Political Agendas for Education: From the Religious Right to the Green Party, Third Edition

153 Pages·2005·0.92 MB·English

by  Joel H. Spring

Political Agendas for Education
From the Religious Right to the Green Party
Third Edition
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Sociocultural, Political, and Historical Studies in Education
Joel Spring, Editor
Spring The Cultural Transformation of a Native American Family
and Its Tribe 1763–1995
Peshkin Places of Memory: Whiteman’s Schools and Native American
Communities
Nespor Tangled Up in School: Politics, Space, Bodies, and Signs
in the Educational Process
Weinberg Asian-American Education: Historical Background
and Current Realities
Lipka/Mohatt/ Transforming the Culture of Schools:Yu’pikEskimo
TheCiulistetGroup Examples
Benham/Heck Culture and Educational Policy inHawai’i: The Silencing
of Native Voices
Spring Education and the Rise of the Global Economy
Pugach On the Border of Opportunity: Education, Community,
and Language at the U.S.-Mexico Line
Hones/Cha Educating New Americans: Immigrant Lives and Learning
Gabbard, Ed. Knowledge and Power in the Global Economy: Politics
and The Rhetoric of School Reform
Glander Origins of Mass Communications Research During
the American Cold War: Educational Effects and
Contemporary Implications
Nieto, Ed. Puerto Rican Students in U.S. Schools
Benham/Cooper, Eds. Indigenous Educational Models for Contemporary Practice:
In Our Mother’s Voice
Spring The Universal Right to Education: Justification, Definition,
and Guidelines
Peshkin Permissible Advantage?: The Moral Consequences of Elite
Schooling
DeCarvalho Rethinking Family-School Relations: A Critique of Parental
Involvement in Schooling
Borman/Stringfield/ Title I: Compensatory Education at the Crossroads
Slavin, Eds.
Roberts Remaining and Becoming: Cultural Crosscurrents
in an Hispano School
Meyer/Boyd, Eds. Education Between State, Markets, and Civil Society:
Comparative Perspectives
Luke Globalization and Women in Academics: North/West—
South/East
Grant/Lei, Eds. Global Constructions ofMulticulturalEducation: Theories
and Realities
Spring Globalization and Educational Rights: AnIntercivilizational
Analysis
McCarty A Place to Be Navajo: Rough Rock and The Struggle
for Self-Determination in Indigenous Schooling
Hones, Ed. American Dreams, Global Visions:DialogicTeacher
Research with Refugee and Immigrant Families
Benham/Stein, Eds The Renaissance of American Indian Higher Education:
Capturing the Dream
Ogbu Black American Students in an Affluent Suburb: A Study
of Academic Disengagement
Books, Ed. Invisible Children in the Society and Its Schools, Second
Edition
Spring Educating the Consumer-Citizen: A History of the Marriage
of Schools, Advertising, and Media
Hemmings Coming of Age in U.S. High Schools: Economic, Kinship,
Religious, and Political Crosscurrents
Heck Studying Educational and Social Policy: Theoretical
Concepts and Research Methods
Lakes/Carter, Eds. Global Education for Work: Comparative Perspectives
on Gender and the New Economy
Spring How Educational Ideologies are Shaping Global Society:
Intergovernmental Organizations,NGOs, and the Decline
of the Nation-State
Shapiro/Purpel, Eds. Critical Social Issues in American Education: Democracy
and Meaning in a Globalizing World, Third Edition
Books Poverty and Schooling in the U.S.: Contexts and
Consequences
Reagan Non-Western Educational Traditions: Indigenous
Approaches to Educational Thought and Practice, Third
Edition
Bowers/ RethinkingFreire:Globalilzationand the Environmental
Apffel-Marglin, Eds. Crisis
Sidhu Universities and Globalization: To Market, To Market
Spring Political Agendas for Education: From the Religious Right
to the Green Party, Third Edition
Spring Pedagogies ofGlobaliztion: The Rise of the Educational
Security State
Political Agendas for Education
From the Religious Right to the Green Party
Third Edition
Joel Spring
Queens College
City University of New York
LAWRENCE ERLBAUM ASSOCIATES, PUBLISHERS
2005 Mahwah, New Jersey London
This edition published in the Taylor & Francis e-Library, 2008.
“To purchase your own copy of this or any of Taylor & Francis or Routledge’s
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Copyright © 2005 by Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Inc.
Allrightsreserved.Nopartofthisbookmaybereproducedin
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othermeans ,withou tprio rwritte npermissio no fthe
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Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Inc., Publishers
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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Spring, Joel H.
Politicalagendasforeducation:fromthereligiousrighttothe
green party / Joel Spring—3rd ed.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 0-8058-5256-5 (cloth :alk. paper)
ISBN 0-8058-5257-3 (pbk. :alk. paper)
1. Politics and education—United States. 2. Liberal-
ism—UnitedStates.3.Conservatism—UnitedStates.I.Title.
II. Series.
LC89.S663 2005
379.73—dc222005040016
CIP
ISBN 1-4106-1328-3 Master e-book ISBN
Contents
Preface ix
1 Compassionate Conservatism and No Child Left 1
Behind: The Republican Educational Agenda
for the 21st Century
Compassionate Conservatism 3
Compassionate Conservatism and No Child Left Behind 7
The Republican Party and the Christian Coalition 9
Evolution VersusCreationism 14
The Origins of the School Prayer Section of No Child
Left Behind 17
Sex Education and Pornography 21
MulticulturalEducation 23
Liberal Domination of Education and Culture 25
Conclusion 27
2 Neoconservatism and No Child Left Behind: The 28
Republican Educational Agenda for the 21st Century
Free Markets and School Choice 29
Planning an Educational Revolution: The Trickle-Down
Theory of Ideas and No Child Left Behind 31
The Manhattan Institute and George W. Bush’s
Presidency 34
Marketing the Educational Revolution: No Child Left
Behind 39
The Heritage Foundation and the American Enterprise
Institute: Marketing Racism and School Reform 45
vii
viii CONTENTS
Neoconservatives, Business, and Educational Standards 49
Goals 2000: On the Road to No Child Left Behind 52
Standards and Tests: The Politics of Culture 54
For-Profit and Charter Schools 58
Conclusion 62
3 New Democrats and No Child Left Behind 63
The New Democrats 64
The Democratic Road to No Child Left Behind:
Bill Clinton and the New Democrats 68
Reinventing Government and Schools: The Democratic
Road to No Child Left Behind 77
The Democratic Road to No Child Left Behind:
Al Gore and the 2000 Presidential Campaign 80
New Democrats’ Support of No Child Left Behind:
Did George W. Bush Steal Their Agenda? 81
No Child Left Behind, John Kerry, and the 2004
Presidential Campaign 83
Conclusion: Is No Child Left Behind a Political
Pipe Dream? 88
4 What’s Left of the Left? Ralph Nader, the Green Party, 91
the Rainbow Coalition, and the National Organization
for Women
Ralph Nader, Consumerism, and Education 93
Nader’s 2004 Campaign 96
Nader and No Child Left Behind 97
The 2004 Green Party and No Child Left Behind 99
The Rainbow Coalition 102
The National Organization for Women and the Feminist
Majority 106
Conclusion: What’s Left of the Left? 112
5 Putting It Together 114
Notes 117
Author Index 133
Subject Index 137
Preface
The2004presidentialcampaignandNoChildLeftBehindActof2001are
thefocus of this ThirdEdition of Political Agendasfor Education. No Child
Left Behind is a legislative compromise that includes parts of the educa-
tionalagendasofcompassionateconservatives,neoconservatives,andNew
Democrats.Duringthe2004presidentialcampaign,RalphNader’spresi-
dential organization and the Green Party criticized the testing and stan-
dards requirements of the legislation.
Inthisedition,Iwilldiscusstheideologicalperspectiveofeachmajorpo-
liticalgroupandhowitsideologyisrepresentedinNoChildLeftBehind.
Inchapter1,IdiscusstheideologyofRepublicanswhoidentifythemselves
ascompassionateconservativesandhowtheirreligiousagendaappearsin
thelegislation.Chapter2dealswiththeideologyofRepublicansidentified
asneoconservativeandhowtheirfreemarketideasarerepresentedinNo
Child Left Behind. New Democrats, who claim a major responsibility for
thepassageofNoChildLeftBehindandwhosupporttheaccountabilityre-
quirementsofthelegislation,arediscussedinchapter3.Theeducational
agendas and criticisms of No Child Left Behind by Ralph Nader’s 2004
presidentialcampaignorganization,aswellastheGreenParty,theRain-
bow Coalition, and the National Organization of Women are analyzed in
chapter 4. And finally, chapter 5 provides a chart comparing the educa-
tional concerns of each political faction.
ix