That’s the question raised by Daniel Casse at Commentary.
But the real flaw of the anti-“big-government conservative” argument is that the adherence to libertarian orthodoxy often stands in the way of long-sought conservative and free-market goals. A recent development in New Orleans’s public school system makes the case vividly. Many conservatives castigated President Bush when he approved billions in post-Katrina relief for New Orleans. No doubt they were right when they predicted that much of it would be wasted, if not pilfered, by dishonest bureaucrats.
Yet the funds have also made possible one of the most interesting experiments in American education. Prior to Katrina, the Orleans Parish School Board was among the worst in the country. Barely any of its 8th-graders were performing at an adequate level. Post-Katrina, with federal money to spread around, the school board has been disbanded. In its place is a new organization that has been approving a wide range of competitive charter schools run by entrepreneurs and dedicated education leaders. A recent article in The Atlantic described it as “the most market-driven system in the United States.”
So the long list of conservatives and libertarians who have assaulted the Bush Administration over reckless spending on New Orleans have to make up their minds. Either they are intractably against big-government spending, or they are in favor of the most successful effort to undo the teachers’ unions and create a competitive system of public schools. But they can’t be on both sides.
I smell a false dichotomy, fueled by a post hoc argument. It may well be the case that the new organization replacing the corrupt school board has brought a “market-driven” solution to the Big Easy. That is certainly to be lauded. But it doesn’t necessarily follow that it was the Federal largesse that did it. One can easily imagine where, for practically no money at all, school boards all over the country are disbanded in favor of such organizations. Now doesn’t that sound nice?
The choice isn’t between big-goverment spending and competetive schools. There are two separate choices: big vs. small government, and union-run schools vs. competetive education. As happy as I am to see progress in New Orleans, I see no motivation there to jump on the big government bandwagon.
