by Mike Hall, May 9, 2011
More than 200 students, teachers and other activist—many from Wisconsin and Pennsylvania—rallied today in Washington, D.C., against Gov. Scott Walker’s (R) and Gov. Tom Corbett’s moves to privatize their states’ schools.
The two—along with former Washington, D.C., school chancellor Michelle Rhee—were the key speakers at an annual conference by a right-wing “education reform” foundation that advocates privatizing public education and draws of some of the biggest funders of right-wing political projects nationally.
The American Federation for Children (ACF) promotes school privatization and voucher schemes that take away critically needed funds for public education.
Both Walker and Corbett are pushing privatization efforts and Rhee has long been connected to corporate education interests who would profit from school privatization. According to The Nation’s John Nichols:
In addition to his much-publicized proposal to strips teachers of collective bargaining rights and to make it dramatically harder for their unions to advocate for small class sizes and other priorities, Walker’s budget plan seeks to cut funding for local schools and reduce the authority of local school boards to make decisions that defend and strengthen public education in their communities. It also outlines a number of initiatives designed to clear the way for and encourage private-school choice schemes
Corbett has also proposed a budget that drastically slashes public school funding and wants to spend state funds on private schools. Tim Brown, a Pennsylvania parent who bused down from Pennsylvania, told Philly.Com that Corbett’s and other voucher plans are “cynical maneuvering by right-wing billionaires,” who want to privatize all education in America.
ACF was founded Michigan billionaires Dick and Betsy DeVos. Dick DeVos is a former Republican nominee for governor of Michigan and Betsy DeVos is a former chair of the Michigan Republican Party. Writes Nichols
But the couple’s real political work has involved the direction of tens of millions of dollars into the ideological and electoral infrastructure that supports school privatization.
At the rally, protesters carried hand-lettered signs that included “Public Schools Make America Strong,” “Move America Forward,” “Save Public Education” and “Public Education, Not Privatization.” But several members of the tea party-aligned organization “Freedom Works”—founded by former House majority leader Dick Armey—posed as demonstrators and one posed as a reporter before being outed. Armed with small video cameras they then tried to goad ralliers into confrontations.
