic; that is, it does not derive from
some intrinsic quality of those who are in power. For Sharp, political power, the
power of any state – regardless of its particular structural organization –
ultimately derives from the subjects of the state. His fundamental belief is that
any power structure relies upon the subjects’ obedience to the orders of the
ruler(s). If subjects do not obey, leaders have no power.”
Here’s a link to Gene Sharp’s …
198 Non-Violent Ways to Affect Social Change.
Which ones are manageable for you?
Click to access 198_methods-1.pdf
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By readingexchange on October 19, 2012 at 11:46 am
Sorry about the formatting … ‘looked fine on my iPad screen prior to posting.
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By readingexchange on October 19, 2012 at 11:50 am