Archives for category: For-Profit
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N.C. State Board Caves to Online Lobbyists, with Restrictions

By dianeravitch
January 10, 2013 //
1

North Carolina is a plum market for the online for-profit charter industry.

Today, the state board of education agreed to allow them to open in the state but set some limits.

Here is a link to a report on the decision by North Carolina Policy Watch:

“Virtual charter schools will face restrictions if they want to open up in North Carolina.
The N.C. State Board of Education voted today to adopt a policy that would require the online-based schools to adhere to a significantly lower funding formula ($3504 per student) than brick-and-mortar charter schools, maintain high graduation rates and low withdrawal rates of students. Schools will also need to keep a ratio of one teacher for every 50 students and keep graduation rates within 10 percent of the state average (80 percent), and can’t have withdrawal rates higher than 15 percent in two out of three years.”
Some legislators were unhappy that the state board of education imposed restrictions on the industry. Online charters get dismal results, but they are heavily favored by Jeb Bush and Bob Wise, and of course, the technology industry. They are also a favorite cause of the far-right organization ALEC, which counts some N.C. legislators among its members.
Two for-profit online corporations have already sent letters of intent to the state board of education: Connections, which is owned by Pearson; and K12, which is owned by the Milken brothers and listed on the New York Stock Exchange. Both have hired lobbyists to help them in the legislature, which may eliminate the restrictions imposed by the state board of education.
The bottom line: ALEC and for-profit corporations win, kids in N.C. lose.
Categories Corporate Reformers, For-Profit, North Carolina, On-Line Education, Privatization

The Key to Understanding Corporate Reform

By dianeravitch
January 10, 2013 //
3

If you want to understand what is happening in state after state, district after district, read Lee Fang’s article here. I have read it again and again, and every time I read it, I see something I didn’t see before and understand the national picture better than I did before. I have published this before. I may publish it every few months to make sure that everyone sees it. Or has a reminder to read it again.

Categories ALEC, Charter Schools, Corporate Reformers, For-Profit, Privatization

Is Corporate Reform Like Vietnam?

By dianeravitch
January 10, 2013 //
14

I hesitated to post this because it refers to me.

But I decided to post it because the author, Mark Naison, makes a powerful point about the present moment.

What is happening in education today is ignorant, willful, and dangerous.

Thoughtless politicians and self-seeking entrepreneurs are hurting children, damaging public education, and demeaning the teaching profession with their misguided policies. They welcome for-profit schooling, they are closing down urban education in city after city, and they want a “free market” in schooling. At the same time, they acquiesce to deep budget cuts in essential services for children. Is there a parallel with Vietnam in the 1960s? Naison thinks so.

Categories Budget Cuts, Corporate Reformers, Education Industry, For-Profit, Privatization

Will Massachusetts Open a Charter to Skim $$ from a Great Public School?

By dianeravitch
January 9, 2013 //
15

Brockton High School has been hailed as one of the best high schools in the nation, celebrated for its excellent programs and high test scores. What makes its success especially impressive is that the school has 4,100 students and a large immigrant population.

Now enters the SABIS for-profit charter chain, seeking to compete with Brockton High School. In this report, EduShyster has a guest blogger explain.

Clearly, SABIS won’t be “saving poor kids from a failing public school,” because Brockton High is one one the best high schools in the state.

So why would the state allow the charter to open and lure students and resources away from a fine public school?

Categories Charter Schools, Education Reform, For-Profit, Massachusetts, Privatization

Georgia Has a Group Supporting Public Education

By dianeravitch
January 9, 2013 //
3

After I wrote about a new parent group in Tennessee, I received a comment about a similar group in Georgia, protesting budget cuts and legislation hostile to public schools.

Be sure to checkout their website, which has excellent resources for parents, educators and other concerned citizens: http://empoweredga.org/

“Here’s a similar group in Georgia, where we need it more than ever as we brace for the usual fun and games of the upcoming session: http://empoweredga.org/

“Op-Ed in yesterday’s Atlanta Constitution by the group’s founder, a Teacher of the Year from south Georgia named Matt Jones: Lawmakers ignore their moral and constitutional duty to support public education, http://bit.ly/VNJA9p Someday this headlong rush to easy “fixes” and snake-oil “solutions” will stop– but the opposition is clearly coming from grassroots efforts of people forming these groups. Let’s hope this someday is soon before there are no schools left worth fighting for.”

Categories Budget Cuts, Charter Schools, Education Reform, For-Profit, Georgia

Waltons Will Spend More to Privatize Public Education

By dianeravitch
January 7, 2013 //
10

The Walton Foundation likes vouchers and charters. It does not like public schools.

Last year, it spend $159 million to promote vouchers and charters.

In addition, members of the billionaire family have dumped a few million here and there into political campaigns, like the Georgia referendum to allow the governor to create charters despite the opposition of the local school board, or the Washington State referendum to allow charters in that state.

Now the Walton Foundation plans to expand. As a local Arkansas blogger puts it, “Wow, when the Walton family — which has put more than $1 billion into “education reform” through its foundation and spent untold millions more in separate political activties — indicates it’s going to increase its political effort it’s time for political opponents to build a bomb shelter.”

It is important that when the Walton Foundation says “education reform,” what they really mean is privatizing public education, getting rid of local school boards, and allowing for-profit corporations to run your neighborhood school.

Sort of like Walmart. When they come into your local region, the mom-and-pop stores go out of business, and the Waltons own everything. If they don’t make enough money, they leave, and your town has a lot of empty stores on Main Street.

Categories Corporate Reformers, For-Profit, Privatization, Walton Foundation

A Letter to Hari Sevugan

By dianeravitch
January 7, 2013 //
9

The other dy we learned from an article on the Huffington Post that several top Democratic staff members quit Michelle Rhee’s StudentsFirst. One of them was Hari Sevugan, who had been a leading figure in the 2008 Obama campaign. Sevugan’s departure set off speculation about why he left: was it Rhee’s union-busting goals? Was it her advocacy for rightwing governors? Was it her support for privatization?

Sevugan dashed off a comment to this blog in which he insisted that he cares deeply about helping children, nothing more complicated than that.

This teacher-parent in Florida was inspired by the exchange to write this open letter to Hari Sevugan:

Hari,

I would like to say to you … I am a teacher and I am a parent. I see this reform from both sides. I see depleted public schools and public programs. I see our public funds channeled to corporate charter schools. I see those schools failing the communities, and most importantly, the children. I am not the only one who sees it.

I read, just today, that Michelle Rhee praised my state, Florida, for their education reform. I disagree. Last year, in Florida, we reviewed the testing results. We found that less than 10% of all Florida schools are charter schools, yet they comprised 51% of the failing schools in Florida. In some counties, such as my own, the only failing school was, in fact, a charter school. The same is true for many counties in Florida, including the very large Broward county.

How can you convince us that charter schools are the answer?

I don’t believe it is possible to convince us, parents or teachers, that lobbying for charter schools is for the benefit of our children. Certainly not when we can drive down our streets and find a failing charter school, or closed charter school, with huge profits that disappeared in the wind. These are our streets … these are our children.

I do not believe it is possible to convince us. I applaud you for coming on this blog and trying … but these are our kids. We know they deserve better. This is the civil rights issue of our generation. The separation now is between the haves and have nots. Charter schools are furthering that division. I get it that the charter vision sounds good on paper, but the reality proves differently.

We need to refuel and revitalize our public schools … not punish and privatize. Remember, It is a core Democratic value to ensure free and equal public education for all. We learned once, not so long ago, that separate is not equal.

Never was … never will be.

Just my opinion as a parent and teacher. I am simply an ambassador for my child… no fancy title or IPhone for me.

Categories Charter Schools, Corporate Reformers, Education Industry, Florida, For-Profit, Privatization, Rhee, Michelle, StudentsFirst, Testing, Vouchers

Michelle Rhee: The Mask Is Off

By dianeravitch
January 7, 2013 //
99

Michelle Rhee issued her report card for American education and now we know what she stands for: privatization of American public education.

States that endorse charter schools, for-profit schools, the parent trigger, school closings, vouchers and online for-profit charters get high marks from Rhee.

States that bust unions, take away teacher tenure, and use standardized tests to evaluate teachers get high marks from Rhee.

States that support public education and resist efforts to privatize their public schools get low marks, especially if they support teacher professionalism.

Her top two states are led by the nation’s most rightwing governors and legislatures: Louisiana and Florida.

Rhee has at last dropped the pretense of bipartisanship and shown that StudentsFirst is a branch of ALEC.

Categories ALEC, Charter Schools, Closing schools, Corporate Reformers, Education Industry, For-Profit, Parent trigger, Privatization, StudentsFirst, Teacher Tenure, Testing, Unions, Vouchers

Happy Friday, Muskegon Heights For-Profit Charter School!

By dianeravitch
January 5, 2013 //
7

In response to an earlier post about the rocky beginning of the experiment in privatization in Muskegon Heights, Michigan, a reader sent this interesting observation:

Well, I hope they had a happy Friday afternoon, and the Michigan Department of Education, as well. For yesterday, I filed a written complaint against the Muskegon Public School Academy and Mosaica Education pursuant to the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) of 2004 and Michigan Mandatory Special Education Act. I caught wind that the district has not been providing related services (speech, OT, PT, Social Work) to students with IEPs as dictated by their plans. So I filed a systemic complaint alleging a failure to deliver “all” related services, teacher consultant services, consider each student for Extended School Year; and meet “initial” and 3-year reevaluation timelines. What a lovely way to end the week of MDE and for-profit charter administrators who care nothing about the kids. Here’s hoping the allegations are found valid and the students receive compensatory. Although no one can give any of the children in this for-profit-saken, emergency-dictator-manager-run charter that has now stolen an entire semester from children in desperate need of a public education.

Categories Charter Schools, For-Profit, Michigan, Privatization, Special Education

For-Profit Charter Takes Over Muskegon Heights

By dianeravitch
January 5, 2013 //
13

In Michigan, the state government decided it was tired of all the fiscal woes of certain districts, so it handed them to emergency managers, who gave them to for-profit operators.

Michigan Public Radio has been watching events in Muskegon Heights. The word that is most commonly heard is: Chaos.

The charter operator fired all the teachers and hired new ones who cost less.

Within the first month, 20 of the 80 teachers quit.

Chaos.

Well, give them time.

Categories Charter Schools, For-Profit, Michigan, Privatization
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