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Jim Hightower: The Plutocrats’ Scheme to Eliminate Public Education

By dianeravitch
July 19, 2017 //
29

Jim Hightower pulls no punches as he eviscerates the Koch brothers, Betsy DeVos, and other plutocrats who want to privatize public education.

He writes in Salon:

“While the Koch brothers have stayed out of the national limelight since the White House was acquired by Trump and Company, that doesn’t mean the two right-wing billionaire brats are any less active in trying to supplant American democracy with their little laissez-fairyland plutocracy. In fact, in late June, you could’ve found them in one of their favorite hideaways with about 400 other uber-wealthy rascals, plotting some political hijinks for next year’s elections.

“This is the Koch Boys’ Billionaire Club, which meets annually at some luxury resort to schmooze, strategize, hear a select group of GOP elected officials kiss up to them — then throw money into a big pot to finance the Koch’s planned takeover of America. It costs $100,000 per person just to attend the three-day Koch Fest, but participants are also expected to give generously to the brothers’ goal of dumping $400 million into buying the 2018 elections.

“This year, the group gathered in Colorado Springs at the ultra-lux Broadmoor Hotel and resort, owned by the brothers’ billionaire pal and right-wing co-conspirator, Philip Anschutz. Among the recent political triumphs that these elites celebrated in the Broadmoor’s posh ballroom was the defeat this year of the Colorado tax hike to fix the states crumbling roads. After all, who needs adequate roads when you can arrive in private jets? This attitude of the Koch’s privileged cohorts explains why the public is shut out of these candid sessions. A staffer for the Koch confab hailed such no-tax, no-roads policies as a “renaissance of freedom.” For the privileged, that is — freedom to prosper at the expense of everyone else.”

I hope you have not forgotten Philip Anschutz. He is the rightwing billionaire who produced “Waiting for ‘Superman.'” Well, didn’t the evangelical right pull the wool over the eyes of DFER and other Obama Democrats with that infomercial for charter schools!

Hightower writes:

“This self-absorbed cabal of spoiled plutocratic brats intends to abandon our nation’s core democratic principle of “We’re all in this together.” If they kill that uniting concept, they kill America itself. Their agenda includes killing such working class needs as minimum wage and Social Security and privatizing everything from health care to public education.

“For example, Betsy DeVos and her hubby are part of the Koch brother’s coterie. They are lucky enough to have inherited a big chunk of the multibillion-dollar fortune that Daddy DeVos amassed through his shady Amway corporation. But what they’ve done with their Amway inheritance is certainly not the American Way.

“The DeVos couple are pushing plutocratic policies that reject our country’s one-for-all, all-for-one egalitarianism. In particular, Betsy DeVos has spent years and millions of dollars spreading the right-wing’s ideological nonsense that public education should be completely privatized. She advocates turning our tax dollars over to for-profit outfits — even to private schools that exclude people of color, the poor and the disabled, as well as to profiteering schools known to cheat students and taxpayers.

“Bizarrely, Donald Trump chose this vehement opponent of public-education-for-all to head-up the agency in charge of — guess what — public education. Rather than working to help improve our public schools, the Trump-DeVos duo wants to take $20 billion from them and give it to corporate chains.”

He asks, why would we entrust our children to these self-absorbed plutocrats?

Categories Betsy DeVos, Billionaires, Charter Schools, Corporate Reformers, Education Industry, Privatization

Jan Resseger: The Sordid Story of ECOT and Its Ripoff of Taxpayers in Ohio

By dianeravitch
July 18, 2017 //
10

Jan Resseger writes in The Progressive about the biggest charter scam in Ohio.

When a charter operator gets a lot of money from the state, and selfsame charter operator gives generously to legislators, how can said charter operator ever be held accountable?

In Ohio, the press got fed up with ECOT and started paying attention to charter frauds. Politicians cannot tolerate constant negative press. So, lo and behold, the state conducted an audit of ECOT.

Resseger writes:

“With Betsy DeVos, a long-committed charter school proponent, in charge of the U.S. Department of Education, the country should look to recent goings-on in Ohio as a warning sign of what can happen when public institutions are privatized and an example of why a moratorium on more of these schools is necessary.

“In 2000, Bill Lager founded the Electronic Classroom of Tomorrow and the two privately held, for-profit companies that operate the school—IQ Innovations, which provides ECOT’s curriculum, and Altair Learning Management, which manages the school’s operations. According to an old 2003, Ohio Department of Education policy, online charter schools were paid a per-pupil amount from the state for every student enrolled. Until 2015, there was not a requirement that virtual academies demonstrated actual daily participation. Once the Legislature began demanding proof that students were regularly logging on to their computers, Lager and his attorneys have blamed the state for suddenly and unfairly changing the rules. In the 2015-2016 school year, ECOT was paid $106 million in public tax dollars for the more than 15,000 students it said were enrolled, but the state was able to verify the active participation of only 6,300 students.

“The state has demanded that ECOT pay back $60 million the school was over-paid for the 2015-2016 school year, but Lager has used his connections to the state’s biggest lobbyists and key Republican friends in the legislature to pressure lawmakers, even creating attack ads on TV aimed at the Department of Education.

“Thanks to relentless exposure of the scandal by the state’s major newspapers, it appears, finally, that Ohio may claw back some of the tax dollars Lager has stolen. But the state and a lot of local school districts are still owed $60 million for the 2015-2016 school year. And the Columbus Dispatch reports that the Ohio Department of Education has not released results of a new attendance audit for the 2016-2017 school year.

“Lager has been in court all year to block the state from making ECOT repay the money. In mid-June, the Ohio State Board of Education voted almost unanimously to accept the ruling of a hearing officer from the Ohio Department of Education, who is reported by the Columbus Dispatch to have declared that no school’s intent is to “teach to what could be the equivalent of an empty classroom.”

Keep your eyes on ECOT and whether it will be held accountable. Like other states, Ohio desperately needs charter legislation that is not written by lawyers for the charter industry. Ohio courts have ruled that anything purchased by a charter operator with PUBLIC funds belongs to the charter, even if it goes out of business. The law was written that way, by charter lobbyists.

Categories Charter Schools, Corporate Reformers, Education Industry, For-Profit, Funding, Ohio, Privatization

Florida Editorial: Will the Fight to Save Public Education Spread?

By dianeravitch
July 18, 2017 //
2

Congratulations to the editorial board Of the the Sun-Sentinel in Broward County, Florida, which published a strong editorial lambasting the Legislature for passing HB 7069.

Several school districts are planning a lawsuit to stop the law from being implemented. The law will do massive harm to the state’s public schools while diverting millions to the charter industry. Several key legislators have financial interests in charter schools. The bill is a travesty.

The editorial board of the Sun-Sentinel wrote:

“Last week the Broward County School Board approved a lawsuit against House Bill 7069. Though legislators crammed more than 50 bills into HB 7069, the Legislature passed it with almost no debate. House leaders, including those with ties to charter schools, crafted HB 7069 in the last days of the session. Despite protests from superintendents and school boards, Gov. Rick Scott signed the legislation.

“A memo from Barbara Myrick, the board’s general counsel, lists five grounds for a case that the law violates the Florida Constitution:

*Legislation must cover one subject. HB 7069 changes 69 state statutes;

*The law restricts school district from carrying out their duty to oversee contracts with charter schools;

*The program that allocates $140 million to so-called “Schools of Hope” sets no standard for how charter schools could spend that money and thus illegally circumvents local school boards;

*The law seeks to create a second, private system of public education;

*Under current law, schools can share public money with charter schools for construction. Under HB 7069, districts would have to share it.

“Supporters of the law, which became House Speaker Richard Corcoran’s priority, stuck the controversial provisions into a must-pass budget bill because most couldn’t have passed on their own. Some of the potential damage already is clear. Depriving school districts of construction money could harm their credit rating.

“Given that prospect, the Broward County School Board acted correctly in approving $25,000 to recruit an outside law firm. Next week, the Palm Beach County School Board will decide whether to file a lawsuit. The Miami-Dade County School Board is scheduled to hold a workshop on the issue this month.

“Broward County Superintendent Robert Runcie told the Sun Sentinel Editorial Board that HB 7069 would create “a parallel school system that could be privately managed without the requisite accountability. It would be a shadow, private system that runs on public dollars.”

“Example: The new rule that school districts share money for construction. The source of that revenue is a property tax dedicated to capital projects. There’s oversight when school districts spend that money, but nothing in HB 7069 requires charter schools to spend the money on construction and/or maintenance. There’s no oversight.

“Runcie also notes that the district has shared capital projects money when appropriate. One goal of the district’s 2014 general obligation bond was to reduce the ratio of students to computers, which at the time was six to one. It is now two to one.

“The district gave some of the new computers to charter schools but kept track of the equipment. When the district has had to close some of those schools, the district was able to recover the computers, which are public property.

“Now consider the “Schools of Hope” program. Supposedly, the state would use that $140 million to attract charter school operators that would set up near low-performing traditional public schools and give those students a better alternative.

“Nothing in the law, however, requires charter companies to take just students from those schools. Nor is there language to ensure that new operators would produce better results. No school board approval is required. Again, there is no oversight of public money.

“Supporters of HB 7069 wondered why the teachers union joined superintendents and school boards in opposition, since the bill contained a provision for teacher bonuses. Easy. Teachers wanted raises, not more one-time bonuses that add nothing to their pensions. And the state would continue to base bonuses on teachers’ SAT or ACT scores from years ago, not current performance. There could be no changes to the bonus program until 2021.

“Legislative leaders claim to support local control. HB 7069, however, strips control of local tax revenue from school boards and seeks to undermine Florida’s system of free public schools. The law is terrible public policy done in secret. More important, for the purpose of the lawsuit, HB 7069 is illegal.

“The Broward, Palm Beach and Miami-Dade school districts estimate that the property tax provision of HB 7069 could cost them a combined $500 million over 10 years. Add the potential cost of higher borrowing rates and the case for a lawsuit is obvious. With luck, every school board in Florida will fight to overturn HB 7069 and protect public education.”

Categories Accountability, Charter Schools, Education Industry, Florida, For-Profit, Fraud, Funding, Privatization

Betsy DeVos and ALEC in Denver This Week

By dianeravitch
July 17, 2017 //
23

Betsy DeVos will be the keynote speaker at the ALEC annual meeting in Denver this week. Protestors will be there to greet her, although the U.S. Department of Education is keeping silent about which day she will appear.

ALEC has been promoting deregulation and privatization since the early 1970s. It is funded by major corporations and has nearly 2,000 members who are state legislators. It writes model legislation, which its members bring home and introduce in their own state. ALEC promotes charters and vouchers. It wants to eliminate unions, tenure, and seniority.

The linked Chalkbeat article says,

“ALEC is best known for crafting “model” legislation advancing conservative principles on issues ranging from tax limitations to gun safety and the environment.”

That’s not quite right. ALEC wants to eliminate all environmental regulations and gun controls.

Colorado’s Senator Michael Bennett wants to show DeVos a Denver “public school.” He is the most fervent supporter of charter schools among Senate Democrats, so he will most likely show her a Denver charter school. It is embarrassing for a Democrat like Bennett to admit that he and a radical extremist like DeVos agree about school choice, so he will try to find some way to pretend that charters are the good way to privatize schools, but vouchers are the bad way.

DeVos will not be convinced.

Here is the agenda for the ALEC meeting. It doesn’t show when DeVos is speaking, apparently a state secret.

To learn more about ALEC, its corporate sponsors, and its legislative members, check out the website ALEC Exposed.

Categories ALEC, Betsy DeVos, Charter Schools, Corporate Reform, Corporate Reformers, Denver

Gary Rubinstein: Does KIPP Deserve to Expand in Philadelphia?

By dianeravitch
July 17, 2017 //
26

Gary Rubinstein learned that KIPP plans to add more schools in Philadelphia and nearly triple its enrollment.

So Gary did what he always did: he checked the public data for KIPP in Philadelphia.

He found that KIPP has one high school in the city.

“That school got the lowest possible rating, essentially an F. Not only were their test scores low, but they also got the lowest possible rating in ‘growth’ in math and reading, in other words the value-added for the school which reformers claim to take very seriously.”

But, says KIPP spokesmen, an amazing proportion of our students graduate from college.

Gary checked the data. KIPP was resorting to its usual legerdemain and ignoring the high attrition from fifth grade to high school graduation. They compare all low-income kids only to their high school graduates, which makes KIPP look far better than the reality.

Given KIPP’s unimpressive academic record–one might say “failing” record–in Philadelphia, why would the School Reform Commission allow them to expand?

Categories Accountability, Charter Schools, Corporate Reformers, Education Industry, High School Graduation, Privatization

Philadelphia: KIPP Gets Whatever It Wants, Despite Poor Performance

By dianeravitch
July 17, 2017 //
4

Despite lackluster results at some of its Philadelphia schools, KIPP plans to increase the number of itsschools in the city and more than double its enrollment, from 1,770 to 4,400 students. Current plans call the growth of K-12 networks of KIPP schools. Apparently, the KIPP Network will accept students in the early grades but not in middle school or high school. KIPP wants to create its “culture” and not sully it by admitting latecomers. This is not the way public schools work.

Critics complain that some KIPP schools have no better performance than public schools that are being closed. Yet KIPP grows.

“Overall, activists argue, charters may benefit some students, but that comes at the expense of many more students whose District-run schools lack needed services. This argument has been adopted by the NAACP, which has come out against charter expansion for that reason.”

The Philadelphia Schools are run by a state-controlled board called the School Reform Commission. The SRC has overseen the dismantling of public education in the city and encouraged private operators to open for business. At the same time, the state legislature has consistently underfunded the public schools, abetting the dissolution of the public school system. Historic buildings sit empty, schools are stripped of everything but bare necessities. Yet the charters thrive, favored as they are by outside philanthropy.

As the linked article shows, KIPP has had weak academic performance in its middle schools, yet it boasts that it gets a higher proportion of students into college. One reason: KIPP has college counselors but the defunded public high schools have lost their college counselors. This is a classic case of a “manufactured crisis.” KIPP grows while the public schools die.

“KIPP’s CEO, Marc Mannella, has acknowledged publicly that some of its academic indicators have been disappointing. But KIPP officials cite evidence that its schools have had success in steering students to college.

“Specifically, they say, the first 8th-grade class from KIPP’s original middle school, which graduated in 2007, boasted 35 percent of students obtaining four-year college degrees 10 years later, compared to a 9 percent rate for low-income students nationally. The result is for a cohort of 35 graduates.

“This is significant news,” said Steve Mancini, KIPP national public affairs director.

“At the time, 85 percent of KIPP’s students qualified as low income. For the two KIPP schools with available data today, 59 percent are low-income.

“He emphasized that the KIPP Through College initiative offers all its 8th-grade graduates personalized counseling and support in preparing for college and that the assistance persists through at least the first year.

“This is a big attraction for parents,” said Mancini, especially in a school district where counselors have felt the budget ax.”

So, KIPP offers college counseling but the college counselors in public schools fell to the budget ax. Any connection?

The original class in fifth grade had 86 fifth-graders in 2003-04. By eighth grade, only 33 were left (not 35). Twelve of the original 85 graduated college, a rate of 13% of the original cohort (thank you, Gary Rubinstein, for tracking down the numbers).

KIPP will receive a huge management fee–12%–which enables it to provide the services that have been stripped from public schools.

“KIPP Philadelphia’s own management fee is 12 percent of all state and local revenue designated for the school, according to the Charter Schools Office’s evaluation. That would start at more than $307,000, then balloon to more than $1.3 million annually by year five, when KIPP Parkside is expected to be at full enrollment. The charter office called this fee “high in comparison to other Philadelphia [Charter Management Organizations].” Typical charter management fees range from 8 to 10 percent.

“The fee paid to KIPP Philadelphia goes to support services such as “recruiting and training new teachers, developing and implementing curriculum, overseeing instruction, creating and analyzing student assessments, finding and maintaining school facilities.”

The public schools of Philadelphia have been starved of funding and victimized by state control. An elected board would feel accountable to the vast majority of parents, rather than curtsy to private contractors and give them whatever they want, at the expense of the majority of students whose schools have been raided of funding.

Categories Accountability, Charter Schools, Education Industry, KIPP Charter Schools, Philadelphia, Privatization

Jennifer Berkshire: Watch What Betsy DeVos Does, Not the Nonsense She Says

By dianeravitch
July 16, 2017 //
8

Jennifer Berkshire writes about Betsy DeVos’s radical agenda, which she cloaks in platitudes.

She has become the mistress of not speaking to the press. When invited to address the annual meeting of the Education Writers Association in D.C., she skipped out, claiming she was too busy.

She briefly appeared on a network news show, speaking about the only subject she cares about: choice. When asked about a charter school which avoids children wupith disabilities and English language learners, she turned the subject upside down and said the school was great for those enrolled. Berkshire notes that she has often praised schools that have no students with disabilities. Inclusion and diversity are not in her vocabulary.

Berkshire writes:

“Her substance-free performances are all the more remarkable given the fierce urgency with which DeVos has pursued her agenda since arriving in Washington. Sidelining federal civil rights enforcement, rolling back protections for students who have been defrauded by shady for-profit colleges, meeting with a steady stream of “edupreneurs” and flogging school choice at every turn—these have been busy days for the Secretary.

“The NBC interview was actually a trio of softballs thrown by reporter Craig Melvin as part of a segment on Philadelphia’s charter school wars. Melvin met up with DeVos at Boys Latin of Philadelphia Charter school. You can read their entire exchange yourself:

“Melvin: You go to a lot of schools like this, I would imagine.

DeVos: I do.

“Melvin: Critics have said the success of schools like Boys Latin has come at the expense of neighborhood schools. Are you OK with that?

DeVos: Actually, I think schools like this are a really great example of schools that are meeting the needs of kids that haven’t fit in elsewhere.

“Melvin: But if there’s only one pot of money, aren’t traditional public schools always end up getting shortchanged to some extent?

DeVos: Great public schools are going to continue to do a great job for the students that they’re serving. I think instead of talking about schools and school buildings we should be talking about funding students and investing in individual students.”

That’s vintage DeVos. Every person for himself or herself. No concern for those left behind. Just kick them to the curb.

Berkshire writes:

“New York City requires a massive infusion of cash in order to repair its train woes, but by DeVosian logic we should be talking about funding and investing in individual commuters instead.”

Everyone on their own. Ride in a limo if you have one. If you don’t, you can ride a bike. Or walk. Problem solved.

Categories Betsy DeVos, Charter Schools, Education Reform

Florida: Parents Fight Corporate Takeovers of Public Money!

By dianeravitch
July 16, 2017 //
5

Parents in Alachua County in Florida have created an organization to fight the opening of a for-profit charter school run by Charter Schools USA in their community.

Their organization is called Parents Against Corporate Takeovers (PACT).

The charter will drain students and money from their local community public schools.

In addition to hurting public schools, the new charter will have poor oversight, located far from Gainesville. If parents have complaints, they will be told, “choose another school if you don’t like it here.”

Charters have a poor track record in Florida:

“Despite consistent growth by charter schools in Florida, the schools have lagged on quality, diversity and innovation. The CSUSA school proposal admits: ‘Achievement among CSUSA schools that serve a student population similar to ACS’s projected demographic is, on average, lower than both the state and Alachua County’s net average proficiency in math, science and social studies.’,

Categories Charter Schools, Corporate Reformers, Education Industry, Privatization

Massachusetts Professor Identifies Dark Money Funding Parent Group, Sets Off Twitter Controversy

By dianeravitch
July 16, 2017 //
45

Maurice Cunningham is a professor of political science at the University of Massachusetts. During the heated battle over a referendum to expand charter schools (Question 2), Cunningham wrote about the funding of both sides. The Massachusetts Teachers Association spent heavily to oppose Question 2, but they were far outspent by the many millions poured into the state to support charter schools. Most of the pro-charter money came from outside Massachusetts, from the Walton family, Michael Bloomberg, and financiers in a group calling itself “Families for Excellent Schools.”

The referendum lost by 62%-38%. The only districts that voted for it were affluent districts that never expected to see a charter school in their backyard. The opposing votes were highest in districts that had charter schools because they realized that a vote for a charter was a vote to defund their local,public schools.

Cunningham continued to follow the money after the election of last November.

Read this dynamite piece about Democrats using Republican money to advance Obama’s legacy on charter schools. He goes right to the dark bipartisan heart of privatization.

He learned of a new group called Massachusetts Parents United, and he discovered that it was funded by the same organizations that funded the pro-charter referendum. He wrote about it and was barraged on Twitter by outraged members of the group, who accused him of “bullying” and “belittling” some dedicated moms. These are the moms funded by the Walton Family Foundation. He challenged them to cite any inaccuracy in his article, but they did not.

Here is the way it begins:

“Mom and pop education organizations in Massachusetts seem to crop up just as fast as billionaires can fund them these days. The latest such entrant is called Massachusetts Parents United, with ties to Families for Excellent Schools and Democrats for Education Reform Massachusetts. It’s old wine in an empty bottle.

“The first tie is personnel – the state director of MPU, Keri Rodriguez Lorenzo, is the former state director of Families for Excellent Schools, which last year poured over $17 million in dark money into the Great Schools Massachusetts ballot committee. She is also on the Advisory Council of Democrats for Education Reform Massachusetts, which pours dark money into legislative races and into the 2013 Boston mayoral race.

“The second tie is financial. One of MPU’s funders is The Walton Family Foundation. In last year’s Question 2 fight, Walton money funded most of the activities of a ballot committee named Advancing Obama’s Legacy on Charter Schools, which was itself a front established by DFER MA. The Walton money – about $1.8 million from cousins Jim and Alice Walton – was funneled through another ballot committee named Campaign for Fair Access to Quality Public Schools. In Democrats Using Republican Money for Education Reform Now to Advance Obama’s Legacy on Charter Schools, I noted the irony of a putative Democratic committee subsisting on funds generated by the notoriously anti-worker WalMart. The rest of the Obama’s Legacy money came from DFER MA’s customary funder and dark money kissin’ cousin, Education Reform Now Advocacy of New York. If you understand all this, you probably own an intuitive grasp of the lyrics to “I’m My Own Grandpa.””

To follow the interesting Twitter exchange, go to Maurice Cunningham’s Twitter feed. @MassPolProfMo

Categories Charter Schools

New York: Who Is Behind the Effort to Allow Charter Schools to Hire Uncertified Teachers?

By dianeravitch
July 14, 2017 //
40

In this article, Alan Singer of Hofstra University connects the dots behind the effort to allow charter schools to hire uncertified teachers. He follows the money, and it leads to one man: Governor Andrew Cuomo.

Charters need to hire uncertified teachers because they churn through teachers and need newcomers who can devote long hours to the job without the diversion of a family.

“The finger points at New York Governor Andrew Cuomo. Politicians and wealthy business leaders with ties to Cuomo are behind the push to exempt some of the state’s charter schools from hiring certified teachers. It is a move that would weaken University-based teacher education programs, undermine teacher professionalism, and seriously hurt the education of children across the state.

“Cuomo has long been a supporter of expanded and minimally regulated charter schools. In 2014, while preparing to run for reelection, Cuomo spoke at a pro-charter rally on the steps of the State Capitol Building in Albany. In his speech he praised charter school groups and Republican and independent Democrats who were joining with him to “save” charter schools, although there was no movement trying to destroy them. Curiously, Cuomo never discussed pulling the children out of school and shipping them to Albany for a staged rally.

“In 2016, while no one was paying close attention, the State Legislature with Cuomo’s endorsement extended the regulatory authority of the Trustees of the State University over charter schools. The SUNY Charter Institute, a sub-committee of the Board of Trustees, now claims this legislation empowers them to permit charter schools under their jurisdiction to hire uncertified teachers and train them according to their own guidelines.

“The Trustees of the State University of New York currently authorize 165 charter schools in New York State including those operated by some of the most politically connected networks. Six SUNY charter schools operate in the Capital Region (Albany and Troy), six are in Buffalo, two are on Long Island, and over 140 are in New York City. The New York City charters include seven sponsored by Carl Ichan, ten affiliated with Achievement First, and 38 Success Academy Network Schools operated by Eva Moskowitz. Ichan is a corporate raider and real estate magnate with ties to the Trump Administration. Achievement First is connected to former New York City Schools Chancellor Joel Klein who left the city’s Department of Education to work for Rupert Murdoch of News Corp. Eva Moskowitz is New York City’s Charter School Queen with political ties to Andrew Cuomo and hedge fund companies and foundations.

“According to a 2015 expose by Juan Gonzalez for the New York Daily News, between 2000 and 2015, 570 hedge fund managers made nearly $40 million in political contributions to New York State candidates, including $4.8 million to Andrew Cuomo. Several of Cuomo’s 2014 reelection campaign donors including Carl Icahn, of Icahn Enterprises, Julian Robertson of Tiger Management, and Daniel Loeb, of Third Point LLC, are major supporters of charter schools.”

Cuomo appointed all four members of the SUNY charter school committee that will make the decision.

Cuomo needs the hedge funders to finance the presidential run everyone expects he wants. But, as Alan points out, he also needs the votes of the public so he may be open to suasion.

That is why I hope you will use this link to protest this unwise decision before it is too late.

Categories Charter Schools, Corporate Reformers, Cuomo, Andrew, Privatization, Teacher Education, Teachers and Teaching
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