This reader scrutinized the website of the Capital Roundtable. This is what he learned:
Although I am not a middle-market investor, I sure did learn a whole bunch over at the Capital Roundtable website. You see, I did not know this:
“Education is now the second largest market in the U.S., valued at $1.3 trillion. So while an industry of this size will always be scrutinized by regulators, the most onerous recent changes are likely over, and investors should face an easier climate down the road. And while eventual passage is not guaranteed, several pieces of legislation favoring the for-profit industry have been proposed in Congress.”
And I have been following Arne Duncan and the Race to the Top but it was nice to see the following in black and white.
“In the K-12 space, the federal “Race To The Top” initiative has enabled a growing level of privatization in the K-12 segment, and rewarding districts for embracing alternative models, technological advances, and locally-based criteria.”
So in this new “space” public education is a market not a public good. RTTT enabled privatization. OK, now I get it.
Diane Ravitch's blog 
So in this new “space” public education is a market not a public good. RTTT enabled privatization. OK, now I get it.
Yes! Now, how do we make sure that all public school parents and teachers understand this?
Spread the word.
And we have to get the Obama administration to get it. Change has to be from both ends right now – grassroots – bottom up but also top down. We have to get him to see this…..any ideas?
I’m doing my best to be heard.
Vote third party of your choice.
Obama already sees it and is fully behind the privatization. And why should he change? The unions have given him their full support, regardless of how destructive he has been to public education.
Yes! Unions are right behind this….absurd to think that our dues are being used to promote the kind of Ed reform we ad against. Seriously considering not paying my dues this year…. Time for us to send a message to our unions..time for a shift in thinking…we need a movement that pushes back. Just has Japan had a lost decade following their economic contraction…we will be looking at a lost decade following this administrations Ed agenda.
Actually, Patrice, your dues are not going to PACs of any kind. That would be illegal. PAC money comes from intentional contributions made by any individual who wishes to make said contributions–not union dues. So by withholding your dues, you are only hurting your collective bargaining unit.
It might be a good idea to educate yourself regarding the inner workings of your union so that you aren’t a victim of misinformation.
Politicians would love for everyone to believe that union dues pay for the elections of endorsed candidates, and it appears that they are even successful in convincing union members of this lie.
we are living in a time that we can just go grassroots… connections are gold.
just watch… ie: the nature of the rhizome; mockingjay; et al
unless of course you want to exponentiate this betterness.
then you come too…
1.3 trill is the ridiculous.. no?
Arne Duncan was on the Board of the Broad Foundation until he became Secretary of Education. (See the last quote from their 2009 Mission Statement below.)
He has had close ties with the Broad Foundation.
http://gothamschools.org/2009/03/11/eli-broad-describes-close-ties-to-klein-weingarten-duncan/
In its 2009 Mission Statement
Click to access 101-2009.10%20annual%20report.pdf
comments about Arne Duncan include these:
Page 5
The election of President Barack Obama and his appointment of Arne Duncan, former CEO of Chicago Public Schools, as the U.S. secretary of education, marked the pinnacle of hope for our work in education reform. In many ways, we feel the stars have finally aligned. With an agenda that echoes our decade of investments—charter schools, performance pay for teachers, accountability, expanded learning time and national standards—the Obama administration is poised to cultivate and bring to fruition the seeds we and other reformers have planted.
Page 10
Prior to becoming U.S. secretary of education, Arne Duncan was CEO of Chicago Public Schools, where he hosted 23 Broad Residents. Duncan now has five Broad Residents and alumni working with him in the U.S. Department of Education.
Page 20
2007: Encouraged by the progressive leadership of Chicago Public Schools CEO Arne Duncan, The Broad Foundation invests $4.5 million for Chicago Public Schools
to launch a new data system to streamline its human resource systems.
Page 22
2008: The Broad Center names an independent board of directors chaired by New York City Department of Education Chancellor Joel Klein and including Chicago Public
Schools CEO Arne Duncan (later named U.S. secretary of education), retired IBM Corporation Chairman and CEO Louis Gerstner, and former Harvard President Larry Summers (later named assistant to the president for economic policy
and director of the National Economic Council).
Page 22
2009: Broad Superintendents Academy graduate Thelma Meléndez de Santa Ana is appointed by President Barack Obama as assistant secretary for elementary and
secondary education for the U.S. Department of Education.
Page 23
2009: Three members of The Broad Foundation executive staff are loaned to the U.S. Department of Education, led by Secretary of Education Arne Duncan. The “loaned executives” assist in the implementation of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act as it relates to distribution of education funds.
Page 23
2009: The Aldine Independent School District outside Houston wins the 2009 Broad Prize. Their win is announced at the U.S. Capitol by U.S. Secretary of Education Arne
Duncan. Finalists Broward County Public Schools, Fla.; Gwinnett County Public Schools, Ga.; the Long Beach Unified School District, Calif.; and Socorro Independent School District in El Paso, Texas are celebrated in remarks given by Speaker Nancy Pelosi, House Education and Labor Committee Chairman George Miller and other members of Congress.
Page 25
In 2009: The Broad Center for the Management of School Systems Board of Directors includes:
Joel Klein, Chair, Chancellor New York City Department of Education
Barry Munitz, Vice Chair, Trustee Professor California State University, Los Angeles
Arlene Ackerman, Superintendent of Philadelphia Public Schools
Richard Barth (Chief Executive Officer KIPP Foundation)
Henry Cisneros, Chairman of City View America, former U.S. Secretary of HUD
Arne Duncan, U.S. Secretary of Education (on Board until Feb. 2009)
Louis Gerstner, Jr., Retired Chairman and CEO, IBM Corporation
Maria Goodloe-Johnson, Superintendent Seattle Public Schools
Dan Katzir, Managing Director of the Eli and Edythe Broad Foundation
Wendy Kopp (CEO and Founder of Teach for America)
Margaret Spellings, President and CEO of Margaret Spellings and Company, former U.S. Secretary of DOE
Melissa Megliola Zaikos, Autonomous Management and Performance Schools Program Officer, Chicago Public Schools
Michelle Rhee, Chancellor District of Columbia Schools
Lawrence Summers, Director National Economic Council
Mortimer Zuckerman, Chairman and Editor-in-Chief, U.S. News & World Report; Publisher of the New York Daily News
When they made Jack Welch the Principals Academy guru here in NYC…I’ve said this ALL was a hostile business takeover of the public Ed. Arena. Welch, the former CEO of G.E…which made most of their money then as tax dodging shylocks ( credit cards, see income tax paid, polluting the Hudson River.
Yes, there might be hope in parents protesting the incoming Pearson test scourge. The Bloomberg defeat on turnaround gives us some hope in the legitimacy of the courts…however slim.
What we need is a MAJOR media player to tell the public the truth on the LACK of achievement in mini-schools and charters, dirty tricks, charter school scandals, crony capitalism AKA known as ” the 1 percent”, systemic racism and segregation inherent in Bloomberg’s DOE policy, bloated white collar contracts and fees, “Chancellor” Klein’s connections to Hacking King Rupert Murdoch., the Wall St. / hedge fund charter connection. And you all can fit in another hundred transgressions.
I did not think Arnie Duncan was good as the CEO of the Chicago Public Schools and now I see he is no good in his current capacity. Hopefully if President Obama is re-elected, he should put someone like Diane in this position so we can move forward not backward. Educating children should never be considered a business because it will not work other than for the investors. Turning teachers and students into robots is a waste of time and surely not the answer.
Putting your faith in any public official to make the correct decisions for our students is naive. Parents need to become aware of this information. They have the power.
And where do our unions stand on this…can’t believe more teachers are not expecting more from the NEA and their local unions….Obama/Duncan initiatives sound good, but are essentially NCLB/Bush on steroids. The wrong people are driving change,ed reform,and the discourse….teachers need to change the narrative to focus on poor working conditions,lack of administrative instructional leadership, lack of quality materials and political intrusions. But dont worry # edtech, #edcamp # BYOD, #dianeravitch #teacher underground are gathering “going viral status”…. But we have to move at warp speed in before we find ourself in another lost decade of meandering through policy wonk agendas. NO to policy wonks-YES to teachers sin the trenches!
Lined with workbooks, the walls of my classroom filled with boxes daily. Not only was the clutter unbearable, but the mice and rats started to return because my newly scrubbed and cleaned out room became a sanctuary of hiding places. asking my 180 kids to take one of each home, I decided to look up the cost! Wait for it: my room was “lined” with nearly $180,000.00 worth of workbooks filled with worksheets.
Somebody is getting paid! Yes, there is profit to be made in blaming all teachers; Hence, give them workbooks to teacher proof education. Now, multiply that 180K times every core teacher in just one very large district.
Politics is the main factor that is ruining our educational system. I’m a public school teacher, who worked 1 year for a profit charter school. All they were concerned about was the bottom line. Teachers had no resources and we had to be sales women and men. This is truly a money making agenda. Testing companies are making sky-high profits, while students are being cheated out of a quality education.