I recently interviewed Raynard Sanders, a veteran educator in New Orleans, about his new book The Coup D’etat of the New Orleans Public Schools: Money, Power, and the Illegal of a Public School System.
He spoke at length about the blatant racism involved in the takeover and privatization of the city’s public schools. The state leaders (white) had been eager to find a reason to seize control of the district, which had a majority black school board. Ray says that the state commissioner cooked up a tale about missing millions of federal dollars. This same commissioner obtained an audit that showed there were no missing millions, but he continued to keep the story alive to undermine confidence in the elected school board. When the hurricane devastated the city, it was the perfect excuse for the white elite in the city and the state to grab control of the schools, their budget and their personnel. The hurricane became a rationale for firing the mostly African American staff, which was the backbone of the city’s black middle class, and replacing them with young white Teach for America recruits. It is a sobering interview.
Diane Ravitch's blog 
Abbott in Texas concocted similar apocryphal stories about the Houston school board in order to sow seeds of doubt about the integrity and competence of the board. This was while the city schools received a respectable “B” rating. He was setting the stage to try to take over the city schools when The Houston Federation of Teachers filed a lawsuit against Abbott. This along with Covid and natural disasters will slow the process down, but it will not solve the problem. Even if Patrick replaces Abbott, he will continue to dismantle the public schools. It is time for Texas to vote blue.
Notice that every state takeover targets a district whose school board is majority black and brown.
This is why I wrote the book “Stop Politically Driven Education” and especially the chapter titled “Sneaking and conniving”. The politicians don’t have a clue!
Just want you to know that I follow the devastation our public schools. Today, I listened to a program that discussed the wealth disparity between whites and people color.
Many the differences in accumulation of wealth (like owning a house, having savings and planning for retirement) were discussed. They mentioned ‘education.’
BUT to me, it ALL begins with PUBLIC SCHOOLS– and thus, our populations of colored people lose from the start, when these communities are deprived of good schools — well-funded so that there can be small classes, experienced professional teachers, and essential materials and services for facilitating leaning– it is ALL about LEARNING. — and teaching all kids HOW to do WORK! “How” is a word which is defined as: “the ways in which!”
Complex tasks are accomplished by know HOW and practicing doing work!
A great school with a great teacher in each room, and a great learning curriculum –one that gives kids practice in DOING WORK — offers the ONLY way to acquiring the LIFE SKILLS which are needed to BE SUCCESSFUL.
That is why they stole funding from the schools.
That is why they made WAR on the experienced professional teacher (as my story –which you all know) demonstrates.
That is why the elite send their kids to private schools.
I am so worried that we will never stop this ploy in the plot to make a permanent serf class, by ensuring that people of color never have the advantage of the basic education that begins when a child goes to public school, and learns (not just facts) but how to do work.