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NEA biased article - but some damn good points.

We are One Rallies - to stop the corporate takeover of our government, our schools, and our services.

Doritos High School....is that where you would like to attend, where your high school memories will be formed? The push and allowance of corporate sponsorship of schools are a response to impending and repeated education budget cuts.

Looks like corporate creep to me...

"Class struggle goes on in other realms. In goes on in K-12 education, for example, when business tries to influence what students are taught about everything from nutrition to the virtues of free enterprise; when U.S. labor history is excluded from the required curriculum; and when teachers' unions are blamed for problems of student achievement that are in fact consequences of the maldistribution of income and wealth in U.S. society. It goes on in higher education when corporations lavish funds on commercially viable research; when capitalist-backed pundits attack professors for teaching students to think critically about capitalism; and when they give money in exchange for putting their names on buildings and schools. Class struggle also goes on in higher education when pro-capitalist business schools are exempted from criticism for being ideological and free-market economists are lauded as objective scientists."

"Like Gates, we feel the US must address the inadequacies in our education system, specifically those that propagate inequalities in our society. However, we caution using global competitiveness as an impetus for education reform - not because we do not believe in maintaining our forward thinking leadership role on the world stage. But rather because such language edges education dangerously close to being about the production of a marketable workforce serving corporate interests instead of about the cultivation of a critically thinking global citizenry serving the advancement of humanity. In place of the language of competition, we would suggest a language of equal opportunity and cooperation."

How to create a corporate plutocracy: eliminate the power of the unions, destroy their Democratic rivals creating a one-party system, sell off all services (including education) to the private sector, and watch the rise of fascism.

Offers a pointed finger for why our education system is collapsing in upon itself. The author provided connections between teaching and curriculum to business and corporate influence. He used powerful quotes by teachers decrying how they feel like frauds telling their kids that what they are learning will prepare them for life.

On-line tool providing lagging indicator education results.

In corporate strategy we said that our dashboards provided business intelligence for real-time decision-making. I commend this effort but I do not think that the metrics are granular enough or that the data are available quickly enough. While an interesting attempt/first step, I see this as an on-line collection of "rear view mirror" performance. We have not really captured leading indicators. Rather, this tool makes it easier for us to review our lagging indicators. We can get a clearer picture of our deficiencies/gaps, but I'm not sure how this will help inform timely and effective decision-making.

The author questions Cathie Black new role as NYC chancellor. Raises argument of who is better suited to lead schools based on previous career experiences. Perhaps the most objectionable aspect of the corporate takeover of public education is the implicit assumption that business leaders know what they're doing and the rest of us don't.

The Virginia Department of Education (VDOE) is inviting school divisions, nonprofits, local government agencies, faith-based organizations, colleges and universities, and for-profit corporations to apply for 21st Century Community Learning Centers grants