By Daniel Pryzbyla
Columnist EdNews.org

How soon people forget the original No Child Left Behind Title 1 public education act drafted by Republicans included tax dollars to implement private and religious school vouchers. Although struck from the education bill, its by-products to help dismantle public education remained. As is customary in most legislation, "The devil is in the details."

Before Spellings arrived in President George W. Bush's second 4-year term in office, her predecessor and pro-privatization advocate Roderick Paige, the flamboyant and aggressive Houston, TX public school superintendent and former college football coach, had already cleared the NCLB draconian education path of its major obstructionists. His job was to begin the dismantlement of the country's $400 billion public education kitty to help benefit education's private sector. Because it was a "federal law," law-abiding educators had their hands cuffed and their voices silenced. Thinking state superintendents could withstand the pro-privatization department's assaults against their standardized testing and accomplishment measures proved shortsighted. NCLB invasion and occupation of Title 1 K-8 schools with its high-stakes testing measuring sticks and draconian punishments proved unwavering.

Of course, Spellings was not really selected for the job because of her expertise in public education administration, nor background in economics. She had neither. In fairness, like other newly appointed department chiefs, she was chosen to carry out the political victors' ongoing political education privatization agenda. But after the dragged out, knock down pedagogical brawls with her predecessor Paige, educators thought Spellings would provide a breather, and at least bring some needed professionalism back into the department. That too proved to be a pipe dream. "When I first got to the White House I felt completely out of my element…surrounded by Ivy Leaguers. But, I stood and delivered…I did my best," she had told the audience at the Notre Dame Alliance for Catholic Education commencement address in July 2006. In reality, the deck of pro-privatization cards had merely been reshuffled, but with the same high-stakes testing and draconian punishment trump cards were still being played at the table. Spellings only replaced Paige as the department's card dealer. Soon after, the department was charged with "fixing" the deck.

First, it was alleged the Reading First reading program being forced into the Title 1 school classrooms utilized favoritism. Where there's smoke, there's often fire. The federal reading program has a $1 billion per year budget. A recent report issued by Sen. Edward Kennedy (D-Mass.), chairman of the Senate education committee, offered details on financial ties between publishers and officials who implemented the program.
"Kennedy's report focused on how much current or former directors of three regional Reading First technical assistance centers have earned in recent years from the publishers," Washington Post reporter Amit R. Paley wrote in his article May 10. "Douglas Carnine (more than $800,000), Edward Kame'enui (more than $750,000), Joseph Torgesen (more than $50,000) and Sharon Vaughn (more than $1.2 million)." All four denied wrongdoing. "The report is inaccurate, unfair and has no basis in fact," said Lizette D. Benedi, an attorney for Kame'enui. She works for the Education Department as commissioner of the National Center for Special Education Research, reported Paley. Well, working under jurisdiction for the same boss does have its other obligatory duties when called upon. For Kame'enui, he didn't have to write another check.

Soon after the NCLB roof had caved in on Reading First, scandals in the federal college student loan program began surfacing. The page-wide headline on the inside of the New York Times on May 9 read, "Education dept. official who oversaw federal student loan program is resigning." Times reporter Jonathan D. Glater wrote, "Under criticism that it has been lax in policing the $85 billion student loan industry, the Education Department announced yesterday that the chief official responsible for overseeing the loan program was stepping down." Ms. Theresa Shaw was appointed in 2002 by Education Secretary Rod Paige after "22 years in industry, primarily at Sallie Mae, the largest lender," reported Glater. (This was another example of Paige's allegiance to Bush, Inc. bringing in another corporate "fox to guard the hen house.")

"Democrats have asked whether the department has too many people with ties to the industry in senior positions. Ms. Shaw headed an office where another official, Matteo Fontana, was put on paid leave after the disclosure that he had held at least $100,000 in stock in a loan company. He too had worked at Sallie Mae," the Times reporter stated.

Barmak Nassirian of the American Association of College Registrars said the resignation would not end concerns of enforcement. "If this is an attempt to defuse the situation by throwing someone under the train," Mr. Nassirian said, "It is not going to be enough."

In another NYT article May 10 written by Sam Dillon, "Spellings rejects criticism on student loan scandal," he quoted the education secretary testifying before the House education committee, complaining, "The system is redundant, it's Byzantine and it's broken." Really, Margaret? Did you give this information to any committee meetings of the college loan program taking place down the hall? Did you voluntarily testify at any previous House or Senate education committee meetings informing elected officials the student loan system was "redundant, Byzantine and broken?" Not very likely. Only after her department was exposed for its corruptions.

Instead of being a leader, she has been beholden to the corporate greed using her department to feast at the taxpayers' till and parents' hard-earned education savings. It's time to hang the sign on her department of education door: "Out of Order. Sinking ship."

Published May 16, 2007