Washington Post: How Jeb Bush Mixes Policy, Politics, $$$$

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1. Yvonne Siu-Runyan says:

   January 6, 2015 at 11:17 pm

   Corruption … everything is for sale in this country.

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2. retired teacher says:

   January 6, 2015 at 11:20 pm

   Just like his brother had ties to defense contractors that made a fortune in Iraq, Jeb would seek to use his office to enrich himself at the expense of American taxpayers. He would continue his assault on public education while subjecting our students to more high stakes testing. I think most Americans are tired of the Bush brothers using tax dollars like their own personal ATM. He, frankly, has nothing of any value to offer the country other than the same old failed policies his party is known for.

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3. Chiara says:

   January 7, 2015 at 7:41 am

   It is a good piece but I object to this:

   “That agenda includes ideas typically supported by conservatives and opposed by teachers unions: issuing A-to-F report cards for schools, using taxpayer vouchers for tuition at private schools, expanding charter schools, requiring third-graders to pass a reading test, and encouraging online learning and virtual charter schools.”

   They all use this framing and it’s inaccurate. Lots of people oppose many of those things. Every poll I’ve even seen says lots of people oppose many of those things. It isn’t just “teachers unions”. I’m not a teacher nor am I in a union and I support public schools.

   Do ed reformers agree with how Mr. Bush describes US public schools?:

   “government-run, unionized, politicized monopolies” that “trap good teachers, administrators and struggling students in a system that nobody can escape.”

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4. jcgrim says:

   January 7, 2015 at 7:47 am

   Influence peddling is the lifeblood of the Bush dynasty fortune. Prescott Bush’s investment bank helped finance Nazi Germany. http://www.theguardian.com/world/2004/sep/25/usa.secondworldwar

   International arms and armament peddling mixed with Saudi oil investments are in the family blood. A fact that never seems to get much traction is the Bush family’s secret relationship to the Saudis, the oil industry and arms sales. War has been a lucrative business for the Bush family.
   http://www.commondreams.org/views04/0208-05.htm

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5. Chiara says:

   January 7, 2015 at 8:05 am

   Here’s some more ed reform I hope to hear out on the ‘ol campaign trail in Ohio:

   “He went on to call for an overall gutting of the current public school system. “We can’t just outsource public education to bureaucracies and public education unions and hope for the best,” he said.”

   I’m not sure people in this county will recognize these horrible, evil entities he describes- the schools where they work and where we all send our children and the schools most of us attended. Did anyone at this ed reform conference in Michigan object to how Bush characterizes US public schools? Do they agree with him? Will he say this when he’s running for office or is this vitriol and smearing reserved for ed reform rallies, when he’s preaching to the choir?

   http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/05/29/jeb-bush-talks-education-mackinac-charter-schools-michigan_n_3354180.html?utm_hp_ref=joy-resmovits

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   • Donna says:

     January 7, 2015 at 9:02 am

     Oh, but “we” can outsource it to corporations and Bill Gates and Eli Broad and the Kochs, right? Right! I hope the voters will pass on Bush the third for President. I don’t think American can survive him or Clinton in 2016.

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     • retired teacher says:

       January 7, 2015 at 9:27 am

       Hopefully voters will be able to distinguish between opportunism and leadership.

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     • Chiara says:

       January 7, 2015 at 10:03 am

       I don’t think public schools will survive Bush-Obama-Bush II. The policies are identical, although the rhetoric is slightly different, publicly anyway.

       Jeb Bush can (rightly) claim that Democrats adopted his entire education agenda. I don’t have a response to that, and I don’t think Democrats have one either.

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     • retired teacher says:

       January 7, 2015 at 11:59 am

       The Democrats have lost their way and jumped on the billionaire money train. In doing so, most of them have sold out public education, and in my mind, democratic principles.

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   • Laura H. Chapman says:

     January 7, 2015 at 10:31 am

     Interesting that he uses the term “outsourcing” public education to unions and bureaucracies.

     Outsourcing is a term of art to deny that the public has any right to exercise oversight of public education, and least of all teachers who participate in unions.

     Of course the term bureaucracy is always a handy negative for damning forms of governance intended to be transparent rather than secretive and proprietary.

     Bush bashes politics in education as if a terrible thing while ignoring his own aspirations to run for political office and shape education.

     He thinks his way is better: install corporate-run, market-based, profit seeking monopolists into positions of power. Deregulate everything possible.

     Trap teachers and administrators into low-wage positions. Leave struggling students in front of computer screens for “personalized ” instruction. Exercise the “rigor” of bottom-line thinking for students who do not have the right stuff.

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6. Duane Swacker says:

   January 7, 2015 at 11:38 am

   From the article:

   ““Abundant choices for parents, a 21st-century teaching profession and the full embrace of digital learning will require changes in laws, rules and regulations,” he [the Jebster[ said, adding later, “Monopolies don’t go quietly into the night.””

   How can there be a monopoly of 13,500 separate American school districts???

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7. mathcs says:

   January 7, 2015 at 11:44 am

   “But he acknowledged that the intertwining of policy and corporate interests is a reality of how education policy is crafted.”

   Wow. No mention there of a community’s interest. Or the general public’s interest. Or the taxpayer’s interest.

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8. DEzerov says:

   January 7, 2015 at 1:45 pm

   The final four paragraphs of Ms. Layton’s report briefly chronicles the blood on the Jebmeister’s hands in reference to his meddling in Indiana’s educational affairs. With the current clown car that we have in charge in Hoosier land, we’ll probably never be rid of his septic influences!

   Jeez…everything the Bush clan touches seems to turn to gold for them and ordure for the rest of us…

   As for Prescott Bush’s involvement with financing the Third Reich…wow…

   Maybe Mussolini nailed it with this one:

   “The definition of fascism is the marriage of corporation and state.”

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9. wgersen says:

   January 8, 2015 at 7:08 am

   This quote sounded familiar: “(Jeb Bush is) fighting what he calls “government-run, unionized, politicized monopolies” that “trap good teachers, administrators and struggling students in a system that nobody can escape.” Sounds a lot like a Democrat in NYS… and not too different from our current Secretary of Education… Come to think of it, will ANY 2016 contender come out in support of “government run” schools overseen by locally elected school boards or will they ALL think schools should be turned over to businesses?

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