Will Public Education in Philadelphia Die?
I hope you read my Education Week blog “Bridging Differences” today. It’s here: http://blogs.edweek.org/edweek/Bridging-Differences/2012/05/privatizing_public_education_i.html.
The Philadelphia plan is the lastest manifestation of the idea that the best way to educate kids is to hand them over to private entrepreneurs. It is au courant and wrong. The drive for privatization is driven by multiple ideologies.
One is contempt for government, which is found among uber conservatives who believe that government can do nothing right.
Second is a belief in the magic of the marketplace; this translates into a blind faith in the “portfolio” model, wherein school boards are supposed to open and close schools as if each one was a stock, making money or losing money.
Third is an ideology that begins with the claim that American schools are a massive failure, so anything at all is better than public education. This belief in failure justifies the most wild-eyed and irresponsible experimentation.
The Philadelphia plan is the lastest manifestation of the idea that the best way to educate kids is to hand them over to private entrepreneurs. It is au courant and wrong. The drive for privatization is driven by multiple ideologies.
One is contempt for government, which is found among uber conservatives who believe that government can do nothing right.
Second is a belief in the magic of the marketplace; this translates into a blind faith in the “portfolio” model, wherein school boards are supposed to open and close schools as if each one was a stock, making money or losing money.
Third is an ideology that begins with the claim that American schools are a massive failure, so anything at all is better than public education. This belief in failure justifies the most wild-eyed and irresponsible experimentation.