The Day the Music Died
A long, long time ago
I can still remember how that music used to make me smile
And I knew if I had my chance
That I could make those people dance
And maybe they’d be happy for a while
I can still remember how that music used to make me smile
And I knew if I had my chance
That I could make those people dance
And maybe they’d be happy for a while
~American Pie by Don McLean
Dr. Yohuru Williams, an education activist and professor of history at Fairfield University, recently composed a powerful essay, entitled The Day the Music Died. He addressed the Ohio State Board of Education’s quest to eliminate the 5 of 8 minimum school staffing standards, which required that public school districts employ a minimum of 5 educational specialists for every 1,000 students.
Dr. Williams wrote about how Ohio’s governor, in league with his party’s majority in the General Assembly, has been targeting education budgets with deep cuts, precipitating a crisis similar to other states where cuts have forced districts to make impossible choices between hiring nurses, librarians or instructors in the music and the arts. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/yohuru-williams/the-day-the-music-died_3_b_6142628.html
Former state school board chair, Debe Terhar, admitted as much when she told the board that better state funding of schools would prevent the furor over the 5 of 8 rule. http://s.cleveland.com/4SBjSTG
Why are our public schools being starved to the point of having to make choices about vital services that students need and deserve? That can be answered with a four letter word: ALEC. http://www.commondreams.org/views/2011/07/14/alec-exposed-starving-public-schools
ALEC is the acronym for the American Legislative Exchange Council, a clandestine organization of corporate members and lawmakers who believe in privatization of public entities, such as our nation’s public school systems. ALEC has a very powerful legislative impact in states like Ohio, where its members control the Statehouse. http://www.jointhefuture.org/1326-alec-owns-the-ohio-legislature
ALEC’s education bills can be seen in current Ohio policies that mandate more vouchers, charter school expansion, extensive teacher evaluations, TFA teachers and BRIGHT principals, extra online classrooms, Common Core, additional high stakes testing, and obsessive amounts of data collection. http://www.publicschoolshakedown.org/how-alecs-duplicity-undermines-american-public-education-project
Everyone, especially educators, should take the time to learn about ALEC’s education agenda and how it affects public education in the United States.http://www.alecexposed.org/wiki/Privatizing_Public_Education,_Higher_Ed_Policy,_and_Teachers
ALEC uses questionable research and pretentious rhetoric from its think-tanks to impact public perception. To drive its education agenda, it misleads people with nice-sounding words like reform, school choice, accountability, and local control.
The Buckeye Institute is a “think-tank” tied to ALEC and placed in Ohio to influence public opinion. The Buckeye Institute’s research mimics ALEC’s agenda. An analysis of reports by the Buckeye Institute and legislation promoted by ALEC showed a correlation between the two organizations’ agendas on union issues, healthcare reform, public pensions, crime, and education issues.
Another study claimed that ALEC’s policies, such as lowered income taxes, the elimination of estate taxes, and the The Day the Music Died | Think.: