Common Core: What Bill Gates and Walmart Have in Common
Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world. -Nelson Mandela
In America, under the guise of education reform, an initiative called Common Core acts as an insurance policy issued by some of the most powerful think tanks and foundations of both the left and right to mega-corporations, such as Walmart. Ultimately, Common Core, through its behaviorist methods, will provide legions of workers educated-in-name-only, ready to accept low-wages inside union-less quasi-sweatshop service jobs.
Walmart, along with many any other big-box retailers in the service industry, welcome the poor and uneducated. Free trade and de-industrialization are nothing more than a handout from the government to corporations. Under this model, profits will continue to roll in while goods are produced in foreign countries by cheap labor. An educated workforce means more consumer spending, happier families, and a population of highly-skilled, well-paid workers.
Common Core is the method by which mega-corporations acquire unskilled workers forced to work for low wages in poor conditions. The proliferation of charter schools and vouchers contribute to the detriment of our schools and our society. As Diane Ravitch, NYU Research Professor of Education, puts it,
Charters and vouchers are not only privatization, but they promote greater segregation and social stratification.
Common Core (CC) standards in math and English have been written under the direction of two authors: David Coleman and Susan Pimental, who work for Achieve, an organization founded in 1996 by governors and Fortune 500 CEOs for the sole purpose of writing these standards. The development of science and social studies/history are yet to be developed. Here are a few of the major funders of Common Core:
Jeb Bush’s Foundation for Excellence in Education (touts education reform while using donations from for-profit companies to lobby for state education laws that could benefit those companies)(3) Bradley Foundation (funded conservative think-tanks with $1.4 million since 2001 to skew the results of public survey regarding the support of privatization)(4) The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation (granddaddy of them all, the Gates’ have committed $76 million to CC plus at least $150 million in grants to push privatization)(5)(6) The Walton Family Foundation (richest family in America worth $93 billion; spent $3.8 million alone opening charter schools just in Chicago)(1)(2)Common Core: What Bill Gates and Walmart Have in Common:
