THE OUTRAGE OF THE WEEK
POSTED BY DIANE RAVITCH TO THE EDWEEK BRIDGING DIFFERENCES BLOG | HTTP://BIT.LY/LC4VVM
(Bridging Differences is posted as an epistolary exchange between Diane Ravitch and Deborah Meier.)
3 May 2011 | 8:59 AM
Dear Deborah,
It is way past time to get mad. Each week, it is hard to know which of the latest outrages against American public education is the worst.
Perhaps it was the agreement between the Gates Foundation and the Pearson Foundation to write the nation's curriculum. When did we vote to hand over American education to them? Why would we outsource the nation's curriculum to a for-profit publishing and test-making corporation based in London? Does Bill Gates get to write the national curriculum because he is the richest man in America? We know that his foundation is investing heavily in promoting the Common Core standards. Now his foundation will write a K-12 curriculum that will promote online learning and video gaming. That's good for the tech sector, but is it good for our nation's schools? Oh, and one more outrage: The Gates Foundation and the Eli Broad Foundation, both of which maintain the pretense of being Democrats and/or liberals, have given millions to former Florida governor Jeb Bush's foundation, which is promoting vouchers, charters, online learning, test-based accountability, and the whole panoply of corporate reform strategies intended to weaken public education and remove teachers' job protections.
Yes, indeed, the education reform business is booming. A recent article in Idaho details the campaign contributions of online learning companies to the state superintendent of instruction, who recently decided—surprise!—to mandate online learning and laptops for every student. This is the new face of corporate reform