PSAT for 8-20-13: Don’t buy school supplies at WalMart
Public Schools Action Tuesday is usually about something you can/should do to support public education. Today it’s about something you shouldn’t do.DON’T BUY SCHOOL SUPPLIES AT WALMART!
It’s that time of year when everyone is stocking up on new notebooks, shiny folders, colorful pencils.
It’s also a time when parents, teachers and students in places like Chicago, Philadelphia, and Washington DC are feeling more dread and despair than the excitement that usually accompanies the first day of school, because we can see so how the privatization and austerity moves in these cities are threatening every fundamental of our children’s education.
It’s a time when many are planning strong push-back activities against Rahm Emanuel and other autocrats who are listening only to their rich friends while thumbing their noses at the people who actually use the public schools, at solid education research, and ultimately at the mostly poor, mostly black and brown children whom they claim to love so much.
It’s a terrible time. It’s a time to act locally, but also to think and act globally. We have to do both – these guys have way too much money to spend on their pet strategies, and that money is coming from us.
Much of the blame for the disaster in our nation’s public schools today can be traced to the Walton family’s wealth, which in turn comes from the money people spend in their stores on school supplies and other items. Here’s what some $700 million of the money we spent at WalMart between 2005 and 2010 went to support and promote:
- more charter schools: $3.8 million in Chicago alone including $230,000 for UNO charter schools.
- more school closings: $500,000 to pay for Chicago’s sham “public engagement” school closing hearings.
- more astroturf “parent” groups like Stand for Children (millions) and Parent Revolution ($6.3 million) to push the parent trigger and other corporate reforms.
- more high-stakes standardized testing: Walton supports teacher bonuses linked to raising test scores.
- more vouchers for private and religious schools.
- more Michelle Rhee: despite the recent scandals involving Rhee, WalMart recently raised her allowance to the tune of $8 million.
