The MAGAt Community, working through the Republican Party which they control, is trying to restructure or even eliminate public schools that students can attend without fees. Why? Because they don’t want fact-based education of children. They want right-wing indoctrination, and some of those advocating this want to make a profit from such a transition. That’s what many charter schools and private schools are about. Americans are already the least literate population amongst the developed democratic states. Nationwide, on average, according to the U.S. Department of Education, 79% of U.S. adults were literate to some degree, while 21% were illiterate in 2022. Sadly, the majority, 54% of those who had some measure of literacy only had it to below sixth-grade level. We are a country on a downward education spiral, particularly in Red states, as this article lays out.
Beth Lewis, executive director of Save Our Schools Arizona, speaks out against income tax cuts and election law changes passed by the Arizona Legislature in Phoenix on September 28, 2017. Credit: Matt York / AP
Bait-and-switch is an old retail tactic. You lure customers in with promises of a deep discount, only to inform them that the deal has a catch. The real price tag, it turns out, is quite a bit more.
Though it took supporters of school vouchers a while to catch on, they’ve learned quickly that the trick works just as well in education policy as it does in retail sales. Pick a price that will get people in the door, and then break the news once you’ve got them where you want them.
In Arizona, taxpayers are now staring down a $400 million shortfall, with an even bigger bill coming due next year. How did the Grand Canyon State go from sitting on a huge cash reserve to facing a rising tide of red ink? Simple. Voucher proponents suggested that paying for private school […]
