In 2016, John Oliver presented a shocking episode about charter schools.
It has been viewed by 12 million people.
Oliver was the first and possibly the only major media figure to discover that charter schools had some serious problems.
Some close in the middle of the year.
Watch his clip with John Kasich comparing education to getting more pepperoni on a slice of pizza.
Watch his clip of a charter operator quoting Scripture to excuse her criminal behavior.
Watch the clip of the owner of the for-profit White Hat charter chain, who says that “education is first, last, and always a business.”
Give John Oliver credit for being first to expose waste, fraud, and abuse in a new and very profitable industry.
Diane Ravitch's blog 
Public education should be a public service, not a business. Businesses are accountable to investors. The primary responsibility of public education should always be the students they serve.
Yesterday, when the Miami Dade Schools were discussed, I went to their website to find out more about the district. This quote on the home page rubbed me the wrong way
“There are many opportunities for vendors, contractors, and consultants to do business with Miami-Dade County Public Schools. As one of the largest businesses in Florida, the District purchases all types of supplies, materials, commodities, and services; as well as constructing and maintaining a large variety of facilities.”
Schools districts are not “businesses.” The purchase goods and services from vendors, but they are public institutions. I also looked up the superintendent,Alberto M. Carvalho, who grew up poor in Portugal. He should know better. He entered the country as an undocumented individual. Clearly, he has been influenced by neoliberalism. Obama awarded him a Superintendent of the Year award.
Sorry to go slightly off topic — only slightly — but as I watch the Los Angeles superintendent on the district learning channel right now, I want to tell you about two very troubling developments. This guy is terrifying. First, he hired a real estate company to review ideas for using district real estate “more efficiently”. He talked about moving three thousand administrators out of district headquarters, and about building affordable housing for district employees like classified staff and new teachers. Sounds like finding excuses to crowd and close school campuses, and keep salaries low. Troubling to say the least. Second, he wants to have all the 400 or so apps teachers are using right now to connect and share data with one centralized site. That’s a standardization nightmare.
John Oliver is great. Unlike so many other comedian/news guys (like Bill Maher), he never bought into the charter school nonsense. We have had some small victories, but the charter forces are so rich, and so willing to go to any length to win school board elections, public school advocates will have to stay on high alert every single day. Thank you Diane for helping lead the battle.