Archives for category: For-Profit
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Pearson Cuts Thousands of Jobs to Save Money, Shifts to Digital Learning

By dianeravitch
August 4, 2017 //
24

Pearson announced it is cutting the jobs of 3,000 employees, to adjust to declining revenues.

“Chief Executive Officer John Fallon has promised to cut annual expenses by 300 million pounds ($394 million) by 2019, as he tries to create a leaner company more focused on digital education.”

Expect a renewed campaign by Pearson lobbyists to sell school leaders on the necessity of digital learning for instruction and assessment. This is also Jeb Bush’s pet passion. The research is thin to nonexistent but the profit motive is powerful.

Categories For-Profit, Technology

174 International Organizations Call on Investors to Stop Supporting Bridge International Academies

By dianeravitch
August 1, 2017 //
6

Please open this link and read the statement signed by 174 organizations worldwide, calling on investors to stop supporting the for-profit Bridge International Academies.

BIA is encouraging impoverished nations to outsource their schools, thus abandoning their responsibility for funding a free and universal system of public education.

Categories For-Profit, International

Ohio: Close Down This Phony “School”!

By dianeravitch
August 1, 2017 //
19

What would you say about a school that had the lowest graduation rate in the nation? What would you say about a school whose owner made millions of dollars from taxpayers while making regular contributions to state legislators and other elected officials? What should happen if that same school was audited by the state and found to have inflated the number of students? What should happen if the auditor determined that the school overcharged the state by $60 million and refuses to repay it? What if the school goes to court to fight the repayment and loses, using taxpayer dollars to advertise its cause?

The Columbus Dispatch reported here on the origins of this lucrative scam.

What should be the consequences for this massive ripoff of students and the public?

The state is allowing it to remain open, continue recruiting students, and pay off its debt a little at a time.

Why is this school still allowed to operate?

If it were a public school, it would have been closed long ago for its poor performance and its defrauding of the taxpayers.

Categories Accountability, Education Industry, Education Reform, For-Profit, Fraud, Privatization, Virtual Charter Schools

Liberia: Teachers Oppose Outsourcing of Schools to For-Profit Bridge International Academies

By dianeravitch
July 31, 2017 //
14

The Liberian Teachers Association and other African teachers groups published a protest against the commercializations of the nation’s schools.

“In January 2016, in a controversial move, the Government of Liberia announced its intention to outsource its primary and pre-primary education system to a US-based for-profit corporate actor, Bridge International Academies (BIA). Following considerable opposition to this unprecedented move the Government conceived a pilot program, Partnership Schools for Liberia (PSL), where eight actors would operate 93 schools in the first year.

“Despite claiming that PSL would be subject to a rigorous evaluation through a Randomized Control Trial (RCT), six months into the trial, the Ministry of Education (MoE) decided to increase the number of schools to 202 in the project’s second year. Serious unanswered concerns, including children being denied access to their local schools, have not been enough for the government to pause and reflect. This rush to expand the pilot before independent research is available has been rightly criticized by the international academic and research community and the appointed RCT team who questioned the government’s capacity to hold providers accountable.

“In addition to lack of independent evidence supporting the government’s actions, the PSL is also plagued with a lack of transparency. To date not one of the eight current Memorandums of Understanding (MOUs) between the service providers and the MoE have been made public. Despite the secrecy surrounding the PSL, information that has entered the public domain thus far gives rise to serious concerns about the sustainability of the program.

“This lack of independent evidences, transparency and resultant lack of accountability does not make for good policy nor good governance. Furthermore, the increased power put into the hands of undemocratic, often foreign private institutions that make decisions with little community input and accountability undermines our voice and sovereignty over our education system and our nation as a whole.

“We fear, once having outsourced our schools through this PSL arrangement we will never be able to get them back. We will be at the mercy of large corporate operators who will seek to maximize profit at the expense of Liberia’s children and their future.

“The many unanswered questions give rise to genuine concern about the future direction in the provision of quality education for all.

“Considering:

“• Liberia’s 2011 Education Law which guarantees free and compulsory education for all.
“• The United Nations Special Rapporteur on the Right to Education Kishore Singh’s words which describe the intended outsourcing of Liberia schools as “violating Liberia’s legal and moral obligations,” and that “such arrangements are a blatant violation of Liberia’s international obligations under the right to education.”
“• The absence of clear, independent, and public research supporting the PSL program.
“• Serious ongoing issues including the lack of community input, transparency, and accountability of the program.
“We call on the government to immediately abandon the PSL program.
The children of Liberia deserve evidence based, sustainable improvements in public education, including:
“• Free, quality, early childhood education
“• Free, compulsory, quality primary and secondary education
“• A focus on gender equality and girls’ education
“• Quality teaching and learning environments and resources
“• Quality alternative education for over-age children.
“• Policies focusing on the most marginalized children.
“• Effective, negotiated school and system monitoring and supervision.

“We need:

“• Quality teacher training and on-going professional development; and
“• Our teachers to be properly supported and remunerated, on time, and respected.

“Acknowledging the challenges that continue to impact on the provision of education, we reiterate our preparedness now, as we have in the past, to work constructively with the government and any other interested parties to develop a sustainable Liberian plan leading to the ongoing improvement in the provision of quality education for all Liberian children.

“SIGNED:

National Teachers’ Association of Liberia (NTAL)
Civil Society and Trade Union Institutions of Liberia (CTIL)
National Health Workers Association of Liberia (NAHWAL)
Roberts International Airport Workers Union (RIAWU)
Coalition for Transparency and Accountability in Education (COTAE)
Diversified Educators Empowerment Project (DEEP)
National Christian Council of Liberia (NCCL)
Union of Islamic Citizens of Liberia (UICL) Monrovia Consolidated School System Teachers’ Association (MCSSTA) Liberia Education for All Technical Committee (LETCOM)
Concern Universities Students of the Ministry of Education Local Scholarship Program (CUSMOP)
United Methodist Church Human Rights Monitor (UMCHRM)
National Association of Liberian School Principals (NALSP)

“With the support of:
Kenya National Union of Teachers (KNUT)
Nigeria Union of Teachers (NUT)
South African Democratic Teachers Union (SADTU) Uganda National Teachers Union (UNATU) Education International (EI)”

Categories For-Profit, International, Students, Supporting public schools, Teachers and Teaching, Unions

When Hospitals Privatize Emergency Care, What Could Possibly Go Wrong?

By dianeravitch
July 27, 2017 //
26

The New York Times revealed what happened when a hospital decided to turn its emergency room services over to a private contractor.

https://www.google.com/amp/s/mobile.nytimes.com/2017/07/24/upshot/the-company-behind-many-surprise-emergency-room-bills.amp.html

“Early last year, executives at a small hospital an hour north of Spokane, Wash., started using a company called EmCare to staff and run their emergency room. The hospital had been struggling to find doctors to work in its E.R., and turning to EmCare was something hundreds of other hospitals across the country had done.

That’s when the trouble began.

“Before EmCare, about 6 percent of patient visits in the hospital’s emergency room were billed for the most complex, expensive level of care. After EmCare arrived, nearly 28 percent got the highest-level billing code.

“A small, rural hospital in Washington State, Newport Hospital and Health Services, outsourced its emergency room, as many hospitals have. Soon it started hearing from patients confused by getting large bills from the E.R. doctors.

“On top of that, the hospital, Newport Hospital and Health Services, was getting calls from confused patients who had received surprisingly large bills from the emergency room doctors. Although the hospital had negotiated rates for its fees with many major health insurers, the EmCare physicians were not part of those networks and were sending high bills directly to the patients. For a patient needing care with the highest-level billing code, the hospital’s previous physicians had been charging $467; EmCare’s charged $1,649.

“The billing scenario, that was the real fiasco and caught us off guard,” said Tom Wilbur, the chief executive of Newport Hospital. “Hindsight being 20/20, we never would have done that.”

“Faced with angry patients, the hospital took back control of its coding and billing.”

Sound familiar? That’s privatization.

Categories For-Profit, Privatization

NAACP Demands Reform of Charters!

By dianeravitch
July 26, 2017 //
155

The NAACP today released a strong report demanding the reform and regulation the charter school industry. The NAACP report calls for a flat prohibition of for- profit charters and for-profit charter management companies. It says that only school districts should be allowed to authorize charters. It says that charter teachers should be certified.

The task force of the NAACP said that “while high quality, accountable and accessible charters can contribute to educational opportunity, by themselves, even the best charters are not a substitute for more stable, adequate and equitable investments in public education in the communities that serve our children.”

The NAACP report boldly acknowledges that charters are part of a public-funded system. It says that it makes no sense to strip funding from the public schools that enroll the great majority of students in order to fund a parallel system that is usually no better than the public system and often worse.

Carol Burris analyzes the report here:

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/answer-sheet/wp/2017/07/26/naacp-report-charter-schools-not-a-substitute-for-traditional-public-schools-and-many-need-reform/?utm_term=.9d91271f673d

There is also a link to the full text of the NASCP report and resolution.

This report strips away the claims of charter advocates who say that they are advancing civil rights. They are not. They are undermining public education by stripping students and resources away from the public schools.

The NAACP recognizes that the best way to advance civil rights in education is to assure a strong, accountable,and equitable system of public schools.

Like every national organization, the NAACP relies on major donors to survive. By standing strong against privatization of public schools, the NAACP has demonstrated courage and integrity. I add the NAACP to the honor roll of this blog, with admiration and respect.

Categories Accountability, Charter Schools, Civil Rights, Corporate Reform, Courage, Education Industry, Equity, For-Profit, Honor Roll

Stephen Dyer: Weep Not for ECOT! Its Profits Are Secure

By dianeravitch
July 26, 2017 //
5

Stephen Dyer writes from Ohio about the unfolding saga of ECOT, the Electronic Classroom of Tomorrow.

http://10thperiod.blogspot.com/2017/07/even-with-layoffs-ecot-will-make-killing.html?m=1

It was recently ordered by a state court to return $60 million that it had charged for educating students who never logged on. ECOT complained bitterly, but the state audit showed that its enrollment figures were inflated.

ECOT is owned by William Lager, who has donated millions of dollars to elected officials over the years and received special treatment. He has collected hundreds of millions of dollars to run a virtual K-12 school with the lowest graduation rate in the nation. He thought that his generosity to politicians would protect him from accountability from abysmal results, but it hasn’t.

Lager took out ads (at taxpayer expense) to warn that he might have to lay off 350 employees if the state forced him to return a portion of his revenues. It would “hurt the children.”

The state is willing to allow him to pay his debt at $2.5 million a month for two years.

Boo hoo!

Dyer says she’d no tears for Lager. He will still clear at least 30% on his investment, probably more. He will still make a killing.

Categories Accountability, Corporate Reform, Education Industry, Education Reform, For-Profit, Ohio, Privatization, Virtual Charter Schools

Florida: The Corruption and Conflicts of Interest Behind the Charter Industry

By dianeravitch
July 23, 2017 //
15

In some states, like Ohio, New York, and Pennsylvania, charter operators get what they want by making campaign contributions to state legislators and the governor.

Florida is different. The charter operators and members of their families are members of the legislature. They shamelessly engage in self-dealing. You may well wonder: How can this be legal? I don’t know.

This article in the Miami Herald by Fabiola Santiago describes the flagrant abuse of power that typifies charter legislation.

He writes:

“Florida’s broad ethics laws are a joke.

“If they weren’t, they would protect Floridians from legislators who profit from the charter-school industry in private life and have been actively involved in pushing — and successfully passing — legislation to fund for-profit private schools at the expense of public education.

“Some lawmakers earn a paycheck tied to charter schools.

“One of them is Rep. Manny Diaz, the Hialeah Republican who collects a six-figure salary as chief operating officer of the charter Doral College and sits on the Education Committee and the K-12 Appropriations Subcommittee.

“Some lawmakers have close relatives who are founders of charter schools.

“One of them is the powerful House Speaker, Richard Corcoran, the Land O’Lakes Republican whose wife founded a charter school in Pasco County that stands to benefit from legislation. He was in Miami Wednesday preaching the gospel of charter schools as “building beautiful minds.”

“Other lawmakers are founders themselves or have ties to foundations or business entities connected to charter schools.

“One of them is Rep. Michael Bileca, the Miami Republican who chairs the House Education Committee and is listed as executive director of the foundation that funds True North Classical Academy, attended by the children of another legislator. Bileca is also a school founder.

“These three legislators were chief architects in the passage of a $419 million education bill that takes away millions of dollars from public schools to expand the charter-school industry in Florida at taxpayer expense.

“They crafted the most important parts of education bill HB 7069 in secret, acting in possible violation of the open government laws the Legislature is perennially seeking to weaken. There was no debate allowed and educators all across the state were left without a voice in the process.

“It’s no wonder it all went down in the dark. It’s a clear conflict of interest for members of the Florida Legislature who have a stake in charter schools to vote to fund and expand them. Their votes weaken the competition: public schools.

“This issue has nothing to do with being pro or against school choice. It’s about the abuse of power and possible violations of Florida statutes.

“The bill funds, to the tune of $140 million, an expansion of for-profit charter schools in the neighborhoods of D and F public schools, handing over to the private sector not only public money but allowing and encouraging charter schools to take the best students. In other words, instead of pouring those public resources into struggling public schools, the Legislature is turning publicly funded education into two school systems. In the struggling but also vibrant public system where choice already exists through magnets, there’s oversight and regulations that ensure standards. The charter system — which since its inception has demonstrated quite a range, including well-documented flops — is a free-for-all. Private corporations operating the schools make the rules.”

Read more here: http://www.miamiherald.com/news/local/news-columns-blogs/fabiola-santiago/article151418277.html#storylink=cpy

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

Education in Florida–Betsy DeVos’s Model for the Nation–is in Chaos

By dianeravitch
July 23, 2017 //
11

Valerie Strauss summarizes here the mess created in Florida by former Governor Jeb Bush’s harsh accountability policies and the legislation passed recently to enrich the charter industry at the expense of public schools across the state.

She begins:

“The K-12 education system in Florida — the one that Education Secretary Betsy DeVos likes to praise as a model for the nation — is in chaos.

“Traditional public school districts are trying to absorb the loss of millions of dollars for the new school year that starts within weeks. That money, which comes from local property taxes, is used for capital funding but now must be shared with charter schools as a result of a widely criticized $419 million K-12 public education bill crafted by Republican legislative leaders in secret and recently signed into law by Gov. Rick Scott — at a Catholic school.

“Critics, including some Republicans, say the law will harm traditional public schools, threaten services for students who live in poverty and curb local control of education while promoting charter schools and a state-funded voucher program.

“The law creates a “Schools of Hope” system that will turn failing traditional public schools into charter schools that are privately run but publicly funded. The law also sets out the requirement for districts to share capital funding.

“The man behind the Schools of Hope initiative was Republican House Speaker of Florida Richard Corcoran, whose wife founded a charter school in Pasco County. But as this recent Miami Herald opinion piece notes, a number of Republican lawmakers in the state legislature have financial stakes in the charter industry. “Florida’s broad ethics laws are a joke,” wrote Herald columnist Fabiola Santiago.”

School districts are planning to sue to stop the implantation of the charter industry’s raid on public school budgets.

When you read about this mess, bear in mind that this is what DeVos wants to inflict on the nation.

Categories Betsy DeVos, Bush, Jeb, Charter Schools, Corporate Reform, Disruption, Education Industry, Florida, For-Profit, Fraud

Utah: Should Charters Be Allowed to Seize Private Property by Eminent Domain

By dianeravitch
July 22, 2017 //
35

We have seen how privately managed charter schools are exempt from transparency and accountability, thanks to the big bucks that pave their way.

But Utah is considering a new low for preferential treatment of charters. Utah legislators are discussing whether charters should have the power of eminent domain, to seize private properties for their own use.

Two conservative principles are at odds on this issue. First, Republicans have a high regard for property rights. Second, Republicans have in recent years become the party of privatization. So, who wins? Property rights or charter schools?

Consider the homeowner who opens his mail to discover that a corporate charter chain is taking charge of his home and he has 30 days to vacate the premises.

Categories Charter Schools, Education Industry, For-Profit
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