The War for Privatization
Right-wing financiers, like the DeVos family, have waged one such war against the American school system for decades. Through organizations like The Alliance for the Separation of School & State they have engineered the concept of school vouchers as a first step toward dismantling public education as we know it.
Joseph Bast, President and CEO of the conservative Heartland Institute is quoted as saying, "The complete privatization of schooling might be desirable, but this objective is politically impossible for the time being. Vouchers are a type of reform that is possible now, and would put us on the path to further privatization."
Are the rewards of deregulation worth the cost of such a massive public relations effort? All indications are yes, privatization can be incredibly profitable. Take, for example, Affiliated Computer Services’ (a division of Xerox) contract to distribute California’s welfare benefits. Bank fees and other end-user charges took $17.4 million from the state’s working poor in 2010; this is on top of the company’s lucrative service contract.
In late 2011, K12 Inc. posted record profits, and although their stock (NYSE: LRN) recently took a 46% drop, they are still estimated to reap revenues north of $680 million in the 2012 fiscal year. K12 is only one of a myriad of players in the semi-private charter education field.http://www.nationofchange.org/war-privatization-1329146614
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