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Neoliberalism, Inequality, and Reclaiming Education for Democracy

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Title: Neoliberalism, Inequality, and Reclaiming Education for Democracy
Language: English
Authors: Neil Kraus
Source: American Educator. 2025 49(3):30-37.
Availability: American Federation of Teachers, AFL-CIO. 555 New Jersey Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20001. Tel: 202-879-4420; e-mail: ae@aft.org; Web site: http://www.aft.org/newspubs/periodicals/ae
Peer Reviewed: N
Page Count: 8
Publication Date: 2025
Document Type: Journal Articles
Reports - Descriptive
Education Level: Higher Education
Postsecondary Education
Descriptors: Neoliberalism, Equal Education, Democracy, Politics of Education, Role of Education, Educational Benefits, Labor Market, Educational Attainment, Public Schools, Colleges, Knowledge Economy, Misconceptions, Poverty, Corporations, Educational Change, Educational Finance, Education Work Relationship, Economic Climate
ISSN: 0148-432X
Abstract: If everyone needs education to succeed, why is education always under fire politically? Why is the education system always on defense? To try to better understand the seemingly contradictory politics of education, the author began to examine primary data on the labor market, historic and current educational attainment rates, and scholarly literature on these topics. He researched the recent history of business and public policy. He started paying close attention to how the most powerful actors and institutions in society talked about the purposes-- and purported flaws--of education. In sum, the author discovered that the decades of claims that public schools and colleges are failing are at odds with official data on the education system and economy and with much scholarly research. Decades of claims about the so-called knowledge economy are also false, as there is not now, nor has there ever been, an abundance of high-wage, high-skilled jobs in the United States. Instead, the real economy is dominated by low-skill, low-wage service sector jobs. This is why both K-12 and higher education are always on defense: since at least the 1980s, corporate America has engaged in a nonstop political campaign to deflect all attention away from its role in catalyzing inequality and onto the education system. Corporate America blames schools and colleges for the economic insecurity, stagnant wages, and poverty it creates. This article discusses how the "fantasy economy", the mythical version of the economy where the education system is always failing, and the workforce is always inadequate, has driven the corporate education reform movement and the concomitant underfunding of public schools and colleges over the past several decades.
Abstractor: ERIC
Entry Date: 2025
Accession Number: EJ1485719
Database: ERIC
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  Data: If everyone needs education to succeed, why is education always under fire politically? Why is the education system always on defense? To try to better understand the seemingly contradictory politics of education, the author began to examine primary data on the labor market, historic and current educational attainment rates, and scholarly literature on these topics. He researched the recent history of business and public policy. He started paying close attention to how the most powerful actors and institutions in society talked about the purposes-- and purported flaws--of education. In sum, the author discovered that the decades of claims that public schools and colleges are failing are at odds with official data on the education system and economy and with much scholarly research. Decades of claims about the so-called knowledge economy are also false, as there is not now, nor has there ever been, an abundance of high-wage, high-skilled jobs in the United States. Instead, the real economy is dominated by low-skill, low-wage service sector jobs. This is why both K-12 and higher education are always on defense: since at least the 1980s, corporate America has engaged in a nonstop political campaign to deflect all attention away from its role in catalyzing inequality and onto the education system. Corporate America blames schools and colleges for the economic insecurity, stagnant wages, and poverty it creates. This article discusses how the "fantasy economy", the mythical version of the economy where the education system is always failing, and the workforce is always inadequate, has driven the corporate education reform movement and the concomitant underfunding of public schools and colleges over the past several decades.
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      – Text: English
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        StartPage: 30
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      – SubjectFull: Neoliberalism
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Equal Education
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      – SubjectFull: Democracy
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      – SubjectFull: Colleges
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