School Closures Remarks Put Clinton in a Bind
With her ill-informed remarks on school closures, Hillary Clinton set off a bit of a firestorm among education activists. Her full remarks have been posted by Valerie Strauss, so there is no question what she said, and as Peter Greene points out, context does not help much. She clearly thinks that if she is elected it will be her responsibility to enact policies that close low performing schools, much as her predecessors, Presidents Obama and Bush did.
There are few things more dear to corporate reformers than the idea that schools with low test scores should be closed. There are several reasons for this. On the ideological front, the possibility of closure (and the threat of displacement and unemployment for the teachers and administrators that work there) is seen as an essential element of accountability. One of the indictments “accountability hawks” level at public schools is that while failing businesses must go bankrupt and close their doors, “failing schools” can continue to function unless the rules force them to close. According to this way of thinking, people are not properly motivated without the threat of unemployment hanging over their heads.
The other big reason school closures is so precious to corporate reformers is that the chief vehicle for privatizing public schools has become charter schools. Closing down schools with low test scores gives the state the power to forcibly shift students from public schools into semi-private charter schools.
So far in all the explanations of what Clinton meant to say I have yet to hear anyone suggest that school School Closures Remarks Put Clinton in a Bind - Living in Dialogue: