Wednesday, December 14, 2016

For the establishment, ESAs are a hill to die on

In an article in the current issue of School Reform News, I'm quoted making the point that certain special-interest groups in Oklahoma vigorously oppose ESA legislation.
“The main obstacle, as always, is the education establishment,” Dutcher said. “They have a vested interest in protecting their monopoly position, so for them this is a hill to die on. They have the tax-funded lobbyists, the [public relations] machine, a largely sympathetic press corps, and the infrastructure necessary to make the most noise at the capitol and on social media. Combine that with their willingness to peddle long-discredited myths, and it’s tough to overcome. You can’t overcome it unless you have political leadership willing to say, basically, ‘We’re not going to sacrifice any more kids. We’re not going home until we get this done.’ Unfortunately, we don’t have that right now.”

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