This reader reacted to the post about Steve Mathews, the superintendent in Novi, Michigan who is now on our honor roll for speaking up against punitive corporate reform. This reader explains with great clarity what the game is all about:
I taught in the same district as Steve Matthews when he was a Curriculum Director some years ago so I am familiar with who he is. He was well liked during his time there.
Something that is missing from Steve’s well spoken article and most of the subsequent comments is the fact that not only is the de-funding of public education deliberate and premeditated but it has a purpose in addition to demoralizing school employees. Two major factors are at play.
One is by keeping school districts cash strapped, it puts less money into the paychecks of teachers. Therefore less money will be going to Democratic candidates running for elected office. Starving the Democrats of donations by teacher union members, who are often the largest union in any particular state, makes it easier to outspend the Democrats by rich Republican donors. No less than Karl Rove, has stated that is a major goal of his political machine.
Another key ingredient of this premeditation for breaking down public schools is public schools are one of the last great untapped sources for the greatest stack of dollars in the country, taxpayer money. By making the school systems appear incompetent, even if it means actually ruining the education of millions of students, Republicans can create large inroads for privatization of school operations. That means Republican’s Corporate Masters will be getting those easy taxpayer monies with long-term contracts for “services.” Republicans/Corporate America have made big strides in taking over school transportation, food and custodial services to date, in addition to creating charter schools with shockingly little accountability for how taxpayer money is used and for actual student achievement. Legislative bills are being introduced in many states that will allow districts to hire non-certified teachers for the classrooms. Those “teachers” will be woefully underpaid and have little skills to deliver any kind of quality education.
The saying of “follow the money” is a real cue to see what those who seek to demonize public education are up to.
Diane Ravitch's blog 
Crystal clear and spot on. Corporate greed is undermining the education of an entire generation of students whose parents don’t have the money to send their children to the private schools that are not caught up in this test and punish process and where creativity and love for learning are nurtured. An especially frightening aspect of this is how the corporate reformists are manipulating the media to convince the public that this is all going in the right direction.
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NOT SPOT ON….see this paragraph blaming all Rheeform on Repulbicans as in following the money.
“Another key ingredient of this premeditation for breaking down public schools is public schools are one of the last great untapped sources for the greatest stack of dollars in the country, taxpayer money. By making the school systems appear incompetent, even if it means actually ruining the education of millions of students, Republicans can create large inroads for privatization of school operations. That means Republican’s Corporate Masters will be getting those easy taxpayer monies with long-term contracts for “services.” Republicans/Corporate America have made big strides in taking over school transportation, food and custodial services to date, in addition to creating charter schools with shockingly little accountability for how taxpayer money is used and for actual student achievement. Legislative bills are being introduced in many states that will allow districts to hire non-certified teachers for the classrooms. Those “teachers” will be woefully underpaid and have little skills to deliver any kind of quality education.
The saying of “follow the money” is a real cue to see what those who seek to demonize public education are up to.”
Key figures who are destroying public education are not ONLY Republicans.
Eli Broad of the notorious Broad Academy is a prominent Democrat. Obama and Duncan are Democrats. Larry Summers and Robert Rubin are Democrats Many of the billionaire corporatists and hedge funders are Democrats.
There is no touch stone of evil limited to Republicans. Both political parites roll in the dark defecation of corporate money, and this includes the Clintons
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I’ve been saying the same exact thing for years and I have been labeled a conspiracy theorist. It it’s absolutely a fact that education is one if not the last untapped public resource for the thieves dressed in suits to pillage and they have been trying for many years unsuccessfully to do so. Only now have they succeed in their efforts and you are spot on about the fact that it’s not on Republicans doing so. However, it is important to not that there are really no fundamental differences between the two political parties anyhow. They only act as they are different (primarily on social issues) in order to divide the populace and make it appear as we have a varying choice. But in fact, there is no choice as both parties will ultimately take us to the same destination. (The gutter).
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While what you say is correct, it is still important to be aware that much of the money from groups like Democrats for Education Reform is Republican money. Comparatively the dollars spent by conservatives to destroy public education in America is magnitudes greater than the corporate Democrat dollars. Cuomo, Duncan and Booker are sellouts but the Koch brothers are monstrously evil.
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Right, but it’s a bipartisan effort, so people should be reminded to vote for candidates, not for parties, because it’s Democrats who’ve been in charge for the past 7 years and they’re doing things to education that Republicans could only dream of before now.
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Exactly!
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Politicians are playing an insidious political game with the lives of future voters by allying themselves with corporations that seek to privatize public education. Many Democrats like Cuomo and Obama that fail to understand the larger implications of destabilizing public education, with large numbers voting Democrats, have joined the ALEC team. The increased privatization of public services has resulted in these costly, inefficient services to citizens while a few corporations reap the benefits of the corporate welfare. Do we really want to use tax dollars to fund test prep camps with a curricula that may include denying climate change, evolution and revisionist history? Democrats need to take stock of their position. Do they really think it is in the best interest of their party to uphold views that forward the agenda of the 1% while alienating thousands of middle class voters? Too many Democrats seem to have a broken moral compass. American students did not ask for this unjust war, and yet they are caught in the crosshairs of chaos just because they need to be educated. The Democrats need to be reeducated on the purpose of public education as they have been co-opted by power and money.
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I followed the money. A ton of it went to democrats. It is a bit naive to think democrats don’t like to get rich just like anybody else. And then there are the Dino’s (Democrats in Name Only).
Public schools have became just another the battle ground for the warring parties, and the children are caught in the cross fire. I am for teacher’s union, but since it always vote democrat, it is taken for granted and ignored by both parties. And the worse things get, the more the teachers would vote democrat, so the Democratic party really has no incentive to improve things. And then there are the Dino’s. They are everywhere.
It would be smarter to be Undeclared and make them work for your vote every time.
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There are more millionaire Democrats than Republicans they both have been bought and sold eons ago. Wake up people do not cast a vote for any of the two. If you do, prepare to suffer the consequences.
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“Follow the Money”
Follow the money
To Obama
Billions, honey
Tell yer mama
Follow the money
To McCain
Billions, honey
Just the same
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The middle class has seen its income shrink during the last decade or so. Because of that they are susceptible to anything that reduces their tax burden including cutting back on funding for public education. As income disparity increases it will be harder to raise taxes on the wealthy and impossible to raise taxes on an already struggling middle class. What is needed is a return to an effective progressive tax system. Hillary preached that in the past. Let’s see if she maintains that position now that she is officially a candidate.
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There is virtually no middle class left in America….we are all effectively the working poor. This is just where the oligarchs planned for us to be…and by keeping education contained, they can keep the populace as interchageable cogs in their work force.
The current HR bill to do away with all estate tax continues to redirect and redistribute even more wealth upward and into the hands of the ultra rich. Think about the Kochs whose father handed them the first billions to enlarge their fiefdom, and the Waltons whose father also gifted them each with multi billions. All the taxes that these greed meisters DO NOT PAY come from the pockets of the rest of us. No wonder that our roads are collapsing, that our bridges are rusting away, that our public schools are delapidated.
When will there be a popular uprising against these self aggrandizing pigs? We had one for moments with the Occupy Movement, but our legislators saw to it that it was put down rapidly, and violently.
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I am very concerned. The wealthy hired goons to attack workers who fought back against abusive labor practices in the early part of the 20th century. I fear things will get worse with a real possibility of civil unrest.
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This has not been a Democrat-Republican issue. For me, when I wrote emails to my senators and congressman, it was the Republicans who were responsive, while Democratic Senator Sherrod Brown sent a form letter with all the Arne Duncan talking points. Following the money is appropriate here, and surely squeezing the schools is part of it as massive amounts of money is squandered on testing, but using this issue to prop up either party is misdirection. Both parties have failed us.
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In 2006 in the UK, it emerged that in order to fund their 2005 General Election campaign, the Labour party was secretly loaned nearly £14m and the Conservatives received £16m. The Liberal Democrats said they borrowed £850,000 from three backers. The review was ordered into the issue of funding at the height of the “cash for honours” furor which followed the loans’ revelation.
Under rules drawn up by the British government in 2007, donations worth £5,000 or more to national parties have to be declared, as well as those worth £2,000 or more to local associations. I wonder if our cousins in the UK even use the term “Dark Money” anymore? The BBC openly used the term “transparency” in their 2007 post called”Q&A: Political party funding.” http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/politics/6065322.stm
Of course, the most right-winged, pro-business SOCTUS in our history decided that what we need here is less transparency, that corporations are people too and that it’s just fine for foreign governments and foreign corporations to participate in our electoral politics. Gee…Pearson Education is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Pearson PLC, a company headquartered outside of the United States. Isn’t it ironic that they can’t use “Dark Money” at home?
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Ooops…SCOTUS….there I go trusting spell check again…p
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Reblogged this on David R. Taylor-Thoughts on Texas Education.
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The more insulated the wealthy become from the rest of America, the more they view everyone else as inferior and expendable. The further wealth is separated from the hard work and sacrifice required to earn it, the more the elite feel they are entitled to a larger share of the pie and the more they believe in divine legitimation. We are losing our way, and all voters can do is blame teachers and test kids, more and more distracted by a candidates race or gender, or some perceived conspiracy dreamed up by talk news.
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