Jersey Jazzman notes that several districts in New Jersey–all populated by black and Hispanic citizens–have been under state control for years.
The state has no intention of letting them have self-rule.
In many districts, especially where the population is non-white, privatizers insist on mayoral control or state control.
There is no evidence that taking away popular rule improves the schools.
It does make it easier, however, to privatize them.
Diane Ravitch's blog 
Michelle Rhee is paying canvassers $15.00 an hour to walk the streets of
Bridgeport, CT to convince residents to vote yes, which equals a mayoral board and no elected board.
Her hubby recently visited to convince the residents push the privatization agenda.
Read this letter from an elected board member to Kevin Johnson, also known as KJ….just printed today in the CT Post:
Interesting to note the author of this letter is also a former NBA star…the real reason they sent Mr. Rhee.
Bagley and KJ – one-on-one, one more time
Published 6:44 p.m., Friday, October 26, 2012
Kevin Johnson, better known as “KJ,” was an outstanding NBA player, someone that I played against for many years. I guess he is an OK mayor of Sacramento, California, too, although I am not familiar with the politics of a city 3,000 miles away from here.
But here in Bridgeport, in Connecticut, the `Land of Steady Habits,’ where we still value home rule and the right to vote, I claim the home court advantage.
On September 4, I was honored by the people of the City in which I was born, raised and educated, with a seat on our Board of Education. I am well aware of the fact that I owe my office and my allegiance to the people of Bridgeport.
Therefore, because “KJ” decided to fly in from California and support the ongoing efforts to disenfranchise my friends and neighbors, I think he should be whistled for a technical foul. I wish he was here to go one-on-one concerning the subject of democracy.
I am aware of “KJ’s” rooting interest in the movement which seeks to take away our right to vote. After all, he is married to Michelle Rhee, a controversial so-called education reformer.
Maybe he is not the right person to referee an election here in Bridgeport.
I believe in the right to vote, and was taught, while growing up in Bridgeport, that our public school students were as good as any of our suburban neighbors.
I was privileged to play basketball for Coach Charley Bentley at Harding. Coach demanded hard work, discipline and sacrifice, whether you were a star, or the 12th man.
He instilled pride in us, and told us we could beat anybody, and more often than not, we did.
I want our students in Bridgeport to apply that same discipline and dedication to academics. I will do everything that I can, as a member of the Bridgeport Board of Education to see that they get the help and encouragement that they need.
“KJ” didn’t tell us that his city of Sacramento, like the towns of Trumbull, Fairfield, Easton, Stratford and Westport, has an elected Board of Education. When he and his so-called `reformers’ start demanding an appointed board in Trumbull and Fairfield, then I will be willing to listen to what he has to say, even if his advice comes long-distance.
Maybe “KJ” and his `reformers’ can explain why the city of New Haven, which has an appointed board, has more failing schools than Bridgeport.
This is true, despite the presence on their appointed Board of Education of the former director of CONNCAN, the Connecticut leader of takeover policies.
I have only one final piece of advice for `KJ’, don’t come into my house and mess with my right to vote!
John Bagley is an elected member of the Bridgeport Board of Education. In an 11-year NBA career, he played for the Cleveland Cavaliers, the New Jersey Nets and the Boston Celtics.
Read more: http:// http://www.ctpost.com/opinion/article/Bagley-and-KJ-one-on-one-one-more-time-3985354.php#ixzz2AVde6X00
Typo…wish I could edit:
Her hubby recently visited to convince the residents to vote yes and to push the privatization agenda.
It is even worse than you might think. The Recovery Schools District in Baton Rouge has a black face. The RSD schools in Baton Rouge are in a 95% black area with an average income of about $20,000 per year and an education level of high school or less. These are the schools that the state takes over. Even though they are working to destroy the schools for Bobby Jindal, I think they are trying to placate teachers and parents in mostly black districts by presenting themselves as African-American. I cornered one of their head people and he wasn’t a teacher and thought that the veteran teachers were the ones who were not good. There is also a charter group, I think it is called BAEO, that is run in Baton Rouge by a black man and he pushes for the religious charters and tries to align with the black churches. I cornered him about charters taking special needs students. Working against the public schools in the black community by giving it a face they can relate to is a diabolical way to get minorities to buy in to the corporatization of the schools. But eventually, the minorities will realize they have been duped and they will fight against it. Even now there are reports of students fleeing the RSD schools for the board run ones. Bobby Jindal does not care about minorities even though he is one, and steps on whomever he needs to to get into the good graces of the national GOP.
In Detroit state supervision of the Detroit schools was essential to eliminate the corrupt awarding of contracts. Kwame Kilpatrick ran the city the same way. He’s on trial. Are citizens not entitled to honest government?
I think they are.
Are citizens not entitled to honest government?
Corruption can be uncovered through financial, performance, and quality audits. The state can substitute itself for corrupt leadership, or teach citizens to catch and remove corrupt leaders. What would Thomas Jefferson prefer?
Hint: “I know no safe depository of the ultimate powers of the society, but the people themselves: and if we think them not enlightened enough to exercise their control with a wholesome discretion, the remedy is, not to take it from them, but to inform their discretion by education. this is the true corrective of abuses of constitutional power.”
Educators have an ethical and patriotic duty to ensure students understand how to hold officeholders responsible. (Scrutiny of their own union leadership might provide some valuable practice and address any potential appearance of impropriety.)
That is because GREED has no color preference. If there is money to be made at the expense of our high poverty children, some greedy individuals will rise to the occasion and take advantage. In New Orleans parents are beginning to wake up. RSD is ranked 69 out of 70 school districts in Louisiana. Its too late now to undo the damage there. The message continues from dept of Ed that things are great in NOLA. So sad that our most needy children are the ones who will pay the price.
And that’s because the eduvultures are masquerading as saviors while preying on those that are the easiest to manipulate and exploit.
They should all be ashamed but they are not…their narcissism clouds their sense of right and wrong. They rationalize their tactics as….well, at least their actions have saved some of “these people”.
Dr. King would be ashamed of what is being allowed to happen in our country in the name of Ed Reform. It is time for civil rights leaders to wake up from their comfort zones and speak up for the rights of our children in poverty. Where are the civil rights leaders of today? They seem to be nonexistent. Where is the outrage from leaders and those in power? How is it that local representation and local control of our public schools can be legally taken away and no one calls foul? This IS the civil rights issue that should be in the news. I am ashamed to live in a nation where greed has become the norm and our leaders have forsaken families and children in poverty.
Some of my area’s top talent–including the first lady of Central State University (Ohio’s state-supported HBCU)–have looked at Bridgeport. See: Helping Students Succeed: Communities Confront the Achievement Gap, Kettering Foundation (with local support from the Bridgeport Public Education Fund). Perhaps their efforts are at cross-purposes with philanthopists, billionaires and even unions. (Teachers, administrators and board members might touch base with union reps and union staff to ensure Kettering Foundation work is well-leveraged in in their communities.)
Some excerpts from the cited publication:
In Bridgeport, for example, a PowerPoint slide show with test results for students at their high school revealed that their students were not only faring much worse than their peers at a suburban high school, but also worse than students in high schools in cities like Hartford and New Haven. The room hummed with reactions.
…
From a student in Bridgeport, CT: “If we are going to hold ourselves to a higher standard in terms of being motivated and engaged, can’t we hold our parents and the schools to the same high standards?”
The “main focus of [the foundation’s research] is understanding what it takes to make democracy work as it should.” See: http://kettering.org/wp-content/uploads/What-Does-KF-Do.pdf
IMHO, ignorance of Kettering’s work (including Reclaiming Public Education By Reclaiming Our Democracy by former HEW Secretary David Mathews) is the practical equivalent of acting upon a death wish for public education. To build on the student’s comment, it’s unclear the citizens and politicians of Connecticut are up to the task of looking out for the state’s schoolchildren. (Consider NAACP LDF’s critique of former AG Blumenthal’s NCLB lawsuit.)
Disclosure: I have received a small consulting stipend but have no ongoing affiliation with Kettering Foundation.
Thanks, Diane, for posting Jazzman’s article which contains data which actually informs!
Reblogged this on Transparent Christina.