The Deep Pockets Behind Education Reform
Betsy DeVos with supporter (Image via Wikipedia)
Zaid Jilani has a long piece up on the deep pockets influencing education reform. Jilani argues that the money being spent by a host of billionaires and education reform philanthropic organizations is having a pernicious influence on the education reform debate, and is leading toward the privatization of public schools.
This rapid expansion of voucher programs — which undermine and undercut public education by funnelling taxpayer money to private schools — is remarkable. After all, vouchers have been unpopular with the American public. Between 1966 and 2000, vouchers were put up for a vote in states 25 times, and voters rejected the program 24 of those times.
Certainly vouchers remain unpopular across the American electorate, as Jilani points out, whereas charters have