I like the president and agree with him on most issues, one of
the few however where I disagree with him is education. I think the
president’s policies have been a disaster. He made education a game with his
race to the top initiative and has endorsed many of the corporate reforms, high
stakes standardized tests, blame the teacher policies/teacher evaluations and
charter schools that are wrecking the profession. He has been a huge
disappointment.
I bet the
superintendent of Atlanta wishes she had friends in high places too.
What does that have to do with Michelle Rhee? Well she has
been the champion of those same reforms and the darling of the corporate reform
movement. She went from taping kids mouths shut, to running the D.C. school
system and brought her blame the teacher ideas with her.
She is currently embroiled in a cheating scandal that
baffles the senses, however unlike in Atlanta where they take kids futures
seriously, she has been able to skate by and I can’t help but wonder if the
president has somehow influenced this.
This is from the Washington Post: There have been
several probes, but two — one by a private testing firm and the other by the
D.C. Inspector General — were limited. Another, by the U.S. Education
Department’s Inspector General, resulted in no action taken, though the extent
of the investigation is unclear.
The evidence seems overwhelming that some cheating occurred
and either Mrs. Rhee was at the epicenter and encouraged it or she sat idly by
and allowed it to happen and yet, no action has been taken. Why? Could it be
because the president and her are lockstep on education policy? Could it be
because if she goes down many of the president’s education ideas will go down
with her? If there is nothing to hide, then why they half hearted probes by the
president's department of education? I’m not a big conspiracy guy but there are
questions that are being allowed to go unanswered. And lets not forget
teacher’s lives are being ruined, kids aren’t getting the education they
deserve and our public education system is on the cusp of being taken over by
corporations more concerned with the bottom line than our children’s futures. I
don’t think Rhee has the juice to sweep all this under the rug, but you know
who does? President Obama.
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