Republicans in The House of Representatives have proposed legislation that would require states to adopt vouchers or lose their federal funding. This is an outrage! This is step one of the Trump-DeVos agenda to force vouchers and charters on states that do not want them. This is a blatant misuse of federal power to coerce states to go along with religious zealots like DeVos.
The legislation, HR 610, has been filed. Let your Representative in Congress know that you oppose this egregious federal overreach. Support The Network for Public Education as we rally supporters of public schools to repel this obnoxious legislation.
The language of the legislation and the steps you can take to oppose it are included here.
If you do not want your tax dollars to fund evangelical religious schools, madrassas, or yeshivas, get active.
If you believe in public schools with certified teachers who teach modern science and history, not religious fervor, get active.
Speak up. Speak out. Defend separation of church and state. Defend your community public schools. Stop the raid on the public school funds.
Diane Ravitch's blog 
Reblogged this on David R. Taylor-Thoughts on Education and commented:
I know our elected officials don’t care, but people don’t want vouchers. They have been proven to be a failure every time.
They ae not a failure for the wealthy who want to use vouchers to help send their kids to provate schools. And that’s where this is going. The wealthy funding their children’s education on our backs.
You are correct. They are only a failure to 99% of us.
Another extortionist move like Obama’s administration, but this time it is even more extreme. It’s time to go to court to challenge this federal overreach.
False equivalency. Obama is no longer president. Move on.
I reblogged this and commented that
“I agree commentor “Retired Teacher’s characterization of this as “extortionist”… Few Democratic legislators opposed RTTT’s de facto mandate that districts use Value Added metrics… and their silence on that “extortion” paved the way for the GOP to link another bogus concept— vouchers— to federal dollars…. and I doubt that the 35 GOP governors will complain about this.
Tax dollars should not go to schools that are not held to same standards as public schools. All students should have a state qualified educator as a teacher.
I taught at an elite private school, where the majority of the teachers were not “state qualified.” The students, however, got a damn fine education. In fact, bringing in only “state qualified” educators may have brought down the quality of teaching. Oh please tell me what wonderful things teacher’s colleges are giving their students today that I can’t get by reading and working and raising my own children. Public schools are a vapid wasteland of oppression and conformity. They do not and cannot encourage individual thinking, creativity, or student autonomy. Everybody does the same assignments, is held to the same standards, takes the same exams, and no one is treated as an individual encouraged to investigate their own ideas and set their own schedules and create their own reading lists and design their own projects and investigations.
The sooner we end coercive schooling and encourage more self-directed learning, the better.
Richard, how many openings in that elite private school for poor kids from low scoring schools with a $5,000 voucher.
Common sense suggests the tuition is anywhere from $30,000-50,000. No voucher covers that. Your school doesn’t want these kids. How would you fare in an inner city school with large classes, students with disabilities, and children who are hungry and homeless. My guess is that you and the other teachers at the elite private school wouldn’t last a week.
Sorry, Diane, I did last more than a week in an inner-city school, so your assumption is wrong. It was a charter school, but this was almost 20 years ago and the demographics matched fairly closely the neighborhood schools. I had students with learning disabilities, I had students in gangs, students who were homeless, students who were shot and stabbed, students who were beaten by their fathers and came to school bruised, students who were hungry, students who were three to six grade levels behind in reading, etc.
How much time have you spent in these types of schools? How much teaching have you done in these environments?
And, actually, we had a grant program at the private school that covered full tuition (your tuition guess is the only thing correct in your reply) for disadvantaged students who might be able to take advantage of a better situation than their neighborhood school could provide.
Again, what kind of teaching have you done? I actually let my students tell me what they’d like to learn and read and I help them achieve those goals. I support their dreams and goals, not mine and the government’s. I treat them with respect, not like future cogs for the corporate machine and our consumer culture.
Teachers who rant against Trump and his authoritarian ways are an interesting lot because most of them go to work each day and take their place in an authoritarian system that stymies the voice of young people every day. They force students to line up and make them walk in lines. They are constantly telling students to be quiet and sit down, and they demand conformity. They are handing out detentions and poor grades and other punishments because students didn’t complete work the teacher wanted them to do, no matter what the young person wanted or how much more enriching what they were doing instead of the school work was. They say they trust students, but they make students get reading logs and homework sheets and tests signed by parents because they don’t really trust them. A student who is responsible enough to care for a sibling and to take public transportation to school and to have a job is forced to ask to go to the bathroom and to take a break from a class and told when to eat, etc. Am I supposed to defend this kind of institution?
I’ll back real school reform. But that starts with redefining the goal of school to teaching kids how to be autonomous individuals within a democratic system. To do that, unfortunately, our current coercive system must be overhauled completely.
While you may feel that there are intelligent people who can teach in the public school system, I am not comfortable with my tax dollars being used in a situation where a school teacher has not passed state certification requirements (basic competency), something that anyone can attempt by signing up and paying the state fee. Additionally, there needs to be some form of basic agreement across the country regarding the types of skills that will be taught in public education, where the goal is to educate the masses well enough to carry out daily social functions, including voting within a democracy. The idea that educators or individual schools get to determine what is best for the country in terms of use of our tax dollars is ridiculous. We certainly would not want people in one state to learn only a set of skills deemed worthwhile by that state or a specific school within the state, while people in another state or school learn a different set of skills; the likely result being that we have no sense that people can move from one place to another and engage in competent work related matters with basic competency. Additionally, at the high end of education, I don’t want anyone teaching who does not have a solid grasp of our most influential theorists or knowledge of the latest scientific studies as those studies relate to a successful classroom experience. Finally, I want educators to know the basic laws surrounding education, something that people merely rearing children most often do not know. People like you, Sir, are the reason that people in our society don’t respect teachers. The belief that any monkey who gives birth is blessed with effective classroom managements skills, and is well informed about subject matter, laws or theories surrounding education is simply a mis-estimation on your part as to what it takes to be a successful educator. “Elite private school” is not what happens in most voucher or charter situations; those are exceptions rather than rules. My guess is that the population served in an elite private school is quite different than the population served in most school environments.
Additionally, Richard, implying that children ought to determine curriculum over professionals is a form of organized chaos. Students who don’t like a subject are unlikely to explore the subject on their own, leading to a less than well rounded thinker or competent citizen. States don’t fund education for happiness purposes; that’s not their business. The Constitution does not call for free education; it is not your right. If you want your child to only be happy with school, you pay for it. States fund education to ensure that the masses can perform in an educated society with sufficient competency. We’ll use your parenting analogy again. If my mother only ever made me do what I wanted to do, I would never have learned to make a bed; I never wanted to do that particular chore as a child. But, as a mother, she felt that my personal feeling non that issue did not matter because I was not mature enough to know that one day I would need to make my own bed, or that keeping up a house is the job of all family members. She was and still is my teacher in life, which quite frankly is better than a friend any day of the week. A friend makes us happy (sometimes even allowing us to move down poorly chosen pathways), a teacher should look out for the long term interests of those who they teach; those are not always aligned goals.
I want to cry when I read what you say, because in the nineties my colleagues and I at a NYC middle school created a curriculum of such depth and excellence that comes when brilliant, educated PROFESSIONALS who know what learning looks like, are given the authority to meet objectives in their own way…ya know…like doctors who figure out what is best for a petition, ro attorneys whose education and experience give them the edge on winning in court.
I grasp how our universities are failing to produce teachers of quality, maybe because what bright, educated person wants to work for low wages and be fired before they can be vetted and get medical and pension benefits… 3 years and ou they go.
it’s complicated, but I can tell you this, sir, my children went to local public schools in the eighties, and went on to top universities.
The conspiracy to end public education in the past 2 1/2 decades, began by removing the top PROFESSIONALPRACTITIONERS, replacing them with novices who are gone in a few years.
The unions let this happen http://www.perdaily.com/2011/01/lausd-et-al-a-national-scandal-of-enormous-proportions-by-susan-lee-schwartz-part-1.html
and now we have this ‘reform’ travesty.
It is extortion!.
Richard,
I do not know where you taught, however, I can tell you that at this elite private school you talk about students that have gone thru some rough times, I doubt this is the case and I will tell you why. First you talk about this being a charter school where the cost is high and that low income students get grants to attend. If this is the case I would doubt that the students are being abused by their parents, for if this was the truth the parent would not be involved in the students education for the would not care. most carter schools as you describe that are doing a good job, which is around 10% have a parent involvement not parental abuse. these parents are involved and will will do what ever they can to support their children,
Now lets address what my education has afford me, which is a doctorate in education. First I have a full Math degree, and as a high school and college adjunct this math degree allows me to teach my students in many different ways and not as you say just by a book, which is what you implied you do by reading such book to be able to teach the topic. I have a though understanding of my content area unlike a teacher that has not had my education.
I have taught to many different socio-economic students and in different setting such as two different types of alternative schools. The authoritarian school atmosphere is something that many of these students are in need of, for they do not get this structure at home. This discipline is necessary in order to prepare these students for their future. I do not know to many bosses that do not tell you how to do thing, when to do things and demand that you are on time and adhere to a structure. It is not always in the content we learn but in the acquisition of knowledge that prepares us for the future. Some of this knowledge is social norms, which is taught in the as you call a authoritarian setting.
Know lets talk about critical thinking which you feel that we do not teach for we stay to a structure. Well I have talked with students from around the world and in my research I have found that most students that come to this country on an exchange basis say the same thing and that is our schools do promote critical thinking and not just remote memorization, as many schools around the globe do.
Now as far as vouchers go, I will admit that are public schools are far from perfect and that they need to be adjusted. First of all Taking funding from them is not going to help and is only going to hurt. especially when most of this is going to be used as a tuition break for the wealthy who can afford to send their children to elite private schools. Second, and most importantly most charter schools are for profit and we should not be profiting on something as important and the basic right for all children to be educated to the best of their ability.You stated that at this elite school you taught at you had children with disabilities, well in fact many of these schools are not restricted by the IDEA and do not take on these students due the added cost of their education. I am not talking about students that have ADHD or the like I am talking about low functioning Autistic children these children can cost ten times the amount to educate an average student.
So, while maybe the school you taught at is a utopia, this is not the norm and is the exception to the rule, our best investment in the future of this country is in our children, and it should not be for profit, and needs to have some regulation as to whom we entrust our children to for again as you stated what has my education taught me, the insight to understand when a student is struggling and might need services. I was in a meeting today with a parent and had to advise that parent to seek professional help for their child based on my observations and understand of mental health taught to me in those classes that you did not take that her child in my opinion has a problem with depression among other possible issues. Upon this discussion the parent even admitted that her child has mentioned suicide (which I did not know about) that she just blew off as idle talk. I said that her child is calling out for help and that she needs to do something. So, you see there is a great deal that an education does for our teachers and to dismiss it is ridiculous.
Good response Rich! You got it right!
Cross posted at https://www.opednews.com/Quicklink/ALERT-GOP-Congress-Launch-in-Best_Web_OpEds-Congress-Republican-GOP_Diane-Ravitch_Legislation_Public-Education-170221-682.html
with this COMMENT:
Here is your LEGISLATIVE BRANCH OF GOVERNMENT working to end WHAT YOU ALREADY HAVE!
Look Today, Here is YOUR LEGISLATORS working to repeal what protections you have from fake universities which cannot show that their students ever find their way into employment. https://www.nytimes.com/2017/02/20/business/for-profit-education-trump-devos.html?emc=edit_th_20170221&nl=todaysheadlines&nlid=50637717&_r=0
Isn’t it time that we THROW THE BUMS OUT!
#THROWTHEMOUT!
I’m just one parent and don’t claim to represent any group, but rather than “undermine public schools” I would point out that ed reform does absolutely nothing FOR public schools.
This entire debate is focused on vouchers and charters. That’s the issue for public schools. They have no ADVOCATES in DC. They have opponents and “agnostics”.
On the other hand, charters and vouchers have advocates. That’s not balanced and it shows.
Ask your representatives in DC what they did FOR public schools. Don’t let them weasel out of the question by switching to promoting vouchers or charters. Promoting vouchers and charters may or may not be a good idea, but it does NOTHING for public schools.
This is a huge vulnerability in ed reform and they’re so far into the echo chamber they don’t even see it. There is NOTHING of value for public schools in ed reform. Their entire public school agenda is one of managing the LOSS of public schools when they’re replaced by charters and private schools.
This is a problem in a country where 90% of kids attend public schools! I suspect Senators and House members don’t realize it because so few of them use public schools but boy, if you’re a public school parent you notice.
Trump and DeVos cannot mention “public schools” without putting “failing” in front of it. This is bias! An idiot could see it but they don’t because they reside WITHIN a very specific group of conservative ed reformers.
Point it out to public school parents. It’s real.
For-Profit Schools, an Obama Target, Are Optimistic Now
By PATRICIA COHEN/NYT
2/21/2017
“The Education Department, whose scrutiny has led hundreds of campuses to close, is now led by Betsy DeVos, who has investments in the industry.”
I would also ask public school leaders to take a hard look at the consultants and experts they’re hiring. Don’t hire consultants who bash public schools and promote charters and private schools.
No charter school would ever hire a consultant who spent all their time lobbying against charter schools. Public schools shouldn’t either.
Stand up for yourselves. Stop serving as a political punching bag and for God’s sake stop paying experts and consultants who use you for this political agenda! Find a consultant or an expert who supports your school. There are thousands of consultants. There’s no reason to hire people who lobby AGAINST your schools. It’s suicide and the public are footing the bill.
Reblogged this on DCGEducator: Doing The Right Thing and commented:
The attacks get worse with each succeeding administration.
Can someone point me to ONE THING the US Congress has done for US public schools since 2010?
Not vouchers and charters. Public schools. ONE positive. One specific thing that adds value for the 90% of US children in public schools.
Ed reform sold this as “improving public schools”. Hold them accountable. Any time DeVos is asked about public schools she switches to vouchers and charters. There’s a reason for that. She offers NOTHING to kids in public schools.
I’m on it!
Public schools have a right to demand POSITIVE contributions from their representatives in DC.
Don’t just ask DC to stop attacking your schools. Insist they contribute something of value other than a private school voucher. Private school vouchers are irrelevant to the vast, vast majority of children in public schools.
Raise your expectations. They have to ADD VALUE. Right now they’re subtracting but that doesn’t mean we beg them to stop subtracting. They have to ADD.
What if we said the US Congress and the US Department of Education could focus exclusively on charter and private schools? They’re doing it anyway. What if we said “have at it- expand your preferred sectors but leave public schools alone”?
Given that they contribute absolutely nothing to public schools, would it really matter?
Would we maybe be better off if we stopped fighting them but instead made them completely irrelevant to parents and children in public schools? They’re well on their way anyway.
It’s so funny to watch ed reform go full-on vouchers because they specifically denied this was about privatization for 20 years.
Every time anyone said “they want to privatize” that person was met with vehement denials by the echo chamber.
It WAS about privatization. They misled the public. It is now and was always about “backpack vouchers” and they will not stop until they reach that goal- no matter the “collateral damage” to kids in public schools.
Critics were right.
Did the US Congress or the US Department of Education get any input from existing public schools on the voucher plan they’re pushing? Voucher plans affect children and parents in public schools. Were we excluded from the US Congress again?
Are public schools even welcome in DC anymore? They don’t hire public school graduates or parents at the US Department of Education. Do they permit people from public schools to enter the building?
What a joke this is. Thousands of federal employees who strut around boasting of their opposition to public schools.
Good job! You are now in opposition to 90% of the kids and parents in your own districts.
Utterly ludicrous.
I thought Republicans were the party of”states rights.”
They are the party of local control until they get into power.
DC Public Schools @dcpublicschools Feb 17
More
Chancellor Wilson plans to visit all 115 DCPS schools before the end of the school year. Follow his visits online!
He should drag along some of our esteemed representatives. “Kicking and screaming” if need be.
It’ll be an eye opening experience for them. Eureka! Public schools exist!
They’re probably afraid they’ll catch “government school” cooties. Ick.
According to the US Dept of Education: Q This is especially true at the elementary and secondary level, where about 92 percent of the funds will come from non-Federal sources. END Q
see https://www2.ed.gov/about/overview/fed/role.html
Only about 8% of K-12 spending on education is federal. The federal government has no specific constitutional authority, to become involved in education at all. (See US Constitution Article 1 Sec. 8) This is as it should be.
Traditionally, Education (K-12) has been a state/local responsibility. This ensures that control will be local.
If the states wish to retain control of their educational systems, they should decline all federal interference, control, and funding. There is even legislation introduced to abolish the US Dept of Education.
Two lawsuits will appear quickly, one regarding the separation of church and state and the other will be to compensate teachers who invested in their state licensing to teach with public funds. All teachers who paid or had opportunity costs associated with getting a state teacher’s license will be able to sue the legislative body to recover those costs.
Vouchers will undermine the entire teacher credentialing process and will end in the closure of schools of education, along with all institutions that regulate public education.
Maybe the second lawsuit will appear. But, the first one will not. The Constitutional issue, with respect to establishment of religion, has already been settled. With a new Trump appointee on the Supreme Court (possibly Gorsuch), The issue of constitutionality will not be revisited.
I’m 100% for public schools and am 100% against what DeVos represents, BUT to imply that teachers in religious schools are sub par, not teaching modern science and history, and are only into “religious fervor” is completely asinine.
I work in a religious school, and our global curriculum far surpasses what I see in the many public school districts I have visited. In fact, in one local district, teachers, and the district itself, would not accept a particular reading series because of its world view.
To me, that is the true crime.
Brian, you are right that not all religious schools are subpar. Some are excellent. However, the amount of the voucher is small, and experience in states like Indiana and Louisiana shows that the schools that want the vouchers do not hire certified teachers, are not required to, and teach creationism. Does your religious school teach creationism? Does it use the ABeka textbooks from Bob Jones University? How many openings are available for voucher students from the inner city?
I did have to ask some questions at my school, just now, to verify that I was correct in what I thought, and that thinking was confirmed.
We do have a religious component to our school, and we have students here from several different religions. Our teachers/students do attend chapel daily. Our students do have a religious studies/world religions class. That being said, the approach to evolution/creationism is skewed heavily in our teaching to the side of science. I am not Episcopalian myself, by I am told this is in line with the Episcopal school tradition. We do not use the book you mention. In fact, I don’t believe a book is used for this class at all.
Additionally, we do not have openings for students holding vouchers.
Again, I’m against the destruction of our public school system and everything behind it. My son goes to and my wife works in the public school system. But this statement, “If you believe in public schools with certified teachers who teach modern science and history, not religious fervor, get active” is irresponsible and does nothing but pits teachers against one another.
Would coercing states to use vouchers conflict with the section of the Constitution that says powers not specified to Congress belong to the states?
The tenth amendment: “The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people.”
The federal government has no specific constitutional authority to be involved in education at all. (See Article 1, Sec. 8). The framers (wisely) stayed out of education, and left it to the states.
The states should re-assert their authority to run their educational programs as they see fit. Abolishing the department of Education, would be a great first step.
HR 899, in the works, just abolishes the whole Department of Education. That bill was introduced on February 7 and has gained about seven co-sponsors.
Breitbart has a discussion on how some of the functions of USDE (e.g., IDEA) can be moved to other agencies allowing the rest of the USDE architecture to vanish.
I think it also instructive to look at the comments at Breitbart to see the misinformation and just plain weirdness and raw hatred of public education expressed by visitors to Breitbart.
I was unaware of this bill until it was reported in the Cincinnati Enquirer this morning. HR 899 just abolishes the whole Department of Education. The bill was introduced on February 7 and has gained about seven co-sponsors.
http://www.breitbart.com/big-government/2017/02/14/exclusive-ky-rep-massie-bill-abolish-education-department-president-white-house-conceivably-sign/
And ths in the name of respect for local and state rights–against Govt interference, etc!!!!!
We must mobilize quickly.
I thought the Republican philosophy was to leave states alone? Moreover, DeVos said specifically that she would not force ant state to participate. Proven liars.
Two questions: This bill was filed on January 23, 2017. Why are we only hearing about it now?
And, how soon before parents of children with disabilities sue over this bill if it becomes law? It is stating that it will not provide funds for students with disabilities if states do not fall in line with vouchers. Sounds like a civil rights issue to me.
What are the requirements for states with regards to vouchers? Can they offer vouchers worth $1? Can they offer vouchers only for private schools that are not religious in nature? Can they offer vouchers for those who are not able to participate in a school district program, as signed off by the school district?
Renee,
We will have to see what the law requires. Usually a voucher is the state contribution, which may be enhanced by federal dollars. All the dollars are subtracted from the public schools.
I am not in favor of defunding any schools, in order to obtain poor results. I am 1000% in favor of strong, effective, public schools. The federal legislation will face obstacles, and amendments. And there is no guarantee that the legislation will pass. Education is 92% a state/municipal operation, anyway. When the Dept of Education is dismantled, and the functions it currently operates are returned to the states/municipalities, no one will be happier than myself. When education is run locally, and funded locally, the result is more local control. With federal dollars, comes federal control.
If HR610 passes (and there are no guarantees), then the states will have to pick up the majority of the costs. Not all states will wish to set up school choice, as is their prerogative. Not all states will wish to find the funding to have school choice. Not all states will necessarily take existing tax revenues and funnel that money into school choice. Some states will choose to keep the funding to their existing public schools, and come up with the funding elsewhere (either through reallocating some existing non-educational funds, or raising taxes).
The individual states are the final arbiter of this proposal.
The important thing to remember, is that HR610 is only a plan, and plans change, and are not always adopted.
“If you want to make God laugh, tell him your plans” – Phyllis Diller, Actress, Comedian, Philosopher.
The entire text of the bill (HR610) can be read at https://legiscan.com/US/text/HB610/2017
Vouchers for $1 are not being offered. The proposal will set up $20 Billion, to be sent to the participating states (not all states will participate).
Each state will enact their own legislation, should they choose to participate.
The plan to extend school choice to America’s families will then be worked out in each state, that chooses to participate. The legislation of each state, will vary. Some states (ex: Indiana) already have school choice.
Regardless of this federal legislation (HR610), education is still primarily a state/municipal function. According to the Federal Dept of Education, only 8% of K-12 funding is federal.
School choice advocates and opponents, will have to determine the course of each state, at the state level.
Not all states will take money from their existing public school programs, to set up choice/voucher programs.
“it is much more important to kill bad bills than to pass good ones” Calvin Coolidge
Charles,
Last response. Last time you repeat the same talking points about choice.
Choice has not consistently improved academic performance anywhere.
Why should we defund our public schools to get the same or worse results?
I hope those opposed to vouchers will introduce amendments that any school accepting voucher funds cannot discriminate based on religion, race, gender, nation of origin, native language, wealth, test scores, parental involvement, or transportation – in other words not on any basis on which public schools cannot discriminate. Voucher recipient schools must also become subject to open meetings and open records laws and permit the public to vote on their school boards – otherwise, giving them money is taxation without representation.
Yes, time to regulate all schools that take public funding.
The call for voucher was the first racist response to the 1954 Supreme Court ruling on Brown v. Board of Education in which the Court declared that “separate but equal” public schools are inherently unequal and ordered racial integration of the public schools. That ruling triggered “white flight” from public schools to private schools — but parents quickly realized that the tuition cost of private schools was more than they wanted to pay out-of-pocket. That realization led political and private resegregationists to the concoct the “reform” of vouchers, and to sell it to eager parents by deceptively marketing it then —and still today — as merely giving parents a “choice.”
The entire “education reform/choice/voucher/charter school” movement has from its very beginnings been rooted in racism. The movement, of which charter schools are the profit-making part, has always had resegregation of America’s schools as its core agenda. Reports from the NAACP and ACLU have revealed the facts about just how charter schools are resegregating our nation’s schools, as well as discriminating racially and socioeconomically against American children, and last year the NAACP Board of Directors passed a resolution calling for a moratorium on charter school expansion and for the strengthening of oversight in governance and practice. Moreover, a very detailed nationwide research by The Center for Civil Rights Remedies at UCLA shows in clear terms that private charter schools suspend extraordinary numbers of black students.
The 1950’s voucher crusade faded away when it became clear that because of school attendance boundaries no more than a few token blacks would be attending formerly all-white public schools. In 1972 when the Supreme Court finally ordered busing to end the ongoing de facto segregation, the reform movement rose from its grave and has been alive ever since then trying new tactics to restore racial segregation because it’s unlikely that the Court’s racial integration order can ever be reversed. When it became clear in the 1980’s that vouchers would never become widespread, the segregationists tried many other routes to restore racial segregation, and the most successful has been charter schools because charter schools can be sold to blithely unaware do-gooder billionaires as well as to unscrupulous profiteers who recognized charter schools as a way to divert vast amounts of tax money into their own pockets and into the pockets of supportive politicians at every level of government.
An essential part of the strategy to mask their underlying motives has been for segregationists to sell the public on the necessity for charter schools because public schools are allegedly “failing.” With all manner of “research” that essentially compares apples to oranges against foreign nations’ students, and with the self-fulfilling prophecy of dismal public school performance generated by drastic underfunding of public schools, and with condemnation of public school teachers based on statistically invalid student test scores, the segregationists are succeeding in resegregating education in America via what are basically private charter schools that are funded with public money.
The Office of Inspector General of the U.S. Department of Education has issued a warning that charter schools posed a risk to the Department of Education’s own goals. The report says: “Charter schools and their management organizations pose a potential risk to federal funds even as they threaten to fall short of meeting the goals” because of the financial fraud, the skimming of tax money into private pockets that is the reason why hedge funds are the main backers of charter schools.
The Washington State Supreme Court, the New York State Supreme Courts, and the National Labor Relations Board have ruled that charter schools are not public schools because they aren’t accountable to the public since they aren’t governed by publicly-elected boards and aren’t subdivisions of public government entities, in spite of the fact that some state laws enabling charter schools say they are government subdivisions. THERE IS NO SUCH THING AS A “PUBLIC CHARTER SCHOOL” because no charter school fulfills the basic public accountability requirement of being responsible to and directed by a school board that is elected by We the People. Charter schools are clearly private schools, owned and operated by private entities. Nevertheless, they get public tax money.
Even the staunchly pro-charter school Los Angeles Times (which acknowledges that its “reporting” on charter schools is paid for by a billionaire charter school advocate) complained in an editorial that “the only serious scrutiny that charter operators typically get is when they are issued their right to operate, and then five years later when they apply for renewal.” Without needed oversight of what charter schools are actually doing with the public’s tax dollars, hundreds of millions of tax money that is supposed to be spent on educating the public’s children is being siphoned away into private pockets.
Charter schools should (1) be required by law to be governed by school boards elected by the voters so that they are accountable to the public; (2) a charter school entity must legally be a subdivision of a publicly-elected governmental body; (3) charter schools should be required to file the same detailed public-domain audited annual financial reports under penalty of perjury that genuine public schools file; and, (4) anything a charter school buys with the public’s money should be the public’s property.
NO PUBLIC TAX MONEY SHOULD BE ALLOWED TO GO TO CHARTER SCHOOLS THAT FAIL TO MEET THESE MINIMUM REQUIREMENTS OF ACCOUNTABILITY TO THE PUBLIC.
Reblogged this on Network Schools – Wayne Gersen and commented:
I agree with your characterization of this as “extortionist”… Few Democratic legislators opposed RTTT’s de facto mandate that districts use Value Added metrics… and their silence on that “extortion” paved the way for the GOP to link another bogus concept— vouchers— to federal dollars…. and I doubt that the 35 GOP governors will complain about this.
This sounds very similar to the Medicaid expansion in the ACA that was thrown out by the Supreme Court. If it is found constitutional by some future Supreme Court, the best response would be heavy state regulation of all private schools to discourage the creation of voucher funded private schools.
We need to stop the GOP!