Schools Matter: Corporate Education Reform: the "civil rights issue" up until it actually addresses civil rights issues like segregation

First published on Schools Matter on June 26, 2014

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"Children have a right and a need to have quality schools in their neighborhood." — Francis Howell School District

White school district sends black kids back to failed schools

The one upside to the article is that it clearly puts to lie the corporate reformers' assertion that equitable funding isn't the issue. The resegregation—and in many cases, the continuation of segregation—of schools was the first step in creating these inequities that the neoliberal corporate education reformers would later exploit through austerity and privatization programs. This is why monsters like Ben Austin can say he wants all schools to be like Warner Elementary School, knowing that his school is "safely" ensconced in Holmby Hills. Ask any corporate reformer if they are for desegregation and busing. Watch how all their rhetoric about the "civil rights issue of our time" changes immediately when they are faced with a solution that would actually begin to address issues of race and class.

At the end of the day these students are sent back to their segregated schools, ripe for take over by corporate entities like KIPP and Green Dot. We'll cover up the systemic racism and class exploitation by drill-and-kill Common Core test preparation, and throw in some "grit training" for good measure.

h/t Sandy Stenoff