National

or Neoliberalism, Portland Public Schools, and the Commodification of Human Life

(I've posted the uncensored version of this essay on my blog.)

It's been nearly four months since I wrote Part 1 of this essay, so I figured it's time to let Part 2 out of my brain.

In Part 1 I focussed on Oregon's revenue crisis, the result of a libertarian assault on the state's ability to raise revenue in the '90s. When discussing the state of education in Portland, one cannot overemphasize the dire effect revenue loss has had on our schools. Portland went from 15th in the nation in spending per pupil in the early '90s to 31st in '04-'05. We now have the fourth-worst student-teacher ratio in the nation.
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March 31, 2007
Group judging reading program set it up
Houston Chronicle

By NANCY ZUCKERBROD AP Education Writer
© 2007 The Associated Press

WASHINGTON — A billion-dollar-a-year federal reading program that ran into scathing criticism over conflicts of interest now has a new one: The government contractor that set up the program for the Education Department is also part of the team hired to evaluate it.

Reading First — part of President Bush's signature No Child Left Behind education law — has been under scrutiny following a string of federal reports that found it rife with conflicts of interest and mismanagement. The program provides intense reading help to low-income children in the early elementary grades.
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Hi, I've just posted this on on my blog, and thought I might share it here. My apologies in advance if this is not appropriate for posting here.

Portland was once admired among cities for the fact that the middle classes had not yet given up on its public schools. But after a series of ballot measures in the '90s requiring severe property tax limitations, a major economic downturn, and a complete lack of leadership from two Democratic governors (not to mention a Republican state house with a strong libertarian bias against public anything), Portland's public schools seem to be throwing in the towel.

Today, in part one, I focus on the funding crisis.
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From Christina, Delaware:

Now that the Broad Foundation trained Superintendent has quit, leaving the district $37 million in debt, a Broad trained school board member, John Mackenzie is proposing charterizing the entire district.
http://www.udel.edu/johnmack/csd/charter_strategy.htm

The next link is an article by Paul T. Hill about Charter School Districts:
http://www.ppionline.org/ppi_ci.cfm?knlgAreaID=110&subsecID=134&contentI...

This speech was written by a woman in Christina School District in Delaware. Her district is in a huge financial crisis with losses of $12 million this year and predictions of $20 million deficit next year. Because of time constraints, Kari was unable to read the whole thing. Joey Wise is their former Broad- trained superintendent. The similiarities to our district are mind-boggling.
Anne

My name is Kari G. I have two children who currently attend school in the district. For the past several years, I have come before the board to address my concerns with the direction in which this district was heading.
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Small schools changing shape of nation's largest school system
Posted 5/13/2006

zPhoto
Kimberly Delgado, 14, left, Marlin Molina, 15, and Evelina Mendez, 16, right, react with cheers and applause as they win the concentration game in history class at the Academy For Career and Sports High School, Bronx, New York.

By Nahal Toosi, The Associated Press
NEW YORK — Five years ago, Sharis Wingfield couldn't have imagined attending a high school that emphasizes sports vocations and teaches kids math using batting averages. She also couldn't have envisioned a scenario where her high school would be smaller than her junior high.
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Note: WASL is a Washington Assessment for Student Learning test.

Press Release- For Immediate Release

Mothers Against WASL to Sponsor Race Car in Rose Cup

Contacts: Lisa Sampson, Executive Board Member, Vancouver, 360/608-4896

Juanita Doyon, PEN Director, Spanaway, 253-973-1593

In their quest to diversify word-spreading strategy, Parent Empowerment Network/Mothers Against WASL will raise WASL awareness by sponsoring race car driver Steve Sampson in this weekend's Rose Cup at Portland International Raceway.

Steve, who has taken first place in his past two races, will be driving his '94 Camaro Z 28, freshly adorned with the traditional red slashed WASL symbol of Washington State's most outspoken high-stakes test resistance group, Mothers Against WASL.
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