Deliberate Dumbing Down of America Public Education

A–56 change in the prevailing culture—the attitudes, values, norms and accepted ways of doing things—that defines the environment that determines whether individual schools succeed or fail in the transformation process. We will know that we have succeeded when there are enough transformed schools in any one area, and enough districts designed and managed to support such schools, that their approach to education sets the norms, frames the attitudes and defines the accepted ways of doing things in that part of the world. Then there will be no turning back. (p. 33) Bear in mind that we have selected our site Partners because their restructuring plans are already among the most advanced in the country. Each of the states in which we will initially concentrate—Vermont, New York and Kentucky—have developed sweeping strategic plans of action. (p. 36)

Hornbeck, Tucker, Cohen and Gloria Frazier will visit all of the sites at least once a month, providing support and technical assistance. (p. 43)

[Ed. Note: To date there have been no reports from states, cities, schools or school districts listed as “Partners” which show academic improvement as a result of their involvement in Marc Tucker’s project. Rochester, NY in particular, was a disaster case, with a National Public Broadcasting System report in mid-April of 1993 “accusing the city school district of flunking the once-heralded movement to reform its schools.” Vermont’s efforts have proven to be less than successful and Kentucky’s system of student performance assessment had to be scrapped after enormous controversy over faulty development by the designers.]