Wednesday, July 28, 2010

How "revolutionary" can you be when Jeb Bush is your biggest fan?

Duncan's "Quiet Revolution"

First we had Bush's No Child Left Behind, which took its name from the Children's Defense Fund's slogan, "Leave No Child Behind." Now we have Arne Duncan's "Quiet Revolution" with its name coopted from the 60's Quiet Revolution in Quebec. 


The irony is that at the heart of the Quebecois movement was the unionization of public employees. Duncan's "revolution" targets the teacher unions, collective-bargaining rights, and public space in general. And so it goes. Privatized charter schools,which systemically exclude ELL kids and those with disabilities, become "the civil rights movement of our generation."

Top-down corporate reform, mass teacher firings and school closings become r-r-r-revolutionary.

The question is: can you have a revolution, albeit a quiet one, that is skewered by every major civil rights organization in the country? If it's really about fixing failing schools, why has this coalition of community-based organizations trashed the Race To The Top and Duncan's Blueprint? I mean, how revolutionary can you be when Jeb Bush is your biggest fan?



2 comments:

  1. Actually, "quiet counterrevolution" (aka "reaction") is a more accurate term for what these people are up to.

    ReplyDelete
  2. You say you want a revolution
    Well you know
    We'd all want to change the world
    You tell me that it's evolution
    Well you know
    We'd all want to change the world
    But when you talk about destruction
    Don't you know that you can count me out

    ReplyDelete

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