Top 5 Reasons @TeachForAmerica and ed reformers LOVE Trump and Rhee
Word on the street is that Teach For America (TFA) wants to publicly endorse Michelle Rhee (TFA alum) for US Secretary of Education. Apparently there is some pushback within the organization against the alliance of TFA, Rhee and Trump. The election of Donald Trump has positioned TFA, Education Post, the Democrats for Education Reform (DFERs), Black Alliance for Education Options (BAEO) and all of the other purportedly “civil rights” focused education reformers to get EVERYTHING they want— billions of dollars in privately-controlled school choice from the neoliberal president.
Here are five reasons the education reformers LOVE the idea of Rhee and Trump.
- Michelle Rhee and education reformers are hostile to teachers’ right to organize. Trump’s presidency poses potential threat to labor unions.
After creating conflict in DC for three years, Rhee went on to found Students First. Students First’s biggest publicity stunt was arguably their State Policy Report Card (SPRC). A look at the 2014 version clearly shows bias in their “methodology” against states that provide teacher input and say in education policy. For example, states were dinged in the report card if teacher evaluation was subject to collective bargaining. Her tenure at Students First was short lived when it was announced Michelle Rhee Will Leave CEO Job At StudentsFirst.
“People often say to me the teachers unions are here to stay, that they are big players, that I have to find a way to get along. I actually disagree with that.”“People tell me the unions are an inevitable part of this [school reform]. My thing is, what has that gotten us so far? All the collaboration and holding hands and singing ‘Kumbaya’?”
2. Donald Trump likes privately-controlled school choice. Michelle Rhee and the education reformers also LOVE privately controlled school choice.
In 2014, I had a debate/conversation after a @MichelleRhee tweet about her “tiredness” with the traditional school versus charter school debate. I tweeted that I was “totally tired too” of people “ignoring data” that traditional schools outperform charters. The debate also often ignores the access and equity issues that plague charters too. (See all of Cloaking Inequity’s posts on charters here) Debates on Twitter usually get lost in the annals of twitter history— so I turned to Storify to log the debate/conversation. What is Storify? It “helps making sense of what people post on social media.” Users curate voices and turn them into stories.Click the link below to follow the Storified conversation about charters versus traditional public schools with Michelle Rhee et al. It’s worth the click. Enjoy.
3. Trump and Rhee both live amongst scandal. You know, like a reality show. Rhee’s husband scandal has a strange twist related to school choice.
A Deadspin article Secret Emails Show Kevin Johnson Spying On, Attempting To Bankrupt Enemies focuses on the release of Kevin Johnson mayoral emails that he has fought long and hard in court to prevent releasing… and there is an interesting twist… charter schools. The plot is Top 5 Reasons @TeachForAmerica and ed reformers LOVE Trump and Rhee – Cloaking Inequity: