Deliberate Dumbing Down of America Public Education

407 movement, has made this clear by his reference to Gagne, conditions and environment. The high profile that Lezotte maintains with his Effective Schools organization and his consistent appearance at Willard Daggett’s meetings and seminars—and Daggett’s close former asso ciation with William Spady of OBE fame—should demonstrate to the reader that all of these participants and promoters of the restructuring movement are “singing the same tune,” as it were, and they sound exactly like Skinner’s operant-conditioned pigeons. Lawrence Lezotte has also served on the board of directors for The Effective School Report —this very important and relatively unknown (to the public) journal.] T HE A TLANTA C ONSTITUTION ’ S J ULY 1, 1998 EDITION CARRIED AN ARTICLE BY D OUG Cumming entitled “Georgia Schools OK Tracking Systems” which confirmed the worst fears of education researchers tracking Planning, Programming, Budgeting Systems (PPBS) and Management by Objectives (MBO) for over twenty-five years. Excerpts from this revealing article follow: Taking its biggest step yet to create a powerful new computer information system that can track every state education dollar down to the attendance rates and test scores of every Georgia classroom, the State Board of Education approved two major computer contracts Tuesday. The two contracts, for as much as $31 million over the next 12 months, along with a related contract tabled until July 9, will give school systems quicker access to information. “For example, the new systems will let school systems instantly report students who are absent for two consecutive weeks or suspended for drugs, alcohol, or guns. This will allow the state to immediately revoke their driver’s licenses under a law that took effect this year. “That’s just a taste of what is possible. In the future, by linking student records, staff records and funding formulas, the new system will also allow local schools and state policy makers to see how well teachers and students are performing within specific programs. “We know that in education for too long, programs have been implemented, and there was never any comprehensive measurement,” said Miriam V. Holland, director of adminis trative technology for the state Department of Education. “The state goal over the next few years is to be able to pinpoint the cause of academic weaknesses such as the recent failure rate on the science portion of the state’s graduation exam,” she said. Bonnie Knight, head of business and technology for the Rockdale schools, said she is excited about what will be possible when a new student-information system is introduced and linked to the accounting system. Then, teachers can punch up on their own computer, within security limits, family and student records, and administrators can access the kind of information that private businesses normally use to determine the cost-effectiveness of any program. Knight says she knows of no other state that is linking student records with state and local school accounting systems. James Mullins, a lobbyist for DeKalb County schools, which uses its own information systems, said the new system will put increasing pressure on systems like his to adopt the state’s system. He said many local systems quietly worry that the proposed new system could eventually give the state the power of a “Big Brother” to control local schools directly. [Ed. Note: The legitimate concern expressed by James Mullins of DeKalb County regarding “Big Brother” comes as a timely warning for naïve Americans who see nothing wrong with providing any and all information—social security numbers, fingerprints, personal data—to anyone who requests it, even, and especially, your local school officials. The reader is urged to re-read the 1972 entry in this book which quoted from “Schools to Try New Program” The Noxious Nineties : c. 1998