Right's War on Higher Educ - State Legislation, Cultural Backlash, 'Liberal Excesses,' Cut Govt Funds, Think Tanks Fund

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Last edited Sun Jul 7, 2024, 02:28 PM - Edit history (1)

- 'Higher Education is the Right's Latest Target in Its War on Public Goods.' Common Dreams. More than 150 bills seeking to undermine academic freedom and intervene in university governance were introduced in state legislatures across the country during 2021-2023.' Colleen Scherpella, Jul 07, 2024, Center For Media & Democracy. - Edited.
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A recent white paper by Isaac Kamola, director of the Center for the Defense of Academic Freedom, details the ongoing culture-war backlash against higher education in America, largely in response to the grassroots activism of Black Lives Matter in 2020 and increasing LGBTQ+ visibility. More than 150 bills seeking to undermine academic freedom and intervene in university governance were introduced in state legislatures across the country during 2021-2023.

While these bills are typically interpreted as an “organic” consequence of increasing polarization among Americans, the current wave of legislation targeting higher education is a coordinated effort between wealthy elites, a network of right-wing and libertarian think tanks, and Republican politicians at the state level. The paper published by the American Association of University Professors (AAUP) identifies 11 right-wing and libertarian think tanks responsible for manufacturing the cultural backlash against both K-12 and higher education.

A steady stream of papers, op-eds, talking points, public events, and media appearances emanating from these groups have conveyed a false impression of intellectual legitimacy behind their arguments, which conservatives have leveraged for political capital. As a result, the inflammatory narrative that all college and university faculty are “liberal,” biased, “woke,” socialist or Marxist, and hostile to free speech and conservative values has taken hold in the mainstream. The catalyst for the backlash against educational institutions and the accompanying wave of legislation can be traced back to an executive order signed by former President Trump in Sept. 2020 as well as to the right-wing operative who set it into motion.

The think tanks behind these attacks are prominent and well-connected operatives in the right-wing ecosphere. Seven of the 11 are members of the State Policy Network (SPN), a web of 167 far-right nonprofit organizations.

Also, 8 of the 11 highlighted think tanks sit on the advisory board of Project 2025, a series of policy proposals from The Heritage Foundation outlining the sweeping authoritarian and Christian nationalist reforms conservatives expect to see if former President Trump is reelected this year.. It is important to follow the money when examining the culture war attacks on higher education,” Kamola told CMD. “The goal of plutocrats and billionaires has been to paint all higher education as threatening to American values because the end goal is defunding all public goods. Attacking higher education not only scores short-term political points but also paves the road for delegitimizing all public institutions.”...
https://www.commondreams.org/opinion/right-s-war-on-higher-education

- The Attack on Public Education, Noam Chomsky, 8 days ago. (9 mins). Privatization is the goal like the health system and prisons. There has been an assault for 25 years on democracy, solidarity, social welfare and more that interferes with private power...