In this brief video, Dr. Leslie Fenwick, former dean of the College of Education at Howard University, explains why the “schemes” of corporate reformers always fail. She doesn’t hold back about charters, vouchers, Broad superintendents, and Teach for America.
The video is part of a series of hundreds of interviews of educators, conducted by former teacher Bob Greenberg. He calls his series the Brainwaves Video Anthology. After you watch Dr. Fenwick’s wonderful interview, you should browse his collection. It’s very impressive.
Diane Ravitch's blog 
This is an informative video. Dr. Fenwick understands the inequity hidden behind all the assertions that privatizers make. i have listened to some of her other insightful talks as well. I would hope that Biden would consider her to lead the DOE if he should win.
In this video she still believes that for profit charter schools are the problem, but most non-profit charters are generally non-profit in name only. Most charters are in the business of making money, and they will always put profit above the needs of students. Dr. Fenwick has the experience and expertise to understand and expose the flaws inherent in privatization schemes.
I agree about the reluctance to treat charter schools as a problem, whether for profit or “technically” non-profits. The charter industry is thriving for reasons that have little to do with improving the education of “Black, Brown, and Poor” children. Eva’s Success Academies, for example, are discipline and punish environments for these children in addition to be profit centers. Apart from that, the low key video captures well the speaker’s deep knowledge of threats to public education and efforts to nullify civil rights legislation.
yes, when will we get to what is crucially needed : not being reluctant to call out charter schools as the problem, but loudly and adamantly calling out charter schools as the problem
Failure is their business and they are very good at it.
Exactly. Success and failure are relative to a goal. They take the public’s money and fail all the way to the bank.