Yes, Today's GOP Really Does Want to End Public Schools
An example from the Sunshine State
The evidence keeps mounting. One of America’s two leading political parties sees little benefit to public education. And, to be fair, some Democrats are aiding and abetting the end of public education by backing efforts to charterize schools.
The latest example comes from Florida’s so-called Schools of Hope.
Schools of Hope co-location shifts costs, concentrates disruption in vulnerable communities, and strips local school boards of authority, all while insulating the neighborhoods and families with the most resources. That’s not innovation. It’s the extraction of resources from public schools for the benefit of charter corporations.
That’s it.
The shifting of resources to private operators. The removal of accountability. The public school board, little more than a bank offering unlimited cash and no oversight.
It’s not just Florida.
Indianapolis is getting in on the game:
There, a new, unelected board will oversee logistics like transportation among district and charter schools.
At the federal level, there is a new school voucher scheme - and efforts by the Department of Education to tear down public schools.
In Tennessee, a new nonprofit wants to rapidly expand both school vouchers and charter schools over the next 5 years - effectively removing half of Tennessee’s students from public schools.
It just keeps happening.
And by the time the damage is done, it will take a generation to rebuild what’s being torn down.