Denis Smith reminds us of the old Groucho Marx television shows. If you said the “magic word,” a duck would descend and you would win a prize.
He provides readers with commercials for “online public schools,” “tuition free” and invites you to guess which is the missing word?
In the wake of the great ECOT scandal, there is one word that dare not be mentioned.
There is no prize for the right guess.
Diane Ravitch's blog 
And these are the “public” schools meant to serve the public?! Whose being “served” here? And how?
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Charter.
They leave it out because Ohio charters have lost their new-penny shine with two decades of actual on the ground reality as opposed to the marketing campaign we were all subjected to.
Not a moment too soon, I might add. The state had essentially abandoned the public schools 85% of families use because they were so enamored with “choice” they forgot to do their jobs regarding public schools.
It’s changing though. Our schools are fashionable again, if you’re a politician who wants to keep your job. They’re back! It’s good to see them. They disappeared for almost 2 decades. Not sure what they were doing down there in Columbus but it sure wasn’t “working on behalf of public schools”.
It seems to be a bit of a trend. Even Scott Walker, the face of the national ed reform movement, has rediscovered the public schools in his state. Coinciding with his reelection campaign, of course. Coincidentally.
Fair weather friends, those are called.
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Privatizers are so proud of their work that they avoid using the word “charter,” a word with more negative associations with each passing day. Amendment 8 in Florida deliberately tries to mislead voters by log rolling several items into one proposal and avoids using the “c” word. Its main goal is to move local public school dollars to the state level of decision making and cut out the local taxpayers that will be paying the bill. As Peter Greene has said it is taxation without representation. While the amendment was struck down, there is an appeal that is scheduled to be decided today.
Andrew Gillum, the Democratic candidate for governor, has chosen Chris King, a progressive evangelical businessman as his running mate. Perhaps he wants to capture the vote of Christians that are disgusted by #45 and his cronies. I hope his strategy works.
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They also never use the V word.
The better to deceive you with, my dear!
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I have to hand it to ed reformers in the federal government, though.
They’re sticking to the script. They remain doggedly anti-public school. They’re always the last to know.
It’s still 2010 in DeVos-land. The real heady days of ed reform, when public school bashing became the go-to career move.
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Isn’t ed deform more similar to the oldest profession, updated to intellectual prostitution allowing for the inclusion of more men? The word career suggests a contribution to GDP.
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