Peter Greene has more on a(nother) call to end local school boards - this time, from New Hampshire.
The arguments are, well, non-unique. Not having school boards would be “more efficient,” for example.
Except, of course, fascism is a lot more efficient than democracy.
Here’s Greene’s summary:
But a democracy-ish system in which government is run by a bunch of elected amateurs is fundamental to our country's operation. It as, as the saying goes, the very worst system except for every other system. Nor is there any system that cannot be bent to politicized shenanigans if citizens simply stop paying attention and exercising due diligence. I get Smith's frustration, but his solution is no solution at all.
Insight in North Carolina
I’ve written a bit recently about what’s going on in North Carolina around teacher pay and attempts to privatize public education.
North Carolina educator and blogger Justin Parmenter offers further insight here.
Let me emphasize, this is North Carolina’s elected State Superintendent for Public Instruction, who serves on the PEPSC Commission currently overseeing the merit pay work and who will also co-chair the UpliftEd Coalition that is being set up behind the scenes to market the plan when it goes to the State Board of Education. And she is scheming with the chair of the PEPSC Commission and a member of the State Board of Education to use her power and influence to interfere with the operations of an independent media outlet in order to control public messaging about this policy.
It’s hard to articulate how messed up that is.
What North Carolinians deserve is media that is free from government interference, transparency in policy-making processes, and meaningful ways to offer their feedback to help shape proposals like this merit pay plan which would completely change the face of public education in our state.
That is not what we’re getting right now.
In short: Privatizers will go to any lengths to privatize.