In the Public Interest is a nonpartisan organization that protects the public interest and has a special focus on the dangers of privatization.
Here is its latest report on charter schools:
Welcome to Cashing in on Kids, an email newsletter for people fed up with the privatization of America’s public schools—produced by In the Public Interest.
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Democratic charter school advocates are starting to help elect Republicans. Author and host of the Have You Heard podcast Jennifer Berkshire pointed out a noteworthy trend in the ever-shifting partisan dynamics of public school privatization. “Well-heeled Democratic charter advocates [are] spending big to elect Republicans.” This includes cofounder of Netflix Reed Hastings, a longtime charter school backer. Twitter
This pairs well with journalist Rebecca Klein’s breakdown of how state governments are carrying former Education Secretary Betsy DeVos’s torch as they consider school voucher programs. HuffPost
Now the rest of the news…
“Enabling theft and fraud” in Los Angeles. Carl Peterson documents how the Los Angeles Unifed School District continues to take away building space from public school students to give to charter schools, with past due bills totaling $1.9 million. Patch
Charter school founder gets a year in prison. The founder of a defunct charter school in St. Louis, Missouri, has been sentenced to 366 days in prison and ordered to repay nearly $2.4 million in state funding obtained by falsifying student attendance. St. Louis Post-Dispatch
“Charter schools invaded our neighborhoods without public input.” A group of parents, teachers, and educators in East Los Angeles detail how their neighborhoods have become saturated with charter schools to the detriment of public schools. Age of Awareness
And here’s this week’s opportunity to connect…
The Coalition for Community Schools and Institute for Educational Leadership is hosting a coalition town hall on racial equity in the “community school” model. Join February 23, 2021 2:00 – 3:00 PM ET. Coalition for Community Schools
Diane Ravitch's blog 
Having accomplished absolutely nothing that benefits or is even relevant to public school students in Ohio in 2019 and 2020, ed reformers kick off 2021 by demanding all Ohio public school students sit for standardized tests this year:
“Senate President Matt Huffman on Wednesday said Ohio needs to move forward with K-12 testing but drop any penalties that are tied to test performance. He said the tests will provide a look at where students stand on learning benchmarks in a tumultuous year.”
If you’re a public school student or family this is what you get from the “ed reform movement” – testing. They offer nothing else.
The ed reform lobby managed to push thru another huge voucher expansion and still more additional funding for charter schools but when they finally, reluctantly, turned to the unfashionable public schools in the state (the schools that serve 90% of students) this is all we got.
Ohio no longer supports public school students or public schools. You should not locate here if you intend to send your children to public schools. State government – wholly captured by the ed reform lobby- does nothing for our students or schools other than test and rank them.
I’m so glad to see some serious organizing going on . . . there’s where the power is. And to actually name a newsletter “Cashing In On Kids” . . . no Orwellian double-speak there. CBK