Dr.Yohuru Williams and Maria Kilfoyle, NBCT, have a message for the corporate reformers: We will never surrender.
They write:
“Public education… is the cornerstone of democracy. It helps students acquire civic knowledge so that they can become participants in their democracy. It also requires students and communities to reflect on a continuous basis, through school board meetings, referendums and countless other exercises of local politics, on the nature of the democratic process. Public education further requires parents, teachers, and communities to work in partnership to solve problems on behalf of the public good. If we were to sit passively by and allow unscrupulous politicians and corporations to auction public education off to the highest bidder, we would also be complicit in its demise, but we, and scores of others do not intend to allow that to happen. For the future of our kids and these democratic ideals, we will fight.”
The corporate reformers claim the sky is falling, play on public fears, and advance “solutions” that have not a shred of evidence behind them.
They write:
“Even though democracy has been frustrated and many communities have fallen under the sway of the harmful machinery of Corporate Education Reform, we will not tire or retreat. We will stand and fight the deformers in the town hall meetings, in the governors’ offices and on the floors of state legislatures, on the local school boards, on the campuses of the nation’s colleges and universities, we will even fight at the gates of the White House and on the steps of Capitol Hill; we will never surrender.
“We will never surrender because the real issue that hinders education for children, poverty, needs to be addressed not ignored. The sound bites of education disaster that deformers thrust upon the public never mention child poverty. In fact, they go out of their way to marginalize it and ignore it. We will force the public and governments, at both the federal and state level, to address this.
“We will never surrender because the very social inequalities that deformers like Gates, Duncan, Rhee, and Broad are using to claim their agenda for public education are full of lies, a lack of research, and an alternate agenda that isn’t about equality or justice; it is about the dollar and continued oppression of the poor. Nothing they have presented as an agenda for education will cure child poverty or social injustice. We will never surrender until this lie is exposed and destroyed. Finally, yet importantly, we will never surrender because principle, morality, democracy, and justice are on our side. Our hearts are not bought by The Gates Foundation or The Broad Foundation – Our hearts belong to the children we teach, and the communities we invest in. For that, we will never surrender.”
Diane Ravitch's blog 
Who at NB was responsible for taking Gates money and handing over the keynote address to him at the Nb conference in march 2013?
The corporate reformers use the policy “shock and awe” as they falsely (and harmfully) claim our public education system has failed. This policy, written about by Naomi Klein in “Shock Doctrine”, is a vicious, underhanded attempt to either use natural disasters or human-made ones, to shock the public into thinking that a policy needs to be changed immediately, for the benefit of venture (or, in this case Vulture capitalism)…and if this change isnt carried out immediately, we will suffer dire consequences.
The education reform movement reeks of this policy…
Firstly, the argument for “college and career readiness” and measuring education against “international benchmarks”. College and career readiness according to the reformers, and no one else. International benchmarks are a cover screen, since the United States is a most unique nation, not defined by any one group of people, but a welcoming place for all who seek liberty.
Second, educators and parents have been left out of the decision making process because this would only slow the feformers down, and open them to questions and their policies to scrutiny. The democratic ideals must be made comatose in order for the reformist agenda to go through without delay.
Thirdly, the claim that our education policy is failing, but the reformers claim their new educational policies will work…without any proof, or piloting of the many questionable assertions, furthermore policies that run contrary to proven and successful education strategies.
Fourth, the uncontrolled “buying out” of politicians, and the “stealing” from our public schools and it’s students. An $800,000 contribution from Moskowitz to Cuomo…The former arguing against being charged rent for space in New York City, but having billionaire friends to throw millions into advertisements that attack Mayor DiBlasio, who isn’t concerned with just the charter schools, but all 1.2 million New York City students. By the way, the $800,000 Cuomo accepted is equal to the selling out of the city’s students for about 67 cents each.
Fifth, a battery of assessments in ELA and Math, whereby teachers are forced to maintain secrecy under threat of penalty. Questionable and improper content, where students are forced to deal with the drudgery of these tests.
Sixth, the proposal to store information on every student, without parents able to protect their privacy.
It’s obvious why shock and awe are required here for the reform movement to succeed.
This is heartening.
If each of us refuses to be a willing victim, as Marla and Yohuru do, we have strength. Fighting for ourselves is strengthened even more when we realize the need to defend our children, and they are all our children.
OK! I have a solution (i.e. Plan) to counter the corporate initiatives. Read (i.e. study) or they will prevail. http://kennethfetterman.wordpress.com
Interested in educational reform/teacher training?
Sample/purchase my work(s) @ http://www.smashwords.com/profile/view/kennethfetterman
Reblogged this on NYtechprepper and commented:
Powerful piece!!!