StickWithANose

The conservative revolt against reason continues today in the on-going drama over the social studies curriculum in Texas. Sure hope that pendulum swings back someday soon… otherwise we’re headed toward authoritarianism wrapped in the American flag and whistling the Star Spangled Banner.
[UPDATE] We Are Respectable Negroes offers a detailed analysis of the new curricula in [...]

I approached this piece entitled “The Teachers Union Last Stand” in the NYT Magazine with the resignation that the article would most likely present the same tired old narrative of tough minded reformers battling the entrenched interests of lazy teachers, and the article does not disappoint in its vapidity. There is really nothing new that [...]

The rise of eliminationist rhetoric in the Republican party is yielding predictable results.
One School Committee member, saying she’s “appalled” by the behavior of some of the Republicans who used a room at King Middle School last weekend, wants to protect the city’s public schools from future harm…
The Republican State Convention was held at the Portland [...]

It is official. We have now entered ludicrous speed. The web’s newest media pundit points us toward this absurd idea being floated by an equally unqualified pundit who makes the case for a GED-like exam to expand higher education opportunities. The fetishization of standardized assessments is now reaching the point of absurdity. Rendering down the [...]

Working in a community college that serves a large population of students requiring remediation prior to taking college level courses, I have watched with interest the growing swell of accountability rhetoric within the institution. The same tired ideologies and political sloganeering now dominating debates over public education are creeping into higher education, and it is [...]

The same moneyed interests driving education policy and debate down the rabbit hole of public discourse aren’t just targeting public schooling. There is a well-funded, bi-partisan campaign afoot to destroy what remains of the social safety net. Behold the rise of Bananamerica!

This celebratory piece in Ed Week on the news that three Indiana universities are set to open new MBA-like programs to train principals inadvertently uncovers the foundational conflict animating contemporary educational discourse… The conflict over priorities.
The corporatist perspective demonstrates an ideological commitment to rendering all societal institutions the handmaiden of the neo-liberal marketplace.
The MBA-type programs [...]

This ladies and gentlemen is how educational transformation begins…

The push to dismantle the great public institutions of the American republic continue apace, and the usual suspects are driving both the nature and language of the debate. From the on-going war being waged against the social safety net to the destruction of public education as a democratic institution, the Masters of the Universe are [...]

Happy Cinco de Mayo!