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Blinding Paradigms: Neoliberal Education Reformers Own No Mirrors

Crook. Liar. Shady. These are a few modifiers used to describe Chris Cerf, State-Appointed Superintendent of Newark Public Schools. Why so mean? He just took over the helm. Give the man a chance, right? Wrong. Cerf’s educational track record is clear: privatize as much as possible and profit off of this privatization as much as possible.

In the last month, I have had the absolute pleasure of listening to the shallow speeches of Superintendent Cerf on four different occasions. His answers to direct, critical questions about the operation of the school district are normally prefaced by, “To the best of my knowledge” and “Based on my understanding.” Unlike the previous superintendent, Cerf enjoys a verbal spar. Lapsing on one’s Bar dues certainly doesn’t make one any less of a lawyer. His attempts at personability–introducing himself to audience members as “Chris” and touting his stint as a history teacher–are superficial at best. By the time I heard him for the fourth time, I felt like I was in the Twilight Zone, complete with corny plot and overacting. If there’s one thing he should receive credit for though, it’s knowing his line.

Mark Weber bka Jersey Jazzman wrote an excellent piece tracing Cerf’s entrance into the education sphere and subsequent tenure as NJ Commissioner of Education, so no need to regurgitate that here. Rather, let’s talk about how Cerf, and other neoliberal education reformers, are able to wake up every morning, look in the mirror (though personally, I don’t think any of these folks own mirrors), and chant, “I’m doing what’s right. I’m a good person, and I’m doing what’s right.”

What they are operating under is something called a blinding paradigm–when we hold certain ideas and assumptions to be true and then use these ideas and assumptions to explain through logic why a certain political program should be carried out. Akin to ideology, we all could identify the values, premises, and beliefs that underpin the explanations and decisions we make for our own lives if we took the time to stop and think about it. I invite you to be conscious of this if you’re not already.

So now that I’ve fulfilled my selfish need to teach, let’s examine some of the assumptions neoliberal education reformers hold true so that they can continue to dismantle the democratic public school system in Newark, the state, and around the country, never losing a wink of a good night’s rest on the Shifman pillowtops purchased with their consultant fees.

Assumption #1: Choice is equal to democracy. Democracy has been devalued to a vote, a choice. Any form of disagreement is “uncivil” and should not occur. There is no need to deliberate or build consensus; neoliberal education reformers know best.

But how effective is it for the minority to make choices for the majority? And why doesn’t the minority care if the majority is part of the decision-making or not? Whereas individual choice works swell for cell phones, within the realm of public policy it can have devastating effects when resources get misallocated to unproven programs put in place for the sake of giving people a choice, i.e., marketizing the system.

Choice is also limited. Working off charter school advocates’ assumption that waiting lists exist because parents do not want their children in the public school district, there will always be families that “lose” because there are not enough charter seats to meet the “demand.” Additionally, such a parochial view of democracy invites corruption. Rather than building an inclusive process, the system is crafted as one of winners and losers, and the winner is whoever has accumulated the most power–be it financial, political, or otherwise and by hook or by crook.

Assumption #2: The past doesn’t matter. The preference is to turn the page and look to the future. What matters is the here and now. Nothing can be learned from what happened before. Any time taken for historical analysis will impede progress.

If you don’t know where you have been, you won’t know where you are going. And you’re bound to repeat your mistakes. This aphorism holds no weight with neoliberal education reformers. But it does with many people of color who make up the predominant portion of families residing in public school districts being dismantled by neoliberal education reform. The values of the local community must be privileged above the values of those who come from outside of the community, particularly when said outsiders have no intention of adapting and believe there is nothing to learn from the community.

We cannot effectively transform our schools without transforming the social and economic conditions of this city. That being said, it is no coincidence that the reputation of Newark Public Schools began to go down hill after the Rebellion, after white flight, after deindustrialization of the city. The city has yet to bounce back economically to its heyday of factories manufacturing a plethora of goods that got shipped out to all parts of the country and the world. Socioeconomic transformation means jobs at a living wage, including job training programs and apprenticeships for the new industries coming in. It means mental health services, drug abuse and prevention programs, and affordable housing. It means more green space and litter-free environments. It means a vibrant arts and cultural scene.

Assumption #3: Providing a parallel, competitive public education system is in the best interests of children and their futures. Competition forces improvement and innovation. Private companies can provide services better than the government.

Public education is not a business and public schools should not go out of business. Full, deep investment fosters innovation. Access to equal opportunities and exposure to a diversity of industries and ideas do as well. With a strong foundation of critical thinking skills that allow them to read any situation, students will be prepared to actively participate in and contribute to a democratic society. Diverting funds to a parallel system only serves to weaken both systems.

Free public education is a public good and part of the social contract. Only through a strong will will we be able to include more human rights as guaranteed. When you imagine the purpose of government, let it be to protect the civil and human rights of the people and not to protect the interests of corporations and private property. We must shift the way we think of government. After all, the government is me and you.

Assumption #4: We are living in an age of austerity. We have to do more with less. Accept it. Success is solely a function of effort; the more effort you put in, the more likely you are to achieve it.

Two to three generations ago, prosperity rang across this country–albeit predominantly in white communities–but families were achieving the American dream. It is no coincidence that this occurred at the same time as high rates of unionized workers and high tax rates for corporations. In the ensuing decades, both of these rates plummeted.

We are now living in an age of manufactured budget crises. They serve the purpose of distracting us from other viable options to our economic woes–namely to have the rich pay their fair share in taxes. Fair being the significant word, meaning that the gap between wealthy and poor must be diminished dramatically. For what reason do CEOs need to be paid 300 times more than the workers completing the brunt of the work? Our economic decisions must hinge on values that champion the well-being of all, not on the continued accumulation of wealth and the propagation of consumption.

 *     *     *

The return to local control of Newark Public Schools will be meaningless without a paradigm shift. Under the current set of assumptions, the residents of Newark are being stripped of their rights as they continue to be left out of any democratic decision making process. Their participation is expected only after the fact when they are presented with a false set of choices.

Knowing the assumptions under which neoliberal education reformers operate helps us see the ending point before we arrive at it. We don’t have to let this experiment ride out, but to stop it will take the people standing up for and speaking out about the values that are important to them. Are you willing?

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Rally for NJ Working Families (Aug 20th)

By far my favorite picture from today’s rally outside of 2 Cedar Street, NAACP-Newark President Deborah Smith-Gregory leads the charge and keeps the momentum. It was a great image of union unity and I look forward to keeping the pressure on Newark Public Schools to provide all workers with a fair contract.

More than one union that serves NPS has gone years without a contract or pay increases. Cafeteria workers, electricians, custodians are among the workers whose income has remained stagnant while cost of living steadily increases. A great job has been done in painting us union members as selfish and overpaid, but this is not reality.

The people who attended today’s rally are Newark residents. They are mothers, fathers, aunts, uncles, grandparents. They are people with responsibilities–both at work and in their homes. If workers take care of their responsibilities at work, there should be nothing that hinders them from taking care of their homes. That’s only fair.

Below is the speech I wrote for the rally. I didn’t get to read it because we were running out of time, but I did recite Langston Hughes’s poem. Enjoy!

Get up! Get down!
Newark is a union town!

My name is Leah Owens and I’m a proud member of the Newark Teachers Union, and an even prouder member of the Newark Education Workers Caucus, also known as NEW Caucus. We are a group of teachers, school psychologists, guidance counselors, clerks and other staff who know that we can not have educational justice without social and, particularly, economic justice. We also know this fight is difficult. It made me think of the poem, “Mother to Son,” by Langston Hughes. The first part goes:

Well, son, I’ll tell you:
Life for me ain’t been no crystal stair.
It’s had tacks in it,
And splinters,
And boards torn up,
And places with no carpet on the floor—
Bare.

Raise your hand if you can relate. Raise your hand if life ain’t been no crystal stair.

What we’re doing right now is called class unity. We are acknowledging the commonality in our economic condition. We are all workers in this factory called Newark Public Schools. The boss, she don’t give a damn about you or me. It’s all about the bottom line–but we have to have our own bottom line.

Our bottom line is: stop closing schools!

Our bottom line is: stop union busting!

Our bottom line is: fair contracts!

Our bottom line is: no privatization of public goods!

The second half of that same poem provides hope. It goes:

But all the time
I’se been a-climbin’ on,
And reachin’ landin’s,
And turnin’ corners,
And sometimes goin’ in the dark
Where there ain’t been no light.
So boy, don’t you turn back.
Don’t you set down on the steps
’Cause you finds it’s kinder hard.
Don’t you fall now—
For I’se still goin’, honey,
I’se still climbin’,
And life for me ain’t been no crystal stair

We’ve turned some corners and reached a landing. We’re heading into the dark where there ain’t been no light, but we won’t turn back. We won’t set down and we won’t fall–not til we get to the top of that crystal stair.

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Power Concedes Nothing

Metaphors can leave strong images in the mind. The power of language. Here, through his choice of quote, Joe Del Grosso, President of the Newark Teachers Union, likens the relationship between the Vice Presidents who ran under him in the election in June 2013 and the Vice Presidents who ran on the NEW Vision slate to civil war:

In closing, I am reminded of something President Lincoln said when faced with a much more serious issue, but one that expresses my feelings. “In your hands, my dissatisfied fellow countrymen, and not in mine, is the momentous issue of civil war. The Government will not assail you. You can have no conflict without being yourself the aggressors. You have no oath registered in heaven to destroy the Government while I shall have the solemn oath to preserve, protect, and defend it”.

Let’s chop this up. Really, Del Grosso? So, God has ordained you now? He has bestowed upon you, YOU, of all people, “the solemn oath to preserve, protect, and defend” this Union? And its members? It must only be a select few, namely yourself. Because you weren’t protecting members with this contract that has the teacher constituency on two different salary guides. And you weren’t protecting members when you allowed the creation of the “Educator Without Placement” pool, all while new teachers and staff members continued to be hired into the district.

Yes! We are dissatisfied. And we’ll take being called the aggressors. Because we deserve more and we deserve better. But beyond deserving, we have the RIGHT to be included in our union.

You assailed us when you called us, “Losers,” complete with making a “L” with your fingers. You assailed us, me in particular, when I stood at the January Membership meeting to demand that we push back on the new teacher evaluation system that was being unfairly implemented throughout the district, only to be rudely interrupted. You even had the audacity to snidely ask, “What do you mean when will I get back to you? Do I work for you?” You damn straight you work for me!

And your latest assailment is attempting to cancel today’s Executive Board meeting all because you didn’t like the tone of accountability. At some point you’re going to have to get used to it. We’re not here to play games. You can no longer wield your power as you see fit. I wouldn’t liken this journey to civil war, but it damn sure is going to be a struggle.

Too many of us have stood in the face of adversity, time and time again, with the determination to overcome. I guess we are reminded by a different quote:

Power concedes nothing without demand. It never did and it never will. Find out just what any people will quietly submit to and you have found out the exact measure of injustice and wrong which will be imposed upon them, and these will continue till they are resisted with either words or blows, or both. The limits of tyrants are prescribed by the endurance of those whom they oppress.” –Frederick Douglass

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IDEA#347: Require School Employees to Live in the Districts They Serve

For at least economic and community building purposes, if the thought ever occurred to you to require teachers to live in the districts in which they teach, here’s the reason why that can’t happen:

18A:26-1.1. Residence requirements prohibited
    No board of education of any school district shall require any teaching staff member to reside within the school district within which he is employed.
 L.1967, c.271.

A debate will ensue, of course. But something to point out: This law was passed somewhere near the end of 1967, or at least after July. What happened in July 1967? The Newark Rebellion. Which part of its aftermath was a dramatic shift in the demographics of the public schools to majority Black. White families fled, and someone felt the need to make sure no teachers were stuck here either.

Laws and policies are created in response to a society’s values. What are our values? What’s important to us? How do our current laws and policies reflect these values?

Too bad no chapter law from 1967 is readily available on the NJ Legislature’s website. More research is needed…

 

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1088

How many does it take

to start a revolution?

a mutiny?

a rebellion?

an uprising?

…a recount???

 

Don’t sign my name on the dotted line

or cut no check for me!

Pressed a thousand times over,

yet the type is set

the pages numbered

the booklets folded

and the sunshine yellow cover stamped: 2012-2015.

 

How many does it take?

just 1

each and every 1 of us

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