Who knew that being a billionaire would enable you and your family to buy an entire school district and even the state board of education? It isn’t that difficult, if you have enough money. Do we live in an oligarchy?
This letter was published in response to Max Brantley’s article (posted this morning) about the Walton takeover of the Little Rock School District. I am posting it here not because it is Little Rock but because it could be your city, your state.
#WAL-MART BUYS A SCHOOL DISTRICT
#WAL-MART BUYS A STATE BOARD OF EDUCATION
August 14, 2014 Wal-Mart and The Winthrop Rockefeller Foundation bought a partnership allegiance and loyalty from the Arkansas Department of Education through a partnership because of their $325,000,000 in contributions and payments to various organizations (http://www.arkansased.org/public/userfiles… ). This with Lobbyist Gary Newton, nephew of ADE Board member Diane Zook (Arkansas Learns/Lobbyist #142 on Arkansas Secretary of State Registered Lobbyist Report: http://www.sos.arkansas.gov/elections/Docu… paved the way for the Arkansas State Board of Education to be bought.
Below are the Arkansas State Education Board members that voted for the State Takeover of the Little Rock School District. All of their affiliated organizations are funded by Wal-Mart(Walton Family Foundation) and/or The Winthrop Rockefeller Foundation. It is obvious that these powerful organizations had influence, voting power, and now control. Their goal is to seize control of local school boards and privatize education. After viewing their affiliations, look at the Forward Arkansas Steering Committee that they put together to dictate where local funds should go. This is the epitome of BIG BUSINESS privatizing local funds.
These are the members that voted for a state takeover of a School District with 6 of 48 schools in academic distress. Wal-Mart/Rockefeller Connection are as follows:
· Toyce Newton, Phoenix Youth & Family Services Inc.
o Member of the Arkansas State Board of Education
o Former Chair of the Winthrop Rockefeller Foundation Board (The same Foundation that the board selected to run the LRSD http://www.phoenixyouth.com/about.html
· Vicki Saviers, “She was selected to State Board of Education because of her volunteering and charity.
o Member of the Arkansas State Board of Education
o Member of the Advisory Board for the UA Office for Education Policy
o “The district will be forced to make many difficult decisions in the future, including the removal of staff and closing of schools,” said board member Vicki Saviers, who submitted the takeover motion. (USA Today http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/… )
· Diane Zook, Aunt Gary Newton (Head of the Wal-Mart funded Lobby Group, Arkansas Learns.
o Member of the Arkansas State Board of Education
o https://dianeravitch.net/2015/01/29/arkansa…
o http://www.arktimes.com/ArkansasBlog/archi…
· Kim Davis, Board Member, Arkansas State Board of Education
o Employment is funded by Wal-mart, Sam’s Club, Tyson, and The Walton Family Foundation http://www.nwacouncil.org/pages/about-us/
o Arkansas State Board of Education Member
o Voted for State Takeover of LRSD (Conflict of Interest?)
o Member of Forward Arkansas Steering Committee (How can he vote for a takeover and have influence on where LRSD funds will be spent?)
o http://www.arktimes.com/ArkansasBlog/archi…
On October 18, 2004 Gary Newton (Arkansas Learns) created a Corporation (Arkansans for Education Reform Foundation) along with Glenn Borkowski, Luther Gordy, William Dillard, Clairborne Deming, Walter Hussman, and (of course…) Jim Walton. (Print media Note)Why does Cynthia Howell with the Dem Gazette reference Gary Newton like he is not a PAID LOBBYIST. Link: http://www.sos.arkansas.gov/corps/search_c…
#WAL-MART BUYS A SCHOOL DISTRICT through FORWARD ARKANSAS (will they be the “non-profit” that will run the district)? WOW! Look at the connections!
Below is the Steering Committee for The Forward Arkansas Initiative. According to the Forward Arkansas Website (http://www.forwardarkansas.org/forward-tea…) “The steering committee is made up of education, business, government and civil society leaders who share a common goal: improving education in all four corners of the state”. However, they failed to mention, they also share another common bond… Most of their organizations are funded by the Winthrop Rockefeller Foundation and/or the Walton Family Foundation (Wal-Mart). Additionally, four of the five Arkansas Board of Education members that voted to takeover the Little Rock School District are part of organizations that are funded by The Wal-Mart (Walton Family Foundation) or The Winthrop Rockefeller Foundation. This is a direct conflict of interest. There are NO classroom educators from the LRSD on the Committee and they will face NO OVERSITE or local control. This steering committee is now in control of dictating the future of the LRSD.
Jared Henderson, Project manager for the Forward Arkansas Initiative
• Sole person designing Education in the LRSD
• Bio: http://www.arkansasbusiness.com/people/lis…
• He is not from Little Rock?
• Former Senior Vice President for Teach for America
• Teach for America Delta received $4,000,000 from The Walton Family Foundation (link: http://www.waltonfamilyfoundation.org/abou… )
• Teach for America Builds facility in Helena-West Helena (first in nation. could this experiment happen in Little Rock? What happens to teachers not part of this network?): http://www.helena-arkansas.com/article/201…
• Holds an undergraduate degree from UA-Fayetteville in Computer Science and Physics?
• He has never taught in the LRSD
• Served on Board of AR Kids Read
• Look at the Sponsors: http://arkidsread.org/sponsors/ (The majority of the contributors have a representative in the Forward Arkansas Steering Committee. This is NOT DIVERSITY and this DOES NOT INVOLVE THE COMMUNITY)
• $10,000 + contributors include: Winthrop Rockefeller Foundation, Fifty for the Future, Arkansas United Way, and Entergy
• $5,000-$9,999 contributors include: Arvest (Wal-Mart Bank), Cranford Johnson Robinson Woods, Little Rock Regional Chamber of Commerce, J.A. Riggs Tractor Company
•
Shane Broadway, Director, Arkansas Department of Higher Education
• Member, Benton Chamber of Commerce, present
• Board Member, Bryant Boys and Girls Club, present
• Member, Bryant Chamber of Commerce, present
• Board Member, Central Arkansas Development Council, present
• Member, Entrepreneurial Advisory Committee, Arkansas Association of Two-Year Colleges
• Board Member, Quality Teaching and Learning Centers, present
Toby Daughterey, Lead Recruiter and Outreach Coordinator, The STAND Foundation
• Significant Funding from the Rockefeller Foundation: http://70-40-216-95.bluehost.com/grants/re…
Kim Davis, Board Member, Arkansas State Board of Education
• Employment is funded by Wal-Mart, Sam’s Club, Tyson, and The Walton Family Foundation
• http://www.nwacouncil.org/pages/about-us/
• Arkansas State Board of Education Member
• Voted for State Takeover of LRSD (Conflict of Interest?)
Bill Dillard III, Vice President, Dillard’s Inc.
• http://www.arktimes.com/ArkansasBlog/archi…
• Serves on the board at eStem Public Charter Schools
• Serves on the board at The Arkansas Education Reform Foundation (received $7,000,000 from the Walton Family Foundation, link: http://www.waltonfamilyfoundation.org/abou… )
Marcy Doderer, President and CEO, Arkansas Children’s Hospital in Little Rock
Matt Dozier, President and CEO, Environmental and Spatial Technology (EAST) Initiative Bob
• February 2, 2015 EAST received $35K from the Rockefeller’s: http://www.eastinitiative.org/newsopportun…
• Significant Wal-Mart funding: http://www.eastinitiative.org/
• Significant Wal-Mart funding: http://www.eastinitiative.org/newsopportun…
• Significant Wal-Mart funding: http://www.eastinitiative.org/newsopportun…
Bob East, Co-Founder, East-Harding Inc.
• Little Rock Regional Chamber of Commerce
Joyce Elliot, Arkansas State Senator
• Chairman, Joint Budget Committee (JBC) – Peer Review
• Chairman, Arkansas Legislative Council (ALC)-Higher Education Subcommittee
• Chairman, Vision 2025 Legislative Commission on the Future of Higher Education
• Chairman, Whole Child-Whole Community Program
• Chairman, Arkansas comprehensive School Improvement Plans
Melanie Fox, Co-Founder, J&M Foods
• The Anthony School Board of Trustees: http://www.anthonyschool.org/BoardofTruste…
• What makes her qualified?
Diana Gonzales Worthen, Director, Project RISE at University of Arkansas at Fayetteville
• Conducted Study funded through the Rockefeller Foundation
Lavina Grandon, Founder and President, Rural Community Alliance
• A partner Organization of the Winthrop Rockefeller Foundation
• Links: http://thenewrural.org/?x=0&y=0&s=rockefel…
Tom Kimbrell, Superintendent, Bryant Public Schools
• http://www.nwaonline.com/news/2015/feb/04/…
Ginny Kurrus, Former State President, Arkansas PTA
• http://www.usgbcar.org/about-us/staff/
• Rockefeller connection: http://www.woodlandsedge.com/winthrop-poin…
• Member of the Little Rock Chamber of Commerce
Michele Linch, Executive Director, Arkansas State Teachers Association
• http://www.astapro.org/index.php/contact-u…
• Former Director of Arkansas Leadership Academy’s Teacher Leadership Institute (Viki Saviers, who supported LRSD State takeover is on the board of this organization)
Hugh McDonald, President and CEO, Entergy Arkansas Inc.
• Arkansas Chamber of Commerce member
• Little Rock Regional Chamber of Commerce Member
• Arkansas Research Alliance Board member (Winthrop Rockefeller Foundation Board Member Jerry Adams is the President of the Arkansas Research Alliance, link: http://www.wrfoundation.org/who-we-are/lea…)
Justin Minkel, Elementary School Teacher, Jones Elementary School in Springdale
• Teach for America alumnus
• Page 23 Teach for America Link: http://files.givewell.org/files/unitedstat…
• Walton Family gives $49,000,000 (estimated $100,000,000 by now) to Teach for America: http://waltonfamilyfoundation.org/mediacen…
• Springdale, Arkansas Teacher
David Rainey, Assistant State Director, JBHM Education Group
• Bio: http://stc.arkansas.gov/itleaders/stcmembe…
• Jackson, MS Article: http://www.jacksonfreepress.com/news/2009/…
John Riggs IV, President, J.A. Riggs Tractor Company
Scott Shirey, Founder and Executive Director, KIPP Delta Public Schools
• KIPP: Delta’s significant contributions include the following:
• Walton Family Foundation $100,000+
• Helena Public Facilities Board $25,000—$99,000 (why is public funding privately ran entities)
• Wal-Mart Stores $10,000+
• Mr. and Mrs. Randy Zook $1,000-$4,999
• Mr. Garry Newton
• An additional $8,800,000 from the Walton Family Foundation according the 2013 Grant Report http://www.waltonfamilyfoundation.org/abou…
• KIPP Delta School Directors (Principals) ALL come from teach for America (They have do not have the same Teaching Certificate Requirements as required by the state. Link: http://www.kippdelta.org/our-leadership-te…
• Walton Family gives $49,000,000 (estimated $100,000,000 by now) to Teach for America: http://waltonfamilyfoundation.org/mediacen…
• Look at the Privatized District: http://www.kippdelta.org/our-team-staff-di…
• No Community Input/No Accountability/No Diversity in Leadership
• Board of Directors Chair is the husband of member of the Arkansas State Board of Education that voted for LRSD takeover. Link: http://www.kippdelta.org/board-directors Link: http://www.arkansased.org/state-board/memb…
Ray Simon, Former Deputy Secretary, U.S. Department of Education
• Member of the B & D Educational Consulting team (Washington DC) Link: http://www.faegrebdc.com/18052
• This firm also specializes in K-12 Education Consulting. The first line item on K-12 Education Consulting page offers strategies on TERMINATION OF TENURED and TENURED-TRACK EMPLOYEES. Link: http://www.faegrebd.com/K-12-Education
Kathy Smith, Senior Program Officer, Walton Family Foundation
• The K-12 Education link on the Walton Family Foundation promotes PUBLIC CHARTERS (meaning the public will pay for the creation of private schools. The schools and administration are not accountable to anyone. NO FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT because it is private, but they will spend public funds. Additionally, these schools will most likely be ran by TEACH FOR AMERICA, not LRSD teachers that live and have a vested interest in the community. Who will get the food service contract? who will get facilities contracts? Who will be on vendor list? Who ensures equitability? Who will you see in the community advocating for students and parents? Link: http://www.waltonfamilyfoundation.org/gran…
• Article “The Walton’s want to Fix Public Education in America” link: http://www.forbes.com/sites/luisakroll/201…
• Look at the Walton Family Foundation 2013 Grant Report. They invested $14,500,000 in a non profit investing firm that specializes in investing in Charter School Operations (Charter Funds Inc.!!!! http://www.bloomberg.com/research/stocks/p… )
• Walton Family Foundation 2013 Grant Report http://www.waltonfamilyfoundation.org/abou…
LaDonna Spain, School Improvement Specialist, Arkansas Department of Education
• link: http://arkansas-employees.findthedata.com/…
• Served as Gifted and Talented and Advanced Placement Coordinator in the McGehee School District
• Taught in the Tiller School District
• Taught in Delta Special School District
• Taught in McGehee School District
Bob Watson, Former Superintendent, El Dorado Public Schools
• Board Member of Economics Arkansas. Link: http://www.economicsarkansas.org/about_us/…
• Economics Arkansas has received significant contributions from the following:
• Wal-Mart/Sam’s Club Foundation, Bentonville, AR
• Walton Family Foundation, Bentonville, AR
Sherece West-Scantlebury, President and CEO, Winthrop Rockefeller Foundation
• Winthrop Rockefeller Foundation Board, link: http://www.wrfoundation.org/who-we-are/lea…
• Board Member Vicki Saviers also serves on the Arkansas Board of Education (Is it a conflict of interest to vote to have the LRSD dissolve and serve on the Board of the entity that will dictate its fate?)
• GREAT LINK: http://badassteachers.blogspot.com/2015/01…
• previously served as CEO at the Foundation for Louisiana
Darrin Williams, CEO, Southern Bancorp Inc.
• link: https://banksouthern.com/news/southern-ban…
• Southern Bank Corp received $1.6 million from Walton Family Foundation (link: http://www.waltonfamilyfoundation.org/abou… )
Kenya Williams, Co-Chair, Strong-Community Leadership Alliance
• Key Partners with the Leadership Alliance…of course Winthrop Rockefeller Foundation, link: http://arpanel.org/coalitions/opportunity-…
Questions:
1. Has there been lessons learned from other school districts that have been taken over by the state?
2. How will citizens of Little Rock have a valued voice if they are not part of Wal-Mart of or the Rockefellers?
3. What will keep citizens from being disenfranchised?
4. Who is in control of transparency…Wal-Mart?
5. If the citizens of the community do not like the direction that the state is taken, how can they gain back control?
6. With the Superintendent and the Education Commissioner in charge, who can citizens turn to for “due process hearings”, local concerns?
7. If the powers that be decide to close a school in a non-valued neighborhood…Who do they turn to?
8. What kinds of accountability will the state be held to?
9. Arkansas Forward is promoting online surveys… How will concern citizens provide input if they don’t have a computer, car, sight, and does this comply with ADA.
10. It appears that Wal-Mart is investing heavily in Teach for America, how will teachers who are certified through the state compete with privately ran schools?
11. As noted, in 2013, Wal-Mart invested $14,500,000 in Charter Fund, Inc., http://www.waltonfamilyfoundation.org/abou… and http://chartergrowthfund.org/invest-with-u… . These are Private Equity Funds that yield returns based on profits. It appears Wal-Mart just bought a School District.
Diane Ravitch's blog 
EASY. We live in an oligarchy. It is proven in so very many ways.
Walmart – the company that locks in employees on overnight shifts
So does Kohls but you don’t see them buying whole school boards!
Walton, Potter … Same aim.
These board members did not even have the insight of George Bailey …
Somehow I don’t believe that this would stand up in court. I really don’t.
I think it’s time to call for a boycott of Walmart and anything affiliated with Walton.
Have not set foot into one of their stores for years & will not buy a 1¢ candy from them, if there still is such a thing.
My personal war on Walmart for many reasons.
They create, maintain, hire, treat subhuman & exploit the working poor in America, who have few options and opportunities.
That is Walmart’s Industry.
Their wealth is built on the backs of the Poor.
Sickos!
On Dr Ravitch’s post re Little Rock earlier Monday, I suggested Opt Out WalMart Week for the first week of June.
After reading The WalMart Effect book a few years ago I was glad I didn’t patronize them.
Do oligarchies advocate corporate incest?
I don’t know if this will be encouraging to anyone or not, but if you have charters long enough in your state they eventually get some scrutiny.
It’s a real change in Ohio from even 5 years ago. We don’t have the rah-rah newspaper editorials anymore, or the politicians strutting and preening over how much “reform!” they’ve been able to jam in. The heady days of rapid expansion and “flooding” cities with charter schools are over.
That shift happened here (partly) because they “lifted caps”, put in vouchers, and subsidized and promoted charter schools to the detriment of existing public schools, all with little or no planning or regulation.
They over-reach. They prioritize The Movement over quality, public input and system-wide planning, Eventually the recklessness catches up with them and the situation becomes impossible to ignore. It happened here and it will happen where you live. Eventually 🙂
That is encouraging. The caps on charters were lifted about 2 years ago in North Carolina. There have been some scandals already and scrutiny is growing. Unfortunately, the state just approved K12 to open online charters. That will certainly become a situation that is impossible to ignore. Too bad for the kids and parents that conned into signing up with K12.
Sickening, just sickening!
I am sorry to hear Arkansas is having trouble with a billionaire take over of their schools. We are having similar problems in Washington state with a guy named Bill Gates. This has led me to the conclusion that we should simply not allow billionaires anymore. They are too great of a danger to our kids, our schools and our democracy.
Awwww, that was my career goal! I figure if I teach for, oh, a few kazillion more years, I might make it–to the millionaire level…
” This has led me to the conclusion that we should simply not allow billionaires anymore. ”
Of course, this is one step in the right direction. But then you forgot about the politicians. I wouldn’t allow them, either. 🙂
Jefferson would have agreed. At least we know the price tag…perhaps thousands of teachers could purchase a small district and run it like an educational institution that respects the mental health and educational needs of the children.
Can Gülen Systems or any other group, nation, cult, or fanatics be far behind?
As long as they have $M and plan to make $B using our children & whatever/whomever they want to bring in and call: teachers.
Our Nation should be outraged that President Obama with his stooge Arne Duncan sold our Public Education, communities, society & our children’s hope for an American future.
Our country is for sale, every $1.00 and child at a time.
Sickening!
Absolutely and utterly sickening.
If everyone in the U.S. stopped shopping at Walmart, would that dent their fortune or is it too late? It is amazing how they have sucked of the government taxpayer teets for so long by paying part time subpar wages and holding seminars for their employees on how to apply for government assistance, food stamps, welfare, health care. That is the Walton model. Of course they turn to charters because there is a bottomless stream of taxpayer income. Time to cut them off.
…and our government allows this…. fascinating. Bet you Arne will say that Walmart is the best thing to happen to Arkansas education since………?
“Our” government not only allows privatization but they’ve passed laws to assure these charlatans get exactly what they want.
Arne has turned DoEd into the training camp for edu-privatizers.
The oligarchy is also trying to buy the LAUSD board. I can only hope the citizens see through it.
I don’t think anyone really minds Diane. I mean you can write articles and repost others’ until you’re blue in the face. It just doesn’t matter anymore. No one cares and no one is watching (except you and a few others), but it doesn’t even matter. What are you or anyone else going to do about it? The answer is, nothing. Keep writing baby.
Jason, I hope you are wrong. If you are right, our democracy is dead. The question is whether our votes can beat their money.
When the uneducated and the ignorant voters outnumber those who value public education is the major problem in NC. It doesn’t matter how loud or articulate you may be in my state. Too many folks out in the country feel school and its low funding when they were kids was good enough for them, no sense spending more money on it now when they will just end up working on their farms anyhow.
Always the lady, Ms. Diane. HOW do you do it?
Jason: either are are feeling very depressed or you are ignorant, or you are a reformer. Or are my guesses redundant?
Do pick your poison, but I’m curious to know which potion you are imbibing?
Diane, we will b eat this, but we have to keep on keeping on. I at 51 learned that from you.
Robert Rendo: that first paragraph hit home; in all honesty, I couldn’t exercise the same restraint myself.
How easily past history is forgotten! I can tell you from personal experience that the anti-war in Vietnam movement faced the same ‘wise counsel’ many times in the first few years of its existence—and if you go back in history to the abolitionist movement and the women’s rights movement and so many others, they were told the same story.
For example, did you know that the sheer economic loss involved in canceling chattel slavery was of such monumentally catastrophic proportions that the enslavement and debasement of human beings from Africa were going to be with us forever and ever and ever regardless of touch-feely arguments based on morality and decency?
Rheeally! And to bring it all home, this was even couched in Biblical terms in the most Johnsonally sort of ways, as if Rheeality Distortion Fields existed in the 19th century!
😳
When you’re in it to win it, as those for a “better education for all” are, you remember that on that underground railroad to a “better education for all” you have to keep two things in mind:
“Every great dream begins with a dreamer. Always remember, you have within you the strength, the patience, and the passion to reach for the stars to change the world.”
And when you have to deal with those that would stamp out genuine teaching and learning in mad dog pursuit of $tudent $ucce$$ you must be ready to—
“Never wound a snake; kill it.”
Opt Out!
BTW, does anybody know if Harriet Tubman actually succeeded in what she set out to do?
😎
KTA:
Always delightful to read your commentary and be empowered by it!
KrazyTA – there were winners and losers. Some made it to Buffalo and over the bridge across the River Jordan (The Niagara River) to their freedom in Canada, others were caught and sent back to the original owners (if they were lucky enough to survive the ordeal). Harriet Tubman was their guide.
Along the way, abolitionists helped out with hidey holes and handouts of food and supplies.
Perhaps there are things to learn from their experiences, even if it is only perseverance in the face of adversity.
Ellen
As a former public school teacher, mom of four school age children, tax payer, I can say that very few of my contempories are interested. I share so many DR blogs on FB, I talk about how standardized testing is harmful, waste of money, etc, and the truth is most people I know do not care, they follow the crowd, disagree with me . . . It is very scary.
Beth Nolan,
Never give up. It will take time, but eventually the parents and many others will see what is happening to the schools paid for with their tax dollars. Giving them away to entrepreneurs is a fast deal, a scam, a sham, a fraud. It takes two to make a bad deal, and only one will benefit.
Diane’s writing has spurred parent & teacher led movements all over the country. You underestimate the power of her blog. As more parents learn about what’s happening in their communities they will do anything to protect their children from predators.
The home of forced desegregation ~ outrageous!
The home of the corrupt follow-no-rules Clinton’s. They learned from the pros. (Sarc)
Man this sucks..Llittle Rock schools were doing so well before this. The board worked together so well and how they changed out leadership every two years really was working well. How could they try to fix something that wasn’t broken.
Well, MJ, they could always “fix” it by giving away property the public paid for to entrepreneurs and sending the kids along with the property. That’s take care of things in Little Rock.
Ah yes . . . . The Waltons as drivers of education policy, the intellects that they are:
And imagine how much Walmart has spent lobbying the federal government:
The 9 most terrifying words in the Englishg langauge: I’m a corporate lobbyist, and I’m here to help.
Ha Ha! Those posters are hysterical! There isn’t going to be a happy ending to all of this, but “gallows humor” is important.
Cheer up, John. It was said also during the Revolutionary and Civil war, WWI and WWII, and the Civil Rights movement.
We will get to the upswing.
Oh my goodness, I can’t believe my eyes. Education should not be biased by big corporations who will now use schools to advertise their own business. Education should be a freeing place where all can learn and make their own opinions and these board members are taking away that safe place from students.
I feel like we need a first company to run its course and completely fail our kids for all of America to realize that we have an issue. Then again, this is the same country that believes the solutions for school shootings is more guns.
This post discusses events that happened over 6 months ago, Walmart likely already controls the district in Little Rock – and has been for years, this is just documented evidence.
Until they do something drastic that causes much mo attention, sadly their wage issues will get more media – this will go under the radar. Why wasn’t this info relayed at ALL when they announced higher wages recently for their workers to denounce their good moral character?
This is sort of hilarious:
“Bernard Taylor, outgoing public school superintendent for the East Baton Rouge Parish School System, unveiled a plan late February to create several clusters of schools to compete with area charter schools. Taylor has grown increasingly critical of charter schools and said he wants to create an alternative to the 23 charter schools in his parish. ”
He’s going to create a public school system 🙂
http://news.heartland.org/newspaper-article/2015/03/16/east-baton-rouge-superintendent-battles-education-reforms#.VQdHMketI3g.twitter
Also, if you want to get an idea where they’re parachuting into next, this is a Dell Foundation employee who seems very ambitious and determined to “reform” your local schools, using your money:
https://twitter.com/JoeatMSDF
Is Arkansas right to work?
affirmative
When public schools are privatized and we look back, one of my big questions will be why so many public college and university people supported this.
They must realize they’re next- they’ll privatize their institutions and drive down wages and protections there next. I wonder why they believed they were exempt from this? Was it arrogance, a belief that they were somehow more valuable than public schools and public school teachers? Was it just necessary for their careers? You don’t get a “seat at the table” without backing privatization?
I really hold them partly responsible for cheerleading and promoting this.
I agree. There has been silence or a total buy in by academics who are more interested in career enhancement than sounding alarms. The Waltons have purchased large chunks of the University of Arkansas. The Harvard graduate school of education Seems to function as a subsidiary of the Gates Foundation, that purchases “studies” In order to prove economists are The Authorities on education. Harvard economists were so naive they thought they could just go into some districts with a few perks, randomly assign kids to classrooms then randomly assign teachers to the classrooms. Well that did not work. You could say that it failed due to some migrations among teachers and students…for good reasons. The random assignments were only in the mix so that the economists could prove that VAM –value-added metrics–were valid and reliable. Those measures usually assume that students are randomly assigned. Dumb thinking, as if a statistical niceity should trump educational reasoning.
“When public schools are privatized and we look back, one of my big questions will be why so many public college and university people supported this.”
That’s a big question, I agree.
I have no research on the general picture but at my university, the U of Memphis, the high admins are the ones who support partnerships with charterizers. Some profs decided to fight the admins on this. We have yet to see how successful this fight will be.
I am assuming, at most universities, profs don’t fight hard enough or at all. Based on what I see here, they just don’t think K-12 is their business.
As a punishment for their ignorance (or whatever you want to call it) privatization has also been happening at universities, and quite a few profs embrace it. They are either persuaded by money (and we are talking about BIG money) or they were brainwashed into thinking, this is the way to a university in the 21st century.
I’d like to hear about one university which *officially* issued a statement against K-12 privatization. Do you guys know any?
As far as I know, in TN, the Gates, Hyde, Walton, Lumina, Pyramid Peak are the ones issuing education grants to universities, colleges. The TN Board of Regents also gets million dollar grants.
Walmart does WHATEVER it wants. How about its “free” breakfast program because “every child deserves to have a nutritious breakfast”. Just looked at a label of a breakfast bar Walmart provided yesterday through its program… for this “nutrition label” (I mean they are producing it for school breakfasts) and it has 17 grams of sugar – this was just yesterday! The student gets a breakfast bar and a milk and juice. The sugar adds up. What will it be tomorrow? Probably a breakfast style taco with an apple filling that comes microwaved in plastic with a pear so hard as to be inedible (yes the fruit when available is 9 times of 10 unripe or low grade). Who is caring about what these students eat? Walmart is putting its tentacles into every facet of the school sadly because it represents the cornerstone of democracy corporations are so desperate to control.
The brand promotion and celebration of commercial actors is amusing when you read ed reformers. It’s about as subtle as a car commercial contained within a movie.
This is (supposedly!) a piece about a charter school in Chicago. He sticks the commercial for various ed tech products at the end:
I sometimes wonder if they’re compensated directly, or whether it’s just a necessary part of a career in ed reform- they don’t get hired by these orgs unless they shill for this garbage
https://www.edsurge.com/n/2015-03-12-how-intrinsic-schools-is-breaking-the-laws-of-school-innovation?utm_content=bufferf5043&utm_medium=social&utm_source=twitter.com&utm_campaign=buffer
edSurge, which published the article, is funded by Gates, Joyce, New Schools Venture Fund, etc. The charter school mentioned, Intrinsic, is run by a Broadie and funded by the usual sources, including techies like Gates, since it promotes “blended learning” (i.e., “personalized learning” as determined by computer software).
There is nothing innovative about the “pods” described at Intrinsic, which are open classrooms. It’s a model that comes from the 70s and we’ve had other schools here implementing it. The noise level and visual distractions are problematic. At one PreK – 8th grade school here with pods, they went to implementing rather draconian discipline practices, like silent lunches, and the principal decided to devote a traditional self-contained classroom for the older kids who’ve been most impacted.
I’ve always worried about the younger kids, because I’ve taught in pre-primary schools organized in pods and those experiences were just horrendous. It didn’t take long for the children to learn to shout, just to hear themselves speak, including right in my ear on many occasions –even after they left the pod and were being taught in a self-contained classroom.
Intrinsic charter is too new to have any test scores yet, but they are already planning to open more Intrinsic Schools here in the future.
This can be a good thing. Every student who graduates and doesn’t get into their college of choice or can’t get a job can sue Walton. At least there is a face to sue now.
The Centre for Research on Globalization (CRG) is an independent research and media organization based in Montreal. They published a sobering essay in April 2014 that merits a full read. It will make the hairs stand up on the back of your neck.
http://www.globalresearch.ca/is-the-us-a-fascist-society-examining-the-existence-of-fascism-in-the-united-states/5377146
Entitled “Is the U.S. a Fascist Society?” and written by Danny Haiphong, the essay eerily foretells of events such as this one.
Just a couple of points worth pointing out before reading the entire essay:
Most Americans are taught in school that fascism is a ruthless one party dictatorship, the most popular example being Nazi Germany. This is a misconception. Fascism is a political economy, not merely a political system that existed in one moment of history. Fascism, as defined by Black revolutionary and assassinated political prisoner George Jackson, is the complete control of the state by monopoly capital.
The privatization of the public sector, de-unionization of the entire labor force, and violent austerity are the seeds of domestically grown fascism in the economic realm. Such fascist activity has brought about the rapid decline of political and economic conditions for the working class and the rapid accumulation of wealth and profit for the ruling class.
The paradox of fascism lies in its ability to sustain and grow in the midst of deteriorating conditions for the majority of the population.
Uncomfortable as it is, this Arkansas take-over is but just one more example of what Haiphong opined about. But with the Walton’s, hasn’t it always been caveat emptor?
Thank you for the fascism article post.
The first time I noted something was off was when I tried to reconcile the number of Black members, on the Board, of the hedge fund-backed Democrats for Education Reform, with the very few number of Black hedge fund managers, on Wall Street.
Obama’s in Cleveland today.
Look for the usual DC promotion of “portfolio districts”:(translation:’charter schools rock! public schools suck!) – unless Democrats are moving toward selling their crappy trade deal, in which case we’ll get the usual false assurances from DC that THIS TIME the trade deal will have protections for lower and middle class workers.
None of the other trade deals had worker protections, but this one is different! This time they’re Learned Their Lesson.
http://www.cleveland.com/open/index.ssf/2015/03/president_obamas_cleveland_visit_7_things_to_know_about_the_economic_backdrop.html#incart_river
I don’t get what these billionaires get in return for their time and money. I can see a small operator/investor starting a charter school and skimming off the top. The ROI there might be pretty good. That’s easy to spot.
But what about Gates and the Waltons, what’s their play? They don’t need the money. Is it just a power/legacy/ prestige thing with them? Are they just bored and need to meddle with the proles?
NoReformNeeded,
My guess is that billionaires are using the schools as a toy.
Hi Diane,
Maybe billionaires are not using schools as a toy but have more sinister plans in mind. To control the education system is to have great power over what young people will learn and what kinds of citizens they will be. We already see the language they are using. Students will be “college and career ready” and that means doing well on a test that they are making money by giving. The “important” subjects now are the STEM subjects. The humanities are considered “fluff.” Few people even think about education as a lifelong spiritual, personal and joyful pursuit. The purpose of education now is to get a job and make money. Not that there’s anything wrong with this, but it shouldn’t be the only purpose of education. Further, teachers are bogged down in filling out forms, conducting endless meeting related to these tests, teaching to the tests, etc. This leaves little time for planning and helping students. Students and teachers are now becoming numbers and labeled with meaningless phrases. Perhaps it’s just the beginning. Perhaps we will see more and more overt control over what is actually taught. It’s happening already. Joseph Campbell said that we all face the threat to our humanity by institutions. That is exactly what is happening in a myriad of ways.
“I don’t get what these billionaires get in return for their time and money.
Well, they get power. They get to control what happens in education. How do you think Gates, a complete outsider to education, gets to give a lecture to college presidents, and they all, without exception, suck up to him? How does he feel when the US president, the supposedly most powerful man in the World, promotes Billy’s ideas.
But, since these billies are businessmen, you can be sure, they do get the return for their investment. Why do you think Gates promotes online courses?
There is a NEW charter school opening in downtown Little Rock THIS YEAR that is funded almost entirely by Walton – how come this wasn’t opposed, and why is no one talking about the timing of this??
There is a NEW charter school (Rockbridge) opening in Little Rock THIS YEAR that is funded entirely by WALTON FOUNDATION… why did NO ONE oppose this? And why is no one talking about the timing of this?
Reblogged this on stopcommoncorenys and commented:
Sounds right.
Isn’t it just — just — possible that these people, wealthy though they are, might actually be alarmed at the poor results obtained by our public education as it stands? Is just the fact of being wealthy turn you into some kind of spoilt, selfish horror? Isn’t that called stereotyping?
There may be some of those folks, but I know many who feel appalled and distressed at kids graduating without knowing how to read or write properly. You may not agree with their methods, but the fact that you have to assume that because they have money they are incapable of having philanthropic/decent motives speaks more to the weakness of your positions, which don’t seem to have anything constructive to suggest, than to what is actually motivating them.
What billionaires perceive as good intention has resulted in bad education.
In other words, they had bad intentions.
We could ask, why they don’t come up with something effective for education. I claim, it’s because they cannot get rid of the personal traits that made them insanely rich in the first place. At least I haven’t seen counterexamples. Has anybody?
But I think the original point of the blog is not the above. The point is that a billionaire has too much power—too much for a single person. This needs to be prevented. The same way, as people shouldn’t own machine guns or bombers. There’s a possibility that they will be used for something noble, but it’s more likely that they will be used to kill people.
Make no mistake about it: ed reformers do destroy lives by the thousands.
Sorry, but sometimes bad results do come from good intentions, and that doesn’t mean the person who set those results in train had bad intentions.
in any case I would disagree about bad results in this case. I live in Los Angeles, where public schools, particularly in the inner city, are horrible. The only schools that offer underprivileged kids a chance are charter networks like KIPP, Green Dot, Alliance, and Synergy, just to mention a few. The Latino and black families are flocking to these schools for the simple reason that they do a better job of educating their children.
Before you jump in to say that those charters bleed resources from the “real” public schools (by which you mean schools that are run by the central bureaucracy, since charter schools are public schools, just run by individuals who have the freedom to make choices the centralized bureaucracy doesn’t allow schools in their system) I would say this: In my opinion, the competition is forcing the central bureaucracy to compete and up their game, which is a good thing.
I wish we didn’t need charters, and that the public school system were meeting the needs of the kids without them, but they’re not.
Finally, you say “the billionaire has too much power.” The truth that in Los Angeles and many other large cities, there is only one group that has complete and total power over the system and the politicians when it comes to education, and that is the teachers’ unions, the CTA and in Los Angeles, the UTLA. They have such a lock on the system you can’t even fire an abusive teacher, let alone an incompetent one. But no one every talks about THEM having too much power.
Those who need to have more power are parents, because they are the users of the system, and the kids, because they are victims if the system doesn’t work.
Heidi, who has more power? the UTLA or Eli Broad?
Charter schools are not public schools. There was a court case last year where two charter co-founders were convicted of misappropriating funds; the California Charter Schools Association wrote an amicus brief, defending them by saying charters are private corporations and not subject to the same laws as public schools. Their defense: charter schools are not public schools.
Heidi Landers wrote “Sorry, but sometimes bad results do come from good intentions, and that doesn’t mean the person who set those results in train had bad intentions.”
Let me say it differently. If somebody (say a wealthy person) has an idea he thinks is good, it first should be tried out in a lab, which, in this case, means a class in a school, but even there for a limited time only, like a semester. If it works, try a bit bigger experiment with, say, several classes etc. This may take years of research.
Immediately trying to implement an idea for a whole district or even just for a whole school is a bad idea.
No research, no experiment should begin on a large scale. If we accept this principle (and this is basic to science), then no intention can be called good which is expressed something like
“I just woke up with this really noble, altruistic idea about how to improve education for the masses, so let’s implement it in the whole country immediately, since I have the money for it.”
In answer to “Who has more power? The UTLA or Eli Broad?” In the private sector, Eli Broad, of course. In the world of public education, the UTLA by far. California politicians tremble at their desks when the UTLA lobbyists come by. The CTA has absolutely controlled educational policy (which is legislated in Sacramento) for decades.
What’s wrong with unions having power?
Re: “What’s wrong with unions having power?”
Nothing. Unions should have power. They just shouldn’t have 90-100 percent of the power, which has pretty much been the case in California for a long time.
Unions advocate for their members, as they should. But let’s be clear: they are a special interest group, and their interests are not necessarily the same as those of parents and kids. For instance, as I’m sure you know, it is so hard, time and money-wise, to fire an incompetent teacher that most administrators don’t even try. Teachers have world class protections, the like of which no other group in the United States possesses.
This is because due to their large membership they have a lot of money and are very successful at electing legislators, who then allow them over-the-top protections. You try to find a Democratic legislator in California who has a more balanced view — except for the now retired George Miller, I can’t think of one.
I am all for a union having protections, but the balance is now seriously out of whack and needs to be re-calibrated.
Heidi,
I don’t think Eli Broad and Bill Gates and the Waltons should have so much power, just because they are billionaires.
Heidi, the question is who should determine what makes a “bad” or “unworthy” teacher.
Sometimes the best teacher for one child is the worst for another (based on my personal experiences as a parent). On more than one occasion, I’ve seen an individual teacher be the “dog” at one building, then, after transferring, miraculously become a shinig star at another. I also wouldn’t want young teachers being trashed before they have the chance to learn the ropes. And, especially, teachers shouldn’t be ousted because of the test performance of their students.
Parents, principals, and governments can be biased in their opinions. The unions try to provide consistency so that teachers can’t be fired without just cause. I can assure you, that if a teacher acts inappropriately with a student, they are immediately removed from the classroom. Depending on the infraction, they may be indefinitely suspended or even lose their license.
I’ve heard some horror stories about the treatment of teachers in CA, especially in LA. It sounds to me as if the teachers there need more union power, not less.
I don’t think any one special interest group or individual should have that much power, Diane. It’s a matter of balance.
Heidi,
Why aren’t you upset by national power of Gates, who singlehandedly funded Common Core, which is now in 45 states?
Heidi Landers wrote “I don’t think any one special interest group or individual should have that much power, Diane. It’s a matter of balance.”
How is it the Gates, Waltons, Hyde business to provide any kind of balance in education? What the heck are they doing at my university or my kids’ school?
Also, providing balance is not their real agenda. They want to take over, as we can see it in Arkansas, Tennessee, Louisiana.
Re: Why aren’t you upset by national power of Gates, who singlehandedly funded Common Core, which is now in 45 states?
I guess that unlike you I don’t think his motives are evil. I think he is a man who has made a lot of money and now wants to give back. He is active in trying to eradicate polio and other diseases in Africa, which I think is a good thing. And he sees that public education in America is not working as well as it might, particularly for the underserved. Common Core, as I understand it, was developed in various states by EDUCATORS. Gates thought Common Core was a good thing and worked to promote it. I understand that you don’t believe that any wealthy person might be capable of disinterested motives, but I disagree.
Many gifted teachers I know here in L.A. are quite excited about common core.
Heidi,
I have my problem with people being rich. I have a huge problem when rich People use their money to undermine democracy.
Heidi wrote ” I think he is a man who has made a lot of money and now wants to give back. He is active in trying to eradicate polio and other diseases in Africa, which I think is a good thing.”
For some reason, we got offtrack here: we are talking about public education and not polio. If somebody breaks into my house, I don’t care what he does elsewhere. And I don’t care, if the burglar had good intentions, he still broke into my house.
And in public education, Gates, the Waltons broke into my house: my kids are educated according to their ideas, the dozens of enthusiastic teachers I taught at the university are tortured, burning out, and leaving the profession because of billionaires who pose and act as education’s superheroes.
As for Common Core conceived and evaluated by educators: what do you mean?
Common Core is an educational experiment that is conducted nationwide instead of in a lab. Even if CC was a good idea, implementing it nationwide is certifiably insane. Scientists come up with Earth shaking ideas every day, but they usually have the integrity to experiment in a lab, and even if they didn’t have the integrity, luckily, they don’t have the power to do large scale damage. Unlike billionaires.
Billionaires should start paying taxes so that the public could decide what to do with the money. And billionaires should start going to jail for buying politicians, education board members, journalists, university presidents—irrespective of how noble their ideas sounded to their families and friends.
Response to: “Billionaires should start paying taxes so that the public could decide what to do with the money. And billionaires should start going to jail for buying politicians, education board members, journalists, university presidents—irrespective of how noble their ideas sounded to their families and friends.”
I seem to have wandered into this blog by mistake, so I’ll make one more comment and then I’m done:
In California, I observe that the interest group that has “bought” the politicians and controls what laws are passed, top to bottom, is the teacher’s union. They have a lobby like none other, and all the dues members pay in, year in and year out, makes them able to match and even outspend millionaire’s donations. Their machine runs like a well-oiled juggernaut. If you look at the education laws, at least in California, they all favor the union’s interest, not the interests of the reform minded community, let alone those of the kids that education is supposed to serve. I’ve actually done a lot of investigation on this, spent many hours in public school classrooms, talked to many administrators, and I’ve observed this first hand.
From my perspective, philanthropists (and, yes, if you’re a philanthropist you by definition have money) have entered the fray not to make money or even throw their weight around, but to try to even the playing field.
But I know I will never convince you of that, so now I am going to respectfully bow out.
Farewell, Heidi. You will never understand that the dues paid by individual teachers is not equivalent to the discretionary millions thrown around by half a dozen billionaires. It is simple math, not Common Core math. Half the states in the nation don’t permit collective bargaining. Most people on this blog don’t see unions as an impediment to good education. Just look at the top three states in the nation on federal tests: Massachusetts, Connecticut, and New Jersey. All three unionized states.
Diane writes ” You will never understand that the dues paid by individual teachers is not equivalent to the discretionary millions thrown around by half a dozen billionaires. It is simple math, not Common Core math. Half the states in the nation don’t permit collective bargaining.”
This article may explain why so many Californians see unions as the enemy. http://www.politicususa.com/2014/06/11/right-wing-billionaires-california-ruling-nationally-crush-teachers-unions.html
Also, looking at the bottom half of the states (so the bottom 25) for average teachers’ starting salaries, we see that 18 of them—that is 72%—are right to work. Since half of the states are right to work, the expected percentage should have been 50%.
Amazingly enough, you get almost the same stats for composite ACT scores: 17 of the bottom 25 are right to work. This is 68%. The bottom 8 scores are also from right to work states.
Heidi – even if what you say is true, why are they targeting every child (in essence throwing the baby out with the bath water) instead of pinpointing the problem. It’s like punishing the whole class because one cut up annoys the teacher.or punishing every teacher because there are a few who need to switch careers.
Ellen #NobodyAskedForMyAdvice
I hope you will read the article, Got Dough? How Billionaires Rule Our Schools. It’s from 2011 and still spot on.
It is not possible that billionaires are concerned about the “poor results of our schools” because even a minor amount of research would reveal that our schools are NOT doing poorly. That is pure propaganda paid for by the billionaires to deceive the rest of us into supporting their takeover of our schools. The truth is that adjusted for poverty, our schools are among the best performing schools in the world. The problem is that America leads the world in child poverty – AND leads the world in number of billionaires. This is another reason to get rid of billionaires. So wealth would be less concentrated at tdecievehe top.
In response to “Farewell, Heidi”: I am reading your book right now, Diane. I want to acquaint myself with all sides of the argument.
Their motives are still the perennial profit streams, power, and union busting.
Still a great read here. http://www.dissentmagazine.org/article/got-dough-how-billionaires-rule-our-schools
It really is a good read, thanks, Mary.