Thread: Don't be shocked when I tell you this. It takes a lot of people some time to figure it out, and sometimes a little longer to sink in:
College Board is a business.
College Board is a business.
It's a not-for-profit business. But it's a business. Not-for-profit means they don't have owners or stockholders to collect excess revenue as profits.
It's not a charity. That's not what not-for-profit means.
It's not a charity. That's not what not-for-profit means.
Moreover, it's not a government agency.
No one appointed them. No one voted them in. No legislative bodies brought them into being.
Yet it has an outsized role in determining what students get taught.
It affects millions of kids each year. Did you know that?
No one appointed them. No one voted them in. No legislative bodies brought them into being.
Yet it has an outsized role in determining what students get taught.
It affects millions of kids each year. Did you know that?
For a long time, it had an outsized say in who went to college, and where they went to college. The arrogance of the premise--a single test to measure aptitude (first) or content (now) taught in almost 40,000 schools by hundreds of thousands of teachers--should not escape you.
It's a business, not withstanding lofty, perfunctory altruistic mission statements that would suggest otherwise.
It's a business.
David Coleman--architect of Common Core--was hired because he was good for business. CB wanted to align tests and his curriculum.
It's a business.
David Coleman--architect of Common Core--was hired because he was good for business. CB wanted to align tests and his curriculum.
That, my friends, would have been really, really good for business. Alas, fate had other plans, and College Board was stuck doing old-fashioned things to grow business, like undercutting its rival for state business.
It's just business.
It's just business.
As a reminder, Coleman has never (as far as I know) taught a class. Coming back from his Rhodes Scholarship in England with a Master's from Oxford, he could not find a job teaching.
So he went to work for McKinsey. A business to help business be more business-y.
So he went to work for McKinsey. A business to help business be more business-y.
A business will always act to protect itself and its revenue streams, or to grow them when it can. College Board has done this repeatedly in the last ten years.
The examples are too numerous to recount here. And usually, these were not in the best interest of students.
The examples are too numerous to recount here. And usually, these were not in the best interest of students.
College Board is a business. So was Purdue Pharma (advised by McKinsey) when it helped grow the opioid epidemic. So was Johnson & Johnson when it knew baby powder caused cancer. So were the tobacco companies who denied that smoking was unhealthy.
It's what a business does. And College Board is a business.
And now, David Coleman is bad for business. We'll see if the Trustees figure this out.
And now, David Coleman is bad for business. We'll see if the Trustees figure this out.
To recap: College Board is a business (did I mention that?) It serves its own purpose, which is not always best for students. It has incentives to keep the truth from people. It lies to do so, sometimes actively, sometimes passively.
It's time for David Coleman to go, voluntarily or otherwise.
And remember
And remember
Oh, and #EMTalk
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