When people think of Los Angeles billionaires who want to take control of the schools , they tend to think of Eli Broad and Reed Hastings.
Sara Roos, who blogs as Red Queen in LA, has done a deep dive into the political contributions of billionaire Bill Bloomfield, who gives generously to rightwing politicians and school privatization.
Mr. Bloomfield and his wife have spent $36 million since 2005 to advance their conservative Republican agenda.
This is an impressive investigation of the usesof Big Money to undercut democracy.
When billionaires call, politicians pick up the phone.
In Canada, corporations and unions cannot donate to politics. Individuals severely limited but get tax credit for small donations. Makes a huge difference. Politicians forced to crowd source their elections.
Excellent laws. Money has corrupted our politics.
Nunna nunna nunna nunna
Nunna nunna nunna nunna, Chat man!
The Chat Phone
The state house has a Chat-phone
That’s answered every day
When billionaires are home alone
And have their bit to say
Tacked on to the end of the CEDO report on Ohio charters:
“Overall sector performance remains mixed, with modestly negative results in math and no significant effects in reading.”
Modestly negative in math and no effects in reading.
Ohio has devoted 20 years to promoting, supporting and focusing almost exclusively on these schools, to the detriment of every single public school student and family in the state, and that’s what we got for it.
What would it take to find and hire public employees with some interest in Ohio public schools? Is there any way we can replace the current charter/voucher echo chamber and start investing in public schools again?
20 years seems like a long enough experiment. Can we hire at a least a FEW people who expend some effort on public schools? We pay thousands of state employees in Columbus. Can we at least get 10% who support the schools 90% of families attend?
Aldis. “As lawmakers discuss ways to ensure an excellent education for all, properly supporting quality brick-and-mortar charter schools should be high on their priority list. At the same time, they should seek better ways of spurring big improvements among the state’s online schools.”
Public schools do not exist in this world.
The ed reform lobby will not allow the state legislature to devote any time or attention to the schools 90% of the families in this state attend.
Once again our entire legislative process and state government will be hijacked and they’ll spend yet another session on charters and vouchers.
Ohio residents should stop paying them. They only attend to 10% of schools in the state. They should be paid 10% of their salary.
Hi Diane, I want to pass on a good article from the Florida Phoenix that provides additional information on the recently announced Florida voucher scheme including that Gov. DeSantis wants to grow the program each year by 1% of all students which would be about 28,000 additional students per year or close to $200-million in additional monies each year. In 10 years, this will be close to $2-billion! Here is a link to the article: https://www.floridaphoenix.com/2019/02/15/an-unprecedented-expansion-of-school-vouchers-across-florida-lawsuits-are-likely-to-follow/
I am chair of an organization, Protect Our Public Schools (POPS), Manasota, that has been fighting school privatization locally (Sarasota and Manatee Counties) and statewide for the past two years. Last year we launched a campaign that successfully kept out Florida’s largest charter school management company, Academica, from invading Sarasota. This year we are working to turn two Manatee County Schools into Community Partnership Schools, to prevent them from being shut down or privatized as “failed” schools.
POPS is hoping that DeSantis’ outrageous voucher moves will finally launch the desperately needed “Red for Ed” movement in Florida. We in the anti-privatization movement in Florida have wondered why with Florida having among the most underfunded schools and lowest teacher’s salaries, the Red for Ed movement hasn’t happened here. We think it is largely because teachers–with no tenure and on a year-to-year contract–are too fearful to walk off their job. Hopefully, if we can generate large-scale community support, teachers will feel more empowered.
Tonight POPS is sponsoring a forum on *Guns in Schools: One Year After Parkland*, particularly focusing on the legislative plan to arm teachers. I wrote a background piece for this event linking the militarization of schools (in Florida, arming classroom teachers) to the privatization of education. I am attaching both the flyer for tonight’s event and the background piece I wrote below.
Thanks for all the great work you do and for keeping us all so informed.
Carol Lerner Chair Protect Our Public Schools (POPS), Manasota
On Tue, Feb 19, 2019 at 10:05 AM Diane Ravitch’s blog wrote:
> dianeravitch posted: ” When people think of Los Angeles billionaires who > want to take control of the schools , they tend to think of Eli Broad and > Reed Hastings. Sara Roos, who blogs as Red Queen in LA, has done a deep > dive into the political contributions of billi” >
Thank you for the work your organization is doing for democracy and students.
Carol-
You might want to take a look at the awards of the Florida Council of Instructional Technology Leaders. In 2018, there were 3 “Innovative Principals of the Year”. The principals have everything to gain. What students gain is a different issue. I’m skeptical about digital bells and whistles hawked by tech salesmen who can butter up school administrators with awards.
The posted bio’s of the principal and academic affairs dean of Lawton Chiles Middle Academy show their enthusiasm for all innovation, “we wouldn’t know if we didn’t try”.
OK, Diane, I’ve got one for you:
LAUSD employees just received the following email from Beutner:
“Dear LAUSD Employee:
The Special Election for Board District 5 will take place on Tuesday, March 5th. While it’s every individual’s right to participate in the Democratic process, as public officials we must be mindful that public resources are not used in support of our personal views. The law, LAUSD policies and Board Rules are explicit in this area. To assist you in understanding your responsibilities as a public official, please find attached “LAUSD’s Election Tip Sheet.” The tip sheet is also posted on the Political Activities page of the Ethics Office website.
Further, if your school or office utilizes social media (Facebook, Twitter, etc.) to communicate with students, parents, community members or employees regarding LAUSD business, be aware that the posting of explicit or implied endorsements of political candidates is prohibited. Bulletin 999.13 – Responsible Use Policy (RUP) for District Computer and Network Systems, Attachment B stipulates, “The use of the District network for illegal, political, or commercial purposes is strictly forbidden.”
Please feel free to contact the Ethics Office at (213) 241-3330 with any questions or for further assistance.
Office of the Superintendent”
So, the DIstrcit maintains that employees cannot use social media to advocate for candidates due to the 2002 adoption of Board RUle 1254:
“Los Angeles Unified School District Board of Education established Board Rule 1254 as the “Acceptable Use Policy,” pursuant to the Children’s Internet Protection Act (CIPA), a federal law affecting the educational use of digital media. All uses of District computer and network systems used by students, parents, employees, contractors and consultants are subject to this policy.”
Our schools broadcast information across Facebook, Twitter and other sites so, walla, they’re off limits to us!