[RSCT] duncan tour

[Lipman, Pauline]

Actually this is not surprising. The Obama/Duncan education agenda is
focused  on market mechanisms: closing public schools and expanding
charter schools and choice, teacher merit pay and more flexibility to
bypass union agreements, mayoral takeover (to cut out public
controversy/debate and allow mayors focused on neoliberal urban
development -- basically all city mayors -- more authority) to push school
systems in this direction, handing over public schools to private
turn-around specialists. The education stimulous funds are tied to this
agenda. Sharpton is a big promoter of charter schools and choice (Duncan
was a featured speaker at a charter school promotional event held by the
NAN in DC and broadcast on C-span). Of course, gingrich is a long time
supporter of eduction privatization and weakening unions. This coalition
of forces represents a consolidated neoliberal agenda in education which
has articulated the discourse of equity to the market, choice, and
accountability (like No Child Left Behind).

What I think is important for those of us fighting for liberatory public
education to think about is how to recapture the discourse of equity and
to understand better why the neoliberal agenda makes sense to people who
are really fed up with the failures of public education, particularly to
education children of color. In my view, we need to be talking about
reinventing democratic public education to incorporate the real concerns,
desires, perspectives of those communities that have been failed by public
schools. Otherwise, more Al Sharptons, who want to get something done,
will be allied with the Duncan agenda. We are in a serious situation. That
is why we need a new education program/framing that is shaped by a broad
constituency of parents, community members, youth, and educators.
Pauline Lipman
Chicago (where it was developed and tested out)

On Fri, August 14, 2009 9:12 am, Janet Isserlis wrote:
> Am I the only one baffled by this announcement?
>
> FOR RELEASE:
> August 14, 2009    Contact: Sandra Abrevaya
> (202) 401-1576 or
> sandra.abrevaya at ed.gov
> Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich and civil rights leader Al Sharpton
> will
> join Education Secretary Arne Duncan on a tour of four cities to highlight
> the Obama administration's efforts to reform public education, spur
> innovation and discuss challenges facing America's school systems.
>
> The tour, an outgrowth of their meeting with President Obama last spring,
> will include school visits, stakeholder meetings and media briefings. The
> goal of the tour is to stimulate discussion and community engagement
> around
> issues of education reform.
>
> Secretary Duncan described Gingrich and Sharpton as, "Two of the most
> candid
> people I have ever known. They are willing to challenge conventional
> thinking and I can absolutely promise some provocative conversations on
> education reform."
>
> The tour will take them to Philadelphia on Sept. 29, New Orleans on Nov.
> 3,
> and Baltimore on Nov. 13. Duncan said that the cities were chosen both for
> logistical reasons and for what they can show about school reform. More
> stops, including a rural site, will be added as the tour progresses.
>
> "55-years after the historic Brown v. Board of Education decision we still
> find that education is unequal in our nation. I agree with President Obama
> that we must use new methods to close the achievement gap so we do not
> continue to fail our children," said Sharpton.
>
> "President Obama has shown real courage on the issue of charter schools. I
> strongly believe that when you can find common ground, we should be able
> to
> put other differences aside to achieve a common goal," said Gingrich.
>
> Al Sharpton is a Baptist minister, civil rights leader and a radio talk
> show
> host who advocates for economic and educational equity through two
> organizations he founded, the National Action Network and the Education
> Equality Project. Newt Gingrich is a former speaker of the House of
> Representatives, author, history professor, political analyst and the
> founder of American Solutions, a tri-partisan grassroots action
> organization.
>
> ###
> http://www.ed.gov/news/pressreleases/2009/08/08142009.html
>
>
>
>
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