The Metro Nashville school board was surprised to learn that new charter schools will absorb millions of dollars from the district’s budget, with more on the way.
The state legislature is about to approve legislation to override the veto of local school boards, so Nashville is sure to get more charters than it wants or needs.
But most of the money for the charters’ budgets will come from the city’s coffers, not the state’s.
Sort of like the state inviting someone to dine at your table, at your cost.
Thanks a lot.
Diane Ravitch's blog 
Want to hear something funny? I have relatives who still knit their eyebrows in skepticism and challenge me with “what’s in it for the billionaires?” when I try to explain to them what is going on. There are none so blind…
Your line, Mr. Rains …
Anyone who’s shocked has been on Mars or rehab since 1990 or so?
Have you seen the new all digital high school in Merced,Ca. El Capitan High School. No news stories, just a blurb on the site. I wonder how it was funded, how students are chosen, who pays for the equipment? This is a low income area so those “disposable” lap tops will have to be purchased by the public. Date: Wed, 6 Mar 2013 22:01:10 +0000 To: rke25@hotmail.com
How can they be shocked? Where have they been? Its kind of like marrying someone who had charges brought against them for domestic violence and then being surprised when they hit you.
This is off-topic, but I want to alert Diane to what has been happening in Britain:
http://www.monbiot.com/2013/03/04/a-capitalist-command-economy/
Subtitle: Forcing schools into the hands of unelected oligarchs is the latest contradiction of everything the market fetishists claim to stand for.
It sure looks like the 1% is trying to cover all its bases.
I will be posting the news from Britain.
This is the work of Michelle Rhee’s husband who also has custody of their children. Two pees in a pod. The spelling was not a mistake.
Same people and/or organizations everywhere worldwide and they have declared war on us in every sector. Financial was just the first and I guarantee you that you will not see a real good economy until they reestablish the banking regulations which Bill Clinton wiped out with the 1999-2000 Banking Deregulation Acts. Without a stable financial system nothing can work except for those on the very top who can take advantage of the disruption as a plan.
This is one example of many: a usurping of the people’s will on a very large scale.
I’m appalled.
What’s particularly distressing is that it’s so obvious that the multi billionaires are pushing their weight around. Here’s Murdoch/Klein’s latest profit making contribution:
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/03/06/business/media/news-corp-has-a-tablet-for-schools.html?pagewanted=2&_r=1&ref=technology&
Klein makes no bones, whatsoever, about getting the private sector heavily involved in the education system.
I saw something very unsettling in my school email account the other day: a suggestion by the admins that we check out “Financial Literacy Resource” lesson plans and activities from our good friends at the FDIC. That’s right: the Federal Deposit Insurance corporation. Grades K-12.
http://vcart.velocitypayment.com/fdic/index.php?cPath=121_158_166