Mitchell Robinson writes here about Matt Lauter’s campaign to sell stuff from Shinola in Detroit and give the proceeds to “scholarships” for a Detroit charter school. Of course, the charter claims it is a “public school,” so it doesn’t charge tuition. This, it is impossible to give “scholarships” to a charter school. In fact, the money Lauter raises will go to a fund to create more charters and kill off the remnants of public education in Detroit. The Detroit public schools have lost 70% of their enrollment to the charters already. Surely, they want to keep some public schools open so they have a place to dump the kids the charters don’t want.
Why isn’t Matt Lauter raising money to help the neediest kids? They are in public schools, not charter schools.
Diane Ravitch's blog 
Lauer, not Lauter
Yes, I wouldn’t want my name sullied!! Paul Lauter
Diane,
Your writings were required at my grad program at SUNY Oswego, so I look forward to hearing your perspectives on education. But if the school district has lost 70% of the enrollment to charters, isn’t that an indication of a sick system? How can any organization lose so many individuals and still operate?
Has the Detroit City School System (now the Detroit Public Schools Community District) already lost? I agree that the neediest kids are likely in public schools, and more resources are probably needed. I simply wonder if there’s much of that district worth saving. (Except the kids. They’re always worth saving.)
Welcome to the best “site to discuss a better education for all”. To answer your questions:
1st-No, not necessarily. My question to you: What is the definition of “a sick system”?
2nd-By going bare bones and offering little for the children most in need.
3rd- No! If the “kids are worth saving” and those particular kids are not being served by private schools, and they are not, how do you “save” them?
Saving them” smacks of a certain elitism in my mind. No need to save them, the need is to have proper teaching and learning processes take place (which means all the resources are supplied) so that the neediest students will have the opportunity to learn as they and their parents deem necessary.
“Kids”, listed at the end and parenthetically… spoken like someone who wants Wall Street to get its 10-18% return on charter school debt. Too bad, that taxpayers intended the money for the kids. Too bad, that taxpayers and parents want to vote democratically on school board members so that they have local control. Gates financed New Schools Venture Fund, to the tune of $22 mil. NSVF’s founder described its marching orders, at Philanthropy Roundtable, “to develop diverse charter school organizations that produce different BRANDS (my caps) on a large scale”. Gates, Z-berg , Pearson, …are investors in the largest seller of schools-in-a-box. The founder of that product, estimated a return for investors, at 20%. We all know where privatization of public schools is headed, it’s to, for-profit products from the tech industry. Rupert Murdoch described the value of the business sector at $1 tril. IMO, that’s explains why the venture villainthropists are crawling out of the woodwork to push charter schools. It’s amusing/disgusting that they pretend its noble and “for the kids”.
What a surprise, a corporate media stooge blindly supports charter schools. Lauer is an entertainer not an objective journalist. Is this what we want, a parallel school system that drains finds and resources from the real public schools, has its own unelected school board and duplicates many of the administrative positions in the real public schools?
That stupid spell check changed Lauer to Later on my computer.
Funds not finds.
Hmmmm….. scholarships to public charters that don’t charge tuition?
Can you say vouchers?
A paragraph from the article: “In order for a partnership to be valid and meaningful, it must provide a benefit to each partner. The “partnership” between Mr. Lauer, Shinola, and DEPA primarily benefits the foundations that have invested in the city’s charter schools, not Detroit’s children, families or the community in general. Funding and maintaining two parallel, separate, yet unequal school systems places untenable stresses on a city already desperate for resources and support. It’s an unsustainable business strategy, and one clearly focused more on corporate profits than on students or learning.”
That sums it up very nicely and it could apply to almost any district where charter schools are being imposed and forced down the throats of the residents.
In a way I think you’re just making a category error, Diane.
There is no “ed reform”. There are charter and voucher promoters who choose to call themselves “education reformers”.
Of course it’s limited to charter schools. They don’t do anything for public schools, ever.
Chiara, I agree with you. The first thing the privatizers did was to call a meeting with a PR team and create a vocabulary to fool the public. Why not call ourselves “reformers”? Great idea! That will keep everyone baffled.
They are also crappy watches that were running a misleading ad campaign. “Built in Detroit” to resemblenthe Made in America label when they were assembled from cheap chinese parts. They were ordered to cease.
I thought shinola was something those of us without brains had a hard time distinguishing from a proverbial substance.
Exactly my reaction. Chuckle. I hope he is truly clueless.
Shinola was a popular brand of shoe polish, which had a color and texture not unlike you know what.
Hi Roy, 2o2t and Joe:
Yes, I am immigrant without being foolish by the so called “grad program at SUNY Oswego” where it promotes SHINOLA SCHOLARSHIP TO THEIR GRAD, ha ha ha…
That speaks a volume of their program! May.