Demon Barber, Take 2

When Momma Bears last left off…

We told you all about the Demon Barber of Downing Street, the mastermind behind all the nasty Labour Party education reforms in England. Just before Tony Blair bid adieu as Prime Minister, Sir Michael went worldwide with his ideas for education reform. He took a consultant position with McKinsey Global Practices and landed a new gig in Ohio. Bill Gates paid McKinsey & company BIG money for a WORLD class Ohio education system.
 

"Pip pip, Prime Minister Tony Blair! I'm heading across the pond to throw a Spanner in the Works"

"Cheerio, old Duff! Best of luck waffling your beastly rubbish."

Only things didn’t go so well for Sir Michael in the Buckeye state. Reforming education in Ohio “…would require an unlikely alignment of galaxies: The Ohio State Board of Education, the state’s new Democratic governor and its Republican-dominated Legislature would all have to cooperate closely. And that’s not to mention Ohio’s 613 school districts. So, it’s a real challenge to align all these actors behind that reform,” he complained.

Which just goes to show you that even a swanky British accent can’t fool everybody all the time. (And don’t even think about pulling that world class stuff on Momma Bears. We are worldwide, too, and our Momma Bears in Wales tell us that England’s interference in education matters is not pretty.) 

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So, what’s a Brit with a degree from Oxford in American History supposed to do when faced with defeat?  

   Blame America, of course! 

“One worry I have is the sheer difficulty of getting things done in this country.”  Specifically he complains about America’s Constitution, which provides for separation of powers and local control over education. 

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“[Y]our Founding Fathers separated powers between the three branches and two levels," he stated.  “In England, we don’t have federal-state separation or the separation of powers between the legislature and the executive…” Barber further explains, “In Mr. Blair’s Britain, it was possible to impose new policy quickly” because “Britain’s political system endows its prime ministers with greater powers to impose new practices than any corresponding American official enjoys, since basic education policies in the United States are set in the 50 states and in the nation’s 15,000 local school districts.” So, in comparison, Barber says, “Once Britain’s prime minister is elected, he has a majority in Parliament and its much easier to change things. In contrast, the founding fathers created a political culture where you have to get a consensus from competing factions.” 

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Hmmmm…we’re thinking Sir Michael might need to get his money back on that American History degree from Oxford and take a history class in an American public school.  He needs a better appreciation for the government created by our Founding Fathers and their reasons for creating it. “Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed,” says the Declaration of Independence.   We like our American ways with separation of powers, states control over education, and local school boards. Americans do not want a centralized power structure like the U.K. 

Besides who could stand all that wig wearing, hopping up and down, and shouting like they do in British parliament? If there is going to be any wig wearing, hopping and shouting to be done then let the kids do it. Remember when kindergarten used to have dress up centers, recess, gym class, and games? ***sigh***

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Back to the demon…

His very British education on American History might explain his skewed way of thinking about the history of America’s public education. In 2008, Sir Michael gave the keynote address at a Washington, D.C. national education summit sponsored by the Aspen Institute. His address, full of references to the 1960’s and civil rights, applauds Dr. King and other civil rights leaders. And as an homage to Dr. King’s 1963 “I have a Dream” speech, he even titles his speech, “Neither Rest Nor the Tranquility: Education and the American Dream in the 21st Century.” 

But underneath the platitudes is a darkness that is just plain ugly. 
Sir Michael Barber seemingly blames the fall of American education on Brown v. The Board of Education, the landmark Supreme Court decision to integrate public schools. These are his exact words: 

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“In 1955, the year General Motors achieved a US market share of 50 percent and two years before the launch of Sputnik undermined America’s post-war confidence, the American high school reached its zenith--at least for white kids. A year earlier the Supreme Court had momentously decided that the education those white kids received should ultimately be available to all, setting the terms of debate for the ensuing decades. Up to that time--and indeed beyond--the US had a huge comparative advantage over all other countries in the provision of universal, general education...”

Sir Michael goes on to explain how American education has stagnated in the last quarter of the 20th century and what a tremendous economic impact that will have on our country. And how we must not be complacent in education reforms. Ya-da Ya-da Ya-da…

But when it comes time to point the finger at the causes for the decline, Barber clearly points it at the kids. “The slippage is not the result of a lack of investment which remains relatively high in the US. Rather it reflects--to use hard economic terms--a lack of productivity.”

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“The problem is that, as they get older, children make less progress each year than children in the best performing countries. Here we’re not just talking about poor kids in poor neighbourhoods; we’re talking about most kids in most neighbourhoods.” 

In other words... kids in integrated schools. 

So, now we know who we are dealing with…


Follow Momma Bear’s next blog and we will tell you about Sir Michael’s involvement in Race to the Top and how he kicked off Common Core in Tennessee.

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