There is no such thing as "20th century capitalism" or anything else. 1910
was a very different year than 1940 for US Capital as is today, etc
but if we had to say "what is the current program of the US economic
masters toward public education?": it seems to me that there is no planning
for a large productive role for the US working class, no big capital
investments for domestic manufacturing, no concern for revamping the
infrastructure (transportation, factories, education, etc) beyond private
comsumption needs for the upper class (reclaiming and rebuilding central
cities for upscale housing for yuppies, fancier shopping malls, etc) The
only constant in capitalism worldwide is the falling rate of profit, it
never goes away, even in the best of times. Rate of profit is not an
abstract concept in capitalism, it's what drives the stock markets and
underpins the whole system...when confidence of investors is lost, voila, a
Depression!
As the US competition for markets heats up with Germany (now the European
Economic Community) and Japan, each side seeks to maximize profit rates by
1) higher productivity domestically: some modernization of capital
equipment (steel mills, auto plants, etc), but also a lot of austerity on
the working class (cutbacks on union work rules, layoffs, rollbacks in the
social safety net), and
2) seeking cheaper labor: mostly by opening factories abroad, and sometimes
by manipulating immigration policies
The US already did step 1, mostly with Reagan's attacks on labor and with
"ending welfare as we know it" etc; but instead of a concommitant
investment in capital goods within US, they have chosen step 2 as their
main economic program...witness the maquiladoras, the obscene exploitation
of child labor in Sri Lanka, Indonesia, etc
So what does that mean for US public schools? Well, since there is no plan
for more manufacturing jobs, who needs trained workers? So most low income
and minority kids are now more marginalized than before. If they could,
they'd just exterminate them; but instead more public investment is put
into prison construction than new schools.
That's the broader context for the Republocrats' recent program for
privatization (charters, vouchers, tax credits for private school tuition),
and standards. Demands for higher standards and test scores without
significant investment in education is a cruel joke intended to make the
case to the American middle class (the current "voting public") that public
ed is hopeless and costly, and should just be abandoned. What other
purpose was there for ex California governor Pete Wilson's demand that
non-English speakers be required to take the Sat-9 exam than to embarrass
and humiliate both them and their teachers?
I think that the national standards of Bush (Goals 2000) and Clinton are
more a move back toward the center (Wall St, Ivy League, etc) from Reagan's
right wing, yahoo-cowboy capitalist base, and mostly an effort to control
the process described above in order to prevent social explosions. The
ruling class generally agrees that critical literacy is fine for its own
children, but subversive in the middle class, and downright dangerous in
the working class.
Thus, I think the recent trends in education tightly match the values of
the US ruling class.
Pete Farruggio
>Emile Dirkheim said every society has the one educational system that
>best fits its values. Having spent my life in schools - and seen change
>in schools over the century I am convince he was wrong. In the 30's we
>were asking the question- Dare the schools change society. The only
>aspect of American Society that is socialistic in the basic is
>education. America built the idea- call it a myth if you will- that
>education should be universal and paid for by society as a whole. One of
>the strengths of American education and its greatest problem is that
>control has been localized. That delayed change and development but it
>also made it possible for schools, teachers and school districts to
>resist standardization. If schools are playing the role of supporting
>20th century capitalism so well why is so much political power and money
>being spent to control curriculum, teaching and learning and literacy.
>Why are certification laws being written to deskill teaching, why does
>California black list teacher educators, programs, ideas? WHy did we
>need a law to force a national literacy curriculum.
>I said once before but I'll say it again. Underlying this discussion is
>a profound disrespect for teachers.
>Ken Goodman
>--
>Kenneth S. Goodman, Professor, Language, Reading & Culture
>504 College of Education, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ
> fax 520 7456895 phone 520 6217868
>
>These are mean times- and in the mean time
>We need to Learn to Live Under Water