The Political Economy of Charter Schools

Synonyms

School choice; Neoliberalism; Rights; Profit

Introduction

In order to understand charter schools and to avoid many of the confusions inherent in the charter school debate, it is helpful to view charter schools from the perspective of political economy. Perhaps the main reason there are so many misunderstandings surrounding charter schools is because there is no reliance on political economy to make sense of them. The fact that we live in a culture that is anti-inquiry, anti-discussion, and averse to scientific renderings of phenomena contributes to this state of affairs. The dominant forces in society, such as Wall Street, big business, and their political and media representatives, have a direct interest in promoting mystification and incoherence about many critical issues. This keeps people disoriented and vulnerable to ideas and agendas that are not in their interest. Today, nearly every issue is spun to the point that no one knows what to believe any more. Maximum...