tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8285353362748898720.post4896442399661301390..comments2024-03-28T06:53:24.022-05:00Comments on a blog about school: What top-down looks likeChrishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12919030671050831251noreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8285353362748898720.post-57396229821046765762012-04-29T12:23:00.206-05:002012-04-29T12:23:00.206-05:00Chris -- I agree. The whole sham of Race to the To...Chris -- I agree. The whole sham of Race to the Top embodies this sick mentality. Race to the top of what? Its very essence is that there will be a few winners and lots of losers because that's what a race is, isn't it?. Which parents and teachers are volunteering to have their school be a loser in this race to nowhere? <br /><br />When faced with that question Arne Duncan babbles incoherently. Has anyone in power at the top ever stopped and applied logical thinking to this whole enterprise of playing market games with our children and our future? Seems not.<br /><br />Apparently the powers that be are comfortable with some vague notion that if they can fire enough teachers and create enough private school management companies that market forces and competition will magically provide a perfect school system in some nebulous future where all children are equally compliant and successful drones. <br /><br />What about all the children and teachers who will become collateral damage in the process of achieving this corporate utopia? Are we, as a country, willing to watch this unfold over a generation or more? The problem with applying business solutions to public schools is that no one mentions that the vast majority of businesses fail and very few people win in capitalism. I guess that's OK nowadays but it makes me sick to my stomach.Another Chrisnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8285353362748898720.post-74937693190815368492012-04-27T00:08:19.730-05:002012-04-27T00:08:19.730-05:00Thanks, Another Chris and Karen W. The whole syst...Thanks, Another Chris and Karen W. The whole system is suffused with the attitude of “No one would willingly do these things” – kids wouldn’t choose to learn, teachers wouldn’t choose to teach well, etc. And then it’s used as an excuse to take even more autonomy away from kids, teachers, and school districts, which just makes it a self-fulfilling prophecy.<br /><br />Karen, do we know what that logo looks like? Is there a link to it? It might be fun to do a parody . . .Chrishttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07559356125770114400noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8285353362748898720.post-72430640833698038062012-04-26T20:27:50.957-05:002012-04-26T20:27:50.957-05:00And then the Iowa Department of Education offers t...And then the Iowa Department of Education offers the school administrators a special logo to use on their school websites and letterheads if they can move their schools into the ranks of the highest performing schools in Iowa . . . .Karen Whttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13075997477474697121noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8285353362748898720.post-88977372579782728002012-04-26T05:03:07.290-05:002012-04-26T05:03:07.290-05:00This goes hand in hand with the insulting concept ...This goes hand in hand with the insulting concept of merit pay, which is nothing more than a game of chance. It's been proven not to work repeatedly so now it is encoded in Race to the Top because these mighty titans of business think that teachers are lazy and refuse to teach well without the offer of a bonus/bribe. Welcome to the Business Roundtable's and the Chamber of Commerce's version of school "reform".Another Chrisnoreply@blogger.com