Alice Linahan Calls on Parents to Understand Social Impact Bonds

Alice Linahan was a mom who got fired up when she realized the deficiencies in her children’s education. This sent her on an 11-year journey of research that unearthed a shift away from academics, towards an emotional learning model. Upon close inspection, what is going on in our public schools across the board in Texas and nationwide, is a freight train Host Lynn Davenport is warning us about. 

Are math software programs in place to teach our kids math, or to monetize their scores for expected outcomes investors are looking for? Interestingly enough, investors are making money on their scores, and they are gambling with unproven methodologies that aren’t geared towards critical thinking, but general outcomes. Why?

Most parents agree, our children do not seem to be learning critical thinking skills that help them solve problems, but rather, critical thinking that questions the framework of their life.

Within this shift away from a focus on reading, writing, math, and history, to formative assessments that monitor children through every click, data is collected and sold, and behavioral based programs are not developmentally appropriate. Listen in to learn why. 

All children are being put in a box, and if they don’t make the box, they are being tagged. None of these programs have been piloted or proven successful. Truthfully, if they ever fixed the problem, they’d be out of business. Data is put into algorithms, an outcome written into code, and investors profit off the manipulated data. 

Alice and Lynn are working with other parents, scouring and exposing the blueprints in place that are training our youth to be commodities, instead of lighting the potential inside them the way parents expect. 

What is the social impact of this? In the past, you went to school and had a great foundation and you were free to go on to the next levels of your education and life. Now, the past dictates your future, and you can’t get a good job if you can’t write or have basic communication skills, without a foundation. The social impact bond market is about equalizing our children and putting them into a box so they can be tracked. The economic future of the United States will be impacted in ways we can’t imagine. 

The laws passed at the federal and state level have locked in place a system no longer working towards being economically successful, but collecting data and tracing outcomes that are not related to academics.  

What do we do? It boils down to local, and local means, in your own home. Listen in to learn how to ask the right questions and start taking a proactive approach to your child’s education. 

Alice Linahan is the VP of Women on the Wall, and a member of Voices In Power. Women on The Wall is a research group focused on immigration, national security, and education, and how they intersect. 

Lynn Davenport is a researcher and subject matter expert on Ed-Tech, a sought-after expert opinion regularly addressing city councils, school boards, and fighting for responsible education legislation in Austin. Reach Lynn at 214-673-4018.