Every statistical study done about test scores in the United States for the last fifty years points to one fact: the biggest gains in test scores in the United States were achieved in the mid 1970s when schools reached their zenith of integration. We have gone back toward racial and class segregation since, and the charter and voucher movements are merely accelerating the pace of segregation.y Our current problem is that these simple facts are rejected by the billionaires like Bill Gates, Eli Broad, Ken Griffin, the Kochs, and the Waltons who push charters and vouchers to gain market share in a thirteen billion dollar a year industry. Philanthropy is a tool to open markets. The Gates, Broad, and Walton Foundations are filled with market zealots who seek to disrupt public education to sell a product, gentrify inner-city neighborhoods, and make their bosses look better.
At www.livingindialogue.com
