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Friday, March 28, 2014

K-12 News Network | The Vergera v. California Trial: More Double Standards From the 1%

K-12 News Network | The Vergera v. California Trial: More Double Standards From the 1%:



The Vergera v. California Trial: More Double Standards From the 1%

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We know that two epicenters of the funding for profiteering from public schools are Silicon Valley and Wall Street. And in looking at some of the major players pushing privatization of public schools, such as the ones based in Northern California detailed in this Crooks and Liars report, I can see a pattern that emerges again and again among the entitled 1%. They have one standard of expectations regarding the quality of life for themselves and their families, and another one for “the rabble” — everyday people.
Do they think we don’t notice the hypocrisy laced with contempt?
Peter Thiel, billionaire libertarian, thinks kids should drop out of college to see if they’re holding a winning lottery ticket with a “20 under 20″ startup, but he himself attended San Mateo High School (public), then Stanford University as an undergraduate and Stanford University Law School.
Some Silicon Valley executives think it’s fine for everybody else’s kids to be tethered to a computer screen (a “learning lab) from kindergarten onwards, butsend their own kids to Waldorf schools where no artificial light is allowed, children play with natural materials, and the arts and music and artisanal crafts like knitting are encouraged. (Wouldn’t it be nice if all kids could experience the arts in the school day?)
This extends to the kinds of rules they should be subject to as opposed to rules for the rest of us.
Take for example Ted Schlein’s sexual harassment lawsuit and what it tells us about the importance of teacher tenure. Ted Schlein is a managing partner at Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, and is on the board of Students Matter, the organization suing to remove due process protections for teachers. One of