Mercedes Schneider wrote a post about 50CAN, which exists to spread the gospel of charter schools, state-run “Achievement school districts,” and high-stakes grading systems (unclear whether the high-stakes are only for public schools, as most states haven’t done much to identify or close failing charter schools).
Their agenda is a match with the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) and Betsy DeVos (who supports accountability for public schools only).
As Schneider points out, there is a lot of chatter on the website about “citizen advocates,” but it is clear from the membership on the board that 50CAN is run by the same wealthy magnates that finance other corporate reform, privatizing organizations. On the board, for example, is the Connecticut billionaire Jonathan Sackler, whose family became among the richest in America producing the highly addictive opioids OxyContin.
When you see the size of the staff, you realize that this is a very well funded organization with a multi-million dollar budget.
You will notice frequency of the phrase, “evidence-based,” but don’t be fooled. In almost every state, public schools outperform charter schools. And the only full-fledged Achievement School District is in Tennessee. It has been a dismal failure.
Diane Ravitch's blog 
Is it time yet?
Thomas Jefferson said, “The tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time with the blood of patriots and tyrants.”
Getting closer.
I’d like to flinch, but I think about the bloodless fall of communism in Eastern Europe. As a result, the communist leaders then became the biggest capitalists, the new millionaires by selling government owned factories and properties to themselves for peanuts.
Yes, the Communist Soviet Union was replaced with an autocratic mob-ruled oligarchy of the few.
Here is the link to Mercedes Schneider’s post
https://deutsch29.wordpress.com/2017/05/24/50can-seeking-more-local-investment-to-advance-its-set-agenda/
A lot of “evidence” from charters is often “alternate evidence,” as Mercedes, Laura and Jesey Jazzman can confirm. Their “evidence” is sometimes based on false assumptions, or they cherry pick what they want to highlight, and ignore anything they would rather forget. Unfortunately, these people are backed by some of the wealthiest people that have the PR network to repeatedly put their faux evidence and terms into the public psyche. How many times have we heard “the civil rights issue of our time, failure factories. the teacher is the most important determinant of a student’s success,” etc. ad nauseam?
Starting my own charter chain:
America First Believes in Power Over Mind
Our catch phrase: “Hey, let’s drill down under that data wall and see what we’re destined to find. Ho hey, success! Ignore the ghostly remains of children’s spirits and senses of themselves.”
Had these thieving scum truly believed in evidence based outcomes they’d have shut down the entire charter school system years ago. But they still repeat the lies and propaganda bolstering failed charters with the full support of politicians.
That tells you everything you need to know about how little they all care about the education of your children.
“And the only full-fledged Achievement School District is in Tennessee. It has been a dismal failure.”
Let’s add, ASD is dying.
I think there will soon be a mystery series on Netflix titled “Cannot hide from Mercedes—a tenacious woman’s investigations of the organized crime of education reform, using the lethal weapons of statistics and explosive data mining. “