The article takes a look at the opposition to the national standards that is coming from both the right and left that threatens to derail the standards movement.
In the piece we get the following statement from a prominent education reformer:
“The danger here is that you have two kinds of problems going on,” said Kati Haycock, president of the Education Trust, a nonprofit group that works to close achievement gaps. “One is a Tea Party problem, which doesn’t have deep roots but does have lots of political muscle behind it, and then you’ve got a bit of antitest rebellion coming from the left. The question is what’s going to happen if they both get together. That’s the more terrifying prospect.”
I have long said the way to kill the Common Core was to join with Tea Party and libertarian right Common Core opponents in a united battle against the nationalized standards and assessment movement.
The model I like to use for this is the work Dennis Kucinich did with Ron Paul to get people in Congress on both the right and the left to audit the Federal Reserve.
Kucinich didn't agree with Ron Paul on lots of policy issues, but he certainly did on the importance of auditing the Fed, and it was by right and left joining together in this fight that the House finally passed a bill requiring more transparency at the Federal Reserve.
I believe Common Core opponents from both the right and the left can join together as well to put a stake through the heart of the Common Core movement.
Common Core proponents like the Democrats For Education Reform are aware of the dangers of a united front of righties and lefties fighting the Common Core reform movement and have deployed a "divide and conquer" strategy to play up differences between the right and left on other issues in order to sidetrack the united battle against the Common Core.
There are some on the left who say they won't join with anybody on the right to work against Common Core, playing right into the DFER/Obama divide and conquer strategy.
Kati Haycock's statement that a united group of Tea Partiers and anti-testing lefties is a "terrifying prospect" to the Common Core proponents ought to give pause to those on the left who are saying they won't join with anybody on the right to fight in common cause against the Common Core.
Common Core proponents know the only way they can keep the Common Core imposition going is to isolate opponents on the left from opponents on the right.
Then they can have two small fights on their hands rather than one large firefight.
I think lefties who vow to fight the Common Core on their own and refuse to join with those on the right in common cause against the Common Core play into the hands of the corporatists and deformers who want the Common Core as the national standards.
Quite frankly, the old right and left doesn't exist the way it used to anymore anyway, with fault lines showing in both parties.
On the Dem side, you have the corporatists, Wall Street Dems and ed deformers in the party establishment and many in the rank and file who are opposed to many of the policies of those in the party establishment.
On the GOP side, you have the corporatists, Wall Street Repubs and ed deformers in the party establishment and you have some in the rank and file who are opposed to many of the policies of those in the party establishment.
The old blue/red dichotomy on policy and politics does not hold the way it used to and we would be foolish to continue to follow it.
On so many issues, from the surveillance state to food policy to agriculture policy to Common Core to overseas empire, I have more in common with many libertarians than I do with establishment Democrats like Barack Obama, Chuck Schumer, George Miller (ranking Dem in the House on education) and Tom Harkin (chair of the Senate education committee.)
Why should I refuse to join with libertarians in the fight against Common Core (or the surveillance state or overseas empire or food policy or agriculture policy) and join with the Democratic establishment to fight against my own interests?
Common Core proponents are "terrified" that right and left will join together to fight the Common Core.
Let's give them something to really be terrified about by joining together to put a stake through the heart of this national curriculum.
Good. The real divide is between the parasites in the elite class (the billionaires and Wall Street gang) and everybody else. The elites have declared war on this country and all of its institutions, and we have to fight back or it will be ALL gone.
ReplyDelete"Left/right" is just garbage, as you point out.
That's right - and the elites use these divisions to maintain their power and privilege. They've done this with race, religion, social issues, and now education.
DeleteWow - just "kill the teachers."
ReplyDeleteNot much to say in response.
Scary stuff.
But anger is in the zeitgeist these days.
Thanks for sending the link.
It's good to know what we're up against.