4min chapter

The Jordan B. Peterson Podcast cover image

280. Critical Racists | Christopher Rufo

The Jordan B. Peterson Podcast

CHAPTER

Is It Possible That Public Education Institutions Will Be Dominated by Parasitic Bureaucrats?

The president of Hillsdale College in Michigan has struck a deal with the governor of Tennessee to open 50 charter schools. The college was famously one of the first colleges in the country to accept black students, right off the bat. "I would say they've really created a model of extreme integrity and accountability," says Julian Zelizer.

00:00
Speaker 1
So here's a
Speaker 2
counter example, let's say, it's rather radical. So I've been speaking at some length recently with the president of Hillsdale College in Michigan. And Hillsdale is a conservative institution, I would say a traditional educational institution, and one that's thriving and also offering from what I can tell a genuine education to its students in the deepest sense. And Larry Arn, who's the president's very respectable man in all the positive ways. And they decided a long time ago, 50 years, I believe, I think it was in the 1960s, that they would not take a cent of government funding. And the consequence of that is that they haven't. And the secondary consequences, because the place is unbelievably well managed and governed, that they attract way more students than they can possibly take. They're growing like mad and they have a 1% dropout rate, 1%, not 40 or 50%, 1%. And also the academic performance margin between males and females at Hillsdale is actually quite small by comparative standards, which is also an indication of their of the positive quality of their efforts on the educational front. And so maybe, I don't know, man, maybe part of the issue here is, is it possible that if we set up public education institutions per se, that we end up in a situation where they're going to be dominated by parasitic bureaucrats who are pushing an ideological agenda, and that that's an equal danger right now, it's a real danger on the left, clearly, because they dominate the educational establishment. But maybe merely setting our systems up so they are publicly funded to such a great degree, makes the probability that they will become ideologically dominated approach 100%.
Speaker 1
That's probably right for the same reason that it's kind of the Marxist economic problem. They're insulated from consequences, they're subsidized, they don't have to have productivity, they can raise their prices and perpetuity to extreme levels, because there's those government subsidies coming in on the student loan front. Yeah, definitely. I think you want to have a more competitive environment. I love Hillsdale. I was a visiting lecturer there earlier this year, got to know Dr. Arn, and I would say they've really created a model of extreme integrity, extreme accountability, extreme responsibility towards those students. And I think a pedagogy that works, that has stood the test of time, that is in some ways, a progressive and the good sense of the word, Hillsdale, of course, was famously one of the first colleges in the country to accept African Americans to accept black students in the mid-1800s. In its initial class, in its initial class, right off the bat. That's right. Regardless of race, color creed, nationality, etc. But something else that's happening with Hillsdale that I think is very exciting, and I think is worth the risk. Dr. Arn and the governor of Tennessee have recently struck a deal where Hillsdale is going to found and operate 50 charter schools. So publicly funded charter schools following the Hillsdale classical education pedagogical approach in partnership with the government of Tennessee. And sure, there are risks to this approach. But I think that again, if you compare it to the status quo, it's an improvement. Will there be other problems and questions that we have to resolve in three years, five years, 10 years, of course? Yeah.

Get the Snipd
podcast app

Unlock the knowledge in podcasts with the podcast player of the future.
App store bannerPlay store banner

AI-powered
podcast player

Listen to all your favourite podcasts with AI-powered features

AI-powered
podcast player

Listen to all your favourite podcasts with AI-powered features

Discover
highlights

Listen to the best highlights from the podcasts you love and dive into the full episode

Discover
highlights

Listen to the best highlights from the podcasts you love and dive into the full episode

Save any
moment

Hear something you like? Tap your headphones to save it with AI-generated key takeaways

Save any
moment

Hear something you like? Tap your headphones to save it with AI-generated key takeaways

Share
& Export

Send highlights to Twitter, WhatsApp or export them to Notion, Readwise & more

Share
& Export

Send highlights to Twitter, WhatsApp or export them to Notion, Readwise & more

AI-powered
podcast player

Listen to all your favourite podcasts with AI-powered features

AI-powered
podcast player

Listen to all your favourite podcasts with AI-powered features

Discover
highlights

Listen to the best highlights from the podcasts you love and dive into the full episode

Discover
highlights

Listen to the best highlights from the podcasts you love and dive into the full episode