" hasn't the time generally said to coincide with neoliberalism also had a sizable increase in the percentage of people attending college, and haven't the number of people attaining advanced degrees exploded in the last 30 years or so, particularly the number of women and minorities?"
That has mostly to do with competition for jobs and with the "respectability" bestowed by a college diploma.
"I don't disagree with a lot what you say, but arguing that the primary aim of education reform is to *take away* educational opportunities for most people seems like a huge simplification of what's actually going on."
I didn't say that. What I would say is that the primary aims of education reform are as follows:
1. To make education a scarce good. 2. To channel public money to private profit. 3. To divide the working class between those who can figure out what charters to get their kids into and the "refuse" who are left to public schools. This will make the public schools look even more inefficient and make the case for privatization even stronger. 4. To destroy teacher's unions. 5. To further degrade the conditions and remuneration of teachers.
All of this will take away education opportunities for the vast majority, while increasing guaranteed profits. The profits will be made by those providing instructional materials and the testing apparatus, and by the diploma mills.
Joanna ___________________________________ http://mailman.lbo-talk.org/mailman/listinfo/lbo-talk