The End of Public Schools in the United States
The End of Public Schools in the United States: The Corporate Reform Agenda to Privatize Education
Thursday, 9 June 2016, with Professor David Hursh, University of Rochester, USA
Public education, in the United States, is being undermined by unelected and unaccountable corporate reformers who aspire to overhaul the education system through a corporate model of privatization and market competition. They aim to privatize education through expanding the number of publicly funded but privately administered charter schools, and handing over the construction of tests and curriculum to corporations. They desire to replace public state run teacher education programs with privately run programs modeled after Teach for America. They shift where education policy is made: away from the local and public levels where parents, teachers, community members and students can have input, and towards private and often dark spaces where wealthy philanthropists, corporations, nongovernmental organizations, and
hedge fund managers dominate. However, parents, students, and teachers are increasingly resisting the corporate reforms. In New York State, 20% of the students opted out of the most recent round of Common Core exams. The Commissioner and Chancellor of Education have both resigned. Charter schools are increasingly exposed for their misuse of funds. The next few years will be decisive in determining if the schools are to serve the private or the public interests.
Professor David Hursh works in the Warner School of Education, Rochester University, NY, USA. His recent research and writing reflect three specific areas of interest. First, he situates the current corporate-based 
education reform effort within the context of the rise and
dominance of neoliberal economic policies. Second, he has worked to design and implement curriculum that promotes a sustainable society. Third, he worked with the Earth Institute at Columbia University from 2011-12 on the Millennium Development Project on attaining the Millennium Development Goals. His most recent books include, The End of Public Schools: The Corporate Reform Agenda to Privatize Education (New York: Routledge, 2015) and High
Stakes Testing and the Decline of Education: The Real Crisis in Education (Lanham, M: Rowman & Littlefield, 2011). He is the North American Editor of the Journal of Education Policy.
See: https://www.warner.rochester.edu/facultystaff/hursh
Room: Room 402, Level 4, Social Sciences Building (24)
Date: Thursday, June 9, 2016 - 16:00 to 17:00
Contact: Bob Lingard, r.lingard@uq.edu.au