Halliburtinizing?

I'd sort of been wondering why the National Education Association was sponsoring a lunch featuring Harold Meyerson and Andy Stern on the global economy. What's the teacher's union angle? Well, they seized the opporunity to give every attendee not only a pretty gross box lunch but also this one-pager (PDF) deriding NCLB as the "No Contractor Left Behind" law responsible for the "Halliburton-ization of America's public schools."

It's, um, not all that convincing. For example, "McGraw Hill - Textbook-maker with documented ties to George Bush. Has the 'lion's share' of contracts in Texas." For one thing, this has nothing to do with NCLB. And, more to the point, that the school system produces revenue for textbook makers is hardly a scandal. Should the kids not have books? And so it goes down the list.

Yes, if people take more standardized tests, then some companies will make money doing test prep, but that, on its own, is hardly a reason to avoid tests. A carbon tax could create big profits for windmill manufacturers, but proponents of curbing global warming aren't part of an insidious plot to "Halliburtonize" the energy system.