I received this over the weekend from a variety of sources and wanted to pass it on…
Les Rosan: The dismantling of traditional public education
“Education is a weapon, whose effect depends on who holds it in his hands and at whom it is aimed” – Joseph Stalin
It seems that locally controlled public education is fast becoming a relic as charter and cyber schools drain the very lifeblood from traditional public education. This attack continues unabated and it may be generations before the negative impact on our society is fully understood. In Michigan the focus of the rage appears directed most pointedly at any education association and the professional staff they represent. One only need examine the glut of recent legislation to surmise that the primary objective is not to improve education but is instead designed to inflict as much damage as possible on association membership. If the present course continues, traditional public education may cease to exist and an increasing number people who may have made fantastic educators might never choose to enter the field at all. Who could blame them?
Charter and cyber schools seem to be in vogue in Lansing as the Governor’s minions approve legislation that continues to despoil traditional public schools. Each dollar provided to a charter or cyber school is a dollar taken forever from traditional public education. The unfortunate students who have no choice but to remain in any traditional public school system are being educationally starved but that seems of little concern to many Michigan legislators. The following are just a few of the thousands of headlines chronicling the dismantling of our public school system as it continues at an alarming rate.
Gov. Snyder lifts cap on charter schools: James Dickson writing for the News Herald reported “that by the start of the 2015 school year there will be no numerical cap on charter schools and charter school expansion can go on unchecked.”
