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Privatization on the March in Oklahoma

By dianeravitch
March 25, 2015 //
5

Historian and teacher John Thompson reports on the progress of privatization in Oklahoma.

 

The state naively accepted the Gates compact, which obliged districts to welcome charter schools.

 

Thompson writes:

 

“The previous blockbuster discovery for Oklahoma City and Tulsa schools was S.B. 68, the “under-the-radar” bill to authorize cities to compete with school systems in sponsoring charter schools. The Tulsa World’s Andrea Eger, in “Change in State Law Sought for Tulsa Public Schools Would Allow Outsourcing of Instruction,” reports that another charter bill, H.B. 1691, “has flown largely beneath the public’s radar during a legislative session that has seen high-profile clashes over bills seeking private school vouchers and the expansion of charter schools into rural areas.”

 

“Eger reports that the Tulsa Public School System is moving ahead with plans to locate its three newest charters inside traditional public school facilities. Lunch and bus service would be provided for students. All three contract charters would be run by an out-of-state charter-management organization.

 

“Linda Hampton, the president of the Oklahoma Education Association, opposes H.B. 1691 “[b]ecause the bill is so broad in scope, it could open the door to total privatization of public schools.” She adds, “We also want to be sure we are not turning over our public school students to organizations that are looking to make a profit.”

 

Tulsa’s next superintendent is Deborah Gist, previously state superintendent of Rhode Island and a member of Jeb Bush’s Chiefs for Change.

 

Watch for a full-blown drive for privatization in Oklahoma.

Categories Charter Schools, Corporate Reformers, Oklahoma, Privatization, Unions

Will Hillary Side with Wall Street $$ or with Teachers and Parents?

By dianeravitch
March 24, 2015 //
95

The Néw York Times says Hillary Clinton will be forced to choose between the Wall Street big donors and the teachers’ unions.

The real choice is between Wall Street money on one hand and millions of parents and teachers who are fed up with high-stakes testing and privatization of public schools, on the other.

Then it refers to the Democrats for Education Reform as a “left of center group,” even though its program is indistinguishable from that of Republican governors and it was denounced by the California Democratic Party as a front for corporate interests.

Categories Charter Schools, Corporate Reformers, Democrats, Race to the Top, Teacher Evaluations, Teachers, Unions

Milwaukee: Your Chance to Learn About the Néw Orleans Con Job

By dianeravitch
March 24, 2015 //
2

If you live in or near Milwaukee, try to meet and hear these veterans of the Great Néw Orleans Con Job:

On March 26th and 27th you will have a chance to interact with three activist immersed in the fight for public education in New Orleans.

On Thursday, March 26, 2015 at 4:30 p.m. at Milwaukee High School of the Arts (2300 W. Highland Ave.) they will conduct workshops. All are invited.

Friday, March 27, 2015 • 6:00 p.m. at Parklawn Assembly of God (3725 N. Sherman Blvd.) they will participate in a community meeting and panel.

Karran Harper Royal is a New Orleans
public school parent who
cares about real education
reform. She is an advocate
for disabled and challenged
children and an educational
policy consultant.

Dr. Raynard Sanders
has more than 30 years of
experience in teaching,
educational administration,
and economic/community
development. He is a former
New Orleans high school principal.

Dr. Kristen Buras is an
associate professor in
Educational Policy Studies
at Georgia State University
in Atlanta. Buras has spent
the past decade researching
school reform in New Orleans.

See below for leaflets for both events:

Education Conversation 2015

Expert Panel Flyer 2015

Categories Charter Schools, Corporate Reformers, Milwaukee, New Orleans, Scandals Fraud and Hoaxes

Shades of the 1960s: Protesters Demonstrate in Front of Hedge Fund Billionaire’s Plush Apartment

By dianeravitch
March 24, 2015 //
23

A group called the “Hedge Clippers” organized a protest in front of the building where hedge fund manager Dan Loeb lives, to protest his funding of Republican control of the state senate, as well as charter schools. This is the kind of political activism that was common in the late 1960s to protest the war in Vietnam, but has seldom been seen in this country since then.

 

A story on WBAI reported the protest rally:

 

Shame the hedge fund billionaires, go where they live and demonstrate. This is a technique used in Latin America called escrache, but it’s also being used in New York City.
“Hedge Clippers, I guess you can kind of consider everything we do as part of Occupy Wall Street.” Activist Nick McMurray says Hedge Clippers keep the movement going.

 

“You can call us radicals, but at the end of the day we’re just people putting our foot down and we’re trying to stand up for what’s right and for what we really need in the world and in New York State.”

 

Zachary Lerner with NY Communities for Change ‪@nychange led Hedge Clippers in a mic check: “Dan Loeb’s politics demonize the immigrants. Dan Loeb’s politics are hostile. Dan Loeb’s politics are powerful. Dan Loeb’s money is massive, so We the People are fighting back.”

 

Over the weekend, the Hedge Clippers chose the Central Park West residence of hedge fund billionaire Dan Loeb as their target. The hedge fund mogul gave over a million dollars to a super pac, New Yorkers for a Balanced Albany. According to a Nation Magazine expose, it poured $4.3 million into six senate races. This helped tip the balance in favor of Senate Republicans here in New York State, where we have six times as many registered Democrats as Republicans. And Dan Loeb sits on the board of Success Academy, Eva Moskowitz’s charter schools

 

“There’s a paper trail for everything.” says Nilsa Toledo, a hedge clipper with New York Communities for Change. “He has given mega money to Success Academy and all these pacs for charter schools, on top of giving mega millions to our Senate and our Governor who is supposed to be representing the people, not just the people with a lot of zeros in their bank accounts. That’s really unfair. That’s why we’re standing together against it.”

 

Toledo has children in public schools in Flatbush, Brooklyn. She says billionaire hedge funders like Dan Loeb, behind charter school funding and lobbying efforts, hurt public schools forced to co-locate, to share their space. “I think that they should pay their own way. They shouldn’t co-locate in public schools. It happened to my son’s school and the quality is so different. In the charter side they have flat screen tvs. Every kid has a laptop and meanwhile I’m paying for that, but in my son’s school, they are lacking. Textbooks are still from 1998. lt’s really disgusting. The teacher’s have to pay out of their own pocket, just to make sure the kid’s have basic education and it’s not right. Our public schools are already owed billions of dollars. Public schools in the city have been underfunded and our government is ignoring that, but meanwhile they are passing policies that benefit the few. All these tax breaks and all these loopholes that are being exploited by these guys are not being closed, but meanwhile our kids are suffering, our communities are suffering and we need to stand up together to make a change.

 

Mindy Rosier teaches Special Education at a Special Needs School in Harlem. She came out to protest the hedge fund billionaire: “For Daniel Loeb to pay his fair share, to pay his taxes. He’s a contributor to Eva Moskowitz’s Success Academy which has been stealing from my school for eight years and tried to kick us out, so I’m here to stand up for my community, for my students, for public schools. If you’re not helping the public schools out, you’re not a friend to the City as far as I’m concerned.”

 

Protesters chant, “Pay your taxes, Dan Loeb. Pay your taxes, Dan Loeb.”

Categories Charter Schools, Corporate Reformers, Education Industry, Privatization

The Nation: Nine Billionaires Who Want to Control Public Education

By dianeravitch
March 19, 2015 //
38

George Joseph in The Nation has written a sharply researched article about the nine billionaires who have been planning to impose their ideas on New York state since at least 2010.

 

They are, as you might expect, hedge fund billionaires. They have given millions of dollars to Andrew Cuomo in both his election campaigns. They have also given millions to a group called New Yorkers for a Balanced Albany that campaigned to maintain Republican control of the State Senate. Their handiwork can be seen in organizations such as Families for Excellent Schools (no, these are not families of children in the public schools, they are the families of hedge-fund billionaires), StudentsFirst, Education Reform Now, and Democrats for Education Reform. Their goal: More privately-managed charter schools.

 

Joseph has done a stunning job of connecting the dots, showing the collaboration among the billionaires, Joel Klein (then chancellor of the New York City public schools), and John White (then an employee of New York City public schools, now state superintendent of Louisiana).

 

Why do they want more charter schools? Well, you could say, as some do, that they care deeply about the poor children of New York City and want each and every one of them to be in an excellent charter school (although most charters are not willing to take certain children, like those with severe disabilities, those who don’t read and speak English, and those with behavioral problems).

 

But Joseph thinks there is another reason for Wall Street’s passion for charter schools. They claim that charter schools are the best way to end poverty. It is certainly cheaper to open more charter schools with state money than to pay the billions that the state owes to New York City as a result of a court decision in a case called the Campaign for Fiscal Equity.

 

Cuomo has said that he is tired of spending more money on the schools. We tried that, he says, and it didn’t work. But a parent advocate does not agree: “Zakiyah Ansari, a parent and public schools advocate with the labor-backed Alliance for Quality Education, called such reasoning shameful, “Why do Cuomo and these hedge funders say money doesn’t matter? I’m sure it matters in Scarsdale. I’m sure it matters where the Waltons send their kids. They don’t send their kids to schools with overcrowded classrooms, over-testing, no art, no music, no sports programs, etc. Does money only ‘not matter’ when it comes to black and brown kids?”

 

Joseph explores the question of why the New York hedge fund leaders are passionate about charter schools, test-based teacher evaluation, and ending teacher tenure.

 

He writes:

 

Their policy prescriptions—basing 50 percent of teacher evaluations on student test scores, for instance—are not in any way grounded in mainstream education research.

 

“The problem is that Cuomo’s backers aren’t paying much attention to the people who actually understand how Value-Added Modeling works,” explains Professor Julian Vasquez Heilig, an education policy researcher at California State University. “Education statisticians have come out many times saying these models are being used inappropriately and are unstable because other things happen in students’ lives outside of the teachers they encounter. When a kids’ parents in a high needs district are deported, and their achievement plummets, this actually has nothing to do with the teacher.”

 

Vasquez Heilig added that the reform proposals seem founded on a desire to destroy the development of long-term professional educators, rather than any empirical analysis: “We know 70 percent of teachers will bounce between high performing and low performing from year to year. So this is creating an impossible high stakes testing gauntlet between a young excited teacher and their path to quality, veteran expertise. If you’re looking for a cheap churn-and-burn teaching force, this is your policy, but if you want experienced, qualified teachers, committed to a schools’ long-term success, this is a disaster.”

 

From a purely business standpoint, however, such cost-effective education reform proposals do make sense for the hedge-fund community, especially given the alternative education reform option: the legally required equitable funding of New York public schools, as mandated by the state’s highest court in 2007. Low-income New York school districts haven’t received their legally mandated funding since 2009 and the state owes its schools a whopping $5.9 billion, according to a recent study by the labor-backed group Alliance for Quality Education. Yet somehow in this prolonged period of economic necessity, billionaire hedge-fund managers continue to enjoy lower tax rates than the bottom 20 percent of taxpayers.

 

As a recent Hedge Clippers report pointed out, the hedge-fund community has achieved these gains over the last decade and a half by buying political influence and carving out absurd breaks and loopholes in the New York state tax code. Since 2000, 570 hedge fund managers and top executives have poured $39.6 million into the campaign coffers of New York state politicians. Thus, despite New York’s progressive reputation, its school-district funding-distribution system is actually one of the most regressive nationwide, similar to that of states like Texas, North Carolina and Missouri.

 

According to Michael Kink, an advocate of fair share taxes with the labor-backed Strong Economy For All Coalition, “We could fund the court order completely with fair share taxes.” This would include closing the carried interest loophole that allows hedge funds to pay a smaller share of their income in taxes than, according to Hedge Clippers, “their limousine drivers, dry cleaners, servants, helicopter pilots, and doormen.” Taxing hedge fund fees and profits fairly would bring New York hundreds of millions of dollars that could go straight to local schools. A recent Hedge Clippers analysis found that fair-share taxes and fees targeting hedge funds, billionaires, high-income LLCs and major corporations could raise between $3.1 and $4.2 billion dollars per year—well over the annual minimum required by state law’s school funding formula. But Cuomo’s hedge fund–backed proposals fail to even approach these standards, instead parroting the convenient logic of corporate education reformers that the problem is not the lack of school funding, but the way in which it is spent.

 

“It was outrageous when the governor said the lack of school funding was not an issue,” explains New York State Senator Liz Krueger (D). “And it’s consistent with his attempts to fail to make good on the CFE lawsuit commitment, somehow ignoring the fact that the poorest-achieving schools are also the most underfunded.” Commenting on the hedge fund forces backing such proposals, Krueger continued, “I can never know what people’s actual intentions are. But it does seem that there is a pattern of spending enormous lobbying money in lobbying and attempting to influence campaigns…. Hedge funds seem in particular to have made a fine art of not paying their taxes, allowing fundamental public services to be inadequately funded.”

 

Putting it more explicitly, Jonathan Westin of the labor-backed New York Communities for Change, argues the main point of the hedge fund–backed education reform push is thus “about shaping and controlling the public school system so that they will continue to get away with not paying hundreds of millions in taxes.”

 

In this light, the hedge-fund community’s fervent advocacy of the charter-school movement reflects its neoliberal social vision for the state and society. Charter schools are imagined as institutions where students can be reshaped to prevail against structural barriers like racism and poverty. As hedge-fund billionaire Paul Tudor Jones II claimed, contrary to decades of empirical evidence, “We proved with the charter school that the achievement gap was a myth, that with the right schools, kids from the poorest neighborhoods could do every bit as well as kids from the richest ones.”

 

To “make up for” pervasive inequality, in lieu of correcting it, hedge-fund billionaires like Daniel Loeb of Success Academy and Larry Robbins of KIPP have promoted charter schools that envelop students in hyper-disciplined and surveilled school environments in which their every decision, down to their most minute physical movement, can be measured, assessed and addressed. This “no excuses” pedagogical approach signals to students that the only barrier to their success is their character. In other words, as Cuomo put in his the State of the State address, students under the charter school paradigm should understand their educational opportunity as “the great equalizer.”

 

Read the article to see the links. Everything is carefully researched and sourced. It confirms what many of us have long known about the role of Wall Street in financing privatization and other policies that hurt teachers and public schools. And it is still scary. And anti-democratic.

 

Categories Accountability, Charter Schools, Corporate Reformers, Education Industry, New York, Poverty, Privatization

Breaking News! Waltons Lose in Effort to Privatize Little Rock School District!

By dianeravitch
March 17, 2015 //
25

Great  news! Max Brantley reports that the bill to privatize the Little Rock School District was withdrawn and will not be introduced again in this session of the Arkansas legislature.  The lobbyists pushing the bill were all connected to the powerful multi-billionaire Walton family, and many people thought their victory was a foregone conclusion. (See this post and this post for details.)

 

Brantley writes:

 

The rally in opposition to the bill at the Capitol tonight turned into a victory party.

 

Here’s Ross’ take on the decision:”We hear there was pressure from the Walton family who are tired of the bad press.”

 

Indeed. And it will be complicated when plaintiffs in the lawsuit over the state’s takeover of the district — which would provided a speedway to privatization under the proposed law — begin questioning subpoenaed witnesses about their ties to the Waltons and others that have invested big money in wanting to see the district heavily charterized.

 

The public outcry was vital in this defeat, if Cozart can be trusted. I suspect even more vital was the entry of the PTA, the School Boards Association and, particularly, the school superintendents, in the fight. What was about to happen to Little Rock could happen to anyone — a loss of school boards, an expropriation of local property tax millage, the required surrender of facilities for no charge.

 

There are important lessons to be learned here. The Waltons apparently got “tired of the bad press.” Public outcry was vital. The supporters of public education rallied. The public interest beat the Waltons. Don’t forget those lessons!

Categories Arkansas, Charter Schools, Corporate Reformers, Education Reform, Privatization, Walton Foundation

The Waltons Buy a School District and a State Board of Education

By dianeravitch
March 16, 2015 //
90

Who knew that being a billionaire would enable you and your family to buy an entire school district and even the state board of education? It isn’t that difficult, if you have enough money. Do we live in an oligarchy?

 

This letter was published in response to Max Brantley’s article (posted this morning) about the Walton takeover of the Little Rock School District. I am posting it here not because it is Little Rock but because it could be your city, your state.

 

#WAL-MART BUYS A SCHOOL DISTRICT

 

#WAL-MART BUYS A STATE BOARD OF EDUCATION

 

August 14, 2014 Wal-Mart and The Winthrop Rockefeller Foundation bought a partnership allegiance and loyalty from the Arkansas Department of Education through a partnership because of their $325,000,000 in contributions and payments to various organizations (http://www.arkansased.org/public/userfiles… ). This with Lobbyist Gary Newton, nephew of ADE Board member Diane Zook (Arkansas Learns/Lobbyist #142 on Arkansas Secretary of State Registered Lobbyist Report: http://www.sos.arkansas.gov/elections/Docu… paved the way for the Arkansas State Board of Education to be bought.

 

Below are the Arkansas State Education Board members that voted for the State Takeover of the Little Rock School District. All of their affiliated organizations are funded by Wal-Mart(Walton Family Foundation) and/or The Winthrop Rockefeller Foundation. It is obvious that these powerful organizations had influence, voting power, and now control. Their goal is to seize control of local school boards and privatize education. After viewing their affiliations, look at the Forward Arkansas Steering Committee that they put together to dictate where local funds should go. This is the epitome of BIG BUSINESS privatizing local funds.

 

These are the members that voted for a state takeover of a School District with 6 of 48 schools in academic distress. Wal-Mart/Rockefeller Connection are as follows:
· Toyce Newton, Phoenix Youth & Family Services Inc.
o Member of the Arkansas State Board of Education
o Former Chair of the Winthrop Rockefeller Foundation Board (The same Foundation that the board selected to run the LRSD http://www.phoenixyouth.com/about.html
· Vicki Saviers, “She was selected to State Board of Education because of her volunteering and charity.
o Member of the Arkansas State Board of Education
o Member of the Advisory Board for the UA Office for Education Policy
o “The district will be forced to make many difficult decisions in the future, including the removal of staff and closing of schools,” said board member Vicki Saviers, who submitted the takeover motion. (USA Today http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/… )
· Diane Zook, Aunt Gary Newton (Head of the Wal-Mart funded Lobby Group, Arkansas Learns.
o Member of the Arkansas State Board of Education
o https://dianeravitch.net/2015/01/29/arkansa…
o http://www.arktimes.com/ArkansasBlog/archi…

 

· Kim Davis, Board Member, Arkansas State Board of Education
o Employment is funded by Wal-mart, Sam’s Club, Tyson, and The Walton Family Foundation http://www.nwacouncil.org/pages/about-us/
o Arkansas State Board of Education Member
o Voted for State Takeover of LRSD (Conflict of Interest?)
o Member of Forward Arkansas Steering Committee (How can he vote for a takeover and have influence on where LRSD funds will be spent?)
o http://www.arktimes.com/ArkansasBlog/archi…
On October 18, 2004 Gary Newton (Arkansas Learns) created a Corporation (Arkansans for Education Reform Foundation) along with Glenn Borkowski, Luther Gordy, William Dillard, Clairborne Deming, Walter Hussman, and (of course…) Jim Walton. (Print media Note)Why does Cynthia Howell with the Dem Gazette reference Gary Newton like he is not a PAID LOBBYIST. Link: http://www.sos.arkansas.gov/corps/search_c…

 

#WAL-MART BUYS A SCHOOL DISTRICT through FORWARD ARKANSAS (will they be the “non-profit” that will run the district)? WOW! Look at the connections!

 

Below is the Steering Committee for The Forward Arkansas Initiative. According to the Forward Arkansas Website (http://www.forwardarkansas.org/forward-tea…) “The steering committee is made up of education, business, government and civil society leaders who share a common goal: improving education in all four corners of the state”. However, they failed to mention, they also share another common bond… Most of their organizations are funded by the Winthrop Rockefeller Foundation and/or the Walton Family Foundation (Wal-Mart). Additionally, four of the five Arkansas Board of Education members that voted to takeover the Little Rock School District are part of organizations that are funded by The Wal-Mart (Walton Family Foundation) or The Winthrop Rockefeller Foundation. This is a direct conflict of interest. There are NO classroom educators from the LRSD on the Committee and they will face NO OVERSITE or local control. This steering committee is now in control of dictating the future of the LRSD.

 

Jared Henderson, Project manager for the Forward Arkansas Initiative
• Sole person designing Education in the LRSD
• Bio: http://www.arkansasbusiness.com/people/lis…
• He is not from Little Rock?
• Former Senior Vice President for Teach for America
• Teach for America Delta received $4,000,000 from The Walton Family Foundation (link: http://www.waltonfamilyfoundation.org/abou… )
• Teach for America Builds facility in Helena-West Helena (first in nation. could this experiment happen in Little Rock? What happens to teachers not part of this network?): http://www.helena-arkansas.com/article/201…
• Holds an undergraduate degree from UA-Fayetteville in Computer Science and Physics?
• He has never taught in the LRSD
• Served on Board of AR Kids Read
• Look at the Sponsors: http://arkidsread.org/sponsors/ (The majority of the contributors have a representative in the Forward Arkansas Steering Committee. This is NOT DIVERSITY and this DOES NOT INVOLVE THE COMMUNITY)
• $10,000 + contributors include: Winthrop Rockefeller Foundation, Fifty for the Future, Arkansas United Way, and Entergy
• $5,000-$9,999 contributors include: Arvest (Wal-Mart Bank), Cranford Johnson Robinson Woods, Little Rock Regional Chamber of Commerce, J.A. Riggs Tractor Company
•

 

Shane Broadway, Director, Arkansas Department of Higher Education
• Member, Benton Chamber of Commerce, present
• Board Member, Bryant Boys and Girls Club, present
• Member, Bryant Chamber of Commerce, present
• Board Member, Central Arkansas Development Council, present
• Member, Entrepreneurial Advisory Committee, Arkansas Association of Two-Year Colleges
• Board Member, Quality Teaching and Learning Centers, present

 

Toby Daughterey, Lead Recruiter and Outreach Coordinator, The STAND Foundation
• Significant Funding from the Rockefeller Foundation: http://70-40-216-95.bluehost.com/grants/re…

 

Kim Davis, Board Member, Arkansas State Board of Education
• Employment is funded by Wal-Mart, Sam’s Club, Tyson, and The Walton Family Foundation
• http://www.nwacouncil.org/pages/about-us/
• Arkansas State Board of Education Member
• Voted for State Takeover of LRSD (Conflict of Interest?)

 

Bill Dillard III, Vice President, Dillard’s Inc.
• http://www.arktimes.com/ArkansasBlog/archi…
• Serves on the board at eStem Public Charter Schools
• Serves on the board at The Arkansas Education Reform Foundation (received $7,000,000 from the Walton Family Foundation, link: http://www.waltonfamilyfoundation.org/abou… )

 

Marcy Doderer, President and CEO, Arkansas Children’s Hospital in Little Rock

 

Matt Dozier, President and CEO, Environmental and Spatial Technology (EAST) Initiative Bob
• February 2, 2015 EAST received $35K from the Rockefeller’s: http://www.eastinitiative.org/newsopportun…
• Significant Wal-Mart funding: http://www.eastinitiative.org/
• Significant Wal-Mart funding: http://www.eastinitiative.org/newsopportun…
• Significant Wal-Mart funding: http://www.eastinitiative.org/newsopportun…

 

Bob East, Co-Founder, East-Harding Inc.
• Little Rock Regional Chamber of Commerce

 

Joyce Elliot, Arkansas State Senator
• Chairman, Joint Budget Committee (JBC) – Peer Review
• Chairman, Arkansas Legislative Council (ALC)-Higher Education Subcommittee
• Chairman, Vision 2025 Legislative Commission on the Future of Higher Education
• Chairman, Whole Child-Whole Community Program
• Chairman, Arkansas comprehensive School Improvement Plans

 

Melanie Fox, Co-Founder, J&M Foods
• The Anthony School Board of Trustees: http://www.anthonyschool.org/BoardofTruste…
• What makes her qualified?

 

Diana Gonzales Worthen, Director, Project RISE at University of Arkansas at Fayetteville
• Conducted Study funded through the Rockefeller Foundation

 

Lavina Grandon, Founder and President, Rural Community Alliance
• A partner Organization of the Winthrop Rockefeller Foundation
• Links: http://thenewrural.org/?x=0&y=0&s=rockefel…

 

Tom Kimbrell, Superintendent, Bryant Public Schools
• http://www.nwaonline.com/news/2015/feb/04/…

 

Ginny Kurrus, Former State President, Arkansas PTA
• http://www.usgbcar.org/about-us/staff/
• Rockefeller connection: http://www.woodlandsedge.com/winthrop-poin…
• Member of the Little Rock Chamber of Commerce

 

Michele Linch, Executive Director, Arkansas State Teachers Association
• http://www.astapro.org/index.php/contact-u…
• Former Director of Arkansas Leadership Academy’s Teacher Leadership Institute (Viki Saviers, who supported LRSD State takeover is on the board of this organization)

 

Hugh McDonald, President and CEO, Entergy Arkansas Inc.
• Arkansas Chamber of Commerce member
• Little Rock Regional Chamber of Commerce Member
• Arkansas Research Alliance Board member (Winthrop Rockefeller Foundation Board Member Jerry Adams is the President of the Arkansas Research Alliance, link: http://www.wrfoundation.org/who-we-are/lea…)

 

Justin Minkel, Elementary School Teacher, Jones Elementary School in Springdale
• Teach for America alumnus
• Page 23 Teach for America Link: http://files.givewell.org/files/unitedstat…
• Walton Family gives $49,000,000 (estimated $100,000,000 by now) to Teach for America: http://waltonfamilyfoundation.org/mediacen…
• Springdale, Arkansas Teacher

 

David Rainey, Assistant State Director, JBHM Education Group
• Bio: http://stc.arkansas.gov/itleaders/stcmembe…
• Jackson, MS Article: http://www.jacksonfreepress.com/news/2009/…

 

John Riggs IV, President, J.A. Riggs Tractor Company

 

Scott Shirey, Founder and Executive Director, KIPP Delta Public Schools
• KIPP: Delta’s significant contributions include the following:
• Walton Family Foundation $100,000+
• Helena Public Facilities Board $25,000—$99,000 (why is public funding privately ran entities)
• Wal-Mart Stores $10,000+
• Mr. and Mrs. Randy Zook $1,000-$4,999
• Mr. Garry Newton
• An additional $8,800,000 from the Walton Family Foundation according the 2013 Grant Report http://www.waltonfamilyfoundation.org/abou…
• KIPP Delta School Directors (Principals) ALL come from teach for America (They have do not have the same Teaching Certificate Requirements as required by the state. Link: http://www.kippdelta.org/our-leadership-te…
• Walton Family gives $49,000,000 (estimated $100,000,000 by now) to Teach for America: http://waltonfamilyfoundation.org/mediacen…
• Look at the Privatized District: http://www.kippdelta.org/our-team-staff-di…
• No Community Input/No Accountability/No Diversity in Leadership
• Board of Directors Chair is the husband of member of the Arkansas State Board of Education that voted for LRSD takeover. Link: http://www.kippdelta.org/board-directors Link: http://www.arkansased.org/state-board/memb…

 

Ray Simon, Former Deputy Secretary, U.S. Department of Education
• Member of the B & D Educational Consulting team (Washington DC) Link: http://www.faegrebdc.com/18052
• This firm also specializes in K-12 Education Consulting. The first line item on K-12 Education Consulting page offers strategies on TERMINATION OF TENURED and TENURED-TRACK EMPLOYEES. Link: http://www.faegrebd.com/K-12-Education

 

Kathy Smith, Senior Program Officer, Walton Family Foundation
• The K-12 Education link on the Walton Family Foundation promotes PUBLIC CHARTERS (meaning the public will pay for the creation of private schools. The schools and administration are not accountable to anyone. NO FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT because it is private, but they will spend public funds. Additionally, these schools will most likely be ran by TEACH FOR AMERICA, not LRSD teachers that live and have a vested interest in the community. Who will get the food service contract? who will get facilities contracts? Who will be on vendor list? Who ensures equitability? Who will you see in the community advocating for students and parents? Link: http://www.waltonfamilyfoundation.org/gran…
• Article “The Walton’s want to Fix Public Education in America” link: http://www.forbes.com/sites/luisakroll/201…
• Look at the Walton Family Foundation 2013 Grant Report. They invested $14,500,000 in a non profit investing firm that specializes in investing in Charter School Operations (Charter Funds Inc.!!!! http://www.bloomberg.com/research/stocks/p… )
• Walton Family Foundation 2013 Grant Report http://www.waltonfamilyfoundation.org/abou…

 

LaDonna Spain, School Improvement Specialist, Arkansas Department of Education
• link: http://arkansas-employees.findthedata.com/…
• Served as Gifted and Talented and Advanced Placement Coordinator in the McGehee School District
• Taught in the Tiller School District
• Taught in Delta Special School District
• Taught in McGehee School District

 

Bob Watson, Former Superintendent, El Dorado Public Schools
• Board Member of Economics Arkansas. Link: http://www.economicsarkansas.org/about_us/…
• Economics Arkansas has received significant contributions from the following:
• Wal-Mart/Sam’s Club Foundation, Bentonville, AR
• Walton Family Foundation, Bentonville, AR

 

Sherece West-Scantlebury, President and CEO, Winthrop Rockefeller Foundation
• Winthrop Rockefeller Foundation Board, link: http://www.wrfoundation.org/who-we-are/lea…
• Board Member Vicki Saviers also serves on the Arkansas Board of Education (Is it a conflict of interest to vote to have the LRSD dissolve and serve on the Board of the entity that will dictate its fate?)
• GREAT LINK: http://badassteachers.blogspot.com/2015/01…
• previously served as CEO at the Foundation for Louisiana

 

Darrin Williams, CEO, Southern Bancorp Inc.
• link: https://banksouthern.com/news/southern-ban…
• Southern Bank Corp received $1.6 million from Walton Family Foundation (link: http://www.waltonfamilyfoundation.org/abou… )

 

Kenya Williams, Co-Chair, Strong-Community Leadership Alliance
• Key Partners with the Leadership Alliance…of course Winthrop Rockefeller Foundation, link: http://arpanel.org/coalitions/opportunity-…

 

 

Questions:

1. Has there been lessons learned from other school districts that have been taken over by the state?
2. How will citizens of Little Rock have a valued voice if they are not part of Wal-Mart of or the Rockefellers?
3. What will keep citizens from being disenfranchised?
4. Who is in control of transparency…Wal-Mart?
5. If the citizens of the community do not like the direction that the state is taken, how can they gain back control?
6. With the Superintendent and the Education Commissioner in charge, who can citizens turn to for “due process hearings”, local concerns?
7. If the powers that be decide to close a school in a non-valued neighborhood…Who do they turn to?
8. What kinds of accountability will the state be held to?
9. Arkansas Forward is promoting online surveys… How will concern citizens provide input if they don’t have a computer, car, sight, and does this comply with ADA.
10. It appears that Wal-Mart is investing heavily in Teach for America, how will teachers who are certified through the state compete with privately ran schools?
11. As noted, in 2013, Wal-Mart invested $14,500,000 in Charter Fund, Inc., http://www.waltonfamilyfoundation.org/abou… and http://chartergrowthfund.org/invest-with-u… . These are Private Equity Funds that yield returns based on profits. It appears Wal-Mart just bought a School District.

 

 

 

 

Categories Arkansas, Charter Schools, Corporate Reformers, Walton Foundation

Max Brantley: Follow the Walton Money in Arkansas

By dianeravitch
March 16, 2015 //
10

Max Brantley, regular columnist for the Arkansas Times, tells the sorry tale of the likely Walton takeover of the Little Rock school district. Read here and here.

 

Six of Little Rock’s 48 public schools have low test scores. Instead of bringing help to those needy schools, Walton-funded lobbyists are promoting a state takeover of the entire district. That way, all the schools can be turned into charters with private managers. This eliminates the elected school board; reformers don’t like school boards. They like state control and mayoral control.

 

In the second link, Brantley writes:

 

“Following the money on the Walton-Hutchinson takeover of Little Rock schools

 

“It’s not yet clear when the final House Education Committee battle will be fought on HB 1733 to allow the state to privatize any or all of a public school district judged to be in academic distress.

 

“It’s monumental legislation that would make all school teachers and administrators fire-at-will employees without due process rights. It would destroy the last remaining teacher union contract in Arkansas. It allows for the permanent end of democratic control of a school district or those portions of it privatized. It would capture property tax millage voted by taxpayers for specific purposes, including buildings, and give them to private operators. It would allow seizure of buildings for private operators at no cost. CORRECTION: Fort Smith classroom teachers still negotiate with the Fort Smith School District. An anti-union organization they fund, the Arkansas State Teachers Association, has spent a great deal of money trying to solicit members in Fort Smith, a teacher there reports.

 

“This bill is the work of the Walton Family Foundation. People the Walton money supports — lobbyists Gary Newton of Arkansas Learns, Scott Smith of the Arkansas Public School Research Foundation, Kathy Smith of the Walton Family Foundation and Laurie Lee of Arkansas Parents for School Choice — are the leading lobbyists. Smith has been quoted by others as saying he’s the primary author (his organization gets $3 million a year from the Waltons), but it follows similar legislation introduced in other states, with poor to disastrous results (New Orleans).

 

(Concurrently and coincidentally, the Walton Foundation and Rockefeller Foundation are sponsoring a school study in Little Rock by the Boston Consulting Group, an outfit that has studied and recommended mass privatization in other cities.)

 

The goal is to make the Little Rock School District a laboratory for the pet education aims of the Waltons, who own the University of Arkansas, particularly the department ginning out propaganda in behalf of this bill. Gov. Asa Hutchinson is fully on board. He’s been resisting a solid plan to put competent people in charge in Little Rock and moving on fixing the six schools on which the entire district of 48 schools was placed in academic distress. His plan is to pass a law to overcome Johnny Key’s lack of a teacher certificate, master’s degree and 10 years education experience and become state Education Commissioner. Key would then find a Walton-favored outfit to run the six schools at issue and be poised to take over as many others as the Waltons deem necessary.

 

It’s been a long battle, but money does tend to win out.

 

UPDATE:….

 

Many tentacles. Lots of money….

 

If you think Johnny Key, who used Nick Wilson-style special language chicanery to increase the virtual charter school enrollment from 500 to 3,000 will stop at six Little Rock schools in the privatization scheme, I’ve got a Little Rock school to sell you for $1, subject to Walton approval.

 

The simmering pot full of Little Rock School District frogs (otherwise knowns as voters, taxpayers, parents, students and teachers) will soon be fully cooked, with no life left to jump out.

Categories Arkansas, Charter Schools, Corporate Reformers, Privatization, Walton Foundation

Reader: Why Are Democrats Selling Out Public Education?

By dianeravitch
March 15, 2015 //
76

Reader Cheryll Brounsteun posed this concern:

“I have followed the evolution of “school reform”. I believed naively that once Obama recognized that the reform movement was a scam to make money by selling tests, technology, curriculum, privatizing education and breaking unions that Democrats would take steps to protect public education.

“Sadly, Obama’s public support for TFA, Arne Duncan, Michelle Rhee, and Rahm Emmanuel clearly underscore that public education has been traded or sold and is being dismantled in stages. The destruction of public education is as great a travesty as the devastation of the environment and the corruption of our judicial system that ignores the crimes of the 1%. Yet, most citizens lack an awareness that the basis of a viable democracy is disappearing.”

Categories Corporate Reformers, Democrats, Duncan, Arne, Obama

Jersey Jazzman Tells New Jersey Legislature Why “One Newark” Is Unlikely to Improve Education

By dianeravitch
March 14, 2015 //
6

Jersey Jazzman, aka Mark Weber (public school teacher, public school parent, and doctoral student at Rutgers University) testified before the Joint Committee on the Public Schools of the New Jersey Legislature about “One Newark,” the plan devised by Cami Anderson, state-appointed superintendent of the Newark school district.

 

Weber says:

 

Our research a year ago led us to conclude that there was little reason to believe One Newark would lead to better educational outcomes for students. There was little empirical evidence to support the contention that closing or reconstituting schools under One Newark’s “Renew School” plan would improve student performance. There was little reason to believe converting district schools into charter schools would help students enrolled in the Newark Public Schools (NPS). And we were concerned that the plan would have a racially disparate impact on both staff and students.

 

In the year since my testimony, we have seen a great public outcry against One Newark. We’ve also heard repeated claims made by State Superintendent Cami Anderson and her staff that Newark’s schools have improved under her leadership, and that One Newark will improve that city’s system of schools.

 

To be clear: it is far too early to make any claims, pro or con, about the effect of One Newark on academic outcomes; the plan was only implemented this past fall. Nevertheless, after an additional year of research and analysis, it remains my conclusion that there is no evidence One Newark will improve student outcomes.

 

Further, after having studied the effects of “renewal” on the eight schools selected by State Superintendent Anderson for interventions in 2012, it is my conclusion that the evidence suggests the reforms she and her staff have implemented have not only failed to improve student achievement in Newark; they have had a racially disparate impact on the NPS certificated teaching and support staff.

Weber asks at the outset why the New Jersey Department of Education is not doing the kind of independent research that he presents. Could it be that the Department answers  to Governor Christie, as does Cami Anderson. It may be wishful thinking to expect nonpartisan research when education agencies are politicized.

 

The four components of “One Newark” are charter schools, “renewal” schools, consumer choice, and continuing state control. Without the last component, the others would surely be eliminated, based on the negative reaction of parents and students to the plan.

 

Weber demonstrates that Newark’s charter schools are not serving the same demographics as the public schools, and that the charters had few advantages over the public schools. Furthermore, the charters spend more on administration and less on support services for students.

 

As for the “Renew” schools, Weber says there is no evidence that terminating the entire staff of a school leads to improvement of the school. My review of the research shows that there is no evidence that reconstitution is a consistently successful strategy for improving schools. In fact, reconstitution can often be risky, leading to students enrolling in schools that underperform compared to where they were previously enrolled.

 

He ends his testimony by calling again for the state education department to exercise oversight and to provide the impartial data analysis that will help policymakers. He and the state’s education scholars stand ready to help.

 

 

 

Categories Charter Schools, Corporate Reformers, Education Reform, Privatization
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