The National Center on Education Policy frequently publishes reports, studies, and articles about important issues in education. This one makes a point that I have long believed: the rhetoric of “failing public schools” is intended to advance the privatization of public school funding, specifically, charter schools, voucher schools, and home schooling.
All of these are worse alternatives than public schools, but the media has lapped up the negative message.
The reality is that academic performance (test scores) is highly correlated with socioeconomic status. There are schools that are in need of smaller class sizes, physical upgrades, and intense professional support. But most parents are highly satisfied with their children’s public school and its teachers. Public schools offer more options than charter schools or religious schools. And most public schools are successful.
This study is titled: “The Cycle of Disinvestment in Public Schools: How Public-School Criticism Drives Policy and Disinvestment.” The study was written by Huriya Jabbar and Daniel Espinoza. The link is at the bottom of this post.
They say in the abstract:
Critiques of public education have intensified, and while some reflect real needs for improvement, many are manufactured crises that portray schools as broadly failing. Centered on claims of underachievement, inefficiency, inequality, lack of choice, and indoctrination, these narratives often ignore counterevidence on poverty’s impact, the benefits of increased funding, and the harms of large-scale voucher programs. Though targeted reforms are warranted, sweeping failure claims erode public support and fuel a cycle of disinvestment—reduced funding and enrollment that weaken schools and invite further criticism—advancing privatization and deepening inequality at a moment of heightened political and fiscal threats to public education.
Suggested Citation: Jabbar, H. & Espinoza, D. (2026). The cycle of disinvestment in public schools: How public school criticism drives policy and disinvestment. Boulder, CO: National Education Policy Center. Retrieved [date] from
http://nepc.colorado.edu/publication/disinvestmen
Diane Ravitch's blog 
I have listened to a sneering Governor DeSantis pejoratively refer to public schools as “government schools.” He accused public schools of being “woke” and “indoctrinating” young people, and he has described public school teachers as women with pink and blue hair that brainwash their students. He has even accused public school teachers of being sexual predators that try to groom children for sexual purposes. When parents hear this type of rhetoric, some of them will believe it and repeat it to others. This is how DeSantis used propaganda to lay the groundwork for his reckless privatization policies. The gullible will repeat the false claims, and some others will believe it. The ultimate goal is, of course, to sully the reputation of public schools and teachers. Yet, most parents in Florida still choose to send their children to public schools.
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Texas Governor Abbott did the same smear job on Public schools, accusing them of indoctrinating students.
All part of his campaign for vouchers, so kids can attend religious schools where indoctrination is routine.
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Christina Pushaw, a former member of his PR team, is partly responsible for popularizing the of calling teachers and others opposing his education policies from 2020-2022 onward “groomers.”
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A companion piece and reinforcement to our recent NPE report card. https://networkforpubliceducation.org/30377-2/
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Thank you. Criticizing “failing public schools” is what you do when you want to end public education, just as criticizing “welfare moms” is what you do when you want to end welfare, and criticizing the stability of Social Security is what you do when you want to end Social Security. It’s what you say about the United States of America if you’re DOGE. You criticize to weaken, not to strengthen. Animal abusers beat the dog to punish the dog, not to make it healthy, right? Right. So non-stop criticism of public schools can only harm public schools, not help them. Right.
Non-stop criticism of public schools also contributes to the widespread propagation of inferior no excuses, test and punish classroom management and curriculum development methods in public schools. It pressures school boards, if they still exist after the self-defeating, anti-democratic movement toward mayoral control, to hire “data driven” bureaucrats instead of supportive, collaborative managers and educators. Positive discipline? Thrown under the school bus. Art? History? Shop? Out the classroom window. Reading whole literature with context? Pens and paper instead of Chromebooks? See ya, old school teacher, wouldn’t wanna be ya.
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Liberals/Democrats don’t know how much they contribute to this sentiment when they blame every random person’s lack of knowledge of something on the education system. They’ll be 45 years old and blame the education system for their own lack of knowledge or skill in something.
Whether it’s someone lack of knowledge about an historical event, them getting something mathematical wrong, or incorrect spelling/grammar, they will bash public education just as much as a right-winger does.
“Teacher Pay with K” explains this well.
https://www.facebook.com/reel/1334500514677392
https://www.facebook.com/reel/2163487887766118
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