Are Education "Reformers" Becoming Privatizers?
Quite a few "liberal" education reformers ought to be doing a bit of soul searching these days, as their movement seems to be veering into territory previously occupied by segregationists and anti-union business and political leaders. Diane Ravitch has begun calling people whom we used to know as "education reformers" by the more loaded term "privatizers."
In California, we are seeing where this path is leading some of our state's most prominent "liberal" politicians, and it is not pretty. The former state senate Democratic majority leader, Gloria Romero, has become the "face" of Proposition 32, an initiative funded by the Koch brothers, which will disallow unions from making political contributions. The initiative has language that makes it appear even-handed, but due to court decisions such as Citizens United, corporations will continue to have few limits on their ability to make contributions.
Education reform has long been an easy ticket to political credibility for liberals. But in the past, this meant
In California, we are seeing where this path is leading some of our state's most prominent "liberal" politicians, and it is not pretty. The former state senate Democratic majority leader, Gloria Romero, has become the "face" of Proposition 32, an initiative funded by the Koch brothers, which will disallow unions from making political contributions. The initiative has language that makes it appear even-handed, but due to court decisions such as Citizens United, corporations will continue to have few limits on their ability to make contributions.
Education reform has long been an easy ticket to political credibility for liberals. But in the past, this meant