Privatizing Public Education 

PRIVATIZING PUBLIC EDUCATION

Many politicians and parents are calling for the replacement of public education by one form or another of private education. Some parents want their children to follow strict moral codes and to avoid exposure to disturbing ideas, especially in the areas of race and sexuality. Other parents fear outside influences in general, resulting in the home-school movement. Others don’t want their children to have to associate with diverse populations. And then there is the feeling among some that everything private is superior to everything public.

The result is that state legislators all over the US are encouraging and funding privatization of education: charter schools (schools that are publicly funded but privately run); vouchers, which parents receive from the government and then go find their own private schools (many of these are religious); government-funded educational savings accounts that parents can use to send their children to private schools or home-school them.

If we trash public education, we are not preparing our children to respect diversity and experience democracy. Furthermore, any taxpayer funding of charter schools, vouchers, or educational savings accounts takes money from public schools, making them less effective and attractive to students and parents. 

Sources: The New York Times, 4/14/23