We speak with Dr. David C. Bloomfield, Professor of Education Leadership. Law & Policy at Brooklyn College. David Bloomfield condemns the social Darwinism and “hoarding” mentality of our education systems. He explains how school resource allocation exacerbates segregation and inequality, a process deliberately abetted by the proliferation of school districts around the country. Education policy and financing reinforce an us against them view of schools. Until we start thinking of the nation’s children as our collective responsibility, we will continue to seek todeprive “other people’s” children in order to benefit “ours,” thereby impoverishing all of us.
Overview
00:00-01:03 Intros
01:04-02:41 Education as private property or as social good
02:42-03:51 “Educationism”: are failing schools the cause of inequality?
03:52-04:27 Charters and traditional schools fight; “our children” and “other people’s children”
04:28-04:57 Racism and racialization of poverty
04:58-07:10 Race, class; nationalization of education not a solution
07:11-09:08 Teacher unionism; valuing education?
09:09-09:58 Mass education movement?
09:59-13:30 NYC school segregation; “good schools/bad schools” are code for racialized systems; social Darwinism in school admissions;
13:31-15:59 NYC selective high schools; screened schools
16:00-20:34 Restorative justice
20:34-21:33 View of schooling as encompassing all children
21:34-24:06 Class size; concentrations of low-income students—need schools where everyone has a chance
24:07-25:00 Outro
Transcript
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