privatization: theft of the public good

Parents have been ignored in the public schools starting with compulsory attendance laws.  As schools built a huge bureaucratic infrastructure, families were kept out of any substantial role and were given no choices at all other than to comply at the threat of jail.  This formed attitudes within these large institutions that have proven to be dysfunctional in a service ostensibly for families.

Homeschoolers and educational activists saw the writing on the wall and began growing their own some time ago.  But control of children and families continued, and control of communities grew too by adding the remote, corporate control of testing and standards.

Now corporate direct control through takeover is underway and privatized corporate schools are dropping even the polite pretense of working with parents.  It is yet another step away from schools providing voluntary and locally-driven learning services for families.

From a post up at Education Notes Online:

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