Voters in Massachusetts rejected Question 2, which would have authorized a dozen new charter schools every year. The margin, at last word, was 62-38%.
Voters in Georgia rejected Amendment 1, which would have allowed the Governor to take over low-scoring schools and put them in an “Opportunity School District,” a district of charter schools, whether for-profit or non-profit. Georgians apparently didn’t like the idea of abolishing local control of their schools. The vote was similar to Massachusetts, 60-40%. Voters were not fooled by the deceptive language.
Voters in Washington State re-elected the Supreme Court judges who declared that charter schools are not public schools, rejecting the judges supported by Bill Gates.
Our fight for public education continues. Now, with Donald Trump as President, the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) works in our favor. He will turn over federal funds to the states without strings, and we will fight in every state to make sure that those funds are allocated to provide a better education for all children. From the results in Massachusetts and Georgia, we know that the majority is on the side of public schools.
We will win some, we will lose some, but we won’t give up. We will do what is right for children. We will defend teachers and the teaching profession. We will defend democratically-controlled public education. We will protect the public good.
Do not despair. Join the Network for Public Education. Plan to join us next October in Oakland, California, and help us plan for the future.
*PS: Wendy Lecker, civil rights lawyer, points out in the comments that voters in Kansas retained all the judges who ruled in favor of full funding for public schools, rebuffing Governor Brownback.
http://kcur.org/post/all-kansas-supreme-court-justices-retained
Diane Ravitch's blog 
Diane
Thanks for some good news. We all need that.
Voters in Washington State re-elected the Supreme Court judges who declared that charter schools are not public schools, rejecting the judges supported by Bill Gates.
Really good news.
The war wages on and the lost battle for the White House is only for the next 4 years. Then there are the mid term elections every year. Conservatives tend to shoot themselves in the foot when they hold power in one or more Houses of Congress and eventually lose one or both.
In one year, we will have our first mid-term elections for the states, US Senate and Congress.
Like Lincoln said, you can’t fool all the people all of the time.
What will the GOP do if tRUMP attempts to take over all power and cut them out?
And Kansas’s Supreme Court justices were retained. A blow to Brownback. A victory for public education. http://kcur.org/post/all-kansas-supreme-court-justices-retained
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Thanks, Wendy, I updated my post.
I needed to hear the good news this morning. Xanex is not the answer….although it felt like it last night.
Well, it’s five o’clock somewhere, eh?
In Minneapolis, Minnesota all four pro public education, teacher endorsed school board candidates won, beating out two incumbents! The first Somali running for state office in the US won election to the MN State House. And the school referendum renewal passed by over 80%.
Rhetorically, did neoliberal policy, including DFER, coupled with TPP, and prejudice against women, cost the Democrats the Presidency?
Sounds like a sweep of the elections for the issue of public education.
that is what I understand; we stayed til 9:30 getting the Essex County results; at the high school in Haverhill, where polling takes place, the ballot counter/machine broke so they had to do hand count… That took til 11:00 and then it was certified and turned in at City Hall…. it is my understanding from the review of the different precincts in my own City that it was better than 54 and as high as 60….. Thank you to all the people who wrote comments in the Lowell Sun, the Boston Globe etc. and those who offered support. I have about 30 cardboard signs and about 10 plastic signs and we are closing the office… if anyone would like a sign supply the address and think of a donation to AFT or MTA or a considerable organization like NEPC and I will get them in the mail to you; otherwise they might just be tossed into the paper recycle. This campaign used Hub dialer which is very impressive (Bernie Sanders also used it) and the computer is able to keep the data on your phone calls (using a phone and a computer) then if you do door to door and turn in the “turf” report that also gets entered into HubDialer and they have ways to look at voting patterns and adjust things so that over the weeks (we started in August) it gave us a good “universe” of supporters. The last evening we had high school students going door to door leaving reminders to get out on Tuesday and vote (many had already done early voting which greatly helped).. I was quite pleased with the way the managers led the local work; our Essex County coordinator is a young man graduate of political science and he will make a good leader in the future for other avenues .
Voters in Massachusetts rejected Question 2, which would have authorized a dozen new charter schools every year. The margin, at last word, was 62-38%.
jeanhaverhill@aol.com
I agree and hope it jump starts some serious bipartisan action.
Change = opportunity. Let’s make ESSA work in our favor! On the other hand I am concerned about Trump’s promise to fund charter schools. The federal government has no business in education at the level of individual schools. The challenge will be to influence Trump’s evolving education platform. How do we do that? My instincts tell me it begins with strong local control and strong communities.
If you think we have any chance of influencing Trump on education, take a look at Indiana, where his VP has all but sold off the entire public education system to private enterprise: charters, vouchers, etc.
This was just the news I was hoping for.
My hope is that this shocking election might be what the country needs to get reasonable legislators from both parties to come together and talk.
I am astounded by what I see as evidence of the overwhelming number of people who have legitimate anger and frustration but have not gotten more than words from those in power. They certainly have everyone’s attention now.
I doubt education is high on Trump’s agenda. We may have a break from federal meddling to pull together and tighten up locally. It sure worked for us in MA.
The charter school reform movement has not changed the general character and trajectory of poor schools: fewer libraries, fewer humanities classes and fewer music programmes – just plain less of everything that counts as real education . The strategy is effectively the same as any conservative effort to hobble the public sector: defund government so that it is less effective and then use that ineffectiveness to argue for further privatization.
“Now, with Donald Trump as President, the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) works in our favor. He will turn over federal funds to the states without strings, and we will fight in every state to make sure that those funds are allocated to provide a better education for all children.”
I’m not nearly as sanguine about ESSA. First, I expect the Feds will allow $$$ to supplant state and local funds, which will have a dis-equalizing effect… http://wp.me/p25b7q-1CD… and second, like you, I expect Trump’s $20,000,000 for school choice to come from ESSA. http://wp.me/p25b7q-1CF… And then there is is promise to repeal gun-free school zones on Day One, the leaders Mr. Trump might put in place in USDOE (we might be longing for Arne!) and the impact his is having on bullying (God forbid schools should require students to behave in a politically correct fashion!)… and last, but not least, there are way too many State houses that are led by Republicans. Even VT and NH have switched from D to R….
Didn’t Trump say $20 billion?
$20 billion, yes. Probably Title I funding for poor kids
It probably will be the title 1 programs that will get hit. During the campaign Trump revealed how he hates everyone he considers a loser even John McCain, because he allowed himself to be shot down and end up being a prisoner of war for several years. In Trump’s pea sized brain, he will see those children as losers for being born into poverty. To him, it is their fault and they shouldn’t get any help from the government.