The Network for Public Education invites School Board members to join our new group dedicated to fighting privatization of public schools.
https://npeaction.org/2017/03/03/7286/
We will keep you informed about political activity in your state and introduce you to other dedicated School Board members.
Diane Ravitch's blog 
Excellent idea. Beware of TFA’s who have been trained, funded, and elected to school boards. One is on the Cincinnati School Board and also a mischief maker pushing charter schools as if public and as if necessary because “high quality seats” are not available. This pitch is standard TFA fare but not enough local people are aware of it because they are also unaware of the state’s convoluted system of rating schools A-F. Notice also that many districts have been enticed to sign Gates compacts, which pretend to be agreements to play nice with the charter industry but are almost always planned to raid public school resources for charters, including co-locations, special education services, and the like.
LikeLike
Laura,
TFA has a political arm called Leaders for Edicational Excellence (LEE), which trains kids to run for offfice and fundraisers
They have elected TFA kids to state and local boards, even as state commissioner in NC, where the young man ran with the Tea Party crowd
LikeLiked by 1 person
THIS IS AN ESSENTIAL warning: beware of the TFA fast-track to power. The most dangerous TFA-ers teach only a couple of years, think way too much of themselves, and then go out looking to find outside-the-classroom educational jobs. Mischief is much too nice a word for the problems they then cause.
LikeLike
It’s really stunning how openly hostile the federal government is to public schools.
This is the US Department of Ed statement of Trump’s budget:
“Today’s Budget Blueprint keeps with President Trump’s promise to focus the U.S. Department of Education on its mission to serve students. The budget places power in the hands of parents and families to choose schools that are best for their children by investing an additional $1.4 billion in school choice programs. It continues support for the nation’s most vulnerable populations, such as students with disabilities, while streamlining and simplifying funding for college and continuing to help make college education more affordable.”
It’s 100% vouchers and charters. K-12 public schools have simply disappeared other than their role for students with disabilities.
Why would any public school leader work with these people? They don’t assign any value to the public schools 90% of kids attend. Arguably public school leaders have a duty to their students, parents and communities to OPPOSE these people or at least stop taking direction and advice from them.
There’s no obligation to slit your own throat. That’s not “serving” students.
If DeVos had written a release celebrating the withdrawal of support for charter schools charter leaders wouldn’t be lining up to listen to her.
In my opinion, public schools have to do a hard and uncomfortable analysis of how this “movement” is benefiting THEIR students. If the answer is “not all all” then they have NO obligation to help DeVos harm their schools. Their duty runs the other way- TO the students in their school.
Insist she ADD VALUE. If she isn’t she’s wasting your time. Take a page from Eva Moskowitz. She wouldn’t welcome the US Department of Education if they launched an ideological war against her schools. Your schools are as valuable as hers.
LikeLike
I don’t think anyone can reach anyone in the Trump Administration but I do think members of Congress can be reached.
This is pretty simple. They either support public schools or they don’t. They either join the Trump Administration in this ideological war against the schools 90% of their constituent families attend or they don’t.
“Supporting public schools” with a throw- away line that they’re “agnostics” and support “great schools” at the end of a voucher promotion is garbage. That’s not good enough.
Demand they add value to existing public schools. Ask them to cite SPECIFICALLY what they have done for public schools. That’s what charter and voucher lobbyists do. They’re not out there lobbying for “all schools”. In fact, they’re issuing press releases thanking the federal government for investing in charters and private schools. No one even mentions public schools in this “movement”. They’re the disfavored default DC isn’t particularly interested in supporting.
LikeLike
Here’s what Democrats in Congress fought for last session: “accountability”. Testing and data collection in public schools.
That’s all they offer the 90% of kids in public schools. That’s not good enough. Have higher expectations. Your schools aren’t just data collection centers for the “choice” movement. Public schools have their own value separate and apart from the “choice” schools. Insist politicians like DeVos add to that value or take their political campaign elsewhere, OUT of your schools.
LikeLike
This is a piece from ed reform on “magnet schools”. I ask you, if these folks were actually “agnostics” wouldn’t they pay more attention to public magnet schools?
There are actually MORE public magnet schools than there are charters and voucher students. Compare the levels of promotion in the “movement” and tell me again this isn’t about privatization.
They’ve given charters and vouchers a WILDLY outsize role and that’s because they PREFER those schools. That’s political and ideological. It’s not “education” or “science”
If they’re excluding whole areas of inquiry and simply “disappearing” whole systems of schools because they don’t fit the privatization narrative then they are biased. The bias is baked in.
The glaring omission of public schools in ed reform tells us as much about ed reform as what they promote does. If they never mention public schools except to compare them unfavorably to charter and private schools they do not value public schools. They don’t have to tell us that, and they won’t, because that’s politically risky. We can just look at what they do and more importantly DON’T do.
https://www.brookings.edu/research/dont-forget-magnet-schools-when-thinking-about-school-choice/
LikeLike
We in Canada are scared to death that American privatization agenda will spill over here. So far we have beaten it back through many means. Charters only in Alberta. No vouchers. Some provinces have paid half for religious schools for many decades. Still 95% remain public.
One reason we remain high in PISA is Canada has only 12% poverty (USA 20% Finland 5%).
Also in Ontario (44% of Canada) we actually operate on ghe concept that ghe poorer the school the more money it receives. The province gives school boards more money the poorer they are. They agree to spend the extra on the poor schools. There are periodic arguments about “how poor is poor” and so on. No property tax for schools. All provincial money.
LikeLike
We are frightened a lot about it in Norway as well!
LikeLike
Many (not all) Americans look to the schools in Scandinavia for ideas. I think the public schools in Finland, have many excellent policies, which can be emulated here in the USA.
We Americans are not shy about adopting excellent ideas from other nations. With 50 states, we have 50 “laboratories” where ideas can be tried, and if found successful, other states can pick them up!
LikeLike
Charles,
I love the schools in Finland. It has no Teach for America, no charter schools, no vouchers, no standardized test until the end of high school. Lots of time for play, music, the arts, creativity.
LikeLike
I’m just wondering why the duty to promote “great schools” only applies to public school superintendents. The heads of charter management orgs don’t promote public schools. They’re all publicly-paid, same as public school leaders.
There’s this huge promotion of vouchers going on right now in ed reform. Not one of them are advocating on behalf of public schools. In fact, they’re celebrating DeVos’ budget, which will harm public schools. This is just taken as a given – they advocate exclusively on behalf of their students and schools, no matter the harm to kids in public schools.
Eva Moskowitz doesn’t spend any time or energy promoting “great” public schools. She doesn’t even give a second thought to the public schools that share a building with her charters. No one would ask her to. It’s just assumed they have to take a hit for “team public” but Moskowitz doesn’t pretend to be on Team Public. She’s 100% team charter.
Why does this duty to promote charters and vouchers “for the public good” apply only to people who work in public schools? Don’t charters and private schools have some duty to “all children” if they’re all publicly-funded?
Ed reform plunked a charter magnet school down in Cleveland and Cleveland already has public magnets. The public magnets were ordered to promote the charter magnet, but no one pushing the charter school gave a second thought to the fate of the existing schools. This “partnership” isn’t at all reciprocal. All the duty runs to the public schools.
LikeLike
You wonder sometime if politicians in DC have thought this thru. This is another DeVos speech where she ignores public schools and promotes vouchers:
https://www.ed.gov/news/speeches/prepared-remarks-secretary-education-betsy-devos-national-lieutenant-governors-association
This is a powerful message they’re sending – that public schools are disfavored in the US- lesser, worse than. It’s really appalling how engineered it is. I mean, really? This is what these people want? How can this possibly benefit most people, even most poor or low income people if most people go to public schools?
It’s like they went down this road and they’re just going further and further towards an overtly anti-public school consensus and none of them have the spine to call it out or even question if it’s wise. Every year the echo chamber and they push public schools further into some kind of political wilderness, where NO ONE speaks on their behalf.
LikeLike
This is a great idea. I joined a couple of weeks ago but so far the only information that has been sent to me was to join the Facebook page and I am not on Facebook. Will there be other ways to participate and receive pertinent information? Thank you!
LikeLike
Good question. I will let you know.
LikeLike
What we need is a national push to convince our retired teachers to run for local school boards.
LikeLike
This makes far too much sense. Excellent suggestion.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Guess what happens when teachers, retired or not, run for office….
Funds Tied to Trump’s Education Pick Targeted ‘Teachers’ Caucus’ Candidates
Staggering
LikeLiked by 1 person
Hi Diane. I’m currently running for school board director of my school district. Can I be included in your blog. Rosalie Jacobs.
LikeLike
Rosalie,
Please join the NPE
LikeLike