Kentucky is a Republican state with both houses in the hands of the Republican party and a Republican governor. The Republicans are doing their best to undermine public schools. They were late in passing charter legislation, and they passed it only recently. Now the legislature is intent on undoing the racial integration of public schools in Jefferson County (Louisville).
Gay Adelmann, co-founder of Save Our Schools Kentucky, attended a recent legislative session and reported back on the discussion, which had nothing to do with improving public schools and everything to do with implementing the privatization agenda of ALEC.
The Republican legislators blame busing for all the ills of public schools. They think that ending busing will bring a new day to Kentucky. Obviously, none of them has ever read any research on the benefits of racial integration to both white and black students.
After listening to them fulminate about “those children,” she offered her own suggestions:
Faulty arguments repeated the theme: “Imagine what you could do if you ended busing.”
No, imagine what we could do if you:
Fully funded our schools.
Ended high-stakes testing.
Placed students’ interests above adults.
Protected our public schools from corporate threats.
Asked us how you can help!
Diane Ravitch's blog 
“which had nothing to do with improving public schools ”
Of course it had nothing to do with “improving” public schools.
Go to any ed reform site or conference and count the mentions of public schools.
Most of the time public schools are completely excluded. They not only don’t “improve” public schools- they have no interest at all in public schools.
Charters and vouchers are about 10% of publicly-funded schools. Go look at DeVos speeches. If you came from another country and looked at the work of the US Department of Education you would reasonably conclude that 90% of US students attend charters or private schools and 10% attend public schools, rather than the other way around.
The Ohio legislature recently spent 2 full years expanding vouchers and re-regulating charters. 90% of the kids in this state attend public schools- utterly ignored.
The most amazing part to me is not DC- everyone knows they have no clue- it’s the statehouses. These people have legislative districts that are FULL of public school families!
You would never know it.
Our elected representatives OPPOSE the schools the vast majority of our children attend. That’s how ludicrous ed reform has become. It’s a joke.
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Here’s the track record of “ed reform” lawmakers in my local public school.
They cut funding every year since 2010. They added scads of mandates, including Common Core – which none of them bothered to explain to a single public school family before rubber-stamping it. I doubt 1 in 100 public school parents in this county have any idea what it is, let alone that it upended their local school.
When we raised local property taxes to maintain funding levels after the state cut funding, our “ed reform leaders” in Columbus took time out of their busy schedules to come out for a visit and take credit for it.
They offer absolutely nothing of value to public school families- in fact, they spend most of their time deliberately attacking our schools.
I resent paying them. Public schools in this state would be better off if none of these people showed up for work. We spend all our time mitigating losses and limiting their damage. I’ll PAY them to stay home. It would be cheaper.
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I feel like the Harvard conference pretty much sums up ed reform’s complete irrelevance to public school families- they’re holding a conference on “public education” and they didn’t invite a single representative of or advocate for public schools.
This is a joke. It’s the definition of capture. They’re “reinventing” public education without the participation of the vast, vast majority of people who use, work in and care about “public education” and they’re doing it at an elite private college with a lottery ticket system.
They don’t even pretend to care.
Did you know Summit Charters has installed their learning system in 130 public schools? Those schools don’t get invited to Harvard because who cares, right? They’re just the unfashionable “beta” testers for the Summit/Facebook system.
Summit gets a seat at the elite policy table. Not the publics who were dumb enough to “partner” with them.
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ALEC is like a relentless plague that is spreading one local community at a time. People need to become more informed. If ALEC has its way, it will crush democracy which is a major inconvenience for the 1%.
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ALEC and the Koch money: when “libertarian” is used as a political stance to allow those who have massive money and/or power to avoid — or rid themselves of — any legislation which demands that they share.
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I was born and raised in Kentucky. I am delighted that Kentucky is now the 44th state to empower parents and children, by offering charter schools.
Hillary Clinton (who sent Chelsea to a private school) supports charter schools. Barak Obama (who sent his daughters to the same private school), supports charter schools.
see
https://www.kentuckycharters.org/who-supports-charter-schools
I also support charter schools.
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I support Choice. If you go to a real public school, it is free. If it is not a public school, pay for it.
Hillary paid.
Obama paid.
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Are you saying that only wealthy people are entitled to school choice?
And are you saying that “real public schools” are free? The public schools in this nation, are paid for by taxes, which the citizenry pays. They are not free, by any means.
Here in Fairfax, Virginia, the FY2018 budget is $2.8 BILLION. This entire budget is paid by the citizens here. The public schools in Fairfax are NOT free.
The problem with socialists, is that they think that everything provided by government is “free”. This is certainly not the case.
“A government that can give you everything you want, can take from you, everything you have” – Author Unknown
You state that if it is not a public school, pay for it. I agree, this is why I support ESAs and such programs, which will assist parents in paying for the appropriate schooling for their children.
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Charles,
We live in a capitalist society, as you have often pointed out.
Everyone should have a yacht, if they want one, but very few can afford one.
Everyone should be able to live in the very best neighborhood in the city, but only a few can afford it.
Everyone should have a high-quality free public education, and we should all pay for it. The schools in every neighborhood should be well-resourced and staffed with experienced teachers. That is our right as citizens.
No one has a “right” to go to religious school at public expense. No one has a “right” to go to an elite boarding school at public expense.
Pushing school choice impoverishes the schools that the overwhelming majority of children have a right to attend. It impoverishes the common good.
You will never convince me that the public should pay for students to attend yeshivas where there is no instruction in English or evangelical schools where the Boble is the science textbook.
Give up trying.
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Q Everyone should have a yacht, if they want one, but very few can afford one.
Everyone should be able to live in the very best neighborhood in the city, but only a few can afford it.
END Q
Do you really believe this? Why? Why should everyone have a yacht? Why should everyone have expensive housing?
Q Everyone should have a high-quality free public education, and we should all pay for it. The schools in every neighborhood should be well-resourced and staffed with experienced teachers. That is our right as citizens. END Q
I agree that education should be universal, and supported from the public purse. This is not only a social benefit, it is cost-effective. Better educated citizens, are more productive, our society has a higher standard of living, and educated people are less likely to commit crimes. All of these are worthy objectives.
I do not see this as a “right”. I cannot see any such right enumerated in the federal constitution. Some state constitutions have educational provisions in their constitution (properly so).
Q No one has a “right” to go to religious school at public expense. No one has a “right” to go to an elite boarding school at public expense.
END Q
I concur that these are not “rights”. Nevertheless, students attend religiously-operated universities and colleges, on the public dime, and no one objects. In some states, students attend religiously-operated K-12 schools, and do so entirely legally, and within the US Constitution, and there is no objection. Students can even attend a theological seminary, and be trained to serve in the clergy, and there is no objection.
Q Pushing school choice impoverishes the schools that the overwhelming majority of children have a right to attend. It impoverishes the common good END Q
I just do not see this. When a family moves out of a school district, the public school is deprived of the student(s), and the tax money that would have been collected. Technically, this “impoverishes” the public school, from which the family has departed. No one suggests that the family continue to pay taxes to the school district, after the move.
Q You will never convince me that the public should pay for students to attend yeshivas where there is no instruction in English or evangelical schools where the Boble is the science textbook.(sic) END Q
In California, (and other places) students attend publicly-operated schools, where the instruction is primarily (or solely) in Spanish. see
http://dailycaller.com/2016/11/06/california-set-to-let-public-schools-teach-primarily-in-spanish/
http://hechingerreport.org/california-voters-poised-gut-english-instruction-law/
I am personally appalled that California citizens are being compelled to create “educational apartheid”. High school students, who attempt to go to college, and do not have solid English-language skills, will be at an enormous disadvantage. Teaching in Spanish only, will cripple these kids, linguistically. Public schools, should begin English language instruction at the pre-school level.
Are you similarly outraged, that the public is paying for instruction in Spanish (only)?
And do you know of a specific non-public school, where the Holy Bible (or the Holy Koran, etc) is the science textbook?
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Not all of us in Kentucky support Fraud Schools. That’s pretty much what charters have been: Fraud Schools.
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