Sections:

Article

The University of Chicago should be ashamed... Geoffrey Canada is no Dr. King

Last Thursday, January 12, 2012, Superman himself landed in Chicago. Geoffrey Canada is the founder of the Harlem Children’s Zone (HCZ) in New York City, star of the pro-charter, edu-documentary "Waiting for Superman", and guest on shows like 60 minutes, NBC’s Education Nation, CNN, and even Oprah (before she left the airwaves). Canada gave the keynote address to a group of hundreds in Rockefeller Chapel at the University of Chicago as part of an event celebrating Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr..

Harlem Children's Zone CEO Geoffrey Canada (above, second from left) has parlayed his narrative into a lucrative career attacking public education, unions, and public school teachers on behalf of corporate America and its leaders. Above, Canada stands with billionaire Bill Gates (left) and the producers of the teacher bashing movie "Waiting for Superman" in Toronto in October 2010. Canada was a charismatic speaker who had the audience laughing and nodding along for much of his address. He spoke of himself as a “social justice guy” who is convinced that “if our country continues to treat the children of this country the way we do, we will destroy this country.” He angrily cited statistics about how America incarcerates more people than any other country on the planet, disproportionately affecting Black and Latino youth. He spoke out against food companies that contribute to the poor health of our nation’s children in the name of profit. “Seventy-five percent of kids in the U.S. do not qualify for the military,” he said, due to being so overweight and out of shape they cannot pass the military entrance requirements. He stormed on about how “children are vessels for commerce” as companies sell them soda and food so bad for them they have become physically ill.

Canada touched upon the growing poverty which crushes families. And he said he knew that the politicians and business leaders were not going to help. He joked about how presidents and leaders from around the globe had come to him personally to ask, “Geoffrey, what can we do to fix these problems?” He told the audience in a moment of seriousness, “They don’t have an answer. “

And so, he said, he decided to start the Harlem Children’s Zone, a 100-block zone in Harlem which aims to combat the poverty which stifles that neighborhood. The zone, according to the website, brings “a range of support services to a single block. The idea was to address all the problems that poor families were facing: from crumbling apartments to failing schools, from violent crime to chronic health problems.”

Canada spoke powerfully on many of the very real obstacles standing in the way of success for too many of our nation’s youth and their families. He lamented about the corporate greed which has created these problems by preying on the children.

And then he started to talk about education.

For some inexplicable reason, the same man who railed against corporate greed making kids overweight and throwing them into the lucrative prison system sees no problem joining profit-mongering corporate education reformers. Canada fully embraces the market-based, semi-private charter school model. Canada’s string of charter schools in NYC takes public money in combination with the many millions Canada raises from the rich and powerful. A bona-fide 1%er himself, Canada justified his wealth saying in order to raise funds he needed to “do what rich people do” and “hang out with rich people”.

He has allowed the worship of test scores to run his schools as they are the prime marketing tool to collect more revenue (and by revenue, I mean students). In order to get those stellar test scores, the HCZ Promise Academies, like so many other charter schools, place a strong emphasis on test prep and skill building and push poorer-performing children out of their schools.

In fact, the very first cohort of children coming through the middle school had such poor scores that the board decided to kick them all out. The HCZ advertises its schools all over the city, unlike the neighborhood schools which do not have the funds to “compete” this way. His schools spend nearly three times as much per-pupil as the nearby neighborhood school, yet he unabashedly claims it is the great teaching alone which makes all the difference, again as a way to market the schools.

The schools are sometimes co-located with neighborhood schools and HCZ flaunts their new books, new computers, and small class sizes in front of the kids who were not “chosen” and have nothing. In addition, they take on fewer of the hardest to educate (and therefore most expensive) students like children with special needs and English Language learners as they simultaneously take away public funding from those neighborhood school kids who need it the most. I believe Dr. King spoke about equality for ALL, not the few picked to receive extra funding and resources by some lottery.

Canada points out the embarrassing incarceration rates among Black and Latino males and then chooses to run his schools like tiny prisons with little room for creativity, play, or the home culture of its students. They sometimes have up to five adults in one classroom, thanks to the extra revenue they receive from outside sources. The philanthropy that supports his schools is collected in part by his charisma and connections, a model which is neither sustainable nor replicable for other schools to follow.

His non-unionized labor force experience poorer working conditions and often lower wages as he burns through staff at a far higher attrition rate than nearby neighborhood schools. From the very pulpit Dr. King himself once stood, a man who was a staunch supporter of unions and labor rights, Geoffrey Canada began his favorite, well-rehearsed rant on teachers and their unions. He roared about “accountability” saying “Teachers, if you can’t teach, you should get another job” prompting one of the biggest applause lines of the night.

After pointing out all the troubles ailing children including poverty, sickness, and exploitation by the rich and powerful, he unapologetically talked about the adults “making excuses” for failure, but only in reference to teachers! He never once mentions his rich, corporate friends and donors when talking about education. The well-documented unequal school funding systems, especially at the state and local levels, were not discussed once.

Geoffrey Canada has allied himself with the nation's anti-union corporate leaders and with some of the most reactionary political and cultural leaders of the 21st Century. Above, Canada with New Jersey Governor Chris Christie.While he pours money into his schools, he refused to acknowledge the role money plays in education. According to Canada, teachers and teachers alone are the problem.

Oh, and in education, corporations are our friends.

While the HCZ has provided real relief for many families living in dire conditions, an action which should be applauded, I cannot reconcile this noble mission with the use of the corporate-backed charter school model. Even the NAACP has released a statement rejecting charter schools. Canada’s distain for unions, the abuse of his non-unionized work force, his justification of raising funds for some children at the expense of others, his decision to treat children like prisoners with rigid “zero tolerance” discipline policies, and his alignment with the very corporate forces who would destroy public education and its promise of equitable free quality education for all, are all in direct opposition to what Dr. King actually preached.

The University of Chicago should be ashamed to hold an event like this in the name of Dr. King. Then again, perhaps it was fitting having the poster boy of corporate education reform speak at the very University which birthed many of the most destructive neoliberal policies decimating first our economy and now our education system. Superman, your type of saving is not wanted in Chicago.

[Editor's Note: We are still waiting to get a copy of the video of Canada's University of Chicago speech. But Geoffrey Canada has a kind of stump speech that you can hear anytime he is speaking, and much of the report above summarizes it. Basically, the speech involves an old salesman's trick. Identify a problem and then "solve" it with your product. Geoffrey Canada is solving the problems of segregation and unequal education of the 1950s and 1960s by ignoring the real problems of the 2000s and 2010s — and by attacking teachers and unions and pushing corporations and privatization. One of the best videos that give Canada at his peak was made in July 2010 during the "Aspen Ideas Festival" (the same event that featured Jonah Edelman bragging about how Stand for Children outfoxed and outspent the Chicago Teachers Union during the fight over SB 7 in the Illinois legislature). Canada and Roland Fryer, a professor of economics at Harvard University, did a panel that last almost an hour, and it's as quick a way as any to get the same information Canada presented at the University of Chicago in January 2012. The URL is: http://www.good.is/post/geoffrey-canada-some-teachers-can-t-teach/].



Comments:

August 10, 2023 at 11:10 PM

By: ypsqdgjq

cvs pharmacy application online 371 mg

walmart online pharmacy : online pharmacy reviews indian pharmacy online

August 11, 2023 at 6:57 AM

By: prfizvoz

online pharmacy review 447 mg

online pharmacies mexica : mexican online pharmacy reviews walgreens online pharmacy

August 11, 2023 at 2:51 PM

By: hzpbizsz

online pharmacy india 99 mg

trusted online pharmacy reviews : online pharmacy india online pharmacy xanax

August 11, 2023 at 8:17 PM

By: ficchzwv

online pharmacy adderall 476 mg

xanax online pharmacy : online pharmacy viagra online pharmacy tramadol

August 12, 2023 at 1:44 PM

By: Michaelmob

us pharmacy online 245 mg

online pharmacy : viagra online pharmacy cvs pharmacy application online

August 13, 2023 at 8:24 AM

By: RandyDiz

mexican online pharmacy 229 mg

Hi there! best mexican online pharmacy good site.

August 13, 2023 at 12:10 PM

By: RandyDiz

online pharmacy oxycontin 295 mg

Hi there! legit online pharmacy excellent site.

August 13, 2023 at 4:04 PM

By: RandyDiz

online pharmacy reviews 229 mg

Hello! online pharmacy school excellent web site.

August 13, 2023 at 10:30 PM

By: PhillipJof

treatments for ed 430 mg

Hello there! best pills for ed great website.

August 14, 2023 at 2:27 AM

By: PhillipJof

cheap erectile dysfunction pills 134 mg

Hi there! how to cure ed great website.

August 14, 2023 at 6:28 AM

By: PhillipJof

ed pills gnc 363 mg

Hello! best ed pills online good website.

August 14, 2023 at 10:53 AM

By: PhillipJof

medicine for erectile 494 mg

Hello! top rated ed pills excellent web page.

August 14, 2023 at 3:48 PM

By: PhillipJof

ed drugs compared 498 mg

Hello there! ed drugs compared great web page.

August 14, 2023 at 7:44 PM

By: PhillipJof

what is the best ed pill 237 mg

Hello! medicine for impotence very good site.

August 15, 2023 at 12:47 AM

By: Charlesmib

top rated online canadian pharmacies 233 mg

Hello! canadian pharcharmy online very good website.

gdw

August 15, 2023 at 4:48 AM

By: Charlesmib

pharmacy without dr prescriptions 94 mg

Hello there! canadian pharmacy onli good web page.

cuh

August 15, 2023 at 8:45 AM

By: Charlesmib

top rated canadian ph 124 mg

Hello! top 10 mail order pharmacies excellent website.

rxm

August 15, 2023 at 12:34 PM

By: Charlesmib

canadian pharmacies shipping to usa 163 mg

Howdy! mexican pharmacies shipping to usa very good web site.

jlq

August 15, 2023 at 4:37 PM

By: Charlesmib

canadian pharmary without prescription 222 mg

Hi! pharcharmy online no precipitation very good website.

zmp

August 15, 2023 at 8:31 PM

By: Charlesmib

best online pharmacy 405 mg

Hello! buy prescription drugs without doctor great website.

bsf

August 16, 2023 at 12:37 AM

By: Charlesmib

canadian pharmacies top best 384 mg

Hi there! buying prescription drugs canada good internet site.

leu

August 16, 2023 at 4:32 AM

By: Charlesmib

most reliable canadian pharmacies 302 mg

Hi there! prescription without a doctors prescription good web page.

jsd

August 16, 2023 at 8:31 AM

By: Charlesmib

highest rated canadian pharmacies 478 mg

Hi! canadian pharmacy good internet site.

qel

August 16, 2023 at 12:32 PM

By: Charlesmib

top rated online canadian pharmacies 494 mg

Hello! canada pharmacies wit excellent web site.

peg

August 16, 2023 at 4:42 PM

By: Charlesmib

best mail order pharmacies 198 mg

Hi! no 1 canadian pharcharmy online great site.

pdx

August 16, 2023 at 8:35 PM

By: Delmartag

online pharmacy programs 157 mg

Hello there! non prescription pharmacy good web site.

acp

August 17, 2023 at 12:39 AM

By: Delmartag

safe online pharmacy 91 mg

Hello! no prescription online pharmacy beneficial site.

coc

August 17, 2023 at 9:26 AM

By: Delmartag

costco online pharmacy prices 500 mg

Howdy! pharmacy tech school online beneficial site.

yiw

August 17, 2023 at 3:30 PM

By: Delmartag

universal online pharmacy 285 mg

Hello there! cvs pharmacy online application great internet site.

bqh

August 17, 2023 at 10:50 PM

By: Careywem

online pharmacy 332 mg

Hello there! Cheap Prescription Drugs excellent website.

qhm

August 18, 2023 at 4:39 AM

By: Careywem

costco pharmacy online 269 mg

Hello! canada pharmacy no prescription excellent web page.

ruw

August 18, 2023 at 10:44 AM

By: Careywem

online pharmacy no prescription needed 367 mg

Hi there! online pharmacies canada very good web page.

sze

August 18, 2023 at 4:43 PM

By: Careywem

cialis online pharmacy 128 mg

Hi! online pharmacy canada good web site.

cgo

August 19, 2023 at 2:46 AM

By: Jessemet

lasix 40 mg 68 mg

Hi there! buy lasix no prescription good web site.

lev

August 19, 2023 at 8:43 AM

By: Jessemet

lasix 438 mg

Hi! buy furosemide pills very good internet site.

rkb

August 19, 2023 at 2:39 PM

By: Jessemet

buy lasix 79 mg

Howdy! buy lasix online without prescription beneficial site.

rmz

August 19, 2023 at 7:50 PM

By: Jessemet

buy lasix pills online 253 mg

Hello there! buy furosemide good website.

ild

August 20, 2023 at 1:12 AM

By: Jessemet

furosemide 107 mg

Howdy! lasix generic good site.

vep

August 20, 2023 at 6:44 AM

By: Jessemet

buy generic lasix 327 mg

Howdy! buy lasix no prescription good website.

bub

August 20, 2023 at 12:22 PM

By: Jessemet

buy furosemide online 255 mg

Howdy! buy lasix online very good web page.

lmy

August 20, 2023 at 5:47 PM

By: Jessemet

buy lasix online 430 mg

Howdy! buy generic lasix very good site.

mrt

August 20, 2023 at 11:20 PM

By: Jessemet

buy lasix no prescription 133 mg

Hello there! buy lasix pills online beneficial web site.

bmy

August 21, 2023 at 4:46 AM

By: Jessemet

buy generic lasix 88 mg

Howdy! buy lasix no prescription good internet site.

gyh

August 21, 2023 at 10:22 AM

By: Jessemet

furosemide 186 mg

Hello there! buy lasix usa beneficial website.

sqz

August 25, 2023 at 2:23 AM

By: Russellneent

best erectile dysfunction pills 175 mg

Hi! best ed pills at gnc excellent web site.

gau

August 25, 2023 at 7:28 AM

By: Russellneent

top ed drugs 236 mg

Hello there! best drug for ed good site.

vkx

August 25, 2023 at 12:30 PM

By: Russellneent

top ed pills 456 mg

Hi! buy erection pills good site.

npr

August 25, 2023 at 6:12 PM

By: Russellneent

ed treatments 76 mg

Hi there! online ed medications great web site.

qbo

September 12, 2023 at 3:14 AM

By: JosephSoize

where buy propecia 281 mg

buy propecia with no prescription : buy propecia pills online buy propecia pills online

September 12, 2023 at 10:49 AM

By: JosephSoize

buy propecia usa 76 mg

buy finasteride : where buy propecia buy finasteride

September 12, 2023 at 5:00 PM

By: JosephSoize

buy propecia pills online 97 mg

buy propecia with no prescription : where buy propecia buy propecia

September 12, 2023 at 9:16 PM

By: JosephSoize

buy propecia pills 461 mg

buy propecia pills : purchase propecia buy propecia pills

September 13, 2023 at 1:22 PM

By: JosephSoize

propecia 113 mg

buy propecia medication : buy finasteride pills buy propecia cheap

September 13, 2023 at 11:15 PM

By: Thomasbex

buy propecia no prescription 472 mg

Hi there! purchase finasteride great web page.

uyy

September 14, 2023 at 3:28 AM

By: Thomasbex

purchase propecia online no prescription 352 mg

Hi there! purchase propecia online no prescription great site.

mkw

September 14, 2023 at 10:55 AM

By: Thomasbex

buy propecia no rx 298 mg

Hi! order finasteride beneficial web site.

nwg

September 14, 2023 at 3:34 PM

By: Thomasbex

buy propecia no rx 495 mg

Hello there! buy propecia cheap excellent web page.

rml

September 15, 2023 at 10:07 AM

By: Thomasbex

buy sildalis with no prescription 101 mg

Hello! buy sildalis 25 mg good web page.

luq

September 15, 2023 at 3:04 PM

By: Thomasbex

sildalis online 406 mg

Howdy! purchase sildalis online no prescription good internet site.

ksu

September 15, 2023 at 7:38 PM

By: Thomasbex

buy sildenafil no prescription 37 mg

Howdy! buy sildalis 25 mg beneficial website.

ssh

Add your own comment (all fields are necessary)

Substance readers:

You must give your first name and last name under "Name" when you post a comment at substancenews.net. We are not operating a blog and do not allow anonymous or pseudonymous comments. Our readers deserve to know who is commenting, just as they deserve to know the source of our news reports and analysis.

Please respect this, and also provide us with an accurate e-mail address.

Thank you,

The Editors of Substance

Your Name

Your Email

What's your comment about?

Your Comment

Please answer this to prove you're not a robot:

5 + 4 =