By Manuel Barrera
Appellate Court justices in the State of Michigan ruled Nov. 7th that “the state has no constitutional requirement to ensure schoolchildren actually learn fundamental skills such as reading — but rather is obligated only to establish and finance a public education system, regardless of quality” (from MichiganCitizen.com, Nov. 13th 2014).
Bennett Elementary School, Detroit, Michigan. Photo by Notorious4life at en.wikipedia [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons
In a column by the online blog
Addicting Info, Wendy Gittleson argues that behind this drive to continue the educational divide among richer and poorer citizens are companies like Walmart and their owners the Walton family:
“it shouldn’t surprise anyone that the company most in need of under-educated employees, Walmart, is behind much of the effort to destroy, or as they say, reform, our school systems.
Since 2000, members of the Walton family have spent at least $24 million dollars funding politicians, political action committees, and ballot issues at the state and local level that favor their corporate approach to school reform. At local levels of government, where fundraising totals are smaller than those at the federal level, Walton largesse can go a very long way toward shaping public policy.
Walmart admits that the reason they are so interested in education is that they are having trouble finding qualified entry level employees.” Continue reading →