Advocates for vouchers in Tennessee failed again to pass voucher legislation, despite an intensive campaign, and narrowing the legislation only to Memphis.
The big stumbling block was how to hold voucher students and voucher schools accountable.
Chalkbeat reports:
“It’s an anticlimactic ending after months of debate and hundreds of thousands of campaign dollars spent to boost legislation allowing public money to be spent on private school tuition.”
The issue will be fought out again in 2018.
Interesting that the pro-voucher group calls itself the “Campaign for School Equity,” when it should be the “Campaign for School Privatization.” Honesty is the best policy. But the privatizers always name themselves what they are not.
Diane Ravitch's blog 
….the privatizers always name themselves what they are not.n
Yes they have a talent for misrepresenting themselves and mischaracterizing public schools.
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Both sides of the issue, need to understand the value of marketing. When life insurance companies decided to call their product “estate planning”, sales went up.
Honesty is NOT always the best policy, in sales. You sell the sizzle, not the steak.
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“Both sides of the issue, need to understand the value of marketing. ”
In our context, I wouldn’t talk about the “value” of marketing; the least negative term I would use is the “nature” of marketing.
The privatizers certainly did marketing, but the opponents used the democratic process and old fashioned fact checking and exploration.
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“ending after months of debate”
Great to see Tennessee lawmakers are working so hard on “public education”
Did they get anything else done or did this crusade completely hijack everything else for months? Voucher-mania is spreading like wildfire. Maybe at some point one of them can put some effort towards public schools or is that too much to ask?
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Yes, it is too much to ask, Chiara.
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Ever duplicitous in their efforts to privatize education, the Koch brothers, Americans for Prosperity, the national Chamber of Commerce, and, of course, ALEC – the American Legislative Exchange Council, are more than likely, behind all these state-level bills (let’s not forget the Walmart and Bradley Foundations and others who wish to destroy the teachers’ unions/associations and all unions). In Nh, the right are pushing for “the education savings accounts.” The bill was retained this year until January of 2018. This people don’t surrender (as with the RTW bills) so the other side must always be prepared to counter their falsehoods and Orwellian language.
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Senator Alexander who claims a desire to return education decisions to the States, where they have always been, still supports DeVos who wants to make federal aid to education based on adoption of vouchers.
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Are you serious about this DeVos plan?
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I too, would like to know more about this plan. Yesterday, Pres Trump announced an exec order, reducing the federal involvement in K-12 education (hooray), and returning more control to states/municipalities.
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see
http://talkingpointsmemo.com/news/trump-executive-order-federal-government-k-12-education
I would think that people from both the right and left, would cheer for this. The US Constitution does not give the federal government any specified role in education (See article 1 Sec 8).
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Charles: My guess is that, in Betsy-Think, the state legislatures are better-controlled by her and groups like ALEC. Whereas the federal government is “too liberal” and controlling of the local arena: TRANSLATED: the FedGov sticks to the foundations of the Constitution and likes to know where taxpayers’ money is being spent. Pooh, Pooh on that.
BTW, remember Romney’s 47 percent speech that was surreptitiously recorded by a food worker? The working poor are just looking for a handout and don’t want to take responsibility for themselves. On the other hand, when the working poor want to vote, which means they are taking political responsibility for themselves, here come the Republicans, doing everything they can to keep voting from happening. Go figure.
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@Catherine: I see your point, to some extent. I do not see Ms. DeVos “controlling” various state legislatures. After all, school choice/voucher proposals were just voted down in Texas and Tennessee (Virginia last year).
I would think that the Feds could mandate school choice to the states, through federal legislation. Pres Trump just announced yesterday, that he is moving to reduce the federal role in K-12 education.
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Charles Is that “Oh, happy day!” coming from the ALEC consortium? DeVos doesn’t always get what she wants at the state level, though she apparently thinks she should get some return for her investments in education.
What’s important is that not everything is or should be run under marketing principles. In fact, the best of those in marketing are those who were brought up under a different set of principles.
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“I do not see Ms. DeVos “controlling” various state legislatures. ”
But basic way of controlling is not through laws but money: little bribery here and there by devos or the feds go a long way. Just see the effect of Race to the Top money.
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Actually, DeVos has spread millions to gain control of key seats in state legislatures
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After all the depressing news concerning education, it is a welcome change to see that something good has happened. We need that to keep up our spirits.
How sad that this battle, which destroys education for all, continues with the blessings of billionaires who know nothing about educating kids.
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Diane: This just in from the “Conversation.”
“President Donald Trump has directed the United States Department of Education to evaluate whether the federal government has “overstepped its legal authority” in the field of education. This is not a new issue in American politics.
“Ever since the Department of Education became a Cabinet-level agency in 1979, opposition to federalized education has been a popular rallying cry among conservatives. Ronald Reagan advocated to dismantle the department while campaigning for his presidency, and many others since then have called for more power to be put back into the states’ hands when it comes to educational policy. In February of this year, legislation was introduced to eliminate the Department of Education entirely.
“So, what is the role of the state versus the federal government in the world of K-12 education?” MORE at:
https://theconversation.com/federal-role-in-education-has-a-long-history-74807?utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Latest%20from%20The%20Conversation%20for%20April%2027%202017%20-%2072685526&utm_content=Latest%20from%20The%20Conversation%20for%20April%2027%202017%20-%2072685526+CID_5d6567b5e7ef898b955b683c32c07e75&utm_source=campaign_monitor_us&utm_term=Federal%20role%20in%20education%20has%20a%20long%20history
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It amazes me how overworked, stressed out teachers still find the will to fight back vouchers. Such fights like this one in TN, require a lot of time, effort in organizing webpages, calling legislators, travelling to attend legislative sessions in far away cities, talking to and persuading parents and other teachers to call their legislators. How these teachers don’t give up is quite incomprehensible to me.
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Keep in mind, that other people, besides teachers, are working to hold back school choice/vouchers. Non-teaching employees of school systems, administrators, etc. all have “common cause” to hold back school choice.
And teachers know, that when school choice comes in, that teachers who cannot “cut the mustard’, will lose their jobs in down-sizing.The prospect of losing one’s job, tends to focus the mind.
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I hate the assumption that teachers who cannot “cut the mustard’, will lose their jobs in down-sizing. This assumes that there are bad teachers who are now employed when they shouldn’t be.
There are always a few bad apples in any profession, but the downsizing that occurs can and will most likely affect teachers who are doing a perfectly good, outstanding job. There often enters in the VAM nonsense, political ploys and the now unnecessary jobs of librarian, music teacher and art teacher. There are also those teachers with years of experience who are being paid too much. Their heads will come early on the chopping block.
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@CarolMalaysia: When a down-size comes, some positions will have to be cut. It is easier to give employees the pink-slip, than it is to sell off a building. It is natural to assume, that employees that have value to the organization (school system), will continue. Employees that cannot meet the standard, in the new reduced system will be forced out the door.
Some (or all) of the reductions may hit good, competent teachers. (It happened to me: My supervisor came in my office. He said, you are doing a great job, everyone likes you, Friday is your last day.) The school system may have to make hard choices, and cut their librarian, music teacher, gym teacher, art teacher,etc.
This is the process of “creative destruction”, that occurs in any dynamic economic model. The upside, is that when the parents exercise school choice, then the students and the money will flow to the schools of choice. The losing (public) schools will face cuts and reductions. The gaining (private) schools, will have the resources to hire librarians, art teachers, gym teachers, music teachers, etc.
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Quote: “This is the process of “creative destruction”, that occurs in any dynamic economic model.”
You’re giving the impression that this is just fine. Charter schools and voucher schools make money because they pay less to teachers. Most often there are no unions and sometimes no accountability. I do not consider this an advancement. There is already a severe teacher shortage. Who wants to work in this system even if you consider it a “dynamic economic model.” I consider it garbage that does nothing to enrich students or teachers. It only enriches the CEO’s who use the system to destroy stability in communities.
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@Carolmalaysia: Of course “creative destruction” is just fine. When automobiles came in to widespread use, Blacksmiths, buggy-whip makers, and livery stables went out of business. Newspapers gave way to radio, and radio gave way to broadcast TV, and broadcast TV gave way to cable and satellite TV. New technology and new services force old, obsolete technologies and services out.
Charter schools are making money, because parents are choosing to send their children to charter schools. If charter schools can deliver the product (education) to children, that is to the parent’s satisfaction, the schools will flourish.
If schools can operate without unions, that is great. Teachers (and non-teaching staff) should be able to sell their services to a school, without the interference or permission of any third party.
If there is a shortage of teachers, then schools will have to pay more. The shortage will disappear, when teachers are paid adequately.
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“Teachers should be able to sell their services to a school, without the interference of permission of any third party.”
You really don’t understand what is happening. Teachers are not ‘selling their services’. They are providing a necessary service to children. Too often, this is not respected by politicians who are the ones that adjust our pay. Lack of money means lack of salary.
I know of one teacher in a poverty area in NW Indiana who hadn’t had a pay increase for 8 years. Are we all supposed to assume that those teachers deserved that because they hadn’t done an adequate job of ‘selling their services”. Or do we say that something is terribly off in the politics of conservatism that is overwhelming the whole state.
Since there is too often no accountability in charter schools the parents really don’t know what is happening. It is the fault of the media to not tell parents that too often these schools exist for the profits of the CEO’s. How many parents have enrolled their children in online schools and don’t realize that they are receiving next to nothing in education?
I’d love to hear Diane’s comments to what you have said. You obviously don’t get what is happening.
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