Leo Casey, a long-time union activist, here reviews a recent report by the Thomas B. Fordham Institute decrying the immense power of teachers’ unions. Michael Petrilli of TBF described the unions as “Goliaths” battling the weak, underfunded “Davids” of the corporate reform movement.
Casey challenges the report and the characterization, pointing out that corporate reformers have deployed vast amounts of money–far greater than the teachers’ unions could ever muster–to destroy the last vestige of teacher unionism. This assures that teachers have no voice at the table when governors and legislatures decide to slash spending on education or to privatize it to the benefit of entrepreneurs and campaign contributors.
Diane Ravitch's blog 
So-called education reform is intensely pathological, with its rule by fear and intimidation, it’s destruction of democracy and community institutions, and it’s monetization of children.
In my experience, when you challenge the abuses of a sociopath, they reflexively try to turn you into the guilty, aggressive party.
That’s exactly what’s going on here, with poor, put-upon billionaires suffering at the hands of those mean unions.
It’s all dissembling, on top of duplicity, based on fallacies, sandwiched by lies.
This one’s for Joanna Best: “Poor poor pitiful me, these ol boys won’t let me be”. L. Ronstadt
Zevon!
Gates, the Waltons, Broad, Mike Dell, Mike Bloomberg, the billionaire hedge fund managers for school deform, DeVos, the Koch brothers and many others can bury all the teacher unions with one flick of their super wealthy wrists.
First they came for the teachers, then the firemen, then the policeman and the town employees. This is only the first battle in a war to privatize everything and reduce the tax burden on corporations.
It is truly sad and utterly disgusting that this should even be in print…Corporations and the billionaires that run them have been working at this since Reagan was in office.. He was the creator of all this nonsense…Remember the air traffic controllers? Yes, UNION MEMBERS that he fired……
I would change the last line of Diane’s post. The only “entrepreneurs” politicians listen to ARE campaign contributors.
Our government is not driven by misguided ideology–it’s for sale. Whether the consequences of the policies that are bought are good for the country as a whole is inconsequential to those buying or those bought.
More spin and lies from the “Education Goofs.” How are unions going to go against the power and money of the corporate moguls? Those at the Fordham Institute are taking some real good drugs and have taken the Kool Aid as they did for Jimmy Jones. This is how delusional these statements are. They are seeing “Pink Elephants” floating in the air. Corporations have owned this country for a period of time now. No one but they can easily buy and sell all governments at all levels in this and other countries as this is not just going on here. We set the stage by purposely crashing the finances of the world to do just this as they know that when you put people under stress they will generally do anything presented before them to get rid of the so-called problem as happened with 9-11 and will now happen again to ratchet up the no privacy society we now have. You cannot drive anywhere without GPS in your car and phone and license plate identification watching you everywhere. Then they have taken it to another level with face I.D. on all the cameras so that if you take your battery out of your cell phone and walk they can still track you through face I.D. Thanks Fordham or doing the bidding of your suppliers of your funding not for the best interests of the “People.” Read and analyze.
Here is an article listing the salaries of Charter School heads in Phila. (from the Philadelphia Magazine website)
By Victor Fiorillo 4/23/2013
Last week, Philadelphia School District Superintendent William Hite laid out a budget that has variously been described as “grim“, “catastrophic” and–as if “catastrophic” weren’t enough–”a doomsday budget“. But while the city’s public schools are teetering on the edge of the abyss, charter schools are growing and seeking approval for some 15,000 new seats. Here, a look at the salaries* of the people behind some of Philadelphia’s biggest charter schools.
Philadelphia Charter School Salaries
Nueva Esperanza Academy Charter
Rev Luis Cortes Jr.
$271,759
Global Leadership Academy Charter School
Dr. Naomi J. Booker
$239,652
Franklin Towne Charter High School
Joseph Venditti
$239,464
Christopher Columbus Charter School
Rosemary Dougherty
$237,155
Boys Latin of Philadelphia Charter School
David Hardy
$212,362
Philadelphia Electrical and Technology Charter High School
Michael Nemitz
$204,361
Mathematics Civic & Sciences Charter School of Philadelphia Inc.
Veronica Joyner
$200,231
First Philadelphia Charter School for Literacy
Stacey Cruise
$198,519
Antonia Pantoja Charter School
John B. Stetson Charter School
Eugenio Maria Dehostos Charter School
Evelyn Nunez
$195,722
Nueva Esperanza Academy Charter
Rev Danny Cortes
$195,137
Architecture and Design Charter School
Peter Kountz
$194,176
Mathematics Science & Technology Community Charter School
John Swoyer
$189,745
Mastery Charter High School – Multiple Locations
Hardy Williams Academy Charter School
Scott Gordon
$187,772
Community Academy of Philadelphia Charter School
Joseph Proietta
$185,872
Hope Charter School Inc.
Richard Chapman
$182,852
West Philadelphia Achievement Charter Elementary School
Stacey Gill-Phillips
$178,735
West Oak Lane Charter School
Dr. Debbera Peoples-Lee
$178,321
Multi-Cultural Academy Charter School
Vuong G. Thuy
$175,157
Independence Charter School
Jurate Krokys
$165,752
Mastery Charter High School – Multiple Locations
Jeffrey Pestrak
$165,063
Mariana Bracetti Academy Charter School
Angela Villani
$164,394
Imani Education Circle Charter School
Francine Fulton
$162,190
Universal Education Company
Abdur-Rahim Islam
$161,385
World Communications Charter School
Dr. Martin Ryder
$159,816
West Oak Lane Charter School
Sheila Royal-Moses
$157,066
Walter D. Palmer Leadership Learning Partners Charter School
Daira Frinks-Hinson
$155,806
Pan American Academy Charter School
Wanda Novales
$155,395
University Daroff Charter School
Abdur-Rahim Islam
$154,000
Mastery Charter High School – Multiple Locations
Joe Ferguson
$150,886
Richard Allen Preparatory Charter School Inc.
Lawrence Jones
$150,303
Delaware Valley Charter Schools Inc.
Ernest L. Holiday Jr.
$147,231
Franklin Towne Charter Elementary
Patrick Field
$134,807
New Foundations Charter School
Paul Stadelberger
$133,413
Philadelphia Performing Arts Charter School
Angela Corosanite
$132,969
New Media Technology Charter School Inc.
Donnamaria Parker
$130,000
Community Academy of Philadelphia A Pennsylvania Charter School
Marcus Delgado
$128,041
Freire Charter School
Tammy Khieu
$126,987
Tacony Neighborhood Charter School
Sterling Rayvon Garris
$120,000
Philadelphia Performing Arts Charter School
Gail Avicolli
$118,969
Preparatory Charter School of Mathematics, Science and Technology
Patricia Sack
$116,330
KIPP Philadelphia Charter School
Marc Mannella
$110,250
Truebright Science Academy Charter School
Bekir Duz
$110,000
Wakisha Charter School
Elbert Sampson
$110,000
Discovery Charter School
Jacquelin Y. Kelley
$108,892
New Foundations Charter School
Robbin Washington-Smart
$108,543
Maritime Academy Charter School
Ed Poznek
$107,373
Northwood Academy Charter School
Pamela Friedman
$105,710
Sanofa Freedom Academy Charter School
Dr. Ayesha Imani
$104,683
* The salaries represent the total compensation as reported by each organization to the IRS. All information is current as of the most recently available IRS data.
Research assistance by Marina Lamanna.
Betting Salaries of Public School principals in Phila. nothing close to these. Hmm….
Debora Borges,
Principal
$157,102.79
Renee B. Musgrove,
Principal
$151,776.93
Donald j Anticoli,
Principal
$151,161.70
Edward Penn,
Principal
$150,531.86
Ethelyn Payne Young,
Principal
$150,319.66
John W. Frangipani,
Principal
$149,645.96
Otis Hackney,
Principal
$149,147.04
Charles Staniskis,
Principal
$147,765.82
Thomas Koger,
Principal
$147,687.99
Mary Dean,
Principal
$147,529.67
Michelle Byruch,
Principal
$147,049.39
Christophe Johnson,
Principal
$146,809.37
Woolworth Davis,
Principal
$145,652.42
They’re a response to the statement that public school principal salaries “don’t come close” to the salaries listed by the above commenter. I’d say they come close.
And this lonely comment was a response to a comment by Diane, which has since disappeared.
Sometimes comments disappear. I know mine have apron occasion.
Hmm…23 or 24 heads of Charter Schools make more than the top paid Public School Principal, with 7 raking in $200K per year. This constitutes “coming close”?
I suppose one has to define “coming close.” But you’re correct that there are a lot of high executive salaries at Philly charters. I’d be interested in knowing how that compares to other cities. The first questions that come to my mind are: (1) how much of these salaries are paid with public money versus private donors; (2) what control should the state have over internal pay structures at charters; and (3) what’s a reasonable salary for charter executives, in light of the answers to the first two questions.
I’d like to know how their salaries compare to their teachers. I’d also like to know if the teachers have adequate supplies, etc. Benefits?
I believe that the Phila. Charter School heads salaries are in line with what are paid in other cities as well. Irrespective of the sources for funding (and how precisely would that be computed?), if public funds are being used to cover even a small percentage of these inflated salaries, my question would be what are we getting for our tax dollars? And DeeDee’s comments about what Charter School teachers are paid are part of the overarching issues that underline transforming education into a business.
Diane,
I would implore you to look at this gem put out by the Fordham Institute. http://www.edexcellence.net/publications/redefining-the-school-district-in-tennessee.html
It’s a profile on the Achievement School District in Tennessee. It’s a complete puff piece devoid of any truly rigorous research. Looking at the citations, it’s mainly news articles that have shown the ASD in a positive light while ignoring the more damning pieces. This is particularly true of the complete snafu that is Cornerstone Prep and community outreach, which has not improved. Furthermore, I have the test scores. Anyone interested in looking at them simply has to fill out a research request form. They’re not spectacular, but TCAP is this week. The proof will be in the pudding. Scores are released two weeks after the test. I will be one of the first requesting such data.
When you get the results on the Achievement District, please share them.
“Poor Poor Piful me” (after the song by the late great Warren Zevon)
Well, I gave my bucks to the charter schools
Countin’ on the Shelly Rhee
But her brain don’t run by here no more
Poor, poor pitiful me
Poor, poor pitiful me
Poor, poor pitiful me
Teacher unions won’t let me be
Lord, have mercy on me
Woe, woe is me
Well, I met a gal in the blogosphere
Now I ain’t naming names
Well she really irked me over here
Just like Jesse James
Yes, she really irked me over here
She was a credit to the teachers
Cost me PARCC and Common Common Core
And lots a charter leeches
Poor, poor pitiful me
Poor, poor pitiful me
Diane Ravitch won’t let me be
Lord, have mercy on me
Woe woe is me
Poor, poor pitiful me
Poor, poor pitiful me
Teacher unions won’t let me be
Lord, have mercy on me
Woe woe is me
Poor, poor, poor me
Poor, poor pitiful me
Poor, poor, poor me
Poor, poor pitiful me
Poor, poor, poor me
Poor, poor pitiful me