Jan Resseger foresees that the Republican-dominated Ohio legislature is determined to expand vouchers for private and religious schools.
They are determined to divert more money and students away from public schools despite the compelling evidence that vouchers are harmful to students, most of whom will attend schools that are lower in quality than their public school.
Jan explains why public education is essential to our democracy, not as a consumer good, but as a civic responsibility:
If you are a supporter of public education, and in your state you face proposed legislation for school vouchers, you are unlikely to convince conservative Republicans to vote against vouchers.
The issue has become purely ideological—a matter of core belief. The late political theorist Benjamin Barber almost perfectly characterizes the divide between supporters of public institutions and the radical marketplace individualists:
“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)
Diane Ravitch's blog 
Yes, I have concluded, sadly, that Republicans–with exceptions–do not actually want all our kids to be educated. That party is now dominated by people who support religious control of our society, tax reductions of everything that doesn’t benefit them directly, and they tend to oppose “government” schools, which they–I have to say this–rightly see as socialistic. Our society has been–at least since the Progressiv
“rightly see as socialistic”
Horse manure!
Public schools are, as Jan rightly points out, a social/common good. .. mandated by the states’ constitutions. It is not “socialistic” to have common goods that are necessary for survival and thriving such as access to clean and healthy food, water and air, open/wooded natural areas, public schools, etc. . . .
The private business/corporate sector has historically tended to destroy those common goods for the sake of making jack-$$$$$. Nothing else matters in that kind of thinking.
Socialism is when the government owns and operates the McDonald’s, not the essential services.
And speaking of essential services, it’s not socialism to regulate the (agriculture) food and drug industries, telecommunications, or environmental protection.
whoops…Progressive Era in which Teddy Roosevelt signed the Pure Food and Drug Act, a “mixed” economy and society. But our Republican politicians are reactionaries, wanting to take us back to the times when working class kids worked…in mines, mills, etc. Bills to loosen restrictions on child labor are in the legislative hoppers. The only solution is to vote them out, until they get the message and return to the 21st century.
But they won’t ever “get the message” as their beliefs are faith based, whether religious (for the majority), political or economical (yes, economics is a faith based study, certainly not scientific in the proper sense of that word.) Yet, you are right in that we need to vote them out before they go 100% theofascist on us.
This is one of the best descriptions of why we must continue to support the common good. We have a civic duty to provide opportunities for all, not just those that are born into wealth. This is a core belief in the history of this country. Free public education is foundational to this mission. While our future may be uncertain, we need great minds of all social classes at work to address our climate crisis. It is possible that a great idea may come from someone educated in one our public schools, but this is less likely to happen if we abrogate our civic responsibility to our young people by diverting funds into privatization schemes that divide young people by race and class. Quality public education is a must in a democratic system of governance.
RT,
You are so right in your description of why we have public schools and why everyone pays for them. It is an investment in our future. Vouchers are disinvestment.
Yes again.
Jan Resseger is a modern-day prophet warning the people of the dangers in education she so clearly identifies, but the people in her state and across the nation are not listening to her. Sad, but like the prophets of old, she carries onward ardently! If only they would listen to her.
In Ohio, the important, “they,” politicians are driven by conservative religion which is tantamount to “good ole boy rule”. Dewine had 9 kids. His taking of the oath of office on, reportedly, 7 Bibles was a public statement.
Republican Catholics want religious K-12 and college for the opportunity to ingrain patriarchy/pluticracy as governance.