I was invited to write about the Trump agenda for education by The New York Review of Books. This is a publication I love to write for, because it’s the most distinguished literary-political-cultural publication in the nation. In addition, the editing process is arduous and careful. Every word, every sentence was carefully scrutinized. I happen to love close editing because it is a demonstration of seriousness. The editors at NYRB are very serious.
Here is the article. It is not behind a paywall.
Diane Ravitch's blog 
Great article, of course. The right wing of American politics is nothing that it claims to be. It claims Christianity, but their beliefs fly in the face of that religion. It claims patriotism, but seeks to undermine the constitution. It claims to represent the common man, but steals his money.
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Roy,
It’s fake populism: billionaires who claim to be populists.
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Thank you for this historically grounded article. As you point out, Public education is a key element of democracy, and DeSantis in Florida understands this as well. He is currently trying to sell his “eliminate property taxes” idea to the public. This proposal is a direct assault on public schools and part of plan to eliminate public funds for education and transfer that responsibility over to parents which would further stratify our already fragmented society.
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When Lindsey Burke was on Breaking Points espousing project 2025’s education plan she was quite giddy about the prospect duplicating Arizona’s voucher model throughout the country. Unlike you Diane, she spoke in vague generalities and did not cite any data to support her case for vouchers, but simply said that students at public schools needed a safety valve so they could escape failing schools. She didn’t mention that $1.4 billion budget shortfall at all and didn’t acknowledge any negative impact on Arizona’s public schools.
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Arizona went down on its 2024 NAEP scores. Most AZ vouchers go to the rich.
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Excellent work. Period.
Of course many of the far right extremists have a big problem with excellence….with facts…..with the Age of Enlightenment.
I went poking around reading once again about tRump’s weirdo 2016 comment about loving the poorly educated.
I happened upon this interview of sociologist Darren Sherkat, “The science behind why Donald Trump loves the ‘poorly educated’
Full disclosure: I don’t “get” all the science discussed in the interview. That’s on me.
But the final part of the interview is crystal clear and so God awful tragic for our nation:
“SHERKAT: And all of this is consequential because it reinforces that kind of social implosion. That is what drives the low levels of cognitive ability and sophistication among religious fundamentalists and sectarians. They think that people who are outside their group are evil and that anything that they say or produce or write [00:19:00] is something that you should avoid and burn not something that you should engage and see that if you can understand it or why you disagree with it, even articulating that type of disagreement is is virtually impossible when you’ve never engaged with something.”
Talking to a hardcore MAGA believer isn’t just trying to engage someone who speaks a different language. It’s trying to communicate with someone who has no interest in knowing, in hearing any other language than their own.
And, tRump is fine with that.
They don’t want to know us. They don’t want their kids to know us. They’ve been taught that we are an “enemy within”. And, oligarchs will make heaps of money off all their fear and hatred.
If history is any guide, the end of his could be violent with many innocent people killed.
https://plus.flux.community/p/the-science-behind-why-donald-trump
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