K12, the online charter corporation founded by the Milken brothers, has received a series of terrible evaluations. The NCAA recently denied a score of K12 “schools” credit because of the poor quality of instruction. A CREDO study in Pennsylvania concluded that virtual charters performed wose than public schools or brick-and-mortar charter schools.
Major stories in the Néw York Times and the Washington Post have reported that K12 virtual charters have high attrition rates, low test scores, and low graduation rates.
But K12 is good at two things: recruitment and lobbying.
In this article, Jason Stanford reports that Texas Commissioner of Education Michael Williams just lifted the enrollment cap on K12. Williams was previously head of the Railroad Commission, which theoretically “regulates” the energy industry.
According to Stanford, Williams is a friend of K12’s lobbyist. He, along with other key state officials, attended her lavish birthday party in Wine Country. The GOP candidate for governor has pledged to increase funding for K12.
In Texas, it seems the #1 criterion for education funding is not need, but lobbying. Kids come last.
Diane Ravitch's blog 
Sounds so VERY familiar. Columbia Journalism Review, lead story: “Who Cares if it is True”. This in regard to the media of course – which is controlled by corporate interests but lobbyists seem for many – very probably most of us – as the ones who are running our government.
Credible, in depth, scholarship, the backbone of education, seems to be getting the shot end of the stick. How long can this go on before “truth” is completely lost and then how can a society exist? Scary!!!
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On “Who Cares if it is True”
The recognized founder of PR in the United States, Edward Bernays, wrote a seminal article titled “Engineering Consent” (1947) arguing that the Bill of Rights extended to the arts of persuasion. See The ANNALS of the American Academy of Political and Social Science March 1947 vol. 250 no. 1 113-120
The Supreme Court has affirmed that money talks in political decisions.
Diane Ravitch’s May 6 post offered the news on a judicial ruling that teacher evaluations are legal even if they are based on fictional data from students the teacher never taught and in subjects never taught.
If you are interested in details on Texas K12 activities that are technically classified as lobbying you can find information at http://www.ethics.state.tx.us/dfs/search_LOBBY.html But, more and more deals are cut without the architecture of sunshine and ethics laws.
Edward Bernays helped to “persuade” the public that it was perfectly OK for women to smoke in public (expanding the market) with many techniques including a 5th Avenue parade featuring patriotic women smoking and holding up high their “torches of freedom.” For this and other examples see Ewen, S. (2008). PR!: a social history of spin. Basic Books.
Full text of Engineering Consent (fairly short) at http://provokateur.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/01/The-Engineering-of-Consent.pdf
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They have been running a lot of advertising in Louisiana. Every time I see it I roll my eyes and tell my kids about the lack of oversight. They tell me “I know!”
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My family does the same thing when those ads come on! My children scream and turn off the TV. Glad it’s not just me! (:
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Money talks, always has, always will. Kids only count because they generate funding. The lack of ethical behavior and favors/legislation/funding based on who you know is world wide and is what drives legislation in all states. That is our society. It will not change. That is why all of those education people and others who should know better always try to get a seat at the table–get in on the money, try to get your voice heard, try not to upset the boat so that you live for another round of funding. Those of us who stand up and point out the obvious are shunned.
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They already know this, Diane. Ohio was the experimental state for the “cybercharter” industry and it’s a disaster.
There’s absolutely no excuse for this. They have reams of evidence, a decade’s worth.
Heck, TEXAS has piles of evidence, with the NCLB “tutors with computers” debacle.
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Cincinnati.com reported 12 hours ago, that one of the largest charters in the area, 600 students, down from 900, may close.
The reporter observed a couple of dozen attendees at a meeting about the potential closing. She identified the audience as mostly teachers, who wouldn’t talk to the media because their contracts prohibited it without permission.
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Thanks. I cannot imagine why they keep getting away with creating this absolute chaos. You know, schools are a system in a given area, whether ed reform dogma allows them to admit that or not, and they are affecting SYSTEMS with this irresponsibility and disregard for everyone else in the system.
Did you see what happened to the proposed charter regulation? The Ohio Dept of Ed finally stepped up and sent a couple of letters and newspapers announced “problem solved!”
They ran a political end-run around regulation.
It’s ridiculous. They don’t want any regulation. They’re blocking it.
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Reblogged this on David R. Taylor-Thoughts on Texas Education.
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Incredible. They just shut one down and they’re creating another booming, unregulated industry:
“In late September, a lesser-known No Child Left Behind program that set aside millions in federal funding to provide remedial help for struggling students from low-income families quietly came to a close in Texas.
During a news conference to announce that the state had been granted a general waiver from the 2001 federal education law, Education Commissioner Michael Williams cast the change as one of many that would give districts more authority over their underperforming schools.
But his comments signaled more than a shift in policy. The state had also, intentionally or not, struck a blow against a once-bustling and virtually unchecked for-profit industry.
A Texas Tribune investigation has uncovered years of inaction by state officials while money flowed to tutoring companies, delivering few academic results and flouting state law. As companies racked up complaints — and school districts spent further resources investigating them — the state agency responsible for administering the program repeatedly claimed it had no authority to intervene.”
Ohio is now making this exact same mistake. One of the provisions of the Third Grade Reading Guarantee is parents have to be provided an “option” for publicly-paid, private sector tutoring. These ideas never, ever die. They just resurface in a different state, in a slightly different form.
http://www.texastribune.org/2013/10/06/texas-stands-while-big-school-money-goes-tutors/
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Yes…but in Texas some politician will put lots of cash in their pocket for seeing that this is approved.
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Reblogged this on Cloaking Inequity and commented:
See also http://cloakinginequity.com/2014/04/22/ncaa-bans-k12-inc-online-charters-no-rose-bowl-no-final-four/
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What used to be a “good ole boys network” in Texas has become a “good ole network of people with sociopathic behaviors”. Pearson lobbyist Bill Hammond is also President of the Texas Association of Business and BBF with Greg Abbott, the Attorney General candidate for Governor, as well as TEA Commissioner Michael Williams. Texas politicians have a history of being ignorant bullies, but never has the corruption and total disregard for the public trust been so violated and blatant as it is now with the abuse to school children in Texas.
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The parent needs to do their own lobbying.
By our vote.
By our action.
By our voices.
By our letters.
By our feet.
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