Chomsky: The Corporate Assault on Public Education

Chomsky: The Corporate Assault on Public Education | Alternet
Two years ago I gave some talks in Mexico at the National University, a very good one. It's free. Some years ago the government attempted to add small costs. That led to a national student strike that practically closed the country down and the government backed off. Something similar incidentally just happened in Quebec. In Mexico City there was a leftist mayor who established a university that was not only free, but had open admissions. Anybody can go. That's Mexico. A poor country.
From Mexico I went on to California, to the Bay Area. That's one of the richest regions on earth. They are destroying the greatest public education system in the world, systematically. The major universities are practically being privatized for the rich, becoming like Ivy League colleges. And educational opportunities in the rest of the public system are slowly being modified to provide some kind of technical training.
Something similar is happening all over the country. By now, in most states, tuition covers more than half of the costs for colleges. Pretty soon only the community colleges will be publicly financed under current tendencies and even they are under attack. Analysts seem to agree. To quote one, “The era of affordable four-year public universities, heavily subsidised by the state, may be over.”