Reflections on the 50th Anniversary of Freedom Summer
Why Teach for America and the Common Core are More Civil Wrongs than Civil Rights.
One of the more disturbing narratives employed by corporate education reformers, who support both Teach for America and the Common Core, is the claim that they are cast in the spirit of the Civil Rights Movement—specifically in the use of education as a tool to challenge economic and political inequality. The larger claim of the Common Core defenders is that it will close the achievement gap. Their rhetoric is that CCSS will increase “rigor” and make children “college and career ready.” The idea that a set of standards can erase child poverty, systemic racism that continues to exist in our educational system, and squash the rise of classist privilege is beyond absurd. To do this in the name of Civil Rights is insulting. Have the CCSS really leveled the playing field? Are they really doing what the corporate reformers say they will do? An examination of Kentucky, the first state to adopt the CCSS in 2010, clearly shows that CCSS is not addressing Civil Rights nor is it closing the achievement gap. In 2011, one year after Kentucky adopted the CCSS, the average reading scale score for Black students in the 4th grade was 210. In 2013 it fell to 204. In Texas, where CCSS is not implemented, Black students in the 4th grade in 2011 scored 210 (the same as those exposed to CC in Kentucky) and in 2013 that number fell one point to 209 (5 points above those exposed to CC in Kentucky). So, our question is; does it look like CC is closing the achievement gap? Why is it that children of color in Kentucky, who are exposed to CC, are scoring below a scaled reading score when compared to their counterparts, who are not exposed to the CCSS? Kentucky however, is merely the tip of the iceberg.
In a May 2013 commencement speech at Brown University Teach for America founder Wendy Kopp admitted another of the major problems associated with TFA as a remedy to inequality. “It turns out,” she pointedly acknowledged, “it's hard to recruit and select a diverse corps of individuals who are ready to teach in our neediest schools. It's hard to provide them with the training and ongoing support necessary so they don't just survive but thrive with their students. It's hard to ensure their experience does not disillusion but empowers them to be lifelong leaders for change.” Yes, Wendy it is hard and the corps individuals you place in our neediest schools are not trained sufficiently to be there. They don’t stay or live in the communities they teach, they often replace teachers of color who have been fired, and as a result Badass Teachers Association: