The Biden and Sanders campaigns created a “Unity Task Force” to make recommendations on important issues.
Here is their report with recommendations. It is 110 pages.
There is much to like in the report, proposing an agenda to reverse four years of savage attacks by Trump on the environment, on the rule of law, on government itself.
The education portion aPears on pp. 22-27.
It contains welcome pledges of increased funding, more equitable funding, universal early childhood education, a commitment to racial integration of schools, a commitment to making higher education affordable (including tuition-free community colleges), debt relief for college graduates, and other worthy goals and policies.
On the two issues where Democrats found themselves committed to Republican strategies, the panel has a mixed record.
It took a clear stand against the high-stakes standardized testing that is a legacy of George W. Bush’s No Child Left Behind law of 2001-2002:
The evidence from nearly two decades of education reforms that hinge on standardized test scores shows clearly that high-stakes annual testing has not led to enough improvement in outcomes for students or for schools, and can lead to discrimination against students, particularly students with disabilities, students of color, low-income students, and English language learners. Democrats will work to end the use of such high-stakes tests and encourage states to develop evidence-based approaches to student assessment that rely on multiple and holistic measures that better represent student achievement.
That’s a step forward, especially since so many high-profile DemocratIc Senators voted to retain high-stakes testing when NCLB turned into the Every Student Succeeds Act in 2015. So, we can celebrate the fact that the Unity Task Force is prepared to discard the Bush policy based on the non-existent “Texas Miracle.”
The other issue that has been a huge burden for public schools is the Republican claim that competition improves public schools. This faulty idea has spurred the development of privately managed charter schools and vouchers. Charters have a flimsy record. Those that get high test scores are known for their low enrollments of students with disabilities and English language learners, as well as their harsh discipline policies (no excuses). Many Republicans love charters because they are a stepping stone to vouchers. They wean people away from public schools and encourage parents to think of themselves as consumers, not citizens. Thanks to private management, charters have been plagued by multiple scandals involving waste, fraud abuse, and bloated administrative overhead. The teacher turnover rate at charters is very large in some high-performing charters, as much as 50% every year. The virtual charter industry is a disaster that has been associated with multimillion dollar embezzlement.
The Network for Public Education published two reports documenting the failure of the federal Charter Schools Program, which hands out $440 million every year to open new charters and expand existing ones. I have referred to the CSP as Betsy DeVos’s personal slush fund because she has given huge grants to corporate charter chains like KIPP and IDEA. THE NPE reports (Asleep at the Wheel and Still Asleep at the Wheel) demonstrate that nearly 40% of the charters funded by the CSP either never opened or closed soon after opening. During the campaign, Senator Sanders called for elimination of the federal a Charter Schools Program.
Five facts stand out about charter schools:
1. On average, they don’t get better results than public schools.
2. They drain resources and the students they choose from public schools that take everyone, including the kids the charters don’t want.
3. About 90% of charters are non-union, by design.
4. Charters are amply funded by billionaires like the Walton family, Betsy DeVos, Charles Koch, Reed Hastings, and Michael Bloomberg.
5. If charters helped solve the problems of American education, then Detroit would be one of the outstanding districts in the nation, instead it is one of the nation’s lowest performing districts.
Why should the federal government spend $440 million every year on new charters and on expanding corporate charter chains?
Given that background, you can understand why I think the Unity Task Force statement on charters is watery pablum.
Here it is in its entirety:
Charter schools were originally intended to be publicly funded schools with increased flexibility in program design and operations. Democrats believe that education is a public good and should not be saddled with a private profit motive, which is why we will ban for-profit private charter businesses from receiving federal funding. And we recognize the need for more stringent guardrails to ensure charter schools are good stewards of federal education funds. We support measures to increase accountability for charter schools, including by requiring all charter schools to meet the same standards of transparency as traditional public schools, including with regard to civil rights protections, racial equity, admissions practices, disciplinary procedures, and school finances. We will call for conditioning federal funding for new, expanded charter schools or for charter school renewals on a district’s review of whether the charter will systematically underserve the neediest students. And Democrats oppose private school vouchers and other policies that divert taxpayer-funded resources away from the public school system.
Nothing is said here that would displease the hedge fund managers and billionaires who support charters. Even Betsy DeVos must be smiling to see the Biden-Sanders task force endorse school choice, which was birthed by southern governors resisting the Brown decision. It’s very sad to see a task force of Democratic leaders giving their blessing to the southern strategy. (Read Steve Suitts’ new book on that sordid history: “Overturning Brown: The Segregationist Legacy of the Modern School Choice Legacy.”)
Taking a stand against “for-profit charters” is piffle. Arizona is the only state that allows for-profit charters. Nothing is said in this statement about banning for-profit management corporations, which manage large numbers of “nonprofit” charters all over the country.
And notice that the task force says nothing about terminating the federal Charter Schools Program, as Sanders recommended, guaranteeing that the government will continue to spend $440 million (or more) to open more non-union charters to compete with public schools. Excluding “for-profit charters” from the federal CSP is good news for KIPP, IDEA, and other “nonprofit” corporate charter chains that are bankrupting local public schools. This recommendation was made with full knowledge of the long-run failure of this program.
Of course, I will vote for Joe Biden, despite this weak-kneed capitulation to the Republican-dominated charter lobbyists. But I won’t hide my disappointment.
The failure of the task force to challenge the charter industry and stand up for public schools as the foundation stone of our democracy is troubling and is an embarrassment to the Biden campaign.
Agree. SAD in so many ways.
Indirectly related- (state Catholic Conferences promote school privatization.)
The U.S. Catholic church is likely the biggest winner of 2020. The Church, in desperate need of money to pay priest abuse settlements, got an influx of cash, $1.4 to $3.5 bil. from the government (the head of the USCCB, Bishop Dolan, praised Trump’s leadership a few weeks ago). The taxpayers’ money was theoretically intended for small business who pay taxes and were suffering from Covid’s economic effects.
America is well down the road of Catholic theocracy and evidently, has become a funder to the church’s abuse victims, a funder of campaigns to get GOP voters and, a funder of campaigns to privatize common goods like public schools.
Huffpo provided details today.
I’m going to disagree with the assessment on the charter plank of this document for the following reasons. It removes the ease with which charters can mismanage their funds and divert them to profit driven entities and does much the same for their other operating parameters. This seems to seek to force them to actually ‘compete’ with true public schools in a way that allows honest comparisons, i.e. it forces them to surface whatever their ‘special sauce’ might be and to show how that makes them better. (Not holding my breath on any proof of that, LOL) We already know that charters are by and large inferior to public schools, so what the policies of the document does is to strategically force all that out into the open, onto a level playing field so that the public can more easily see how badly they’ve been duped and robbed by the charter sector. Sadly, the public support for ending charters as a result of this is what will be needed for the political class to find the guts to go against the donor class and shut down the looting of public funds and public schools.
Jon, many states have laws requiring accountability from charters but it never seems to happen. They have powerful lobbyists and have figured out how to evade troublesome requirements. Even when the inferiority of charters is openly displayed, as in Ohio and Michigan, their PR outruns any criticism.
Charter accountability is piffle. (I’m SO going to steal that word)
The political class, e.g. the Center for American Progress and its board member who established the BiPartisan Policy Center, have no will to listen to the public and won’t as long as billionaire hedge funders and tech tyrants deposit money in the organizations’ accounts.
Btw- The COO of New America (Eric Schmidt’s think tank) was a privatizer in New Orleans, where, recently, the last public school was closed.
Jon-
You’re blowing smoke in the wrong place. But, you’re correct, conscience doesn’t drive establishment Dems like it does Justice Democrats.
The Chicago Tribune says that Rahm Emanuel has been advising Biden. How anti-charter can we expect Biden to be when he is getting advice from corporate dems like Rahm?
Biden has a number of advisors who are cringe worthy. Trump has more.
Exactly. Rahm should be shunned & kicked out of the party for his shameful, racist school privatization policies and lying about the LaQuan McDonald murder by Chicago police.
ArtsSmart,
Please cite your source. Rahm Emanuel said he was talking to people in the campaign in one interview. Elizabeth Warren and Bernie Sanders are advising Biden more than Rahm is.
NYC public school parent. Here’s my source. https://www.chicagotribune.com/election-2020/ct-rahm-emanuel-joe-biden-campaign-economic-policy-20200522-ujxsorrlona7zittfbylv5cyhe-story.html
The fact that we don’t know who Biden’s advisers are is part of the problem. Don’t you think voters have a right to know? https://thehill.com/hilltv/rising/502482-sirota-criticizes-secrecy-surrounding-biden-advisers
This is probably the 4th or 5th time you have posted the same Chicago Tribune article to claim something that the article doesn’t say. And we have responded to you and yet you post the same drivel based on that single article. I am starting to wonder what your real agenda is.
Here is what the article says:
“Emanuel is not on any of the panels, but he told the Tribune he “talks regularly” with members of Biden’s campaign team.” Wow, Rahm talks with Biden’s campaign team. So does Bernie and Warren. Does that mean Biden will do what Bernie tells him to do? Hooray!
The way I can tell whether you are a Trump troll is whether you will actually post something negative about Trump. Let’s hear your take on how dishonest and corrupt Donald Trump is. Clearly, anyone who is concerned about Rahm being too “corporate” would be one million times more concerned about Trump.
So if you can’t post something about how corrupt and dishonest Trump and Trump’s White House is right now, I will suspect that you have an agenda that is about supporting Trump.
dienne77, you posted a link to an article in which David Sirota seems to be referring to exactly the same Chicago Tribune article that ArtsSmart uses as his source over and over again when he posts to scare people into believing that a vote for Biden is a vote for Rahm Emanuel. Even Sirota seemed to recognize a nuance that you don’t in your link: “Sirota acknowledged that there was a “gray area” between the what makes an official and unofficial adviser, but that the situation with the Biden campaign was still “problematic,” arguing that if a person has an official advising role to Biden, then the public should be aware of it.”
Is Bernie Sanders an official or unofficial advisor to Biden? Is Elizabeth Warren an official or unofficial advisor to Biden? Is AOC an official or an unofficial advisor to Biden? If Biden has not clarified whether Bernie, AOC, and Warren are official or unofficial advisors, does that mean something nefarious, and if so, what does it mean that Biden won’t identify whether they are official advisors or unofficial ones? Is it more nefarious that Biden is hiding whether Bernie and AOC are “official” or “unofficial” advisors or whether he is hiding whether Rahm Emanuel is? What conspiracy with Bernie, AOC, Warren, and Rahm is Biden hiding? And does that mean that you are justified in not criticizing Trump and instead repeating right wing talking points about Biden?
I am still waiting to see if ArtsSmart will post some real criticism of Trump or not.
After all, there is plenty to criticize Trump about and ArtsSmart doesn’t even have to misrepresent a single Chicago Tribune article over and over and over again (and over again!) in order to find something to criticize Trump about!
Bottom line is we don’t know if Rahm is a top advisor or not because when the Biden campaign was asked this question the response was “no comment”. Rahm has said several times he’s been advising the Biden campaign and talks with him on a regular basis. I do hope that the Biden campaign will tell us if Rahm’s claims are true or not.
ArtsSmart,
I challenged you to post something extremely critical about Trump and you refused to do so, which confirms my belief that you are much more concerned about Biden being president than you are about Trump continuing his far right wing flouting the law presidency.
Your concern about whether Rahm’s claims are true is really funny. Do you care about whether anything Trump says is true or not? Are you happy that Trump will punish public schools that don’t go back in session which is something that neither Rahm or Biden have supported?
Still waiting for you to post some criticism of Trump, which is something that right wing trolls who are committed to Trump’s re-election are not allowed to do. They are allowed to post that Chicago Tribune article and wrongly state that it says something it does not, just like you do.
Why can’t you just vote for Trump without pretending it is because of your faux concern that Rahm Emanuel secretly controls everything Biden does?
THIS: “develop evidence-based approaches to student assessment that rely on multiple and holistic measures that better represent student achievement. “is a rehash of Arne Duncan’s we need “better” tests mantra. We already have enough tests- many that are actually valid and reliable that DoEd threw out during the reform years.
Democrats, the Dept of Ed and Congress need to be removed from requiring any and all school testing. Claiming that testing is a state-to-state decision is a false choice, and, frankly a lie as ESSA has testing requirements in its mandates.
Until Dems commit to a bold turn-around from Arne Duncan/John King & Race to the Top, teachers will never trust them. They lost to Trump once- do they really want to be the party that looses to him twice?
I agree with NPE’s examination of the unity task force report. It is woefully inadequate. It turns a blind eye to all the non-profit charters that that are non-profit in name only. That is the vast majority of charter schools. It is equally wishy-washy on the non-existent accountability requirements for charter schools. Public money turned over to private companies without accountability will result in continuing waste, fraud and embezzling. This document is more of the same duplicitous dance that Democrats have been doing for years with the plutocracy. American public school students deserve better this that feeble, inadequate education statement
NPE should join will social justice groups and reject this education plan. We need to tell Democrats to stop serving up our public schools on a silver platter to profiteers. Our young people are not a commodity. Our public money must go to our communities, not outside interests. We must not spend our public dollars on private charter schools that promote greater segregation.
How about both teachers union leaders alert Dems- we won’t support any of this pap.
They were on the task force.
Wow. What an outstanding post, Diane!
Diane Ravitch for Secretary of Education!
Plus it’s nice to read the word piffle every once in a while!
lmao!
Yes. I just wanted to say: piffle.
I love language. I am reading A. Scott Berg’s magnificent biography of Woodrow Wilson. In marking 20 years at Princeton, Wilson noted that the school was “part of the very warp and woof of my life.” Gotta love you some warp and woof!
And what about free public university under grad & advanced degrees in education for those who want to become teachers? Why only free community college? We have a drastic teacher shortage and this is what they offer public schools? How about full funding for IDEA? Full funding of Early Head Start and Head Start for all? Full funding for K -12 public schools?
How about a GI Bill for public education? These half-measures make no difference to the current status quo. Rather, they perpetuate it while pretending to be new. Pathetic.
End the state testing, period. The last thing we need is to create another ridiculous industry of state-mandated “holistic assessments/balanced scorecards,” or whatever other nonsense will replace the current invalid, pedagogically useless testing. Let’s get back to putting our resources into instruction. If any testing is to be done, let it be done by classroom teachers.
Seems a veiled reference to data dashboards like we already have in California. Also seems like an open invitation to Gates to invade states with data-driven MOUs. In other words, it seems like more of the same. Did we expect anything other than middling incrementalism? We’re going to try to hold off an ocean of racial injustice with a thimble — with a toothbrush. Oh well, now is not the time for debate. Go Joe!
Yeah, we can let Joe have it AFTER Trump is out and the Whiter House has been fumigated.
Do you think fumigation will be enough to rid the White House of the Trump Zombie Plague?
They may have to burn it to the ground and then rebuilt.
LOL. Ya got me.
The discussion of charter schools is straight up from the Center for American Progress. There is nothing well informed on charter schools. The names and affiliations of the taskforce members do not appear on the document. Why not?
Actually the names are on the document
Here are the members of the task force, listed in the document.
Rep. Marcia Fudge,
Co-chair Heather Gautney,
Co-chair Alejandro Adler
Lily Eskelsen Garcia
Maggie Thompson
Christie Vilsack
Randi Weingarten
Hirokazu Yoshikawa
Well, there is much to love in this document as a whole, and the differences between this platform and the sewage spilling from the Trump maladministration could not be more stark.
This is an extremely important election. Remove the psychopathic criminal idiot in the orange clown makeup and all his enablers in the Senate, especially Moscow Mitch.
Increasing Title 1 funding is good.
Wasn’t the education task force co-chaired by Bernie Sanders’ advisor Heather Gautney?
Wasn’t Randi Weingarten on the task force, along with Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez?
Why didn’t they stand up to the charters? What is the insider view of what happened, or do they believe that they were standing up to them?
^^correction: I don’t see AOC’s name on the document, although she was listed in earlier news reports, so she must have been replaced or that was mis-reported.
Newsflash: Bernie is not the Democratic nominee (something I’ve been told repeatedly here). It’s not Bernie’s policies or those of his allies that you need to worry about any more. If you’re concerned about the Democratic platform, you need to look to the nominee.
Why wouldn’t I look to the people ON the task force?
Are you implying that the woman who advised Bernie Sanders on education policy and the head of the teachers’ union are so corrupt and paid off by the corrupt Biden campaign to hurt public schools, so I should not trust the teachers’ union and not trust Bernie Sanders anymore? Is Trump the only one who is trustworthy now? I know you like to comment on his “orange hair”, but at least you never tell me that Trump intentionally bombs babies the way you always post that democrats do.
If I believed everything you posted, I would be rabidly anti-teachers’ union and send my kid to private school. Is that what you do? Do you hate the teachers union as much as you hate the democrats? Will empowering those whose goal is to destroy public schools and teachers unions make public schools better?
Bernie and his team are not going to be making policy for the foreseeable future. Assuming a Democratic win in November, Biden and his team are. If you have policy concerns, take it up with them.
Of course I would take it up with them. What I would not do is to hurt children all over this country because even though SOME of Biden’s policies are flawed, I decided that having Trump and DeVos and their significantly MORE harmful policies were no big deal. It takes a certain kind of privileged voter to be upset about Biden’s education platform after they enabled Trump to unleash his far more harmful platform on this country and continue to defend Trump as being no worse than the Democrats.
There is a difference between those who keep defending Trump as not being so bad while condemning Biden and the democrats as evil for not being more progressive, and people like Diane Ravitch who call out the problems with some of Biden’s policies while also recognizing that Trump is much, much worse.
If I ever heard you acknowledge that Trump’s policies are much, much worse than Biden’s, I would respect your criticism of Biden. But if you can’t differentiate between the two, that speaks for itself.
” If you have policy concerns, take it up with them.”
May I assume that you have no policy concerns with Trump and the Republicans since I have yet to see you ever “take it up with them”?
Dubious “research” about student values, self-discipline, etc. in non-public schools has been trotted out to bolster private and religious K-12. A starting anecdote for a paper about values in private schools could start with former NRA lobbyist, Christopher W. Cox, who decided today to depart his WH job. The timing followed a Politico investigation. Cox attended the Baylor School.
This is a campaign document. We have to be vigilant and active when we have new administration. The AFT and NEA have excellent leadership right now and they along with organizations like NPE. Campaign platforms are designed to get attract votes not alienate anyone. The real work is after the election. Just as politicians and journalists go to lawyers, to explain Supreme Court decisions, etc., they must be made to come to education experts, meaning teachers, for educational issues, not Bill Gates, Mark Zuckerberg or pediatricians. Diane should be Rachel Maddow’s guest regularly. In the past, I feel that we have neglected demanding that respect but I think the leadership and will is there now to make it happen. Witness the recent recent teachers strikes.
Yes, we must make sure we hold the Biden administration accountable. We can’t afford another Clinton/Obama-style White House. Neither can the Democratic Party.
Agreed!!! Much to be done AFTER the election!!!
AFT, excellent leadership? Wasn’t Randi thick as thieves with CAP, even giving them money? Wasn’t the Calf. branch of the AFT, one of the largest funders of Susan Davis, a representative who said she wanted a charter school in every district, the same Susan Davis who was part of the BiPartisan Policy Center’s education session funded by Bill Gates and John Arnold? If Davis hadn’t decided to retire from her position, in a solidly Democratic area, would the “excellent” union leadership have continued to give her money?
AFT and NEA, “excellent” leadership- with representatives on the board of the accrediting group for teacher education who presumably voted for a leader who is a Pahara Fellow?
Criticizing Randi Weingarten? Really?
🙂
If the Republicans keep their majority in the Senate all of this is meaningless because Traitor Moscow Mitch or someone like him will probably continue blocking every bill that isn’t ALEX approved legislation,
With that said, “We support measures to increase accountability for charter schools, including by requiring all charter schools to meet the same standards of transparency as traditional public schools, including with regard to civil rights protections, racial equity, admissions practices, disciplinary procedures, and school finances.”
If, not when the previous quoted paragraph is implemented, that could be a game-changer all by itself.
Why? Because that is how Finland manages its publicly-funded private sector schools and explains why only 1% of Finland’s K-12 schools are private schools. Once the black-out curtain is torn down revealing all the fraud, lies, child abuse, and mismanagement, and transparency is the rule along with charter schools being required to follow the same rules the public schools follow, most of them will fail miserably.
“In Finland most private schools are government-dependent, that is, they have a licence to provide education, they are publicly funded and under public supervision. Therefore, they follow the national core curricula and the qualification requirements confirmed by the Finnish National Agency for Education. The private education provider must fulfil requirements set out in legislation in order to be licensed. Generally, the requirements for the licences are similar despite of the level of education.”
https://eacea.ec.europa.eu/national-policies/eurydice/finland/organisation-private-education_en
Unlike Finland lobbyists here often write legislation, and politicians are for sale. That’s why billionaires and corporations own so many of them. We rarely see politicians stand up for public schools or hold private charter schools to the same level of accountability and rules that public schools meet.
Privatization has not focused solely on education. Privatizers have been openly hostile to public schools, constantly lying about them and working to rig the political system against public schools. The federal education policy has given charter schools preferential treatment for at least the past twelve years. The only plan for public schools has been slashed budgets along with test and punish. Now the entire federal policy is all about moving public money into private pockets. How much of a slippery slope are public schools supposed to endure?
And that is why this country, the United States, NEEDS “seriously tough” campaign finance reform.
It’s simple. Charters have very very rich backers. Charters have lobbyists. Charter supporters donate huge sums to politicians. Politicians want charter money. Charters enroll 6% of the kids in the country. But public schools don’t make big political contributions. Children in public schools have no lobbyists. Billionaires don’t support public schools. There is no DFER for public schools.
I don’t believe they’re really getting rid of standardized testing. Just switching it to online. More data collected. Both academic and SEL.
“… encourage states to develop evidence-based approaches to student assessment that rely on multiple and holistic measures that better represent student achievement.”
Standardized testing is a vampire. Keeps rising from the dead.
Put a stake in it!
The former commissioner of education in NY told me that the next phase of testing will be continuous embedded assessment. No need for tests. Kids taking tests all the time on their computers.
The key word is embedded.
Testing embedded with “Pearsonalized learning” and Pearson and other testing companies embedded with state education departments.
That’s stage one, to eliminate teachers, which is currently in process.
When teachers are all gone
The bots will teach the children
Shock them when they’re wrong
Like Doctor Stanley Milgram
The final stage in the techno-logical progression will be to eliminate the students entirely from the education process with robotesting.
When robots take the test
Our problems will be gone
Cuz robots are the best
And never ever wrong
They’ll get a perfect score
On PISA every time
And who could ask for more?
(Except perhaps a rhyme?)
arriving at the harsh truth through poetry – well done
Former commissioner?
Would that be Mary Ellen Eliar?
SDP,
Yes. Maryellen Elia.
Diane Ravitch: “There is no DFER for public schools.”
Alas, nailed it!
I sound like some demented Trump backer (are there any others) when I make this complaint……but the media does a terrible job of reporting about charters….and what might be a related situation…..when school systems carve out “schools of joice”—it is not exactly segregation….but the overall effects are complex, and too boring for most education reporters to take a deeper look into……We have a lot of excellent education writers…..but we have (for now) lots of school systems——many times elected school board members help report situations which need to be reported—if the do not get run out of town.
Who owns the media outlets and pays the reporters’ salaries? Billionaires. That’s not a conspiracy theory, it’s a fact — with a conspiracy insinuation. 😉
Do most of the media support for charters come from OpEds or news pieces?
The media is remarkably gullible. They are suckers for a heartwarming story. The teacher who performs miracles. The school that takes in poor kids and everyone graduates and goes to a four-year college.
Gary Rubinstein once had a regular feature in which he exposed “miracle schools” as frauds.
The media also don’t do enough investigation, whether by commission or omission, to recognize when reports and surveys come from astroturf groups. There are many groups organized with big money, posing as parents.
First and foremost, the media is a for-profit business in the private sector. Profit rules or they go out of business.
Then because of bean counters focused on profits, often the newsrooms are understaffed mostly by underpaid reporters that are overworked as they struggle to meet their daily deadlines so they do not lose their jobs.
Then what the reporters write under pressure ends up being cut, increased, edited, and revised by editors before publication. No telling what the editors removed or added to make sure they do not lose their jobs, too. Next are the editors that were hired because they think just like the boss, another billionaire micromanager that could be just like Trump but without the trolling and tweeting.
That is what I learned back in the early 1970s when I was earning my BA in journalism and the reason that I stopped subscribing to and reading newspapers and listening to broadcast news.
CAP’s sell-outs likely take the NYT’s limousine liberal, David Leonhardt, to lunch and give him the talking points.
No one even attempted to answer my question so I am going to do it. My Google search came up with 27.9 million hits. I will only go through the first few pages looking for what looks like media sources.
My goal was to point out that the media is more than a couple of newspapers like the New York Times and The Washinton Post.
“New Report: Charter Fraud And Waste Worse Than We Thought”
https://www.forbes.com/sites/petergreene/2019/12/10/new-report-charter-fraud-and-waste-worse-than-we-thought/#1be8239b7a22
Does Forbes count as part of the media?
The Washington Post published a piece called “The 5 most serious charter school scandals in 2019 – and why they matter”
https://www.forbes.com/sites/petergreene/2019/12/10/new-report-charter-fraud-and-waste-worse-than-we-thought/#1be8239b7a22
Do we also count the Washington Post as part of the media?
“Schools for Scoundrels”
https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2011/10/charter-school-fraud/
Does Mother Jones count?
“State will audit Inspire charter school network for alleged fraud ”
https://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/news/education/story/2019-10-09/state-agency-will-audit-inspire-charter-school-network-for-alleged-fraud
I am sure the San Diego Union-Tribune counts as the media.
“Fraud and waste in California’s charter schools”
Does In the Public Interest count as media?
“Former head of Livermore charter schools charged with misleading investors”
https://www.mercurynews.com/2020/04/27/former-head-of-livermore-charter-schools-charged-for-misleading-investors/
The Mercury News is a regional newspaper and counts as the media.
“California Charter School Officials Settle SEC Bond Fraud Case”
https://news.bloomberglaw.com/securities-law/california-charter-school-officials-settle-sec-bond-fraud-case
Doesn’t Bloomberg count?
“$50M stolen from state in charter school scam, DA says”
https://fox5sandiego.com/news/50m-stolen-from-state-in-charter-school-scam-da-says/
Isn’t Fox5 and subsidiary of FAUX NEWS?
“Dallas charter school CEO is convicted of steering contract to friend in exchange for kickbacks”
https://www.dallasnews.com/news/crime/2019/10/04/dallas-charter-school-ceo-convicted-steering-contract-friend-exchange-kickbacks/
The Dallas Morning News is another regional newspaper.
Buckeye State Charter School fraud coming to Idaho charter school near you
https://sandpointreader.com/buckeye-state-charter-school-fraud-coming-idaho-charter-school-near/
Claims to be independent local journalism – does that count as the media?
“Woman sentenced to three years for charter school fraud”
https://www.delgazette.com/news/41074/woman-sentenced-to-three-years-for-charter-school-fraud
Another regional newspaper. The Delaware Gazette publishes Tuesday through Saturday with offices at 40 N. Sandusky St., Suite 203, Delaware OH 43015. Our telephone number is 740-413-0900.
“An alarming study links fraud in the Enron scandal to similar practices at charter schools”
https://www.businessinsider.com/are-charter-schools-the-new-enron-scandal-2017-3
I think Business Insider is a national media source both print and on-line
“BayTech Charter School Under Investigation”
https://www.eastbayexpress.com/oakland/baytech-charter-school-under-investigation-for-financial-mismanagement/Content?oid=18890699
The East Bay Express is a regional paper in the San Francisco Bay Area
“Fraud case proceeds against charter school founder”
https://www.phillytrib.com/news/fraud-case-proceeds-against-charter-school-founder/article_ee00263d-b181-5d14-90d0-df9c50f87b88.html
I think The Philadelphia Tribune is a regional newspaper.
“Fraud investigator will comb through Easton charter school finances”
https://www.newsbreak.com/pennsylvania/easton/news/0OGrZWg1/fraud-investigator-will-comb-through-easton-charter-school-finances
“[Charter school] Principal who resigned, leaving school in financial deficit, being investigated for fraud, embezzlement”
https://www.mysuncoast.com/2019/08/01/former-charter-school-principal-accused-embezzlement-school-goes-into-financial-deficit/
Does ABC7 WWSB count?
“Fraud Facts: Charter schools: Innovative teaching, but not without risk”
https://nydailyrecord.com/2015/01/09/fraud-facts-charter-schools-innovative-teaching-but-not-without-risk/
Another regional newspaper
“Charter Schools’ Founder Fudged Attendance Worth Extra $1.4 Million In State Aid ”
https://news.stlpublicradio.org/post/charter-schools-founder-fudged-attendance-worth-extra-14-million-state-aid#stream/0
A regional NPR station out of St. Louis
“Former Hawaii Island charter school official pleads guilty to wire fraud”
https://www.hawaiinewsnow.com/video/2020/02/05/former-hawaii-island-charter-school-official-pleads-guilty-wire-fraud/
“Two virtual schools defrauded Indiana of $68 million and funneled more to execs”
https://www.indystar.com/story/news/education/2020/02/12/indiana-trying-get-back-millions-shuttered-virtual-schools/4740433002/
“Florida Charter School Operator Gets 20 Years For Fraud”
https://wusfnews.wusf.usf.edu/post/florida-charter-school-operator-gets-20-years-fraud
“Report: Growing charter school system is wasteful for taxpayers, gives rise to criminal fraud”
https://www.wtxl.com/news/report-growing-charter-school-system-is-wasteful-for-taxpayers-gives/article_c33c8688-bc4a-11e8-a1fa-fba48a8d4507.html
“Goodyear charter school owner accused of fraud”
https://www.abc15.com/news/region-west-valley/goodyear/goodyear-charter-school-owner-accused-of-fraud
“Former charter school accused of fraud over taxpayer dollars”
https://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/education/fl-charter-private-school-money-20171213-story.html
“Ivy Academia founders sentenced in fraud case”
https://www.dailynews.com/2013/10/04/ivy-academia-founders-sentenced-in-fraud-case/
“District alleges fraud in charter school application”
https://www.northjersey.com/story/news/watchdog/2017/03/19/district-alleges-fraud-charter-school-application/99333820/
“Oakland charter school accused of fraud may close”
https://www.sfgate.com/bayarea/article/Oakland-charter-school-accused-of-fraud-may-close-3454213.php
“Charter School Mogul Charged in Multimillion Fraud Case”
https://www.phillymag.com/news/2012/07/24/charter-school-mogul-charged-multimillion-fraud-case/
I stopped on page 10 after looking at 100 entries for this Google Search.
NOTE: It is obvious that Charter School incompetence and fraud is not being totally ignored by all of the media.
Is the point that media scrutiny won’t outweigh the influence of
(1) billionaire privatizers, (2) political state Catholic Conferences and, (3) the campaigns of religious zealots (protecting rich, white male privilege) who operate within and outside of government?
How unethical must staff e.g. Fordham, Bluegrass Institute be if they work for an organization that took Covid money, making taxpayers pay them to promote anti-government policy at the expense of for-profit business that pay taxes?
An excellent reason for Biden to select Tammy Duckworth as V-P- she lists her religion as unaffiliated.
The chief writer for the Tucker Carlson show resigned today after being exposed for posting, under a pseudonym, sexist and racist comments. Carlson has been attacking Duckworth.
Probably no one is reading this post now (so late to the party), but I wish people would stop referring to Pear$on & look up Savvus, the company (run by private equity firm) that bought them. You will be shocked, SHOCKED, I tell you, when you read how much more the nefarious plot against children thickens…
I am aware that Pear$on $till exi$t$, but it is but a part of a whole new ballgame.
& the public schools are out (of a LOT of $$$$$$$$$).
Thanks for the addition.
Obama POURED money into Charter schools during his administration. What’s to keep Biden from doing the same?
Why are you asking this question when the focus should be getting rid of Trumpy Dumpty, the Orange buffoon instead of casting doubts on Biden?
We will learn what Biden will do once he is in office and even if Biden’s administration continues to throw public money at private sector charter schools, that will still be an improvement over the Kremlin’s Agent Orange, the traitor squatting in OUR White House.