Please consider registering for the long-delayed annual conference of the Network for Public Education, April 30-May 1 in Philadelphia.
The speakers and panels will be outstanding. You will meet your favorite bloggers and supports of public schools.
Join us!
Diane Ravitch's blog 
I’d go to this if I could. You should. It’s in Philadelphia
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is this a virtual meeting? Will it be taped for those of us who can’t travel at this time?
The speeches will be videotaped but not streaming. The panel discussions and workshops will not be. We have been trying to have a live in-person meeting for two years and are very excited that we can meet again. I hope you can make it.
Here is a great topic for this group to discuss: why does a large majority of the public – including a large majority of Democrats – support school choice?
https://www.federationforchildren.org/new-poll-72-support-for-school-choice/
The link you provided goes to The American Federation for Children page. Here is information I found about The American Federation for Children.
“The American Federation for Children (AFC) is a conservative 501(c)(4) dark money group that promotes the school privatization agenda via the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) and other avenues. It is the 501(c)(4) arm of the 501(c)(3) non-profit group the Alliance for School Choice.[1] The group was organized and is funded by the billionaire DeVos family, who are the heirs to the Amway fortune.[2] Former Wisconsin Assembly Speaker Scott Jensen, who was charged with multiple crimes stemming from abuse of his office, is on staff at AFC as Senior Advisor to its Government Affairs Team.[3]”
Here is the link for more information:
https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/The_American_Federation_for_Children
As I expected, the replies to my first comment here will all be purely ad hominem. The relevant data comes from an independent polling operation; the data is merely quoted – not generated – by the AFC. RealClear daily publishes news and opinion pieces from across the political spectrum, including pieces from far Left writers.
As I expected, Michelle White is an ad hominem expostulator in her own right. Telling the truth about school privatization and exposing the libertarian billionaires behind the charter and privatization movement is not an ad hominem attack.
Joe Jersey, AFC may be a horrible organization. But that does not discredit the polling data that they cited. Respond to that data in your next comment.
How can you explain why the overwhelming majority of students and families CHOOSE public schools. Nothing from Betsy DeVos’s organization is credible.
Does the majority of the public support equitable schooling for all across the country? If yes, good. If not, that’s the problem , rat race mentality.
A poll from Betsy DeVos’s organization—the American Federatuon for Children—is not credible. Like Putin reporting on his success in Ukraine.
If most people support choice, how can you explain that 85% choose public schools, even when charters and vouchers are available?
You posted a question and a link. I am just posting information I found about the source you posted.
Info I found about RealClear:
“According to a 2019 piece by Center for Media and Democracy, “RealClear Foundation has been funded by right-wing megadonors for years.”[6]”
Here’s the link:https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/RealClear_Media_Group
I don’t know whether to laugh or shake my head at the obtuseness of the responses to me. The poll I cited was conducted by polling experts, NOT by Betsy DeVos. The AFC article merely quotes the data from that poll; AFC did not originate that data. If RealClear is a right-wing outfit, why do they publish do many left-wing articles and opinion pieces? 85% of parents choose traditional public schools because that’s the legal status of most K-12 schools in the country. There aren’t enough private and charter schools to accommodate every family who would choose to send their kids there if space was available. In the case of private schools, if millions more parents could afford to send them there they would. The traditional public school world knows that, which is why they fight fiercely to deny parents the ability to exercise school choice.
False. Many parents believe their local school is the best choice. This is demonstrated by the rise in real estate values where schools have a good reputation. The problems with public education come when we allow some schools serving students difficult to teach because of socio-economic issues to be underfunded. Parents in these schools often see school choice through the lens of their own personal immediate needs. Understandable, but it is hardly the stark choice you present here.
Even in states like Florida and Indiana, with easy access to vouchers and charters, most parents choose public schools. Public schools have more to offer: advanced classes, special subjects, sports teams, band, community.
I’d love to attend the NPE conference in Philadelphia. But, like most public school teachers, I have to budget very carefully and cannot afford $165 to listen to people talk about what I do in the the classroom everyday. It’s ironic that most people who can go to these conferences are outsiders.
The main speeches and several panels will be mainstreamed. The event starts on a Friday evening and continues to Sunday lunch, for the sake of teachers’ schedules. Many teachers attend. Write to Carol Burris and see if you can get a subsidy. How much do you need?
The NPE conference will not be about “telling teachers what to do.” It will focus on the struggle to protect public schools against privatization. Our attendees include teachers, school board members, state legislators, parents.