Jan Resseger writes here to refute Trump and Betsy DeVos’s ridiculous claim that school choice is a “civil rights issue.” As she points out, charter schools and vouchers divert funding from the public schools that most children of color attend. School choice is responsible for budget cuts to public schools.
Privatized educational alternatives like charter schools and vouchers for private school tuition not only extract public funds needed in the public school system to serve 50 million American children, but they also undermine our rights as citizens and our children’s rights. Only in the public schools, which are governed democratically according to the law, can our society protect the rights of all children.
The late political philosopher, Benjamin Barber, warns about what we all lose when we try to privatize the public good: “Privatization is a kind of reverse social contract: it dissolves the bonds that tie us together into free communities and democratic republics. It puts us back in the state of nature where we possess a natural right to get whatever we can on our own, but at the same time lose any real ability to secure that to which we have a right. Private choices rest on individual power… personal skills… and personal luck. Public choices rest on civic rights and common responsibilities, and presume equal rights for all. Public liberty is what the power of common endeavor establishes, and hence presupposes that we have constituted ourselves as public citizens by opting into the social contract. With privatization, we are seduced back into the state of nature by the lure of private liberty and particular interest; but what we experience in the end is an environment in which the strong dominate the weak… the very dilemma which the original social contract was intended to address.” (Consumed, pp. 143-144)
What she does not mention is that the demand for school choice originated with Southern governors in response to the a Brown decision. From its origins, school choice was rooted in racism. Last year, Steve Suitts of the Southern Education Foundation wrote an important monograph about the origins of school choice. It was supposed to block civil rights, not advance them.
Diane Ravitch's blog 
School choice as a civil rights matter is oddly analogous to “not wearing a mask” as a civil rights issue. Selfishness over collective responsibility. With apologies to Damn Poet:
I will not wear a stupid mask.
I will not wear one – please don’t ask.
I do not like them day or night,
I will not wear one – that’s my right.
I do not like them loose or tight,
I will not wear one, I’ll stand and fight.
I will not wear one in the park,
I will not wear one in the dark,
I will not wear one on a lark,
I will not wear a stupid mask,
I will not wear one, please don’t ask.
I do not care if you’re displeased
I do not care if you’re diseased.
I do not care who coughed or sneezed,
I will not have my freedom seized.
I will not wear a stupid mask,
I will not wear one, please don’t ask.
I will not wear one in the store,
I will not wear one out the door,
I will not wear one, you’re a bore,
I will not listen anymore.
I will not wear a stupid mask,
I will not wear one, please don’t ask.
I will not wear one day or night,
I will not wear one loose or tight,
I will not wear one in the park,
I will not wear one in the dark,
I will not wear one on a lark,
I will not wear one in the store,
I will not wear one out the door.
I will not wear one, evermore.
I will not wear a stupid mask,
I will not wear one, please don’t ask.
Actually Dr. Seuss would want you to wear one!
I guess I really should be masked,
On second thought, I’m glad you asked.
Apologies to Dr Seuss! Green Eggs and Ham?
Oh dear! Do I have to apologize?
LOL. Steven, definitely.
I freaking love this, Steve. Hilarious!
School Choice is really about SEGREGATION.
Some people don’t want their kids going to school with children of color.
One day, I may write about all the prejudice I got slammed with. I have tried to write about these many events, and trust me … they are painful.
“Private choices rest on individual power… personal skills… and personal luck. Public choices rest on civic rights and common responsibilities, and presume equal rights for all.”
These statements are key to holding on to our Democracy. Republicans have veered so far into libertarianism, and Democrats have embraced public-private partnerships that can only lead us further from what it means to have a government “of the people, for the people, and by the people.”
All school choice options around the world create winners and losers. Those with more agency are the clear winners. The poor have to fend for themselves, and they generally wind up where the private schools want them to be, which is generally in a more segregated school with fewer resources.
The whole civil rights claim is a sick joke. The real objective is the monetization of mostly minority students so some rich person can make money off their education. If disruptors really cared about the education of minority students, they would not be trying to make money off their education. They would invest in the common good.
well said
speduktr Nicely said. CBK
current head, former legislative aide to Jesse Helms
former head, director of Norquist’s anti-tax campaign
propaganda from the billionaire privatizers spewed by state conferences; privatization rallies in state capitols orchestrated by partnerships with EdChoice and the Koch’s AFP
steered votes to Trump and other Republicans
the silence begged for, cajoled for, insulted for, badgered for, may be delivered when SCOTUS decides the Espinosa and Kristin Biel cases- so sad- the trampling of democracy and civil rights.
Wait for it- the loyalists’ wringing of hands or, the crying of their crocodile tears.
Why can’t there be school choice WITHIN the public school option?
In fact, that’s what is happening today. That’s what magnet schools are. There can be choice WITHIN the system.
Charters are simply private schools looking to profit by teaching the students who are most profitable to teach while throwing the rest back into a pool of real public schools who operating under a PUBLIC system overseen by the very same board that oversees all schools.
If the SUNY Charter Institute had responsibility for EVERY public school and not just some charters, perhaps the incentives the white members of the SUNY board have to reward the charters that aggressively punish and humiliate the very youngest African American students would not be there.
I think it would be hard to find a public school system with more “choice” than the New York City Public Schools. They have an array of options for different types of students Public schools often have options for students that include magnet schools as well as schools that specialize in vocational education opportunities. Unlike many private charter schools, most public schools have special area teachers for the arts, PE, special education and options for students whose first language is not English. The reality is that public schools offer more assorted programming to meet students’ needs and interests than most private schools.
yes, that is what I mean. Certainly the idea of “choice” within a public school system isn’t perfect, but the incentives are very different because the NYC DOE is not going to reward a “choice” school that suspends and dumps 1/3 to 1/2 of the student who originally enroll in that school so that those students are now the responsibility of another DOE school. But that’s exactly what the SUNY Charter Institute board members have done because once those kids are out, then SUNY has no responsibility for them anymore. Just like a private school board.
I always wonder whether the white SUNY Charter Institute board members would have been so absolutely certain that Eva Moskowitz was telling the truth about the violent nature of so many 5 year old lottery winners if they didn’t know that having those students disappear was a necessary part of being able to promote charters as miracle workers for all students. Charters overseen by people who are incentivized to ignore everything that makes the charter look bad and promote any propaganda to mislead the public into believing it performs miracles.
I was going to say that myself. The lack of choices in the rural areas, which is my main experience, comes from the lack of diversity in the population. You cannot have a program unless there is widespread interest in it and adequate funding for it. Often parents are wooed to choice programs because they are seeking what is best for their children (understandable) and there are only a few people who agree with them.
You really can’t believe the extent to which ed reform erases public schools, public school students and also public school FAMILIES unless you read within the echo chamber.
Here’s the Wall Street Journal:
“Good news from Florida. Gov. Ron DeSantis on Thursday signed the biggest private school voucher expansion in U.S. history—giving families in Democratic, union-controlled states another reason to move to the Sunshine State.”
Florida ed reformers did nothing- nothing- for public schools in the state. They spent an entire year lobbying to increase public funding to private schools but accomplished nothing for public schools.
It’s the same in the Trump Administration. They have not accomplished one thing to benefit public schools in the Covid crisis. They have spent MONTHS working on getting CARES Act funding to private schools.
When you hire ed reformers in government you are hiring people who return no value to public schools, families or students. They’re ideologically opposed to our childrens’ schools so simply refuse to do any work at all on their behalf. It’s ludicrous.
and beyond frustrating to know that so many of our nation’s so-called progressive leaders never seem to read anything outside this echo chamber
Has anyone in the Trump Administration mentioned public schools at all during the last 4 years, I mean outside sneeringly referring to them as “government schools” or reciting robotically that they’re all “failing”?
90% of Americans attend the schools the Trump Administration opposes. It doesn’t even occur to them to offer public school families anything- they take us completely for granted.
Chiara I haven’t heard, but they probably leave most of it up to Betsy? CBK
Always glad to hear from Trump or DeVos about “school ‘choice’ [being] the civil rights of all time [sic].” They are racists who make vouchers and corporate charters look like the racist policies they really are. Thanks to the Trump administration’s handling of immigration, Charlottesville, police brutality, etc., the idea of privatization being a civil right is now Gone With the Wind. He portrays victims of deregulation and privatization as happy, like the Mammy character. It’s a lot like openly racist Andrew Jackson saying the Indian Removal Act and Trail of Tears were the Native American rights issues of all time. School “choice” not progressive, moderate, bipartisan, or even conservative. It’s supported by Trump, one of the greatest American racists of all time.
There were rumors, widely reported in the media, before the Tulsa speech that dog-whistle Don was going to bend to the realities of his falling poll numbers and the negative reaction to his stupid and typically racist responses to the George Floyd murder and protests and give a conciliatory speech about the evils of racism. And, bizarrely, the stories said that it was being drafted by Whtie Supremacist Propaganda Minister Stephen “Goebbels” Miller. I was expecting him to come up with such a speech but for it to be larded with subtle dog-whistles to show his base base that he didn’t mean a word of it. But the Trump clown car posse couldn’t even come up with such a speech. An anti-racist speech from the Trump maladministration is like a square circle or numerous nothing. Here I was all ready to respond by calling Trumpty an oxy (white washing) moron. But he couldn’t bring himself to do it. Such a speech would be a violation of a core conviction, located in his little brain right next to the vast region that stores his self-regard.
Waiting for my copies of
The Poetry of Bill Barr
Philosophical Reflections, by Mike Pence
Learning Theory, by Betsy DeVos
The Art of the Steal, by Vladimir Putin
to go on my shelves next to The Wit and Wisdom of Arne Duncan
Fluidity and Authenticity: Reflections on Gender Identity and the Construction of Self, by Mike Pence
Experimental Philosophy: Is a Scientific Revolution in Philosophy Possible, by Donald J. Trump
I got this from my friend in Canada. I don’t think expecting kids to wear masks all day is going to work. An adult friend of mine told me that she sneezed into her mask today while at work.
………………………………….
I can visualize each and everyone of these.
Masks in school … reality check
Local school board is deciding whether or not to make kids wear masks at school. Here’s how I think requiring masks might work in elementary school.
Please don’t snap Billy’s mask in his face.
Your mask is not a necklace, bracelet, or any other form of jewelry.
You should not be using your mask as a slingshot. Please put it back on your face.
Please do not chew on your mask.
Your mask should be on your face, not on the back of your head
I’m sorry your mask is wet, but that’s what happens when you lick the inside of it.
I’m sorry you sneezed. Here’s a tissue. Wipe out the snot as well as you can.
No, you may not blow your nose in your mask.
Why is your mask soaking wet? You just came back from the bathroom?
And you put it back on your face after you dropped it?
I’m sorry you broke the elastic on your mask by seeing how far the band would stretch. Now you’ll have to hold the mask on your face … or use this duct tape.
Please take the mask off your eyes and watch where you’re walking. I don’t care if you have X-ray vision.
Please take the mask off of your pencil and stop twirling it.
I know the mask fits over your pants like a knee pad, but please take it off of your leg and put it on your face.
What do you mean you tried to eat your lunch through your mask?
Please don’t share your mask or trade masks. I don’t care if you like Ingrid’s mask better than yours.
I’m sorry, but your mask is not school appropriate.
We’re not comparing our masks to other kids’ masks… everyone’s mask is unique and special.
No, you may not decorate your mask instead of doing your work. I don’t care if you have a Sharpie.
You’re not a pirate, please take your mask off your eye.
Try to get the gum off as much as you can.
Please don’t use your mask to pick your nose.
I’m sorry you tripped, but that’s what happens when you put your feet inside the elastic of your mask.
No, your mask doesn’t make it hard to get your work done.
Your Mom will need to get you a new mask since you chewed a hole in that one.
Why is there a shoe print on your mask?
No, you cannot eat the snow through your mask.
I don’t care if you were in art class and being creative; we do not decorate our masks.
We do not beam other kids in the face with balls. No, their masks don’t make it not hurt.
Please don’t plug your nose holes with your mask.
Who’s making that noise?
I’m sorry your ponytail is stuck, that’s what happens when you see how many times you can wrap it around your mask.
I’m sorry to tell you, but your child thought her mask made her a superhero. She tried to fly off the jungle gym at recess …
I’m sorry your breath stinks in your mask, maybe we should all try to brush better.
Please take those cookies out of your mask. No, you are not a chipmunk.
Carol, this is great. Your friend clearly knows kids. Too bad a great many of our school officials and edupundits don’t know them as well. There is so much cluelessness being promulgated about how we can “safely and effectively” reopen schools. All this seems to me like talking about talking to kids about safely and effectively eating Tide pods or safely and effectively playing with blasting caps.
Where has Michelle Rhee gone? She could put tape instead of masks over everyone’s mouth and make the students bleed if they try to remove it. And speaking of Rhee, it’s 2020 so instead of Bee Eater, I am going to call her Murder Hornet of Schools. It sounds more fitting and murder hornets eat bees. ‘Murder Hornets’ sounds like they probably fire employees on national television too if given the chance. Hey, if she comes back, Rhee and Arne Duncan could reunite and appear in another phony, staged documentary like Waiting for Superman, this one called Waiting for Steady Employment. Where have all the reform stars gone, long time passing?
Where has Michelle Rhee gone?
Working on another con!
Like teaching should be tough,
Surely we’ll say, that’s enough!
Apologies to Some Damn.
Where has the bee-eater gone,
her spiteful, proud, tongue-lashings?
Where has the bee-eater gone,
Gates grants in tow?
Where has the bee-eater gone?
Who cares, just thank god she’s done
posing to impress the press
with faked results. Oh what a mess!
Harharhar I love this.
Love this. Reality.
“…an environment in which the strong dominate the weak… the very dilemma which the original social contract was intended to address.” ” Quoted from Barber, the philosopher as rendered above.
The idea of social contract came from Thomas Hobbes, who saw man in nature as “brutish.” We give up our freedom each individual naturally possesses in an effort to gain security. He used this to justify the monarchies of his day. Ever since then, arguments for strongman rule have centered around this idea. The bad people have overcome. I will protect you from them. You need a king to protect you from yourself, was Hobbes’ point. Modern dictators try to convince us that there are threats. In a modern times, groups across the western world tried to use the fear of Bolshevism, Catholicism, and modernism to create a following for those who essentially believed that the Enlightenment ideas of life, liberty and a brotherhood of equality were responsible for tamping down the advancement of mankind.
It is not that surprising that a small minority of very wealthy men and women accept this basic premise of fascism. Wealthy beyond imagination, immersed in a culture that sees wealth as a type of evidence of brilliance, and egotistical thereby, some people believe that the only way to raise the prospects of man is to hook your wagon to a star. The star is defined by wealth, the only defining characteristic that this group recognizes as the proof of intelligence and vision. Why should this surprise anyone?
Those who read and study follow a competing vision for society. To raise the prospects of human beings, we need to follow the advice of experts in a field. If we want to do the right thing, we should be lead by the people who study society and envision ways to help everybody. Sometimes this is an elitist view akin to the Platonic philosopher king. As such it is fraught with some of the same problems as the worship of wealth. Humans can be wrong. Often humans at the top are among the most windblown in their attempts to rectify societal problems from their perches high above the ordinary.
Teachers experience this paradox. They go to meetings to hear what someone far away is doing that is rendering perfect success from the dead carcass of education. They hear adminimals (Swacker, arise) describe their latest ideas on curriculum or discipline. Over the years, many of them grow tired as the solutions to their problems come from above. This is not unique to teaching. My father-in-law often described the factory setting he worked in for 41 years. New management would arrive on the floor with ideas to do one thing or another. Millions of dollars would be spent. Things would look different. Then someone would point out that things were about the same, and the cycle would begin again. Forty years is time to see a lot of changes.
I have been in education at the level of classroom teacher for 40 of the last 42 years. There have been a lot of changes. There always will be. Change is to only constant in man’s little adventure here. I cannot say I alone know what is right for all of American education. But I have lived long enough to see the failure of most of the ideas that have “come down the pike.” Perhaps the problem is that the pike is too often a one-way street from the top down.
Roy Turrentine: “But I have lived long enough to see the failure of most of the ideas that have “come down the pike.” Perhaps the problem is that the pike is too often a one-way street from the top down.”
I agree totally with that thought. How many administrators have ‘all the answers’ while most teachers sit and dutifully listen thinking, “What a bunch of nonsense.” A few rare principals will ask for feed back and listen. Most, however, are smaller versions of dictators. Adminimals indeed.
There are multiple school choice plans, “movements’ and leaders.
For example,
* One of the first “school choice” programs allowed “elite” Boston families to send their children to the Boston Latin School (still a part of the local district), Bronx High School of Science was created in 1938. These are two examples “district exam schools” that screen out students – a very unfortunate feature of some school choice plans, imho
* IN the mid 1970’s a number of African Americans urged and the created
street academies”
* In 1968, Dr. Kenneth Clark, African American “doll test” co-author (used in Brown v. Board), urged new public options OUTSIDE control of elected urban school boards control-1 of the ideas of charting. https://hepgjournals.org/doi/10.17763/haer.38.1.vj454v36776725q7
* Beginning in the late 1960’s and early 1970’s, a number of progressive educators urged creation of public school options as part of local public schools. Ted Sizer, Nate Blackman, Deborah Meier, yours truly and others did this.
* In the 1970’s “magnet school” options with federal support as a way to bring together youngsters from different ethnic communities. Some were open to all, some screened out students on the basis of test scores.
* A number of states have established statewide schools focused on serving students especially talented, for example, in math and science, or the arts, or students who are hearing impaired, or blind. These schools receive state funding and operate report directly to state officials, rather than to local boards
It’s certainly true, that some southern Governors and racists urged creation of choice programs that would create separate schools where only white, or only African Am students would be welcome.
Fortunately, many states and communities allow groups of families and educators to create new non-sectarian options open to all – sometimes inside, sometimes outside local districts.
Great comments on this post! Love the poem (so would Dr. Seuss), Bob’s book titles,
LCT’s new name for she he does not deserve to be names, bout “Murder Hornet” is a good fit!
&–last but not least (in a tough competition)–my favorite–carolmalaysia’s Canadian friend’s “Masks in school…reality check.”
Need to copy that, & give to all school personnel at schools that re-open.