Uncommon: The Grassroots Movement to Save Our Children and Their Schools

by Kris L. Nielsen

The 21st Century is a time when information is currency and obsolescence is only a matter of time. Race to the Top and Common Core were answers to the corporate call to action for self-preservation. Intent on capitalizing on the customer base we call our public school, these corporate interests have intensified their measures to commodify our children. American corporations have one interest: to dominate the global markets amid challenges and competition that were seen as improbable, until now. The corporate takeover of education is seen as their gold mine, and their best chance at maintaining that dominance. However, there is a fast-growing, grassroots movement at work to protect our kids from being used as pawns in that corporate movement. Kids do not belong in standardized environments with common standards. They are certainly not meant to be used as products or consumers in a global corporate survival experiment. Parents and teachers are joining forces and will continue to fight this takeover, until each child is again recognized as an individual gift and teachers are again regarded as the professionals they are.

298 pages, Paperback

First published August 22, 2013

About the author

Kris L. Nielsen has worked in education for about a decade, and has been a middle grades educator and instructional leader for six years in New Mexico, Oregon, and North Carolina. He is a graduate of Western Governors University's Master of Science Education program, with emphasis on child development and instructional technology.
Kris is an activist against corporate education reform and has had his writing featured in several online magazines and blogs, including those of the Washington Post and Diane Ravitch. He currently blogs at www.atthechalkface.com.
Keep in mind that the blog feeding here is from @ The Chalk Face, where I write. Not all blog posts are written by me or endorsed by me. Look for my name! ;)

Reviews

[Claudia · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another clear, passionate, professional book about the state of public education by a man who's seen it at its worst and best. Kris Nielsen takes the time to connect the dots in the 'reform' movement. He introduces us to the major players, he discusses grassroots efforts to wrest public education from the clutches of corporate raiders, and he encourages his readers to "Get educated, get organized, and get busy!"

Since I've been following Kris and his writing, the enemies list was a cast of characters I, too, am beyond suspicious about: Bill Gates, Broad Foundation, Walton Foundation...Michelle Rhee...creepy folks.

He shows us how Gates' and EXXON's new-found interest in education might (probably IS) be in hopes of flooding the market with low-paid workers who will be so grateful for a job they won't question their 'masters'. He discusses Common Core, and ironically, words he warns us we'll hear other professionals were ones I DID hear, the very day I read his words; "well, it's not the content of CCSS I worry about; it's the implementation. He deftly counters that argument in his chapter, "Baby and Bathwater." His Snickers Bar analogy is spot on...worth the price of the book all by itself...CCSS has no evidence of effectiveness, with or without the testing. It's unproven hunches by non-educators with buckets of money to drown (or try) the dissent.

I look for that moment of recognition of something I didn't know I was seeing in Kris's books. Here's my epiphany in this book: "Strict content standards automatically create a factory model of education!" The very model 'reformers' tell us they're saving us from...the very model they NEED to create their worker-bees.

His professional examination of the CCSS Standards from Kindergarten to HS helped me put the whole of them into perspective. While the Standards are not developmentally appropriate for little ones, drill-and-kill will probably raise TEST SCORES, without increasing understanding...but CCSS won't care. His worry at the high school level is exactly what I saw my last year of teaching: "Standardized learning and same-pace curricula are probably most damaging in secondary levels." Students will lose choices, electives, as the curriculum is further narrowed to 'college-career' readiness. What baloney (MY WORDS).

I appreciated Kris's discussion of the strange bedfellows of Tea Party and Opt Out leaders! Hadn't thought of them as natural allies, but he promises he's worked with both groups and appreciates their stances.

Maybe that's what his book need to teach me. Don't overlook possible allies just because of other differences. Make friends in strange places, and move forward together for the sake of our kids.

I love the materials at the end that will help the reader Get Educated, Get Organized and Get Busy.

I end with my favorite quote: "Jean Piaget and Lev Vygotsky have been replaced by Bill Gates and David Coleman." What a chilling thought. We must get educated, organized, and busy.