Kentucky is one of only eight states that have not passed a charter law. That means that the state has been unwilling to turn public money over to private entrepreneurs, who will operate schools with little or no oversight.
The privatizers can’t tolerate the possibility any state refuses their wares or their opportunity to operate in the dark with public dollars.
So now the full-court press is on. The National Alliance for Public (sic) Charter Schools reports: “A bill was introduced and passed the state Senate last session, but it died in the House. Republican Senators Mitch McConnell and Rand Paul will join the National Alliance, Democrats for Education Reform, and the Black Alliance for Educational Options, for the kick-off event, which will feature a roundtable discussion with education, business, and faith community leaders in Louisville. Kentucky is one of only eight remaining states without a charter school law and is our top priority state for 2014.”
McConnell and Paul are singing the praises of charters. The far-right Black Alliance for Education Options–handsomely funded by the Walton Foundation–has descended on Kentucky to claim that public education must be demolished to “save” minority children. The Wall Street hedge fund managers’ group Democrats for Education Reform is on the case, hoping to turn Kentucky away from public schools. And the National Alliance for Public (sic) Charter Schools is leading the charge against community-based public schools.
Before Kentucky buys the snake oil, its policymakers should review the state’s NAEP performance and compare it to its neighbor, charter-happy Tennessee. Kentucky educators could give lessons to Tennessee about the importance of strong community schools.
On the NAEP, Kentucky consistently outperforms Tennessee.
Stay strong, Kentucky. Snake oil cures nothing. You don’t need a dual school system of publicly-funded schools. The one you have is good and getting better.
Diane Ravitch's blog 
http://m.huffpost.com/us/entry/3757569
Just when you thought it couldn’t get worse.
This should decimate the teacher roles and make way for the educational technicians. FDR promised a chicken in every pot, Obama is promising on line computer cables for every child with a planned 5$ increase on all phone bills.
http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/education/new-york-track-instruct-city-schoolteachers-article-1.1427141
Some points of which people may not be aware:
1. The Courier-Journal is published in Lousiville, so the people that likely completed the poll were from the Lousiville/Jefferson County. In fact, I remember seeing that poll on the front page of the Courier’s web page. Very informal. Yes, you can do anything with statistics.
2. Lousiville/Jefferson County is the largest school district in the state. It also has the greatest diversity and has been tested as one of the large Urban Districts on NAEP.
3. There has been conflict within Jefferson County for years around school choice. This is mainly driven by the fact that students are bussed out of neighborhoods in order to make schools more diverse. Parents, however, prefer to have neighborhood schools and not have their children bussed elsewhere.
4. ‘Ole Mitch is from Lousiville and jumping on the Rand Paul bandwagon because it’s an election year. People here are looking for a strong candidate to run against him.
Despite these points, I’m concerned. Our education commissioner has come out against charters. However, I’ve also heard him back track on this point if funding is tied to this requirement.
Yes, I’m worried.
Dear Kentucky, Hold strong. We tried in Washington State, over 15 years and four (4!) initiative votes, against charter schools. The pro-side won by a mere 41K votes with Gates and the Waltons contributing millions to win it. (I am very proud of the fact that it was a close as it came out – Seattle did not support them.)
The good news is that several plaintiffs – community groups, the teachers union and some educators – filed a lawsuit to overturn it and frankly, I think it will win. There are more than five points of law that seem to contradict our Washington State Constitution. That will really put a hold on any charters coming into our state.
The tide is slowing turning, Kentucky, and if you can hold this off – you will end up looking like one of the smarter states.
Thank you, Melissa.
What we need, I think, is a counter-movement that provides the real statistics about charters.
Is the following a true statement: Charters discriminate on the basis of IQ and/or ability?
And if it is true, is it universally true?
No, not true. Most state laws explicitly prohibit using tests to determine who is admitted to a charter.
However, some (generally urban) magnet schools that are allowed (and do) use standardized tests to determine which students are admitted. Frustration with this practice was part of what led to the charter movement in some states.
In some ways Kentucky schools are progressive. All of their schools have solar panels while none in NYC. They take pride in bringing their new schools into net zero energy use and lead the nation. I might not underestimate them just yet. I can’t understand Rand Paul who should be for states rights and local control, not control by a nationalized charter movement beholding to Big Brother Arne..
Oh, brother. There’s been several attempts to get charter schools in Alabama. So far, it hasn’t happened, but I wonder what will eventually happen with the Alabama Accountability Act, especially once Common Core testing starts in the state in spring of 2014. (Alabama’s public schools will be taking the ACT Aspire Test.) I’ve learned from reading this blog how charters are harmful to public schools. I also wouldn’t be surprised that if a charter school (or two) came to my city, my Catholic school as well as a few others in my city/Archdiocese would end up closing. Good luck ,Kentucky…don’t let it happen.
Julian Assange has come out in support of Rand Paul on Rtnews.
I posted a wake up call about Rand’s support of Charters.
Go to Rtnews and post your concerns to get Rand on board with educational liberty.
He may come around.
In NYS! you don’t have to be an educator to start a charter school. Theoretically, you don’t even need a college degree. All you need to know is how to fill out the form. Done the right way, Charter Schools could fill a need, such as a specialized school for autistic children, or a school with experts to teach kids with dyslexia, or how about a school whose focus is helping refugees adjust to American culture and speech? I was going to suggest a school connected to a college so you can get an associates degree in Five years or a culinary school or a performing arts school, or a school for gifted kids, but Buffalo already has those as part of the Public School System. The problem is the way the schools are funded by taking money away from public institutions, and also the lack of a union. These teachers have no guarantee of a job, no say on the hours, number of days worked, fair wages or fair benefits. It’s perfect for young teachers right out of college to “cut their eye teeth”, but is it the best way to run a school? We all know stability is important to a school vs a new staff each year. Also schools need to have young, middle career, and master teachers to learn from one another. You also need a superior principal. Good luck Kentucky, you’re going to need it.
In earlier posts, some people suggested that NAEP scores are not a good way to compare states. Some of us who believe in multiple measures believe that there are multiple ways to compare states, including use of NAEP tests. Other ways include but are not limited to % of low income 3-4 year olds who enrolled in publicly funded early childhood education programs, high school graduation rates, high school graduation rates and hs graduation gap between students of different races and income levels, average scores in international tests, etc, opportunities for educators to create new kinds of public schools, within district and via the charter approach.
Using these measures, Massachusetts ranks among the top (if not the top). Massachusetts uses the charter approach. Kentucky might want to learn from Mass.
Just to be clear, I don’t think the reason Mass ranks very high is only because it has charters. While not perfect, I think they do a lot of things right in Mass.
I’m happy that you clarified your thinking. It is my belief that EVERY school in EVERY state has something to share.
The problem, in my mind, is that everything is about competition–who’s #1, who’s the best, who’s ranked at the top (as you assert about Massachusetts). The ultimate implication is that no matter how “well” a school/district/state is doing, when you begin to rank someone is going to end up “the loser.”
Ky Teacher, thanks for your note. Another approach is to look at what can be learned from various teachers, schools and states. That’s an approach that many teachers use, and an approach that some of us who work with educators, families and students try to use.
I was responding to an assertion that discussed a comparison of Kentucky and Tennessee’s NAEP scores, and said Kentucky’s were higher. Another way of thinking might be what might Kentucky, Tennessee and other states learn from each other.
While each state and each community is somewhat different, I think it is possible to learn from each other’s work.