Bob Braun writes that Christie’s appointee as Newark superintendent Cami Anderson told parents she knows what’s best for their children:
“Pity the parents of Newark’s public school children. Many are unsure where their children will attend school in the fall. They’ve had to fill out application forms and hope they get their first choices in an ever-changing program called “One Newark.” For many, if their first choice was a neighborhood public school, they’re out of luck. Now comes a new insult—if they want to know how their children were picked for this school or that, they can just forget it. That’s secret information. They’re not allowed to know.
“But, hey, no worries. The decisions will be made by a NPS staff with lots of experience with organizations like the Broad Academy, funded by the Eli and Edythe Broad Foundation. One worked with Barclay’s Capital, another with McKinsey & Co. Newark parents can feel comfortable their children are in the hands of people trained in business and by billionaires who understand completely what it’s like to be poor and live in Newark. Right.”
Diane Ravitch's blog 
Off topic (sorry) but must read todays NYT editorial re CC in NY.
It’s sort of the final insult that “choice” has been so oversold. They truth is they’re using a privately-owned metric to slot these kids into THEIR choice of schools.
They traded publicly-run schools in Newark for privately-run schools, losing “voice” and they didn’t even get “choice” in return. What a rip off.
Also. Love how stacked that advisory board is with charter people. There won’t be a publicly-run school left in that city when they’re thru defunding the existing schools.
If we want strong public schools we probably have to hire people who value public schools. There’s no one in leadership who values the existing public schools. They’ll be treated as a “back up” to the “choice” schools, and they’ll suffer for that, if they survive at all.
There’s a real consistency among the Chris Christie hires on transparency. The whole group fight like hell against public disclosure, of anything. It’s ridiculous that people in that state have to get court orders for everything.
The ACLU had to sue for the correspondence between those foundations and individuals who planned the Newark ed reform. That is ridiculous. Ed reformers should release these documents and correspondence willingly, without a court order. They may have deluded themselves into thinking they are “CEO’s” rather than public employees, but they’re not. They have an ethical duty to inform the people in these places what they’re up to.
It’s the same thing with the EAA in Michigan. While it’s enrollment has declined 20% after one year, the legislature will likely expand it because it “knows better” than those who have actually experienced it.
That’s the beauty of choice. When the advocates of choice discover they aren’t the one people select then people simply don’t understand why their proposal is so valuable.
“We know best. You’re just too foolish to know what’s best for you.”
The EAA can’t work unless they expand it. The whole thing was predicated on “bridge funding”, private money that was supposed to be replaced by public money.
In order to make it work with per pupil funding that is available, they needed to take advantage of “economies of scale” that would (theoretically) appear when they dropped the “blended learning” template on 35 more public schools.
The reason they’re so desperate to expand the experiment is it was always dependant on expansion. It wasn’t an experiment at all. The thing only works if it is fed with more students.
There was no set of circumstances where the original 15 schools experiment would be deemed a failure. The plan rests on more and more students.
“if they want to know how their children were picked for this school or that, they can just forget it. That’s secret information. They’re not allowed to know”
Sounds like a lot of “choice”.
Jen: but in the ed biz we call that “proprietary information” — you can’t have $tudent $ucce$$ without it or nothing would make ₵ent¢. After all, how can you beat the competition if the general public is fully informed?
Lighten up. Without the guidance of their superiors they might make the wrong choices.
And in a worst case scenario, democracy might break out all over.
Brrrrr…
😎
Here’s noted education experts The Fordham Institute lobbying for more deregulation of public schools:
http://www.edexcellence.net/commentary/education-gadfly-daily/ohio-gadfly-daily/schools-still-yearn-to-break-free
Ed reform in Ohio is a chaotic, corrupt mess, and The Fordham Institute had a huge hand in that, but rather than clean up the mess they made, they’re still lobbying lawmakers for more leeway to screw things up further.
This is what you have to look forward to, NJ.
Too bad that she cannot have just a “cami-o” input.
So very many of us are so VERY tired of political hacks usurping real education. One wonders if people really believe in the efficacy of democratic principles any more. Authoritarianism prevails and PLEASE do not allow input from people who might know something, those on the firing line.