Stossel in America: A Case Study of the Neoliberal/Neoconservative Assault on Public Schools and Teachers‪.‬

The ads ran for weeks amid other notable American Broadcasting Company (ABC) television programming efforts including Lost, Desperate Housewives, and WifeSwap. John Stossel's 20/20 Report, "Stupid in America: How Lack of Choice Cheats Our Kids Out of a Good Education," promised to shock and awe the American public with details about "What's going on in American Schools?" Airing initially on January 13, 2006, Stossel's scathing diatribe against the public schools offered "insider" film clips within school classrooms, outcries from irate parents, and idyllic stories of charter school settings where students sat dreamily reciting words from phonics charts. Indeed, in the midst of dreadfully sagging primetime ratings, ABC seemingly transformed 20/20's self-described billing as "one of the most esteemed programs in broadcast journalism" (ABC, 2006) into that of a reality show unlike any other. Stossel's critical stance against the public schools was not unfamiliar to the 20/20 audience. He was accused of "destroying trust in public schools" (Bracey, 1999) in a 1999 broadcast purporting the merits of private schools that supposedly gained exemplary student outcomes for a fraction of what public schools spent. Taken to task for his unsubstantiated claims after 20/20's 1999 report was aired, Stossel, again chose to selectively highlight numerous issues that bitterly condemn public schools across America in 20/20's January 2006 special.