Edutopia: Broad Foundation Weighs in For Democracy and Schooling

[Rich Gibson <rgibson@pipeline.com>]

http://www.edutopia.org/editors-note-schools-2008-election

Even "Edutopia," calls this election a "circus." But the analysis of 
capitalist democracy runs a bit thin when the Star Wars founder's mag 
makes the leap to promoting Eli Broad's sixty million dollar 
electoral campaign solutions for "public" schooling. It would be hard 
to find anyone more dedicated to the ruin of public education, to use 
schooling for social control rather than enlightenment, than 
billionaire Eli Broad. http://susanohanian.org/show_atrocities.html?id=1056

The election is less a circus and more a shell game in which the US 
capitalist democracy poses as "our" government, but is in fact an 
executive committee and armed weapon of the rich where they iron out 
their minor differences and then turn their guns on poor and working 
people everywhere.

In that process, the mass of people are offered options of which 
millionaire will oppress us best. We then get a chance to pulverize 
one another over second tier issues like abortion, immigration, or 
even an economy which is set up to be seen as "Ours" as well, when 
like the government, it is "Theirs." The overarching issue is 
capitalism and its attendants: exploitation, imperialist wars of the 
rich on the poor, racism, sexism, irrationalism, alienation, and opportunism.

Just as there is no democracy in the central point of most peoples' 
lives, any capitalist work place, there is going to be no vote on the 
question of capitalism itself, its truthful promises for perpetual 
war for example. On that, we get to vote on how war is conducted, not 
on the necessity of war---for oil, for cheap labor, markets, and 
social control.

And just as there is no vote on that, there will be no vote in 
individual schools to decide whether school workers and kids believe 
they have a stake in the three things that drive education today: (1) 
the regimentation of the curricula, (2) racist high stakes testing 
which tie the noose of the regulated curricula, and (3) militarization.

And bosses are unlikely to give educators the same deal the new 
superintendent of San Diego Schools got; a contract of over $250,000 
with three $3.500 incentive bonuses attached--the bonuses tied to 
unstated goals that HE determines, a switch on the 
pay-for-test-scores phenomenon.

No one ever voted themselves out of what is really a Master/Slave 
relationship. The Masters will never adopt the ethics of the Slaves. 
What changes the multi-dimensional decay that hits every aspect of 
daily life, from the loss of health care to the many pension crises 
to schooling? Organization. Direct action. Struggles for control of 
work places. Sacrifice dedicated to overcoming opportunism 
(sacrificing the good of the many for the good of a few), and an 
ethic of equality.

Some of us with varying views will be working on keeping that flame 
lit in Fresno, at FSU, on Saturday February 2,  building what Susan 
Harman titles, Operation Opt Out, an effort to win parents, students, 
educators, and community people, to walk away from California's 
coming high stakes exams.

Can we win? Who knows? Perhaps, as Kathy Emery has suggested, we are 
just, "getting ready to be ready," laying the ground work for 
resistance that will, of necessity, rise up in the future. Or, maybe, 
we are at a point where real change is ever more possible. The only 
way to find out is to make the struggle---which will at least 
demonstrate that we are what we do.

You are welcome to join us.