A Black Agenda Radio commentary by Glen Ford No Child Left Behind has only been a failure if you believed the hype about its purposes. In fact, NCBL has been a roaring success in using “federal spending as a hammer to impose corporate governance over privatized public schools.” Wall Street has converted publicly-financed education into a no-risk market, teachers unions have been “demonized, demoralized and rendered largely politically inert,” and Black community control of schools is more remote than ever.
Ten Years of No Child Left Behind: Disaster Capitalism in the Schools A Black Agenda Radio commentary by Glen Ford “In the space of a decade, No Child Left Behind has struck a mortal blow to American public education – just as intended.”
The Obama administration recently gave five more states waivers four out of five districts
It has been largely successful, thanks to the diabolical genius of American racism, which always assumed that the project was aimed at Black and brown communities. The general attitude in 2002 was: break up that blackboard jungle in the inner cities. By all means, experiment on them ! African American communities became the wedge through which could be inserted a corporate network of charter schools. Once the charter model reached critical mass in enough localities, President Obama unleashed an unrelenting wave of extortion and bribery that he called Race to the Top, forcing states to vastly expand the new market for charters. Thus reassured that taxpayer-financed education – a potential trillion dollar “market” – would become a Wild West for no-risk investment, Wall Street’s denizens jumped in the game with all four hooved feet.
“African American communities became the wedge through which could be inserted a corporate network of charter schools.”
In the space of a decade, No Child Left Behind has struck a mortal blow to American public education – just as intended. The teachers unions have been demonized, demoralized and rendered largely politically inert – which has always been at the top of the corporate wish-list. This goal was achieved under a Democratic president, whom the teachers unions nevertheless endorsed with unseemly haste, even though Obama has been more effective in their evisceration than his Republican predecessor. The teaching profession, itself, has been degraded, possibly beyond repair.
Black America, which was so callously transformed into the core market for privatized schooling, has been systematically deprived of any avenues for community control of schools, which can never coexist with the corporate structures of charterization. Black teachers have been decimated in city after city, further weakening the social fiber of their communities.
So, it is a mistake to conclude that No Child Left Behind has failed in its actual purposes. Although it may appear that President Obama’s waiver policies are disarming the program, piece by piece, the bomb has already exploded. Disaster capitalism is now deeply entrenched in U.S. public education.
For Black Agenda Radio, I’m Glen Ford. On the web, go to BlackAgendaReport.com.
The United States has cut off channels for sending remittances to the island, leaving families who rely on the help – especially during the pandemic – without desperately needed resources.
Economic recovery is uneven, with Black workers least likely to be employed in the wake of the covid pandemic.
The heads of state of the regional block agreed on a 44-point declaration which addressed the strategy against COVID-19 and climate change and took a stand against the blockade on Cuba.
The memorial gathering for Glen Ford was held on Saturday, September 18, 2021 in New York City at the Riverside Church.
Memories of the last 20 years are rarely focused on increased state violence and repression in the post-9/11 world. The damage has largely been forgotten.
