Steven Singer reviews a new report from the Center for Reinventing Public Education at the University of Washington. This is a Gates-funded think tank whose belief is that the best way to “reinvent” public schools is to privatize them.
The charter sector had been booming but this past year, the boom fizzled. What once seemed to be an unstoppable steam roller, intent on crushing public schools, has slowed to a crawl.
The problems, says the report, are real estate cost, teacher shortages, and political backlash.
Singer writes:
“How did the hippest new thing to hit education since the chalk board suddenly hit such a wall? After all, it wasn’t so long ago that every celebrity from Magic Johnson to Andre Agassi to Deion Sanders to Sean “Puffy” Combs to Pitt Bull had their own charter school. Even Oprah Winfrey, the queen of multimedia, donated millions to charter networks in Louisiana, California, Pennsylvania, Colorado, Texas and her home state of Illinois.
“How could something with so much high profile support be running out of gas?
“The Center on Reinventing Public Education (CRPE) has a theory.
“The charter school funded think tank (read: propaganda network) released a report boiling the issue down to three factors: real estate costs, a teacher shortage and political backlash.
“Real estate costs? Yes, few public schools want to offer you public property to put your privately run school that will inevitably gobble up a good portion of its funding and turn a portion of that into profit for private investors.
“Teacher shortage? Yes, when you pay your educators the least, don’t allow your employees to unionize, and demand high hours without remuneration, you tend to find it harder than most educational institutions to find people willing to work for you.
“Political backlash? DING! DING! DING!
“Of course, most people who aren’t paid by the charter school industry – as those working for CRPE are – would simply call this a charter school backlash – not political, at all.
“This isn’t one political party seeking advantage over another. It’s concerned citizens from both sides of the aisle worried about the practices of the charter school industry.”
Singer’s post includes some nifty charts. Be sure to open it.
The bottom line is that the bloom is off the rose.
The public is beginning to understand that charter schools are meant to destabilize their community public schools. They take away money meant for the public schools. They take the students they want and exclude those they don’t want. They open and close like day lilies. The for-profits are interested in profit, not education.
And it destroys their reputation when the public knows that Trump, DeVos, Wall Street, and the Koch brothers are leading the charge to destroy what belongs to the entire community.
Resist!
Diane Ravitch's blog 
I wish this trend would start showing up in Indianapolis, but it appears to be worse. We have so many Charters now and they just keep coming, but in the form of “Innovation Schools,” or a charter that is within the Indianapolis Public Schools corporation. I work in a traditional public school located in a high poverty neighborhood. Our school is surrounded by two Charters and one Innovation school along with two suburban school systems that take not only students from IPS, but teachers as well making a serious teacher shortage for IPS.
Right now we are short one teacher in every grade level, grades K through 6. Our two Kindergarten classes have 40+ students, one 6th grade teacher and an assistant have 56 kids in a room. A fourth grade teacher has 42 students and the rest of the rooms have over 30 students in each room. Our school cannot get substitutes for teachers because there just aren’t any. Our staff has been hit hard with flu and related illnesses resulting in whole classrooms that have to be absorbed by other classes because no sub can be found to fill in for the ailing teacher, creating a nearly impossible learning situation. Just this past Thursday we had 4 teachers absent with flu, and many classrooms had kids sitting on the floor because we don’t have enough desks or chairs to accommdate 50 or more students in a room. We have no on applying for the open teaching or substitute positions. The private schools and Charters pay much less than IPS, but they can and will take the many teachers that cannot pass the teacher licensing exams that Indiana requires.
I am sure that our school will be converted to an innovation school next year that will require all of the staff to reapply for their jobs, take a pay cut and resign from the teacher’s union. But things still won’t get better, it will just keep the Innovation/Charter from going under because it has the backing of a state funded school system.
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“Our two Kindergarten classes have 40+ students, one 6th grade teacher and an assistant have 56 kids in a room.”
Man, that is wrong, just dead wrong!
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Sadly Duane, it is reality.
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This is a disgrace! Aren’t there any fire dept. laws in Indiana or did Pence get rid of them too? How about laws regarding room capacities? I cannot imagine that it is legal or safe to cram so many students into a room. What is your union doing to ensure that you have safe working conditions?
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The governor before Pence was Mitch Daniels. He was able to get a law passed that prevents our union from negotiating anything but wages and health care benefits. There is absolutely nothing we can do about class size
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There are many factors for the loss of interest in charters. While all the reasons stated above are factors, another legitimate reason for the decline in interest is that many charters have failed to offer better education than public schools. Charter schools were never a grassroots’ movement. Charters have always been top down and endorsed by billionaires and celebrities. Some parents that were enticed in the early days of charters have been dissatisfied with the academics and the treatment of their children in charter schools. It is difficult to ignore the fact that charters are rife with scandal after scandal resulting in the waste of tax dollars.
In the beginning many parents considered charters another free school like any public school. Now they understand that every dollar that goes to a charter is subtracted from public school budgets, and they never intended to harm public schools. Public schools are far more efficient and effective than a patchwork of schools of questionable value. Experience has taught parents to question all the hype and claims that charters promised.
What is happening in Philadelphia is a tragic example of an urban district in a post charter world. The school district is returning the control of the district to the school board. A TICKETED event was planned at Girard College, a walled fortress of a building, in north Philadelphia. The mayor is meeting with his ticket holders to select a school board, not the general public or through a democratic election, to discuss the future of the public schools. Protesters picketed outside because the general public was excluded from this meeting. This is more of the “king in the castle autocracy,” not democracy. https://wrenchinthegears.com/2018/01/30/last-night-we-lay-down-in-the-street-to-protest-closed-door-meetings-about-public-education-in-philadelphia/
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It is a good to see that the movement is losing its strength. Built on lies and not in the best interest of the American people its decline augers well for the future of education. What is good to see is how many people, organizations, stepped up to fight privatization. Organizations such as NPE, BADASS Association of teachers, and some unions.
The translation (read: propaganda network) was quite amusing as that is not how, ‘The charter school funded think tank,’ would wish for people to see them. I had no idea that BATS would come out so against Betsy; their work revealed things about her that I did not know. Hopefully BATS go on expanding their membership and continue to agitate for an improved role for teachers, and continued development in Public Education. In future other unions will step up to speak loudly for education.
Some people feel that things happen to test the willingness of people to fight for things they say they believe in. Well it is certain that the belief in Public Education has so far been displayed. In the end, for the people, of the people and by the people, stands like a rock.
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Singer leaves a message to politicians on the left and the right. “We’re not buying that charter baloney anymore.” Good point!
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They won’t go away quietly. Why would they since they own school boards and the teacher unions. The demise of charters and the looting of public school money will go on as long as there’s a buck to be made.
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How can Charters “own unions” when unions are not allowed in nearly all of them?
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YES. Few understand this larger picture.
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On the ascendancy worldwide is online learning–as much as possible, delivered by anyone, anywhere, anytime, with badges awarded for demonstrated competencies, assembled as credentials for any opportunity that may be out there.
Brick and mortar schools along with teachers are destined to be a relic of the past.
KnowledgeWorks.org has all of the lingo and there is big money pushing this agenda. This is the GERM–Global Education Reform Movement (not yet trademarked as far as I can tell) because that is where the money wants to go and can go without the baggage of democratic governance of local school boards, state oversight, or federal mandates. The only thing is, the global “free” market also wants to be subsidized and legitimized.
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Another excellent commentary from S. Singer!
One minor correction: It was , and still is a way to steal money meant to help children.
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The Center on Reinventing Public Education (CRPE, pronounced “crappy”)
Interesting use of the preposition in that name. Most would go for “for,” but hey, maybe these guys didn’t get a good public school education.
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