"A child's learning is the function more of the characteristics of his classmates than those of the teacher." James Coleman, 1972

Wednesday, November 19, 2014

CorpEd Reeling in Memphis as ASD's Barbic Threatens the Impossible

The corporate school takeover model in New Orleans that has failed everyone except for corporate socialists is not going down so well in the attempted replication in Memphis.  The lawyer/superintendent, Dorsey Hopson, who was put in charge of coordinating the giveaway of Memphis schools to the corporate welfare kings and queens of the charter school/real estate industry, is finding his task a bit more complicated than delivering the closing argument that he anticipated would win the day for the corporate reform schools.  

At this point, parents, teachers, and students in Memphis don't know which liar to believe less, as Hopson and ASD superintendent, Chris Barbic, bob and weave and blame one another in order to avoid getting hammered by citizens with hard questions.  Parents want to know why some their schools are being given away, at least the ones with better facilities--the ones that the profiteers want to confiscate for their charter school prison programs.  

Parents and teachers want to know why SCS plans to crowd hundreds of their children into surviving public schools so that a handful of charter school students can occupy entire school buildings, one class at a time. 

They want to know why, if there is an education crisis in Memphis, that KIPP and Yes Prep and the other corporate reform schools are given four years to get a whole school up and running.  

They want to know which politicians are getting paid commissions for every child handed into into the charter chain gangs.  

They want to know why a segregated straight jacket model of school is being imposed only on their children. 

They want to know why they are being manipulated and disrespected by being talked down to by the paid corporate lackeys from the dissemblers from Stand for Children and the Uncle Toms and Aunt Thomasinas from BAEO.  

They want to know why the SCS superintendent is calling their schools "bad" based on junk test scores that reflect the low income of the neighborhoods.  

They want to know why caring, mature teachers are being replaced by white corporate missionaries who learn to teach on their children before moving into new jobs in the Central Office.  

They want to know why SCS has replaced every educator in Central Office with people without leadership or school administrative experience.  

They want to know why investment banker and school board member, Chris Campbell, is so prominent in this giveaway of public resources.

They want to know why the Governor allows the corporate hoodlum, Chris Barbic, to strut around the communities and make such ridiculous and mean-spirited threats:


“I think it’s important to remind everyone that a lot of things we are doing are by choice.  If we wanted to, we could take over all 85 schools next year." 

Meanwhile the confused and deep-into-the-weeds, Dorsey Hopson, seems to think that his best route is make more appearance and tell more lies more prominently in the community.  He has spent the last year and half surrounding himself with more Huffman-like drones from TFA, and now he has this to say in the Commercial Appeal:
"The last six to seven months have been tied up in building an academic team," Hopson said, adding that his focus now will be on community engagement.

"We are going to go out and have discussion about the schools, and about the data and what it means. I am going to ask board members to participate and really make sure the community knows if the data at your school is low, that means you are not attending a good school.
Can a person put in charge of so many children's educational fate really believe that people are as stupid as he pretends they are?  

3 comments:

  1. It's time for Memphis families and teachers to file Title VI complaints:
    http://www.advancementproject.org/pages/journey-for-justice-and-advancement-project-files-title-vi-complaints-again

    I have little faith in OCR to enforce complaints against the education predators as the office has almost abdicated their responsibilities for protecting civil liberties. But it could be the beginning of future court rulings favorable to parents.

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  2. On the subject of the Obama children's education vs. the “No Excuses” charter model that is being imposed on Memphis students (and on display on the video below) ...

    ... here’s thought experiment.

    Imagine what would happen if Barack and Michelle paid a visit to their school, snuck in the back of the class (the point-of-view of the camera) and witnessed this indefensible horror:

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FDnxRVPiMSg

    I imagine Barack and/or Michelle interrupting this atrocity, screaming,

    -------------------------
    “STOP!!! STOP!!! STOP THIS RIGHT NOW!!! What the BLEEP do you think you’re doing to my child, and to the rest of these children???!!!

    (to the teacher)
    “What’s your name?! Where’s the principal?! We need to talk to her right now!!!!”

    (taking Sasha or Malia by the hand, talk to her)
    “We’re getting you out of this freak show before you suffer any more damage!”

    -------------------------

    However, we all know that the teaching in this video does not and never will happen at…

    Sidwell Friends (the Obama’s kids school),

    or at Lakeside in Seattle (where Gates kids go)

    or at the Montessori school (where NY State Ed. Commish John King sends his kids),

    or at Chris Christie’s kids private school,

    or at the Chicago Lab School (where Emanuel sends his kids and also where my own nephew and niece attend, by the way)…

    as there is a difference between the education enjoyed by the children of the elite—including the Obama kids—and the education that “corporate reformers”, in their end game, are designing for “other people’s children—those of the middle and working classes.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. You are exactly right.

      The truth is ugly, but the charter school "movement" is a scam from start to finish.

      Delete