Bill Phillis, the leader of the Ohio Coalition for Education & Adequacy is a tireless crusader for equitable funding of public schools. He is a retired after serving as assistant state superintendent of schools.
He writes:
Public education enemy #1
The Gates, Walton Family and Broad Foundations have federated with the U. S. Department of Education to eliminate the public common school system. The Obama administration’s point man, Arne Duncan, is spearheading an assault on public education that is unprecedented in American history. He is attempting to override the education provisions of every state Constitution. All states have one or more constitutional provisions that establish and maintain a public common school system.
It is mindboggling and unconscionable that this federal administration is deferring to the corporate, for-profit agenda to destroy the premier promoter of the public good-the public common school system.
Policies coming out of Washington D.C., and in many state capitols, are demoralizing teachers, undermining the traditional role and governance of boards of education, de-professionalizing the teaching profession, re-segregating American communities and reducing the traditional dynamic of learning to a testing obsession.
Many chief state school officers in recent years are moles of the privatizers or lack the conviction to fight for the public common school system. Hence, state legislatures and governors, in many cases, receive no resistance to their privatization agenda.
Often local public school personnel, including boards of education, feel helpless to stem the tide of public school bashing and the privatization movement.
Enough is enough. It is past time to hold all state officials accountable for their support of policies that lead to the privatization of public education.
Ohioans and the citizens of the nation, when mobilized, can uproot the anti-public education agenda of America’s oligarchs and their plutocratic political allies.
William Phillis
Ohio E & A
Ohio E & A | 100 S. 3rd Street | Columbus | OH | 43215
Diane Ravitch's blog 
We need many more like Bill Phillis.
Bill Phillis is absolutely right. May this go far and wide.
http://www.dnj.com/article/20140306/NEWS/303060047
Interesting piece on opposition to public school privatization in TN:
“The Rutherford County School Board is tired of the state government not listening, members of the governing body said Thursday at a regularly scheduled board meeting.
The Monday following a school board meeting on Feb. 20, the board hand delivered a resolution with its concerns about current legislation to the Tennessee General Assembly. The board’s resolution expressed disagreement with the Tennessee General Assembly bills “aimed at privatizing the state of Tennessee’s free public education system.”
It’s funny, because when ed reformers are on national media, they never say vouchers are a way to cut costs on education, yet they say it when they’re lobbying in states:
“They said vouchers will save state money by redirecting tax dollars from public schools to private schools, that competition will benefit public school and private schools will be accountable to parents.
Supporters asked questions about how vouchers have impacted other states and how the money will be allocated. One supporter called out “give us our money back.”
Opposition asked about outside funding from lobbying groups and loss of local control in addition to how special needs and English language learners will be served.”
Looks like Michelle Rhee has re-branded her lobby shop again:
“Tennessee Parents/Teacher Putting Students First, led by Michelle Rhee”
When you think about a system of “common schools” in Ohio, what are the differences among school districts in terms of percentages of students from low income families, percentages of students representing communities of color?
This 2012 report from the Cleveland Plain Dealer might be useful,
http://www.cleveland.com/datacentral/index.ssf/2012/08/ranking_the_wealthiest_ohio_sc.html
It suggests that Ohio school districts vary in average family income from Oletangy District in Delaware County, with an average family income of more than $76,000, and two other districts with more than $75,000, to East Cleveland, with no quite $21,000. There are several other districts where family income is less than $25,000, 1/3 of the wealthiest districts.
Looks to me like long ago Ohio (and many other states) departed from the ideal that children from the richest and poorest families would go to public schools together.
>the ideal that children from the richest and poorest families would go to public schools together.<
Wrong again Joe.
The practice of funding public education via local property taxes has interfered with the ideal of equal opportinities for all students, rich or poor.
No one ever intended rich and poor to attend the same schools. We just didnt want students in the Bronx learning science in supply closets while their counterparts in Westchester had state of the art laboratory facilities.
We agree that funding schools from property taxes is a bad idea.
Actually, Horace Mann DID intend for children from rich and poor families to attend school together.
In small towns they do go to school together.
Sometimes in small towns wealthy and poor go to school together.
Sometimes, having worked with a number of small, rural communities, I’ve learned that some of the wealthy go to boarding schools, or to private schools or to parochial schools or to neighboring districts that have better sports teams. In such cases they pay tuition to the private school or to a neighboring school district (if the state does not have a cross district public school choice law)
Joe
You are missing the point:
>Bill Phillis, the leader of the Ohio Coalition for Education & Adequacy is a tireless crusader for equitable funding of public schools.<
Its not about rich and poor in the same schools. Is about rich and poor attending schools with facilities, supplies, and equipment that don't look like they're from two different worlds.
NY teacher – some people advocate for equitable funding – which I agree with. Some people insist public schools are where students from a spectrum of parents go to school together. That’s part of what Horace Mann promoted.
My point is that having students of different backgrounds going to school together often does not happen – the way American public education has evolved, the largest school choice program is called “the suburbs.” And because of the reliance on real estate taxes, it’s a tax subsidized system of choice (families can deduct real estate taxes from their taxable income). So the system as it has evolved again favors the wealthy.
Again: Don’t confuse me with the facts. My mind has already been made up.
“Friends, this is, pure and simple, a corporate takeover of American public education.”
-Myra Blackmon
“The Obama administration’s point man, Arne Duncan, is spearheading an assault on public education that is unprecedented in American history.”
-Bill Phillis
The number 1 enemy of public education is the guy with the number 1 position in public education in the United States.
And the guy who appointed him.
How true, and I find it unbelievable that both of these men appear to be so capable of ignoring the outcry about their “educational” policies from so many citizens across the nation.
I concur with you both.
Along those lines:
DEMOCRACY DOLDRUMS: Netflix CEO Reed Hastings, a major donor to the education reform movement, offered a provocative view of what ails public education at the California Charter Schools Association’s annual conference last week. His diagnosis: democracy. Elected school boards turn over frequently and new members like to shake things up, he said. Districts change course often. But charter schools are run by non-profit boards or for-profit corporations that value stability and excellence, Hastings said. “Now, if we go to the general public and we say, ‘Here’s an argument why you should get rid of school boards’ — of course no one’s going to go for that. School boards have been an iconic part of America for 200 years,” he said. But with aggressive expansion, the charter movement could take over most of public education within 20 to 30 years and thereby wipe out elected school boards. “We are going to do it …” he said, “because we are relentless.”
— Hastings was greeted with enthusiastic applause and said he didn’t mean to imply that “the people in school districts are bad,” just poorly governed. “Most of them,” he said, “we want to pull them into the charter movement where they can see what a great public school is that doesn’t have the chaos inflicted by the rapid turnover of an elected school board.” His speech: http://bit.ly/N29Rmi.
What a clueless jackass. Oh, I guess having the massive turnover of staff in charters is less chaotic while the CEO has a job for life and rakes in tax dollars? This man is scary. What do we eliminate next?
Not clueless- the man is using propaganda very effectively here. Yes, he is scary, because if his prediction comes true, what will happen to all of those future students and our society if we don’t have TRUE public schools, open to all?
The #1 enemy of the coporate reform movement: Diane Ravitch
Vulture capitalism.
Now, now, let’s not be unkind. To vultures, that is. They at least serve a useful purpose. Unlike the “capitalists” who have been unleashed on education.
That includes your friend, Tom Torlakson, in California and why your mis-guided loyalties to him are confounding and mis-leading.
You should be advocating for the only candidate in the CA State Superintendent of Public Instruction race who is against Common Core. Why are you still supporting a man who ushered CCSS into CA with his deliberate deception? No one trusts someone who tells the voters “parents and teachers” that Common Core is State Led Ed. Torlakson has a cushy job waiting for him in the so called non profit private sector. Nothing but another career politician who sold out to the highest bidder. What a disgrace.
http://www.lydia4schools.com/AVisionforEducation.html
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Lydia-Gutierrez-for-CA-State-Superintendent-of-Public-Instruction/226850210497
MadMamaBear,
I do not want to split the vote and elect Tuck.
Common Core will expire on its own.
Thank you for stating your position.
So this is how you justify not being straight forward with your followers, by conveniently and consistently making no mention of Lydia to favor your friend Tom?
Unfortunately, I think you have underestimated the “critical thinking” abilities of the voters in CA – Parents and Teachers.
While I respect your ability to maintain a strong voice, I am loosing respect for your biased opinions and suggestions of how you think this vote will go down. People are no longer doing as they are told. Party line voting is a thing of the past.
If readers live in Ohio, contact the State Board of Education to indicate your support for public education.
The current plan, for tax dollars to go to Microsoft shareholders, like Gates,
guarantees Ohio’s ratings, in all measures of quality of life, will continue their descent.
How long will it take before the character assassination on Bill Phillis starts?
Reblogged this on Middletown Voice.
the overriding problem, is capitalism