In a recent interview with Learning Matters, Education Professor and NewTalker Diane Ravitch discussed the failures of government programs like No Child Left Behind, but explained that privatization of the public school system is not the answer.
Fellow education NewTalker Neal McCluskey of the CATO Institute has taken issue with Prof. Ravitch's assertion that charter schools are an example of "privatization." He explains, "Charter schooling - a system by which public schools are given a right to exist and largely held accountable by government - isn’t even close to 'privatization,' if by that we mean taking control from government and giving it to free, 'private' individuals."
But McCluskey's main bone to pick with Prof. Ratvich is on the issue of what he calls "freedom in education." McCluskey argues, "Ravitch’s apparent fear of freedom forces her to deny the only hope for making American education really work: to empower all parents to choose, and to set educators free." McCluskey says that rather than resting on the "reality-ignoring hope" that the right kind of government leadership will one day appear, America should adopt the same freemarket, deregulated approach to education that has given us the "powerful innovation and progress we take for granted in everything from consumer electronics to restaurants."
Sources:
"We know from the recent CREDO study at Stanford, that charter schools run the gamut from excellent to abysmal, and many studies have found that charters, on average, produce no better results than the regular public schools. Deregulation nearly destroyed our economy in the past decade, and we better be careful that we don’t destroy our public schools too."She believes rather that the key is to find "the kind of leadership [in government] that can figure out how to improve our public school system" without resorting to a privatized sytem.
Fellow education NewTalker Neal McCluskey of the CATO Institute has taken issue with Prof. Ravitch's assertion that charter schools are an example of "privatization." He explains, "Charter schooling - a system by which public schools are given a right to exist and largely held accountable by government - isn’t even close to 'privatization,' if by that we mean taking control from government and giving it to free, 'private' individuals."
But McCluskey's main bone to pick with Prof. Ratvich is on the issue of what he calls "freedom in education." McCluskey argues, "Ravitch’s apparent fear of freedom forces her to deny the only hope for making American education really work: to empower all parents to choose, and to set educators free." McCluskey says that rather than resting on the "reality-ignoring hope" that the right kind of government leadership will one day appear, America should adopt the same freemarket, deregulated approach to education that has given us the "powerful innovation and progress we take for granted in everything from consumer electronics to restaurants."
Sources:
- Taking Note: Privatization Will Not Help Us Achieve Our Goals: An Interview with Diane Ravitch [Learning Matters]
- Fear of Freedom Leaves Only Faith Healing for Our Schools [CATO@Liberty]
