The education industry won another battle in Florida, defeating solid opposition from every parent organization in the state.
The Florida House of Representatives passed a “parent trigger” bill, allowing unsuspecting parents to turn their public school over to one of the charter corporations that have–shall we say– undue influence in the legislature.
This is a big win for Jeb Bush, Michelle Rhee, and so-called Parent Revolution, funded by the Waltons, the Gates, the Broads. Parents like us. Regular folks.
The only consolation in this sordid affair is that parents are not stupid. The parent trigger was passed in California more than two years ago, and to date, only one school has swallowed the Kool-Aid. Desert Trails Elementary School was targeted by Parent Revolution, which sent in its paid organizers, gathered parent signatures, and after a series of court battles, won the right to hand their school over to a charter operator. But by the time the dust settled, only 53 parents out of a school with more than 600 children voted to choose a charter.
We will await to see the results of that famous victory. Walton, Gates, and Broad pumped millions into this effort to privatize public schools, and so far they have won only Desert Trails.
Wish someone had told them that a charter operator in that town lost his charter only a year earlier because of financial self-dealing.
Diane Ravitch's blog 
The law in California does not state that only a charter or such can “Pull the Trigger.” We are planning to use it for parents, teachers and the community to take over schools. Who says you cannot reverse engineer their plan and use it against them. Politics is the “Art of the Possible.” I do not know what the Florida law says but if it is not explicit that only charters of some other form of privatization and corporatization can do it why not you and your community. Sometime I call it “Reverse Polarity.” Just like when you turn the switch on a lath to backwards. It runs just as hard the other way. Why Not? The plans are already being prepared. Since this is now state law here the corporatists do not own it. Now we can use it for good purposes not bad ones. Think “Outside of the Box.” Isn’t that what the arts is supposed to do? It sure has for me. For many years I was one of the best makers of Tiffany Lamps which went for a lot of money. It is not rote work. If you mess up a lot of money can go on the floor real fast.
LikeLike
😦
Hopefully, we will be able to change some minds in the state senate.
LikeLike