Jeff Bryant, a wise observer of politics and education, offers solace at a time when supporters of public education fear the ascendancy of a Republican President and Congress devoted to privatization of schools.
He reviews the electoral victories for public schools.
Chief among them, of course, were the overwhelming defeat of charter school measures in Massachusetts and Georgia.
Another victory occurred in Washington State, where Bill Gates spent $500,000 into an effort to unseat Supreme Court justices who ruled that charter schools are not public schools. The Justice who wrote that decision, Barbara Madsen, was re-elected with 64% of the vote. Two other incumbents were re-elected.
Montana Governor Steve Bullock, a strong supporter of public schools, was re-elected, running against an advocate of school choice.
California voters passed measures to assure school funding.
One other piece of good news–and these days, any piece of good news is welcome–is that Maine voters narrowly agreed to raise taxes by 3% on upper-income taxpayers, to increase education funding.
Diane Ravitch's blog 
Thanks Diane. May I add your “wise observer…” compliment to my resume? 🙂
Jeff,
absolutely!
I don’t understand the strong support for the Democrat Party and the strong opposition to the Republican Party on public education matters. It would seem advantageous if public education proponents lobbied both parties. Also, given that both parties seem to be influenced by the entities that desire to make public schools a source of profits for themselves, I don’t see alot of difference in their response to charters. What am I missing?
President Obama’s US Dept of Education Secretary John King, formerly the Superintendent of Schools for New York State…. appears to be pushing charters?? $245 million?? — how many public school buildings could that improve, just construction wise?? or how much could that cover the cost of many of the unfunded mandates that the US Dept of Education imposes on the States and local school systems??
Did some federal law make Mr. King start that program or spend that money in that way? or is a Democrat President and his appointee fully behind that push for more charters?
I find it so infuriating, depressing, maddening, that the very regulations, lack of flexibility,
and lack of room for creativity put in place by the Presidents, Congresses, and US Dept of Education over the years, has burdened the public schools and made them less effective. Then to add insult to injury, after the Federal Government has made them worse, the Federal Government decides that the community public school model is not working and allows charters to request and receive waivers from all the rules that they put in place in the first place. Local public school systems should be able to request the same waivers that charter schools are allowed to request.
If it takes flexibility and creativity to help as many students in as many ways as possible, that community public schools need those tools too.
I believe that the community public school is a pillar of our Democracy. I don’t want to lose it. Done well, they can create amazing safety nets and nurturing to maximize the potential of all students.
******************************** US Dept of Education John King- $245million in grants to charters
http://www.wsj.com/articles/u-s-gives-245-million-in-grants-to-support-charter-schools-1475103153 “The federal government is pumping $245 million into the creation and expansion of public charter schools across the nation with hopes of helping students in low-income communities.
The U.S. Department of Education on Wednesday announced Charter Schools Program grants. Eight state education agencies received about $177 million, while 15 charter-school operators received $68 million.
The money will be used for startup costs for new charter schools and to expand existing ones, according to a news release. The grant program, launched in 1995, has helped start more than 2,500 charter schools in the past decade, serving about 1 million students, the release said.”
“Ensuring that all students have access to an academically challenging and engaging education is critical to preparing them for college and career success,” U.S. Secretary of Education John B. King Jr. said in the release.
Charter schools are publicly funded but mostly are privately run.
******************************** US Dept of Education John King- suggests no caps on number of well run charters? http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/2016/10/19/king-charter-schools-caps/92431532/
PTA Mom: You are right, as far as education goes, both parties are on the same page. And the information you supplied concerning John King and all those grants to charter schools makes me want to scream. But education is not the only issue: there is the SCOTUS, the economy, the precious social programs, climate change, the environment, LGBTQ rights, voting rights, science, etc. I wish we had better choices but we don’t.
Both parties have supported charter expansion while conservatives have also supported vouchers. Neither party has been willing to address the funding disparities between urban and rural schools and better funded suburban schools. Neither party has committed to address inequality through integration. Governors like Cuomo have been able to ignore court orders to equalize funding without impunity. Charters have not been a success, and they weaken public schools. Some charters like Kipp, which is considered successful, do so by accepting the best students and getting rid of anyone with problems. Most teachers will meet with success if they focus on the most teachable students. This approach will not solve all our problems.
Policymakers have been making decisions based on politics and bias, not what is best for communities and children. As for community schools, I don’t think there has been enough of a chance to know if they have potential to address the many needs of children of poverty.
Bravo to Maine for doing the right thing. Can the governor override this vote to raise taxes on the rich by 3%?
At least a TINY bit of good news.
I am not holding my breath for more though, not with the Trump “victory”.
I would like to share some public education wins in New Mexico. There were twenty-two educators running for the NM State Legislature, fourteen were educators from AFT NM and eight from NEA NM. Unfortunately, not all of the twenty-two educators won their races. The good news is that nine of the AFT NM educators did win their seats and three of the NEA NM educators won their seats. We now have twelve educators in the NM State Legislature fighting for public education and labor along with other non-educators who are champions of both public education and labor.
Washington state might be able to celebrate another victory. Chris Reykdal (champion of public education) is running for Superintendent of Public Instruction.
Stand for Children funded a PAC to support Reykdal’s opponent. The PAC provided Reykdal’s opponent with $200K via IE. The race is close, but Reykdal is slightly ahead.
http://results.vote.wa.gov/results/current/Superintendent-of-Public-Instruction_ByCounty.html
http://web.pdc.wa.gov/MvcQuerySystem/CandidateData/independent?param=Sk9ORUUgIDEwOQ%3D%3D%3D%3D&year=2016&type=statewide
Sarah,
Please let us know how the race turns out. This is very good news!