Stephen Dyer is a former legislator in Ohio who keeps close watch on charters and vouchers in Ohio. He writes here about an article by Michael Petrilli of the Fordham Institute claiming that charter schools in Ohio are better than public schools.
Dyer disagreed with Petrilli. He has the facts. He wrote this post in response.
Diane Ravitch's blog 
Here we go again! As long as test scores mistakenly define achievement, the games will continue. And everyone plays those games in one way or the other
However, when you shift from winning to learning as the priority, children will develop a pathway to success outside of the four walls of the classroom. And all the games will stop because competition between schools will stop. After all, whose kids do we want to see fail?
Do we want kids that go to charters fail, or kids that go public to fail, or kids in religious schools to fail just to win a competition?
Isn’t it amazing that when the focus is on kids, the entire conversation changes. I know business have the mentality that competition builds a better product. But kids are not wivots. Unlike business, we want all kids to succeed. We have tried the business model for decades without success. Just with a bunch of cheating, manipulating and gaming.
When the test is abandon, schools who continue the testing mentality will look into space and won’t be able to figure out who they are better than. Politicians will ask, how will we know who the good schools are?
I don’t give a rats ass what politicians think. Having said that we will show them a whole child school assessment that details in an honest way how the school is progressing. But more important, the parents and kids will know. and they are more important than politicians.
How will kids know? They will learn to THINK WHILE ITS STILL LEGAL!
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The story is eerily similar in state after state wherever privatization is pursued. Once they create a beachhead by bribing their way into state or federal funds, they continue to clamor for more public money regardless of results. Cherry picking data is part of the ruse. Charter schools and other private entities count on the fact that governments pass out funds with little to no accountability. As in all privatization schemes the plan is to keep getting a bigger piece of the pie while the starving any competing public service. Privatizers want the public sector to schrivel up and die. Unless the public starts pushing back and demanding action from elected representatives, privatization will continue to expand to benefit the wealthy at the expense of the poor and working class. Privatization is a form of class warfare. It is a massive transfer of wealth from the lower classes to the ultra-wealthy class.
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“once they create a beachhead…” There is so much truth in those words.
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Mike P: Looking at the performance of Sasha A, a 9th-grader at Samuel A. Grifter Charter Academy in Nowhere, Ohio, on Part 1 of her bellwork in her English I class on Tuesday, April 19th, it is clear that her performance far exceeds that of students nationwide. Non-charter schools don’t even come close to this level of performance. QED. Despite scientific studies such as this (see the accompanying Figure 1), public school promoters continue making the false claims that charter schools are underperforming. That’s why we at the Fordham Insitute for Ensuring Big Paychecks from Oligarchs for Officers of the Fordham Institute for Ensuring Big Paychecks for . . . are compelled to create white papers (very white papers) explaining the science to the general public.
FIGURE ONE:
Performance of Sasha A, 9th-grader at Samuel A Gifter Charter Academy in Nowhere, Ohio, on Part 2 of her bellwork in her English I class on Tuesday, April 19th (2022):
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Performance of 9th-graders on state standardized ELA tests nationwide (1983):
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Since I CLEARLY have the technique of these pro-charter articles down cold, perhaps Fordham could hire me to write a few. I could use a new Omafiets bicycle from Amsterdam. One with an Envolio hub, preferably. In matte black. Oligarchs, are you listening?
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As you so creatively illustrate, cherry picking data is a strategy to mislead the public in believing that moving public money into private entities is a worthwhile endeavor. Charter schools are not worth the disruption and damage they cause to public institutions, but the privatizers want to keep that fact well hidden so they can lobby for more funds. News flash! It isn’t “all about the kids.” Privatization is all about access to public dollars!
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all about access to public dollars. Exactly.
see below
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All about That Grift (to the tune of All about That Bass)
Because you know I’m all about that grift,
‘bout that grift, no candor,
all about that grift, ‘bout that grift, no candor.
I’m all about that grift, ‘bout that grift, no candor.
I’m all about that grift, ‘bout that grift.
Yeah, my mama she told me don’t worry about the size (Screw the taxpayer).
Says she the bigger the grift, the easier it is to hide (Screw the taxpayer).
And no don’t be no small-timer, streetwalking gangster moll (Screw the taxpayer).
Start you a charter; then, baby, you can have it all!
Because you know I’m all about that grift,
‘bout that grift, no candor,
all about that grift, ‘bout that grift, no candor.
I’m all about that grift, ‘bout that grift, no candor.
I’m all about that grift, ‘bout that grift.
I’m bringing grifting back!
Go ahead and tell them small-time swindlers that!
You all think I’m playin’, but I get to keep it all (just about).
But I’m here to tell you,
Every inch of it is windfall from the bottom to the top!
Because you know I’m all about that grift,
‘bout that grift, no candor,
all about that grift, no candor.
I’m all about that grift, no candor.
I’m all about that grift, grift, grift.
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A perversion of art!
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Love me some Meghan Trainor and Postmodern Jukebox!!! ❤
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The big bad problem with neoliberals is that they look at one success story and overextend the viability of “scaling up” that success, blind to the logistics on the ground. They’re not just cherry picking data; they’re cherry picking narratives. They are blinded by the lure of profits. It is not possible to do well by doing good. If you’re financially doing well, you’re not doing good, simple as that.
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