Education Health ALERT!: United Nations warns GERMs spreading worldwide #NN15
The world is experiencing the spread of privatizing GERMs (Global Education Reform Movements).
School “reformers” are pressing a variety of “school choice” and “market-based” policies that move the control of schools from democratic control to private control. Market-based approaches such as vouchers, charters, and parent trigger take the control of schools out of the hands of democratically elected governmental officials and local communities.
Not only are the spreading “choice” and “market-based” policies across the United States, but the world is also facing privatization efforts. The United Nations recently convened a meeting to address the GERMs. I will begin with a quick discussion of primary domestic privatization efforts and then segue to the global pushback.
The two most prominent forms of private control pressed in educational policy in the United States are charters and vouchers. Choice proponents focus on the limitations of traditional public schools but rarely discuss the predominance of the peer-reviewed research literature that demonstrates limited or no effect of choice (i.e. vouchers and charters) on student success. Are there examples of student success in charters? Of course, as is there also in public schools. However, the most prominent CREDO study of charter schools across the nation showed that nationwide only 15% of charters perform better than traditional neighborhood public schools.
While it is true that you can find an occasional peer-reviewed study that shows small effects for vouchers, the predominance of the research literature in the United States and elsewhere in the world shows no statistical significance or limited effects. What is also notable about the rare voucher study that shows a positive effect is that they are typically churned out by researchers primarily funded by foundations that are ideologically privatization advocates (aka Kool-Aid drinkers). What charters and vouchers clearly do is hand the control of the capital in schools to religious organizations, politically appointed boards and/or corporations.
Parent Trigger is a policy where parents are allowed to vote to turn over a public school to private control. Parent Trigger is parent empowerment without the empowerment. Parental involvement without the involvement. Why? Education Health ALERT!: United Nations warns GERMs spreading worldwide #NN15 | Cloaking Inequity: