Tom Ultican, retired teacher of physics and advanced mathematics, has been studying the spread of the fake “reform” efforts across the nation (aka the Destroy Public Education Movement).
In this post, he reviews the damage done by authoritarian education “leaders” who have robbed students and teachers of the joy of learning while attacking public schools. He names names.
He begins:
For more than two decades, bureaucratic style top down education “reform” has undermined improvement efforts by professional educators. For budding teachers, beginning in college with the study of education and their own personal experience as students, an innate need to better education develops. However, in the modern era, that teacher energy to improve education has been sapped by the desperate fight to save public education from “reformers,” to protect their profession from amateurs and to defend the children in their classrooms from profiteers.
Genuine advancements in educational practices come from the classroom. Those edicts emanating from government offices or those lavishly financed and promoted by philanthropies are doomed to failure...
Sadly, every business and government sponsored education innovation for the past 40 years has resulted in harm to American schools. Standardized education, standardized testing, charter schools, school choice, vouchers, reading science, math and reading first, common core, value added measures to assess teachers and schools, mandatory third grade retention, computer based credit recovery, turnaround schools, turnaround districts, and more have been foisted on schools. None of these ideas percolated up from the classroom and all are doing harm.
Diane Ravitch's blog 
“Standardized education, standardized testing, charter schools, school choice, vouchers, reading science, math and reading first, common core, value added measures to assess teachers and schools, mandatory third grade retention, computer based credit recovery, turnaround schools, turnaround districts, and more have been foisted on schools.” – Ironically, all of those things happened under the watch of the last presidential administration. Yes, it had been in the works for many years prior but no administration did more actual harm to our public schools than the Obama administration. And now, his Vice President is set to win the election and has already been seen meeting with the very same people that brought all those terrible “reforms” to our schools. Once again, “reformers” will be cloaked in do-gooder neoliberalism and put the nails in the coffin of public education.
Bill,
I hope you are wrong but can certainly see how you arrived at this conclusion. However, Biden and the majority of the Democratic party have been making noises about abandoning the right’s school choice agenda. Of course, he is talking to all corners of influence in the Democratic party so that doesn’t discourage me. The key will be who he appoints to lead the Department of Education. Until then I have hope that our teacher led and relentless pro-democratic and pro-public education campaign for the past two decades has born fruit.
yes, I think we will learn a LOT the day he appoints a sec. of ed
Bill,
The Obama administration was horrible on education. The Trump-DeVos regime is even worse.
We have a chance to influence Biden.
No chance at all with Trump.
We need a collective effort to convince all representatives in State Legislatures and in Washington that current policies are not only against the interest of Americans, but the political interest of representative govenrment.
dianeravitch, somehow I don’t think McCain and Romney would have been better. 😐
I think Jill being an educator provides an opportunity. In the “One Best System” by David Tyach, the one size fits all approach was baked into the cake a long time ago. Finland and Singapore work because teachers provide input. We have to follow the same formula.
Month Seven of the US Department of Education doing nothing for public schools or public school students in a pandemic other than running a “school choice” campaign:
“Secretary Betsy DeVos
All families deserve access to the learning options that meet their needs. Today I heard from parents and educators in Waukesha, WI who stressed how important it is that students have access to education options that work for them, including in-person learning. #SchoolChoiceNow”
AWOL. They simply didn’t show up for 90% of students and families in the country because they’re ideologically opposed to our schools. And we’re paying them for this.
The excuse is that schools are primarily state and local. But if that’s the reason they haven’t lifted a finger on behalf of the 50 million students in the unfashionable public schools, then why are we all paying for a national voucher campaign? Public schools are state and local so therefore no one can work on their behalf at the federal level. However- promoting charters and vouchers are national so therefore we can pay thousands of public employees to run this political campaign?
Ed reform- incoherent, as usual. All the double back flips lead to one result- none of them work for public schools or public school students. No practical or positive effort at all.
While Biden and Harris get busy trying to assist the re-alignment of America with our foundational values, we here could all stay several life times busy midwifing the return of classrooms to the Artistry & Intellect of Professional Educators.
Tom has offered a splendid history of a longstanding distrust of the judgment of teachers and arrogance of people with “one right way” to educate the nation’s children. Thank you also for the mugshots of recent officials who have perpetuated the believe that teachers are know-nothings. Add Bill Gates who thinks he knows everything. Thank you Tom.
This is a great, well researched article about how outside, billionaire money is negatively impacting public education. I was fortunate enough to have taught long before deform came along. That was a time when teachers were considered professionals with valuable expertise. Real bottom up change for the better was possible because teachers were able to collaborate to make meaningful changes, and most administrators acted as facilitators instead of dictators. What has happened in public education for the past twenty years is a national tragedy, and a race to the bottom.
With one foot in the grave, I realize that I was so fortunate to have grown up in a rare time (a ‘blip’ in history) when the ruling class allowed education to seep down to the rest of us. I think WWII had scared them to death. They realized that the technological edge of Germany came close to tipping the balance, and (after importing German scientists) that their own sons and daughters were scientifically illiterate. Thus, they sought ‘mandarins’ among the ‘little people’.
That pretty much ended in the late 1960’s, when it became evident that an educated ‘lower caste’ would begin to challenge not only the boundaries of scientific knowlege, but also the boundaries of the existing social structure.
Like you, I am a retired teacher, and I tried to pass on the torch, despite the times and the tide. We can only do so much.
The US is history.
We have the double whammy: a scientifically illiterate populace and a scientifically illiterate leadership class.
Not only do the vast majority in the US and the vast majority of our so called “leaders” have no clue about science but they have no respect for it either.
Stick a fork in us. We’re done.
I wish I could respond to Tom directly. I would let him know that I agree with every single sentence that he wrote (which is a rare occurrence).
Send me a direct message at tultican2@yahoo.com.
authoritarians-
Political Research Associates posted at its site a map of sheriffs linked to the far right. The plotters charged in the Gov. Whitmer kidnapping posed with one of those sheriffs.
With a click on the map, viewers can see if their counties have law enforcement led by
right wing extremists.