Jan Resseger, the great social justice advocate based in Ohio, reviewed the origins of Andrew Coulson’s “School Inc.” now airing on PBS.
Resseger points out that the film was produced by “Free to Choose Media,” a libertarian group known for its production of Milton Friedman’s 10-part series based on his book of the same name.
“On his blog The Grade, on the website of the Phi Delta Kappan, Alexander Russo printed a very thoughtful review of School Inc. by Amy Shuffleton, Associate Professor of Cultural and Educational Policy Studies at Loyola University Chicago. She writes: “Two major premises, that education is best categorized as an industry and that industry is best subjected to unfettered free market forces, are maintained throughout. The upside of this approach is that those premises give the series a strong through line as it builds its argument across three hour-long, globe-trekking episodes. The downside is that the series never considers countervailing accounts of education and presents only strawman versions of the evidence that challenges his (Andrew Coulson’s) ideals… Supporters of traditional public schooling can find grounds to quarrel with Coulson’s interpretations all the way through.”
Who, besides Andrew Coulson and the Cato Institute, were involved in producing this film? Shuffleton explains: “School Inc was produced by Free to Choose Media. According to a Free to Choose spokesperson, it was created by Coulson, who raised the funding necessary to make it… Free to Choose network shares a name with its first production, the 10-part series by economist Milton Friedman that aired on PBS in 1980. Friedman, who won the Nobel Prize in Economics in 1976, argued that free market economic principles are the basis of human freedom and wellbeing. Friedman’s neoliberal followers have opposed government regulations in a host of domains, including education.” The foundation now called EdChoice, which promotes the privatization of public education, was formerly named the Friedman Foundation for Educational Choice….
If you google for reviews of the three-part School Inc., you will find several besides the column I have referenced here by Amy Shuffleton at The Grade. The other reviews were part of the promotion of the film—from the Cato Institute, Free To Choose Media, the National Review, and the Civitas Institute, a far-right North Carolina “think tank” affiliated with Art Pope.
There are likely local PBS station employees who are expressing displaced anger, related to the public’s objections to PBS’ release of an anti-public school, propaganda film. Their anger should be directed at PBS management for putting them in the position of defending the indefensible.
Their displaced anger is similar to Democratic employees and volunteers who blame Johny-come-lately, Sanders, for the plight of the party, failing to explain the 1000 seats lost, before Bernie. In that example, anger should be directed at the Walton-and Gates-funded Center for American Progress. CAP formed an unholy alliance with tech tyrants and Wall Streeters, a relationship that threatens the Dems and the nation. It brought about the election of Trump.
PBS personnel in local stations probably have little to lose from a vote of no confidence in PBS top management.
Thom Hartmann had some excellent comments about PBS being a useful tool for the education privatizers and their libertarian enablers. Thom gave high praise to Diane for exposing what’s really going on and what a fraud SCHOOL INC is.
Cato is no more an institute than I am. MIT and The Institute for Advanced Study are actual institutes worthy of the name. Cato is just your typical libertarian propaganda mill. Sad to say that the C-SPAN channels give massive air time to all these libertarian so-called think tanks: either Cato, Heritage or AEI are on C-SPAN on an almost daily basis as if they were impartial scholarly institutions. They claim to be non partisan but they certainly do subscribe to the far right wing libertarian dogma.
Follow the money.
MIT’s economics dept. is IMO largely ideologically-driven in service to the wealthy. David Koch is a lifetime board member of MIT.
Sorry to hear that about MIT but Noam Chomsky (Institute Professor & Professor of Linguistics emeritus) is still at MIT to blow the whistle on the Koch kraken.
GREAT LINE: Cato is no more an institute than I am…. 🙂
Someone suggested that “disaster capitalism” is a good way to descibe the “libertarian agenda.”
Personally, I’m partial to the older and now-not-so-popular term “robber barons.”
Please [anyone] take a look at this PBS response to my letter of criticism regarding Education Inc for inaccuracies or outright misleading statements? It looks like a form letter that may be going to hundreds of people since I didn’t mention Backpack Full of Cash, nor say it was “Ms Ravitch’s film.”
One statement in particular jumps out to me as misleading where PBS’ states: “Within this series [Education, Inc] there are comparisons and criticisms of both public and private education models.” I want to reply to them. Here is the full letter:
Friday, June 16, 2017 2:21 PM
From: “Programming” Programming@thirteen.org To: “helenestone@yahoo.com” helenestone@yahoo.com
Dear Ms. Stone:
Thank you for taking the time to write to us and share your thoughts about the three-part documentary, School, Inc. – A Personal Journey with Andrew Coulson. We appreciate your concerns and hope that the following information will help to address them.
As part of our shared public service mission, PBS and WNET strive to offer though-provoking programs that reflect diverse viewpoints and promote civic dialogue on important topics affecting local communities. School Inc. is an independent production that reflects the personal viewpoint of the late filmmaker, Andrew Coulson, on systems of schooling around the world, and was made available to local stations via PBS.
Neither PBS nor WNET contributed funds to this series. Major funding for School Inc. A Personal Journey with Andrew Coulson, was provided by the Rose-Marie and Jack R. Anderson Foundation and by the Prometheus Foundation. Additional funding was provided by the Gleason Family Foundation and the Steve & Lana Hardy Foundation.
PBS’ high editorial standards have helped to make it America’s most trusted national institution for 14 years running. These standards ensure, among other things, that the creative and editorial processes behind the programs broadcast on PBS stations are shielded from political pressure or improper influence from funders or other sources.
In addition, PBS aims for a balance of viewpoints across the entire schedule. Within this series, there are comparisons and criticisms of both public and private education models.
We hope that you will view the series, which began on Thirteen on June 10TH, and continues on Saturdays, June 17th and 24th at 1pm, and draw your own conclusions. You also might be interested to know that WNET invited Education historian, Diane Ravitch, to be a guest on our June 12th episode of METROFOCUS, where she had a candid discussion with our host, Rafael Pi Roman.
Regarding Ms. Ravitch’s film, Backpack Full of Cash, PBS and it’s member stations do not currently have the broadcast rights to air this film, however, we are keeping track of viewer requests and sharing them with PBS.
For more than 50 years, we at Thirteen have always done our best to be even-handed, and to encourage a free and open exchange of ideas among our viewers, and we depend greatly on their feedback, both positive and negative, to help us in our mission. We truly appreciate your concerns and have shared them with our senior management staff.
We hope that you will continue to watch and support public television.
Sincerely,
Niesha Gourdine
Customer Service Associate, Member & Viewer Relations
825 8th Avenue
New York, NY 10019
tel 212.560.2888
membership@thirteen.org
What a disingenuous letter.
The series does not have comparisons and criticisms of different nations’s schools. It lauds free-market, for-profit schools in Sweden and Chile. It lauds pay-for-schooling in India. It admires killer testing in S Korea, where teachers sell their lectures online for test prep.
Also “Backpack Full of Cash” is not my film. It was made by professional film makers Stone Lantern Films abd narrated by Matt Damon.
The foundations that funded it are of one partisan view: free-market libertarian. Google the lead funder Rose Mary and Jack Anderson Foundation.
Thank you for providing trustworthy backup info I needed for my response. And thank you very much for all that you have done and are doing to protect public education.
Milton Friedman is probably the only winner of the Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic (so-called and alleged) Sciences that most people have heard of, but he is only one of many to win this bogus prize.
The Sveriges Riksbank Prize in Economic Sciences in Memory of Alfred Nobel has been awarded 48 times to 78 Laureates between 1969 and 2016. How many of the other Laureates clearly agree with Friedman?
Correct me if I’m wrong, but Friedman is probably the only Laurette quoted saying greed is good, and yet his award has done more to destabilize and destroy civilization than the other 77 Laureates combined.
What does the Bible say about greed? There are 100 Bible verses about greed. This one is the most popular at Open Bible.
Timothy 6:10 ESV / 846 helpful votes
For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evils. It is through this craving that some have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many pangs.
https://www.openbible.info/topics/greed
CROSSPOSTED AT https://www.opednews.com/Quicklink/PBS-Airs-Libertarian-Propa-in-Best_Web_OpEds-Broadcasting_Education_Educational-Crisis_Propaganda-And-Political-Myths-170617-451.html