Education proposals to close the income inequality gap

Can the Neoliberal agenda fix the income/education inequality gap?

In James Paul Gee’s third chapter of his book, Social Linguistics and literacy, he tells his readers that one of the facets of the Neo-Liberal philosophy, is for schools to become better through free market competition. The monopolized public school has no incentive to be innovative and maintain a good product.  Like any philosophy it sounds good until placed into practice. According to FOX News reporter, Shannon Bream, that is exactly what two Republican Senators are attempting to do. Lamar Alexander R-Tenn. and Tim Scott R-S.C., want to take billions in tax money being spent on education and give it to the individual states and parents; giving them a chance to take kids out of a failing school, and place them in a charter or private school. Opponents of this plan, such as Thomas Grentzel (Executive Director of the National School Board), see this as an elitist solution that will only take money away from already failing schools.  In my opinion, this is just repackaging the same idea that began in the 1980’s with Margaret Thatcher in the U.K. and Ronald Regan in the U.S.  If these solutions were so effective, why are both countries still struggling to address the education gap?

There are many factors that money alone does not address. However, none of these factors were address by Grentzel. His response, that this tactic would circumvent “Constitutional prohibitions against subsidizing religious institutions,” completely fails to gather my empathy or support. Being concerned with giving money to religious schools as being unconstitutional, is like drowning in a pool and rejecting the life preserver simply because it has a cross on it. If a parent has a problem with a religious school there are numerous secular private schools that offer education without the religion. That being said, I found that he missed the mark in his defense of the problem of throwing tax money into a free market strategy.

In James Paul Gee third chapter titled, Critical Literacies, he alludes to the possibility that these programs will allow for some to receive the minimum standard while the privilege few still gain more from the elite schools created through free market competition (pg. 30). According to Bream’s article, the Republican Senator’s strategy doesn’t seem to address money going to already privileged children. Also, it makes no mention of how the poor child will now get to his/her new school? If mom and dad are poor, who will provide the transportation? How will these kids now deal with a new social environment, possibly culturally different than they are accustomed? These may sound like minor issues but they are still potential recipes for failure. Simply taking an old idea and putting a new label on it, will not solve the problem.

http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2014/01/29/gop-senators-offer-proposals-to-close-income-inequality-gap/