Carl J.Petersen describes the machinations of Nick Melvoin, a school board member who was put into office by the money of the charter school lobby.
As blogger Michael Kohlhaas has demonstrated by publishing leaked emails between Melvoin and leaders of the California Charter School Association, Melvoin is looking out for the interests of his sponsors.
Diane Ravitch's blog 
In my opinion, the Arne Duncan and Nick Melvoin “agnostics” of ed reform are worse than the straight-up proponents of privatization like DeVos and Bush.
At least the public knows what they’re getting with DeVos and Bush, instead of this pile of rhetorical mush offered by the “agnostics” that amounts to the same thing.
Bush and DeVos are less deceptive. They make it clear they don’t support public schools. “The agnostics” pretend they support public schools, get elected on that, and then do these backroom deals.
Why are public schools and public school students always the dead-last priority of these public servants? What would our students have to do to merit their support? Besides the fact that we’re paying them, I mean, because clearly that’s not enough to inspire them to lift a finger on behalf of the unfashionable schools or students.
100% real truth!
Now that summer break is over I was hoping that one or two of Betsy DeVos’ employees at the US Department of Education could get around to doing something that actually benefits any public school or public school student. It’s been almost three years. One would think they’d have something to show for it.
But no- still spending 24/7 pushing private school vouchers and bashing public schools and public school students.
Does anyone know why we’re all paying for a political campaign promoting private schools that enroll maybe 5% of US students? Can’t they pay for this “work” with the billionaire bucks from one of their 15 ed reform foundations? Why is this federally funded? Should public school families expect some return on their investment in the US Department of Education, or have our schools and students been deemed unworthy again?
Can ed reformers point to anything they have accomplished in this calendar year for the vast majority of students who attend the public schools they oppose? If not, I would submit we might allocate the funds that go to their paychecks elsewhere.
Good question. Why are we being forced to pay for privatization that most Americans do not support? That is why Bernie has vowed to end the federal private, charter school slush fund. It is a misuse of federal dollars, especially when these schools do not provide the amazing results they promised. This use of money is favored by billionaires, not millions of working people.
It’s not just the federal funding. It’s the constant promotion of charter schools and private schools to the exclusion of every public school in the country.
If you arrived here from another country and listened to the employees of the USDOE and never left DC you would believe every student in this country attends a charter or private school.
It’s ludicrous. Utter and complete capture by that lobby. No connection at all to the reality of US students or families.
If they’re only going to work on behalf of 10% of students, can’t we pay them 10% of their salary? Reduce the staffing 90%? If we’re paying charter and voucher lobbyists the very least we could so is pay fewer of them.
Privatization of public education has always been linked to real estate, From the crooked self-dealing leasing arrangements to the seizure of valuable real estate in many cities where real estate is extremely valuable. Privatization is about the monetization of our key public asset, public schools. Several developers are also charter school owners. Gentrification is a way to move the poor from potentially expensive land near the CBD and send them to the outskirts of the city where the cheap charter schools are located. Central real estate gets repopulated near a selective charter school with white upper middle class families. This is social engineering for profit. When charters move into former public school buildings, the building becomes the property of the private charter school. It is all part of the great public education heist. This is the formula for transferring a public asset into private pockets. We have seen this same scenario play out in several cities in the country.
I read a lot of ed reformers – they’re currently pushing CTE- pushing charters (of course) but rebranding them as CTE.
“Oregon was the first state in the country to develop and build a regional CTE center serving multiple school districts, which it accomplished using the state’s charter school law. Two districts in Oregon, Salem-Keizer and Sabin-Schellenberg, offer CTE coursework where district schools can send students. But CAL is unique because it serves five high schools across three school districts: Centennial, Gresham-Barlow, and Reynolds.”
http://research.crpe.org/reports/rethinking-cte/center-for-advanced-learning/
Nonsense. I went to a vocational program at a regional center and so did one of my sons. There are two within a hundred miles of me right now. No one had to privatize public schools to do it.
Does anyone outside the echo chamber ever vet echo chamber work?
The assumption that charters can address special needs has no basis in fact. Many cities have offered both selective schools and CTE, many years ago. I graduated from high school in 1966 where I attended a selective school. I also could have chosen a technical high school called Mastbaum that served students in my neighborhood as well It still exists today.
Many urban and densely populated suburban school districts offer a variety of options for students. New York City probably has one of the widest variety of options for students in the world. Unfortunately, many of the them are highly selective, and not everyone gets in. Suburban districts often form a consortium to better serve CTE or special need students. The services in these schools generally offer quality programs taught by trained professional teachers.
Melvoin will give the assets away with the aid of Neo-liberals and conservatives. Current and former people associated with CAP, like Ann O’Leary, are likely his cheerleaders.
Can Melvoin be recalled?
Melvoin is such a dirtbag. Recall? Sí se puede. Yes we can. And after the strike, he is a pariah in his district here on the West Side. He lost all his political capital opposing us. His back room dealings with the CCSA are just cause for recall. It’s a dangerous gambit that could backfire, remembering the failed recall of Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker, but it’s worth serious consideration because times have changed. Red! 4! Ed! When we fight, we win!
I think Peterson is onto the right argument to make at the board meeting when Melvoin reveals his dastardly plan: “[The Yelp-like] score penalized schools whose results cannot be measured by test scores or data points. Schools will, therefore, be dissuaded from devoting resources to quality special education or other types of programs that will not boost the school’s rating and, therefore, attract students.”
Thanks for the mention!