This article discussed the recent debate on privatization of schools. The articles describes that the debate between Republicans and Democrats is about the balance of the private and public sectors. Corvin suggests that each side knows that both private and public are needed, its just a matter of how much. He goes on to talk about how those on the far left have recently been out in force, trying to prove that almost all reformers have ill motives and that their goal is to corrupt American education. The far left, according to Corvin, apparently believes that anyone who has ever been involved in business is in no place to make reforms to education because they will attempt to taint it. Corvin talks about how the reason that hedge fund managers donate to charter schools is because charter schools receive less public funding and simply have to ask for private donations to operate.
The next part of the article talks about the globalization of jobs and how Obama has been calling for improvements in education in order for our children to be able to compete. Corvin suggests that without reforms to our current education system, which he says leaves the poor disadvantaged and limited, spreading of prosperity cannot be achieved. The last part of the article discusses Michael Winerip's article, which I have discussed in an earlier blog. Corvin disagrees with Winerip, who believes that many who are making reforms to public education attended private schools. Corvin suggests that Winerip only wants people who think like he and others that attended public school to have any say in the reforms. He also says that as of now, those with a public school education are the only ones with any standing in the discussions anyway.
This article relates directly to class because of our discussion on the privatization of schools and the globalization of the economy and how it is affecting education. This is clear since the whole article was about these two topics. I have mixed feelings about the article. While I disagree with Corvin that hedge fund managers are simply supplying the money that the government won't, all in the goodness of their hearts, I agree with him that we do need to make reforms to our education in order to compete globally. We simply cannot do the same thing over and over again and expect different results. I also disagree with Corvin that those that attended private schools should also be very involved in the reforms needed in public schools because I agree with Winerip that they lack the experience with public schools and may not know what is actually needed compared with those that actually attended the schools.
I believe that Corvin is a Republican because he seems to want to go to the privatization of schools. I believe this because he defends the hedge fund managers as providing money the government won't to charter schools and that the only reason that they do it is because the charter schools come to them asking for donations. I also believe that Corvin is a progressive because he wants to reform schools in order to help prepare the student for the global economy. I think that this philosophy is also supported when he talks about students needing critical thinking abilities, not just the ability to spit out facts, which is what our current system of essentialism provides.
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