Reader Chiara points out that the Every Student Succeeds Act contains a big fat plum for the charter industry, which will expand privatization of public education. No wonder Arne Duncan is happy. He gets his top two priorities: annual testing (a George W. Bush innovation) and charters (a win for Gates, Broad, Walton, and ALEC):
Chiara writes:
I’m surprised you guys missed this in the ed bill:
“The reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act that passed the House of Representatives last week by a vote of 359-64 and will be passed with an overwhelming margin today by the U.S. Senate, will put into statute, for the first time, President Obama’s program to replicate and expand high-performing public charter schools.
Over just the past five years, this program has made it possible for tens of thousands of parents to enroll their children in great schools, most of which have long waiting lists. The infographic below summarizes the enormous payoff this program has had, and will continue to have over the years to come based on grant awards made up through this year.”
DC Democrats got their two top priorities into that bill- charters and testing.
Shortly before Mary Landrieu lost her Senate seat, she said she wanted to federally fund 500 new charter schools a year, presumably until public schools are replaced completely. She’s a lobbyist for the Walton heirs now, in addition to some other revolving door profiteering. I bet she lobbied her former colleagues on this bill, in fact.
I guess she’ll get her wish.
Diane Ravitch's blog 
Once again, read “This Town” We were never going to win this fight at the legislative level. It’s a very bad bill, and it makes me sick that pro public education groups supported it.
This was a bill that was never about children. . .ever and my children, along with all others in the public schools, will once again be failed by bad policy.
https://www.change.org/p/u-s-senate-tell-the-u-s-senate-to-say-no-to-esea-reauthorization-plan-ver-traducci%C3%B3n-en-espa%C3%B1ol-abajo
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“Former Sen. Mary Landrieu is joining Van Ness Feldman as a senior policy adviser. The Louisiana Democrat will work alongside former Rep. Norm Dicks, who served as the top Democrat on the House Appropriations Committee.
Landrieu told the Times-Picayune, which first reported the her move, that the job would give her “flexibility” to continue working with the Walton Family Foundation on education issues, a position she took last month.
The firm’s major clients include American Electric Power, Amazon, National Association of Energy Services and Puget Sound Energy. Landrieu is the former chairwoman of of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee.”
Read more: http://www.politico.com/tipsheets/politico-influence/2015/05/landrieu-to-van-ness-feldman-energy-companies-add-lobbyists-tiaa-cref-hires-dorn-as-vp-and-general-counsel-212543#ixzz3tle0DadB
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This “good news for the charter industry” was the gist of my comment on the earlier post regarding ESSA, on why Arne Duncan feels good about ESSA despite its seeming rejection of fed role and other claims.
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http://www.thenation.com/article/20-people-now-own-as-much-wealth-as-half-of-all-americans/
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BREAKING / LAUSD releases inappropriate email exchanges between Esquith and former (still minor) students.
http://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-ln-rafe-esquith-20151207-story.html
Unless he can prove that someone else logged on to his computer and account and wrote these nauseating emails, the decision to terminate him was warranted.
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Reblogged this on David R. Taylor-Thoughts on Education.
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This is what is in the bill on charters:
The program is reauthorized through FY 2020 and replaced the current charter school grant program with a program awarding grants to states, and through them subgrants to charter school developers, to open new charters and expand and replicate high-quality charter school models. At the same time, ESSA strengthens and updates the charter school program by: · ensuring charter school quality, accountability and transparency including required fiscal audits; · incentivizes stronger charter school authorizing practices; · requires charter schools to improve community outreach and engagement · provides dedicated funding to expand and replicate the highest quality charter schools so that they can reach more students; · focuses on charter school practices recruitment, retention and discipline practices, particularly for underrepresented groups such as homeless and foster students. There is a grant priority for charter management organizations that operate racially integrated schools and prioritize serving a majority of low-income students. There is money for facilities assistance as the bill reserves 12.5 percent of the charter school program funding to be used for facilities assistance. ESSA also requires the Secretary of Education to address the recent findings of the Office of the Inspector General pertaining to operational challenges within the Charter School Program.
Sent from my iPad
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in other words, more money for charters….. and less for public schools…. charters being set up to replace public schools altogether…
and this, Randi, is what you have helped create…. i have nothing printable to write, to express my feelings about how you have sold children, the teaching profession and public education down the river….
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