By Daniel Pryzbyla ([email protected])

"Rah, rah, rah! Go Vouchers!" ABC News "20-20" January 13, 2006 education production "Stupid in America : How we cheat our kids" was script from the private school voucher playbook. It was really a pep rally after a political loss.

"Stupid in America " is a nasty title for a program about public education, said narrator John Stossel. "But some nasty things are going on in America 's public schools and it's about time we face up to it." Of course, in political reality, the "about time" that "20-20" producers had to "face up to it" began back in June 2005. Stossel and the "20-20" staff didn't just wake up one morning after a nightmare and decide to produce a major anti-public school documentary. National voucher kingpins gasped after hearing the Florida Supreme Court in June 2005 had agreed to hear oral arguments on the state's "Opportunity Scholarships" voucher program, one of the state's several private voucher endeavors. Win or lose - Florida 's court decision would put education vouchers in the national spotlight. Voucher corporate and institutional backers had to be prepared. A carnival of 10-second sound bites throughout the country wouldn't suffice.

U.S. Department of Education's previous chief under President George W. Bush had already been caught funding willing columnists to promote its highly contentious No Child Left Behind (NCLB) education act's high-stakes testing and public school sanctions. Another disastrous gaff promoting vouchers while trashing public education would sink their voucher ship cruise. But ABC is not a public entity; it's a private company owned by the Walt Disney Company. In 1986, Capital Cities Communication, a large broadcasting group, acquired ABC television network for $3.5 million, according to a Columbia Journalism Review study in 2004. But within the capitalist marketplace, what's purchased today can also be sold later. In 1996, the largest media merger at the time took place. For a nifty $19 billion, Capital Cities/ABC was purchased by the Disney Company.

According to Los Angeles Independent Media Center , as of 2003 ABC owned 10 TV stations that reach about 24 percent of households. ABC Network News includes Prime Time Live, Nightline, Good Morning America and 20-20. Walt Disney media holdings also incorporate Miramax, Touchtone Pictures, 3 music labels, Hyperion book publishers, 11 major local newspapers and other private ventures. The trio of Disney, ABC and Capital Cities together contributed $640,000 to Republican George W. Bush's 2000 presidential campaign.

"Almost all media that reach a large audience in the United States are owned by for-profit corporations - that by law are obligated to put the profits of their investors ahead of all other considerations," said Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting (FAIR) on its website. "The goal of maximizing profits is often in conflict with the practice of responsible journalism. Not only are most major media owned by corporations, these companies are becoming larger and fewer in numbers as the biggest ones absorb their rivals. This concentration of ownership tends to reduce the diversity of media voices and puts great power in the hands of a few companies," said FAIR. "As news outlets fall into the hands of large conglomerates with holdings in many industries, conflicts of interest interfere with news gathering."

Although the earlier bombshell defeat of the "Opportunity Scholarships" voucher program declared unconstitutional by the Florida Supreme Court's 5-2 decision January 5, 2006 made headlines throughout the country, it was conveniently buried and briefly noted in the "20-20" script. "Last week," said Stossel, " Florida 's Supreme Court shut down 'opportunity scholarships,' Florida 's small attempt at competition. Public money can't be spent on private schools, said the court, because the state constitution commands the funding only of 'uniform.high-quality' schools." Echoing the voucher party line, he concluded, "Government schools are neither uniform nor high-quality, and without competition, no new teaching plan or No Child Left Behind law will get the monopoly to serve its customers well."

That, of course, was their pre-written script planned to be buried and brief if Florida 's Supreme Court declared the voucher program unconstitutional. However, if the court had sided with the Florida voucher plan, the "20-20" documentary would have retained its anti-public education script - but replaced its opening instead with pre-planned cheerleading comments from various voucher stalwarts. Not to be left out would have been pro-voucher Florida Governor "Jeb" Bush.

With each and every negative comment of public schools during the documentary, Stessel reinforced it with his personal seal-of-approval. Or maybe it was really to reinforce complicity with his corporate boss, the Disney Company. "Jay Greene, author of 'Education Myths,' points out that 'If money were the solution, the problem would already be solved.We've doubled per pupil spending, adjusting for inflation, over the last 30 years, and yet schools aren't better." The Disney puppet chimes in, "He's absolutely right. National graduation rates and achievement scores are flat, while spending on education has increased more than 100 percent since 1971. More money hasn't helped American kids."

Of course, viewers couldn't expect the Disney Company/ ABC News "20-20" narrator to mention Jay Greene is also a Senior Fellow at the conservative pro-voucher Manhattan Institute and "endowed chair and head of the Department of Education Reform at the University of Arkansas ." That might reek of being too professionally biased.