wsws | The revelations regarding Covington, far from being an aberration,
provide an insight into the outlook of those, like Covington, who seek
to exploit the miserable condition of the public education system to
further their own mercenary aspirations. The actual purpose of the EAA
is to privatize primary and secondary education. Covington was initially
offered $225,000 to take the job of EAA Chancellor, with a $175,000
signing bonus to boot, but even this lavish salary was increased to
$425,000 in short order. He was appointed to this position despite the
fact that the Kansas City school district, his former employer, saw half
of its schools shut down and its test scores drop precipitously under
his watch.
While some Democrats are using the scandal to make
political hay, the EAA is itself an outcrop of legislation initiated
under Democratic Governor Jennifer Granholm. In 2009, Granholm, with the
assistance of the American Federation of Teachers (AFT), created the
State School Reform/Redesign District (SSRRD) to represent the
lowest-performing 5 percent of schools in Detroit. In the same year,
Granholm named Robert Bobb the first statewide emergency manager to run
the Detroit public schools. Under Bobb, over 100 Detroit Public Schools
(DPS) have been closed—further facilitating the process of school
charterization.
In 2011, under Snyder, the contract to oversee the
schools in the SSRRD was awarded to the EAA. Then, in 2012, the EAA was
named the only Michigan finalist in Obama’s Race to the Top
competition.
Additionally, the Obama administration has thrown its
full backing behind the privatization of public schools and the attacks
on teachers. Last May, Secretary of Education Arne Duncan went on a
public campaign with Governor Snyder to promote “education reform,”
specifically choosing to “shine the spotlight of success” on the EAA.
Duncan referred to Detroit as “ground zero” for Obama’s education
agenda, stating that in a few years Detroit could surpass New Orleans,
which currently leads the nation in percentage of children—79 percent—in
charter schools. Detroit is currently second in the nation, with 51
percent of children attending charter schools.
The unions,
operating as an appendage of the Democratic party, have not raised a
finger to oppose the privatization of public schools or the attacks on
teachers. The primary concern of the union bureaucracy is to secure a
place for itself in order to maintain its privileges. In line with this,
the unions have participated in the process of privatization. During
Granholm’s term the AFT proudly noted its role in creating the “failing
district”—the SSRRD—saying the union had worked “fast and furiously” to
enact legislation “allowing more high performing charter schools.”
