Tags
21st century, achievement gap, activism, alternative, American, children, economy, education, free, inspiration, interview, occupy, occupy education, occupy wall street, protest, social change, student, teaching, transformation, U.S.
I am very happy to say that I spent my weekend occupying Wall Street. During this time, I had the amazing opportunity to speak with people who are not only angry, but hopeful. They are individuals who protest our country’s economic policies not out of hatred, but out of love for our country. They see the word democracy as more than just rhetoric. They view democracy as a dream that must be fulfilled in our lifetime. During the past two days, I spoke with students, teachers, and professors about their views on education and how it connects to their activism at Occupy Wall Street. I was interviewed by one woman (obviously against the protest) who asked: Why education? If you are concerned with the public education system, shouldn’t you be protesting the Department of Education? What does this have to do with Wall Street anyway?
I proceeded to educate this woman on the direct correlation of economic status and academic achievement. After that, I schooled her on the current corporate and federal push to privatize our public schools. If we are to see a major transformation within our public education system, we must start by re-structuring our current economic system. We are currently seeing a push towards a “market based” education system. In other words: education for profit. We are seeing more policies that are put in place to drive education reform that is dependent on competition and profit. This movement has been coined: Neoliberalism.
Neoliberalism= movement away from state control towards corporate control. It depends on un-regulated trade and markets and argues that free markets, free trade, and the unrestricted flow of capital will produce the “greatest social good.”
Wall Street Occupiers are protesting the current neoliberal takeover of our government and society. De-regulation of the markets was a huge cause of our recession in 2007 and also speaks to the corporate bailout our federal government authorized. Moreover, neo-liberal ideology also supports the transformation of institutions of higher education into for-profit structures that are currently leaving millions of students in tens of thousands of dollars of debt. In addition, neo-liberal ideology supports the out-sourcing jobs in order to find the cheapest labor; leaving these same indebted college graduates with false promises of a bright future. But enough of my ramblings, let’s hear from some other Occupiers.
Lauren: A 6th grade Language Arts teacher in East Harlem
Andre: A Masters Student and Political Activist from Long Island
Barbara: Teacher Educator at University of Massachusetts-Amherst
“It is a right to transform the city, to make it the city we wish to live in, and in the process transform ourselves and how we live together.”
-Pauline Lipman
I am energized and inspired by this movement and it comforts me to know this is only the beginning.
Dare the School 
Dare the School thank you for this! Please add your voice to OCCUPY EDUCATION!
Take a picture of yourself holding a sign that highlights a few ways you are transforming education and/or share the countless, unique ways you challenge the status quo in public education.
If you are a student, tell us what helps you learn best. Tell us what would make learning more meaningful for you.
If you are a parent, tell us what kind of learning environment you want for your children. Tell us what schools should be focusing on.
Below that, write “I occupy education.” or “I occupy my classroom”
If you don’t show your whole face, please show at least part of it.
Please have your note be hand written.
Please do your best to be concise.
Reclaim your voice in education transformation.
http://www.occupyedu.tumblr.com
Yes I definitely will!
Heather, please check out the film “Waiting For Superman.” I know you are the expert, but the direction that education is going in is not towards a for profit model, even if that is being advocated by some. It’s going in the direction of being more democracy-based ie equal, which is what the documentary is all about. Unless you see this film, you are basing your opinions on incomplete info. Also, please check out Michelle Rhee’s org http://www.studentsfirst.org. I’m still trying to figure out if she is part of the New Paradigm, but a lot of what she says resonates with me.
True….I will see the film and I do not think that all charter schools are bad however, they are based on a system that only allows some children to receive a quality education. Charter schools tend to be selective of who can attend. Most do not accept students with special needs or students who have historically been failing in class. These children get left behind in a crumbling school system, with even less funds than they originally started with. Charter schools are a band-aid…a small step but by no means a solution. In terms of your advice, I would ask you to research, who is financially benefitting from many charters. The answer may simultaneously surprise and sicken you. Moreover, I would also ask you research the ideology behind charter schools (Milton Friedman, Ronald Reagan, etc.)
P.S. I have looked up Michelle Rhee and I am somewhat skeptical.
I don’t want to tell you Christina who to believe, but Waiting for Superman and Michelle Rhee, are very much part of the problem, they are so a part of the for profit sector and are not for democratic schooling. If you want to see a movie about holistic democratic eduation, see August to June, see films about the Albany Free School, and many others.
Please look a bit deeper.
David
Thanks for the refereces David, but I fail to see how a documentary that came out just last year and has been barely seen by anyone in the mainstream and a former School Chancelor who was literally fired for going up against the powerful teachers unions are part of a status quo problem that is many decades in the making.
In my opinion, no one has the entire answer, but there are those with part of the answer, and in my opinion both the WFS documentary and Rhee fits in that catagory, in addition to many, many others. I personally think that part of the problem is the thought that there is only one solution…there isn’t. I will look into August to June, but I will look into for what useful can be taken from it, not for what can be outright dismissed. In my opinion, that’s the only way to eventually get to a viable solution. 🙂
Christina,
Please look into who funded WFS look who funded Michelle Rhee. No there is not one answer, but I really hope that much of what WFS promotes is apart of it. It treats school like a machine, students as information banks and teachers jobs to increase test scores. It does not question the basic systemic problems of education and blames unions, and “bad” teachers as a cause for what is wrong in education. It is miss leading, not even showing what makes HCF really work, which is the wrap around services. Yet, even then they forget to mention that HCF removed low scoring children, nor the fact that Rhee is bank rolled by some of the riches people in this country who mission is to destroy public school. You don’t have to agree with me, but I think Corp Reformers like Rhee and WFS folks are destroying what little was good in the current system. We need to get there money out of education, remove the standardize test and allow teachers and student much more control over their learning.
David
Hey David, I didn’t know about that movie. I will check it out.
To be honest, it is really not worth your time. But then again, if you need to know more about how “reformer” view education…it might be worth it. There are a number of reviews and discussions about it on the Cooperative, also.
In my view it is simplistic, generalized and lacks any value beyond, “waking people up”… but even the highlights of the film, forget to take in consideration the whole picture… and do blame teachers and unions for the problems in education. It promotes a narrow idea of what learning is…mostly scoring good on tests and sugar coats charters like Kipp and others.
Honestly I think Occupy Wall St… is as much about getting Michelle Rhee’s and Superman out of education… This movie has a lot like of supports who are the very people we are protesting against….
Either way I rather watch your documentaries from actual teachers, students and parents…not “reformers” who really only know business not learning.
My three cents!
David
A great link http://www.rethinkingschools.org/index.shtml, take a look Christina and Daretheschool.
First sorry for the typo, I meant references. Second, wow David, you recommend a doc for me to check out to look deeper yet you tell Heather it’s not worthy of her time? Talk about a mixed and not too clear message. Third, thanks for the link Marla. Will check out 🙂
Ooops! Sorry I forgot to respond to you Heather. I am well aware about who first championed Charter schools and the ideology behind it. I looked into it and the whole school voucher movement that was pushed by the Conservative movement during the Reagan era. But in my opinion, who came up with the idea and who promoted it way back when in regard to Charter Schools and vouchers is meaningless because that was decades ago. And have you noticed that conservatives of today say absolutely nothing about Charters schools? Why? That’s a good question to ponder.
In my opinion, the question is how has the topic of Charter Schools evolved in the NOW, not the past. I personally think that the good non-profit driven Charter Schools of today are the model for what 21st century public education can become. And I think that while public education is currently so crummy, parents should have a choice, instead of the local neighborhood school only which offers a substandard education. Again, I suggest that you watch the WFS documentary because if you are judging it or anything else on what you have “heard” about it, you are letting who you have heard do your thinking for you.
P.S. I’m very familair with Milton Friedman, he gained fame in Chicago which was the birth place of the Friedman-method of economics known as “The Chicago School.” Friedman is one of the Nobel prize winners associated with the University of Chicago which has given it the distinction of having it’s affiliates win more Nobel Prizes than any other University in the world. Free Enterprise is not the villian, just the ones who have corrupted it are. Chicago is also currently involved in a education revolution which is centered around Charter Schools that are NOT profit driven but about assuring that more children get a high quality education. I’m a results person, and here is an excellent example results, and there are multiple schools in Chicago like this one:
http://www.urbanprep.org/
Maybe we will have to agree to disagree on this one which is fine. Yes you are right Chicago has “pioneered” the charter school movement along with their gentrification initiative “Ren2010”. This is a mass movement of gentrification that has pushed out communities of color and silenced many neighborhoods by closing down schools without as much as notifying parents and community members. I am not against progress, but I am against the institutional racism that takes place in these processes, and it runs deep.I would also encourage you to research the hatchet job private companies did in New Orleans after Katrina. I am not against ALL charters, but i must admit that Chicago is an extremely poor example to give when you speak of a free market system that can actually work. My research has shown the exact opposite. Free market ideology is the same ideology that advocates for the “trickle down” economy…and I think you know what a laugh that is.
I realize how esteemed Friedman is….but the amount of awards he has won does not automatically make him as someone who should be held to as an example. In terms of free markets not being the villian…there must be a system of checks and balances in place in order to assure there is no corruption…there currently is not such thing and free market ideology ultimately believes in no government control (i.e. no checks and balances) The same can be said for the highly esteemed scholar Milton Friedman. This is why there is such mass protest. Moreover, free-market ideology is a huge reason why our health care system is as heartless as it is now. Certain human rights should not come with a price tag. However, you do make some valid points, but i hold a different vision of education and equity in this country. The issue is not black or white but I am not for most popular government policies in education (at the moment anyway)And yes, that most certainly includes Obama’s policies as well. i appreciate your insight nonetheless.
P.S. Schools like Urban Prep are not my thing. This is a longer conversation. Maybe we can have it in person or over the phone one day.
Well, just let me tell you that you are going to LOVE my website because it makes the exact opposite argument that you are making in regard to what Chicago is doing in regard to education…and I would like to add that I back up my rhetoric with actual documented and linked to facts. And with all due respect charging racism will get whomever is charging it as far as it has gotten everyone else who charges racism as their fall back position for everything in this emerging New Paradigm…nowhere. But if that’s the horse you wish to ride, that’s your choice.
Urban Prep, a glowing success by any stretch of the imagination, is doing something that no one thought possible for these extremely poor, (I know the neighborhood these kids are from, because I grew up seeing it everyday). And guess who are funding these schools? Black business leaders. FYI, Urban Prep is almost entirely created and/or funded by black business leaders in Chicago, as are schools like Ariel Community Academy, Johnson College Prep, Rowe-Clark Math & Science Academy and Walter Payton College Prep. None of these schools are for profit and they are all located in poor Chicago neighborhoods. In fact, I was just documenting this accomplishment by Payton Academy (which is modeled after successful charter schools in Chicago), on my website the other day:
“In 2004, after only four years in existence, Payton became the first Chicago Public High School ever to win a state math championship, beating the University of Chicago Laboratory School. Payton has since moved up divisions and now competes against larger schools but has nevertheless maintained its winning record, taking the state title in 2005 and 2006 and the city title in 2007. In 2007, Payton scored among the top 60 schools in the country in the American Mathematics Competition.”
Selective Prep.com
In other words, the folks in Chicago aren’t talking about what can be done…they are actually DOING it and excelling in the process. And the fact that black leaders are behind the founding of all of these schools makes the racism charge a ridiculous red herring. The term “Waiting For Superman” is about folks sitting around waiting for someone to ride in on a white horse and save the day for our children. What’s happening in Chicago is the community is leading the charge for quality education for their children, and if results matter, ( and they DO), they are doing an excellent job. At least that’s my take on it. The New Paradigm is about breaking down old systems and starting anew, and that includes the education system. And anyone coddling the status quo is in for a very rude awakening.
P.S. I didn’t use Milton Friedman as an example, you did in telling me to look him up and I was merely letting you know I already knew a lot about him via my research, and that’s why I don’t agree with your take on him, because I actually know his record versus basing my opinion on what I’ve heard of him. There is good is everyone and everything Heather, and that good is useful. But you have to be willing to find it.
Thought-provoking interviews, particularly the woman against this protest. I’m wondering how many people actually share similar views as the woman you described above (“If you are concerned with the public education system, shouldn’t you be protesting the Department of Education?”). I’m also wondering how many people are actually aware of this so-called “Neoliberalism” movement, and if they were all aware of its implications, then how would this nation of diverse people truly respond? Band together? Or divide?
I truly appreciate your efforts in covering this issue. These are undoubtedly urgent times, and yet, I’m guessing there are a lot of people–myself included–who at the end of the day feel like they have nothing left to give after being in the front lines of this education system. I’m glad to see, however, that there are people inspired and energized enough to do something about it.
Pingback: #Occupy Wall Street Meets Education Roundup | The Center for the Humanities