Russ on Reading: School Choice: An Ugly Idea

Russ on Reading: School Choice: An Ugly Idea:

School Choice: An Ugly Idea
An ugly idea left unchallenged begins to turn the color of normal. - Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie

Some Choices Are Just Ugly

The quote above comes from an essay in The New York Times titled Now is the Time to Talk about What We Are Actually Talking About. The quote resonates with me right now because my country seems to be awash in ugly ideas emanating from the centers of power in Washington and apparently resonating with many of my fellow Americans across the country. Here are just a few of these ugly ideas that I fear are beginning to turn a distinct shade of normal.

• America should isolate itself from the rest of the world.
• We must live in fear of people who do not look like us.
• We must build literal and figurative walls to keep people out of the country.
• We should return to harsher penalties for minor offenses and renew the war on drugs.
• Climate change is a hoax and efforts to control it are bad for American business.
• Health care is for those who can afford it.

I will let political pundits and journalists and policy analysts and others with more expertise than I weigh in on these issues. But there is one ugly idea that I do know something about and that I must challenge now because it becomes increasingly the color of normal. That idea is championed by the current resident of the White House, although he has likely given it very little thought, very dangerously championed by the current Secretary of Education, Betsy DeVos, and most dangerously championed by the billionaires that more and more control all that happens in this country.

I am talking about the ugly idea that school choice and competition will lead Russ on Reading: School Choice: An Ugly Idea: