Network Schools – Wayne Gerseny to https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2022/04/03/magazine/thomas-piketty-interview u w B l.html?h I’ll smid=url-share the Is for

The aphorism about every problem looking like a nail to someone who only has a hammer applies here as the pro-market-force Heritage Foundation recommends— wait for it— privatization of public education as the best way forward. But to make a bad idea even worse, the Heritage Foundation recommends combining the notion of privatization with the issuance of vouchers AND the deregulation of teacher credentials.

The pandemic has handed the pro-market forces a special bonus too: President Trump’s fumbling response has further eroded taxpayers confidence in the government’s ability to do anything! So in addition to being able to tout the benefits of schooling operated on “business principles” the branding of public schools as “GOVERNMENT schools” will make the notions of deregulation and privatization even more appealing. I expect this “blueprint” to get a lot of favorable play in coming months. It has the elements of an agreeable fantasy that the GOP loves: it’s cheaper, better-managed, and can be implemented far more quickly. Take schools out of the hands of bumbling government bureaucrats and put it in the hands of well run, nimble organizations who have to answer to shareholders. What could go wrong!

Source: ‘Same Ideas, Every Disaster’: Right-Wing Heritage Foundation Urges Universal School Voucher Program for Coronavirus Recovery