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Thursday, March 10th, 2016

Cashing in on Kids: 172 ALEC Education Bills Push Privatization in 2015

Author:     Brendan Fischer and Zachary Peters
Source:     truthout
Publication Date:     Wednesday, 09 March 2016 00:00
Link: Cashing in on Kids: 172 ALEC Education Bills Push Privatization in 2015
Stephan:   The Theocratic Right through ALEC and funded by the Koch brothers and The Bradley Foundation, amongst others, wants to privatize public education and turn it into a profit center, in which each child becomes a cash cow. It is an appallingly bad idea, but very profitable. Also desirable from the Republicans' perspective is that  in privatized schools you can teach Creationist nonsense, Ayn Rand economics, and other fantasies so beloved by the Right. All this, of course, has significant political implications. As is clear from looking at the demographics of the Trump voters ignorant religious voters are easier to manipulate and more likely to vote for Republicans.

apple with dollarsDespite widespread public opposition to the corporate-driven education privatization agenda, at least 172 measures reflecting American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) model bills were introduced in 42 states in 2015, according to an analysis by the Center for Media and Democracy, publishers of ALECexposed.org and PRWatch.org. (A PDF version of this report may be downloaded here.)

One of ALEC’s biggest funders is Koch Industries and the Koch brothers’ fortune. The Kochs have had a seat at the table – where the private sector votes as equals with legislators – on ALEC’s education task force via their “grassroots” group Americans for Prosperity and their Freedom Partners group, which was described as the Kochs’ “secret bank.”

The Kochs also have a voice on ALEC’s Education Task Force through multiple state-based think tanks of the State Policy Network, ALEC’s sister organization, which is funded by many of the same corporations and foundations and donor entities.

ALEC’s Education Task Force is also funded by the billionaire DeVos family, which bankrolls a privatization operation called “American Federation of Children,” and by for-profit corporations like K12 Inc., which was founded by […]

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