N.C. Policy Watch’s Rob Schofield declares that we’re seeing an “election year switcheroo on public education.” He argues,
Over the last two years, however, as the 2016 election has begun to loom larger and larger on the political horizon, much of the tone and tenor, if not all of the substance, has shifted. Suddenly, what was a pitched frontal assault on public education has become more of a Cold War.
Apparently, largely unidentified Republicans and conservatives hate public education but pretend to like it (or at least tolerate it) during election season to appeal to voters.
Has there been a rhetorical shift? It is worth exploring. But Mr. Schofield’s essay does little to answer the question. Then again, the vague generalizations, unsubstantiated claims, and straw-man arguments throughout the piece suggest that it was not designed to do so.
Curiously, Mr. Schofield stated that yours truly revealed the Right’s (?) “true agenda” by claiming “for the umpteenth time that school funding was essentially irrelevant.” This seems to undermine his argument. After all, repeated claims suggest consistency, not change.
(Perhaps I just didn’t “get the memo from the powers-that-be who establish right-wing talking points on the issues of the day during election years.” Who are the “powers-that-be” anyway? Mr. Schofield never identifies them.)
The funny thing is that I have never claimed that funding is irrelevant. The sentence following the one quoted by Mr. Schofield makes that clear. I wrote,
Most agree that how the money is spent is far more important than how much money is available to be spent, that is, a focus on educational productivity.
So, yes, my true agenda is (and has been for some time) to focus on educational productivity. Now that the secret is out, I can rest easy.
…and I am still waiting on that memo…
