“The Common Core: Educational Redeemer or Rainmaker?” (Teachers College Record (TCR), 2012) argues that common core advocates profit from its implementation. We should not be surprised. Just like other American institutions, public education is now driven by the buying and selling of goods and services. Some say this is good because capitalistic principles and practices are positive social forces.

But we need to ask how the ideal of equal educational opportunity (EEO) mixes with capitalism. Ten years ago, while teaching a graduate course at a for-profit, family-owned school in Nicaragua, I discovered they are oil and water. Continue reading →

The Time magazine headline read, The Case Against Summer Vacation (August 2, 2010).  Without reading the article, I already know:

1. The findings and ideas argued in this story are not those of the hospitality/tourism industry.

2. Lobbyists from this industry will soon challenge the validity of the studies cited in the article.

3. If “change summer vacation” still gets legs, the hospitality industry will commission new studies, which will find that summer vacations have advantages that outweigh their disadvantages.

4. If “change summer vacation” still has legs, a public relations campaign will remind us of the joys of summer vacations.

Looking closer the sub-headline is: We romanticize it (summer vacation). But all that downtime is making our kids fall behind — especially those who can least afford to.

Apparently the article discusses the effects of summer vacation on our lowest achieving students.

Continue reading →