Issues: Education
Updated: 20 July 2015

Note: The orientation of this page is toward the exposure of corporate-driven education "reform" for what it is -- an atempt to destroy public education and teachers' unions, on the way to eventually disabling the middle class in the United States. In general, the sources linked on this page (with the exception of the NASBE) have the same goal and make no pretense of impartiality.

  1. Useful websites
    2.
    1. Susan Ohanian
      Susan Ohanian has for decades been the wielder of a Mark-Twain-like "pen warmed up in hell" in opposing standardization and corporatization in education. Her books are heart-warming examples of real (caring and professional) teaching and eye-opening exposes of the danger and corruptness of "education reform." Her website and its supporting email notification list are a goldmine of resources for this general area.
    2. Education Radio   (see local complete list of programs)
      This is an ongoing, remarkable, well-done series exposing the destructive influences on public education of the neoliberal so-called "education reform" model -- corporate driven privatization involving profit-generation, hyper-"accountability," high-stakes testing, deprofessionalization of teachers, and destruction of teachers unions and community influence. (Some of the programs most helpful in opening my eyes are saved locally on this site and included below.)
    3. Schools Matter
      "Exploring issues in public education policy, and advocating for a commitment to and a re-examination of the democratic purposes of schools.

  2. Useful documents
    3.
    1. A Nation At Risk To Win the Future: The State of Public Education in the U.S. (PDF; source)
      Timothy Scott, UofMass Amherst, Journal for Critical Education Policy Studies v9 #1
      A detailed look at the history of the encroachent of neoliberal "reforms" on education, and the destructive role of market capitalism on American social fabric.

  3. Threats to Public Schools of Education "Reform"
    4.
    1. Charter Schools
      1. The Charter Scam -- Education Radio #23
                    MP3 (28.3MB, 53:51)
      2. The Inconvenient Truth Behind Waiting For Superman
            MP4 (282MB, 1:08:52),   (original)   article)
    2. Teach For America
      1. The Teach For America Sham -- Education Radio #26 and #27
        1. Part 1: recruitment & training, dysfunctionality w/respect to true teaching/learning
              MP3 (28.5MB, 59.26)
        2. Part 2: destroying teachers and their unions, hijacking social justice discourse, taking over education policy
              MP3 (27MB, 56:12)
        3. Summary outline of these programs (PDF, in progress)
      2. Some illustrative TFA links
        1. Living in Dialog (TFA items) -- Anthony Cody's Education Week TEACHER blog (includes the following and many more)
          1. Hyper-accountability, Burnout and Blame: A TFA Corps Member Speaks Out, Jameson Brewer (2/24/12)
          2. Teach For America Corps Members in Dialogue: Can this Model Work?, Duke Solaris and Jameson Brewer (2/25/12)
          3. Phil Kovacs Responds to the Latest Research on Teach For America, Phil Kovacs (2/16/12)
          4. Deepening the Debate over Teach For America: Responses to Heather Harding, TFA research head Harding and others (5/11/12)
          5. Teach For America Corps Members Debate: The Leadership Pipeline, Duke Solaris and Jameson Brewer (2/26/12)

  4. John Taylor Gatto
    Gatto is a former award-winning New York City public school teacher who left education because he no longer wished to participate in a system that did not have the best interest of kids at heart. His is a searing analysis of the origins and original intent of public education in this country, the "end-game" of which we see unfolding before our eyes.

  5. Creeping militarization of public schools
    6.
    1. Education and the Military -- National Assn. of State Boards of Educaton