Robert Mann, a professor of communications at Louisiana State University, recognizes that the point of charters and vouchers is to withdraw into gated communities.
He writes: “Private schools have long flourished in America for reasons legitimate (religious and scholastic), and some not so legitimate (race). But now many parents and taxpayers – manipulated by politicians who argue that the only way to fix public education is to weaken it with privatization – are giving up on the very idea of public schools.
“A strong component of Louisiana’s education “reform” agenda – led by Gov. Bobby Jindal and state education Superintendent John White – is abandoning public schools in favor of private educational enclaves.”
Vouchers do not fulfill their promise. Voucher students fare poorly. Only 40% perform at or above grade level.
And more: “Then there are the 80 schools in Louisiana’s Recovery School District (RSD), beset with allegations of mismanagement, wasteful spending and millions in lost or stolen property. Last year, New Orleans’ RSD schools – mostly charters – were the worst performing in the city.”
The truth is beginning to break through the myths about the glories of privatization.
Gov. Jindal and Mr. White have funneled public school dollars to fund parochial and private school tuition, succeeded in removing teacher certification and school accreditation requirements, pupil-teacher ratios, required seat time and attendance mandates, among other atrocities, in order to advance a so called school reform agenda that threatens public schools. Yet public schools are still held to higher standards and mandates for which charter, voucher, and virtual schools are not held accountable. These miracle charter schools refuse to follow mandates on reporting of attendance and test data, making it impossible to even know what is really happening. Students drop out and are not tracked for re-enrollment. Crime rates in NOLA are rising. Could it be due to a vast number of students who are on the streets instead of in school? Who knows! No one is looking out for the most at-risk students. As a public school administrator these students aren’t just number to track data. They are our children. This illusion of “Choice” is nothing more than a way for children to get lost in a “virtual” world that chooses to look the other way when it comes to the “difficult to educate” students who need us the most. Make no mistake, we will pay the price for this miseducation of our children. Parents of Louisiana and our nation need to wake up. There is no such thing as throw away children. They grow up and eventually demand our attention. One way or another, we will pay attention. But by then the Ed Deformers will be long gone. No where to be found. My only hope is that the public will stand up before the Billionare Corporate Baggers bleed us dry and succeed in deforming Public Education into something unrecognizable. Our voices MUST be loud and strong. We can’t back down and give up. I refuse to let them win.
From the latest La. BESE meeting:
http://deutsch29.wordpress.com/2013/06/24/forget-evidence-white-bese-and-corporate-reform-ideology/
No surprise that the charters are the worst performing schools in the city. I’ll bet their CEOs bank accounts are overflowing with taxpayer dollars.