Jake Jacobs, a teacher in New York and BAT activist, writes in the Progressive about the pathetic evasions of Democratic Candidates when asked directly about their stance on charter schools.
Public school educators and advocates have been working for years for this to become a major campaign issue, but so far, most candidate statements have been conflicted, incomplete, clumsy, and/or vague, while media coverage has been equally as incomplete, inaccurate, and in many cases baldly biased in favor of charters.
Read the article to see how they bob and weave to avoid taking issue with privatization of public schools.
Bernie Sanders is the only Democrat so far who has come out in support of the NAACP proposal for a moratorium on charters.
The others are trying to walk a fine line between “good” charters and “bad” charters, which ignores the fact that all charters divert money from public schools that enroll nearly 90% of US students.
Cory Booker can’t escape his long history with charters. Beto loves charters. Mayor Pete (ex-McKinsey) likes charters.
Here is the bottom line: REAL DEMOCRATS SUPPORT REAL PUBLIC SCHOOLS.
Diane Ravitch's blog 
Posted it at OpEd News. http://www.opednews.com/Series/PRIVITIZATION-by-Susan-Lee-Schwartz-150925-546.html
with this comment which has embedded links at OEN
“Read the article to see how they bob and weave to avoid taking issue with privatization of public schools, says Diane Ravitch, my friend who was ass’t Secretary of Education, who told Bush his No Child Left Behind Act– which tests kids to determine which school is failing, so it can be closed and then privatized– would leave ALL children behind.
Then she wrote: Reign of Error: The Hoax of the Privatization Movement and the Danger to America’s Public Schools.
* How Not to Fix Our Public Schools
* The Trump Devos Demolition of American Education
* and in her latest book, Slaying Goliath, https://www.amazon.com/Slaying-Goliath-Impassioned-Privatization-Movement/dp/0525655379/ref=sr_1_4?keywords=slaying+goliath&qid=1558983869&s=gateway&sr=8-4
Dr. Ravitch “lays out, in extensive detail, the facts showing that the ideas put forth by school privateers have failed; that their promises of higher test scores have not come to pass; that the “great hope” of Common Core has been a dud.”
“She writes about those who have privatized the schools — “the Disrupters” ( Koch brothers, the DeVos family, the Waltons (Walmart), Eli Broad, Bill Gates, Michael Bloomberg, Mark Zuckerberg) — who believe America’s schools should be run like businesses, with teachers incentivized with threats and bonuses, and schools that need to enter into the age of the gig economy in which children are treated like customers or products.”
“She writes about the corporations, foundations, etc., intent on promoting the privatization of one of our most valued public institutions.”
Let’s take a look at the candidates mentioned by Jacobs, in the order in which they appear: Klobuchar,Biden,Gillibrand,Beto, Booker,Sanders, Harris, Warren, Buttigieg. He found fault with all of them……….Criticism of Kamala Harris was that she prosecuted K12, but settled weakly, according to Jacobs. She is not trying hard enough. Is there a consensus regarding her efforts in California? Has she been bought off?
Perhaps if Democratic candidates stopped taking so much money from Wall St. and Silicon Valley, they would not speak “with forked tongues.” Thank goodness for Sanders’ willingness to confront “privatization” head on without prevarication. Sanders also has the wisdom to see through privatization. While purporting to improve education, it only occasionally does so while simultaneously undermining the public schools.
What charters really do is enhance segregation, move public funds and a public asset into private pockets, undermine democratic local control of education, and provide endless opportunities for profiteering, waste, fraud and embezzling and destroying middle class teaching jobs. If Democrats consider this a win, they are fools.
Frankly, there is no “innovation” in privatization. There is nothing that charters do that cannot be done a lot more efficiently and professionally in a well resourced public system. Many successful public schools are already doing this, but they do not get the attention of the media that is mostly owned by the 1%. Instead, we get the constant PR drumbeat of public school “failure.” Privatization is about investment opportunities for the already wealthy a lot more than it is about education. That is why billionaires line up to support it. The Democratic party needs a reality check.
If Democrats go to the American Center for Progress (CAP) representing itself as wise on education matters, they will find charter schools praised as a way to ensure equity in education, also praise for school choice, the Common Core, teacher evaluations based in part on student test scores, and all of the worst ideas from the Obama/Arne Duncan era.
Now there is even a new competition. It is not a version of Race to the Top but “A Moonshot for Kids.”
The combined imaginaries at the Fordham Institute and Center for American Progress are co-sponsoring this competition with a shark tank format.The gigantic (first stage) grand prize for finalists is $10,000.
The marketing and the legalese for the contest is thick. “The Contest will initially seek applied research and development ideas that will unleash innovation, support educators, and dramatically improve student outcomes.”
The winning idea must accomplish any ONE of the following BIG GOALS by a time certain: (i kid you not)
–Cut in half the number of fourth graders reading “below basic”
–Shrink by 30 percent the average time a student spends in English-language-learner status
–Ensure that every student receives high-quality college and career advising by ninth grade
–Double the number of eighth graders who can write an effective persuasive essay
–Double the amount of high-quality feedback the average middle schooler receives on their academic work
–Double the number of students from low-income families and students of color who graduate from high school with remediation-free scores on the SAT, ACT, or similar exams
–Double the number of young women who major in STEM fields
I have neither the time or interest in finding out what the “baseline numbers” for these seven big goals. https://fordhaminstitute.org/national/commentary/moonshot-kids-competition-contest-official-rules
The overall plan is larger than this competition. The Center for American Progress says there are three related efforts. I could find no detail on these except for the Moon Shot for Kids.
–Publishing research and commentary on the history of federal research and development efforts related to children and schooling
–Launching a competition to identify the best big, bold ideas that could change child outcomes at scale and that could demonstrate the sorts of innovations that such a substantial new investment could support
—-Developing a policy proposal for a new “Moonshot for Kids,” intended to garner bipartisan interest at the federal level but also be amenable to large-scale philanthropy.
Large scale philanthropy, at least initially, comes from venture capital Schmidt Futures, self described as a “Venture Facility for Public Benefit.” From the website: “We look for machine learning solutions where there is a community benefit, ” We are …an idea generator to test a number of ideas and identify those that work.
I doubt if may readers of this blog recognize the Schmidt name in connection with education. “Eric Schmidt is Technical Advisor and Board Member to Alphabet Inc., where he advises its leaders on technology, business and policy issues. Eric joined Google in 2001 and helped grow the company from a Silicon Valley startup to a global leader in technology. He served as Google’s Chief Executive Officer from 2001-2011, and Executive Chairman 2011-2018, alongside founders Sergey Brin and Larry Page.
Eric serves on the boards of The Mayo Clinic and The Broad Institute, among others. His philanthropic efforts through The Schmidt Family Foundation focus on climate change, including support of ocean and marine life studies at sea, as well as education, specifically cutting-edge research and technology in the natural sciences and engineering.
He is founder of Schmidt Futures, which helps exceptional people do more for others by applying science and technology thoughtfully and working together across fields.”
Eric’s wife, Wendy Schmidt. is President of The Schmidt Family Foundation, “where she works to advance the development of renewable energy and the wiser use of natural resources.” (Foundation assets in 2017 $530,041,779). https://schmidtfutures.com/our-method/our-people/
Impatient philanthropists seem to believe that any great idea proposed in a shark tank environment will produce a great return on investment if properly scaled up and marketed. The sharks are after our children. The Moon Shot thinkers have learned not one lesson from the real moon shot venture.
CAP and the Fordham Institute are eager to learn about your great ideas for producing any one of the measurable outcomes they care about. Your first proposal has a 500-word limit.
“dramatically improve student outcomes” — testing, testing, testing: the names and terms and personnel change but the game stays exactly the same
CAP=Center for American Profit. CAP can write up all the lofty goals it wants. If they fail to address the underlying causes of low scores, they are barking at the moon. If they believe that the magic market will solve the issue of inequity, they are dreaming or lying to themselves. CAP is very smitten with its perception of its own self-importance. Privatization does not solve problems. It pleases billionaires and creates a whole host of new problems.
The Moon Shot for Kids competition is set up to make each goal a pay-for-sucess invesment opportunity.