Rhee's wrong about what's best for kids.

Is Richard Whitmire, who wrote a book about the former Chancellor of District of Columbia public schools, worried he may not sell enough books? In "What Is Behind the Discrediting of Michelle Rhee?" in Education Week he writes:

"While researching my book, The Bee Eater, I often shook my head in amazement after reading some of the online comments posted after a Washington Post story about Rhee. Wow, I would say to myself, some people really, really dislike her.

It’s not that Rhee didn’t, and still does, have many supporters. You don’t launch a new organization like StudentsFirst and declare a one-year goal of enlisting one million members and raising $1 billion without having more than a few backers.

Rhee’s track record in Washington is ripe with data, both local and national. Why not judge her on that and her actual reforms, or her lengthy record building the New Teacher Project?"

My comment:

As my daughter says, even if you put a child in a box he or she will learn something. The issue is that test scores do not say much about any student's true ability or potential. If you teach kids with a narrowed, basic skills curriculum they will learn basic skills, but not much beyond.
If you teach kids reading by means of a rigid script or in a lock-step curriculum, the kids will not be able to stretch their minds beyond the script or the facts taught.

If you do not allow children in kindergarten to play and socialize, those kids will not function well enough in 21st Century jobs because they'll lack imagination (needed to come up with innovations), and the skills to work in teams.

As long as powerful corporations and billionaires have influence over education as is now the case, we can never have quality education. Business is about "the bottom line", about turning schools around for profit, about selling ever "new" curriculum to districts.

Corporations base decisions on reducing costs which often leads to throw-away, shoddy products. In education it will lead to schools that teach basic "skills" and "knowledge", content that can be measured on the high-stakes tests,instead of a rich, quality curriculum that stretches student potential and develops interest in life-long learning.

As Edward Luttwak remarks in his book, "Turbo-Capitalism; Winners and Losers in the Global Economy"

"Corporations are not moral entities. They exist to make a profit"

Textbook and test manufacturing profits for McGraw-Hill soared from 50 million dollars in 2002 when NCLB was just enacted, to 300 million dollars by 2009. I'm sure it is more now.

Read this article by Joanne Barkan to understand the far reaching consequences of business involvement, Got Dough? How Billionaires Rule Our Schools.