BAD bipartisanship: Obama ed sec to speak at Jeb Bush public ed privatization conference

[Igel]

13. It's a mistake to say that because you and I don't like it, it's not something other Democrats do.

The entire high-stakes testing push and common core has been bipartisan.

It's a way of making sure that reluctant districts teach everybody equally. It's there to monitor teachers and others and make sure that the regulations are enforced and goals are met. This impulse to control isn't just (R). It's also (D).

Notice that part of the objection to charters on the part of progressives is the lack of accountability--which means lack of supervision and control by superiors. Laws and regs made for public schools don't necessarily apply, and many of those laws and regulations were made by (D).

A lot of the push for testing comes from parents. They want to make sure their kids are learning what they need to know. If (R) want creationism (rather a broad brush for a narrow slice of the group), then (D) want to make sure STEM requiremetns are well implemented.

Don't forget that Ted Kennedy, hardly a corporatist by most measures, was behind the a recent bout of the high-stakes testing binge-fest.

The assumption is that the schools can make up for everything society--and by "society," I mean families--flubs. Poverty? Schools can ameloriate it. Poor socialization? Schools. Ignorance? Schools. Lack of representation by minorities in STEM careers? Schools. Inequality, imbalances in society, bullying, intolerance ... Schools. Seven woes, one answer.