Reformers Shifting Education: By Bobbie Patray

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Good Morning,
You will want to read this article very carefully and check out the links. 

You know, sometimes it helps to be old and have ‘been around’ for awhile.

A few years back we had the big “School to Work” effort that many conservatives opposed and, and over time, that faded away, at least publicly. Well, now here we are with the brand new ‘NEWDEAL for Education’ being pushed by the same folks that brought us Common Core, etc.

  The NewDeal for Education: Familiar Common Core and Data Driven Reformers Shifting Education to a Workforce Pipeline. Cheri Kiesecker November 22, 2019

Before the roll-out of Common Core, 10 organizations got together in 2005 and created a “nonprofit” whose mission was about collecting and  standardizing children’s data. That organization, The Data Quality Campaign, was and is funded by Bill Gates. One of the Data Quality Campaign’s founding partners was the Alliance for Excellent Education, All4Ed.

All4Ed today announced their partnership in the NewDeal for Education with a network of partners including HP, Gates, Markle, Jobs for the Future, Aspen Institute, Joyce Foundation, Third Way,  Center for American Progress, and “180 carefully-selected state and local officials below the level of Governor, from 47 states”.  What’s this NewDeal about?  Well, read it for yourself, but we see:  School-to-Work pipeline, Workforce pathways, Workforce databadges,  Social Impact Investment and shifting education from children learning knowledge to children being trained to fill the economic needs of a global workforce.  It echoes Betsy DeVos and the Swiss workforce model that she signed us up for.  You should ask your state and local officials what the NewDeal means for your school.

Here’s an excerpt from the November 22, 2019 NewDeal for Education announcement.

All4Ed announces Partnership in NewDeal for Education

“On Thursday, the NewDEAL Forum and All4Ed launched a joint effort to develop and implement a state and local policy agenda to prepare students for college and careers. The NewDEAL Forum Education Policy Group will leverage the expertise of public and non-profit leaders to identify effective solutions to graduate more students on-track for success in the workplace. The NewDEAL is a network of 181 pro-growth, progressive state and local officeholders below the level of the Governor in 47 states. The NewDEAL Forum supports these rising leaders by helping to identify and spread policies that foster economic growth and reduce barriers to opportunity…” https://all4ed.org/federal-flash-a-newdeal-for-education-an-update-on-the-civil-rights-data-collection/

You can see their Press Release here.

The group will be co-chaired by West Sacramento Mayor Christopher Cabaldon and Georgia State Senator Elena Parent, who are members of the NewDEAL network of 180 carefully-selected state and local officials below the level of Governor, from 47 states, who are chosen for their innovative and forward-thinking approaches to governing. (The NewDEAL Forum is the NewDEAL’s sister organization.) They will announce the initiative in Washington, DC at this week’s annual NewDEAL Leaders Conference, which focuses on solutions for the future of work, climate change, education, housing, and more…”

“Support for the group will be provided by the Alliance for Excellent Education, a national non-profit policy and advocacy organization based in Washington, DC whose mission is to ensure that every young person graduates from high school prepared for success in careers and in life. Funding from the Joyce Foundation and the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation will support the group’s work.”

The group will build on recommendations produced by the NewDEAL Forum Future of Work Policy Group, whose co-chairs are U.S. Senator Mark Warner, Virginia and Former Governor Jack Markell, Delaware. This NewDeal Forum cites the following:

[NewDeal Forum Future of Work Group] “we are grateful for the support of numerous partners that have offered their expertise and provided critical input on the policy recommendations, including: the Aspen Institute Future of Work InitiativeThird Way, the Center for American Progress, (CAP 990),  Jobs for the Future, (JFF 990), the Markle Foundation (Markle 990), and the Institute for Justice (IJ 990).”  [Emphasis and links and 990s added.]

Parents, what does k-12 education mean to you?

Does education mean teaching knowledge and learning how to read,  learning math, taking art and music classes, learning and studying history and science, and literature?  Being a kid?  Or does k-12 education mean starting a career path in middle school (or younger) and training for the necessary skills to enter into the workforce pipeline?  Or do you agree that education is not the same as training?

At what age should kids decide their career? 12 years old? Maybe 15?  kindergarten? Certainly, you had it all figured out when you were a teenager, right? And once you decided on your dream job in middle school or high school (What was it-do you remember?) certainly you never changed your mind, right?





Well, well, at 12 or 15 Sally can’t even always decide what she wants to wear to school the next day, much less what job she wants when she is an adult. And Tony is more interested in the baseball game he has the next weekend.

After Common Core and its dramatic failure, it makes me very nervous to have Bill Gate’s name attached to ANY education effort, especially here in Tennessee: 
Bill Gates eyes the work ahead for Tennessee in education during visit to Nashville .


Just one more example of how important it is for parents to know EXACTLY what is going on in the school your student attends and what they are being asked to do.

Blessings
Bobbie Patray