Paul Thomas, an associate professor of education at Furman University in Greenville, South Carolina, writes in the Guardian newspaper's Comment Is Free section of a corporate takeover of U.S. schools that reflects ?a trust in CEO-style leadership for education management and reform.? Thomas continues: ?Along with these new leaders in education, billionaire entrepreneurs have also assumed roles as education saviours: Bill and Melinda Gates, and Geoffrey Canada.? Geoffrey Canada is a billionaire? No matter. Keep moving:
Gates, Canada, [Arne] Duncan, [Joel] Klein and [Michelle] Rhee have capitalised on their positions in education to rise to the status of celebrities, as well?praised in the misleading documentary feature Waiting for ?Superman,? on Oprah, and even on Bill Maher's Real Time.
What do all these professional managers and entrepreneurs have in common?
Little or no experience or expertise in education. (Instead, they have degrees in government and law, along with nontraditional entries into education and strong ties to alternative certification, such as Teach for America). Further, they all represent and promote a cultural faith in the power of leadership above the importance of experience or expertise.
Now bring it in for the big finale:
The real failure, which is the message being ignored here, is that one of the wealthiest countries in the world refuses to face the inequities of its economic system, a system that permits more than 20% of its children to live in poverty and to languish in schools that America has clearly decided to abandon, along with its democratic principles.
Wow. A few?questions: Why is Paul Thomas a professor? Actually, why?is he?teaching anything to anybody? And why is stuff like this published on the Guardian's website?
?Liam Julian, Bernard Lee Schwartz Policy Fellow