Public school privatization has moved from right wing fringe to center of both major parties.

[madfloridian]

Run time: 75:05 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JdPACwRgw04   Posted on YouTube: May 10, 2012 By YouTube Member: joefriendly Views on YouTube: 3292   Posted on DU: May 27, 2012 By DU Member: madfloridian Views on DU: 574

 
From the text at You Tube:

In the space of less than 20 years, the public school privatization movement has emerged from the narrow, right wing fringes to dominate both major political parties. From vouchers to school choice to charter schools, the issue has divided even Black Americans, who were once public education's most fervent supporters. Glen Ford explains how this came about by wealthy individuals buying black politicians and promoting their careers, particularly Corey Booker.

.."Sponsored by LifeLines and Peace and Justice Task Force of All Souls Church. Event May 9, 2012 Camera, sound Joe Friendly

Ford is not kind to President Obama and his education policies. The first ten minutes cover both Booker and Obama.

I posted in 2006 about how Jeb Bush started this manipulation in Florida. The picture from the stage of one of his rallies really is telling. It was listed with the linked article back in 2006. The link is partially there, but only one page.

Jeb has huge pep rally to defend his voucher program

TALLAHASSEE -- Invoking images of God, civil rights and apple pie, Republican leaders urged thousands of cheering parents and children to lobby lawmakers for what may be a final battle over the nation's only statewide voucher system. The state's Supreme Court ruled earlier this year that the Opportunity Scholarship Program is unconstitutional. The program uses taxpayer money to pay private school tuition for about 700 children in schools that fail to meet testing guidelines.

While some detractors say the program violates the separation of church and state by using public money to send students to church-run schools, the court didn't address that issue. Instead, it ruled the program unconstitutionally created a separate but unequal school system because private schools don't have the same requirements as public schools, such as teacher qualifications and the mandated use of the FCAT assessments.

It was a striking scene Wednesday as a predominantly black crowd outside of the Capitol cheered as white, millionaire politicians promoted the voucher plan as an antidote to class and racial inequalities.

Diane Ravitch at her new blog commented about the video which had been sent to her.

Saving Poor Kids from Failing Schools?

She was the assistant Superintendent of Education under George H. W. Bush, and she speaks in terms of her experiences with the right wing.

I must say there was nothing in the video that surprised me. Back in the late 1990s, when I was involved in three different conservative organizations, there was a concerted effort to find and promote black advocates for choice. The leaders on the right wanted to promote charters as a boon to minorities and the poor. The pitch was, “We are saving poor kids from failing schools.” After all, they couldn’t very well go to state capitols and say, “Please pass charter legislation so that we can get government off our backs.” Or, “please pass charter legislation because we can’t get vouchers.”

So the strategists on the right devised a clever campaign that was irresistible to liberals and conservatives alike: Create privately-managed schools to save poor black and Hispanic kids. Republicans would like the privatization aspect and liberals would fall for the “save poor minorities” part.

It worked.

[No Elephants]

1. As best I have been able to determine, charter schools were first promoted by Democrats.

yes, the Republicans thought it was a capital idea and jumped all over that bandwagon, but they saw the idea as having originated with Democrats and, in particular, Shanker, then the head of the teachers' union in NY.

Please see my Reply to this thread http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=102x5088228

See also my Reply # 8 on this thread: http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php/http/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=439x2485086

And certainly, Democrats all over the country are on this bandwagon, side by side and equally enthusiastic with Republicans.