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https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2023/12/28/2214215/-Once-Public-Schools-are-Largely-Dead-Here-s-What-Happens-Next>
"In 1776, British economist Adam Smith published
The Wealth of Nations, a
book that laid out the principles that modern economies have operated under for
centuries (with the exception of the Reagan Revolution years of 1981-2021). In
addition to arguing for a strong domestic manufacturing base and high taxes on
the wealthy, Smith pointed out that one of the things that most directly
constitutes the wealth of a nation is its educated workforce and well-informed
populace (as a result of that education).
From Thomas Jefferson creating the first tuition-free American college (the
University of Virginia), to Horace Mann’s advocacy of public schools in the
late 19th century, right up until 1954, this was an uncontroversial position.
It’s why every developed country on Earth has a vibrant public school system
and — with the exception of the US since Reagan ended free college in
California — most developed countries offer free or near-free college to their
citizens.
But in 1954, the US Supreme Court upset the education apple cart by declaring
in their
Brown v Board case that “separate but equal” schools, segregated by
race, were anything but “equal.” That decision fueled two movements that live
on to this day.
The first was the rightwing anti-communist movement spearheaded by the John
Birch Society, which was heavily funded back then by Fred Koch, the father of
Charles and David Koch. They put up billboards across the country demanding
that Americans rise up and “Impeach Earl Warren,” who was then the Chief
Justice of the Supreme Court, for requiring “communist” racial integration of
our schools.
The second was the private, all-white “academy” movement that has morphed over
the years into charter schools and the “school choice” movement of today. It
received a major boost when the white supremacist co-founder of neoliberalism,
Milton Friedman, published a widely-read and influential article in 1955
explicitly calling for what he called “education vouchers” to fund all-white
private schools to “solve the national crisis” the Court had created.
In 1958 when the Virginia Supreme Court went along with the US Supreme Court’s
Brown v Board decision and ordered that state’s schools desegregated, the
governor shut down every public school in the state. Prince Edward County’s
schools were still closed in 1964, when they were finally ordered to open by
the courts.
Hundreds of “segregation academies” opened across the South; in Mississippi,
for example, 41,000 white students left public schools to attend these
academies in just the one year of 1969. Parents had to pay the tuition
themselves, but they were willing to do so to avoid their children having to
interact with Black, Hispanic, or Asian kids."
Via Kevin O'Brien, who wrote "As with almost every issue in America, it comes
down to race."
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
