Governor Rick Snyder must hate public education. Certainly his advisors do.
He has some group of rightwing operatives who have pretentiously named themselves the “Oxford Foundation,” although they are not a foundation and they have nothing to do with Oxford University or Oxford Healthcare or Oxford anything.
This GOP group issues reports on how to disestablish any public responsibility for public education.
The only thing public will be the money. The providers will not be.
Here is the latest scheme from these advocates of privatization.
It is a voucher plan that allows students to take their public money to any private vendor.
It also allows charter schools to have selective enrollment–only those with high test scores, or only those who meet whatever criterion the school chooses–and to charge tuition.
The proposal says nothing about accountability–that, apparently, is only for public schools.
Are the people of Michigan ready to abandon public education?
Are they ready to accept Jeb Bush’s plan to make choosing a school akin to selecting a carton of milk?
Diane Ravitch's blog 
Even more fun is that this Oxford Foundation is being run by Richard D. McLellan, who is one of the founders of the Mackinac Center. They don’t make public the names of their board for some reason.
Michiganders that support public education can sign up here: http://www.capwiz.com/tca4edu/mlm/signup/?ignore_cookie=1
From #MichED feed: Education hearing in rm 307 of state housebuilding: Mon (11/19) @ 1 PM re: EAA legislation (super statewide school district)
Fix what’s severely broken and concentrate on that instead of trying to create more things that the govenment officals can destroy….. You have destroyed enough of our country……. Try fixing things and quit focusing on destroying our country
Federal intervention??
Federal intervention? What a good idea. See if you can persuade Arne Duncan to care about the destruction of public education in Michigan.
Yep..as the President sent Arne to be a keynote speaker at Jeb Bush’s Conservative Education Forum. I wish we could convince the President to talk to actual teachers before he goes off the education cliff…
He’s already gone off it. Unfortunately, he’s doing great. When he takes education off the cliff, that’s us plummeting over it, burning and crashing at the bottom. Our schools, our students, our teaching profession and on-the-job sanity. He pushed us over it at the beginning of his first term and has just kept pushing more and more over the edge.
The only positive thing he could do now is attempt a corrective 180. He would need to climb back up that cliff, dragging the whole crap-load of reformers and reform policies he’s fostered with him, muttering mea culpas all the way.
I can hear hear the sound of education majors dropping out of college from here. With the lower pay will come lower quality teachers and/or those with provisional certificates. Teaching will become a job and not a career. People switch jobs 7 times in a lifetime. As I see it, the pension problem is fixed. Few will be around to claim a pension.
Hear them more specifically in the state of Indiana:
http://chestertontribune.com/Indiana%20News/teachers_colleges_see_drop_in_ap.htm
Perfectly put, Joe! That’s what I tell everybody–no teachers teaching enough years to qualify for a pension, courtesy of turnarounds, charter privatization, TFA and no unions/due process=legal firings with no reason given–pension problem solved.
Is that the sound of education majors dropping… or is it the sound of the sky falling?
Under this reform, there will be more opportunity for measurably outstanding teachers to achieve higher rewards than are currently possible.
If anything, this will improve the caliber of those choosing to enter the teaching profession. They will become recognized for their individual performance, rather then being stuck in the herd.
Did you know that the Metlife Survey of 2012 found that teacher morale was at a low point?
Did you know that the same survey said that 1 million teachers are so demoralized that they are thinking of quitting?
Do you think the 30,000 people who have passed through TFA in the past 20 years could replace that 1 million?
You cannot possibly think that lower wages, increased medical costs, no pension, ever-increasing regulations an paperwork, and a loss of collective bargaining rights will motivate college students to become teachers. In Michigan, teachers are under constant attack by the Tea Party legislature and totalitarian governor.
We have one week to look at the proposed draft of the bill and provide input. That week includes Thanksgiving when many are focused on family, friends and being thankful for all they have. I am thankful that those in the Oxford Foundation will be able to enjoy their football along with their dinner. I am not thankful that I will be reading the 300+ pages of the draft bill after I have cooked, eaten, and cleaned up after Thanksgiving dinner.
The timing of this release, especially when they first said it would be 1-1/2 weeks ago, is just one more thing that makes me suspicious.
Wait, WHAT? You mean you won’t be running out to shop at Walmart, because the Waltons have determined, “that’s what the people want?”
As is so often the case, these sorts of accusations are false:
Here is a quote from today regarding the timeline.
http://oxfordfoundationmi.com/2012/11/20/mclellan-school-re-write-getting-harsh-reaction/
During the next 30 days, he wants input from the stakeholders with hopes of improving on the document he just finished.
McLellan acknowledged on today’s MIRS Monday podcast that this is a “next year” project, but the bill sponsored by House Education Committee Chair Lisa LYONS (R-Alto) need to be discussed.
“You wouldn’t want to run a bill that extensive through two or three weeks,” he said. “These are issues for next year.”
Did you know that Mr. McLellan is a founder of the rightwing Mackinac Foundation?
Did you know that vouchers and charters do not outperform public schools unless they kick out the low-scoring kids?
Who will want to educate our special needs kids when the money follows the well performing kids? Did you know that junk bond king and ex-convict Michael Milken is a part of this in Michigan? I feel totally helpless and demoralized as a teacher. What can I do to stop this short of running for office myself?
http://www.democracy-tree.com/michigan-cyber-schools-dragons/
What can we do as public to protest this or rather stop this from happening?
Organize. Join the Michigan Parents for Public Schools. Find others who oppose turning public schools over to profit-making corporations.
Join them. Speak out, rouse the public. They are losing a precious resource.
Or maybe they are instead GAINING learning opportunities for children who have been failed by the system.
I don’t just mean urban districts, like Detroit, that have a 10% literacy rate in some schools, and just a 47% literacy rate among adults (who have presumably been through the public education factory).
I am also talking about the so-call “high achieving” suburban districts, who brag of 97% graduation rates, yet track no metrics on remedial work needed in college, or college dropout (or “drop down” from universities to community colleges)
This proposal leaves intact the system for those who want to stay, but allows those who feel trapped to explore other learning opportunities.
Did you know that the public schools in Detroit outperform most of the charters?
Did you know that the public schools of Milwaukee outperform the voucher schools?
THIS IS ONE OF THE SCARIEST THINGS FOR OUR STATE AND OUR PUBLIC SCHOOLS AS WE KNOW THEM. GOV. SNYDER HATES PUBLIC SCHOOLS, HE IS MAKING IT HIS PERSONAL GOAL TO ELIMINATE FREE PUBLIC SCHOOLS AND HAVE THEM ALL BE FOR PROFIT SCHOOLS FOR THOSE MONEY GRUBING FRIENDS OF HIS THAT KNOW NOTHING ABOUT EDUCATION FOR ALL TYPES OF STUDENTS, ESPECIALLY SPECIAL EDUCATION. GOV. SNYDER WOULDN’T LAST FIVE MINUTES IN A PUBLIC SCHOOL. He is clueless.
I am a special education teacher in a very poor public school system that has been in a pay freeze for 8 years, just took a 10% pay freeze and do not have supplies to help us do a better job. I love my students, they are very capable, and love to learn and try very hard, but they would never be selected or allowed in to what the Republicans are planning. They (Gov. and his republican team & Oxford Foundation) have been working on dismantling Public Schools in Michigan ever since he took office. First was to give the Public Education Funding to his CEO Friends, this also stole from retired people. We have to stop this NOW! Please for heaven sake and for the children of Michigan.
I agree w/Michigander. This could be huge for our state. I believe we do need to look at changing how we fund public education but this does not sound like it makes much sense from an educational point of view. Was this really Gov. Snyder’s idea? I’d like to know more about who else is part of the Oxford Foundation and why they have been selected to propose a plan for our educational system. It seems the State Board of Education might be a more logical group to begin a conversation with perhaps some input from individuals who have experience in the field.
One of our readers says that the “Oxford Foundation” is headed by a staff member at the right-wing Mackinac Institute. No one would be impressedc by a report from a right-wing foundation, so in true corporate reform, the privatizers choose a name that deceives the public.
It’s called the Mackinac Center: http://www.mackinac.org/
If you are from Michigan, and if you voted with the majority to re-elect the President, please go to the State house tomorrow at 1:00 pm to support the educators who will be speaking out at this GOP-sponsored coup d’etat of public education.
Public education is what made this country great. Tell everyone you know to stand up to protect one of the greatest privileges our nation has given us. Do not let the GOP take funding from the public schools, to give it to the private schools.
Governor Snyder was on the news today being interviewed about several issues. One was the EAA. The Governor lied his whole way through the interview. Either he is lying or terribly misinformed by advisors. His characterization of the EAA as a wonderful success was laughable. He claimed that they had moved from a teacher based learning environment to a student based learning environment. He claimed that the students could advance at their own pace. It is such bs. I know because I know people who have worked there. One teacher told me that in his old school he would have done several projects by the end of the first nine weeks. Instead, he has only done one and wants to quit. I’m tired of the lies and propaganda coming from Snyder.
Thanks for the inside info, Dee Dee. We certainly need to get the facts out into the open!
Do what Diane has advised, and also follow JFGBDET’s suggestions. Go to the ACLU for help and/or get parents who are lawyers.And, Lyn, I empathize–I was a SpEd Teacher, and, when trouble brewed in our district, I could always find some lawyers (many who had SpEd children) willing to help in some way. Finally, there should be a number of groups (here in Chicago we have the Family Resource Center, The Center for Child Law, and a number of professionals groups {which are national/local, & you have them there, too–Council for Exceptional Children, Learning Disabilities Assn., etc} who are knowledgeable & can help. I support you, Michigan–keep fighting!
FYI …
http://www.mackinac.org/17940
The Usual Sycophantic “Free Press” Article …
http://www.freep.com/article/20121118/NEWS15/311180296
From the article: “Districts would retain the right to decide whether to participate in open enrollment.”
Yeah, and I bet the few remaining elite public school districts will be the first to open their doors to students from outside the district….not.
I suppose I shouldn’t speak for Michigan, but I live in a low-rent suburb of Chicago that is almost directly across the street from one of the wealthiest Chicago suburbs with an outstanding public school system. They require every possible form of proof under the sun to prove that you are a resident of that district before you can register your kid. If Illinois were to go to a statewide “choice” system, there is no way this suburb would choose to participate. The districts that would participate would be those in no danger of any sudden influx of students anyway.
@Jon Awbrey: I wouldn’t say the article is sycophantic at all.
I think it’s a fair article. It states the basic terms of the act, the positions for and against, background and context, and quotes from supporters and detractors.
Seeing bias when there is none reeks of paranoia and is never helpful.
The title of the article is:
“Education funding proposal allows school choice, more online learning”
That is not a neutral title. It is a recitation of the proposer’s own ad copy.
As such, it begs all the questions at issue.
You beat me to it. Furthermore, a “balanced” article with quotes from both sides isn’t really objective either because it’s just a bunch of false equivalence, as if the claims of the rheeformers are equal to the objections of educators and community members.
Thank you, Ms. Ravitch, for your blog. Just sent this to Arne Duncan and asked for Federal intervention if possible. Happy Thanksgiving. Very grateful for your support. A Michigan public school teacher. Madeline Greer
We don’t want more privatization in Michigan: It doesn’t help the people, only the owners.
The FOUNDING FATHERS of this Nation were firm believers in PUBLIC education. Benjamin Franklin founded the first lending libraries. The American LEGACY of the LITTLE RED SCHOOLHOUSE built and COMMUNALLY paid for by the Citizens is as AMERICAN as Apple Pie and Motherhood. I will not write a book here. I will just point out they were PROGRESSIVES and they knew that a STRONG nation needed intelligent, INFORMED Citizens. Snyder and his Pinheaded friends are working FOR the terrorists because when they undermine education they are undermining America. They are destroying America MORE surely than any mad bomber
SnyderLEE WHIPLASH, famous for attacking Schoolmarms, Children, Pensioners and the Infirm. He and his friends are such immature grasping children that they do not want to “share” a single one of their toys(money). Of course if you study them a bit you find that these “Patriots” also always refused to SHARE a single minute in an American UNIFORM.
Skunks in the Works …
http://www.detroitnews.com/article/20130419/SCHOOLS/304190361/Education-reform-group-forges-voucher-like-plan-Michigan
It’s been on the radio news of WJR all day today (4/190 with the punch line that the Governor’s voucher-like plan wants to get the cost per pupil down to $5000 a year (from the current $7000). I’m not sure you can do a face-to-face school for that amount. That’s why the emphasis on an on-line charter sponsored by Bay Mills Community College. Simultaneously, a teacher in Canada tells me that she uses Blackboard for all her class management tasks, posting links to readings, receiving essays, grading the essays on her iPad using the app Notability (which I haven’t tried), and return to the student electronically. Even some discussions are on line, but the main business of class is Harkness discussion, not “instruction.”
Where are the special needs kids supposed to go? Or kids whose parents don’t have cars to drive them and pick them up from charter schools?