Myra Blackmon is one of the most astute commentators on education in Georgia. She writes often for AthensOnline. In this column,she takes issue with the advocates for an “Opportunity School District,” which is on the ballot on November 8.
http://onlineathens.com/opinion/2016-09-10/blackmon-amendment-isnt-opportunity-rescue-schools#
The proposed constitutional amendment would allow the state to take over schools with low test scores. It guts local control. As we have seen again and again, state takeovers have repeatedly failed, because the state doesn’t know more than the local school board. The Tennessee Achievement School District, which is a model for Georgia, has not produced any results in its four years of operation. The low-performing schools in the ASD are still low-performing, still eligible to be taken over yet again, but by whom? The Educational Achievement Authority in Michigan has been a disaster.
So why is Georgia following these failed examples? Well, eliminating local control is recommended by the far-right ALEC. ALEC’s goal is privatization, not “rescuing” poor kids.
The proponents of this measure claim that they will “rescue” poor kids from “failing schools,” the usual mantra of privatizers. But the claim is a hoax and a deliberate effort to deceive voters.
Blackmon writes:
These rescuers must have been living on another planet if they haven’t seen their proposed “solution,” a state takeover with no accountability, go down in shame all over the country. They tried it in New Orleans and gave up because it didn’t work. They’ve been trying it in Nashville, and the confiscated schools are doing worse than they were when their “rescue” began. They tried it in Detroit and 11 of the 14 schools that were “rescued” are still failing.
The so-called “Opportunity School District” is among the worst of a long string of dangerous ideas and policies forced on local school districts in Georgia. It is a power grab, pure and simple, moving control of local schools from those closest to them to an unaccountable gubernatorial appointee who, from on high in Atlanta, will dictate local education policies and practices.
The language both on the ballot and in the enabling legislation sounds like a plan for everyone to hold hands and happily work to improve education. But that’s a lie.
These self-styled rescuers of poor children want to turn education over to their buddies in the privatization movement. They want accountability for everyone but themselves.
Rescue, my eye. Keep our opportunities local. Vote “no” on Amendment 1.
Diane Ravitch's blog 
https://wrenchinthegears.com/2016/09/15/stop-dont-opt-out-read-this-first/
Parent:
The title of this post is misleading. Parents should opt out. That is the biggest wrench in the gear of the education industry.
It does say: “In addition to opting out of end-of-year testing, there are other important steps we need to take to safeguard our children’s access to human teachers and to protect their data, their vision, and their emotional health.”
I agree that the title can’t do the topic justice, but I’m at a loss to suggest a better one.
This is cross-posted at http://www.opednews.com/Quicklink/Georgia-s-Opportunity-Sch-in-General_News-Diane-Ravitch_Education_Orwellian_Privatize-Education-160915-85.html#comment618178
with this comment which has links at the site:
If you are first beginning to wake up to the war on PUBLIC SCHOOLS, you can catch up fast if you Go to my series here at Oped http://www.opednews.com/author/series/author40790.html
How is did they ruin our wonderful system that was the road to opportunity for Americans? Easy. Look at my Series Page for 15,880 Districts in 50 States: already divided for conquering: http://www.opednews.com/Series/15-880-Districts-in-50-Sta-by-Susan-Lee-Schwartz-140921-34.html
Look at my posts for Privatization, http://www.opednews.com/Series/PRIVITIZATION-by-Susan-Lee-Schwartz-150925-546.html
and the legislative corruption that is the crux of the charter school takeovers! http://www.opednews.com/Series/legislature-and-governorsL-by-Susan-Lee-Schwartz-150217-816.html
OR Put legislature in the search field at the Diane Ravitch Blog, and you will get this link
https://dianeravitch.net/?s=legislature
to the shenanigans and criminal corruption at the top, which is ending income equality where it begins at the bottom, in the classroom.
My series on Charter school fraud is taken from Diane Ravitch posts; http://www.opednews.com/Series/CHARTER-Schools–the-scho-by-Susan-Lee-Schwartz-141014-281.html
Soon, like health care, only the rich will be able to access a good education… goodbye democracy and income equality
If privatization were such a boon to a community, they should not have to resort to misrepresentation and distortion to trick a people. The reason they resort to underhanded trickery is that they are trying sell community members on something, that if they really understood all the consequences, they would reject. It is this type of dirty politicking that is so typical and reprehensible in corporate “reform”
As usual, spot on with your comment RT!
Translated, ALEC means curse and crush the working people.
all whilst picking their pockets
The “In this column” link in Diane’s post here goes to a Inside Philanthropy article, which by the way is worth reading for its coverage of what my be an example of old, failed thinking that’s new again — namely, corporations’ self-serving adopt-a-school machinations.
But here’s the link to Myra Blackmon’s opinion piece…
http://onlineathens.com/opinion/2016-09-10/blackmon-amendment-isnt-opportunity-rescue-schools#
Thanks, Ed Johnson.
I make mistakes when I blog on my cell phone.
Too many.
Sorry for the error.
Written on my cell phone while sitting on a park bench in Brooklyn. Supposed to be walking the dog. I bring her here to remind her that the world includes grass.
Actually, I have come to greatly appreciate how The Universe seems to operate, with mistakes and errors and all else. Your “mistake” lead me to become aware of something I would not have otherwise. So thank you for your “error.”
Diane, I have to ask. I’m seeing a lot online in the past few weeks about the eventual destruction of the modern-day classroom as digital and personalized learning takes over with competency-based education and digital badges determine the future workforce of America. Why aren’t you hitting that? That is where all of this is going.
“CLEVELAND, Ohio – The Cleveland school district was slammed with straight Fs on new state report cards released this morning, even crashing in Value-Added, the one report card measure that would offer some hope of improvement.
The poor grades come as the district seeks a renewal of a giant tax increase that voters passed in 2012. In the campaign for that tax, Mayor Frank Jackson and district CEO Eric Gordon promised improvements and told voters to reject a renewal if the district did not show progress.
But four years later, the district’s slow climb in state test score rankings after passing the tax has also stalled, leaving the district with the fourth-worst scores in Ohio. It ranks last out of the eight urban districts known as the Ohio 8.
And it continued scoring behind the Lorain and Youngstown school districts – districts that the state took over a few years ago because of poor performance. The district still scores below them, despite its own improvement plan, the Cleveland Plan for Transforming Schools now having four years to show gains.”
Cleveland is the Ohio city that both President Obama and Governor Kasich point to as a model for ed reform. They are doing worse than the urban districts that weren’t reformed.
When is someone going to have the courage to start questioning this dogma?
Ed reformers are doing ACTUAL DAMAGE in Ohio. They are making our schools worse.
The problem is the intent for inner city schools vs. schools in the suburbs. Obviously NOTHING has worked on inner city schools because the problems run much deeper than simply math and science. Most of these inner city kids can’t even read so what difference does it make to them ? NONE. But it sure lines individual pockets and gives the appearance of “care and concern” over the inner city malaise. Almost NO ONE will agree with me on this but until the inner city community is rescued from its moral bankruptcy (see rampant unwed mothers /absentee fathers) in the home — it will NEVER matter what is done or by whom. The inner city community needs to rise up and take back their own standards and begin teaching their children Right from wrong and the value of hard work and the VALUE OF AN EDUCATION vs the bankruptcy of life as they know it NOW and one day they will come out from under. If not then they will remain in the malaise of ignorance and poverty perpetually.