The Atlanta School Board is controlled by a slate of former Teach for America teachers. They are devoted to privately managed charter schools. They don’t seem to have any ideas about how to improve public schools other than to outsource them. They are determined to impose a portfolio district model that welcomes more charter operators staffed by temps like they once were.
A group of Atlanta citizens, led by Edward Johnson, perennial fighter for incremental improvement, not disruption, has presented a petition to the School Board:
An Open Letter to Atlanta Board of Education:
Why the Portfolio Privatization Plan for Atlanta is a Bad Idea
Why the Portfolio Privatization Plan for Atlanta is a Bad Idea
We, the undersigned, request that members of the Atlanta Board of Education vote against any resolution or resolutions brought before the Board on March 4, 2019, or at any other time, that would establish any aspects of the would-be Excellent Schools Framework in the Atlanta Public Schools district.
The Excellent Schools Framework, which is based on the so-called Portfolio of Schools plan, is another corporate privatization effort intended to, in effect, turn over our public schools to private companies and establish charter schools that use public money for what are essentially private schools. Our public schools are not stocks and bonds in an investment portfolio to be bought, sold, and speculated. Our public schools are where children ought to be nurtured, protected, and educated.
We know that, in addition to privatization, school closures and attacks on teachers will accompany any implementation of the Portfolio of Schools plan, which the Atlanta Board of Education’s would-be Excellent Schools Framework is based on. No research exists that indicates the so-called Portfolio of Schools plan actually leads to improving learning for students and teaching for teachers.
We also know The City Fund is promoting the so-called Portfolio of Schools plan, with $200 million raised to use to influence targeted urban public school districts to adopt, adapt, and implement the plan. The City Fund’s local designated entity, RedefinED, has used its money to organize astroturf support for this plan.
This proposal is especially disturbing, coming at the time when the Board and Superintendent have already set hundreds of billions of dollars to go to billionaire social impact investors and real estate developers in “The Gulch” deal, downtown.
We urge you, the Atlanta Board of Education, to forgo your Excellent Schools Framework and, instead, adopt evidence-based models, such as the Community Schools model, that actually work for children.
The Excellent Schools Framework, which is based on the so-called Portfolio of Schools plan, is another corporate privatization effort intended to, in effect, turn over our public schools to private companies and establish charter schools that use public money for what are essentially private schools. Our public schools are not stocks and bonds in an investment portfolio to be bought, sold, and speculated. Our public schools are where children ought to be nurtured, protected, and educated.
We know that, in addition to privatization, school closures and attacks on teachers will accompany any implementation of the Portfolio of Schools plan, which the Atlanta Board of Education’s would-be Excellent Schools Framework is based on. No research exists that indicates the so-called Portfolio of Schools plan actually leads to improving learning for students and teaching for teachers.
We also know The City Fund is promoting the so-called Portfolio of Schools plan, with $200 million raised to use to influence targeted urban public school districts to adopt, adapt, and implement the plan. The City Fund’s local designated entity, RedefinED, has used its money to organize astroturf support for this plan.
This proposal is especially disturbing, coming at the time when the Board and Superintendent have already set hundreds of billions of dollars to go to billionaire social impact investors and real estate developers in “The Gulch” deal, downtown.
We urge you, the Atlanta Board of Education, to forgo your Excellent Schools Framework and, instead, adopt evidence-based models, such as the Community Schools model, that actually work for children.
Diane Ravitch's blog 
Great protest letter, strong, informed, articulate, bravo. Do these folks have community suppport?
LikeLike
Do they need community support? The board is controlled by TFA.
LikeLike
TFA, ugh.
LikeLike
The (leaked) presentation from the City Fund is really worthwhile to read if you’re a member of the public who wants to know the plans for public schools- plans that were made with no public input at all and had to be “leaked”, which seems to directly contradict the claim that this is being developed transparently.
This jumped out at me:
“The City Fund’s goal is for cities to have a large charter sector, “often scaling to serve 30-50% of students,” the presentation reads. Those schools, it argues, creates a competitive environment, one pillar of The City Fund’s model. They believe this will help “all boats rise.”
Whoa. Wait a minute. Isn’t the claim that they are “agnostic” and won’t be favoring one system of schools over another? Yet they somehow know ahead of time that “30 to 50%” of schools will be charters?
Why not just be straight with people? If the goal is to close 50% of public schools and replace them with charters why do this elaborate song and dance hiding that goal?
Obviously they’ll be supporting charter schools and removing supports for existing public schools. They need to hit the “30 to 50%” goal.
This preference for charters is glaring in Indianapolis. Read anything that comes out of ed reform and look for mention of the public schools in that city. It’s like they don’t exist. They are the DISFAVORED sector. They aren’t supported or funded by any of this billionaire largess, they aren’t even mentioned. You could spot the bias from space, yet they insist they are “agnostic”. It’s nonsense.
This is political. It’s old ed reform wine in new bottles, and it’s designed to obscure the fact that the goal is to privatize 50% of schools, because ed reformers were meeting POLITICAL opposition with the old marketing plan. Not “data based”. Not “evidence” based. 30 to 50% WILL be charters, regardless of “quality”
LikeLike
Black communities must against such separate and unequal treatment. Why should the schools of communities of color be privatized against their will? As Americans they should be entitled to free public education. All of this top down imposed privatization is class and race warfare.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Correction: must fight against
LikeLike
and a strategic separation of those who can afford tech services from those who cannot: Big Tech knows exactly how to play this game
LikeLike
Schooling 4 Duh Gig Economy …
LikeLike
They actually skewed the ranking system in Indianapolis to give the schools they prefer a bump in the ratings.
Here’s the deal- you agree to turn your public school over to a charter and your schools score IMMEDIATELY goes up. By operation of the law they wrote. If you don’t agree to turn your school over to a charter your school is ranked using the much tougher “public school ranking scale”.
They out a HUGE thumb on the scale to promote the schools they prefer and reduce support for the schools they don’t support. At the end of this market manipulation to favor charter schools over public schools we’ll be told it was all based on merit. But it wasn’t. It was designed to hit the “50% charter” goal.
I don’t mind that they hold these opinions that public schools have an ideologically incorrect structure that must be changed to comport with their veneration of “markets” but please stop snowing us. Please drop the “agnostic” claim. It’s deceptive and it’s unfair to public school families, who are not told that their schools are being phased out.
LikeLike
Chiara, do you have a link?
LikeLike
Go read the absolutely gushing reviews of The Mind Trust and Indianapolis charter schools in ed reform echo chamber circles.
There is no criticism of “the portfolio model” AT ALL. 100% cheerleading. In fact, any criticism of The Portfolio Model, even WITHIN, Indianapolis is met with immediate dismissal as invalid and the creation of the “status quo”.
Charter parents are encouraged to lobby for more charter schools in portfolio systems. Public school families, on the other hand, may not lobby for their public schools. That’s forbidden. Any lobbying for additional charters is portrayed as good and pure and high minded and any lobbying on behalf of existing public schools is portrayed as “defending the status quo” or “supporting unions”.
LikeLike
AOC should be scared for herself. She should also be afraid of those in her own party who have aligned themselves with the BBC (billionaire boys club) in order to line their pockets to keep themselves in a position of power. She acts fearless and she’s not afraid to ask the important questions that many of us have felt should have been asked years ago. She is a fresh new face, she has great new ideas, she doesn’t run from or sugar coat the truth, she is the “MLK” of our time….. and she needs to watch her back.
LikeLike
Before rushing to either open up or stop the creation of new charter schools in Atlanta, we must look carefully and where charter schools are excelling. The ability of charter schools such as Kindezi and KIPP to help struggling students reach literacy and math goals that were previously seen as unattainable cannot be denied. But, what exactly are charter schools doing that public schools are not? What successful practices can be transferred to public schools? I constantly hear my friends who teach kindergarten in public schools speak of rigid curricular requirements that force them to teach the same books to all kindergarten students. Research proves again and again that students benefit the most from reading books with characters that connect to their own lives. When we look at the diversity among students in Atlanta public schools, how can policymakers expect one book to universally connect with all students? Perhaps what charter schools do best is recognize that students are in fact diverse in preferences and ways of learning. If public schools allowed teachers to make curricular choices that met the needs of their diverse student groups, perhaps charter schools would not outperform them so often. Consider the model of the Ron Clark Academy. Students are held to high expectations, and their interests are valued in the curriculum. They read books that relate to them, go on field trips, and celebrate academic achievement. Public schools have to stop putting test scores above relationships and skill mastery. Teachers have to be a part of curricular discussions. Students have to be seen as unique individuals. Public schools have to make learning relevant and teach students to see how education helps them construct the world they desire.
LikeLike
It helps when charters exclude kids with disabilities and those who don’t read English.
LikeLike
“But, what exactly are charter schools doing that public schools are not?”
Simple, they are kicking out every kid who can’t deal with soldier-level regimentation and “discipline” (sic), which public schools can’t do.
Many times Diane has issued a challenge to charter networks: if you’re so great and you have a fool-proof secret sauce, why don’t you take over an entire failing district (where getting rid of the difficult kids would be impossible) and show us your stuff? If charters work for all kids and not just the most obedient “strivers”, then they should be happy to prove it, no?
Why then has no charter network yet taken Diane up on her challenge? Maybe it’s because cream is an essential ingredient in that “secret sauce”.
BTW, this is just so funny it’s painful: “Teachers have to be a part of curricular discussions.” Right, you’re talking about KIPP, which has mandatory top-down imposed scripted, uniform curriculum. Yep, a lot of teacher involvement in that curriculum!
LikeLike
Public schools would have more freedom to teach if it did not have imposed standardization and a litany of over testing. Politicians and billionaires keep insisting on more standards. Standards and testing do not improve outcomes for students. Public education was much better before it became a political football, and professional teachers had a say in curriculum.
LikeLike
The game of Monopoly, school portfolio edition. Park Place and Boardwalk get to be charter schools, public schools are low rent Baltic and Mediterranean Ave. Pick a card from Community Chest. Your brother in law who heads a charter school, gives you a sweetheart deal to clean the schools, collect one million dollars.
LikeLike