The Carpetbagger Report brings up a point that I’ve long held: the “free-market” forces unleashed by vouchers won’t necessarily, or even likely, mean accessible private education for underprivileged children, as proponents often claim. One thing that’s occured to me though, is that the issue is not the class conflict between rich and poor, at least politically. Rather, it boils down a battle between well-off suburban families who have paid for the privelege of being in a quality public school and even better-off families who put their children in private schools. Others align with each side: some inner-city black and other minority families support a voucher system out of a desire to gain entry into private and quasi-private education (and out of a resentment), where others hold a political commitment to public schools. Similarly, the white, lower middle classes are split. The debate is in the name of these group but primarily isn’t a debate between them and the bourgeoisie.
For those locally, I’ll note that WGBH is showing more from its Eye on Education series this week, assessing education policy in the state.
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