”We can’t do everything... And by the way, Americans don’t tend to do foreign languages very well.” -- Eva Moskowitz
One can only imagine who Moskowitz is referring to as "Americans".
Moskowitz, speaking in 2014 at a forum sponsored by the right-wing American Enterprise Institute (AEI) told the audience, ”Something had to go,” Turns out that “something” was foreign language classes. She just doesn't believe that her students, mostly African-American and Latino, are capable of reading and speaking more than one tongue.
She's most likely the world's greatest --certainly the highest paid-- charter school hustler. She pulls down a cool half-million yearly, running the so-called Success Academy network of charters in New York City. Using her hedge-fund money connections, her political clout and relationship with former Mayor Michael Bloomberg, Moskowitz' charter operation grew to the point where she now operates 34 charters with 11,000 students in them.
Unfortunately for those kids, they will no longer be able to learn a language other than English. The Success Academies have dropped foreign language education from their curriculum. This despite the fact that the state of N.Y. (and most states) requires it for graduation and many selective colleges and universities require it as a pre-req for admission. More importantly, the world today, and certainly the city in which her students are growing up, is increasingly multi-lingual and multi-cultural
And as Leslie Salzillo writes in Wednesday's Daily Koz,
.... Many employers see a foreign language background as a plus. Given the Hispanic/Latino growth in America today, high school and college graduates who can speak Spanish as a second language have a substantial advantage over others jumping into the job market.Moskowitz has switched public relations companies several times over the last year in an attempt to tamp down critical coverage of her network. She's fond of calling her critics "haters". So be it.
Remembering the liberals that attacked me when I called this woman a racist. It was only a matter of time before things like this would provide damning testimonial evidence in support of my assertion. I can still see liberals -- not to mention the fringe-right AEI reactionaries that were her audience here -- defending the greedy charter chief though. I'm sure Matt Yglesias or the like will come running to her defense.
ReplyDeleteIn their zeal to create perfect little test takers, the reformers are eliminating science, social studies, literature and the arts. The result will be a life that is nasty and brutish (with apologies to Hobbes).
ReplyDeleteAbigail Shure
Reformers in DoEd are also silently eliminating rights & protections of children with disabilities one deregulation at a time. Duncan's OSEP director stopped enforcing IEP compliance in 2011 by monitoring ONLY test scores of SPED kids. Concurrently, Duncan shut down the compliance offices in every state. THis was about the same time he & ex Mr Rhee, Huffman were on NPR claiming they would "reform" special edcucation.
DeleteDeregulating along with the new creative Pre-K financing scheme (Social Impact Bonds) that pay Wall St when kids are not placed in SPED should shame every Democrat in the country. But don't count on that. Duncan's DoEd has spent 8 yrs assuring the 1% that they will help them make kids with disabilities go away quietly. This is Duncan's odious legacy.
Having set the stage for dismantling SPED protections, we now have Republican John Kaisch saying he'd turn IDEA compliance over to the states. Thus putting the children with the greatest needs & highest costs into the hands of tea-party, austerity nuts and bought & paid for DFER Democrats.
Education eliminationists are what Chris Rock said at the Oscar's about racial exclusion. THey follow the sorority model - We like you Rhonda but you just aren't Kappa material.