Apr 1, 2026 · 1 hr 8 min · 9 segments
April 1, 2026 The Assault on Public Education: A Conversation with Jennifer Berkshire Public schools, says Jennifer Berkshire, are the places "where we start to solve problems together" and from which…
Jennifer BerkshireGuest
Alfie KohnHost
And in big picture, the whole push, if not for voucher schemes in particular, but the push for privatization over the last few decades seems to have been driven by two... maybe three in my mind, and I'll be interested to see if you agree, very, very different constituencies and sets of ideology.
On the one hand, you've got the corporate libertarian types, who are the people who talk about, you know, what you refer to as government overreach.
But then you've got this other group of largely Christian values-oriented people, and these people are pushing for privatization, not just because they don't like government, but because they're afraid that public schools are too liberal for them.
And, I mean, it turns out that more than, as you probably know, more than 90% of voucher recipients these days in most states are going to religious schools.
I hinted at the possibility of a third constituency or reason that privatization began, and that has to do with out-and-out racism.
The history of people who started... you know, a lot of these private schools and academies just so their kids wouldn't have to be integrated.
I think maybe that's what you're saying here in putting together a group of differing constituents.
And I think, I mean, what you're getting at is it's also just a really Right.
That how is it that on the one hand you have what seems like a really aggressive policy on the right to move as many kids out of public schools as possible.
That you have people openly stating that that's the goal in these communities.
So Florida has half a million kids now who use vouchers overwhelmingly to attend religious schools.
But then we're also seeing a very aggressive move to shape what happens within schools, including to make them more religious.
And in big picture, the whole push, if not for voucher schemes in particular, but the push for privatization over the last few decades seems to have been driven by two... maybe three in my mind, and I'll be interested to see if you agree, very, very different constituencies and sets of ideology.
On the one hand, you've got the corporate libertarian types, who are the people who talk about, you know, what you refer to as government overreach.
But then you've got this other group of largely Christian values-oriented people, and these people are pushing for privatization, not just because they don't like government, but because they're afraid that public schools are too liberal for them.
And, I mean, it turns out that more than, as you probably know, more than 90% of voucher recipients these days in most states are going to religious schools.
I hinted at the possibility of a third constituency or reason that privatization began, and that has to do with out-and-out racism.
The history of people who started... you know, a lot of these private schools and academies just so their kids wouldn't have to be integrated.
I think maybe that's what you're saying here in putting together a group of differing constituents.
And I think, I mean, what you're getting at is it's also just a really Right.
That how is it that on the one hand you have what seems like a really aggressive policy on the right to move as many kids out of public schools as possible.
That you have people openly stating that that's the goal in these communities.
So Florida has half a million kids now who use vouchers overwhelmingly to attend religious schools.
But then we're also seeing a very aggressive move to shape what happens within schools, including to make them more religious.
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