Arne Duncan has adopted Bill Gates education "reform" plans.

madfloridian

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Sun Jul-11-10 04:50 PM
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Arne Duncan has adopted Bill Gates education "reform" plans.

I have written a lot about the fact that I do not like what Arne Duncan is doing as Secretary of Education. He is continuing what Margaret Spelling started at Bush's Department of Education. This time there is no Democratic party fighting back on letting private companies gain a huge foothold in public education.

The Democrats are pushing the Bush agenda through.

And a look at Arne Duncan's goals show they are just the same as those of Bill Gates. One might think Gates is buying his way into education, but of course we would not allow that to happen..would we?

From the Topeka K-12 Examiner

At least according to Leonie Haimson in the Huffington Post. Haimson describes how Bill Gates, and the Gates Foundation, are on a path towards completely dismantling public education and replacing it with a privatized system in which tax-funded profits go to big business.

..."The Gates Foundation, endowed with $35 billion, has already spent billions promoting Gates' personal agenda: the proliferation of charter schools. Gates also promotes linking teacher evaluation and compensation to standardized test scores. Spending billions on education might sound good but considering that neither charter schools nor standardized tests stand up to scrutiny, spending billions promoting them is quite dangerous indeed."

Here's a look at Arne's agenda...looks like he has enough Gates Foundation people on board to get the job done for Bill.

The U.S. Department of Education under Arne Duncan has bought into the Gates' agenda completely. Former Gates Foundation officials now serve in the department; including Jim Shelton, former education program director for Gates and now Assistant Deputy Secretary for "Innovation and Improvement". Joan Weiss, former COO of the NewSchools Venture Fund - financier of charter schools with Gates' dollars - joined Duncan's ranks heading the Race to the Top program and has since been promoted to Duncan's Chief of Staff.

Not coincidentally, the $4.3 billion Race to the Top program requires states to eliminate caps on charter schools, forcibly close traditional schools, and even mandate wholesale firing of teachers and turning schools over to charter school operators. The Gates Foundation even "helped" states write their applications for Race to the Top funds - changing laws on charter schools and teacher evaluation in exchange for a long-shot gamble on what is essentially bribe money.

So many still argue that charter schools are not part of Arne's agenda, yet he himself said so. He has made it clear that though the DOE corrects journalists who say he expects the cap on charters to be lifted....that he will not give his Race to the Top money to a district or state unless they raise the charter cap.

And Duncan told reporters last summer in a conference call that �States that do not have public charter laws or put artificial caps on the growth of charter schools will jeopardize their applications under the Race to the Top fund.�

But Hamilton is right. That is not the same thing as requiring that they pledge to do it.

Leonie Haimson at Huffington Post points out that flawed information is given out to make all these "reforms" sound more successful than they really are. She mentions one study in particular.

The same problematic approach to research is reflected in the Gates' studies of charter schools. Earlier this year, Tom Toch, co- founder of Education Sector, an influential DC advocacy group, was commissioned to do a study of charter management organizations (CMO's), the best known of which is KIPP. Toch concluded after two years of investigation that the CMO's were unlikely to be able to maintain quality while expanding as rapidly as Gates, the NewSchools Venture fund, and others were recommending. His conclusions were changed without his knowledge.

He explained,

"I removed my name from the report because a good deal of my analysis was removed and, as published, the report does not reflect my research findings on the current status and future prospects of charter management organizations."

Among Education Sector's board members and one of the reviewers of this report was a high-level official from the NewSchools Venture Fund, the Gates-supported group that provides start-up money for charter school expansion. Soon after, Toch resigned from Education Sector, the organization that he had co-founded.

It appears they actually changed the data to support their conclusion.

I hate to quote the New York Post, yet they are leading the way on these reforms. Their goal like that of Gates is to get mayors in charge of school systems. It is easier than going through all those stuffy school boards and groups like that which may actually stand up for public education.

Gates tunneled 4 million to Learn-NY

That is the group spearheading the way on having mayors control the schools since it is easier to do things that way.

America's richest man chipped in to help preserve mayoral control of New York City schools.

Microsoft founder and philanthropist Bill Gates -- a pal of fellow billionaire Mayor Bloomberg -- has secretly bankrolled Learn-NY, the group that joined the campaign led by The Post to extend mayoral control. Gates funneled about $4 million to the pro-mayoral-control forces during the fierce, dragged-out legislative debate, The Post has learned. A spokesman for Gates confirmed the donation and the approximate size.

The donation helped pay for Learn-NY's extensive public-relations, media and lobbying efforts in Albany and the city. The effort include advertisements, parent organizing and canvassing -- including a five-borough bus tour and trips to the state capital.

Gates gave the money from his personal pocket -- not from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, which has pumped $150 million into the city to develop small schools. He made it clear that he liked having city CEOs in charge of education decision-making and accountable for results.

"You want to allow for experimentation. The cities where our foundation has put the most money is where there is a single person responsible. In New York, Chicago and Washington, DC, the mayor has the responsibility for the school system," Gates said during a CNN appearance.

Bill Gates and Arne Duncan share a common agenda for education.

Too many billionaires

Here's the boss:

Duncan led the Chicago school system from 2001 to 2008. He oversaw more than 60 school closings, primarily in people-of-color neighborhoods, while rapidly opening privately run charter schools. The Gates Foundation funneled $63.2 million into the Chicago schools during Duncan�s tenure and now Duncan is taking the �Chicago model� nationwide with the help of top aides recruited from the Gates and Broad foundations.

And Bill Gates:

Here come the billionaires:

Bill Gates

..."During the 2008 presidential election the Gates and Broad foundations teamed up to spend $24 million to influence public education policy. Their shared message: Expand charter schools and tie teacher pay to student performance on standardized tests. President Obama�s Secretary of Education, Arne Duncan, has tapped top Gates Foundation officers to be his chief of staff and to head the agency�s Office of Innovation and Improvement. Foundation officers are also spearheading the $4.35 billion Race to the Top program, which promises aid to cash-strapped states that eliminate caps on charter schools and agree to place even greater emphasis on standardized testing. �It is not unfair to say that the Gates Foundation�s agenda has become the country�s agenda in education,� says Michael Petrilli of the Thomas B. Fordham Institute.

Sounds like Bill Gates got all kinds of ovations when he spoke recently at the AFT convention. At least according the Seattle Times.

Gates wins teachers' applause

Rowdy delegates to a national teachers convention Saturday gave several standing ovations to Bill Gates, whose billions in foundation grants for experimental-education-overhaul efforts over more than a decade have sparked widespread controversy and debate.

There were scattered boos and hisses among the 3,400 attendees at the American Federation of Teachers (AFT) convention in Seattle, and a small group of dissident teachers walked out on Gates' speech, but many at the Washington State Convention Center seemed to welcome the Microsoft co-founder's message that teachers must be partners in any efforts to improve student achievement.

..."Rowdy delegates to a national teachers convention Saturday gave several standing ovations to Bill Gates, whose billions in foundation grants for experimental-education-overhaul efforts over more than a decade have sparked widespread controversy and debate.

There were scattered boos and hisses among the 3,400 attendees at the American Federation of Teachers (AFT) convention in Seattle, and a small group of dissident teachers walked out on Gates' speech, but many at the Washington State Convention Center seemed to welcome the Microsoft co-founder's message that teachers must be partners in any efforts to improve student achievement.

How do you know when your agenda is successfully being implemented?

When teachers give ovations to the man who is working hard to break the back of teachers' unions.

That's how you know.