Originally Posted by
erikd
I don't have a disagreement with your viewpoints on experiments, distrust of monopolies, or dislike of maintaining the status quo.
I think that we are not too much unalike in our views on this. I was a big supporter of the movement to experiment with privatization of schools, expand charters, etc. I thought that privatization might be able to overcome some of the challenges and struggles faced by underperforming public schools.
Unfortunately, the shift to private/charter schools hasn't resulted in any widespread or significant improvement, so I have tempered my support for continued expansion of this experiment, in favor of looking at the successes and failures that we have seen so far, and then adjusting the strategy.
It seems that this is where we differ and disagree... I supported the charter/privatization experiment, but it hasn't worked, so I do not support continued expansion of this failed experiment as-is.
I do support attempts to learn from and replicate the successful charter schools, but I'm not interested in blowing up public schools in favor of charter schools when there is no evidence that it will improve outcomes.
I support charter schools and privatization when it actually leads to better outcomes. I don't support it when it's only based on a dogmatic belief that privatization is always better than public services.