Billionaire Dan Loeb thinks that he can get away with anything because he is so rich. Being a billionaire puts one in a bubble of immunity from consequences. It means you will never be poor. It means you are a Master of the Universe.
But there is one thing that even billionaires can’t get away with: making vicious racist statements.
When Dan Loeb said that legislator Andrea Stewart-Cousins had done more damage to black children than the Ku Klux Klan, he found himself in the midst of a media firestorm. He was actually embarrassed, a feeling to which he is unaccustomed. He deleted his Facebook post and apologized. But it is hard to unsay what you wrote. His original post expressed what he believed and no one is persuaded that he doesn’t believe what he wrote.
Here is the fallout, as reported by teacher-writer Jake Jacobs.
Calls for his resignation came from many corners, but Loeb, who quickly apologized for the comments, announced he wasn’t going to resign. Loeb, who is a close donor/advisor to House speaker Paul Ryan, has made racist comments before and has also been connected to a number of dark money PACs looking to influence policymakers on charter expansion.
Betty Rosa, NY Board of Regents Chancellor said Wednesday that the issue is “beyond apologies.” NYC mayor Bill de Blasio and his wife agree, as does the NY Daily News editorial board, NYC Council leadership, city labor leaders and Reverend Al Sharpton, who already deployed his National Action Network to protest at Success Academy’s Harlem 1 school.
Hazel Dukes, President of the NAACP, called Loeb’s comments “appalling”, while Joe Belluck, chair of the SUNY Committee on Charter Schools, which authorizes and oversees Success Academy schools, announced they are “reviewing options.” This news comes as the same SUNY committee is considering allowing charters to hire uncertified teachers, a controversial proposal originally championed by Success Academy because over 60% of their teachers leave each year.
Rep. Hakeem Jeffries joined two other Congress members and other elected officials from NY for a rally in support of Senator Stewart-Cousins. They demanded Cuomo return Loeb’s campaign contributions and called for Loeb’s resignation. rejection of Loeb’s campaign contributions and calls for his resignation. Other groups, such as Alliance for Quality Education (AQE), the Working Families Party, Citizens Action NY, the Badass Teachers Association, NY Indivisible and Hedge Clippers launched a petition asking Governor Cuomo to return the $170,000 that Loeb contributed to his campaign, along with potentially millions more that went to Cuomo through charter school PACs.
One such PAC, StudentsFirstNY, where Loeb serves as trustee, gave over $10 million to help Republicans win control in this solid blue state, blocking votes on the DREAM Act, funding for needy schools and affordable housing legislation, among other bread-and-butter issues.
But…Governor Cuomo will not refund the hundreds of thousands he received from Loeb. Hakeem Jeffries will still support charter schools. Republicans, with a numerical minority, still control the State Senate, thanks to renegade “Democrats” who ally with them. Eva still takes home at least $500,000 a year. And Dan Loeb is still a billionaire.
Diane Ravitch's blog 
Diane On that account, I guess we need to rethink the presumed equivalence of (a) having money and (b) having intelligence and class.
The trap for so long has been the assumption that (a) = (b).
Ed Johnson Yes (a) money, does not necessarily = (b) intelligence and excellence (real class), and can even be responsible for its threefold loss.
The mistake is more than logical–it’s also deeply psychological and even spiritual. In a secular culture, the the equivalents of adoration of oligarchic power are embodied in sports, fashion, and entertainment figures, and sometimes in the arts. Trump has captured TWO of those: money and entertainment. This double-source of ignorant adoration is in part responsible for his election. To many, Trump is a bonefide fake god.
Here’s a mathematical sentence:
Betsy DeVos does not = intelligence.
Another:
Dan Loeb = racism = stupidity.
Another:
Betsy DeVos + Andre Agassi does not = intelligence.
Another:
Betsy DeVos plus Andre Agassi multiplied by a factor of Puff Daddy does not = intelligence.
Most importantly:
The entire free market does not = intelligence.
LeftCoastTeacher On the other hand (ahem), Adam Smith wrote his “Wealth of Nations” with an accompanying detailed treatise on human values. Without the substance of that treatise at work in those who work in the market, the equivalent of “the invisible hand” is a mindless head–at best.
Catherine,
Yup. “Smith… thought the market could be justified only in light of individual virtue, and he was anxious that a society governed by nothing but transactional self-interest was no society at all. [Charter schools are] Adam Smith without the anxiety.”
Just like going to a private preppy school doesn’t mean a person is smart. In fact, many just buy their degrees…think Kushner. He’s a great example of money buying a degree.
Yvonne Siu-Runyan Yes–it’s a form of nepotism: being valued and promoted not because of merit or suitability, on a principle of excellence, but because you are merely a member of a group or family, regardless of the quality you can bring to your new position, or whether you are likely to thrive, progress, or achieve, and whether or not others are more qualified.
Golden rule in this country, He who has the gold, rules. Always been and it’s getting worse everyday.
alphawolf1 (@alphawolf1 On the Golden Rule in this country (he [sic] who has the gold, rules), another metaphor also works if you can imagine what happens when not only a golden egg is stolen, but also the chicken who continues to lay them.
If the “end run” of a vibrant democracy (the chicken) is a morphing of that democracy into an oligarchic-tyranny–implemented from within by the misuse of democracy’s own principles–the stolen chicken dies. But then the Russian tyrant already knows that.
“But…Governor Cuomo will not refund the hundreds of thousands he received from Loeb.”
Okay, so then the question becomes, what are you New Yorkers going to do about it? Deny him your vote? Or vote for him anyway because “the Republicans are worse”?
Vote for him because the Republicans are worse . But we do have a primary and by my calculations if the AFT had mobilized its members the Governors name could Teachout
I’m going to vote for Bill de Blasio, the one Democrat who actually has tried to stop this nasty charter school from continuing to promote the racist view of non-white children that right wing billionaires love.
And I’m going to fight for Bernie Sanders to stop enabling this and start fighting for REAL public schools, not “fake” public charters that he seems to believe are so great.
NYC public school parent
Hill Bot Please document your claim .
“And I’m going to fight for Bernie Sanders to stop enabling this and start fighting for REAL public schools, not “fake” public charters that he seems to believe are so great.”
Further
“When Mayor Bill de Blasio received from the State Legislature a two-year renewal of mayoral control of New York City’s schools, the longest extension of his tenure, the victory came with an unwritten concession.
As part of the arrangement, the mayor agreed to an increase in the number of charter schools in the city and promised to make it easier for those already in existence to function, City Hall officials said on Thursday.” NYT 6/6/17
But I understand that DeBlasio got his A$$ kicked when he went up against Cuomo and evil Eva . 5 million in negative ads .
Go read Hillary’s new book and stop making excuses for one of the most pathetic figures in American political history. Whose failure elected a fascist. I doubt Bill and Chelsea even believed a word she said . In case anybody missed why Hillary lost the video explains it all Climate change change was not the issue honesty was.
As for Sanders I’ll let Jane Sanders lay out the vision for Education . .
https://www.thenation.com/article/jane-sanders-has-some-harsh-words-for-our-public-education-system/
Joel Herman, this is probably the funniest (although the saddest) thing you wrote:
“In case anybody missed why Hillary lost the video explains it all Climate change change was not the issue honesty was.”
It takes a certain chutzpah to believe that voters were voting for the “honest” candidate in this election.
It takes a certain chutzpah to believe that more Wisconsin voters voted for “lying” Hillary than “honest” Russ Feingold.
Hillary Clinton is a politician whose words have been parsed more than any other politician in history to find “lies”.
Now Michael Dukakis – he was HONEST! Look how well he did! I mean, voters really flocked to his honesty.
And look at Mondale, whose honesty made voters run to vote for him.
And Jimmy Carter? His honesty was definitely the reason he won so many votes. Boy do voters like “honesty”.
You turning on Bill de Blasio is so typical and it is exactly what I expected. You can’t see a progressive without tearing him down as a dishonest liar. I give Elizabeth Warren a month of looking like a real threat before the right wing trolls have “intelligent” progressives deciding she is an even bigger liar than Hillary.
I don’t care what Bernie’s WIFE says. I care what he DOES. He endorsed Tom Perriello in the Virginia primary.
No doubt you’ll find some man — like that DFER candidate Tom Perriello that Bernie Sanders fought so hard for.
After all, Bernie’s chosen candidate is so much BETTER than the nasty Terry McAuluffe who is one of those nasty Clintonites you despise who fights FOR public schools.
I get that you think OTHER issues are far more important and will overlook candidates willing to throw public schools under the bus if they toe the line on whatever other issue you care about. And I realize that you DESPISE Tim Kaine and Terry McAuliffe because their strong defense of public schools was not as important to you as some other issue that obviously means far more to you.
Just admit that you are more than willing to look the other way at a pro-charter candidate if he pleases you in some other way.
I have made no bones about my support of pro-public school candidates. I made an exception for Bernie because AT THAT TIME other issues were important enough that I was willing to ignore his very weak support of public education.
But I have changed my mind and Bernie’s endorsement of the DFER candidates and late to the game sort of kind of weak opposition to the Massachusetts legislation does not give me a lot of faith.
I believe in ACTION. I saw that Tim Kaine and Terry McAuliffe did when it came to public schools. And I saw what Bernie did not do. And I saw what Bill de Blasio as done.
So keep on fighting the pro-public school Dems for not being progressive on the OTHER issues. Just don’t pretend public education is nearly as important to you as whatever issue caused you to attack so many pro-public education democrats and defend the ones who can’t be bothered to care about the issue.
Just own it. Public education is NOT the most important issue to you. It is to me right now. Perhaps because I am a parent with a kid in a public school.
^^^and here is a article about those nasty Virginia
“non-progressive” Dems you despise who are the ONLY reason that Virginia has not (yet) gone the way of other states. If only Bernie’s DFER candidate had won! Then you could celebrate.
http://www.richmond.com/opinion/our-opinion/editorial-governor-mcauliffe-s-charter-school-veto-is-simply-mcawful/article_36c301b4-75d6-5144-9467-4ef2033c5c02.html
I get that you don’t care all that much about public schools. Just quit calling me a “hillarybot” because I believe in them so much more strongly than you do and unlike you I am willing to vote for candidates who show REAL concern for thesis and not talk about how much they support “public” charter schools because after years of being on a Senate Committee that oversees education the only thing important to them is free college for the middle class.
NYC public school parent
“It takes a certain chutzpah to believe that voters were voting for the “honest” candidate in this election.”
But it takes none to assert that on every issue Hillary was as phony as a 2 dollar bill. Not to be believed . The video was not a position paper in past tense . It was perfect example of a thoroughly disingenuous politician who was covering all bases. As she had done on every issue .Hillary the Walmart board member friend of the down trodden .
Perhaps Trump was more honest in that you could easily tell his dishonesty . It wasn’t cloaked in gobbledygook . Not many voted for Trump because he was more honest than Hillary . I know no one including Diane, who thought Hillary was honest . Who thought Hillary would not return to corrupt (neo-liberal ) roots if elected. Who trusted
her . But everyone I know who felt this way including myself went into the voting both and voted for her anyway . It is those who stayed home or who voted libertarian that cost her the election,as that the Greens barely registered a vote.
You keep making supermen out of Republicans ,their ability to turn a zombie base into electoral victories. It is convenient rather than looking into the failures of the Democratic Party . Education is a microcosm of that failure .Who was the President the last 8 years ?. Who was the secretary of education? What was their policy toward education and charters ? Who is Rahm Emanuel ,Mario Cuomo …..
Which candidate was married to these neoliberal Democrats on every issue . From education through trade .
“It takes a certain chutzpah to believe that more Wisconsin voters voted for “lying” Hillary than “honest” Russ Feingold.”
You like to point out how Hillary did much better than Feingold . The “much” is the problem. Percentages do not tell the story Hillary got 2,000 votes more than the Democratic CHALLENGER for senate ,perhaps easily explained by a number of Hillary voters that could not be bothered voting for down ballot candidates . But a more detailed look into districts would be needed to determine that . Most voters are not sophisticated enough to make the distinction you are asking them to make. Coat tails matter and Feingold and other losing Democratic challengers had the misfortune to be on the ballot with Hillary .
And for the record you Hillary Bot Troll .Who claims to have voted for Bernie in the primary LOL. I happen to like Bill De Blasio . I was merely pointing out to you, that Bill succumbed to the political pressures being placed on him. But there is a big ,a HUUUGE difference between a Hillary/ Andrew/ Rahm and a Bill or Bernie. It is who they go to bed with in positions of power not the imperfect past records of those they may support . Al politicians make compromises . But some on core issues are corrupt . Let us just call neoliberal Democrats what they are corrupt .
But you are correct education is not my only issue . Education is just as I stated a microcosm of a number of issues where progressives are on the right side of history and neoliberal corrupt democrats like Hillary are on the wrong side of history .No candidate discussed education much so their surrogate are all important . Education is seldom a national issue in front of the US senate . The only difference in the long run between Hillary/Bill /Barrack and the Republicans is on the social issues that do not belong in Government in the first place .
“The Chamber president said he expected Hillary Clinton would ultimately support the TPP if she becomes the Democratic nominee for president and is elected. He argued that she has publicly opposed the deal chiefly because her main challenger, Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT), has also done so. “If she were to get nominated, if she were to be elected, I have a hunch that what runs in the family is you get a little practical if you ever get the job,” he said.”
You got it Tom Donohue it runs in the family and the family has to go away . They have done enough damage,to poor women , black men, poor children ,American workers lower and middle class . Their failures will now result in a punishing blow to the social issue that their Wall Street supporters never really gave a crap about.
I never said Hillary was dishonest. My concern was that she was surrounded by Center for American Progress types who love charters. I want a candidate who says clearly and without qualification, “I support public schools. I oppose privatization by charters and vouchers. I will not give a dime to privatization.”
Thank you, Diane. I agree with everything you just said. I wish Hillary had been more clear. However, to me she was much MORE clear than Bernie on this issue. All Bernie has to do to change his mind is do something other than fight for the Virginia candidate who was celebrated by DFER instead of the one who believes in public education.
Joel Herman just ignored my point that Terry McAuluffe and Tim Kaine were the REAL supporters of public education. It doesn’t go along with his belief that they are corrupt and not-progressive.
I just wish Joel Herman would be honest. He prefers a candidate who is wishy washy and celebrated by DFER who won’t stand up for public education as long as that candidate supports other things he believes are more important.
I don’t. We agree to disagree. I just find it troubling and dishonest that Joel Herman has decided that a candidate that stands up for public education is more corrupt than a candidate that throws it under the bus because he just doesn’t care. And until progressives stop attacking real supporters of public education like Kaine and McAuluffe in favor of milquetoast semi-supporters of “public charter schools” who can’t be bothered to learn anything about the issue, they are helping to destroy public education
Just like they helped destroy Hillary. I can’t believe that Joel Herman just posted that nasty screed about her. She is a politician and far more honest than most. He dismisses her as no different than Andrew Cuomo and for that I know he and I will never see eye to eye. And I blame him and his followers for demonizing decent people by throwing them all in the same boat;.
The fact that Joel’s “evidence” is a quote from a guy in the Chamber of Commerce? I just told him that Bernie’s candidate for Virginia was celebrated by DFER and he ignored it. Just like he ignored the fact that the two previous Virginia governors had been strong defenders despite Joel’s claim that they are pals with Hillary so obviously their support for public education is irrelevant.
Kaine. McAuluffe. Not good enough for Joel but Bernie’s DFER candidate is. I can’t believe how truly dishonest the progressives like Joel have become. Just admit you don’t care all that much about public education,Joel. You’d rather have a politician who doesn’t support it who supports some other issue and I would not. So let’s agree to disagree instead of demonizing democrats. Public education is far more important to me than it is to you. But where we are different is that you demonize way too many democrats.
“Al politicians make compromises . But some on core issues are corrupt”. Is that what you think about Obama? He is corrupt on core issues? if so, I would argue that Hillary is LESS corrupt.
Is Kaine corrupt? McAuluffe? How about Bernie’s DFER candidate for governor? Or do YOU get to decide based on your personal preferences to give a pass to compromises made by the candidates you favor?
Is Kaine corrupt? Is McAuluffe corrupt? Is Obama corrupt? I happen to agree with you about Cuomo but that’s because of his ACTIONS as governor. Not because I can pull a quote from some Chamber of Commerce person telling a group they own Hillary when nothing in her actions have shown that to be true.
Why didn’t the corrupt Kaine and McAuluffe let the billionaires who you believe own them turn Virginia into an ed reform state?
But you are willing to overlook the endorsed DFER candidate because you just know he could never be corrupted by money like Kaine.
“Perhaps Trump was more honest in that you could easily tell his dishonesty.” Nothing you could have written could have demonstrated how truly absurd the progressives have fallen. If that kind of thinking repression ts them, I want nothing to do with “progressives”. Give me those nasty corrupt Tim Kaine Democrats for sure. They won’t throw public education under the bus but progressives will to prove some point about how awful those Wall Street loving public education defending Democrats are.
dianeravitch
That is exactly what your concern was and when I say dishonest that is exactly what I mean . I could care less what a politician throws into his pocket. It Is whose interest that politician represents . That is the highest form of political dishonesty . I would argue that Hillary was not surrounded by CAP, neo liberal democrats but was their role model.
The concern that you expressed correctly at the time , was that as soon as she secured the nomination she would swing so far to the Center right as to not be recognizable to most Democratic voters . . Which is exactly what she did on many issues , until she was confronted at the convention with so much resistance that it threatened to disrupt the Hollywood production. Is there any doubt that like her husband she would have made “LEGISLATIVE ACHIEVEMENTS ” that Ronald Reagan only would have dreamed of .
NYCPSP asks was Obama corrupt ? I guess that depends on how you define corruption . He may have been the most squeaky clean candidate when it came to personal enrichment but his policy fabulously enriched the party he led. As I have said before bankrupt Pensions in Detroit were okay with Obama while he handed out bonuses to AIG and get out of jail free cards to Wall Street . While members of his cabinet and White House staff went right through a revolving door on many fronts, from Wall Street to Education . The American people are pretty stupid, not understanding the complexities
of issues. But they are capable of discerning that their standard of living has dropped.
Capable of pointing the finger as to who is responsible .The buck stops at the top. Even if they are not capable of making the right choice to fix it . Hillary was no choice just a lesser of two evils . Who we voted for . Apparently that was not good enough for those voters in the Midwest . Most of whom just stayed home having had enough “hope and change”.
.
Joel,
Hillary won 3 million votes more than Trump.
I think she won the electoral College but Putin’s hackers fixed the votes in Wisconsin, Michigan, and PA
Joel Herman,
I don’t even think you realize how much of a double standard you have when it comes to Hillary Clinton. You suffer from Hillary derangement syndrome. Right, she was “dragged” into pivoting and offering the most progressive platform since I can recall. And I include Carter.
I guess Bernie’s DFER candidate gets a pass on ‘pivoting’ because of course, you like him.
And you STILL avoided my question about Tim Kaine and Terry McAuluffe.
Why?
You can’t deal with the fact that they prove how weak your entire world view is.
Or you don’t want to admit that you’d be fine if Kaine and McAuluffe had been replaced by a Bernie- supported DFER candidate who threw public education under the bus but agreed with you on other issues.
That doesn’t make you a bad person – it just means YOUR priorities are not public education. Mine are.
Your priorities with regard to public education match Bernie’s — you’ll compromise if you get something else you like better.
Mine are like Tim Kaine’s. I will compromise on something else that you probably wouldn’t if my candidate doesn’t throw public education under the bus like Bernie’s DFER candidate has and would very likely continue to do given the extraordinarily high amount of money he was given from DFER Democrats.
Why can’t we just agree that public education isn’t as important to you as it is to me? Why can’t we just agree that Kaine and McAuliffe’s support for public education would not affect you if a Bernie-endorsed DFER reformer was running against them?
People have different priorities. Mine are what Tim Kaine’s are. Yours are what the “pro-public charter” progressives stand for.
What I object to is people like you thinking that they or their candidates are somehow more HONEST because it isn’t the issue you care most about that they are throwing under the bus. It is just public education.
^^^I also object to your relentless defense of Trump voters. Read Charles Pierce’s piece. That’s how I feel. Quit blaming Hillary Clinton for the fact that nasty people are drawn to him or think they will get rich so voted for him. Quit blaming Hillary Clinton for the fact so-called “progressives” like you demonized her even if you voted for her. (“She was lying about the platform that she only did because Bernie voters demanded it”)
I blame YOU. If you could not see how the right wing played your anti-Hillary sentiment up just like they did when it was Dukakis, Kerry, and every other Democrat who you blame for their own defeat, then who are you going to blame for Russ Feingold? Hillary again? Because voters preferred a REAL right wing pro-business anti-working man to someone who fought for workers because Hillary was a “fake” progressive? Because Trump seemed so “honest” in all his lies?
dianeravitch
I wish that were true . We can console ourselves with the big wins in California and New York . But we can not dismiss the the inexcusable narrow losses in a half dozen other states . When you stop being the “party of the people “. The people have little reason to be with you
When the media relentless TELLS you that the Democratic candidate is not “of the people” because — although he strongly supports public schools he also isn’t calling for higher taxes on Wall Street — you get people turning to Republicans.
The fact that Republicans are winning all over this country tells you that abandoning “the people” can get you elected.
Democrats are being destroyed by their own insistence on perfection. The progressives laid off Barack Obama instead of helping convince the public that he was not “of the people”.
You STILL avoided my question about Tim Kaine and Terry McAuluffe in Virginia. Are they progressive or not? Are they better than the DFER candidate or not?
And why can’t we each have different opinions on that without you trying to blame the people who care more about one progressive issue than another?
In fact, it is JUST as likely that the reason that the progressives haven’t won is that they have NOT made public education their issue and instead offer milquetoast Bernie-like pronouncements. Notice that the ONE issue that Bernie didn’t try to influence Hillary Clinton on is public education. Notice that in relatively conservative Virginia, “the people” voted for pro-public education Democrats. Maybe that is the secret to a winning candidacy. Stand up strong for public education.
Are you just going to ignore my question as to whether Kaine and McAuluffe meet your criteria as progressives? Maybe they are not, but they support public education far more strongly than the progressive leaders right now. Agree?
Democracy is dying.
I’d argue your verb tense.
Dead. Dead and done, deceased. Eli Broad is King.
I’d really like to post a one word comment here. It’s the only word that fits. It starts with ‘f’.
Frustrating.
LeftCoastTeacher Oh, now, that’s funny. But really, folks, have heart: if democracy were truly dead, you would be looking over your shoulder after having sent that last post, or you would have been afraid to do so. And you obviously were not afraid to d so?
LeftCoastTeacher
Ask Pinochet about that .
I can probably talk to Pinochet if I visit Chicago. The University probably has a direct line going down there. But I wouldn’t go in person because, seriously folks, I AM afraid. I have spent years as a teacher Waiting for Superman to come and jump up and down on my head. Waiting for Superman, killer of democracy. He’s out there somewhere, taping kids’ mouths shut and taking away their recess. It’s time I told you guys, my real name isn’t Left Coast. I have to hide…
LeftCoastTeacher
My point was Oligarchies and dictatorships die . Sometimes with disastrous results for those in power. Yet sometimes they rise again from the grave with external help as we are seeing in South America.
Joel,
Thank you, I didn’t get that the first go ’round. But I wasn’t referring to Trump. I was talking about Third Way and the rest of the think tanks. They aren’t going away fast enough.
Daniel Loeb should be removed from the Board of Success Academy Charter Schools, Inc. (SACS), for his racist remarks — and for reasons beyond. SACS is a not-for-profit organization that supplies management support to the Success Academy schools, but the fees it charges to the individual schools are brutally high — over $2,000 per student — causing many of them to operate at a loss. And Loeb’s not-for-profit is doing so well financially that it doesn’t even need to charge any fees. In 2014, Loeb’s corporation reported earning over $17 million in profit, and held assets of close to $50 million. To top it off, Loeb’s corporation pays its employees far too handsomely, with CEO Eva Moskowitz earning over a half million, and at least 18 employees earning between $150,000 – $405,000. All of this leads to one conclusion: Loeb has got to go.
Lisa Litvin, as I read your post one word comes to mind- greed. Why do these people need more money? And why do they need to poach from public education to make more money? Greed.
“…..Joe Belluck, chair of the SUNY Committee on Charter Schools, which authorizes and oversees Success Academy schools, announced they are “reviewing options.”
When Joseph Belluck says he is “reviewing options” he means that he is waiting for the controversy to die down so he can give Success Academy more early renewals without doing one bit of his promised oversight as to how high the attrition rate of at-risk kids who win the original Kindergarten lottery is. When Joseph Belluck says he is “reviewing options” he means that he does not believe it is any of his business whether Daniel Loeb and Eva Moskowitz tell the world that Success Academy schools with almost no white children have outrageously high numbers of violent 5 year old children. When Joseph Belluck says he is “reviewing options” he means that SUNY is happy not to examine how high the attrition rate for at-risk kids who win the original K lottery is as long as the ones who remain score high on standardized tests. When Joseph Belluck says he is “reviewing options” it means that he wants to grant Loeb and Moskowitz their wish to have 3 Success Academy schools in one of the whitest, richest school districts despite the demand for Success Academy being concentrated in much poorer districts where they would have to serve the children that Belluck is BY LAW supposed to make sure charters are teaching.
I can’t believe this man is still in charge at SUNY given the early renewals of Success Academy schools (against policy) and his completely ignoring the litany of complaints about got to go lists, children asked to leave, and the myriad of evidence that extraordinarily high numbers of at-risk children — often boys — disappear from cohorts before they reach testing grades. Belluck’s unquestioning acceptance of a white woman who has told him that lots of African-American 5 year olds are so violent she has no choice but to suspend them shows that there is something very wrong with his notion of what “oversight” means. And I guarantee that he will keep doing the bidding of Eva Moskowitz and her rich board members as long as he remains in charge. Belluck is the one who needs to go and be replaced by someone who cares about the children — not just the ones who Moskowitz and Loeb tell him are worthy of remaining in a charter.
Rep Hakim Jeffries is not merely a “supporter” of charter schools, he is a CHAMPION of charter schools. He even headlined a fundraiser for Success Academy. This MUST be remembered when he rears his ugly ambitions for higher office. His protestations to the contrary, he is NOT A FRIEND OF PUBLIC SCHOOLS.
Thanks, Dorothy.
If he runs again, we can ask him his views about Dan Loeb.
The ultra rich are in search of villains for the problems of the poor. I don’t think it takes a rocket scientist to look in the mirror and put two and two together.
This is a bit off topic, but I’m not sure how to write to you and your readers other than in a chain of comments…
In a google search to find some scholarly works on the current and historic US white social-cultural-wealth stratification and its impacts on subtle to extreme racial biases, I came upon this bogus pseudosocialscience “college course.” Dumbfounded by the simplistic, but also neoliberal/neoconservative bias, I found the lack of evidence-based research to support any portion of the course lecture presentation to be both astounding and unacceptable.
Are you aware of this for-profit company. I’m sick at heart to witness our Community College system replaced by online webcourses, but this garbage pseudo-ed is beyond the pale.
LindaRae Hamel
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