Peter Greene discovered a bold new policy plan in Milwaukee. It turns the war on poverty into a war on the poor.
He writes;
“On Wednesday, Senator Alberta Darling and Representative Dale Kooyenga released “New Opportunities for Milwaukee.” It’stunning. It’s a blueprint, a plan, a carefully-crafted rhetorical stance that turns the war on poverty into a war on the poor. Does it present new opportunities? It surely does– but they are opportunities for more privateers to use the language of civil rights to mask the same old profiteering game.
“Make sure your seat belts and safety harnesses are locked in place, because we are about to travel to a place where up is down and forward is backward. The first chunk is directly related to education; the rest is not, but I’m going to go the distance anyway because it helps lay out a particular point of view that is driving some reformsters. The full report is twenty-five pages; I’ve read them so that you don’t have to, but you may still want to. Forewarned is forearmed.”
The report begins with this claim;
“2014 marked the 50-year anniversary of the war on poverty. Since 1964, taxpayers spent over $22 trillion to combat poverty. Little, if any, progress has been achieved.”
“”Two-thirds of the incarcerated African-American men come from six zip codes in Milwaukee and it is no coincidence that those zip codes are also home to the greatest density of failing schools and the highest unemployment in the state.” Boy, and that’s true. It’s also no coincidence that every time I see a building on fire, there’s a fire truck right nearby, or that every time find water dripping off my car, there’s rain. Say it with me, boys and girls– correlation is not causation.”
The plan not only declares the war on poverty a failure (no point throwing money at poverty, even though lack of money defines poverty) but declares the civil rights movement a success, therefore matters like segregation are unworthy of our attention.
Peter, in his inimitable style, dissects the recommendations for ending poverty without spending money. It starts with charter schools…
Diane Ravitch's blog 
Peter’s article itself, cross-posted at http://www.opednews.com/Quicklink/CURMUDGUCATION-Milwaukee-in-Best_Web_OpEds-Peter-Greene_Poor_Rights-150217-361.html
with your end quote. “Diane ravitch says it best: “The plan not only declares the war on poverty a failure (no point throwing money at poverty, even though lack of money defines poverty) but declares the civil rights movement a success, therefore matters like segregation are unworthy of our attention.
Peter, in his inimitable style, dissects the recommendations for ending poverty without spending money. It starts with charter schools…”
Peter Greene quotes from the document that it won’t “cost any taxpayer, at any level of government, a single cent.”
That is a dead giveaway right there. Ever heard of the adage “if it sounds too good to be true, it isn’t”?
And stepping back just a millimeter from the document’s rhetoric: quality costs. You want a clunker from the auto junkyard? A brand-new BMW? Guess what—there’s a big difference in quality and an even bigger difference in price!
😱
I end with just this brief riff on the “you don’t solve a problem by throwing money at it” nonsense. Where were all those folks when it came to throwing trillions at the predictable disasters of Iraq and Afghanistan [and creating even more problems in the process] and bailing out the banksters after they brought on the 2008 economic debacle?
Where’s their “grit” and “determination” in taking on their patrons and funders and enablers? Apparently “moral character” only counts when it comes to the vast majority taking the hit for the same folks that bring us corporate education reform.
Yes, no need for that “old civil rights” stuff. It’s all about the “new civil rights movement of our time” that fights for the right of self-proclaimed “education reformers” to keep their ledgers in the black and away from that bleeding red.
$tudent $ucce$$ now! $tudent $ucce$$ tomorrow! $tudent $ucce$$ forever!
Perhaps the document’s authors should get get up on a public stage with Arne Duncan and see who can serve up greater helpings of cognitive dissonance and word salad.
For the vast majority, though, the offerings will be insipid and almost completely lacking in intellectual and moral nutrition.
Just my dos centavitos worth…
😎
Since 1964, the US has also spent Trillions waging wars in Vietnam, Iraq and Afghanistan. After literally killings millions of people in those wars, what was achieved other than profits for Military Industrial Inc. fat cats?
In January 1961, US President Dwight D Eisenhower used his farewell address to warn the nation of what he viewed as one of its greatest threats: the military-industrial complex composed of military contractors and lobbyists perpetuating war.
And now we are struggling against the profiteers behind Corporate Charter Education Inc.
Corporate Prison Inc has already profited from the increase of an average annual 250,000 in prison before Reagan gave the okay to privatize prisons to more than 2 million today. Lobbyists for the private sector, for profit prison industry work hard in Washington DC and state capitals for harsher laws and tougher, longer sentences. They even have laws that allow them to increase sentences to keep prisoners longer for any reason they deem worth a longer sentence. I read that if a prisoner is caught not brushing his teeth daily, he can face more months behind bars.
“They even have laws that allow them to increase sentences to keep prisoners longer for any reason they deem worth a longer sentence. I read that if a prisoner is caught not brushing his teeth daily, he can face more months behind bars.”
Who is “they” in this sentence, Lloyd? Prison operators? If so, do you have any examples laws that allow prison operators “to increase sentences to keep prisoners longer for any reason they deem worth a longer sentence”?
Yes, I read that private sector prison operators have the ability to increase the sentences of prisoners in their prisons without the need of approval from the courts.
“In 1984, a number of Tennessee investors with close friends in the legislature recognized a business opportunity and formed CORRECTIONS CORPORATION OF AMERICA (CCA). Their plan was to use venture capital to build a new prison and — like a hotel — lease their beds to the state in a profit-making endeavor.
“Correctional Corporations have amassed large political influence through government ties, lobbying power and campaign contributions, while attempting to convert the discourse of justice into the language of the marketplace. In this way, they accuse government agencies as having a monopoly on corrections, espouse the need to downsize and cut through red tape. They claim that they can run prisons more efficiently and cheaper, doing a better job and saving the taxpayers money.”
http://www.correctionsproject.com/corrections/pris_priv.htm
More information:
http://www.uscourts.gov/uscourts/FederalCourts/PPS/Fedprob/2004-06/prisons.html
https://www.aclu.org/prisoners-rights/private-prisons
Are these the sources where you read that? I don’t see this point in the links you pasted.
In the short time I spend attempting to find the other anti-private sector prison site, I didn’t find the one where I read that quote. With more digging, I might find it again.