In the classic shell game, the operator places a pea under a shell, and shuffles it around with two other shells. Afterwards, the player tries to guess which shell is hiding the pea.
What the player doesn’t know is that by the time the shuffling is over, the pea isn’t under any of the shells.
Also, while he’s peering intently at the moving shells, the operator’s assistant can be picking his pocket.
The school reform shell game is pretty much the same. You’re focused on tax rates, stabilization grants, and so on, so you don’t notice that the pea — ‘lower property taxes’ — isn’t actually there. But by the time you figure that out, you’ll be wondering how we ended up with an income tax.
This game has been used to fleece people since ancient Greece. Are we going to fall for it again?
