AUSTRALIAN COUNCIL FOR THE DEFENCE OF GOVERNMENT SCHOOLS
PRESS RELEASE 527#
PUBLIC EDUCATION: A REALITY CHECK BACKWARDS
PRIVATIZATION A CRUEL HOAX WITH ‘REFORMERS’AIMING TO DESTROY
PUBLIC SCHOOLS
A broad historical perspective on public education reveals that it is a democratic ‘experiment’ with a comparatively short life of less than two centuries.
Supporters of public education believe it is the right of a child to have an education.
Supporters of religious or private education see it as either a right for the wealthy, a charity for deserving poor, or a commodity to be bought.
In our past religious men tended to hold a monopoly on the development of the minds of children – or their relegation to a life of drudgery.
As our democracy becomes the plaything of corporate plutocrats it has become a mere commodity, a money making exercise for profiteers– at public expense.
Public education is under attack from past providers
Supporters of public education need to take a reality check and realise that our precious, relatively young educational experiment is in great danger of being relegated to history in favour of denominational, market based, selective schooling. This happened in Southern Ireland in the 1890s. It could happen to Australia in the 21st century.
On her September 15 blog, Diane Ravitch, from the USA calls the bluff of the so-called ‘reformers’ of public education. They are nothing more or less than ‘deformers’.
She writes:
Our public schools aren't in decline. And "reformers" with wild promises don't care about education — just profits
See http://www.salon.com/2013/09/15/diane_ravitch_school_privatization_is_a_....
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