Has Big Tech Captured America's Schools? (linkedin.com) 42
America's public education system has become "an avenue for multitrillion-dollar companies to enact their agendas," argues a NewYork Times reporter who's covered that tech industry influence for over 10 years. Big tech companies "advocate for new laws to require schools to teach industry-aligned subjects. They sit on committees that help shape learning standards for public school students..."
The reporter concludes that "Silicon Valley's efforts to capture the attention of education professionals and provide student training materials can also double as marketing or indoctrination." They enable some of the most powerful corporations on the planet to spin rosy technology stories for administrators, teachers and students, giving them a sanitized view of industry practices and product risks. Many parents would likely object if, say, Exxon Mobil wrote their children's environmental science curriculum. Or if Purdue Pharma trained their children's biology teachers. Yet, over the last decade, schools have often embraced the technology industry in similar ways with few questions asked.
The article excerpts the soon-to-be-released book " Coding Kids: Big Tech's Battle to Remake Public Schools," with the reporter adding more thoughts on LinkedIn: Every few years, Silicon Valley has urged American public schools to quickly adopt the latest technology or teach the latest tech subject: Big Data analytics; laptops for every child; algorithm-driven math and reading apps; compter programming; virtual reality. And each time the urgent arguments sounded remarkably similar: if schools just adopted the latest tech tool, or taught the latest tech subject, it would democratize learning for every child and equip students with valuable career skills.
Despite good intentions, "today we know some of those classroom tech drives did not exactly pan out as advertised." Now some of the same companies that urged schools to provide laptops and coding lessons are employing similar arguments to urge schools to quickly adopt A.I. tools. I've spent years covering Chromebooks and student chatbot use. And I'm troubled by our collective amnesia around school tech.
Thanks to long-time Slashdot reader theodp for sharing the article.
The reporter concludes that "Silicon Valley's efforts to capture the attention of education professionals and provide student training materials can also double as marketing or indoctrination." They enable some of the most powerful corporations on the planet to spin rosy technology stories for administrators, teachers and students, giving them a sanitized view of industry practices and product risks. Many parents would likely object if, say, Exxon Mobil wrote their children's environmental science curriculum. Or if Purdue Pharma trained their children's biology teachers. Yet, over the last decade, schools have often embraced the technology industry in similar ways with few questions asked.
The article excerpts the soon-to-be-released book " Coding Kids: Big Tech's Battle to Remake Public Schools," with the reporter adding more thoughts on LinkedIn: Every few years, Silicon Valley has urged American public schools to quickly adopt the latest technology or teach the latest tech subject: Big Data analytics; laptops for every child; algorithm-driven math and reading apps; compter programming; virtual reality. And each time the urgent arguments sounded remarkably similar: if schools just adopted the latest tech tool, or taught the latest tech subject, it would democratize learning for every child and equip students with valuable career skills.
Despite good intentions, "today we know some of those classroom tech drives did not exactly pan out as advertised." Now some of the same companies that urged schools to provide laptops and coding lessons are employing similar arguments to urge schools to quickly adopt A.I. tools. I've spent years covering Chromebooks and student chatbot use. And I'm troubled by our collective amnesia around school tech.
Thanks to long-time Slashdot reader theodp for sharing the article.
Here's the reality (Score:5, Insightful)
The reality is that the US has never really cared about making public education good, at least not in a long time.
The politicians under-fund public education and talk trash about teachers (while definitely sending their kids to private schools) leaving the public system ripe for exploitation by corporations that promise money and shiny things.
Re: (Score:2)
Indeed. Instead the US depends on importing scientists and engineers and there only ones that basically agree with the system and ones that keep quiet will come. I guess that has not changed, but the numbers are going down drastically now. Well.
Re: (Score:3)
You just made a great argument for medicare for all. Excluding salaries, benefits is the biggest expense of nearly every employer.
Re: (Score:3)
Well, basically all of the 1st world has that figured out. One may even say all of it has that and the US only qualifies as 2nd world because it is so extremely behind in this important aspect.
Re: (Score:2)
It is a sign that you have to push this slop as an AC
The implementation of the public school system is left to state level politicians.
Arizona's universal Empowerment Scholarship Account (ESA) voucher program costs taxpayers roughly $1 billion a year, while public charter schools receive about $2.09 billion annually through the state funding formula.
This has been crammed down our throats by right wing politicians who get elected in the sticks, but push their political agenda in the large urban populations
We
Re: (Score:2)
Arizona's problem is a shitty education system. If you want a decent education you must go outside the public school system. It is sad that the state chooses NOT to fund education, and they get away with it. Arizona is not a really good example, they don't fund the prison system or pay for prison Doctors either.
As for corp's getting involved...it is about time. Industry needs to help direct the needed education topics, and put up some $$$$, they are the primary benefactors.
Re: (Score:2)
Arizona's problem is an underfunded public education system due to billions of dollars being bled out to charter schools
Re: (Score:2)
The Arizona education system was crap prior to the charter school issue. The state republican's seem to think that 48th as a state is a good number all around. All expenditures in Arizona go through the legislature regardless of what the statue said. So the school funds get shorted by those @%$@#^%@...
Re: (Score:2)
Cops are not allowed Unions. They have associations but they are not mandatory, and they are not allowed to strike. Reality shows blue flu happens but in small amounts.
Re: (Score:3)
Re: Here's the reality (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
Around the time my class graduated, everyone thought a degree in computer whatever was the way to go... so we ended up with about half of the 3 million that graduated going for computer whatever degrees... low and behold, there weren't that many computer whatever jobs available.
This generation will have the same issue, although exacerbated by losing jobs to AI and entry-level job requirements being moved to a higher goal post.
The move to do all schooling online only guarantees that kids don't even need to k
Like Macs back in the early 2000s (Score:5, Informative)
Re: (Score:3)
Re: (Score:2)
Billionaires (Score:5, Insightful)
Peter thiel and Elon Musk want a remake human civilization in their image and they're both absolutely fucking crazy and we all know it. But because they're kind of weird looking us nerds have a sort of kinship with them as the guys who made good. Kind of like how the Italian mob shows up at your business and breaks everything and makes you pay protection money but you're still looking up to the Don. Only much much stupider because both of those men are idiots who just blundered into a bunch of money
Re: (Score:2)
I never felt any kinship for Musk and it was clear to me from the beginning that Thiel is an enemy of freedom and Science. These days I just think of them as the Space Nazi and the rich cultist. Not good people. And not smart people either. "Blundered into a bunch of money" describes it well.
Yes and kids privacy is dead (Score:5, Informative)
Not the problem you think it is (Score:5, Insightful)
I grew up in a state where Honeywell, Motorola, Intel, Allied Signal and a thousand supporting tech companies were based, and you know damn well that there was a great effort to educate people to fill positions at those companies, with early identification of IQ in grade school, alignment with college degrees in High School and industry sponsored technical majors in college.
That is nothing new
The intrusion of political indoctrination into the public school system IS a continuing problem
This is exacerbated with local school boards acting at the launching point for political careers, and an inherent distrust between those politicians and the union supported educators who largely want to educate children while suffering under continuing low wages, while the politicians push for defunding education though charter school allowances
It is a shitshow that is prevented from training students to question the propaganda that the tv spews at them and apply critical thinking to the simple solutions that politicians push
Re: (Score:1)
The low wages argument doesn't really follow:
"The average ENTRY LEVEL TEACHER SALARY in the Washington, as of August 2026, is $29.24 an hour or $60818 per year. "
https://www.ziprecruiter.com/S... [ziprecruiter.com]
Local employers do influence the local schools, no argument there. I grew up near a paper mill town. Shop classes for boys were very important. What little interest there was in pushing students toward higher education was reserved for the girls to make the next batch of teachers and nurses.
The general principle is
Re:Not the problem you think it is (Score:5, Insightful)
Where I live, the numbers are different, and they don't meet basic cost of living
AI Says:
The average entry-level teacher salary in Phoenix, Arizona, ranges from roughly $44,000 to $46,250 per year, though urban district starting pay can edge higher depending on education and credentials.
Salary vs. Cost of Living
Starting Pay: Data from the National Education Association puts Arizona's average starting teacher pay around $44,886, while localized figures for a first-year teacher in Phoenix average about $46,259.
Living Wage Gap: Estimates for a single adult's minimum living wage in Arizona (covering basic baseline needs) range from $66,744 to over $71,277, meaning a single entry-level income falls significantly short of these basic thresholds without a dual-income household or roommates.
Professional Pay Gap: Arizona educators earn roughly 67 cents for every dollar made by peers in other college-educated professions. While Arizona features a lower overall cost of living than coastal states, rapid housing and living cost inflation in the Phoenix metro area has outpaced starting salary growth.
You are relying on an outlier value (Washington State), not including cost of living and seeking to sway through emotion rather than logic
In fact you are a perfect example of the FAILINGS of our educational system
Since 1700s (Score:3)
Our main learning style ( lecture with notes taking) education system was originally designed in Britain to ready children for factory jobs.
Alternatives concepts such as question asking (Socratic), student debate, and student presenting were considered but rejected.
They wanted:
master/servant relationship aka obedience
less creativity
larger classes
Invoking Betteridge to make a thing not true (Score:2)
is about as effective as washing your car to make it rain.
the universe knows what you're up to and it won't work.
Maybe? (Score:2)
Just ask this Scientician (Score:2)
COVID made Zoom and Google Classroom (Score:4, Insightful)
Zoom has turned into the app that wants to do everything.
Google Classroom is a rubber band ball of stuff tacked on to a bare bones concept of what happens in a classroom. It has a single instance, no beta, no backup. It does not allow exporting to a common format. It uses a single porthole view which cripples the ability to power rate lesson plans and differentiate in a useful manner. And it is made by an advertising and data capture company.
Sure, but what about the rest of the war industry? (Score:2)
Re: Sure, but what about the rest of the war indus (Score:2)
Girl scout cookies are made with child slave labor palm oil and chocolate. Nothing makes more sense than that they get funding from the baby killing industry.
Re: (Score:2)
Companies didn't used to be literally everywhere (Score:2, Insightful)
Hey kinds, you might be surprised, but movies and TV didn't used to be made by tech companies.
Hey kinds, you might be surprised, but books and learning material didn't sued to be made by tech companies.
Hey kinds, you might be surprised, but all communication didn't used to go through tech companies.
Hey kinds, you might be surprised, but people didn't used to pay with credit through a tech company.
Hey kinds, you might be surprised, but you used to be able to ride public transit and browse menus at a restaura
Well duh! (Score:4, Informative)
I've been warning about this since I first heard about Microsoft and other tech giants involved in setting school curricula, discounting or giving away computers for schools, etc. So have many, many others. The broligarchs co-opting real education in favour of job training in order to provide themselves with cheap and plentiful wage slaves was trivially predictable, and oft predicted.
As for training materials which "double as marketing or indoctrination": Again, Duh! Anybody who seems at all surprised about this is either extremely gullible or baldly disingenuous.
Who knew: Big Tech pushes own agenda (Score:2)
YES (Score:1)
They're simply doing what big companies do (Score:2)
They are filling in the gaps where they see profits to be made.
Can't say I agree with it but, since the Government ( at all levels ) are failing the education
system in this Country, I suppose it doesn't come as a surprise to me. As a result, the
system is at the mercies of those who provide the means.
The Government will never fix the failing education system because they have zero interest
in a population who is educated beyond the basics. After all, a dumbed down population is far
easier to control than one w
"Free yourself of the labor tax...." (Score:2)