This reader has a question.
I am aware that BCG recommended mass school closings in Philadelphia and handover of students to private organizations.
Can you help?
“Which cities has the BCG done this work in so far: Memphis, New Orleans, Cleveland, Philadelphia… what about chicago/DC/Detroit??? Was that BCG work too? The BCG never released their criteria for evaluating which schools to close- nor did they do site visits…. I want to piece together their decision-making process in order to reveal it for what it is… but I do not have a complete list of cities where they have made recommendations- can you provide that, Diane?”
Diane Ravitch's blog 
I don’t know if this helps, but here is a quick refresher on BCG:
In the City of Corporate Love and Beyond: The Boston Consulting Group, Gates and the Filthy Rich:
http://btownerrant.com/2012/05/18/in-the-city-of-corporate-love-and-beyond-the-boston-consulting-group-gates-and-the-filthy-rich/
They follow Paul Vallas around, looting school districts. Possibly St Louis. And I believe they are doing work with Vallas in Connecticut. Jonathan Pelto might know more about any current dealings they have up.there
I believe BCG is one of the organizations that Malloy and Pryor hired in violation of CT’s contract bidding laws (along with Leeds Global).
I know they have a large office in Chicago so I”m SURE they were involved in the Chicago recommendation.
BCG has been involved in Memphis and in New South Wales, Australia. Still looking.
BCG was in New Orleans immediately after Hurricane Katrina, they were embraced by city and state officials. The public was told that they were “volunteering” their services. Within weeks they had established themselves as key stakeholders in deciding the fate of public education in New Orleans. They were one of many “wolfs in sheep’s clothing” that guided the failed privatization of public education in New Orleans.
http://schoolingintheownershipsociety.blogspot.com/2012/07/bcg-engineers-of-school-privatization.html
July 11 2012
Boston Consulting Group — Engineers of school privatization
Where Romney got his start
They’re the Bain Capital of public education. Politically connected Boston Consulting Group consultants are paid million of dollars, much of it from public funds that might ordinarily be used to fund public education. Instead they are financing the dismantling of public education, mainly in urban school systems, responsible for the education of primarily poor kids and children of color. BCG can take credit for the ongoing replacement of these public institutions with networks of private education management companies operating charter schools, distance learning companies, and tutoring programs. …
Former Ed Secretary and architect of NCLB, Margaret Spellings who currently operates something called the Campaign for Free Enterprise, is a senior BCG advisor. …
The group was also brought into Chicago by Arne Duncan and the Gates Foundation in 2008 to design the failed high school reform and school privatization component of Mayor Daley’s Renaissance 2010. Duncan continues to involve BCG in his Race To The Top initiative.
In Philadelphia, BCG has been deeply involved in nearly every hot-button issue faced by the District, including continued expansion of charter schools. After decades of this corporate-style reform however, there is no evidence that BCG’s work has produced any better outcomes for students or for the communities in which they live.
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