The Texas Department of Education decided to take over Houston, one of the largest school districts in the nation, because one high school was not improving fast enough for state commissioner Mike Morath. The state ousted the elected school board and replaced a strong superintendent with military man Mike Miles, who had a rocky tenure when he led Dallas schools a decade ago.
Miles has launched a campaign of disruption—the signature move of “reformers,” especially Broadies, and he is offering what he calls a New Education System (NES). The details are not yet fully developed, but here is one aspect: 28 of the schools that are part of Miles’s NES will close their libraries and use them for other purposes. One such purpose is to serve as a “discipline center” for students who act out.
Houston Independent School District will be eliminating librarian positions at 28 schools this upcoming year and converting the libraries into ‘Team Centers” where kids with behavioral issues will be sent, the district announced.
This comes as part of the new superintendent Mike Miles reform program, New Education System (NES). Currently, there are a total of 85 schools that have joined Miles’ program, and of those, 28 campuses will lose their librarians. The district said they will have the opportunity to transition to other roles within the district.
The remaining 57 NES schools’ librarians will be assessed on a case-by-case basis, according to the district.
Retired HISD Teacher in Charge of Library, Lisa Robinson, believes the library is full of some of the greatest stories ever told.
“It was such a joy to help them find the perfect book,” said Robinson.
She said those stories are now ripped to shreds.
“My heart is just broken for these children that are in the NES schools that are losing their librarians,” said Robinson.
“The mandate for librarians had been put back in place. With one swipe of a pen that has been destroyed,” said Robinson.
Superintendent Mike Miles said students are behind on reading levels, especially in 4th grade.
Former HISD Librarian and Manager of Library Services, Janice Newsum believes eliminating librarian positions could hurt reading performance even more.
“When students engage in reading as an activity of choice, they are not only building that reading muscle, but they are also developing their vocabulary they are understanding a bit about the world that exists outside their block radius,” said Newsum.
Mayor Sylvester Turner believes the move is unacceptable.
“You don’t close libraries in some of the schools in your most underserved communities, and you’re keeping libraries open in other schools,” said Turner.
What’s the logic here? Many students are not reading well, therefore eliminate the librarians who might find books that interest them?
The following article from The Texas Observer was posted by the Texas Observer. Journalist Josephine Lee reports that teachers are under pressure to pledge their support for the sweeping plans of Broad-trained Superintendent Mike Miles. Miles was appointed city superintendent by the State Commissioner Mike Morath. Neither is an educator.
Houston is the site of yet another doomed takeover of a local school district by an anti-public ed activist with little real education expertise.
Mike Miles has a vision of a district that is narrow and meager, a system where teachers read from scripts developed by a charter chain that Mile happens to own. New schedules. New job assignments.
Miles insists that Houston teachers are excited, that Houston parents are pumped. But reporter Josephine Lee went out and actually talked to them, and–surprise–it appears that Miles is blowing smoke.
“Our hours will change. Our schedules will change. Our curriculum will change. But we have no input in it,” said Michelle Collins, a teacher at DeZavala Elementary School. “Neither do parents.”
Texas requires a shared decision making committee that includes all stakeholders. Miles appears to be ignoring that.
While Miles has publicly asked principals to obtain school input, SDMC committee members from five schools in the program confirmed with the Observer that they never met to discuss the issue. SDMC members and teachers from other schools reported that even when they did meet, they did not have a vote in the decision. One teacher said their staff voted not to opt in, but then later saw their school’s name included in the list of 57 schools in the news.
In an audio recording of Wainwright Elementary School’s SDMC meeting held July 10 and shared with the Observer, Principal Michelle Lewis told committee members, “If you’re not willing to dive in and do this with us, then this is not the campus for you.” No teacher representatives attended the meeting.
Revere Middle School Principal Gerardo Medina did not consult with the school’s SDMC committee or with teachers. In lieu of discussion, he sent out an email on June 29 to campus employees informing them of his decision to join Miles’ NES-aligned program.
“If you decide this is not something you want to commit to, you will be allowed to transfer,” Medina wrote.
This gave teachers only a few days before this Friday to decide if they want to continue to work within the district. To avoid losing their state teaching certification, they have up to 45 days before the first day of school to withdraw from their contract.
Meanwhile, Houston doesn’t have enough teachers to fill the openings it has.
State takeovers virtually never work. This deep dive lets us see the Houston takeover start to unravel from the beginning. Read the full article here.
In the packed cafeteria of Pugh Elementary School Tuesday evening, Houston Independent School District (HISD) Superintendent Mike Miles worked hard to sell his wholesale campus reform program, called the New Education System (NES), to a resistant crowd, some holding signs that read “Our Children, Our Schools.” Miles boasted that 57 campuses had voluntarily opted into the program.
“They love this,” Miles said. “That’s why teachers at 57 schools volunteered.”
As part of the state’s takeover of HISD—which ousted an elected school board and replaced its leadership with a board of managers and a superintendent handpicked by State Education Commissioner Mike Morath—Miles has previously said that 150 HISD schools would be under the NES by 2025. In March, the Texas Education Agency seized control of HISD, citing past failures to meet state standards at one high school. In addition to the schools that opted in, another 28 were required to participate because the schools are elementary and middle schools with students who “feed into” three high schools with lower accountability ratings.
NES originates from the Third Future Schools, a charter school network Miles founded. It requires teachers to teach from a scripted curriculum. The district will decide campus schedules, staffing, and budgets. Students who are considered disruptive are pulled out of the classroom to attend via Zoom. In addition, Miles has promised teachers support for grading, making copies, small-group instruction, and a stipend of $10,000. Salary schedules for teachers at what he calls “NES-aligned schools,” or those that opted in, will remain the same while teachers at NES-mandated schools receive a salary bump and have to reapply for their jobs. As part of the sweeping changes, last Friday Miles eliminated up to 600 administrative positions from the central office.
Since the Texas Education Agency appointed Miles to lead the school district, he has faced community protests by citizens opposed to the state agency’s takeover. But he has maintained that schools are embracing his changes.
But interviews, email correspondence, and audio recordings of campus meetings that the Texas Observer obtained contradict Miles’ public relations message that there is widespread teacher support for his program. Teachers, parents, and community members from nine of the 57 schools we spoke to said they had no opportunity to weigh in; teachers were threatened with losing their jobs if their campus did not join the program.
“Our hours will change. Our schedules will change. Our curriculum will change. But we have no input in it,” said Michelle Collins, a teacher at DeZavala Elementary School. “Neither do parents.”
According to the state education law, a Shared Decision Making Committee (SDMC) composed of parents, community representatives, teachers, other campus personnel, and a business representative is required to be “involved in decisions in the areas of planning, budgeting, curriculum, staffing patterns, staff development, and school organization.”
While Miles has publicly asked principals to obtain school input, SDMC committee members from five schools in the program confirmed with the Observer that they never met to discuss the issue. SDMC members and teachers from other schools reported that even when they did meet, they did not have a vote in the decision. One teacher said their staff voted not to opt in, but then later saw their school’s name included in the list of 57 schools in the news.
HISD did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The Observer will update this article if they do.
In an audio recording of Wainwright Elementary School’s SDMC meeting held July 10 and shared with the Observer, Principal Michelle Lewis told committee members, “If you’re not willing to dive in and do this with us, then this is not the campus for you.” No teacher representatives attended the meeting.
Arnold Hillman is a retired educator who spent his career in Pennsylvania and retired in South Carolina. Bear this in mind when you read his satire. Must be the SC water.
The decline of both reading and math scores on the NAEP national test is a harbinger of a predictive outpouring of solutions to the problem. That has been the standard for the last 100 years of public education. We typically find panaceas to “fix” problems in education.
Here is a very simple one. Until the beginning of the 20th century, education was rather simple- teach reading, writing and arithmetic. On the side you might provide vocational programs. However World War I provided us with a look into the future.
Many of the conscripts in the American army were seen not to be physically fit. That was a danger in a war. There was no part of the constitution that mentions education. The idea of a healthy mind and healthy body was promulgated by none other than John Dewey. World War I was an instigator, and schools took up the mantle.
That’s how things change in education. The nation needed more scientists to combat Russia’s preeminence in space and so Congress passed the National Defense Education Act (NDEA). I know that you are getting the idea now. If you live long enough, you will see even more of these things.
Now, how will the decline in these scores be cured by those with the money to do it. Seems like administrations these days are not in the business of fixing education. You can tell by all ofthe news about investigations, indictments, Russian problems and all sort of other adjuncts to those happenings. So then, who or what will come through to help us climb out of this educational abyss?
Lets try this on for size. How about the Broad Foundation. Let’s give them leave to train all of the school superintendents in the nation. That’s only 13,452 school district superintendents. With all of the resources available to the foundation, this could be accomplished in the wink of an eye (see the movie “I Robot” for a reference).All problems of reading and math will follow the same successes that the Broadies have had in all of the places where they have been installed as superintendents. That’s for sure.
Let then have the voucher folks come up with the plan to take over public schools and do their level best to cherry pick the students that they will help. There will certainly be some unintended consequences, such as massive dropouts, higher crime rates, more unemployment and many other charming things.
These voucher folks have a way with statistics. In their first year of operation, math and reading scores will soar. All students will be on grade level in reading and all of them will be up to fractal geometry, after surpassing the highest scores ever on the NAEP test.
Another challenger will be the charter school folks. All schools could be “charterized” and escape from the silly laws that restrict public schools in their education of kids. Since charters do not have to have all certified teachers, that will be a great advantage. We can then dismiss those pesky teachers who have not been doing a good job anyway.
There would not be any responsibility for those charters to have any parental involvement. Parents or guardians will only know what is going on when their child gets a report card.
Huge management companies will continue to “buy up” these charters and run them for profit. The movement to make these charters non-public has already happened in the Washington state Supreme Court. It has decided that Charter Schools were not, in fact, public schools.
Think of all the improvements that charter schools have made across the country since their inception in Minnesota. We can have a myriad of online charter schools which will definitely improve reading and math scores, especially in kindergarten.
We are fortunate to have a parents group that is very interested in improving education by going onto the nation’s school boards and making things so much better when they are there. Incompetent administrators are fired by the dozens and reading and math scores have already risen as a result of these actions.
The premiere group is called “ Moms for Liberty.” Not sure why there are no Dads included. There must be a Title IX reason. These folks have the kind of enviable clout that gets these students on their way to improving their math and reading scores.
With “Moms for Liberty” in charge, schools will have the advantage of being close to those who lead our country. They are proud to have national figures, some even running for President, who will make sure the schools are doing the right thing.
Then we have a group that includes some very wealthy folks. Some of them are anonymously giving funding and directions to those who were described earlier. They are famously supporters of vouchers, privatization of public schools, charters and the like. They support parent groups like “Moms for Liberty.” Their aims are certainly to help students improve their reading and math scores. We will call them, for better or worse, “ The Billionaire Class.”
With all of these folks helping out, how long do you believe it will take for our youngster’s math and reading scores to soar?
Instead of focusing exclusively on struggling campuses, Miles’ New Education System plan mainly targets elementary and middle schools that “feed” into three struggling high schools in the district. Though the plan will reconstitute 29 total schools as a part of the system, a spokesperson for HISD clarified that only 28 traditional campuses will be impacted. The 29th school will be a temporary alternative education program which will be reformed and evaluated separately.
The schools chosen to participate in Miles’ “New Education System” are three high schools and their feeder schools.
The schools are largely low-income, Black and Latino schools
According to the Houston Chronicle’s analysis, each school included in Miles’ plan is either majority Black or majority Hispanic/Latino. The vast majority of students at each campus are also from low-income families.
At the schools impacted by Miles’ plan, the average percentage of economically disadvantaged students – which is measured by the amount of students who qualify for free and reduced price lunches – is higher than the average across HISD. In the 2021-2022 school year, the average percentage of economically disadvantaged students at the campuses in Miles’ plan was 98%, while the district average was 83%, according to data from the National Center for Education Statistics.
New Education System schools demographics
Every school in Mike Miles’ New Education System plan has either a majority Black or majority Latino student population, and most students at the schools are from low-income families, according to data from the 2021-2022.
Most of the schools are 90-95% Black.
Most schools are already performing well
In terms of accountability ratings, many of the schools targeted in Miles’ overhaul have not underperformed in recent years. In 2022, the majority of schools included in the plan received “A” or “B” ratings, and only five of the schools were given a “Not Rated” label under SB 1365 – which exempted schools from ratings that would have received a “D” or “F” last year.
Though the three high schools at the heart of the Miles’ plan – Kashmere, North Forest and Wheatley – have had three of the five highest failure rates in the district, North Forest and Wheatley both received passing ratings in 2022.
Additionally, Miles’ plan includes four campuses that are unconnected to the three struggling high schools. These campuses include Highland Heights Elementary and Henry Middle, which also have some of the worst failure rates in the district, and Sugar Grove Academy and Marshall Elementary, which both received passing ratings in 2022 but have struggled in prior years.
So, at the point of takeover, the most troubled schools in HISD were on an upswing, making progress under the leadership of an experienced educator (who was quickly hired by Prince George’s County in Maryland). And now they are led by a Broadie who failed to make a difference in Dallas.
It would not be a stretch to believe that Governor Abbott, a mean and vindictive man—is punishing Houston for not voting for him.
Military man Mike Miles has launched his overhaul of Houston’s public schools, and parents and teachers are alarmed. Miles previously failed in Dallas, but that has not dimmed his authoritarian style. Trained for school leadership by the Broad Academy, which admires authoritarian style, Miles was imposed on Houston as part of a state takeover.
The state education department is led by non-educator Mike Morath but controlled by Governor Greg Abbott. Abbott hates Houston, because its a Democratic city. The takeover was triggered by the “failure” of one high school, Wheatley, which enrolls higher proportions of students with disabilities than other high schools. Miles, however, has far exceeded his mandate by firing the staff at 29 schools—not just Wheatley—and telling staff to re-apply for their jobs. Miles now sees himself as an education expert and has declared his grandiose ambition to create a “New Education System” (NES), to show the nation how it’s done.
Parents, teachers, and students at the schools that Miles is disrupting are outraged.
Elmore Elementary School was never perfect, but Kourtney Revels felt prospects were improving for the northeast Houston campus. A new principal, Tanya Webb, had taken the helm in December, and while Revels didn’t approve of every move she made, she admired the newcomer’s initiative.
Revels and other parents had long been frustrated, for example, that the school bus would often arrive late in the afternoon because kids would act up on board. So the principal took matters into her own hands — she, or another staff member, began riding the bus home with students, to make sure their behavior stayed in line. Now, Revels’ third grader, Judith, arrives home faster from school.
“Going that one extra mile took a burden off of parents who were waiting an hour, two hours, three hours for their kid to come from down the street,” Revels said.
“I do see a little bit of turnaround since she came in this year but she’s only been here since December,” Revels said. “And now she has to reapply for her job.”
Radical changes
The 29 schools in the New Education System program that Miles announced on June 1 will likely look radically different when doors open to students on Aug. 28. For starters, kids might be greeted by an entirely new roster of teachers, administrators and support staff; all employees besides custodians, cafeteria workers, bus drivers and nurses have to reapply for their jobs.
Miles has already said that librarians will likely be removed from NES schools, though he promised that they, along with all other teachers, principals, assistant principals and counselors who are already under contract, will be guaranteed similar jobs with the same salary at other schools if they are not brought back. Other staff members have received no such guarantees.
Teachers who do return will make over $90,000 after factoring in various stipends offered for teaching at high-need schools, and be supported by teaching apprentices and learning coaches who will handle much of the supplementary work such as grading and classroom preparation.
The application process is already underway for principals and teachers. NES principals will be selected by June 23, and teachers by July 3.
But staffing changes are just part of the transformation coming to NES schools. Curriculum will be standardized across campuses and lesson plans prepared for teachers in advance. Classes will be recorded via webcam, and students who are pulled from class for disruptive behavior will be sent to another room to watch the streamed class. Magnet offerings such as STEM and dual language programs “will be evaluated on a case-by-case basis” and may be cut.
Emails shared with the Houston Chronicle from principals to their staff suggest school leaders will be observing teachers every day, and that schools will be open from 6:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. each day for free childcare before and after school, with teachers serving four supervisory shifts per month. Miles is also bringing the Dyad program that he had introduced at his charter school network, Third Future Schools, to the NES schools, in which community members will teach students in extra-curriculars, such as sports or arts twice a week, according to emails shared with the Chronicle.
Miles says the changes put students’ most fundamental needs at the forefront by allowing teachers to focus purely on instruction.
“We will be aligning our resources—especially our most effective teachers and principals—to better serve students in underserved communities,” Miles said. “For students who need to catch up and in schools that have failed for years, we will be offering more instructional time.”
Miles has repeatedly stated that he understands the concerns emanating from many in the HISD community, but that he hopes improvements at the schools will eventually win their trust.
“Change brings some anxiety, and there will be some anxiety most of the summer, probably, but we will keep putting information out there so that we can turn that anxiety into hope,” Miles said during his first week in office.
‘Pugh es nuestra familia’
Several parents at Pugh, Martinez and other northeast Houston elementary schools gathered Thursday morning with their children at the Denver Harbor Multi-Service Center to protest the potential removal of teachers from their A-rated schools, before traveling to HISD headquarters to bring their complaints to the district. Children held signs with their teachers’ names — Ms. Rodriguez, Ms. Arguelles, Mr. Infante — and pleas to keep them in place. “Pugh es nuestra familia,” one sign read.
“Every morning, everyone from the principal to the office staff, custodians and cafeteria workers, they greet our children with a smile. I think the kids forget the problems they have at home when they go to school. We don’t want new teachers, we want the same teachers because they’ve been our second family at Pugh,” said Nancy Coronado, a parent volunteer at Pugh for 13 years, in Spanish.
Her son, Ricardo Delgado, graduated from fifth grade at Pugh this year. He discussed his favorite teacher, Ms. Lopez, and how she was a warm, familiar presence to him even before he’d ever taken her class. Now set to start at the Baylor College of Medicine Academy at Ryan Middle School in the fall, Delgado credits Ms. Lopez with teaching him the reading skills he’ll need in middle school.
“If other teachers come, it wouldn’t be the same because she’s been there since I was 6 years old,” Delgado said.
The plan to have teachers reapply for their job has left other Houston parents with mixed feelings. Karmell Johnson, a Fifth Ward mother of three students at NES schools, said there are “pros and cons” to the situation. She welcomes the opportunity to remove under-performing teachers, but worries that some effective teachers, who understand the community they’re serving in and may have formed bonds with students, may be caught up in the mix.
“It’s an emotional roller coaster. Once a bond is established and they rip that out, the kids have to get used to their teachers, the teachers have to get used to the schools, and it’s going to take some time. It’s going to be uncomfortable for everybody,” Johnson said.
Uncertain future for teachers, staff
At many NES schools, however, teacher and principal turnover has already become a fact of life. It was only 10 years ago that North Forest High School was completely reconstituted when the Texas Education Agency ordered North Forest ISD to be absorbed into Houston ISD, and after a brief upswing, it has failed 80 percent of its TEA evaluations since (it passed this year with a C). Wheatley High School replaced a significant portion of their teachers just last year.
Ainhoa Donat, a bilingual fourth grade teacher at Paige Elementary, said she worked with a different fourth-grade colleague in each of her six years at the Eastex/Jensen school.
Donat said she was told by her principal that the school would no longer offer a bilingual program, and that she was welcome to apply for a standard teaching position at the school (the district, in a statement, said that NES schools “will now have a dedicated English Language Arts block for English language development,” which “includes bilingual support for emerging English speakers based on their proficiency level”).
With 16 years of experience at HISD under her belt, the extra money being offered wasn’t enough for Donat to overcome the indignity of being blamed for the school’s low performance. She’s currently in the process of applying for a bilingual job at another HISD campus.
“I have a lot of experience and I work super hard, so when I went to that meeting and the superintendent (basically) said ‘you didn’t do your job,’ I felt really humiliated,” Donat said.
One longtime teacher at Martinez Elementary School, who asked to remain anonymous out of fear of retribution, said she worries that the financial incentives may “entice the wrong people.”
“I would give it back to stay at Martinez,” she said. “There are some teachers who are all about the money… but not at our school.”
The fear is even more acute for support staff, who aren’t guaranteed positions.
One administrative assistant, who has worked for over 20 years at an NES elementary school and also asked to remain anonymous, said she may be forced to retire early if she isn’t rehired. The assistant has spent almost her entire career with HISD and doesn’t know what else she could do.
She wonders who will manage the payroll, procure supplies for teachers, plan field trips and do all the other unseen tasks that keep a school running if support staff are eliminated.
“All I’ve ever known is HISD, getting up and going to work at these schools. We’re not here for the money, we’re here for the children,” she said. “You talk about the children but what are you doing for them? You’re taking their teachers away, and its very upsetting.”Parents, students and community activists gather near Pugh Elementary to protest the potential replacement of their children’s teachers by HISD on Thursday, June 15, 2023 in Houston.Brett Coomer/Houston Chronicle
The state takeover of the Houston Independent School Board involved firing the elected school board, replacing them with a state-picked board, and hiring a new superintendent who was never a teacher but is a military man, a Broadie, and a failure as Dallas superintendent.
The new school board held its first meeting and set up only 35 seats for the public. The room holds 310 people. Everyone else was shunted to a room where they could watch the meeting on a screen. One man who registered to speak was handcuffed when he insisted on entering the room where the board was neeting.
The board unanimously agreed that superintendent Mije Miles should be allowed to serve even though his state license had lapsed in 2018.
This meeting exemplified the state’s contempt for public schools, and its complete indifference to the public, which has a stake in public schools. The public schools belong to the public, not to Republican politicians in Austin.
It’s not often that I have the opportunity to repost something written years ago. John Thompson, teacher and historian, summarized Mike Miles’s disastrous three years in Dallas. At the time I posted John’s analysis, I didn’t know how to embed links. His commentary starts in the second paragraph of the linked post.
Miles is a military veteran. He has no experience as a teacher or principal. Yet somehow he thinks he knows how to reform schools. That conceit is a hallmark of the Broad Academy.
Miles was recently selected by the Texas Commissioner of Education Mike Morath—also not an educator—to be the superintendent of schools in Houston, one of the nation’s largest school districts. The state took control of The Houston Independent School District because one school—Wheatley High School—received failing scores for several years in a row. This past year, its state score rose to a C, but the state didn’t care. These are Republicans who don’t believe in local control or democracy.
Mike Miles arrived in Dallas after a stint as superintendent of a tiny district in Colorado. He’s a know-it-all. He arrived with an attempt at a Broadway show performance in which he was the star (the video was deleted).
He quickly set numerical goals that everyone was expected to meet. He alienated teachers, who left DISD in record numbers. He had no appreciation for words like “trust,” “respect,” “collaboration,” “teamwork.” It was his way or the highway.
It was not surprising that Miles’s first action as superintendent in Houston under the state takeover was to fire every member of the staff at 29 schools and invite them to reapply for their jobs. So what if this creates instability for students? Miles doesn’t care. He also plans to evaluate teachers in part by test scores, a well-discredited method.
He is a razzle-dazzle guy who likes to take bold actions, no matter who he hurts or what chaos he creates for the students and the professionals.
One of Mike Miles’ worst actions in Dallas was the time he called the police to arrest a school board member who was visiting a school in her district. That tells you the kind of guy he is: arrogant, insensitive, tough, mean.
Soon after he arrived in Dallas, his family moved back to Colorado because Mike was such a toxic guy. Hopefully, this time they stayed in Colorado.
Education doesn’t need military leaders. It doesn’t need people who don’t give a hoot for the morale of the teachers.
Miles was booted out of Dallas after three years of failure.
The question now is why Mike Morath, who was on the Dallas school board when Miles wreaked his damage on the district, decided to install him in Houston. Was it to punish Houston? Houston public schools today are performing better than Dallas. Why didn’t Morath take control of Dallas and give Miles another chance to ruin that district?
Broadies have a very bad track record. They were taught to be top-down, decisive, arrogant, indifferent to others. This is not an approach that blends well with students, teachers, teaching and learning.
Great educational leaders have experience in the classroom. They attract dedicated teachers and protect them. They understand that every child is precious to someone, whatever their test scores. They care about education more than test scores. They listen.
Mike Miles is not that guy.
Here are a few other commentaries about Niles while he was in Dallas:
The 74 Million—a news site funded by charter supporters and billionaires—reports that Rep. Hakeem Jeffries will downplay his support for charter schools now that he is Minority Leader of House Democrats. Charters have lost ground among Democrats, and Jeffries wants to unite the party. Importantly, he doesn’t want to alienate the teachers’ unions, which are an important part of the Democratic Party’s base.
Most Democratic members of Congress realized that charters were a step towards vouchers, and that both were deeply embedded in the Trump MAGA agenda.
For a time, during the Obama years, Obama and his Secretary of Education Arne Duncan sold charters as a “progressive” idea that would nurture innovation. After thirty years, the charter claims dimmed. Too many scandals, too little innovation. Too many charter chains making profits or paying outlandish salaries. Too many charters that opened and closed within three years. Too many charters that believed harsh discipline was “innovative.”
The charter lobby considered Hakeem Jeffries one of its best friends, but that was before Trump chose Betsy DeVos as Secretary of Education. She was an outspoken friend of School choice, including charter schools. In recent years, red states have embraced charters and vouchers in their frenzy to privatize public schools and transfer public funding to private organizations.
Now, it’s clear to most Democrats that Republicans own the issue of charters and vouchers, not Democrats.
When Biden’s Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona proposed modest rules to clean up the federal Charter Schools Program, which hands out $440 million a year to start new charter schools, the charter lobby made wild claims about how any accountability would irreparably harm new charters, but Democrats didn’t go along. The usual charter supporters in the Senate—Booker, Bennett, and Feinstein—complained about the new rules, but when the Senate voted on a motion to overturn them, not a single Democrat voted for the motion.
Today, the strongest allies of charter schools in Congress are conservative Republicans, like Virginia Foxx (NC), chair of the House Education Committee.
Marty Levine wrote for the Nonprofit Quarterly for many years, where he distinguished himself as a skeptic of billionaires buying good press. He now writes his own blog, where this post appeared. He calls this post “The Corrosive Nature of Mega-Philanthropy.”
He writes:
I want this world to be a kinder, gentler place for all of its people. I want to admire those who sacrifice their own time and money in order to help those in greater need. I try, however imperfectly, to do the same. But I remain concerned about the growing power of those with great wealth to, even with the best of motives, turn their charity and philanthropy from acts of kindness to tools of power and control.
The Seattle Times opened a recent article about a project of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation with a recognition of how big gifts have an impact. “When philanthropists spend vast sums of money on a project, jubilation and high expectations ensue.” But it was the sentence that followed, “But money doesn’t necessarily produce results,” that grabbed my attention.
In this age of mega-philanthropy vast sums are donated with great frequency; as I write this the list of gifts of more than $1 million in 2022, as reported by the Chronicle of Philanthropy, is approaching 400. 18 individual gifts have exceeded $100 billion!
While we laud the act of giving, we ignore that these gifts are too often just another way for wealthy people to flex their muscles and continue to inappropriately exert social and political influence. And they do this with little or no public oversight, or with any public accountability for the effectiveness of their gifts or for the harms they may do.
The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and its associated Trust, with assets now in excess of $70 billion, stand as a stark example of this flawed system of philanthropy. The Gates’ philanthropic organizations are tax-exempt, which means that the Gates have personally benefited from the tax savings that our nation grants to donors. Because the Gates are allowed to donate funds to a structure they control, donating for them does not require them to relinquish the power at all. Their charitable venture just provides another mechanism of control, perhaps with a softer, kinder wrapping, but still a mechanism of influence and control.
And with that power, the Gates have brought their belief that they have the answers to some of the world’s most challenging problems and can impose those answers on those desperate for the resources they chose to give away. They have been able to put their solutions into action across the globe with little need to ensure that those whose lives they will be impacting agree with their directions or their proposed solutions. Their definition of philanthropy appears to begin with a belief that because they have amassed great wealth they are wise; that the size of their bank account is a measure of their intelligence and it gives them the authority to act. They act with a belief that because they are wealthy, they have no need to be accountable to those without wealth.
Read on to learn more about the philanthropists who use their gifts to control the lives of others.
Diane Ravitch's blog 