Re: Fw: Pelosi Task Force is a hoax

[Bussardre@aol.com]

Dear Folks:
 
Because of my time demands managing a campaign for a congressional  candidate 
here in North Florida, I have largely been absent from commenting on  as well 
as reading these posts.  Well, she's b-a-a-a-ck!
 
I had to comment on this because of the Task Force report mentioned  below.  
It is interesting that the first ---and largest portion--- of this  report is 
devoted to making a case for a longer school year and specifically a  
year-round school calendar. As many of you know, year-round school, which  I 
vehemently oppose, is my area of study/expertise. After more than a  century of 
experimenting with this idea, there is little hard data to show  reconfiguring the 
school year  is academically beneficial.  What we do  know is it costs more.
 
The report also talks about aligning school with workforce  objectives--which 
is the ultimate goal of school reforms.
 
This report is just one of many attempts by the business power  brokers/elite 
who call the shots in both political parties to incrementally  turn schools 
into workforce prep institutions that churn out compliant,  complacent workers 
to specifications.  As I have mentioned previously, one  of the goals of these 
school-to-work and workforce preparation programs is to  require some 17 
million high school age children (the current enrollment ages 14  to 17) to get 
on-the-job training as part of their graduation requirement.   This essentially 
will give industry a guaranteed pool of 17 million or more  low-wage workers 
annually to fill low-wage jobs doing grunt work that is hard to  fill because 
of the low wages and nature of the work.  Adding 17 more  million laborers to 
the workforce where millions of illegals already compete for  these low-wage 
jobs will create more job competition  and further  suppress wages.
 
Task force members have either been duped about the ultimate end  game (and 
the larger economic consequences for Americans) or are  selling out the average 
American worker for their own personal  financial/political gains.
 
Billee Bussard
editor, _www.SummerMatters.com_ (http://www.SummerMatters.com) 
 
 
 
 
 
In a message dated 1/2/2007 3:57:22 PM Eastern Standard Time,  
campbellp@mail.montclair.edu writes:

The task  force mentioned below in Susan's message is one that was  
formed in  2005:

http://www.ourfuture.org/issues_and_campaigns/education/commbios.cfm

It  released a report called "Getting Smarter, Becoming Fairer: A   
Progressive Education Agenda for a Stronger Nation" that can be  found   
at

http://emailimages.ctsg.com/caf/edureport_gsbf_full_report.pdf

So  does this mean that Pelosi is going to re-convene this task force?   
If so, this might give a good sense of how the Dems will try to   
re-package NCLB.

Key provisions: (see   
http://www.azcentral.com/arizonarepublic/local/articles/  
0823governor23.html)

1) Extend the school year in low-performing  schools, expand  
after-school programs, pay for universal preschool  and full-day  
kindergarten and increase federal college  grants.

2) Develop a uniform, but voluntary, set of nationwide student  learning  
goals, or curriculum, for core courses.

3) Improve  teacher training and offer financial incentives to entice  
teachers  to work in high-poverty schools.

4) Link neighborhood schools with  their communities and families by  
providing such things as social  services, English classes, parenting  
skills classes and home  visits.

Estimated cost: the plan calls for a $325 billion investment  in  
education over the next 10 years. It would cost $39 billion  annually  
once it is fully implemented in 2010.

Approximately  $21 billion would go toward the flagship commitment of  
expanding and  redesigning learning time, including $7.2 billion to  
extend the  school year in low-performing districts; $3.6 billion to  
expand  after-school programs; $8.7 billion to support universal  
preschool  and full-day kindergarten and $8.4 billion to redesign and  
connect  high school to affordable college study, offset by a savings of  
$7  billion by abolishing bank-subsidizing student loans.

Additionally, $6  billion annually would put more highly qualified  
teachers in  classrooms; $6 billion would link schools to families and   
communities and $6 billion would be set aside for investments in  school  
facilities, assistance to low-performing schools and the  development of  
national standards and high-quality  assessments.

The $39 billion annual investment would come from the  federal  
government and would be accompanied by additional increases  at the  
state and local levels. The proposal doesn't pinpoint a  source for the  
additional funds but suggests that by forgoing future  tax cuts, such as  
the elimination of the estate tax, the federal  government could pay for  
the plan.



On Jan 2, 2007, at  9:14 AM, Monty Neill wrote:

> Susan Harman had sent me the following  last week:
>
>  ----- Original Message -----
>   From: Susan Harman
>  To: Monty Neill
>  Sent:  Wednesday, December 27, 2006 6:52 PM
>  Subject: Re: [ndsgroup] Fw:  [prospect-l] NCLB and Nancy Pelosi
>
>  I called Pelosis  office in SF. There is a Task Force, co-chaired by
>  Janet  Napolitano, Gov of Arizona; Philip Murphy, of Goldman Sachs  
>  (ug);
>  and Roger Wilkins, of George Mason University. The guy is  finding out
>  more. Ill send bulletins.
>   Susan
>
>  ----- Original Message -----
>  From:  "Peter Campbell" <campbellp@mail.montclair.edu>
>  To:  <arn-l@interversity.org>
>  Cc:  <ARN-state@yahoogroups.com>; "arn2-strategy"
>   <arn2-strategy@yahoogroups.com>
>  Sent: Tuesday, January 02,  2007 9:52 AM
>  Subject: Re: [arn-l] Fw: Pelosi Task Force is a  hoax
>
>  > Can you say who is on the real task  force?
>  >
>  > Peter C.
>   >
>  >
>  > On Jan 2, 2007, at 8:48 AM, Monty  Neill wrote:
>  >
>  >> Per message from David  Berliner, it certainly now appears that the  
>  Pelosi
>  >> task force is a hoax - she does apparently have  one, however, but  
> it is
>  >> packed largely  with people who clearly favor NCLB.
>  >>
>   >> Monty
>  >> ----- Original Message ----- From:  "Susan Harman" <
>  >>
>  >>>>  From: "David Berliner" Subject: RE: Pelosi Task Force
>   >>>>
>  >>>> it was a fake. I agreed to  serve and supected it was a hoax and  
> it was.
>   >>>> d
>  >>>>
>   >>>> David C. Berliner
>  >>>> Regents'  Professor of Education
>  >>>> Mary Lou Fulton College  of Education
>  >>>> Arizona State  University
>  >>>> Tempe, AZ 85287-2411
>   >>>> Phone: 480-965-3921
>   >>>>