WebLog 3: Apple Chapter 2

According to Apple, the following are the major tensions surrounding education in the US as it moves in conservative directions.  Along with his listed tensions are my interpretations about why they may be tensions as well as what I would add to these tensions. 

1. Stress on higher standards, more rigorous testing: tensions that stem from the neoconservative agenda to reinstate a comon culture in the US that operates as efficiently as possible.  Reality tells us that there are many students that are disabled, not proficient in the English language, and/or poor standardized test takers for a variety of reasons (test bias, test anxiety, do not know the information, etc.).  Thus, if students are not able to pass these tests, then they are marked as unequipped, further suggesting the incompetence of our system of education in this country. Furthermore, Apple mentions the professional and managerial new middle class that is responsible for the technology that operates the rigorous testing, and because they provide the technical support, their jobs are on the line if these tests are no longer, which creates another tension.
   
2. Education for employment: a tension because it does not allow for a well-rounded education but rather education for a specific job.  Students may miss out on valuable experiences and information that would be important for them to have as a person not only for the purposes of their job.  This stems from neoliberalism and its ideology to make schools like a factory that produce workers that know how to compete efficiently and effectively.
   
3. Closer relationship between education and the economy in general: a tension that suggests schools are to be run like businesses or private corporations in order to succeed in creating efficient competitors.  This idea may remove the care for the individual and his or her intellectual development.  Additionally, something I would add to this point is the way in which schools receive their funding .  The wealthier communities have more money to put into their schools, thus guaranteeing better means to a potentially better education whereas communities with lower wealth suffer from lack of resources, ultimately hurting the quality of education.
   
4. Losing in international competition and the loss of jobs and money to Japan, Mexico, China: comes from the neoliberal stress on efficiency and competition.  The pressure of creating fierce competitors out of our students could be a headache for schools because it jeopardizes what is deemed "important" enough to make it into the set curriculum, and something important could be left out.
   
5. Pressure to reinstall the vision of a common culture in the US to place more emphasis on English, "Western tradition," patriotism, conservative variants of character education, and religion: a tension stemming from the neoconservative ideology.  According to Apple, this agenda is problematic because it ignores the groups that compose the American population.  With a stress on conformity to one "Western" way, the students and citizens are at risk of losing their freedom to be individuals so that the economy can operate more efficiently.  The potential sacrifice of personal liberty creates a tension here.