Speaking Truth to Power: Great Oakland Public Schools Is as Anti-Democratic as ALEC « Classroom Struggle

Speaking Truth to Power: Great Oakland Public Schools Is as Anti-Democratic as ALEC « Classroom Struggle:

Speaking Truth to Power: Great Oakland Public Schools Is as Anti-Democratic as ALEC

by ClassroomStruggle

The recent Oakland school board elections, where close to 200,000 private sector dollars were dumped into the Great Oakland Public School’s (GOPS) campaign coffers for three candidates, are a perfect example of what this courageous teacher is addressing to the American Legislative Exchange Council.  (ALEC is an extremely right-wing organization composed of legislators, businesses and foundations which produces model legislation for state legislatures. For more info on ALEC click here). That is, private sector interests entirely disconnected from the public school realm and shaping the discourse and decision making. The nerve of these legislators to allege that they merely suggest the policies currently plaguing public education and it’s the school boards that ultimately “decide.” That is laughable. School closures, high stakes testing, teacher evaluation based on testing, vouchers, charters, etc. etc. are all in the interests of the ruling class and benefit their strategy to open up public education to the “free” markets.

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