Education

Loving the Alien

by Diane Farsetta — February 4, 2005 - 12:51pm

South Korea's Ministry of Commerce, Industry and Energy is working with the new Corporate Love Council, "to eliminate the public's hostility toward corporations and bolster confidence in enterprises this year." Minister Lee Hee-beom explained, "Anti-corporate sentiment of Korean citizens has reached an alarming level." The Corporate Love Council "was launched by civic groups and business organizations." Its top initiatives are "economy education for youths and educators and the revision of economy textboo

Main Source:

The Korea Times, February 3, 2005

The Best Coverage Money Could Buy

by Diane Farsetta — January 7, 2005 - 2:33pm

The Bush administration paid $240,000 to prominent African-American pundit Armstrong Williams, to "build support among black families for its education reform law," No Child Left Behind, reports USA Today, citing documents obtained through a Freedom of Information Act request.

Main Source:

USA Today, January 7, 2005

Smart ALEC in the Classroom

by Sheldon Rampton — December 29, 2004 - 11:21pm

Topics: Education

The American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC), a corporate-funded conservative advocacy group that specializes in lobbying state legislatures for enactment of favorable legislation, has issued a "2004 Report Card on American Education" that provides an instructive example of the ways that industry-funded organizations manipulate information to reach foreordained conclusions.

ALEC's report, which comes packaged with a glossy clip-art cover showing a pencil, ruler and other classroom implements, was authored by Andrew T. LeFevre, the President of LeFevre Associates, a PR/lobby firm based in northern Virginia. It was edited by Lori Drummer, who heads ALEC's education task force, which is "responsible for overseeing the development of ALEC policy related to education reform and school choice programs" - euphemisms for school privatization, which ALEC advocates.

Hacking Young Minds

by Diane Farsetta — August 12, 2004 - 10:00pm

The Business Software Alliance's "copyright-crusading cartoon ferret" appears in "marketing campaigns to teach kids to be good cybercitizens," and its "antipiracy comic book and teacher's guide" is mailed to grade-school classrooms.

Main Source:

Wired News, August 13, 2004

Reading, Writing and Roundup Ready

by Diane Farsetta — June 22, 2004 - 10:00pm

The agribusiness giant Monsanto will donate $50,000 to the Agriculture in the Classroom (AITC) Consortium. AITC is a "grassroots program coordinated by the United States Department of Agriculture," designed "to help students gain a greater awareness of the role of agriculture ... so that they may become citizens who support wise agricultural policies," according to AITC's website.

Main Source:

Monsanto Company press release, June 23, 2004

Be Careful What You Draw

by Sheldon Rampton — April 26, 2004 - 10:00pm

A 15-year-old boy in Prosser, Washington has been interrogated by the U.S. Secret Service about anti-war drawings he turned in to his art teacher. One drawing depicted President Bush's head on a stick. Another depicted Bush as a devil launching a missile, with a caption reading "End the war - on terrorism." Kevin Cravens, a friend of the boy's family, criticized the Secret Service investigation. "If this 15-year-old kid in Prosser is perceived as a threat to the president, then we are living in '1984,'" Cravens said.

Main Source:

Seattle Times, April 27, 2004

Attack on Academic Freedom

by Sheldon Rampton — November 21, 2003 - 11:56am

With little fanfare and almost no media coverage, Congress recently passed House Resolution 3077, which threatens academic freedom by imposing rules on what professors can and can't teach. HR 3077 focuses in particular on "area studies" (university programs that study international culture and politics in specific regions of the world).

Main Source:

http://www.yaledailynews.com/article.asp?AID=23954

Right Wing Collegians

by Sheldon Rampton — October 26, 2003 - 11:00pm

The student editor of the California Patriot, a right-wing student newspaper at the University of California-Berkeley, claims that conservatives are the true heirs to the university's free speech movement of the 1960s. "The conservatives on Berkeley's campus have employed various strategies in order to insert their views -- whether they're wanted or not -- into campus debates," writes Michael Gaworecki.

Main Source:

Wiretap Magazine, October 27, 2003

Mega PR Firm Plays Role In School Reform

by Laura Miller — July 21, 2003 - 10:00pm

"Civic Progress, a St. Louis-based group made up of the heads of the region's largest corporations, is paying Jay Lawrence, who is co-chairman of Fleishman-Hillard's corporate reputation management unit, to play a behind-the-scenes role in the city school reform effort," O'Dwyer's PR reports. "The St.

Main Source:

O'Dwyer's PR Daily, July 22, 2003

PTA Goes Better With Coke

by Sheldon Rampton — June 20, 2003 - 10:00pm

The venerable Parent-Teachers Association has begun seeking corporate funding partnerships with companies including Coca-Cola Enterprises, Disney Interactive and Microsoft. "I know the PTA may need money, but when they accept money from whomever, it loses its independence," says parent Loretta Pleasant-Jones. "How can a PTA now turn and say, 'We want the Coke machines out of our schools?' "

Main Source:

Washington Post, June 21, 2003