Jay Greene, no lefty he, doesn't like the "paternalism" label either. He writes in an email:
Paternalism is the wrong word for this.?? Paternalism would be doing a fatherly (root: pater) thing without the recipient wanting it.?? But in the case of KIPP, the parents have chosen the school in part because they emphasize these values.?? That is, the recipient (the family) chose KIPP at least in part because they emphasized these values that the family wanted emphasized.This case also shows how there is no value-free education.?? Education is an extension of child-rearing and the values in a school should be the values that the family would want.?? Any school that tries to avoid emphasizing values is in fact emphasizing values--just not the ones they may have wanted.
I don't think Jay's right that "paternalism" always implies that recipients are being forced to do something against their will. Whitman distinguishes the "old paternalism"--where this stereotype might fit--from a "new paternalism" that is more benevolent. Consider policies that allow individuals with gambling addictions to voluntarily place themselves on lists to be barred from entering casinos. It's voluntary and it's paternalistic.
Parents choose KIPP because it emphasizes values the family embraces, sure, but it also stresses values that might be at odds with the family's community. Just because parents sign up for KIPP voluntarily doesn't mean that KIPP as an institution isn't paternalistic.
