Duncan Seeks Cheap Conversions
Major Barbara seeking converts in the 1941 film.
In George Bernard Shaw’s play Major Barbara, a munitions factory owner chides his daughter regarding her work in the Salvation Army, telling her, “It is cheap work converting starving men with a Bible in one hand and a slice of bread in the other.” Federal education policies in times of deep budget cuts at the state level strikes me as an attempt at cheap conversions. That they also seem to disregard teacher voice adds insult to injury.
Obviously it’s a more complex situation than the one presented in Shaw’s play, and there are many stakeholders