Andy Spears is the publisher of the Tennessee Education Report. He writes in the current issue of The Progressive about the well-funded effort to privatize education funding in Tennessee. Republican Governor Bill Lee and the legislature are determined to gut local control and to outsource taxpayer dollars to out-of-state organizations to open charter schools. This drive for privatization ignores the abject failure of the Tennessee Educational Achievement Authority, which burned through $100 million without achieving anything.
Spears writes:
If you are wondering what it looks like when school privatizers are close to total victory, Tennessee is a prime example. Here, the forces that want to take public money and hand it over to private entities are on the verge of completing their conquest.
Tennessee’s current legislative session features a range of attacks on public schools. Some of these would have immediate impacts, while others take a longer-term approach to fully privatizing K-12 education in the state.
First, it is important to understand that groups backing privatization in the form of charter schools and vouchers are among the top spenders when it comes to lobbying state legislators. For example, the American Federation for Children—an organization founded and previously led by the family of Betsy DeVos, a school privatization advocate and former President Donald Trump’s Secretary of Education—spent $887,500. Another big spender, the Tennessee Charter School Center, spent $732,500.
Based on this year’s full-frontal assault, these investments appear to be paying off. There are three key issues that currently pose the most significant threat to Tennessee’s public schools. They include: a partnership with Hillsdale College, a private fundamentalist Christian college in Michigan, to run fifty or more charter schools; legislation that would create a charter school real estate grab; and school funding reforms that set the stage for a statewide voucher program.
In his State of the State address, Governor Bill Lee restated his commitment to set aside $32 million to help launch new charters in Tennessee and announced the Hillsdale College partnership, which could bring close to fifty Hillsdale-run charter schools into the state.
Beyond the use of public funds to open schools run by a private, Christian college, there is reason to be concerned about the nature of the Hillsdale curriculum. As educator and blogger Peter Greene explained, “[Hillsdale President Larry] Arnn has been a Trump supporter, and the college has fallen right into MAGAland as well. . . . The college uses Trump mailing lists to raise money. They used to sponsor Rush Limbaugh’s show. They get grads placed on the staff of legislators such as Jim Jordan and Kevin McCarthy.”
Over the past decade, I have consistently referred to charters as part of the privatization movement, a first decisive step towards vouchers. Charter advocates have frequently written to insist that charter schools are “public schools.” They are, because the state law (drafter by charter lobbyists) calls them “public schools.”
But the Tennessee push for charter schools makes clear that they have become a Trojan horse for privatization. Governor Lee is rewriting the school funding formula so “the money follows the child,” a back door path to vouchers, which a state court ruled unconstitutional.
Spears writes:
Potentially millions of dollars worth of real estate assets in local districts across Tennessee could soon be up for grabs at prices below market value. No wonder privatizers tied to the charter industry have spent $8 million lobbying the legislature.
The final element in the push for privatization is being billed as a “reform” of the state’s school funding formula. Governor Lee recently released his plan to revamp how the state directs money to local school districts for public schools. The bottom line, according to Lee, is that the approach is “student-centered” and that funds “follow the child” no matter what. This plan is based on model legislation from the rightwing American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC).
This statement, first of all, creates the erroneous impression that charter schools operate as “public” schools. Although called public schools under Tennessee law (as in most states), these schools function with less government oversight and an array of private operations, from real estate management to the sourcing of substitute teachers to overall school management.
Lee has been fighting to redirect public money to private schools since before he was elected governor.
Second, the proposed change to school funding is quite simply the gateway to a full-on voucher scheme. As Tennessee teacher Mike Stein wrote on his personal blog, the final form of funding reform is a workaround for a school voucher law that Lee enacted and was ruled unconstitutional.
Can the privatizers be stopped? Will charters pave the way for vouchers? Will Governor Lee succeed in destroying local control of public schools?
Stay tuned.
“For example, the American Federation for Children—an organization founded and previously led by the family of Betsy DeVos, a school privatization advocate and former President Donald Trump’s Secretary of Education—spent $887,500. Another big spender, the Tennessee Charter School Center, spent $732,500.”
Odd how you never hear about charter and voucher lobbying in ed reform.
If teachers union lobbying is bad, why isn’t charter and voucher lobbying bad? I guess lobbyists who push more funding of charter and private schools are just… better people? Labor unions are icky and dirty but charter and voucher lobbyists get the official seal of approval from the ed reform echo chamber.
Hillsdale managed to convince ed reformers that there’s enough demand for their charter chain that they should open 50 schools?
Wow. As you can see, this is a very “rigorous and data driven” process. The ideology is correct so they get a rubber stamp.
The real shame is public school students in that state. They got nothing. No one was interested in doing any work on their behalf, apparently. As usual, public school students are the dead last priority in ed reform. Only after the ideological demands of the “choice” lobby are satisified are public school students even considered.
Gov Lee initially wanted to open 100 charters but Hillsdale cut that number down to 50. Lee, a trust fund baby, born from southern aristocratic money, had his wife home school his children. He lives in a bubble of radical christian nationalism & family wealth that is impenetrable by reality.
It’s a real tragedy that he will likely be re-elected with the help of rural voters.Some of these counties are dirt poor- there’s no consistent employment except public schools, law enforcement and the post office. Those rural kids will take public school money, go to a charter school in the neighboring county and take their home county’s money with them.
So our state is lost to people living in bubbles?
Hillsdale masquerades as a Christian college. In reality, it’s an evangelical fundamentalist college, the opposite of the Saudi Arabian financed Wahhabi schools that train Islamic terrorists.
These Evangelical Fundamentalists are not real Christians. They pretend to be Christians while spouting hate and lies while focusing on teaching their students how to lead evangelical fundamentalist terrorists also known as domestic terrorists in the US.
interesting turn of phrase: fundamentalist terrorist
They’re like the original Calvinists. A few are predestinted for heaven Usually God chooses the wealthy as worthy of heaven & the rest of us sinners are doomed to burn in hell.
Another rigorous “debate” in ed reform. Here, the head of a charter school lobbying outfit “debates” a full time think tank charter/voucher school promoter:
https://www.educationnext.org/rees-responds-to-hess-on-charter-strategy/
This is what their “debates” are like. “Charter schools- super fabulous or just fabulous?”
They’ve created a huge, lavishly funded echo chamber and one that completely excludes public schools other than to compare them unfavorably to the schools they market and promote- private and charter schools.
Is it any wonder they perform no work at all of any kind that benefits public school students? They’re ommitted. They don’t even exist in ed reform.
Red lining in real estate is illegal due to de facto discrimination. Privatization of public education results in segregation along racial lines. Why is it OK to discriminate in charter schools while both parties turn a blind eye to the unfair treatment of black and brown students that get sent to separate and unequal schools?
This happens in a one party government. Montesquieu was correct. No power to provide a check on whomever wants his grubby hands on some real estate. But you say this to a Tennessee True Believer and you will get: “what about CRT? Don’t you think Covid was a hoax? And even suggesting that the Russian invasion is a hoax (picked up on a conversation between two brilliant citizens at a dollar store for that one)
“Will Governor Lee succeed in destroying local control of public schools? Stay tuned.”
I hope there is a happy end in the sequel, and we heard the bad news only to keep us stay tuned and don’t switch to another show.
Speaking of ALEC, “It’s business as usual for this American billionaire’s Russian Ops” (Daily Beast)
The billionaire is Charles Koch.
Recently, Georgetown Catholic University hired from the Koch network pool to fill a top administrator position in its law school- Ilya Shapiro.
Which state will be the first to destroy, utterly, its public school system? The race is on.
That “race” is the race to the bottom.
It is!!!!
Our governor probably would like to make this an Olympic event.
HAAAAA, Mate! Yes.
If Race to the Top is any indication, Tennessee being the first to fall for it, next up will be Delaware, Florida, Massachusetts, and New York. Tennessee seems to love taking first place in the race to self-destruction. Buyers beware!
A public school receives public funds, has a board elected by the public (sometimes the superintendent too), is accountable to the public.
A charter school receives public funds. So does the company that supplies milk to the school. Neither is public.
According to Milton Friedman, a corporation’s only obligation is to its owners. Not to the public, not to its community, not to its nation, not to the environment, not to employees, not to customers or end users.
The difference between the milk contractor and the charter school? Your school board decides who gets the milk contract.
What Milton Friedman claimed is by no means law, and not even an advice most people accept. It’s simply outdated neoliberal hubris. The world has moved on, and less and less people believe in individual freedoms which are practiced at the expense of other people’s freedoms.
I can’t tell if you’re agreeing with me.
To be clear, I do not agree with Milton Friedman.
Now it’s clear. 🙂
“The Koch Industry operates as Trojan horse operation trying to destroy good institutions.”
The preceding description is from a quote in a Politico article (3-11-2021) about the Atlantic Council. It relates to the anticipation of Russian plans in Ukraine and U.S. response.
A more recent article (3-8-2022) at Media Matters is about a “Putin apologist” with Koch ties.