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What are some examples of neoliberalism in education
Neoliberalism in education essay
Comparing how politics influenced education in the past and the present
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Our discussion about chapter three had a tone of enlightenment and deep frustration and took us back to the first day of class where we were challenged to differentiate between politics, policy, and law as it relates to education. I will admit that this question stumped me. Through discussion on that first day we arrived at an explanation that compares the trio to the human psyche. Educational policy is casted as the “ego”, the rational aspects of education. Politics is the more primal and self-driven “id” and, in turn, politics has a direct and strong impact on policy. Law is casted as the idealistic “superego”. In the past, politics balanced interests and the way decisions were made. However, whose interests are being served when schools close down and reopen as charters?
As we read through chapter three we became more familiar with the “id” called politics. The neoliberal agenda pushes to bring education, along with other public sectors, in line with the promotion of self-interest and unrestricted capital accumulation (Lipman, 2011, p. 14). After navigating the chapter, I agree with Lipman (2011) in that dismantling public schools furthers the neoliberal agenda without consideration on the detrimental effects doing so has on the community and students served in that given area.
Setting the Stage
No Child Left Behind’s (2001) ranking schools process laid the groundwork for the national privatization agenda (Lipman, 2011, p. 52). Public schools are being phased-out and charters are springing up, even here in Miami-Dade County. I work at a middle school that is in the final year of being phased-out, next year it will be completely closed. Two years ago, when plans to phase out our school were announced, we were told that the...
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... overwhelmingly evident that dismantling public schools and displacing african american and latino/a communities is detrimental, then why do schools continue to be targeted for closure? School closings and overall privatization of public schools is part of the overall neoliberal policy for urban economic development and the gentrification of low-income communities of color. The city is being restructured for unrestricted capital accumulation while pushing out low-income communities of color. Closing schools is a way to push out the people who live in the community to be gentrified. Numerous closed public schools are refurbished as publicly funded yet privately run and profitable charter schools (Lipman 2011).
Works Cited
Lipman, Pauline. The New Political Economy of Urban Education: Neoliberalism, Race, and the Right to the City. New York: Routledge, 2011. Print.
To begin, Mary Sherry discusses the corrupt school system that lingers. In her article, we obtain insight on how schools
One of the most pressing issues facing the United States today is its failing educational system. While many solutions have been proposed, the idea of charter schools has been both popular and controversial. The topic of charter schools is being debated in as many places as local school board meetings to state supreme courts. Though on the surface, charter schools seem like an exciting and promising step for the future of education in America, they are not the answer to this country’s ever-increasing educational problems. Charters will drain already scarce funding from regular public schools, and many of the supposed “positives” surrounding them are uncertain and unpredictable at best.
The implementation of the No Child Left Behind Act applied a market approach to school reform as a way of improving the school system. This new law promised an era of high standards, testing, and accountability in
In the early 1960s, the Civil Rights Movement brought many accusations and complaints towards the Chicago Board of Education. Due to this pressure, the Board allowed three major studies of the Chicago public schools which clearly denoted the segregation problems of the school system, over a decade after the Supreme Court’s decision of the famous Brown v Board of Education case. The Hauser Report and the Havighurst Report, both published in 1964, described the “gross racial imbalance” in Chicago public schools, where “Negro schools” tended to be more overcrowded and experience more drop-outs and lower average scores than predominantly white schools (Coons 85). In 1967 the recently appointed Superintendent of the Chicago schools, James Redmond, created a committee that published the other major report on the public schools of Chicago in 1967, entitled Increasing Desegregation of Faculties, Students, and Vocational Education Programs. This report focused on the teaching climate of Chicago schools, the boundaries of schools districts, vocational education programs, and public understanding of current issues, “aimed at reversing a pervasive social condition that has become deeply rooted in our society” (Chicago Board 2).
In his argument, “Kenneth Cole Gets Schooled,” David Sirota’s thesis is that Kenneth Cole’s crusade against public schools, teachers, and unions is wrongheaded and ideologically extreme. Supposedly, Cole’s campaign portrays the debate of “Teacher’s Rights vs. Students’ Rights.” However, there are many flaws in the campaign. Sirota states, “[The campaign] is the mirror opposite of how things actually work. Without extending teachers’ rights … it would be difficult … for public schools to recruit the best teacher to the specific at-risk schools that need them the most,” (para. 11.).
The 1960’s were an era in the United States where new ideas were developing, and most specifically ideas pertaining to the civil rights movement and its expansion. Protests, parades, and riots were occurring in an attempt to spread freedom for all people, and as some of these events became relevant in the news, the tensions of the country rose. Violence was occurring in many parts of the countries due to the ideas of those who were not receiving the freedom that they believed were entitled to them. African-Americans found themselves lacking rights in a world where they were just the same as everyone else minus their skin color. One specific city that was affected by these ideas was Rochester, NY. Rochester is a city with rich history, and has been noted to be one of the first cities that “boomed” as it was created. However, the summer of 1964 presented a new problem. A hot summer and racial tensions began a three day riot in which the city was changed. The riots had a lot of effects on the city, by affecting the businesses, the people surrounding, and the views people had on one another. One area that was specifically affected negatively was the area schools in the city. They were already bad to begin with, with less than average grades, bad dropout rates, and lower budgets than non-city schools. They were constantly set at a lower standard, and the riots certainly did not help that issue. The riots caused an un-noted split between the city and outside of the city due to the negative opinions that came from the riots occurring. Due to the race riots that occurred in Rochester in the summer of ’64, there has become an even more considerable split in education between inner and out-of-city schools, causing the downgrade and ster...
In the essay Idiot nation, Mr. Moore uses humor anecdotes and some solid numbers as to how governments spending is not adequate for schools in these modern times, he contrasts that amount to the billions spent on the military, jails, and other programs that would better be spent as the schools. And how schools are being incentivized by corporations such as soft drink manufacturers putting the donations and sponsorship above the health of the students. Mr. Guggenheim has us follow several students in their quest to leave the tainted teacher’s union schools for the private or charter schools that are unencumbered by teachers with tenure, and with the ability to pay more to the better teaches for the above par performance, and that have a vested interest in the students succeeding and going on to
Labaree discusses how the United State’s education is in a school syndrome, as people in America want schools to teach society’s ideals as well as let people express their individuality. These two demands are polar opposites that cannot be achieved. As the focus goes towards balancing these in hopes of improving society as a whole, the bettering of actual student learning is put on pause. Labaree talks about the beginning of education reform, in the 19th century, being the most successful in developing society; however, as education reform continued throughout time, its effectiveness wore off. He then addresses how the desire for education reform is more about improving society than it is about learning. He finishes his argument by providing possible solutions to fixing this problem, but states that fixing this problem will never happen because no one is willing to give up both demands. Overall, Labaree goes in wonderful detail explaining the problems of education reform. What made me choose this article was that he addressed the desire that people have on school systems in promoting both society normality and individuality. This correlates well with my topic in whether public school systems promote conformist ideals or individuality.
Raymond, Margaret E. (2014, February 1). To no avail: A critical look at the charter school debate. Phi Delta Kappan, Vol.95 (5) pp.8-12. http://web.b.ebscohost.com/ehost/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?sid=6aa05956-5bfe-43eb-9eec-b90be0fefa60%40sessionmgr113&vid=9&hid=125
Laurence, L (1967). Politics in Education. New York, NY: The Center for Applied Research in
Here I sit, in this chronically divided school board meeting, listening to the heated debate about the busing in our troubled school district—particularly in regards to Rio Bueno High School (RBHS). Busing may seem like not such a big issue when you first hear its topic; however, it is much like a melting ice burg exposing its web of issues as its perpetual underbelly reaches the surface. As a guidance counselor here at RBHS, I can tell you that, this busing, desegregation bussing to be more specific, has been a way of integrating other races into school since the Supreme Court Decision in Brown v. Board of Education 40 years ago. Since the 1980’s, segregation levels have increased such that urban schools are now more racially imbalanced than they were prior to the Supreme Court’s 1971 Swann v. Charlotte-Meckelburg Board of Education decision, which legitimated the use of bussing to integrate city school districts with significant residential segregation. Moreover, the gap between Black and White achievement levels, which narrowed from the early 1970s until the late 1980s, has increased during the early 1990s (Douglas, 1996) So, with this evidence, it may seem that even with the implementation of the desegregation busing system, the achievement gap is still growing between races, particularly between Black and Whites and the financial situation and the performance of the schools in this district as a whole are declining.
The gap between the nation’s best and worst public schools continues to grow. Our country is based on freedom and equality for all, yet in practice and in the spectrum of education this is rarely the case. We do not even have to step further than our own city and its public school system, which many media outlets have labeled “dysfunctional” and “in shambles.” At the same time, Montgomery County, located just northwest of the District in suburban Maryland, stands as one of the top school systems in the country. Within each of these systems, there are schools that excel and there are schools that consistently measure below average. Money alone can not erase this gap. While increased spending may help, the real problem is often rooted in the complex issues of social, cultural, and economic differences. When combined with factors involving the school itself and the institution that supports it, we arrive at what has been widely known as the divide between the suburban and urban schools. Can anything actually be done to reverse this apparent trend of inequality or are the outside factors too powerful to change?
As noted by the graph our standings in education is below average, especially with African Americans and Hispanic children compared to other states. If this is the outcome in elementary school what should we expect by grade 8. With all of the various reforms enacted throughout the 30 years the curriculum in public schools did not improve nor did our standing compared to the rest of the world. Even though in each presidency monitoring tool was developed to ascertain the level of learning based on the test. In states where students passing their test equated to more funding of the school as well as the school remains open, jobs for the educators. So oppose to teaching students the information needed educators taught to the test. This is due to politicians not addressing the core issues that prevent children in low social economic status of of color due to cultural biases. Then there is the political climate of education including ignorance towards the benefit of vocational schools and real world learning.
America’s school system and student population remains segregated, by race and class. The inequalities that exist in schools today result from more than just poorly managed schools; they reflect the racial and socioeconomic inequities of society as a whole. Most of the problems with schools boil down to either racism in and outside the school system or financial disparity between wealthy and poor school districts. Because schools receive funding through local property taxes, low-income communities start at an economic disadvantage. Less funding means fewer resources, lower quality instruction and curricula, and little to no community involvement.
Reform movements in education today, specifically privatization of public schools, does not allow the stake holders have a voice. When it comes to education the major stake holders are the students, parents, and also the teachers. With the privatization of public schools their voice is not heard because other people are throwing money at ways to fix a problem that does not involve them. The documentary The Inconvenient Truth About Waiting for Superman bring light to the facts and what happens with the privatization of schools. Public schools in New York City are forced by the Department of Education (DOE) to share building with charter schools that are said to fix problems that education, but this just takes space and supports from the public