Pineapplegate and Privatizing Public Schools

On a standardized test this month, New York's 8th graders were asked about a pineapple that challenges a hare to a race. Since the pineapple can't move, forest animals suspect it has a trick up its sleeve and they bet on it to win. But the hare wins — and the animals eat the pineapple. The moral is: pineapples don't have sleeves. That story and the questions kids were asked about it are so obviously stupid that education officials have announced they won't count in official scoring. Others see it as prime evidence of what's wrong with education reform. Are public schools being privatized at increased cost to taxpayers and the quality of education itself?