DONT BE HOAXED BY PRIVATIZERS AND PROFITEERS!
January 21-27 is School Choice Week, a multi-million dollar campaign funded by right-wing groups like the Koch Brothers, The American Federation for Children, ALEC and the Walton Foundation. The endgame is to replace public education with privatized systems of schooling. Read what the Center for Media and Democracy had to say here about School Choice Week.
We need YOU to help us tell the public the truth about so-called School Choice. And so we created a powerful campaign for you to use and share here.
Right Now
1. Send a letter to your Governor telling him or her that you support public education, not privatized education with vouchers, voucher-like tax credit schemes, charters and online schools. In just a few seconds you can send that letter by clicking here.
2. Go here to put a PRO-PUBLIC SCHOOL frame on your Facebook profile picture for the week. Just move your cursor down on the image and click “use frame.”
3. Watch and share this wonderful video of Arizona School Board President, Linda Lyon, unmasking what school choice has done in her state. Please share it on Facebook and go to the NPE twitter account (NetworkforPublicEd) and tweet it out. It is pinned to the top.
4. Join the Thunderclap sponsored by the #WeChoose campaign for public schools. Click here.
5.Go here to find a toolbox of resources to share all week. We will continue to post new material to share. Every day this week we ask you to go to the site and take action. Each action is designed to tell the truth about School Choice Week and its supporters.
On Friday you will receive another email from us asking you to send a letter to your legislators asking them to stop a backdoor voucher triggered by the recent tax reforms. More on that to come.
Here is the real choice we face.
Either we support public schools governed by our elected neighbors or we let state governments dole out tax dollars to parents to shop for schools.
We can’t have both.
Please do your part and get the message out this week. Thanks for all you do.
Share this link
https://networkforpubliceducation.org/10006-2/
on social media and by email. Go back every day for new actions. Let’s let our friends and neighbors know that the right choice is public schools.
Carol Burris
The Network for Public Education is a 501 (c)(3) organization. You can make a tax deductible donation here.
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Diane Ravitch's blog 
“Either we support public schools governed by our elected neighbors or we let state governments dole out tax dollars to parents to shop for schools.”
We could do both. All the tax paying citizens would jump at a chance to double their tax burden to fairly fund such a waste.
We will not even fund what we have, let alone fund a double system. If we were serious about really helping those who need it the most, we would be funding what we have at a rate that would preclude the massive loads that keep public school teachers from giving the personal attention they need.
What you said.
I disagree with your thesis. I believe sincerely, that our nation can have school choice/parental empowerment, and a healthy,vibrant publicly-operated school system. Take the example of higher education.
Our nation has a system of public, private, and parochial universities. We also have military schools, (Like VMI and the Citadel), and the service academies. We have on-line universities. Federal tax dollars, are given to individuals in the form of Basic Grants, subsidized loans, as well as GI Bill payments. This infusion of public money, directly into the hands of students/families has not destroyed our public universities. In fact, our nation has a whole string of excellent public universities, from coast to coast. School choice/Grants has not destroyed public education at the university level, why would anyone think that school choice would mean doom to K-12 public education?
Some states have instituted school choice plans. The state with the largest rate of participation is Indiana. Only 3% of the eligible families participate. The public schools have not closed down in the Hoosier state. In fact, the amount of public money flowing into the public school system, on a per-capita basis, is either unchanged or increased. True, some students have withdrawn from the public school system, but the state/municipal system is probably better off without students who do not wish to be there. The public school system benefits from the withdrawal of these students.
Only a very tiny amount of the school children in the USA attend non-public schools with funds from the public purse. Many times that amount attend with families footing the bill, plus paying taxes to support schools that they do not attend. Only the rich can afford to pay twice.
The public school teachers unions, and the public school administrators, already get over 90% of the students (and their money). With school choice/vouchers, only a very small number of families will opt-out (if Indiana, and other states are a predictor).
The opponents of school choice, remind me of a child on Christmas morning, sitting on the floor, up to his ears in toys and Christmas wrapping paper, asking “Is that all?”
And what percent of the population uses higher education?
So, yes, good comparison. . . .let’s have less than 50% go to K-12 school, eh!
Not every person in our society attends post-secondary school. But, our technical schools, our vocational schools, and our universities/colleges are utilized by a substantial portion of our citizenry. (I would like to see all college-able people, be able to attend college).
Our society has chosen to give post-secondary students the ability to attend these institutions ,with public money. People can attend Catholic university of America, or Southern Methodist, with public money. People can even be trained to be a clergy-person, with federal tax money.
The percentage of people who participate in educational opportunities have no bearing on the legality or constitutionality of these programs.
I do not favor having less than 50% of our society attend K-12 schools.
Education is both a moral imperative, and a cost-effective expenditure.
I want to encourage those in NH who participate in this effort to make it clear that you oppose SB 193, which would create Education Savings Accounts.
Also in PA- Oppose SB2
SB2 ESA Vouchers could take $500 million from Pennsylvania public schools, which educate 90% of our kids, and give it to unaccountable private and religious schools. Voucher bill SB2 is anticipated to move out of the Senate Ed Committee as soon as next week.
Where is the link for Q video of Arizona School Board President, Linda Lyon END Q ?
and where is the link for Q letter to your Governor telling him or her that you support public education, not privatized education with vouchers, voucher-like tax credit schemes, charters and online schools END Q ?
I would like to see this video. And it will do no good to send a letter like that to the governor of Virginia. School choice is dead in Virginia, as long as the current governor is in charge. The people of Virginia want school choice, and the previous state legislature has sent several bills up to the (previous) governor, but he vetoed all of them. The new governor will veto any school choice plan here in VA.
Yes, links are missing.
Carol/Diane, please post the links. Gracias!!