What and who are fueling the movement to privatize public education — and why you should care

This is an important article by author Joanne Barkan about the history of the movement to privatize U.S. public schools, which is now at the heart of the national debate about the future of publicly funded education in this country.

We now have an education secretary, Betsy DeVos, who is admittedly doing everything she can to promote alternatives to traditional publicly funded education. Many state legislatures are helping her with programs using taxpayer money to fund private and religious education. Supporters of America’s public education system are concerned about what they say is an assault on the most important civic institution in the country.

In this article, Barkan explains the history and current state of the privatization movement and what may lie ahead for the education system.

This is a long and complex article, with many sources. A summary is difficult.
One clue, though: It starts with desegregation.