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

Privatization of public services accomplishes two long held GOP dreams: it lowers taxes and undercuts the power of unions who represent the interests of workers. This paragraph captures what is going on here:

“Undermining and degrading the Postal Service helps frustrate the customer, which sets the stage to privatizing it,” Mark Dimondstein, president of the American Postal Workers Union, told The Intercept. “The Trump administration is on record for raising prices, reducing service, and reducing workers’ rights and benefits.”

And how does this relate to schools? The test-and-punish model imposed by NCLB, reinforced by RTTT, and sustained by current Federal legislation resulted in nearly 100% of public schools receiving “failing” grades, undermining public credibility for their performance. Consistent underfunding of Federal mandates and the devastating revenue losses at the State level as a result of the economic collapses of 2008 and  2020 have degraded the facilities. At the same time, the cuts to school budgets combined with the teaching-to-the-test mentality prevalent in public schools has degraded the programming and taken the joy out of schools further degrading them in the eyes of “the customer”— in this case parents. All of this sets the stage for privatization….

And, if you thought schools were struggling in 2020-21, wait until they begin working on their 2021-22 budgets… especially now that the federal government’s latest stimulus package is stalled…

Source: Lawmakers Warn ‘Onerous’ New USPS Loan Terms Imposed by Mnuchin ‘Could Accelerate Demise of Postal Service’