May 24th, 2011
|
Author: A handful of billionaires and right-wing think tanks and foundations are pushing school voucher legislation nationwide, with the goal and effect of undermining public education. These schemes funnel huge taxpayer dollars to private schools while taking from public schools roughly an equal amount of dollars.
Think Progress, a progressive policy forum, helps put into context just how awful Gov. Scott Walker’s education priorities truly are, by showing us that Walker is on the leading edge of a suddenly burgeoning right-wing movement nationally that is focused on turning public education into private education.
The site offers up a new survey report, “The Billionaires Who Want to Privatize Our Schools” (link below). The piece mentions Wisconsin Superintendent of Public Instruction Tony Evers’ screed this week against state legislators who “immorally” take funds from public schools to pay for private education.
Think Progress notes that, “Between 1966 and 2000, vouchers were put up for a vote in states 25 times, and voters rejected the program 24 of those times. Yet despite this historic unpopularity, voucher programs are exploding across the United States.”
The report tellingly makes the following, often overlooked double whammy faced by public schools:
“Indeed, it is a stunning statement on Walker’s priorities to have championed nearly $900 million in education cuts in his budget proposal while at the same time proposing a $750 million expansion of the state’s voucher system.”
And what is the right wing’s real agenda here? Improving education, or transforming it into something more user-friendly for economic and political elites? One voice from the right just comes right out and lets slip the underlying goal. From the Think Progress piece:
Joseph Bast, the president and CEO of the Heartland Institute, may’ve explained the real thinking behind vouchers in 2002, saying, “The complete privatization of schooling might be desirable, but this objective is politically impossible for the time being. Vouchers are a type of reform that is possible now, and would put us on the path of further privatization.”
That’s quite obviously also the modus operandi for GOP governors in Pennsylvania, Florida
and elsewhere.
The full Think Progress report, which names names and traces the connection between well-heeled interests and GOP politicians, is at:
http://pr.thinkprogress.org/2011/05/pr20110524/index.html
Post Footer automatically generated by Add Post Footer Plugin for wordpress.
Posted in Uncategorized