Watch this new video for Senator Ted Cruz (R-TX) and you’ll see he’s just as passionate about so-called “school choice” as he was about shutting down the government.

Conservatives have been touting the triumph of charter schools in New Orleans, where three-quarters of the schools have become charters in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina — though much of the success comes from the ability to simply expel students who don’t fit the narrative or provide flattering test scores.

School voucher programs have been in effect for more than two decades in Milwaukee. Students in these programs do the same as or worse than other students in the state. And there’s no evidence that charter schools in general outperform public schools, which cannot pick and choose their student bodies.

So why are Cruz and the right so insistent on creating alternatives to public schools?

Profit and a political agenda. In Michigan, 80 percent of the charters are run by for-profit operators. And in several states, private schools that receive federal vouchers and public charter schools use taxpayer money to teach creationism.

This video details how Republicans in North Carolina have hijacked the public school system in order to create new profit centers for corporations.

Photo: Ted Cruz’s YouTube channel