Feb02
A recent interaction with Michael Josefowicz on twitter made me think of how old some of the components of the two platforms on which American education rested and rests — the Teachers Front Organizations and the Federal-Academic Complex — are. Wikipedia gives some dates:
Federal-Academic Complex
- National Institutes of Health (life-sciences peer-reviewed scientific granting organization in the federal bureaucracy) – 1930
- National Science Foundation (non-life-sciences peer-reviewed scientific granting organization in the federal bureaucracy) – 1950
- Department of Education (arm of federal bureaucracy dedicated to education) – 1980
Teachers Front Organizations
- National Education Association (largest labor union) – 1857
- National Parent Teacher Association (united front group to align interests of parents with teachers) – 1897
- American Federation of Teacher (second largest labor union) – 1916
It is interesting that the oldest pillar of the Federal-Academic Complex is (the NIH, established in 1930) is younger than the youngest pillar of the Teachers Front Organizations (the AFT, established in 1916). Doubtless the many years of monopoly control over education enjoyed by Teachers Front Organizations have contributed to their lack of empathy.
5 Comments
