One of the main strategies of the privatization movement is to create a statewide charter board that could override local school boards. That way, if a local school board turns down a charter applicant, they can go to the state charter board for approval. Or just bypass the local board altogether.
In short, it destroys local control for the sake of charter corporations.
In Tennessee, a special situation developed. A charter operator from Arizona wanted to open a charter in Nashville’s most affluent neighborhood. The Metro Nashville school board turned down Great Hearts Academy because it had no diversity plan. It turned down a Great Hearts not once, but four times.
State Commissioner of Education Kevin Huffman was so outraged that he withheld $3.4 million from the children of Nashville. The legislator representing the affluent neighborhood filed a bill to create a state commission to override the Metro Nashville board.
It seemed like a done deal. But then her Republican colleagues balked. The bill is stalled. It might go nowhere.
They are not so sure they want to sacrifice local control to satisfy the piqué of their colleague.
Way to go, Tennessee Republicans.
Diane Ravitch's blog 
Republicans suck anyway you cut it. That said, it’s not a tenessee issue, but a party/money issue. If it were a Tennessee issue, the board would’ve balked in the first place creating a non-issue. It’s cool to see people care though. Republicans Suck. annnnd.. Republicans suck. That’s all that can be said.
I do appreciate seeing this, by the way. I rarely see much on education in the south, and I appreciate learning about the charter system. I’ve heard charter schools can be good to an extent, just like private schools can, but, in general, they’re not. They just spread the given propaganda of the said company/institute. There’s far too much of that in the south anyhow.
Thank you again for this, and hopefully I’ll be around to see a follow-up of some sort as news becomes available.
Class based politics play very well in TN. Mention Nashville’s Belle Meade and those country boys get their back’s up.
it just boogles my mind that there are people out there who still thinks that these people are doing all of this for the “good of the children”.
The good thing is that there are still many Republicans that want to limit Government control and many Democrats that are still willing to help the poor. The sad part is there are still too many Politicians that are wiling to take the corporate handouts and look the other way!
My biggest question is why??? Why is there such a push to privatize education (charters) and dismantle public education.. What do we gain?? what is the end goal? It’s not clear to me… I think if we can answer that question, it will answer a lot about Common Core. I have my suspicions.. but it’s way too disheartening….
SAL, the answer is profit for the corporations. Think about it, with the start up grants and guaranteed revenue, corporations can set up charters for no cost, if they don’t make a profit they take their money and move somewhere else.
With a CC the corporate virtual schools can move in and make a huge profit with a common curriculum for everyone in the US.
But what does the Federal Government have to gain?? Obama, Duncan, etc all FIRMLY believe in charters… today they say they are just putting forth “curriculum guidelines,” but tomorrow, once all have implemented, will that notion change and they will start enforcing indoctrination curriculum?? We all know they are the great flip floppers… We are already seeing shady examples of this… What is the real intent of all of this??? I hate to be so half glass empty, but there the pieces are just not adding up for me… and I really don’t like what I am seeing.. from both sides of the aisle (progressives)…
Duncan and Obama have a lot of billionaire friends that want (and are getting) a piece of the education profit. I expect both plan to make tidy sums of money from such sources once they’re out of office, whether working directly for, consulting with or speaking to. Look at Joel Klein and Amplify. If he could land himself such a good gig, think how much better a gig a national politician can get.
SAL, We are talking about BIG money here. If some of the smaller fish throw in 1million dollars for a school board election, just imagine what is being thrown around for Senators, Governors and Presidents. It is difficult to imagine that these people will “invest” in a Politician’s election more money than many of us earn in a lifetime! They don’t do this for fun but to make back a huge profit from their “investment”! At this time, maybe because they don’t see another war in the near future, they see Government guaranteed profits in Education.
Read the article below.. Pearson, the major supplier to states who have adopted the Common Core Standard.
Pearson’s 5th largest stakeholder (3.27% stake) is Gaddafi/Libya… his assets were frozen in 2011. He died in 2011. Now that he has passed, i am assuming that the Libyan govt is the holder of these assets (still researching this point).
http://education-curriculum-reform-government-schools.org/w/2013/03/pearsons-libyan-ownership-and-islam-biased-textbooks/
Do you still feel the same?? this is much larger than Obama… although they sure are actively playing in the game…
SAL, follow the money! Politicians are just players in this game, the BIG money guys are the ones running the show!
I agree, a big part is about the money, but its not all about the money, I believe it’s about control… and controlling our generation and future generations. Education is the key to control… Common Core was a great answer for them… that is why you have Rebublican’s and Democrat’s vying for that control… it’s just scary… and disgusting quite frankly…
Huffman is Rhee’s former husband and has custody of their children. How did that happen? Judges almost never have children taken from their mother unless there is something real bad or they do not want them anymore. So what else would you expect from Huffman.
Thank you legislators in Tennessee whoever you are for stopping this. It looks like it is starting to turn around and people are waking up and deciding “Enough is Enough.”