Sue Legg is a retired educator who now directs the education program of the Florida League of Women Voters. The LWV has been very critical of the privatization movement in Florida, documenting the scams, frauds, conflicts of interest, and harm to public education.
Legg says that opponents of privatization must strategize and develop their own public relations ideas.
“I am working on a set of ‘headlines’ and slogans that communicate the immediacy of the need to preserve our public schools. What do we value about our public schools? What are the threats to public education? Which solutions do we propose?
“Can we come up with short, single sentences that encapsulate a need or something you value. Then we can refer people to more in depth analyses and ways to respond.
“Let’s see:
“Vouchers segregate, not integrate schools.
Vouches for the poor pay for poor quality schools.
Vouchers help the rich get richer.
Private schools get public money with no strings attached.
OR
Public schools innovate, charters stagnate.
Public schools invite students in; charters counsel them out.
Charters profit from students; public schools invest in them.
When housing patterns limit access to quality education, fix it!
OR
School choice means all schools are under funded.
Teaching, not testing helps students learn.
We need more time, not more testing.
School choice is a distraction not an option to improve learning.
“You get the idea. Send me your captions and communication strategies. We will hone them and use them to target issues. We will discuss these at the League’s Orlando leadership conference in January.”
Make your suggestions here, and I will be sure Sue gets them.
Diane Ravitch's blog 
School choice= Billionaries choose not to educate America’s children.
Maybe, re slogans, add something in. Tax money to support religious training and partisan political training?
Sent from my iPhone
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This is fascinating. Is there a link to share it?
http://lwveducation.com/it-is-time-to-punch/
Thanks, Diane, but I meant a link for the David Autor Ted talk.
I listened to a few of his points. Did he finally address the intentional foisting of forced automation, by oligarchs, onto the children of the middle and lower classes, e.g. Gates’ schools-in-a-box and the packaging of curriculum/testing/data analytics/data mining, to benefit the tech industry? By force, I mean getting politicians to transmute, the schools that WE pay for, for OUR kids, in OUR communities?
Free integrated public education- where all our children learn together.
Together in Public education- the moral choice
Public schools education- we open our doors for everyone
Yes, if we believe in public schools and fairness we must show public school children being successful learners. Educators must build deep partnerships with parents n listen carefully to the concerns of the parents while helping them to participate in their child’s learning. To understand the challenge to public education and a free press read Jane Mayer’s book, Dark Money. The struggle ahead will be long and require a profound national and state by state effort to protect public schools, a free press, and personal liberty.
David Koch is a member of the Aspen Institute Board. Gates finances Aspen’s education programs like the Pahara Aspen Institute, which was founded by Kim Smith. Smith also was a founding team member of TFA, co-founder of Bellwether and New Schools Venture Fund. The chronology of Aspen’s involvement in corporatizing and privatizing public education, which is posted at its site, provides a look at the power that caused transmutation.
Linda,
You identified one element opposed to public schools. There are hundreds more described in Dark Money by Jane Mayer. The whole lot of dark money cannot compete against parents and teachers and school board members and school leaders working together to protect their communities and public schools from destruction by those who would privatize public schools.
Somehow we have to convince people that full integration is truly a good thing. Many, many parents – including well-intentioned, not openly bigoted people – don’t want their kid going to school with “those kids”. “Those” kids might be different races/ethnicities, but more likely kids with behavioral and/or learning difficulties. “Choice” appeals to parents because they want their kids to be among the “good kids” and the academic “strivers”. They fear that extra attention for “that kid” is attention that their kid won’t be getting. The fact that charters and other school choice mechanisms cream and segregate is, for many parents, a feature, not a bug.
The reality is that all kids benefit when they are together with the “best” and the “worst” behaved and the “smartest” and the “dumbest”. Every kid has strengths and weaknesses and they all learn from each other. And helping other kids with their weaknesses is actually a great way for kids who are stronger in whatever area to hone their strengths, not to mention become better human beings.
But that’s a pretty tough sell in this climate of head-to-head, zero-sum competition for supposedly limited jobs and resources. Maybe we need to take a further step backwards and figure out how to convince people that there really is enough for everyone and that everyone really does have a place – austerity is what is killing us.
You are brilliant. It is Austerity. When the banks fold again, and they will, they’re hanging on by the skin of their teeth, who do you think is going to bail them out?
Dienne:
Very well put.
The re-education of the American public has been one of the top priorities of corporate education reform in all its political hues, colorations and tints.
One of rheephorm’s key ideas/selling points comes from worst business & management practices: that by laws both natural and divine, all of life is a win-lose situation. In ed biz the winners, of course, are those garnering the most $tudent $ucce$$ and a few of the customer/consumers/clients. A self-justifying rationale to be sure…
If I may be so bold, I would hold that those for a “better education for all” know (based on experience and verifiable facts) that—given sufficient human, political and financial resources—public education can be a win-win situation for all concerned.
That how I see it…
😎
Dienne,
Best. Comment. Ever.
Don’t be a fool; fix public school
Segregationist love choice
Corporations choose; your children lose
Screen time is screen poison
Education on the cheap; CBE, creates sheep
Education reform has become little more than bad theory supporting profiteers. Bad ideas are very difficult to keep selling even with giant advertising budgets.
As long as the supporters of quality community based public schools don’t give up, we will prevail. Board run public schools are a clearly superior path that can be significantly improved once America is awakened to common sense; to the value of experienced professionals guiding community schools and education policy.
Billionaires that have never been in a public school and their paid political mouthpieces will never bring anything bud degradation to American public education because they do not know what they are doing. That is an obvious reality.
Wonderful idea—and much needed. Yes, “We The Majority” is also a phrase we should be invoking constantly in the challenging years ahead. (The “Three Million Vote Majority” is another good way of reminding people that MORE people are against Trump and his policies than for them.)
For K-12 education specifically, I like:
“Innovation Builds, Privatization Kills!” as a response to those folks who think that “only charters can bring needed innovations” and who try to muddy the waters and confuse people on this issue.
Choice drowns out voice
TARGO!
😎
P.S. Courtesy of Duane Swacker: That’sAReallyGoodOne!
I got tired of TAGO!
Thanks for the shoutout!
In a different forum, I misquoted you: “Misquoting KrazytTA, ‘and he [referring to Comte-Sponville] is not even dead yet’!
Regarding the Sue Legg post, I like this slogan best: “Charters profit from students; public schools invest in them,” but I would suggest reversing the clauses: “Public schools invest in students; charters profit from them.”
I’m bad at slogans (hopefully other people are better) but rather than “punching back” or focusing on opposition to charters and vouchers I would suggest positive stories about individual public schools- a broad range of schools- urban, rural and suburban.
There’s so much politically crafted “punching” out there now I feel as if people would be drawn to something different- something more subtle and positive. If you survey ed reform sites you will see that the ed reform narrative around public schools is relentlessly negative. We could be the alternative to that- there’s a real need.
The OH Dept of Ed surveyed parents and teachers about public schools and there were three areas of concern- too much testing, unregulated charter schools, and too much “change” too fast.
That third area is interesting- it’s a kind of ed reform exhaustion. The people I talk to think a lot of this stuff is faddish and short-lived. They are tired of the constant upheaval. The pieces of ed reform don’t fit together. They don’t take systemic effects into account and people notice that on the ground level. One example is Ohio’s high school graduation requirements. They change them all the time and they do it with so little thought to how it will effect people! These decisions they make ripple out and they don’t seem to understand that.
I know that desire for consistency and reliability goes against ed reform dogma, but what about something like “tried and true improvements with real, lasting value”? Or, “schools you can count on” Something to do with security and predictability.
In Ohio anyway, public schools could legitimately brag about transparency as compared to charters.
Read this and tell me charters are “transparent”:
http://www.ohio.com/news/local/need-for-cash-puts-charter-schools-in-questionable-company-1.736081
I would bet my mortgage payment that this isn’t a single Ohio lawmaker who has any idea where this public money goes. It’s incredibly complicated. There are pass-thru entities and 15 different contractors and constantly shifting board members. The people on the ground running the schools don’t even seem to know who they’re contracting with.
I read the investigation and I STILL can’t make heads of tails of it. I have no idea who actually runs these schools and either does anyone else in this state. Any Ohio lawmaker who tells you they do is lying. It’s impossible to say based on what they have to report.
If you read the county auditor’s report on my public school you will see clearly where every penny collected goes. That’s not true with Ohio charter schools. I don’t even know who “owns” the schools. No one does. A court would have to unravel this mess.
“Searching for vendors when the boards asked for bids, May took matters into his own hands. He founded Rearden Capital and d’Anconia Development to provide financing and line up private investors to purchase school property, often with an option for the schools to buy the property later.
“Rearden” and “d’Anconia” are the neoliberal protagonists in Atlas Shrugged, Ayn Rand’s ode to an unfettered free-market capitalism. Such is the philosophy May and others bring to public education.”
Ask any Ohio lawmaker about “Reardon” and “d’Anconia” and see if they know they’re passing 30 million in state funding thru these (and other) entities. I bet you 5 dollars you get a blank state. They have NO IDEA what happens to this money after it leaves Columbus.
Sadly true for so many political mandates these days: lawmakers so quick to write up their laws, and so quick to walk away from any responsibility for watching over the funding given to those laws.
ciedie aech: so much said in so few words.
Thank you for your comments.
😎
I guess we just need to trust billionaires to both know what they are doing, and to do the right thing. .
“Capitalism is the extraordinary belief that the nastiest of men for the nastiest of motives will somehow work for the benefit of all.” John Maynard Keynes
To homelesseducator: Sigh . . . . I do believe, in all seriousness, that moral conversion is always a possibility but, alas, too seldom a reality. Some years ago, I had a believing moment about Romney–just before that sneak-video, and before hearing that he had a garage for his cars with an elevator–for his cars. Oh, well.
That would make a great anti-ed reform ad !
Thanks for posting this! Been so wrapped up in the presidential affairs I’ve missed news in my home state. This article led to another of how Republican FL lawmakers are planning to remove major state supreme ct and citizen initiatives from the state constitution, including prohibition of using public funds for private school vouchers.
Vouchers vault money into the pockets of for profit charters.
Vouchers make school funds vanish into private accounts.
Vouchers help “launder” public school money into thin air.
Democratic Public Schools
Bumper sticker: I Support Public Schools–not Billionaires’ Bank Accounts.
Public schools die while Republicans lie.
Just as the choice crowd likes label public schools government schools maybe we need to start referring to charter schools as corporate schools
Mel, good idea!
What dianeravitch said!
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Charter schools are corporate schools designed to draw money from public schools. Charter schools have the support of billionaires for business profits. See how many hedge funds invested in charter schools for guaranteed income.
Public Schools Are Free–No Voucher Needed
Modification- Charter schools are corporate CONTRACTORS.
Linda:
That’s pretty good too!
😎
Educate Americans to Guarantee American Competitiveness
Better Public Education for Children = Better Jobs for Adults
Where does the profit come from for for-profit charters? From cuts in services for students
Demand FULL state funding for public education
How about: Strong Public Schools Build Better Communities I think it is worth mentioning the cohesive role public schools play in communities.
Retired teacher, I like that.
Our communities are only as strong as their public schools. Privatizing public schools destroys communities.
The time to punch back and put an end to the constant narrative of scapegoating and blaming public schools is long overdue. The primary tool they use to manufacture the hoax is testing. We need to change the narrative on the purpose of school. It should be to discover what students are talented at, learning how to think, articulate and find a passion. As long as the narrative is college and career ready (training for the minimum level of skill needed to work in a tech workplace) the focus on test scores will continue. Let’s change the focus .
Frederick Douglass said “Find out just what any people will quietly submit to and you will have the exact measure of the injustice and wrong which will be imposed on them.”
Here in NY the Department of Education threatens certification if teachers speak out about opting out while continuing to make algorithms(bovine excrement) that will tell you what will happen if you hire a worker one standard deviation below the mean.
Let’s publicly challenge them to fair discussion and show how absurd and ridiculous their policies are.
Also NYSUT needs to understand you can’t sit at the table when you are on the menu!
WOLF: In my experience with K-12 teachers, too many harbor the false assumption that everyone, and every politician, thinks like they do: that is, that every child REALLY should have the best opportunity to become educated, regardless of race, gender, religion, or whatever. Of course, some do. However, it’s a hard fact that many don’t, many do not wish some children well, and many are willing to spend lots of money, and to lie, waffle, or play around with half-truths with parents and their constituents, to get what they want.
It’s a hard fall teachers have to take to break with that assumption–but I saw it in my teacher ed classes over and over again.
America’s Public Schools — one of our greatest national treasures. Don’t hand them over to private corporations!
Chicago Tribune: choice versus privatization
You’re the voice of reason there, but the article ends with a quote about DeVos winning in the end. People like DeVos and Trump will likely pass without ever facing their own personal or professional failures.
https://www.google.com/amp/www.chicagotribune.com/news/nationworld/politics/ct-donald-trump-education-20161227-story,amp.html?client=safari
Sue Legg: Great comments. We are at a crucial decision point here in Gainesville. Our schools on the westside are over crowded and under enrolled on the east side Charter and tax credit vouchers have drained low income area public schools. This year we have put over $500,000 extra into a ‘turn around’ failing school to help its kids suffering from traumatic backgrounds. Five teachers of 20 have left this school this fall, and it is only one of several such schools. Will we build a new school on the west side and let the failing schools on the eastside dwindle? Will we rezone? If we do, will parents start their own charter schools? Florida is awash in charters–over 650 of them plus the voucher schools.
I know it will take more than slogans to penetrate the fog generated by school choice. Yet, a few ‘choice’ words that convey the risk of social upheaval that privatization brings are needed. Hmmm, social cohesion or social upheaval, what is your choice?
Public use versus child abuse
When stats in doubt, counsel them out
Education for all, not lottery for few
Whole child versus mouth bubble
Class work, not child labor
Participation, not work product
Children are not bricks in yet another wall
Children are more than employees in training
Education by corporation is like evolution taught by one-celled organisms.
Child psychology versus psychopathology
50 Million Students Matter.
America’s Public Schools: Parent Tested – Parent Approved
America’s Public Schools: Parent’s First Choice and Their Children’s Best Chance
Public Schools – Making a Difference for All Children
Public schools made America great.
Charter schools won’t make it great again.
Community versus Corporation
Human potential versus trained seals
Children, not widgets
Children, not robots
Life is not a test
Explore and question, not follow and track
People versus Robots
Transformation for All versus Educational Cleansing
General Admission versus Lotto
Public Trust versus Private Contempt
Ed for All versus Skimming, Cleansing and Counseling Out
Public schools: They’re yours.
Protect what you own: Public schools.
Craig: Public Schools: They Belong to Us
Public Schools: Not for Private Profit
Public Trust Not For Sale
Studies show that framing things in terms of loss are much more effective.
This is TedTalk has great info about changing behavior,,,
Build, don’t gut
Integrate, don’t segregate
Quilts not uniforms
Opt-out!
Nutrify not process
Encourage not enslave
Just a word of caution… avoid adopting the frames created by the privatizers. Heed the advice of George Lakoff.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/answer-sheet/wp/2014/11/19/how-to-reframe-the-education-reform-debate/?utm_term=.5af2ae7727aa
http://www.truth-out.org/progressivepicks/item/27576-george-lakoff-progressives-cannot-succeed-without-expressing-respect-values
Thank you, Gary.
I think we should start with some ideas central to our side of the debate, namely the truth.
Education for all
The whole child
Respect for all forms of potential
Developmentally appropriate education and expectations
Collaboration not competition, beyond forced or token acts
I love the idea of a slogan, but what about getting all University and College level teaching programs on board to support public ed and teachers. I feel many at this level have been silent and need to be more vocal.
Unfortunately, to give equally powerful retorts to the evil empire, one must use emotionally charged words- not cute, pithy truths or technical jargon…something lost on well educated dems(repubs have wiped the floor with this understanding for 30 years).
Also, to affect change, there are some studied and proven ways to do it(from a TedTalk or two):
1 and 2. Frame the loss(1) in tangible terms(2)- NOT what’s gained
3. Make a personal connection to intended audience
4. emphasize social norms
I need time to figure more out. These words and phrase hit the feeling part of our psyche, the lizard-brain; There is no effective, logical reply to these emotional volleys.
Words they like to use “America”, “lazy”, “responsibility/choice”, “coward”, “loser/winner/best”, “communist/capitalist”, “war/battle”, “fight/lay down/give up”, “family/community” “honor/dignity” , “endanger”, patronage, assault, “anti-“, corrupt…. see N.Gingrich’s GoPac memo
Maybe phrases that address the points that:
-communities are being weakened by weakening community schools…
“Family and community, not choice and profit.” “Belonging is as American as Pride/Education”
-we were always bad at international tests while economically and innovatively outstanding, the only thing worse now is the latter…
“Education: Then, no profit, big success. Now, big profit, no equality.”
– schools/businesses choose students now….
“US classrooms- by business…for whom?”
-we lose tax money into darkness
“Charters….yes, with light. Where does the money go?” “Show me the accountability.” “Public funds need accountability.” “Just trust companies?…”, “Education: In business we trust.”
This is for continuing the dialog.
Art,
Your comment about In business we trust has the germ of an idea about what we are losing as well. I think we can hone this idea. Thanks, Sue
How about a series of ads making parents think….
Charters: Profits ensuring your child’s future. //
Old: Principals, New: CEO’s //
Old: Teachers’ Hearts, New: Efficiency //
Old: Child as individual. New: Child as test-score. //
Old: Child as individual. New: Child as data point. //
Old: Embrace learning differences. New: One universal test. //
Stop the presses! Same teacher, different schools, different students, different results….wow…..obviously, the teachers fault. //
Reformers: “We need you to go to a low performing school and reduce your “Added-Value” score….and salary.”
Teacher: “Huh?”
This article and this excerpt show what I’m crudely trying to convey: http://www.vox.com/the-big-idea/2017/1/5/14176156/rebuild-democratic-party-dnc-strategy
“…Additionally, Democrats need to think much more strategically about what scholars call “policy feedbacks” — the ways in which policy fights and outcomes at one point in time set up, or close off, future possibilities. The first thing Democrats do when they win elections is turn to experts to devise ideal governing policies, such as the “Making Work Pay” tax credit or Obamacare, which are often not clearly explained, and whose effects may not be visible to voters. Democrats tend to believe that good policies or their overall beneficial effects will speak for themselves and thus gain automatic public understanding and support. And when policies such as Obamacare are not immediately popular, their pollsters often tell Democrats not to talk about them.
In contrast, conservatives more often use policies and debates about policies to change politics. The first thing Republicans do when they take control is push through new measures that have the effect of disorganizing and undercutting their opponents — such as restrictive voter ID laws, rules that undercut labor unions, and budgets to defund Planned Parenthood. And when conservatives decide which issues to take up first, they try to debate and enact early measures — such as tax cuts — that set up desirable debates and patterns of political mobilization down the line.
The right is simply light-years ahead of the left in thinking about the interplay of policy and politics. Right now, for instance, the incoming Trump administration and GOP Congress intend to move fast to get rid of the taxes on business and the wealthy that have paid for Obamacare’s remarkable expansion of health insurance to more than 20 million low- and middle-income Americans.
Ostensibly, full cessation of insurance benefits will be delayed to give the GOP time to devise “replacements” — the GOP is using the “replacement” language as a delaying and deflecting tactic. But as GOP strategists surely realize, there will be no future revenues to pay for adequate replacements, because conservative groups will go all out to support GOP politicians who promise not to raise taxes. Later, when Obamacare benefits are slated to fully disappear, conservatives will pit halfway restorations against funding for traditional Medicaid and Medicare, trying to force Democrats into choosing which kinds of health insurance to protect.
This kind of political strategizing — using early policy battles to shift the terrain for later battles and designing policies to build political support — needs to happen for Democrats and the left, too.”
We’ve been watching this occur for decades.