For over twenty years, former Senior Policy Advisor in the Office of Educational Research and Improvement for the US Department of Education, Charlotte Thomson Iserbyt, has been warning us about the coming corporatization of education through fascistic charter school privatization that will be subsidized by public finances.
Private, for-profit "colleges" have spent a great deal of money-- and they get a great deal of tax-payer money-- bribing Members of Congress to cut them some slack on their shoddy operations. Last cycle alone, for-profit education spent $1,727,926 on legalistic bribes to Members of Congress, $1,143,883 to Republicans and $582,043 to mostly conservative Democrats.
The state of English Language Teaching (ELT) (and teaching content, electives overall) is going through a serious, almost radical, transformation. Long gone are the days where union chapters, building reps and others who represent a teaching staff have the backing of their affiliate or parent union for support. No more do we see teachers of all areas praised for working miracles with society’s problem students/children. Forever gone are the school days filled with bright eyes, smiling faces, recess, and an obvious love of learning.
