On Wed, Apr 14, 2010 at 12:39 PM, Max Sawicky <sawicky at verizon.net> wrote:
> There's a nice piece in this immortal tome by Rima Shore on how the
> education accountability movement (sic) came out of the defense
> industry in the 70s:
>
> http://www.epi.org/publications/entry/books_riskybizintro/
>
> Metrics of performance ("output") are intrinsic to privatization,
> since the case for an education market rests in part on the ability to
> measure output and pay for it, bit by bit. The logic of performance
> measurement obviates the need for close public regulation, where
> "close" entails actual public production -- hiring teachers and
> running schools in this case. (Also discussed in the book by yrs
> truly) If you can measure you can contract out and economize on
> administrative costs. In principle it's logical, IF you can measure.
>
> An alternative in the same vein, not pursued for reasons obvious to
> this list, would be teachers running schools and compensated by
> authorities, like labor-managed firms. Absent firm workers control,
> the pretense of measurement opens the door to profit-based incentive
> systems: private management.
>
>
>
> On Wed, Apr 14, 2010 at 11:45 AM, Doug Henwood <dhenwood at panix.com> wrote:
> >
> > On Apr 14, 2010, at 11:36 AM, Miles Jackson wrote:
> >
> >> I'm not getting this argument. How is the assessment of student
> learning
> >> related in any way to the privatization of education? Assessment
> doesn't
> >> require us to bust unions; in fact, if it is driven by unionized
> teachers,
> >> then it gives teachers more authority and oversight of the curriculum.
> >> There must be some implicit links here that I'm not following.
> >
> > Have you followed this NCLB and Race to the Top stuff? The whole point of
> > that sort of testing is to fire teachers, bust unions, and close and/or
> > privatize public schools. Did you notice that our president has joined in
> > the war on teachers' unions?
> >
> > Doug
> > ___________________________________
> > http://mailman.lbo-talk.org/mailman/listinfo/lbo-talk
> >
>
> ___________________________________
> http://mailman.lbo-talk.org/mailman/listinfo/lbo-talk
>
-- ********************************************************* Alan P. Rudy Dept. Sociology, Anthropology and Social Work Central Michigan University 124 Anspach Hall Mt Pleasant, MI 48858 517-881-6319