From time to time, I have commented on how public schools in Michigan were, de facto, segregated. Kids in poor areas went to the nearest school, and kids in well-off neighborhoods went to their nearest school. It became obvious that the money followed the white kids, as the white schools were clean, modern, and well-equipped, while the ghetto schools were dumps. I went to the ghetto high school in Kalamazoo, and toured some of the ghetto elementary schools. Had to laff at my mom. She thought it was great that I would go to the same high school she had graduated from 30 years earlier. She got home from her first parent’s night, and first thing out of her mouth was “wow, is it run down”.
TPTB decided, as the money followed the white kids, bus some of the white kids into the ghetto schools, the money would follow, and the ghetto schools would be improved, so the ghetto kids get a better education. The reaction was a push to divert money away from public school systems to subsidize private, mostly religious, schools, which were still de facto segregated. The effort failed, then.
Over the last 50 years, since public schools were integrated, “neighborhood schools” has been a dog whistle for a return to segregated public schools. The Shiny faction in Michigan is, again, pushing for a school voucher system, to drain money out of the public schools, to be used to subsidize the well-off, who send their kids to private schools. At the moment, the Shinies are out of power in Lansing, but by a narrow margin, and could regain power, and make their voucher scheme happen, in the next election.
Came across this newly produced discussion today. Ignore, for the moment, the biases of the channel, and the inflammatory rhetoric used, and focus on the information. The good part starts around the 8:40 minute mark.
Perhaps there are long term residents of California on this page that can confirm or deny the comments about CA public schools. According to the piece, CA public schools were excellent, until a scheme was developed to strangle funding for the public schools. Now, CA public schools are some of the worst in the nation. The take-away being that the well-off, who send their spawn to private school, only see public schools as something to be defunded to cover the cost of more subsidies and tax cuts for the well-off.
Meanwhile, Finland outlawed private schools. With the spawn of the well-off attending the same public schools as the proles, the well-off parents decided that the public schools be excellent, and they are.
So now, in CA and Finland, we see the same dynamic as 50 years ago: the money follows the spawn of the well-off. If the spawn are in private schools, the privates become subsidized and the public schools are defunded, just like the ghetto public schools were, before integration. If the spawn of the well-off are in public schools, the public schools are well funded. Many USian states seem to be following a path to a two tier education system: good education rationed by ability to pay, with kids from lower income families receiving “bantu education”, rather than having an equal opportunity to receive a good education.
