Elizabeth Hanson from The Restore GED Fairness Site.
In March of 2014 I realized how bad the Pearson Vue GED was and started this website in response, a quest for GED fairness. There are overlaps of information or “coincidences” among the Pearson Vue GED, Common Core and what I have been studying since October 2008- the massive transfer of wealth that has occurred (and continues to occur) in our country since the banker bail-outs. What does it mean for a people to live in a country where most people can’t make it from month to month without taking on more debt, a country no longer ruled by laws, where fraud isn’t prosecuted, and watchdogs don’t do their jobs, a country in which most of our elected leaders could care less about the real education of American students?
I write about two things in this article: first I present evidence that our economy has not recovered and in
Matt Collette is a professional writer and reporter, He has an Ivy League degree and a Masters degree. He failed the test. READMORE at the Daily Beast.
fact is projected to weaken in terms of jobs available for our young people, and second how I see common core, with its high stakes testing, as a tool for the elite billionaires, (or billionaire wannabes) to destroy our public schools and our Democracy.
First the economy. We Americans are an optimistic sort, with our can-do attitude, usuallly always expecting a happier tomorrow, believing that things will get better. We tend to have a Puritan mindset- thinking that hard work and honesty will lead to success. We also can’t help but see things from our personal vantage point, whether that vantage point is colored by our political party, or the people we hang out with or the media we watch. So, when we are told that there is an economic recovery by a person we trust, or if we are told that there are plenty of jobs on a TV channel we like, we are likely to believe what we hear. We tend to be a people who are trusting. Well, whether or not it is a surprise to you, for the majority of Americans, no matter how hard they try, their whole lives will be one massive struggle to get by.
David Degraw, a former computer guy turned writer has done massive amounts of research into the economy since 2008; here’s what he has to say:
“the present economy only works for 30% of the population …There are only enough full-time jobs for 50% of the working-age population, and half of the full-time jobs pay under $35k per year. Since 2007, the economy has lost over 14 million full-time jobs while the overall population has grown by 17 million people. In current conditions, it is impossible for 70% of the working-age population to earn enough income to afford basic necessities without taking on ever-increasing levels of debt, which they will never be able to pay back because there are not enough jobs that generate the necessary income to keep up with the cost of living.”
(Here we see that 26/30 projected fastest growing jobs in the U.S. don’t require a college degree. See more here.)
David goes on. – “Statistical fraud by the government on poverty, cost of living and unemployment cannot cover up the fact that the overwhelming majority of the population is on a fast track to impoverishment.”
(Note the jobs that most Americans work at here. They pay less than $35,000 a year except for nursing. )
David recognizes that information like what I’ve posted here isn’t being shared widely in the media and that our government isn’t addressing income inequality. He goes on:
“The government’s policies and actions in dealing with the growing epidemic of poverty are the very definition of tyranny. It couldn’t be more blatant. Just when the economy has reached a point where there are not enough jobs that generate an adequate income to sustain the cost of living for the majority of the population, the government is cutting billions of dollars from assistance programs and pouring billions of dollars into the military and prison industry.”
Note the huge number of Americans on food stamps today. The Republicans newly elected to the Senate have vowed to cut food stamps. See here. How would that work out? People aren’t on food stamps because they are lazy. They are on food stamps because they can’t afford to buy food.
You can read David’s work here- http://daviddegraw.org/
Because I’ve been so dogged in my desire for information to understand things like economic bubbles and the revolving door between political and corporate power, over the years I’ve spoken to David Degraw and Glenn Greenwald, and Senators and Representatives and Dennis Kucinich and Ron Paul, and active Democrats, Republicans, Socialists, Greens and Libertarians. I’ve met many public school teachers. I’ve met a few Wall Street guys too. I’ve met 100’s of amazing people. I’ve derived so much pleasure meeting so many terrific people from across the country and in my state of Washington. And I’m pleased by how many people care about and are working toward social and economic justice, and really care about the poor, the working poor, and the lives of people seeking their GED, and the lives of young people straddled with massive student loan debt. Everyone I’ve met realizes we are headed in the wrong direction, though they might differ on the causes and the solutions.
Learning about the Pearson GED has led me to research common core which (along with its high stakes testing and federal No Child Left Behind/Race to the Top federal mandates) I’ve come to view as a weapon to destroy our public schools and our Democracy. Currently, my husband and I are writing a book about Common Core and how it is being used as a weapon, which will be available in February.
It seems to me as a 53 year old American woman looking at our public schools, that all we care about now is test scores which we can put on databases to store from cradle to grave. Corporations can buy and sell this data and make tons of money. Out of this fear for test score data, we are taking away kids’ recess and cutting back on their lunch time in order to do test prep. We are cutting out music and art, time for chatting, time for current events and problem solving as a team. The common core text books I’ve seen are dry, timed and not level appropriate in terms of no time for in-depth concept development- they are all about skill building and not about the love of learning; there is no time for creativity or curiousity or excitement. The whole mood of the schools is fear. Most GED teachers are afraid to speak out about the Pearson test. Most K-12 teachers are afraid to speak out about the Common Core tests. I think it’s because school administrations are promoting an environment of fear. So, it would be best if the administrators stopped being afraid too. If everyone is afraid, there is paralysis.
Our fear is telling us something. I think fear is just a biological messenger- “pay attention… something is happening…or has happened… or is about to happen”.
And I’ve noticed the fear in this country is higher than I’ve ever seen it in my 53 years of life: fear of losing my job, fear of getting sick, fear of not being good enough, fear of sticking out, fear of terrorism, fear of the religion or political party that isn’t mine.
Finally, to turn to Common Core and how high stakes testing is destroying our Democracy. I’ll explain how I’ve come to see things after doing so much research for our book.
Here is what I see as going on with common core and it’s high stakes testing:
1. First, there is a group of people who want control and power over things in our country- regardless of what that thing is. In this case schools are up for grabs.
2. Second, there is a lot of public tax money in public education…. like $750 billion or more.
3. Third, in order for the public school to survive, you force mandates for testing to show continuous improvement and you make the tests hard, so you can destroy the public schools.
4. Fourth, the testing to survive situation creates LOTS of fear among school administrators and teachers
5. Fifth, the testing and school paperwork creates data. There is lots of money in data collection and sales. See here. Never mind that it violates our 4th amendment.
6. Sixth, the testing to survive creates lots of profit for curricula companies, testing companies, computer companies… our tax dollars to corporate pockets
7. Seventh…. when the public schools fail, private charter schools move in, run on public tax dollars, ready to take the kids… some of them… the easy to teach ones.
8. Eight… these charter schools are for profit. They spend about 40% of the tax $ they are funded on teaching-learning- the rest goes for profit. Public schools spend about 80% of their money on teaching and learning; charter schools are also notoriously corrupt!
9. Nine… Charter schools kick out massive numbers of kids. And with common core, massive numbers of kids are projected to drop out of public schools- too much boredom and pressure. See here. It’s projected to jump to 30% from 15%.
10. Ten…The kids who leave school won’t be able to pass the Pearson GED because it is too hard to pass.
Here is a recent headline that appeared in a newspaper in Cleveland Ohio:
“ Nearly 500,000 Fewer Americans Will Pass the GED in 2014 After a Major Overhaul to the Test. Why? And Who’s Left Behind?” By Daniel McGraw
Reading the article, I found out that 500,000 people in the U.S., who would have been able to earn their GED on the previous version of the GED, weren’t able to earn their GED on the 2014 private-for profit Pearson GED. 500,000 people thrown under the bus just because corporate interests want common core. Half of a million people prevented from working or going to college. This is not my vision of America. You can read Daniel’s excellent article here.
After reading Mr. McGraw’s article, I did more research, here and here and here and made this chart:
My question is- Why do we allow the rich to call the shots and allow this level of injustice to occur? Why do we allow people who aren’t teachers tell us what to do and how things should go? This is harming 500,000 mostly teens and young adults per year until this nonsense is halted. Add another 20 million K12 children being labelled as failures every year because of common core testing and its unrealistically high bar. How many more years and how many more children need to be harmed before the American people rise up and stop the billionaires from destroying our schools and our kids? Here is a chart I made based on GED data from the official data base. The 2014 data I got from the State Board in a correspondence on April 25th, wherein I was told that only 599 students had earned their GED. So, I multiplied that number by 3 and got 1,800 (rounding.)
In my overall view, teaching is a sacred profession. And it is a sin to toy with people’s lives.
Historically, in the U.S. we have trusted our teachers to hand down a cannon of important information in the areas of history, literature, math, science, art and music to our children. And we have allowed our students to freely follow their interests, to develop their curiousity. We are a creative people. Look at our inventions. Look at our arts. Look at our massive size coporations! We are not falling behind the rest of the world. (When you read the book my husband and I are writing, we prove it to you. We are told propoganda because the billionaires want money and power.)
We teachers and parents are not doing well at trying to fit our mulit-shaped students into millions of square holes. If we insist on that, we lose our culture of innovation, our freedom, our fearlessness, all of us: parents, teachers and children alike.
We can see where we are today in terms of the economy. The whole system is set up to enrich a few. Note the steady rise in corporate profit- These are the same powers that are taking over our schools. They see people as commodoties, as datapoints, not as people. Also note the number of people working. This is called the labor participation rate.
Judge Brandeis warned us about wealth concentration. I don’t think that we can have such massive wealth equality continue without more and more really bad things happening in our nation.
And amazingly, our own Bureau of Labor Statistics has predicted that the percent of young people working will decrease in the future. My point is that, in relation to common core, when the corproate reformers tell us “We have to get the kids college and career ready”, they don’t know what they are talking about. There aren’t enough jobs to go around. There clearly aren’t enough living wage jobs to go around. What we need are living wage jobs and young people with vibrant levels of curiousity, we don’t need any more fear-mongering. It’s not serving us as a people. Here’s a link to the BLS report. We simply are lied to on a regular basis so billionaires can capture our schools.
