Jaisal Noor Documentary: Neighborhood Schools: The fight for the future of American public education

I try to keep up with current issues, especially with the restructuring/destruction of the people's public schools, but now I can honestly say that I believe  school restructuring  is the carefully planned  destruction of our free society.  This radio documentary was really an eye-opener for me, and I have been doing educational research for over  thirty years. 

The NEA and AFT sold the teachers and children out years ago, so don't look for any help from the major officials of these organizations.  Check their past positions on choice.

----  From Ann Herzer comment on "Neighborhood Schools: The fight for the future of American public education."

This audio documentary and the comment below the into were passed on by Diane Ravitch from her blog post:  Should Community Schools Survive?

Reporter Jaisal Noor has created a gripping radio documentary about the fight to save neighborhood schools.

He lets the “reformers” have their say. They want to close down the so-called failing schools and replace them with new schools that won’t be failing schools, at least not for a few years. Then they too can be closed and another new school can be opened.The closing schools serve minority students. They are overcrowded and underresourced. They must be closed. So say the officials.Jaisal Noor listens to students, teachers, and parents. What a novel idea. The officials don’t hear students, teachers, or parents. They know what’s best for everyone. And what’s best is to close their school.
Diane

Diane also heaped praise on one of our own, NYC Educator, in an earlier post.

And she was on the Ed Show: Must watch! http://video.msnbc.msn.com/the-ed-show/47654288#47654288

Here is the blurb for the broadcast. Here is the link.

Memorial Day Special

Mon, 05/28/2012 - 14:38

• Length: 29:06 minutes (26.64 MB)
• Format: MP3 Mono 44kHz 128Kbps (CBR)

Neighborhood Schools: The fight for the future of American public education
In the US, the historic struggle for quality education continues to unfold as America’s public schools have become the center of an intense debate. Much of that has focused on deciding what to do with schools that are struggling.  Should they be privatized? Should there be greater accountability? More funding or more local involvement?
While federal, state and local authorities maintain a top down strategy of fixing education, some communities are pushing for a different approach.  Parents, teachers and students are demanding a say in how their schools are run. But their efforts in getting leaders to address the institutional problems behind so-called failing schools are meeting resistance.  FSRN’s Jaisal Noor examines these issues in two of the country’s biggest school districts: Chicago and New York.


This documentary was produced by Jaisal Noor. Special thanks to Kouross Esmaeli and Julia Winer.  Documentary editor is Shannon Young. Technical production at KPFA Berkeley from Jeannine Etter. Music provided by Tony Davis and Action Davis.

Ann Herzer  comments:

I just finished listening to "gripping radio documentary" and am shocked.  I knew thing were bad, and that privitazation was a means of destroying democratic principles, but frankly, I think few Americans know what is happening in communities across our nation now.
 I try to keep up with current issues, especially with the restructuring/destruction of the people's public schools, but now I can honestly say that I believe  school restructuring  is the carefully planned  destruction of our free society.  This radio documentary was really an eye-opener for me, and I have been doing educational research for over  thirty years.
From my research,  I realized that children were being dumbed down through the government's destructive experimental programs when I first saw them in the book titled "Education Programs That Work".  I was also a reader for their programs.  I became a reader so I could follow what the feds were advocating for our nation.  
I read the  legislation in Arizona and from several others states.  Concerned citizens sent me entire packets of what was happening in their states.  At the invitations of citizens, I spoke in several states against the phoney "Nation At Risk"; and everything else that followed i. e. America 2000/Goals 2000, School-to-Work and the New American Schools Development Corporation's radical design teams.   I spoke against the "radical" behavior modification programs being used on children and teacher alike.  
I used only their  documented research, not  manufactured research we see now being used to destroy public education, and yes, private and religious schools as well.  One can find research data to support any point of view, and researchers get paid big money to compile phony documentation.  They often use peer research...this means "you scratch my back, and I will scratch yours".  Uninformed politicians grasp at straws when they use undocumented research.  They often get caught as several are now being exposed and citizens are now questioning.  It's about time the American people question these snake-oil peddlers.  The next time I respond, I'll try and think of a better term for them, but it might not be printed.  
Thank you Diane for all that you are doing.  I see that you often start in the early A. M. We must also remember all our good educators  and citizens who are standing up for children and freedom.  Take care, and keep up the good fight!  You are not alone.  There are many Americans who have continued to speak out against such tragic things we heard on the video. As a History major, I find this most alarming!  
The "gripping radio documentary" should be played on every media outlet in our country, but it will not because the major media is supporting this tragedy.  This "radical political" destruction of our free society is coming not only from the so-called conservative right, but from the so-called liberal left.  
The NEA and AFT sold the teachers and children out years ago, so don't look for any help from the major officials of these organizations.  Check their past positions on choice.
You can see all comments on this post here:
http://dianeravitch.net/2012/06/02/should-community-schools-survive/#comments
Permalink: http://dianeravitch.net/2012/06/02/should-community-schools-survive/#comment-145

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