Teachers in West Virginia stunned the nation in February 2018 by going out on strike and staying out while demanding a pay raise and a commitment from the Governor and Legislature not to support charter schools and privatization. Theywon a pay raise and they had a commitment from Governor Jim Justice to veto charter legislation. Justice is a billionaire, the richest man in the state.
A year later, the Legislature was ready to abandon its promise not to introduce privatization. The teachers struck again.
Jan Resseger has the story here.
The Legislature wants to put the camel’s nose under the tent. Just the nose. Promise. Cross my heart.
Don’t believe them. They are lying. Once the privatization starts, the camel gets into the tent. The tiny voucher program becomes a massive voucher program. The experimental charter becomes a major lobbying industry.
Fight for public education.
Diane Ravitch's blog 
The teachers in West Virginia may be among the wisest people in the state. They understand that privatization starts with a trickle and ends with a flood. All they have to do is look around the country to see the devastation that privatization has caused. West Virginia does not have vast resources to squander on the false agenda of privatization. The teachers of the state know that privatization is not about civil rights. It is about increasing segregation and moving pubic resources into private hands. These are hardly noble goals. These teachers would rather make less than see their schools and students suffer the consequences of an agenda of the 1%. Privatization is an expensive distraction, not a solution. The teachers are trying to keep the state from making a costly mistake!
Wow! Hooray for West Virginia. West Virginia is fortunate to have brave and moral public school teachers. 👌👍
The last paragraph from Resseger’s article, modified to use the language we need to consistently use in counteracting the edudeformers and privateers:
“In a recent column published in the Charleston Gazette-Mail, the Network for Public Education’s president, Diane Ravitch and executive director, Carol Burris caution West Virginians not to believe the glittering promises from legislators pushing school privatization: ‘Every dollar that goes to a PRIVATE charter school, AND ALL BUT A FEW CHARTER SCHOOLS ARE PRIVATE or an education savings account voucher will be deducted from your local public schools… Across the country, the will of residents is being thwarted by PRIVATE charter schools pushing their way into communities and draining the resources of their community’s public schools. When those PRIVATE charters are placed in rural communities with already underfunded schools the effect is often devastating… It will start out with small PRIVATE charter ‘pilots’ in one selected location or ESAs only for students with learning disabilities. It is always the camel’s nose under the tent… The pilot soon turns into unrestricted PRIVATE charter growth. Decisions by school districts to reject a PRIVATE charter application will be overturned. Public school students will lose art and music programs and counselors as enrollment drops and funding disappears. Can a state like West Virginia, which struggles to fund its public schools, really afford a competing school system that is run by PRIVATE national corporate chains unaccountable to local communities?'”
Duane, congratulations. The Missouri League of Women Voters said in its latest bulletin that the bills to expand charters in Missouri failed.
NO CHARTER SCHOOL EXPANSION
Although committees in both the House and Senate quickly moved legislation allowing charter schools to be sponsored by outside entities (other than the local school board) and operate in districts around the state, these bills did not pass—mostly because of many communications from constituents and bipartisan opposition in many rural areas.
Rural legislators very much understand that the public schools are the backbone of every rural community. And they understand “if it ain’t broke don’t fix it” as a general guideline. While the public schools aren’t broke, in many ways they are struggling. The district that I retired from is going to a 4 day week next year for. . . wait for it. . . something like $200,000 savings. In other words the students get shafted because the state doesn’t adequately fund all districts.