Merryl Tisch stepped down as chair of the New York State Board of Regents at the end of her term in the spring of this year.
She recently gave an interview where she expressed her support for nonpublic education. Her view was similar to the plan put forward later by Donald Trump: The public should pay for religious and private schools. The story appeared originally in politico.pro, which is behind a paywall.
Tisch calls for increased charter, parochial school affordability
By KESHIA CLUKEY 09/07/16 02:57 PM EDT Updated 09/07/16 03:25 PM EDT
Former state Board of Regents chancellor Merryl Tisch touted the need for school choice and increased access to charter and parochial schools on Wednesday, even in the form of an education tax credit.
Tisch told John Gambling on “AM 970 THE ANSWER” that politics often impede good practice, saying there needs to be a “more affordable” option. “[L]et choice be charter choice, be parochial choice, give families the opportunity to move their children forward, give them the opportunity to have a real ability to access high quality education for their children, and these communities will rise up,” she said.
Tisch, who championed the roll out of the Common Core learning standards, stepped down after 20 years on the board when her term ended in March.
She said Wednesday there is a need for healthy competition for public schools, and described the success some of the well-funded charter school networks are having in terms of student results. “The charter schools in New York City are outpacing the educational gains from around the state,” she said.
However, spots at charter and parochial schools can be difficult to get, charter seats being determined through a lottery system and parochial spots being a matter of affordability. Tisch told a story about a mother she met who had twins, and only one of them was able to get a spot in the charter school. A report from the New York City Charter School Center released Tuesday found that nearly 45,000 city students are on charter school wait lists.
“This notion that we deny choice when the choice is so stark between performance and non-performance to me is criminal,” Tisch said.
She mentioned current tax credit legislation as a possible option. That legislation would provide a credit for donations made to public and nonprofit schools and scholarship funds. The measure, however, has failed to make it through the teachers’ union-aligned, Democratic-lead state Assembly.
Both Gov. Andrew Cuomo and the Republican-lead Senate have pushed for the credit, though their versions vary, with the Senate’s, for example, including donations made to charter schools.
Regardless of the type of school, Tisch said schools need to be made affordable so parents, especially those in struggling communities, can chose what is best for their children.
“To deliberately go out of your way to force a family to send a child to a school which, more often than not, has failed not only that child, but also the parents of that child, and to just continue to allow it to go on like this to me is a real crime,” Tisch said.
Listen to the full interview here: http://bit.ly/2ci7Wft
CORRECTION: An earlier version of this story misstated what the tax credit legislation under consideration would do. It would provide a credit for donations to public and nonprofit schools, as well as scholarship funds.
Read more: https://www.politicopro.com/states/new-york/albany/story/2016/09/merryl-tisch-touts-need-for-school-choice-including-charters-parochial-schools-105242#ixzz4JubNz2BV
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Diane Ravitch's blog 
More lies by the puppet to the elitists .
Chris,
Merryl Tisch is not a puppet to the elitists. She is part of the powerful Tisch family. They are the elites, part of the .001%.
Tisch really hates public schools, she will not be satisfied until they are erased from the face of the earth. The governor, most of the politicians and the billionaires’ boys club are all on her side. From the article: “Regardless of the type of school, Tisch said schools need to be made affordable so parents,” Schools need to be more affordable?!? The real public schools are free to all the residents of the district, there’s no tuition entry fee.
Cool. Let’s make all of those posh private schools affordable. Can’t wait until Cranbrook has all of those kids from Pontiac here in metro Detroit. Because I’ll bet that will happen.
LOL Steve K! We are sending the kids from Newark to Delbarton.
One of those statements from the ultra-rich showing how distanced they are from reality: much like a comment I remember from Mitt Romney’s wife who suggested that if people are feeling the strain of recession they should sell stock.
I hate to say it but I predicted ed reform’s embrace of vouchers. It was and is inevitable. Once they redefined “public” to mean “publicly funded” it doesn’t make any sense to exclude private schools.
There’s a political reason too- they need Catholic schools for political clout w/in “the movement”. Charters pull from religious schools.
We saw this exact same strategy play out in Ohio.
This is and always has been an effort to end public education. There is simply no one in this “movement” who values public schools. Duncan himself says this- he says “people don’t care” about public schools. They’re not just halfway to “backpack vouchers”, they’re at and beyond backpack vouchers.
I feel bad for the public school students who happen to be in public schools while they impose this transition. They’re the real victims of this. No one told them political leaders had decided to abandon public education. Public school kids and parents are literally the last to find out that these decisions have already been made.
It’s selfish, but I’m glad my youngest only has 4 years left in a public system. It’s clear to me that there’s no political support for public schools.
I won’t blame public school parents a bit if they pull their kids out as the winding down continues. You’d be crazy to leave your kid in a public school with no lawmaker support or interest. I’d go too. They’re supposed to stick it out for the “greater good” when no one in ed reform leadership supports these schools? They’ll take their backpack voucher and head for the hills. The public school will be a default to satisfy state law that says they have to offer one.
It’s a shame. None of them built this system yet they’re so eager to destroy it. The part that gets me is their absolute near-religious belief that the system they design will be “better”. They have no idea if that’s true. None. They’re rolling the dice on 50 million people. Wow. That’s more than hubris. It’s nuts.
Actually, they SHOULD have an idea if it is true. We have several mostly-privatized districts in the country. Detroit? A disaster–way too many seats and a lot of cannibalism between schools. New Orleans? There is no accountability, and tons of young people are essentially MIA. Tennessee’s Achievement School District? No real improvements.
These “reforms” are part of the “status quo” now. Have these reforms proven themselves. NO.
The other part that kills me is how many public employees in ed reform oppose public schools.
So thrilled I pay these people to attack a public system that they’re part of- it’s just crazy.
They seem genuinely confused about what they do for a living. They seem to believe they’re employed in the private sector.
As a person who is in the private sector I’m utterly baffled by this.
Chiara, THANK YOU! This is something no one is addressing. Our tax dollars are going to pay these people’s salaries to say they do not support free public, well funded schools for our children. Stupid. As Ms. Ravich states in her book, the charter school movement is really about getting rid of teachers and teacher unions, and letting corporations reach into our billfolds for money for themselves. Instead of asking the Greedy Class of ultra rich to pay a bit more in taxes so that ALL schools are beautiful campuses with the best educated teachers, and strong support staff, that have full arts, music, and physical education programs.
So why are we talking about giving these people another tax cut/entitlement?
I heard part of President Obama’s speech yesterday. He gave a ringing endorsement of “public servants who work hard every day”
The President seems blissfully unaware his Department of Education opposes public schools and has for going on 8 years now. He knows public school employees are public employees, right? School board members? Those are “public servants”?
There are several flaws in Ms. Tisch’s ideas. First, she ignores the existence and needs of public schools. Her plan harms public education and is partial to charters that can select and unload students at will. Charters should have to accept all students like public schools, and they should have to calculate “success” on the number of students in the original cohort instead of only counting the survivors. Second, we do not need a set of parallel schools that cost us more and are less efficient as there is already choice in many public school systems. There is often a lot more program choice in large urban systems than any charter can offer. Third, she ignores the fact that urban schools have long suffered from institutionalized under funding. Why not give these schools the support they need instead of abandoning them? Why does Cuomo refuse to obey a court order to fairly fund urban schools while he clears a path so the state can shutter underfunded public schools? Fourth, we have separation of church and state, and public money should not fund religious institutions. If billionaires care so much about allowing students to attend religious schools, they should freely set up scholarships for students in these schools. Nothing is stopping them. This suggestion lacks the appeal of their true objective. The real goal here is not about “choice” as it is to gain access to public money and destroy democratic, unionized public education.
Retired Teacher,
I totally agree. As a current Title 1 public school teacher Ms. Tisch’s ideas, as well as those who share her ideas, like presidential candidate Donald Trump, concerns me greatly. I see the situation like this: an evil troll is throwing students over a bridge. The students are drowning slowly, but surely. There are few lone people picking students up one by one, trying to catch as many as they can, but most are still suffering. Instead of taking care of the troll, the real problem, the few lone people are simply saving those who they can. To me, that is the voucher/charter school dilemma. If we allow school choice and charter schools, we are only saving the few. What about the majority who are still in the water? Do we believe that not every parent wants their student to have the best education possible? They must if they think that the voucher system is going to work nationally. We need to take care of the real problem – the troll. I’m not going to pretend to have all the answers to what the troll really is when it comes to education, but I can tell you what I believe some of the problems are. One is teacher preparation or the lack there of. Ms. Ravtich wrote in her book, “Reign of Error” that our society should commit to build a strong education profession. We need policies and regulations that properly trains new teachers and continues to support our veteran teachers. Good teachers are running from the profession and teacher burn out is one the rise. We are overburdening our teachers and schools and then blaming them for not meeting the standards. School leaders, such as principals, superintendents, and board members should be experienced educators who knows what it takes to reach all learners. Taking money and resources away from “failing” schools can only create a vortex in which that school may never recover from. The second problem is poverty. We are a first world country with plenty of money and resources. Why are there still students coming to school who haven’t eaten since lunch the day before? Our communities, churches, and governments are not doing enough to ensure students are able to come to school ready to learn. I would love for someone to explain to me how I am suppose to teach high school Algebra and Geometry to students who are not able to have their basic needs met at home. I believe the money is there, mostly because they are talking about spending it on private education… for a few. So, why is our conversation not about how we can financially help support our public schools? Why is the conversation always about how terrible our schools are and how can we get our students away from their terrible influence? I hope that we are able to turn this conservation around to the real problem and the real solutions.
“One is teacher preparation or the lack there of. . . We need policies and regulations that properly trains new teachers. . . .”
Nonsense.
They are already there. They have been there for well over a century, with each state determining the parameters for who will be certified. From what I can discern that setup has served us well during those 100 years.
May, I ask, PeachyTeacher, how did you get your certification and in what state? The last part being so that others from that state may chime in with their thoughts on the certification process of that state.
The neos (liberal and conservative) are always looking for language loopholes to subvert the constitutions of the states and nations.
How can schools compete unless the students compete because using student test scores to rank schools forcing schools to compete can’t work unless every single student competes by actually paying attention to teachers, what teachers teach, cooperating, no behavior problems, no disruption, and every child reads every day for fun and learning in addition to doing all the work?
Find me a teacher in almost all the public schools who’s taught for at least 10 years and claims that every one of their students has is is always on track and working/learning, and I will show you a liar. If you can’t cherry pick the students and cherry pick the facts, then you can’t be successful with 100 percent of the students.
Choice means the end of a free public education for every child even if the child is a challenge to engage in the process for learning.
The formula for a child’s education takes a village. Schools can’t do it alone. Teacher’s can’t do it alone. Children can’t do it alone. Parents can’t do it alone. They all have to come together and work together for learning to happen. Choice will never replace the village. That why the community based, locally controlled, democratic, transparent, non-profit, traditional public schools are the only way to allow the opportunity for every child to be offered an education to work.
Children also have a choice when they walk into a school. They have a choice to learn or not to learn and some of them choose not learning when they do not do the work and do not read for whatever reason and there are a lot o reasons why those children do not join the village to learn what teachers teach.
Even Donald Trump was a challenging child to teach. I’ve read that Trump was kicked out of his expensive private school because he was a challenge to teach so his father sent him to a military boarding school, a boot camp school similar to Eva’s Success Academy.
Well stated, Lloyd!!
Why would “the community based, locally controlled, democratic, transparent, non-profit, traditional public schools ” go along with:
” The average student in the American public school system takes an outlandish 112 standardized tests during their K-12 “career”, if they are indeed:
community based, locally controlled, democratic, transparent…?
Maybe because they are forced to test by federal and state mandates
This echoes several previous rulings by the courts and the NLRB.
” Public schools are “state actors.”
No Brick,
What do you mean by “?”
August 30, 2016 entry: It’s Official:NLRB says Charter Schools
Are Not Public Schools
“The NLRB ruled that charter schools are private schools, not public schools. This echoes several previous rulings by the courts and the NLRB, which concluded that charter schools are private corporations that contract with government and are not “state actors.” Public schools are “state actors.” Charter schools are not.”
Air-Quote (fill in the blank) Air-Quote…”?”
publicly funded, private sector charter schools are fraudulent sinkholes designed to crush children into compliance and suck public money into a private sector pipeline to the less than 1 percent where enough is never enough
20 years of dilettante dabbling and destroying our public schools in favor of her rich cronies that want tax dollars for elite, selective, private schools (and testing companies funded by your Wall Street hedge funders) while she read her cellphone during Regent’s State Aid meetings, if she bothered to show up at all. Good riddance.. Here’s a tip on how to provide an affordable education to ALL of our children- Stop raiding school aid to balance the budget or to support charter and private schools and get your rich friends to actually pay their fair share of taxes to benefit the children, instead of your lip service.
I thought we got rid of that crazy loon.
Does she also want to bring back the Edsel and “New Coke”??
Retired Teacher,
I totally agree. As a current Title 1 public school teacher Ms. Tisch’s ideas, as well as those who share her ideas, like presidential candidate Donald Trump, concerns me greatly. I see the situation like this: an evil troll is throwing students over a bridge. The students are drowning slowly, but surely. There are few lone people picking students up one by one, trying to catch as many as they can, but most are still suffering. Instead of taking care of the troll, the real problem, the few lone people are simply saving those who they can. To me, that is the voucher/charter school dilemma. If we allow school choice and charter schools, we are only saving the few. What about the majority who are still in the water? Do we believe that not every parent wants their student to have the best education possible? They must if they think that the voucher system is going to work nationally. We need to take care of the real problem – the troll. I’m not going to pretend to have all the answers to what the troll really is when it comes to education, but I can tell you what I believe some of the problems are. One is teacher preparation or the lack there of. Ms. Ravtich wrote in her book, “Reign of Error” that our society should commit to build a strong education profession. We need policies and regulations that properly trains new teachers and continues to support our veteran teachers. Good teachers are running from the profession and teacher burn out is one the rise. We are overburdening our teachers and schools and then blaming them for not meeting the standards. School leaders, such as principals, superintendents, and board members should be experienced educators who knows what it takes to reach all learners. Taking money and resources away from “failing” schools can only create a vortex in which that school may never recover from. The second problem is poverty. We are a first world country with plenty of money and resources. Why are there still students coming to school who haven’t eaten since lunch the day before? Our communities, churches, and governments are not doing enough to ensure students are able to come to school ready to learn. I would love for someone to explain to me how I am suppose to teach high school Algebra and Geometry to students who are not able to have their basic needs met at home. I believe the money is there, mostly because they are talking about spending it on private education… for a few. So, why is our conversation not about how we can financially help support our public schools? Why is the conversation always about how terrible our schools are and how can we get our students away from their terrible influence? I hope that we are able to turn this conservation around to the real problem and the real solutions.
In case you missed my query from above:
“One is teacher preparation or the lack there of. . . We need policies and regulations that properly trains new teachers. . . .”
Nonsense.
They are already there. They have been there for well over a century, with each state determining the parameters for who will be certified. From what I can discern that setup has served us well during those 100 years.
May, I ask, PeachyTeacher, how did you get your certification and in what state? The last part being so that others from that state may chime in with their thoughts on the certification process of that state.