Education Summit: Just Another Bogus Propaganda Effort
I attended the so called "Education Summit" called Leadership For Change yesterday in Baton Rouge. This was an invitation only conference sponsored mostly by LABI, the big business group, and several astro turf organizations that promote charter schools, vouchers and merit pay schemes all over the country. (Oh yes, a+pel was also a sponsor) There were very few real educators in attendance, and no real educators as speakers or panel members. State Superintendent John White did speak, but after what he tried to do recently with guidance counselors and librarians, special education funding, and what he has done in approving vouchers to religious schools with minimal facilities with weird curricula, I don't count him as a real educator.
But my real problem with this so called education summit is that it spoon fed a lot of decent business people and well meaning civic leaders in attendance a diet of hateful ideas about our public schools and a lot of outright lies about charters, vouchers and other misguided education deforms.
The first speaker was Campbell Brown, the former CNN news anchor and daughter of former Secretary of State Jim Brown. She mostly related horror stories about how the teacher unions in New York protected pedophiles and opposed laws to get rid of teachers who abuse children. She implied that Louisiana may have a similar
But my real problem with this so called education summit is that it spoon fed a lot of decent business people and well meaning civic leaders in attendance a diet of hateful ideas about our public schools and a lot of outright lies about charters, vouchers and other misguided education deforms.
The first speaker was Campbell Brown, the former CNN news anchor and daughter of former Secretary of State Jim Brown. She mostly related horror stories about how the teacher unions in New York protected pedophiles and opposed laws to get rid of teachers who abuse children. She implied that Louisiana may have a similar