Re: Charter Schools: A Marketplace for Profits or Ideas?

Some blog followers might be interested in a discussion list post “Re: Charter Schools: A Marketplace for Profits or Ideas?” [Hake (2014)]. The abstract reads:

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ABSTRACT: In a discussion “Charter Schools: A Marketplace for Profits or Ideas?” Bill Moyers http://bit.ly/1feQ5iw interviewed Diane Ravitch, who stated:

“The lure of getting federal money made many states change their laws to open the door to many, many more charter schools. . . . . . . Public education is becoming big business as bankers, hedge fund managers, and private equity investors are entering what they consider to be an ‘emerging market.’ As Rupert Murdoch put it http://bit.ly/1pAwGMh after purchasing an education technology company, ‘When it comes to K through 12 education, we see a $500 billion sector in the US alone’ . . . . . . I think what’s at stake is the future of American public education. I believe it is one of the foundation stones of our democracy: So an attack on public education is an attack on democracy.”

See also “Here is the Bill Moyers Interview in Full” [Ravitch (2014)] at http://bit.ly/1mFTAmo.

Over 4 decades ago economist Albert O. Hirschman (1970) in Exit, Voice, and Loyalty: Responses to Decline in Firms, Organizations, and States http://bit.ly/11QKoRB, made a case against charter-schools similar to that made by Ravitch. He first quoted the conservative economist Milton Friedman who argued that SCHOOL VOUCHERS SHOULD REPLACE THE CURRENT PUBLIC-SCHOOL SYSTEM, writing “Parents could express their views about schools directly, by withdrawing their children from one school and sending them to another.”

Hirschman then countered (my italics): “[Friedman's opinion] is a near perfect example of the ECONOMIST'S BIAS IN FAVOR OF EXIT AND AGAINST VOICE: In the first place, Friedman considers withdrawal or exit as the ‘direct’ way of expressing one's unfavorable views of an organization. A person less well trained in economics might naively suggest that the direct way of expressing views is to express them! Secondly, the decision to voice one’s views and efforts to make them prevail are contemptuously referred to by Friedman as a resort to ‘cumbrous political channels.’ But what else is the political, and indeed the democratic, process than the digging, the use, and hopefully the slow improvement of these very channels?"
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To access the complete 57 kB post please click on http://bit.ly/1hcMHkF.


Richard Hake, Emeritus Professor of Physics, Indiana University; Honorary Member, Curmudgeon Lodge of Deventer, The Netherlands; President, PEdants for Definitive Academic References which Recognize the Invention of the Internet (PEDARRII); LINKS TO: Academia http://bit.ly/a8ixxm; Articles http://bit.ly/a6M5y0; Blog http://bit.ly/9yGsXh; Facebook http://on.fb.me/XI7EKm; GooglePlus http://bit.ly/KwZ6mE; Google Scholar http://bit.ly/Wz2FP3; Linked In http://linkd.in/14uycpW; Research Gate http://bit.ly/1fJiSwB; Socratic Dialogue Inducing (SDI) Labs http://bit.ly/9nGd3M; Twitter http://bit.ly/juvd52.

REFERENCES [URL shortened by http://bit.ly/ and accessed on 31 March 2014.]
Hake, R.R. 2014. “Re: Charter Schools: A Marketplace for Profits or Ideas?” online on the OPEN! AERA-L archives at http://bit.ly/1hcMHkF. The abstract and link to the complete post are being transmitted to several discussion lists.

Open Access to Chapter 10 of Glass's "The Fate of Public Education in America" #2

Some blog followers might be interested in a post of the above title [Hake (2010)]. The abstract reads:

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ABSTRACT: Chapter 10 "The Fate of Public Education in America" of Gene Glass's http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gene_V._Glass book Fertilizers, Pills & Magnetic Strips: The Fate of Public Education in America [Glass (2008)] is available free online at http://infoagepub.com/glass-chapter-10, thanks to its publisher, Information Age Publishing (IAP).

Among the testimonials at the IAP site http://tinyurl.com/23n2dg9 is one by G.E. Hein, emeritus, Lesley University, who wrote: "Glass argues, following Diamond's 'Guns, Germs, and Steel', that 'significant inventions in the 20th century ... fertilizers (agricultural technologies, pills (medical technologies), and magnetic strips (nonmoney based credit systems)', have influenced educational policy to the extent that 'no longer is the assumption made ... that our nation must have a universal system of free public education.' 'Older, White Americans entering their retirement years with diminished assets' will increasingly 'be asked to support schools that will be serving a younger, browner clientele,' he states.

In his longest chapter, Glass documents how current reform efforts (i.e., vouchers, charter schools, and tuition tax credits) systematically discriminate against minorities, while US schools are more segregated than before Brown v. Board of Education. He also challenges the view that schools are 'failing,' and summarizes critiques of high-stakes, standardized testing. Glass's historical perspective and his review of evidence supporting his position are impressive. He rejects simple solutions to public education's endemic problems, but hopes that in the long run Americans' love of justice will prevail over the selfish interests of the graying, currently dominant majority."

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To access the complete 10 kB post please click on http://tinyurl.com/35qvc2l .

I should point out that there are a few missing words in the free download at http://infoagepub.com/glass-chapter-10. About one-quarter of the way down there is a paragraph that begins:

"Assertions about the state of education in America are pre- . . . . . [[MISSING WORDS]]. . . . Several things could deflect or reverse these trends: . . . . ."

Gene Glass tells me that the paragraph should begin:

"Assertions about the state of education in America are predictions or else they are historical facts of no significance whatsoever. No long-term predictions are being made here. Several things could deflect or reverse these trends: . . . . ."

Richard Hake, Emeritus Professor of Physics, Indiana University

Honorary Member, Curmudgeon Lodge of Deventer, The Netherlands

President, PEdants for Definitive Academic References which Recognize the Invention of the Internet (PEDARRII)

rrhake@earthlink.net

http://www.physics.indiana.edu/~hake

http://www.physics.indiana.edu/~sdi

http://HakesEdStuff.blogspot.com

http://iub.academia.edu/RichardHake

“Sometimes even the noble Homer nods”

Horace (65-8 B.C.) Ars Poetica I.359)

REFERENCES [Tiny URL's courtesy http://tinyurl.com/create.php .]

Glass, G. 2008. Fertilizers, Pills & Magnetic Strips: The Fate of Public Education in America. Information Age Publishing; publisher's information at http://tinyurl.com/23n2dg9 . Amazon.com information at http://tinyurl.com/2cbq4sh .

Hake, R.R. 2010. "Open Access to Chapter 10 of Glass's 'The Fate of Public Education in America' #2" online on the OPEN AERA-L archives at http://tinyurl.com/35qvc2l . Post of 11 Jun 2010 15:05:01-0700 to AERA-L and Net-Gold. The abstract and URL are being transmitted to various discussion lists.