Deliberate Dumbing Down of America Public Education

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include:

President: Janet Whitla, Education Development Center, Inc. 18 Vice President: Stephen F. Moseley, Academy for Educational Development, Inc. Secretary: Richard Long, International Reading Association Treasurer: John Comings, World Education, Inc. Clifford Block, Far West Regional Laboratory for Educational Research and Improve ment David Dorn, American Federation of Teachers Alan Hill, Apple Computer, Inc. Gary Marx, American Association of School Administrators Thomas Shannon, National School Boards Association Daniel Wagner, National Center on Adult Literacy, University of Pennsylvania

N EW A MERICAN S CHOOLS D EVELOPMENT C ORPORATION (NASDC) WAS ESTABLISHED IN 1991. President George Bush requested that the business community raise funds to support devel opment of “radical, break-the-mold” schools (one in each Congressional district) which would in the future be known as “charter schools” (public school “choice” schools). 19 The Request for Proposals from NASDC required that: Design teams should define the scope and focus of their own work. Student age-grouping may be unconventional, and designs may serve students younger than five years of age and older than eighteen; students need not all be assembled in a single building or at a particular time of day; the school day and school year may be redefined. The duties of administrators, teachers, volunteers, parents, and all other adults may be changed.... The design may entail major changes in community governance, community structures and the functions of other institutions such as public health agencies and welfare departments. Alternatively, designs may adopt conventional arrangements for any of above. T HE E FFECTIVE S CHOOL R EPORT ’ S N OVEMBER 1991 ISSUE CARRIED AN ARTICLE ENTITLED “A Letter from Russia.” The following excerpts illustrate the extent of damage resulting from the 1985 U.S.-Soviet and Carnegie education agreements and other exchange agreements: Editor’s note: Don Thomas, executive director of the Network for Effective Schools, journeyed to Russia in September as part of a contingent of American educators traveling under the auspices of the U.S. Department of Education (Secretary Lamar Alexander). Dale Mann of Columbia University was a part of the delegation. After initial meetings in Moscow, Thomas traveled to the City of Sochi to meet with Russian educators. One of his contacts was Professor Victor Nouja, a school administrator from Rostov-on-Don. The following letter is a follow-up communication from Nouja, who is eager to establish contacts with American educators for the exchange of information and teaching on school management practices: Dear Mr. Thomas: How are you and your family? Now that we have returned from the first East-West International Workshop in Sochi (Russia) to our native city, Rostov-on-Don, my friends and I want to thank you for the opportunity you gave us to learn about the experiences of school