There's a new State propaganda film, "Waiting For Superman". The theme is "Public schools are failing! We should spend more money on public schools!" It's the usual "Problem! Reaction! Solution!"
The film is by the same guy who directed "An Inconvenient Truth". "An Inconvenient Truth" translates from statist to English as "A Convenient Lie". "Carbon dioxide causes global warming!" is excellent fake science. It's an excuse for more State power.
The director was on The Colbert Report. Stephen Colbert asked "If charter schools are so wonderful, then why not make every public school a charter school?" The director retorted "That isn't bureaucratically feasible."
In a really free market, anyone could start a school. The State controls the school budget, leading to lots of bureaucratic controls.
Unlike private schools, charter schools are still firmly controlled by the State. You need permission from the local government to start a charter school. In other words, you need to bribe the right people to get a charter school license. The charter school teachers are usually still State employees and members of the State teacher's union. With charter schools, there's an illusion of reform while the usual State middlemen still get their cut.
Contrast "charter schools" fake reform with "school vouchers", which is a better reform. With "school vouchers", parents get a check that they can take to *ANY* State-licensed private school. That's too close to a free education market. Teachers' unions and State bureaucreats shot down "school vouchers", because vouchers threatened entrenched interests. "School vouchers" comes too close to "Why do we need government involved in education?" In places they were tried, vouchers worked well, but State bureaucrats killed them to protect their turf.
The correct answer is "There should be no State involvement in schools." All taxation is theft, including taxes for State brainwashing centers (schools). That isn't what "Waiting for Superman" says.
There's another film released at about the same time, "The Cartel", which advocates for school vouchers. It didn't receive the massive hype of "Waiting for Superman". "The Cartel" doesn't fit the State propaganda agenda, so it wasn't heavily hyped. "Waiting for Superman" is great propaganda. It identifies a problem but recommends a fake solution.
There's a scene in "Waiting for Superman" where there's a charter school lottery. That would never happen in a really free market. The parents would directly pay tuition to get their child into a good school. With a charter school lottery, the parent is still dependent on State bureaucrats.
"Waiting for Superman" does not advocate for "school vouchers" or "Why should government be involved in education at all?" It's pure State propaganda.
Tuesday, November 2, 2010
Waiting for Stupidman
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6 comments:
Vouchers make sense up until too many students want to go to the same school that doesn't have the capacity for them. At that point, how does the school choose which students can attend? Students will still have to go to the less desirable schools, so what will have been achieved?
Once you have a certain level of basic education (simple arithmetic, reading and writing) you can pretty much teach yourself everything else.
I went to a crappy, academically poor, mostly government funded school.
A good proportion of the teachers were rubbish. For a few subjects for a couple of years, we practically had no proper teaching at all.
I had to practically teach myself maths and science because from 11 - 18 the quality of state provided teachers was low.
My success at this was that I managed to get into an elite university despite going to a crappy school.
Public schools are fascist organizations. If I do not sign my daughter's agenda on a daily basis, she gets punished (no recess, extra work, etc.) I also find the concept of homework appalling. As if 7 hours of propaganda and indoctrination aren't enough, the school now extends itself into our private lives. Unfortunately due to the financial constraints created by the State, homeschooling is not an option for us.
You are also forgetting another part of what vouchers do: once the state starts funding other schools, it becomes the customers. And as the customer, it can dictate "standards" and the like.
The state is not a contiguous entity. There are some state parasites that want to get rid of the current teachers while maintaining control of education. This is why public discourse of vouchers is allowed.
steamroller says-
Troll training and doctrine prohibit any ideas, even if they have merit, other than theirs which propagate the myth. The myth is: COMPETITION IS UNFAIR BECAUSE OF INCENTIVES FOR WINNERS. Therefore troll training can only continue if there are no incentives or rewards - because RULES PROHIBIT LOSING.
I receive property tax bill and school tax is billed separately. When I look at the bill I always wonder why should I subsidize education of somebody else's children? Would not it be fair if only those who have children paid this school tax? Educational vouchers is not a solution as it still involves government. Essentially school voucher is "steal from everyone and give to those who have children". Why should somebody without kids be forced into paying for education of somebody else's children? If you decided to have children then please be prepared to pay for their education.
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