In 2010, the Tea Party and assorted rightwing zealots took control of the North Carolina General Assembly. They gerrymandered districts to assure their continued domination. They passed legislation for charters, vouchers, and cyber charters. They approved for-profit schools. They damaged every functioning part of the government.
Recently, they passed a mandate to reduce class sizes in the early grades but did not increase funding. Educators warned of massive layoffs, loss of the arts and physical education, and other consequences. Now a key legislator claims he has heard their complaints and plans to fix the mess. Educators fear that the chaos is intended to promote privatization.
On another front, the North Carolina General Assembly decided to replicate Tennessee’s failed Achievement School District. In Tennessee, the ASD took over low-performing schools, turned them over to charter operators, and promised miraculous results. There were no results. It flopped.
North Carolina was impressed nonetheless. Nothing like copying failure. It created an “Innovative School District.” It hired a superintendent, Eric Hall, who is paid $150,000 a year. The plan was to take control of five schools and give them to charter operators. However, almost all the schools that were supposed to be placed in the ISD backed out. Only one school is now about to be taken over. The state has received applications from two firms to operate the one-school district.
So the one school in the Innovative School District will have a principal, a superintendent, and will be operated by a reform organization.
How do you spell B-O-O-N-D-O-G-G-L-E?
Diane Ravitch's blog 
Dear Diane, Your research and writing keeps me tied to my roots, which are grounded in public education. I attended, graduated from, taught 11 years in public schools and systems–including my M.A. and Ph.D. I have trained teachers, created and revised curricula at all levels, and lead workshops on pedagogy and social justice. I have never wavered in my advocacy for public education. Your updates on the activities designed by manipulators of neoliberal capitalist ideology nauseate me; as I head toward retirement (43 years teaching) I look for where I might place my skills and experience to wrestle back control from them. I am a writer, researcher, speaker, and fierce advocate for all ‘public’ good / goods at the core of democratic ideals. I ponder (and wonder your secret) how to minimize the impact of the stress and sapping of energy the news you and others share about the destruction occurring, whether in DC or South Carolina. We’re not doing so well here in PA, or where I’ve also taught in the US, NJ and AZ. Not sure if you will read this, but I send this note in admiration and appreciation for the inspiration you provide,sincerelyRoselyn Roselyn Costantino, Ph.D. Professor of Spanish & Women’s, Gender and Sexuality Studies & Latin American Studies Pennsylvania State University Altoona rxc19@psu.edu
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Roselyn, I read every comment
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Wrong question, Diane. I respectfully suggest that the right question is: How do you spell criminal? What has been done to North Carolina Education in my lifetime is a crime. When I lived there in the early eighties, they were the envy of the rest of the country. A friend who teaches education in one of the colleges there said, “I don’t know what else they can do to the teachers.” That was three years ago. It is time North Carolina voters started holding its political leaders responsible for the crime of destroying what they had, not just by turning them out of office, but by investigation of their finances to see if anyone profited from their votes.
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A deliberate, planned boondoggle.
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First year superintendents make $124K in my State. I think continuing to get the paycheck is more the motivator than the education of children. My district is building unnecessary buildings for a shrinking student body to entice other school systems to send their students here, so they can fund exorbitant salaries. “if you build it, they will come,” is not a good strategy to “fix education.”
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Please name state and district where this is occurring. Gracias.
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