Re: Fwd: First Look at a NEW Bold Approach to Education

[Rich Gibson <rgibson@pipeline.com>]

Nice piece of evidence that liberals are the 
Charons to Hades, the rowers to hell, the people 
who pave the way for fascism by stripping people 
of their ability to reason just why it is that 
children do not have health care, food, parents 
with jobs that pay, good schools, etc.

The reason is capitalism. It requires not just 
inequality, but un-reason, which is primary in 
capital's schools that, depending on birth class, 
mainly teach degrees of obedience and loyalty, 
the ethics of slaves (note that 1.5 million 
troops have been to Iraq or Afghanistan, some of 
them four or five times, with little 
resistance---about 24 million kids in school now 
are draft-eligibly in the next 4 years).

The crisis at hand is very real. A collapsing 
economy, a very true promise of perpetual war 
from both political parties, a military exposed 
as strategically and tactically incompetent and 
cowardly, rising jingoism, religious 
superstition, racism, calls for a powerful 
leader, a near perfect merger of government and 
corporations, and rising imperial competitors 
every bit as desperate for that oil, cheap labor 
and markets as the US ruling classes, means that, 
absent a real fight based on class solidarity, 
things will grow much worse, probably quickly. 
The silly platitudes in this 3/4 page ad in the 
NY Times will only divert people from the battle 
that does need to be taken up.

That this list of signers unites the shabby work 
of Meier, the reactionary Susan Neuman, the 
thug-school-bosses Rudy Crew and Arne Duncan, 
should serve as a heads up to those who think the 
demagogue, Obamagogue, is going to do anything 
but serve as headman for the giant sucking pump 
of profits that is the system of capital itself.







> Original Message -----
> > From: Lisa Guisbond
> >
> > A major new education initiative echoes a lot of what the Whole Child
> > Campaign, CARE, Citizens for Public Schools, FairTest and others have
> > been talking about in terms of a broader approach to looking at school
> > quality and improvement. It also brings together a star-studded list
> > of prominent educators and others, some coming from seemingly
> > disparate perspectives, e.g., Richard Rothstein, Pedro Noguera, Linda
> > Darling-Hammond and Deborah Meier, on one hand, and Tom Payzant,
> > Robert Schwartz (Achieve) and Susan Neuman (who worked to push NCLB
> > for the Bush administration but has recently had second thoughts) on
> > the other. Worth reading their full statement at the web address below
> > and then you can choose to sign on, if you wish.
> >
> > Lisa G.
> >
> > http://www.boldapproach.org/
> >
> >
> >
> > A Broader, Bolder Approach to Education
> >
> >
> >
> > The Broader, Bolder Approach to Education is the product of
> > deliberation by leaders with diverse religious and political
> > affiliations, and experts in the fields of education, social welfare,
> > health, housing, and civil rights. The statement examines areas that
> > research shows must be addressed if we are to keep our promises to all
> > ofAmerica's children.
> >
> > More than a half century of research has documented a powerful
> > association between social and economic disadvantage and low student
> > achievement. Weakening that association is the fundamental challenge
> > facingAmerica's education policymakers.
> >
> > The nation's education policy has typically been crafted around the
> > expectation that schools alone can offset the full impact of low
> > socioeconomic status on learning, a theory embodied in the No Child
> > Left Behind law, which passed with bipartisan support in 2001 and is
> > now up for reauthorization. Schools can ameliorate some of the impact
> > of social and economic disadvantage on achievement. Improving our
> > schools, therefore, continues to be a vitally important strategy for
> > promoting upward mobility and for working toward equal opportunity and
> > overall educational excellence.
> >
> > Evidence demonstrates, however, that achievement gaps based on
> > socioeconomic status are present before children even begin formal
> > schooling. Despite impressive academic gains registered by some
> > schools serving disadvantaged students, there is no evidence that
> > school improvement strategies by themselves can substantially,
> > consistently, and sustainably close these gaps.
> >
> > Nevertheless, there is solid evidence that policies aimed directly at
> > education-related social and economic disadvantages can improve school
> > performance and student achievement. The persistent failure of
> > policymakers to act on that evidence ? in tandem with a schools-only
> > approach ? is a major reason why the association between disadvantage
> > and low student achievement remains so strong.
> >
> > Read the full statement
> >
> > Read news release
>   ----------








At 10:43 PM 6/9/2008, you wrote:
> Im not sure how Broad or Bold this is, but its a 
> baby step in the right direction: away from 
> blaming schools and toward ameliorating 
> poverty... Some good people have signed it 
> (Debby Meier, Rich Rothstein) and some baddies 
> (Arne Duncan, Chicago Sup?oh sorry, I meant CEO).
> Susan
>
> Begin forwarded message:
>
> > From: Lawrence Mishel <lmishel@epi.org>
> > Date: Mon Jun 9, 2008  6:00:31 PM US/Pacific
> > To: susanharman@igc.org
> > Subject: First Look at a NEW Bold Approach to Education
> > Reply-To: lmishel@epi.org
>
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