[RSCT] duncan tour

Sat Aug 15 18:07:03 CDT 2009

 Pauline,
I agree with your perspective of what the progressives need to do.? Too often those of us in the left/progressive wing of the social justice education movement criticize (correctly) the problems with standardized testing, the emphasis on economic competitiveness and? charter schools/markets, etc.... but we fail to go beyond those critiques. I hear from others, particularly black and Latino activists/parents, saying (paraphrasing here): "Well it's easy for you all to be critical of standardized tests -- your kids (white/affluent) do well on them -- why shouldn't our kids do well on them too?" or "Well it's easy for you to say schools shouldn't be driven by the economy or vocational training but your kids have jobs and we are looking at 55% unemployment rate among our young men...maybe we should demand that schools train our kids so they get jobs".... or "Well it's easy for you to worry about teacher union rights in a charter school or longer working hours, but the public school down the street is for shit and we deserve decent schools no matter what it takes." Obviously there are flaws in each of these statements, but an? even deeper flaw is for those of us on the left to think that? just remaining hyper critical of current/proposed policies and/or proposing alternatives that have no chance of being politically viable is the way to move forward. Progressive education activists need to do exactly what Pauline suggests and create "a new education program/framing that is shaped by a broad constituency of parents, community members, youth, and educators." 
I would add that teacher unions, especially those led by progressive leadership or influenced by strong rank and file caucuses have an important role to play, in coalition with the forces Pauline lists as well as other sections of organized labor -- particularly unions like SEIU that represent (at least in Milwaukee) other workers who work in schools. 

The other thing that I would add to Pauline's insights are that the "new education program" that needs to be shaped is not something that is going to be done via academic or even prolonged activist conferences of progressive teachers or teacher union members that have a smattering of community representation. No such education programs will be forged (unevenly) in the heat of organizing initially at the local and eventually the state level... ultimately the federal level. Obviously lots of organizing has taken place in Chicago against various neo-liberal reforms. I would be interested in knowing if anyone has taken what has come out of those various organizing efforts and attempted to craft it into a concrete "platform." Such a platform could be used in various ways. For example, in many cities and states right now there are political opportunities to create/or push such a "new education program" in the context of real struggle -- what should be in Race to the Top proposals submitted by states and cities for monies being doled out by the DOE. This is what some of us in Milwaukee are trying to do through various forums -- bring together folks to ultimately propose a community/educator/youth based plan that would most likely be an alternative to what the governor/mayor powers that be will submit to DOE. Similarly progressive union leaders and rank and file caucuses need to push their unions to forge such community-based coalitions/programs AND negoitate creatively with the district management so it the educators (with community/student interests in mind), not the management, that are shaping reform language in union contracts as it impacts innovation, professional development, accountability, and things like peer review and differentiated pay.

I would be interested in hearing from anyone currently involved organizing on the local or state level around the how to leverage Race to the Top funds -- or other organizing around different issues that is leading to the forging of the "new education program/framing that Pauline refers to.

Sincerely,
Bob Peterson

-----Original Message-----
From: Lipman, Pauline <plipman at uic.edu>
To: Janet Isserlis <Janet_Isserlis at brown.edu>
Cc: Rethinking Schools List <rs at criticalteach.org>
Sent: Sat, Aug 15, 2009 3:45 pm
Subject: Re: [RSCT] duncan tour

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
>
>
>
>
> --
> This is a mailing of the Rethinking Schools critical teaching and writing
> listserv. If you would like to subscribe to this listserv send an e-mail
> message with the word "subscribe" in the subject field to
> rs-request at criticalteach.org. The list is open to all Rethinking Schools
> subscribers and focuses on teaching and writing for justice in K-12
> classrooms.
>
> To unsubscribe send an email message with the word "unsubscribe" in the
> subject field to rs-request at criticalteach.org.
>
> Check out Rethinking Schools Online at www.rethinkingschools.org.
> _______________________________________________________________________________________
> RS mailing list
> RS at criticalteach.org
> http://mail.criticalteach.org/mailman/listinfo/rs_criticalteach.org
>
>

--
This is a mailing of the Rethinking Schools critical teaching and writing 
listserv. If you would like to subscribe to this listserv send an e-mail message 
with the word "subscribe" in the subject field to rs-request at criticalteach.org. 
The list is open to all Rethinking Schools subscribers and focuses on teaching 
and writing for justice in K-12 classrooms.

To unsubscribe send an email message with the word "unsubscribe" in the subject 
field to rs-request at criticalteach.org.

Check out Rethinking Schools Online at www.rethinkingschools.org.
_______________________________________________________________________________________
RS mailing list
RS at criticalteach.org
Phttp://mail.criticalteach.org/mailman/listinfo/rs_criticalteach.org

-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://mail.criticalteach.org/pipermail/rs_criticalteach.org/attachments/20090815/8568835e/attachment.html>