Randall Balmer is one of Iowa’s most accomplished sons. After growing up in Iowa and attending its public schools, he went on to success as a historian, author, and professor, now at Dartmouth College. In addition to writing award-winning books about religion, he wrote a biography of President Jimmy Carter and won an Emmy for a three-part PBS series on the Evangelical church.
He wrote a compelling editorial warning Iowans against the Republicans’ plans to introduce a sweeping choice plan, which will divert students and funding from community public schools. He called school choice a “mirage.”
He began with plain truths:
As a graduate of Iowa public schools, I was saddened to read about the governor’s “school choice” proposal. Public education is one of our nation’s best ideas, and the persistent attempts on the part of politicians to undermine it with the misleading rhetoric of “choice” represents a real threat to the future of democracy.
Diane Ravitch's blog 
I encourage people to read ed reformers because I don’t think there’s wide public understanding of how relentlessly negative and hostile towards ANY public school these folks are.
This is an example:
“If a lot fewer families settle for the “industrial-style” school model that previously enveloped them, I say bravo. I also note that this moment was created in large part by the failure of most industrial-style schools to provide what their clients needed and wanted during a period of enormous stress. To channel the late Clayton Christenson, the situation is ripe for disruptive innovation. Much as Paris was enticing to American farm boys in 1919, new forms of schooling are appealing to Covid-weary American parents today.”
Every reference to public schools is negative, and every reference to the privatized schools they prefer is glowingly positive.
It’s true in every ed reform echo chamber piece. The public school bashing is so baked in to the “movement” it’s like they are BARRED from any positive mention of any public school.
Public school bashing is casual and constant and thoughtless- they state it like it’s a fact that everyone knows.
These are the pundits and policy people who run US public education, to the exclusion of any other opinion or view. They’re opposed to public schools.
Ask yourself how that works out for kids IN public schools.
If you come from outside the ed reform echo chamber and you just read THEIR WORK on public schools you know immediately that this “movement” won’t do any anything for public school students. They don’t value any public school, anywhere. If the school is public, it sucks. That’s the mindset. And they RUN education in this country.
https://fordhaminstitute.org/national/commentary/how-ya-gonna-keep-em-back-old-school
All public schools are “factory model” and “failing” and people are “stuck” in them, and yet this is how the echo chamber depicts the privatized schools they prefer:
“For instance, Mountain Phoenix Community School outside Denver is a progressive charter school, organized on the “Waldorf school” model, and offers both in-school and hybrid options. ”
I mean, come on. This isn’t science. It’s propaganda. It’s marketing. A political campaign.
I get it- ed reformers prefer charter and private schools IDEOLOGICALLY. They disdain public entities of any kind and of course they’re all opposed to labor unions of any kind.
But what does this hostility to public schools mean for students IN public schools? It means they don’t support our schools and students and work as hard as they can to replace our schools. This is who we’re hiring and paying in government- people who work against our kids school because it’s a public school.
“Denver is a progressive charter school”
Does anyone know what THIS ed reform nonsense means, BTW?
They’re constantly promoting charters they claim are “progressive”, obviously to appeal to “progressives” politically.
What does this mean? What’s the plan here? We’re going to have charters where Republicans go and charters where Democrats go?
More nonsensical mush. More marketing.
The deal now is that Democrats are pushing charters and Republicans are pushing vouchers.
Tag team privatization.
well said
Jimmy Carter? Now, there’s a real winner
On Tue, Feb 9, 2021 at 8:01 AM Diane Ravitch’s blog wrote:
> dianeravitch posted: ” Randall Balmer is one of Iowa’s most accomplished > sons. After growing up in Iowa and attending its public schools, he went on > to success as a historian, author, and professor, now at Dartmouth College. > In addition to writing award-winning books about rel” >
Yes, Jimmy Carter was, and is, indeed a real winner. Stuart Eizenstat’s (Carter’s domestic policy advisor) biography of Carter reveals a president whose ambitious and whose substantive administration often stepped on its own successes because of an aversion for raw politics and public relations. Given U.S. history in the past four years, Carter’s time in office seems surreal, especially since he was willing to lose reelection if it meant doing the right thing, as he saw it, for all Americans. He was defined by commitment, hard-work, compassion, idealism, one who, in his own mind, separated governing from politics. He had an odd mixture of genuine humility and an inner intellectual confidence bordering on arrogance because he believed he could master every detail of policy. But when things got ugly in the political arena, Carter had the “resilience…and determination to keep trying until he found answers. When he found it, he was reviled for it.”
While many politicians on the American political right today claim to be religious, they are little more than opportunistic, Elmer Gantry-esque, craven charlatans cashing in on ignorance, racism, and resentments. On the other hand, Carter’s deep convictions were “rooted in his won Christianity, which emphasizes Jesus’ concerns for the poor and downtrodden.” He had a “determination to do what he felt was right over what was politically advantageous.” During his four years in the White House, his administration addressed the most pressing issues of his and future times. Carter was much more than a caricature of a peanut farmer who ascended to the presidency, the popularly perceived failure of a president. His post-presidency life has given us a tantalizing look of what he might have been.
Even with his accomplishments in energy policy, which still resonate today, the Camp David Accords, he and his legislative ally Rep. Jack Brooks considered the establishment of the Department of Education to have been his signature achievement. Even Reagan, who campaigned on eliminating it (much like the Idiot’s ridiculous promos to kill the Affordable Care Act), couldn’t. And the establishment of he department was not, as is too often wrongly interpreted, a payoff to teachers unions. It was part of his philosophy of making government more efficient and effective. There were more than 200 education programs spread throughout federal departments and agencies and the department consolidated them and elevated education to a national priority, something it no longer is.
Seen only through a narrow political spectrum, one could conclude his victories were Pyrrhic because he was defeated in 1980. Given the history of next 40 years, it is clear that Carter’s presidency has, by and large, substantively reverberated through American history, whether people realize it or not. You are one of the many who don’t.
Indiana [Republican run] still wants more money for vouchers, most of which goes to religious schools, and there is no money to pay teachers a better salary. Gov. Holcomb [R-IN] brags about the great Hoosier budget.
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Holcomb announces COVID-19 recovery program and other takeaways from State of the State
Jan. 21, 2021
Gov. Eric Holcomb delivered his first State of the State of his second term in office and arguably his most unusual one to date.
Nod to school choice
This is Holcomb’s fifth State of the State address but the first time he’s used the platform to endorse Indiana’s robust school choice programs.
“Parents not only deserve to have options about where they send their child to be educated,” he said “After all, they pay for it — but at the same time, those options shouldn’t come at the expense of the public school system, which educates 90% of Hoosier children.”
The past year has caused many families to think about how and where they want their children to go to school. Many experienced virtual education for the first time and school leaders are expecting some families to want to continue with online learning, even in a post-COVID-19 world. Others looked for schools that would offer in-person instruction when others weren’t.
Holcomb didn’t elaborate but the comment could be seen as an endorsement for legislation from House Republicans to expand the state’s private school voucher program.
Democrats were critical of his speech
Not surprisingly, Democrats were critical of Holcomb’s speech. John Zody, chairman of the Indiana Democratic Party, argued Holcomb isn’t working hard enough to stop the spread of the more contagious strain of COVID-19.
Likewise, Zody said Holcomb “broke last year’s promise” to give teacher pay raises, and left out the numbers on jobs that left the state…
Check out this story on indystar.com: https://www.indystar.com/story/news/politics/2021/01/19/covid-19-indiana-governor-holcomb-state-of-the-state/4210857001/
I think we have to deal with the fact that education reformers are embedded in state governments and (especially) the federal government to an extent where their views and agenda and SO dominant there are no other views heard.
Look at Biden. He promised to change course from Bush, Trump, Obama on education and 3 of his 4 high ranking US Dept of Ed hires come directly out of ed reform groups- DFER and Gates.
My own state government in Ohio is completely dominated by the ed reform echo chamber. They write every education bill. We basically have to ask ed reform lobbying groups for permission before public schools and public school students are even addressed. NOTHING gets accomplished for public school students in my state. It all takes a back seat to whatever charter or voucher expansion the ed reform lobbying groups are promoting.
Ohio has essentially had a “lost decade” for public schools. No one did anything for them or on their behalf. Ed reform demanded we focus exclusively on charters and vouchers and DeWine is more than happy to comply with the directive.
The voucher cheerleading and funding and promotion are just one side of the story. The other side of the story is that we get NOTHING positive for public schools or public school students when we hire or elect ed reformers.
Just to give you a sense of the total disregard for students in public schools in ed reform, here’s an op ed promoting the voucher plan:
https://www.desmoinesregister.com/story/opinion/columnists/iowa-view/2021/01/31/everybody-wins-iowa-schooi-choice-legislation-laudable-sf-159/4285608001/
The title of the op ed is “everybody wins”. It’s simply not true that “everybody wins”. The voucher plan offers nothing, nothing at all, to any student in any public school.
Iowa, led by the ed reform lobby, has a “public education plan” that offers nothing positive to any public school student or family. They simply get nothing and this not only accepted in ed reform, it’s the norm.
They don’t even see the need to serve students in public schools. They just omit them.
Iowa public schools will languish, neglected, while ed reformers pursue their ideological goals. No one does any work on their behalf. The Agenda comes first.
It’s happened in Ohio. Our kids haven’t been offered anything positive or useful out of Columbus FOR YEARS. This year will be no different.
Iowa will end up like Ohio. Here’s what Ohio did on education this past year. They did a huge expansion of vouchers and increased funding to charters.
That’s it. Public school students were completely omitted from the “education agenda” in Columbus. 90% of the kids in this state are not served, at all, by the state employees they hire and pay. Ed reformers won’t allow it- their charter and voucher agenda comes first.
DeWine has public school funding flat in his proposed budget. Public school students lose, again. That’s ed reform leadership. That’s what you’re paying for.
The Southern Poverty Law Center (bless them!) keeps track of voucher legislation nationwide:
https://pfps.org/billtracker/?searchterm=&state=&year=2021
here is their five-part summary of 2019 voucher legislation: https://pfps.org/private-school-vouchers-analysis-of-2019-state-legislative-sessions.html
We are in the middle of the most recent and possibly largest voucher blitz on the part of the Education Deformer Occupation Force.
I definitely get what they are saying.
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In the Absence of COVID Safety Plans, Teachers Are Resigning and Retiring Early
An unprecedented number of teachers and other school employees are leaving the field because of fears about COVID.
This should have been Cheryl Dubberly’s 40th year as a music teacher, but in August 2020, she resigned from her position with the Duval County Board of Education in Jacksonville, Florida.
“It was dreadful to think about continuing,” Dubberly told Truthout. “I would not have been able to stay safe because I was responsible for teaching music to the entire school — 500 to 600 kids.” The job, she says, required her to go from classroom to classroom even though the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention warned that singing with others can spread COVID-19.
“The job was not worth my life,” she says.
Like Dubberly, Christine Vehar, also a music teacher, left her position in the metro Atlanta area this fall. She had taught for just three and a half years. “When the schools closed in March, I had a great remote teaching experience,” she says. “The students were very engaged and despite some initial disorganization, it worked well, and I ended up loving teaching from home.” But when Vehar’s district decided to move to a hybrid schedule in October — holding in-person classes from 7:15 am to 2:15 pm four days a week, with Wednesdays as a remote teaching and learning day — she resigned.
The reason was fear of catching and spreading the virus.
“My mom is 63, and she lives with me,” Vehar told Truthout. “She is a three-time cancer survivor and an amputee with a compromised immune system, so there was absolutely no way for me to give her the care she deserves and continue to teach in-person.”
A fall 2020 survey conducted by the National Education Association (NEA) confirms that neither Dubberly nor Vehar are unusual. “Teachers with less than 10 years in are leaving the profession,” NEA President Becky Pringle told Truthout. “And 40 percent of mid-range teachers — those with 21 to 30 years of teaching experience, the people who are mentors and leaders in many schools — have indicated that they are likely to resign or retire early. This is really disturbing.”
Michele Fleiss, a technology teacher in a Brooklyn, New York, elementary and middle school, has taught for 23 years and is in this demographic. “I can get my pension once I’ve put in 25 years and reach age 55,” she says. “I have less than two years to go, and while COVID is not the only reason I want to leave the profession, it is a factor.” Her fury toward the City Board of Education is palpable. Staff, she says, are treated disrespectfully — not told whether they’ll be working remotely or in person until the last minute. “A few weeks ago, we got called at 8:30 at night and were told that the next day we’d be teaching remotely. We then had to start making calls and emailing the families about the change. We were also expected to immediately pivot our lesson plans from in-person to online instruction,” Fleiss told Truthout. “It’s frustrating to not know what to prepare for. It also seems unfair not to know what’s happening until the last second. This has happened many times since September.”
…the NEA survey revealed another even more horrifying trend: Nearly half of the teachers of color interviewed — including 43 percent of Black teachers — told researchers that the decision to stop teaching has been hastened by COVID. Nonetheless, it’s not the only reason they’re dissatisfied. “When we talk about diversifying the field, we have to take on institutional racism,” Pringle says. “We know that people of color are being disproportionately impacted by the pandemic. Teachers of color are fearful for their own and their family’s health and are less trusting that the government will do anything to protect them.” Pringle also notes that teachers of color tend to work in schools that are under-resourced, less able to provide enough personal protective equipment (PPE) and space to make socially distanced learning possible….
https://truthout.org/articles/in-the-absence-of-covid-safety-plans-teachers-are-resigning-and-retiring-early/?utm_source=Truthout&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Truthout+Share+Buttons
One private Christian charter school in Indiana is getting $1.1 million dollars in COVID relief money. The state doesn’t have enough money to give teachers a decent salary but it is giving taxpayer money to more than two dozen charter schools. Private schools together are slated to receive $81.7 million.
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Indiana adds funds for charter schools ineligible for $800 million COVID relief aid
By Aaricka Washington Feb 9, 2021, 5:08pm EST
Some Indiana charter schools will receive federal COVID funds for pandemic costs they incur through September 2023.
Alan Petersime/Chalkbeat
Alongside $800 million to Indiana public schools in the second round of coronavirus relief dollars, the state is setting aside a small amount of money for more than two dozen charter schools that weren’t eligible for the larger pot of federal funds.
New charter schools that will open next fall are set to receive $40,000 each to defray COVID-related costs such as building improvements to reduce the risk of virus transmission and addressing students’ learning loss in their previous schools.
The other charter schools that weren’t eligible for federal COVID relief funds will be allocated at least $40,000 each. Those schools currently don’t participate in the federal Title I program that supports teaching students from low-income families, and determines eligibility for relief funds.
Nevertheless, Indiana is offering those charter schools a share of the aid because in general charter schools serve a disproportionate number of low-income students.
Schools can use the federal grant to cover past and future pandemic expenses through Sept. 30, 2023.
But one school district will miss out entirely on federal relief dollars, even though it qualified for the first round of federal aid. Zionsville Community Schools, a suburban school district north of Indianapolis, has just 5% of its students from low-income families, too small a portion to receive a share of round two CARES Act aid.
Superintendent Scott Robison said he was concerned that seven charter schools opening in Indiana next school year will get CARES Act funds, while his district will not.
“I would think that our fully functioning service to 7,400 students here where we didn’t get any money, but have a lot of CARES expenses, would at least be considered,” Robison said. “It seems a little weird that they are getting CARES funding and we’re not.”
He said his district should receive some funds.
Zionsville, along with every other school district, has covered many extra expenses during the pandemic. Robison said districts need funds to ensure their staff and students can be safe, “irrespective of whether someone is impoverished or not.”
Indianapolis Public Schools, the largest school district in the state and one that serves predominantly low-income students, is projected to receive nearly $80 million in round two, the most in the state.
In the first round of federal aid, IPS received nearly $22 million for its district-run and privately run schools. The district has incurred large pandemic-related expenses for devices for electronic learning, personal protective equipment, facilities, and academics.
Wayne Township in Indianapolis is expected to receive nearly $16 million in additional federal aid. Superintendent Jeff Butts said the district will likely prioritize mental health support, staffing for smaller classes, tutoring, and after-school activities. About two-thirds of its students come from low-income families.
“Everything that we’re doing will be focused on trying to get our students accelerated over the next two years,” Butts said.
While the relief funds may seem like a lot, Butts notes that the grants are not ongoing dollars.
“They’re one-time dollars that will allow us to work with our students,” he said.
Private schools together are slated to receive $81.7 million.
Heritage Christian School in Indianapolis, for example, is expected to receive $1.1 million, the most among the state’s private schools.