In the just concluded trial about vouchers in Louisiana, a state education department official said that a student with a voucher is a public school student, no matter what school she attends. The judge could not follow the logic. He ruled that the state could not take funds away from public schools to pay for vouchers.
Leonie Haimson of Class Size Matters in New York City noticed that charter advocates pull the same trick, with the same logic. They change their rationale to fit the need of the moment.
At first, the charters were to save minority kids from failing schools. But now they are moving into relatively affluent areas in New York City where schools are not failing.
She writes, referring to the gentrified portions of districts 2, 3 and 15:
“The reason DOE is putting charter elementary schools in high schools in D2, the lower part of D3 and in the Cobble Hill section of D15 is that their public elementary schools are already so overcrowded so that there is NO space for them, even by DOE standards.”
“The charter school lobby first explained the rationale for their schools as based on providing more “options” to students in low-performing districts, then moved on to justifying them by saying they would create more “diverse” schools in mixed or gentrifying areas, and also now argue that they create more options for middle class parents who are potentially shut out of their zoned schools because of overcrowding, that there are waiting lists for Kindergarten.”
“The rationales keep expanding….”
Diane Ravitch's blog 
Yes, in Washington State where we unfortunately just passed charter law (by under 40k votes), we got the same lines. They claim it is to help at-risk students and yet the law has no mandate to serve those students (not even to provide transportation). But then we are told that having charters will lower class size in some of our overcrowded public schools (not true, of course). They will say ANYTHING.
Here’s a link to Leonie’s post:
http://nycpublicschoolparents.blogspot.com/2012/12/the-ever-expanding-rationales-and.html
She’s absolutely spot on.
It reminds me of GOP logic. When the economy does well, we need to give the rich a tax break. When the economy does poorly, we need to give the rich a tax break. And they get away with this nonsense just as the corporate “reformers” do.
Many thanks to Leonie Haimson and Jersey Jazzman for their postings. A small addition to their perceptive comments.
Note that in the link provided by Diane [to Jersey Jazzman] that Beth Scioneaux is quoted as saying “The Department position is that scholarship students are still public school students.”
The use of the word “scholarship” is not accidental. IMHO, a “scholarship” in the eyes of the privatizers/charterites is — ultimately — just another unearned “entitlement” like health care, human rights, social security, medicare, union protections, and neighborhood public schools that anchor communities. A scholarship can be granted or denied, increased or diminished, especially when you apply the metrics of the edudeformers that declare a few worthy and meritorious parents, teachers and students “winners” and the vast majority of the same lazy and incompetent “losers.”
The use of the word may not be the result of conscious manipulation. However, it certainly reflects the attitude of people who excuse their destructive “us versus them” mentality by pretending that they (the meritorious deserving “us”) are being fair and generous (to the undeserving vast majority, “them,” who are barely worthy of consideration). I am sure that they will never understand our resistance to their noblesse oblige. But let’s not let them hide behind fig leafs of language. “Scholarships” to them is simply a way of rationalizing robbing from the public good without the inconvenience of feeling embarrassed or ashamed.
So let me say what they won’t: shame on all of you that use the word in the same way as Beth Scioneaux! 😦
Use of the word “scholarship” comes straight from the ALEC playbook to dismantle public education. It means “voucher”, as revealed by state representative Mark Pocan to the Wisconsin legislature regarding ALEC’s legislation for a “Special Needs Scholarship Program”: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FyvgJS9mIaI
All vouchers are called “opportunity scholarships,” but they are still vouchers.
Thanks for the clarification, Diane. Can you (or anyone else) name another politician who has spoken publicly about the movement “to dismantle public education”, whether in regard to ALEC or any of the so called “reformers”? Pocan is the only politician I’ve ever heard say those words.
Everything now is Orwellian wordspeak.
George Buzzetti
I’m so glad that Mark Pocan was voted into Congress last month. I’m hopeful that he will facilitate more truthful dialogues with politicians and the media, on a national level, about the dismantling and privatization of public education.
The reason is that both the reps and dems are in this together. Remember the old political phrase “When there is Big Money there is no Party.” It is just that simple. Both sides basically agree on the present course of privatization and corporatization. Bain Capital was the first financier of charter schools. Now the hedge funds say “We learned there is a lot of money in education and we can double our money in 7 years instead of 12 by using government money. Also, they have a lot to make by owning and renting or leasing the buildings charter schools use. They make it on every side and destroy unions at the same time and make unequitable education at the same time. Big win for them.
They are all about money, profit and power and nothing else. Charter schools do not have to follow most ed code, they cherry pick parents and students, do not deal with behavioral problems, ESL and special education. So if you want an easier time move to where the money is and most of these problems go away and you look good. If you use my “Correction Factor” which allows for all what charter schools avoid and throw that into the caculation of comparison between charter and regular public schools charter schools do not do so good. People need to wake up.
Here in California one of the first charter school people, Yvonne Chan of Vaughn Street Learning Center, 1994, and also a former State Board of Education member and considered one of the premier educators has terrible API scores. After 18 years they are only 710 and only went up 20 points over the last 10 years. Is this something to get up and shout about? The elementary API scores in Compton are 800-900 and in Inglewood about 800 and everyone in the world knows what goes on in those two cities. Just listen to hip hop. Everything now is Orwellian doublespeak. I say whatever words they use the opposite is what they are really saying.