One of my most valuable sources of information is an email blast from the Keystone State Education Coalition, which reports on school-related news from Pennsylvania and links to articles in the Pennsylvania press.
I have been watching with fascination and horror the ongoing efforts of Governor Tom Corbett to undermine public education in his state.
One of his closest education advisors and campaign donors also owns the state’s largest charter school.
He now wants to take over and replace K-6 public education in Pottstown with a charter school owned and managed by his corporation.
Please take the time to read the very last link, which includes the emails between the charter operator and the staff of the district.
These daily emails are archived at http://keystonestateeducationcoalition.org
Visit us on Facebook at KeystoneStateEducationCoalition
Follow us on Twitter at @lfeinberg
How many years away from this privatization scenario is your school district?
Poking around on the internet, this right-to-know request surfaced. In a series of emails, it details efforts to privatize the Pottstown School District in 2011 and includes correspondence between the district, legislative staff, Vahan Gureghian, CEO of Charter School Management, Inc. and Mr. Max Tribble.
Mr. Gureghian’s company is under contract to operate Pennsylvania’s largest brick and mortar charter school in Chester. Mr. Gureghian was Governor Corbett’s largest individual campaign donor and was recruited to serve on the Governor’s Education Transition Team. Mr. Tribble is registered as his lobbyist on the state’s lobbying registration website via the Washington Advocacy Group and Greenlee Partners, LLC.
Keep in mind that in the 54 page charter school reform amendment to SB1115 (page 75, section 1732-A, paragraph (8)) introduced by Rep, Tom Killion (R-168, Chester and Delaware) on the last day of the legislative session there was language that would have specifically exempted a vendor (like Charter School Management, Inc.) from the state’s right-to-know laws. SB1115 passed in the Houseby a vote of 120-77, but was not considered by the Senate. You might want to consider asking your legislator why they voted for it.
There has been a right-to-know request pending for Charter School Management’s financial records for several years. Although it was recently upheld by Commonwealth Court, it is anticipated that it will be appealed to the state Supreme Court.
It is anticipated that charter school reform will be on the short list for consideration by the legislature during their short session this fall.
http://www.pottstowncitizens.org/2011pdf/2011-5-19Hyltonstatementtoschoolboard.pdf
Diane Ravitch's blog 
Wow…so forget input from students, teachers and parents and leave the BOE in the dark, too and then lie and scheme. So is this the new play book on how to secretly set up a charter without any input from the public?
Do you know what happened? Do they now have charters in Pottstown? When will the tipping point finally arrive?
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Here in Milwaukee, we have the biggest school choice/charter program in the country. Tax money goes to religious schools as well as private secular and for profit companies. There is an increasing number of chartering agencies. The tax bill for this program has mushroomed by more than 24% for city of Milwaukee residents just for the choice program. Governor Walker and his Tea Party buddies would love to spread this all over the state. These “choice” schools have almost no accountability. Now here is the worst part: other districts in Wisconsin are already seeing an increase in charter and virtual schools instituted by their own school boards. Most parents across the state are happy with their public schools and don’t see what is coming. There is nothing anyone can say or do to convince them that they will lose their excellent public schools. They continue to think vouchers are only for those bad Milwaukee Public Schools, which need a big shake-up. In the interest of lowering taxes and busting unions to do so, they continue to vote for Tea Party candidates. Recent voter suppression laws and redrawing of voting districts will only increase the likelihood of big wins for voucher advocates.The citizens of Wisconsin are in for a rude awakening mostly because parents aren’t paying attention. After all, it’s all politics, and we don’t like to talk about it. Pennsylvania, welcome to our world.
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Great reveal by the board member who was able to show all the work the superintendent did with private company and politicians without knowledge or Input from his board and community. I assume their financial situation was bad, but the supt’s request for debt info in the form of an index from his staff member made me think he was looking to meet criteria for failure so that they would be eligible for takeover. But of course.
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Again, if charters are so great, why they need for “exemptions” from state laws, rules and regulations? Oh, because once privatized, they’ll be a business. Pure and simple. Parents of Pottstown – Wake Up !
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Hello
My name is Evan Brandt and I am a reporter for The Mercury newspaper in Pottstown.
We do not yet have charter schools in Pottstown.
In fact, since we reported on this issue a year ago, there has been no movement on it that we’re aware of.
But that doesn’t mean it won’t be back. The district is in dire financial straits and I could see charters being received as a way to overcome some of those problems.
Here are some links to our coverage of this issue:
1) April 4, 2011 — http://www.pottsmerc.com/article/20110404/NEWS01/304049999/charter-school-has-its-sights-on-pottstown-%28with-timeline%29
2) May 8, 2011 — http://www.pottsmerc.com/article/20110508/NEWS01/305089996/charter-schools-likely-coming-to-pottstown-but-not-right-away
3) May 29 — http://www.pottsmerc.com/article/20110529/NEWS01/305299966/email-trail-shows-pottstown-schools-chief-was-in-talks-with-charter-magnate-%28with-timeline%29
4) May 29 Editorial — http://www.pottsmerc.com/article/20110529/OPINION/305299959/school-leaders-culture-of-secrecy-undermines-trust
I hope that answers questions about this issue, at least as it stands in Pottstown.
We will keep abreast of this and you can check for updates at http://www.pottsmerc.com. or check my blog at: http://evan-brandt.blogspot.com/
If any of you hear about any movement on this issue or have further questions, please feel free to e-mail me at: ebrandt@pottsmerc.com or message me on Twitter @PottstownNews
Thanks for your interest.
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Also, this is new, Pottstown High School was just named to the state’s new list of under-performing schools:
1) July 28 — http://www.pottsmerc.com/article/20120728/NEWS01/120729274/pottstown-high-school-named-low-achieving-school-on-new-state-list
2) Aug. 6 — http://www.pottsmerc.com/article/20120806/NEWS01/120809613/phs-students-doing-better-than-tests-show
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The purpose of having a list of failing schools is to create a pool of schools that can be privatized. It is not about helping them improve.
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Is there some documentation of that?
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Is there a list of the school districts in PA that have been privatized?
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