Michigan: The Shock Doctrine
EducationMar 25, 2011
Michigan Schools facing bankruptcy: The Shock Doctrine at play
More than 150 school districts and charter schools in Michigan are teetering on the edge of going broke, a situation that is likely to get worse under Governor Rick Snyder’s proposed budget cuts of $470 per pupil.
These are the districts that have been so starved of public funds that Snyder’s cuts would put them in a deficit, which is the capitalist plan. They would then join the 43 districts and charters already going bust.
It’s a situation that has mobilized school leaders. They are now testifying in Lansing, writing lawmakers and sending letters to parents. They say that after years of closing schools, laying off staff and slashing programs, there’s little left to cut. Of course they are right. The schools have been starved of funds for decades precisely to lie in wait for the day that the entire system could be collapsed.
The proposed cuts would be “a final blow so