Thursday, May 31, 2012

It’s all about where the money goes


If you look at the policies regarding public education there is no effort being made to cut overall spending by the state.  This isn’t really about saving.

The attacks being made are against public schools, teachers and unions – where the money goes – but not against the spending.  The cuts are enormous and devastating, but while funding for public schools is cut, the collection of taxes is not.  The idea isn’t to eliminate the revenue but to redirect it.

If you cut the funding to public schools enough then you can make the schools look bad, which reinforces what is already being said.  Yet the alternatives have nothing to do with making school funding equitable or lower or even with improving public schools.  The only alternatives offered are private and charter schools.

Vouchers are intended to fund private schools with tax dollars just as charter schools are funded with tax dollars.  That’s the redirection.  The idea is to take tax money away from public schools and public employees and funnel it into private corporations who will take over the education of America’s children.  This plan offers less accountability, lower standards and no improvement in education.  Recent studies have shown that charter schools do not perform better than public schools.

No one is talking about cutting taxes or reducing overall spending.  There are only two goals: breaking the teacher’s unions and putting tax dollars into the pockets of private corporations.

It’s about money.

It’s not about education.

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