In DC and some other municipalities there are no charter schools, organized and controlled by parents and community people, and funded on a per pupil basis with funds from the general public school system.
The kids who go to them are mainly poor African American kids who are not doing well in public schools (as no one is). In DC 7% of the kids leave the traditional public schools every year for charter schools. 39% are already in charters. So the traditional public schools should be closing their doors in less than 10 years. On Sat, Jun 20, 2009 at 9:57 AM, RICHARD BROWN <[email protected] > wrote: > > Gee, I wonder what a voucher system would do to the public school > system? Kick the box out from under it maybe? We don't want > that, ...do we? How would we shear them if they were free thinkers? > Dik > > On Jun 20, 6:48 am, Doc Holliday <[email protected]> wrote: > > to wit from: > http://www.johntaylorgatto.com/underground/review_harrison.htm > > > > Mr. Gatto argues that these emerging corporate titans knew they needed > > three things in order for their interests to thrive: 1) compliant > > employees; 2) a guaranteed and dependent population; and 3) a > > predictable business environment encompassed by a rigid, caste-like > > social hierarchy of haves and have-nots. It is toward these ends - and > > not education - that modern compulsory schooling was unleashed. > > > > Mr. Gatto states that America at the time of the birth of modern > > schooling, however, was a place antithetical to the stated goals of > > big business. Business was largely conducted by individuals, on a > > small-scale, within the context of thriving villages or neighborhoods. > > Proprietors, employees, and customers shared their lives and fates, at > > least to some extent, with one another. There was no room for (nor > > inclination towards) the kind of manipulation and control imbedded in > > the intentions of big business outlined above. > > > > The author places a strong emphasis in this equation on the > > individual, on the entrepreneur in control of himself and his > > livelihood. This is an important part of Mr. Gatto’s argument for why > > and how compulsory schooling was inflicted upon our society. By way of > > example, Mr. Gatto details the lives of archetypal Americans like > > Benjamin Franklin, George Washington, Abraham Lincoln, and Thomas > > Edison, who were independent, free-thinking leaders, none of whom > > spent more than two years in any kind of school, and yet all were > > leading productive, fulfilled lives by the time they were in their > > teens. Mr. Gatto argues that big business knew that the development of > > these kinds of individuals needed to be hindered. They were too > > unpredictable and insufficiently pliable. > > > > What better way to accomplish this shadowy goal than by removing > > children from the steadying influences of their families, and placing > > them instead in the hands of schools, where they could be easily > > molded into the kinds of people upon whom big business depended. Just > > in case parents were unwilling to comply, the powers that be committed > > school attendance into law. >end > > > > Peace, > > Doc > > > --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ Thanks for being part of "PoliticalForum" at Google Groups. For options & help see http://groups.google.com/group/PoliticalForum * Visit our other community at http://www.PoliticalForum.com/ * It's active and moderated. Register and vote in our polls. * Read the latest breaking news, and more. -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
