More than any other person, with the possible exception of President Obama and Secretary Duncan, Bill Gates controls American education. He has promoted charter schools (a passion he shares with ALEC, Obama, and every rightwing governor); VAM; high-stakes testing; Common Core; and whatever promotes free-market fundamentalism. His billions are the tiller that guides the ship.
Anthony Cody reproduces an interview in which Gates shows zero knowledge of how his pet reforms have failed. He shows no recognition of charter scandals or the effect of charters on the public schools who lose their top students and funding. He seems unaware that VAM has failed everywhere.
Cody points out that Gates uses the same talking points he used years ago. He lauds mayoral control and cites NYC and Chicago as successful school systems (he dropped DC from his standard line about the glories of top-down decision making).
What comes clear is that…
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Jon Awbrey
May 13, 2015 at 18:26
Once again, true free-market fundamentalists do not seek taxpayer dollars to pay for their business enterprises.
What we have here is a parasite of another sort entirely.
Lloyd Lofthouse
May 13, 2015 at 19:09
I like that—a parasite of another sort. This parasite has claimed they are education reformers and that they are leading the civil rights era of our time while driving segregation with their Charter Schools and flying under the banner of free-market fundamentalism and stealing tax dollars away from public schools through rampant fraud. I think they claim they are free-market fundamentalists because that includes gutting government’s ability to keep an eye on fraud in the private sector.
They are fraudulent civil rights activist.
They are fraudulent education reformers
And they are fraudulent free-market fundamentalists.
They are edu-bagging crooks robbing the 99% working class to enrich the 1% wealthy
Jon Awbrey
May 13, 2015 at 18:40
In a related story …
http://www.newyorker.com/humor/borowitz-report/scientists-earth-endangered-by-new-strain-of-fact-resistant-humans?intcid=mod-latest
Lloyd Lofthouse
May 13, 2015 at 19:12
I think this new strain of fact resistant humans are made up of four groups: ISIS, tea party people, neo-conservatives and neo-liberals.