Here it is, folks. When your nation is in the midst of a grave–no, make that “a very grave” national security crisis, what can you do?
Do it the American way: Go shopping.
Buy lots of shiny new technology and soon all those threats to our future will disappear.
Just be sure to buy from Rupert Murdoch or the threats won’t go away.
Pennsylvania is on its way to becoming the Wild West for Cybercharters, where anything goes, so long as it’s online.
The state already has 16 Cybercharters. Now it is considering another 8 of them. The only states with more students enrolled in virtual charters are Ohio and Arizona.
This likely expansion will occur despite repeated evidence that the academic quality of these virtual schools is inferior and that the costs are inflated. Also, the money to fund their bloated budgets comes out of the budget of public schools, so its a lose-lose proposition.
The fact that the state’s largest Cybercharter is under investigation by the FBI is unlikely to have any bearing on the state’s decision.
Stephanie Simon of Reuters continues to be the most industrious investigative education journalist in the nation.
Here she reveals the outline of the free-market model of school, where students learn what they want, where they want, when they want, and pay for it with taxpayer dollars.
She calls it “a la carte” schooling.
It eliminates public schools as we have known them. It opens the door to private, for-profit vendors and anyone who hangs out a shingle.
Remember the old Hollywood movies where Mickey Rooney and Judy Garland said, “Hey, kids, let’s put on a show?”
Now, it’s “Hey, kids, let’s open a school and make money.”
A Louisiana judge ruled against the state’s new voucher program, agreeing with the plaintiffs that it violated the state constitution by diverting public funds to private schools.
The state will appeal.
The attorney for the Louisiana Federation of Teachers explains here why the teachers are suing to block Governor Jindal’s Act 2.
It’s not because the law is “illegal,” but because it expressly violates the state constitution.
It’s not because it spends public money for vouchers but because it takes money expressly reserved for public elementary and secondary schools and gives it to private, religious and online schools, as well as post-secondary institutions, that are clearly not public elementary and secondary schools.
By Larry Samuel, LFT General Counsel
It’s time to set the record straight…and correct the inaccurate media reports as to what our Act 2 lawsuit is all about.
First, we are not claiming that the Act is “illegal.” We are claiming that it is unconstitutional. There is a difference. The constitution is the supreme law. Without it, the legislature has no power. The Constitution contains requirements that must be met.
Second, we are not challenging the use of “taxpayer money” for vouchers. Taxpayer money has been used for vouchers for 4 years in Louisiana, and we never challenged it. Why are we lodging this challenge? Because the source of the money are funds contained in the Minimum Foundation Program. Why does this matter? Because Article VIII, Section 13(b) of the Constitution states that the formula “shall be used to determine the cost of a minimum foundation program of education in all public elementary and secondary schools as well as to equitably allocate the funds to parish and city school systems.”
MFP money is going to online course providers, many of which are private (not public), out of state, and are by no stretch of the imagination “ elementary and secondary public school systems.” MFP money is going to post-secondary schools, which is clearly prohibited. Money is going to private and sectarian schools.
Also, local funds are being allocated to online course providers, post-secondary schools, and non-public schools. These are funds that voters approved at the ballot box, that specifically state that the funds shall be used for public elementary and secondary schools. The Constitution prohibits these local funds from going to private schools.
Third, in this lawsuit we are not challenging whether as a matter of policy, taxpayer money should or should not go to private schools. We fought that battle in the legislature (which is the appropriate place to raise policy issues) and we lost. This lawsuit challenges whether the constitution allows MFP money to be allocated to persons and entities that aren’t public elementary and secondary school systems.
Fourth, this lawsuit has nothing to do with a religious challenge to vouchers. We have not raised the issue of whether voucher money going to religious schools is a violation of constitutional “separation of church and state” mandates.
We are asking the Court to rule whether the MFP Resolution is a matter that is “intended to have the force and effect of law,” and if so, whether Act 2 violates other provisions in the Constitution, such as:
The provision in the Louisiana Constitution that states that matters “intended to have the force and effect of law” must be filed in the legislature prior to a fixed deadline. We contend that because the legislature missed the deadline, the law has no force and effect.
The provision in the Louisiana Constitution that states that matters “intended to have the force and effect of law” must be considered in the legislature prior to a fixed deadline. We contend that because the legislature missed the deadline, the law has no force and effect.
The provision in the Constitution that states that matters “intended to have the effect of law” must receive a majority vote of the elected members of the House (which would be 53 votes). The MFP Resolution received 53 votes. Thus, it never passed.
The provision in the Louisiana Constitution that requires a bill to have a “single object.” This provision is important because it recognizes that when a legislator casts a vote on a bill, he or she should not be faced with the dilemma of having to vote either for or against a bill that has many objects to it. We contend that the Bill that became Act 2 has a multitude of objects.
The lawsuit asks the Court to rule solely on Constitutional matters. Not policy matters. Some call us the “Coalition of the Status Quo.” We prefer to be called the “Protectors of the Constitution.”
Jeb Bush claims the mantle of King of Education Reform.
He touts the Florida Miracle.
His ingredients for success: testing, testing, testing, school report cards, privatization, charters, vouchers, and big investments in online learning.
Here is one careful review of the Florida “miracle.”
Here is yet anothergood analysis of the Florida Miracle.
Bush is pushing the digitization of schooling pretty hard. His Foundation is funded by technology companies. Tony Bennett of Indiana and Tom Luna of Idaho carried the Bush banner in the November elections, and both got whipped.
There is neither research nor any evidence that kids learn more or better if they are doing it online. But this was not mentioned this at the big Bush conference in DC (Arne Duncan was the keynote speaker, boosting Bush’s credibility as an education reformer and a candidate in 2016).
Question: Will Jeb Bush’s Florida Miracle go the way of George W. Bush’s Texas Miracle?
Can we survive another such miracle?
Hmmm. A nation of digitized children.
USA Today has done it again. Last year, an investigative team of reporters broke open the cheating scandal during Michelle Rhee’s tenure.
Now, Greg Toppo reveals that the virtual charters are wasting millions of dollars on advertising to boost their enrollment and their coffers.
He has identified about $100 million of lost taxpayer dollars.
They recruit for two reasons: one, to add more dollars to their bank account. Two, because they have a high dropout rate and must keep replacing students.
This is a huge waste of taxpayer dollars. Money spent by taxpayers to pay for art classes be reduce class size is instead being paid to ad rise the wares of shoddy online schools.
This is money diverted from its intended purpose. This is money taken from schools across the state. It should be illegal.
More proof that these schools, as presently constituted, are a fraud.
Jeb Bush recognized at his summit meeting that the policies he champions were soundly rebuffed by voters in Indiana (and did he mention Idaho?).
But he assures his rightwing allies that testing, evaluating teachers by student scores, vouchers and charters are the right course, even if educators, parents, and other citizens don’t agree. He apparently compared himself to Lyndon Baines Johnson, fighting to push civil rights legislation when it was unpopular.
Someone should inform him that he is fighting to preserve a failed status quo, not a struggling dissident movement. Someone should tell him that NCLB is federal law and that its ugly step-child Race to the Top bribed the states to double down on the punitive strategies of NCLB.
His lament of “stay the course” is very good news indeed. It is a public admission that the privatizers know they have no popular base.
Their strategies have failed for more than a decade.
When do they admit to themselves that it’s over?
At some point, they will stop pouring money into a losing and unpopular cause.
That’s the day when we can begin to build a genuine movement to improve our schools.
The largest of Pennsylvania’s virtual charter schools is under investigation for its handling of public money. It’s offices were raided by the FBI earlier this year. It fired its top executives. The investigation continues.
Apparently the money rolled in so fast and furiously that the charter came up with ingenious ways to spend it, like sending a large number of its executives to get an online master’s degree on the public’s dime. But the lawyer for Pennsylvania Cyber Charter is not answering any questions. He seems to have forgotten that where public money goes, public accountability and transparency must follow.
Pearson is clearly a major force in American education.
It is the dominant provider of testing and textbooks. It owns the GED. It owns Connections Academy, which runs for-profit virtual schools. It owns a teacher evaluation program being marketed to states and districts. It partners with the agates Foundation to develop online curriculum for the Common Core standards.
This article tries to assemble all the pieces. It builds on an earlier article by Alan Singer in Huffington Post.
Please, someone, time for in-depth journalism or a dissertation that documents how Pearson bought American education and what it means for our children. Standardized minds, indeed!
A friend shared an invitation that came to his email.
The for-profit sector is not only lurking, it is invading.
Just think: while teachers and principals work 11hours a day, taking home salaries that barely cover the mortgage and living expenses, an equity investor will make millions from their labor.
Save the date! On January 15, there will be an exciting seminar on how to make a profit by investing in education. It is sponsored by Drinker Biddle & Reath LLP and the Parthenon Group.
The chairman for the day is Harold Levy, former Chancellor of the NYC public schools and now a partner in the Connecticut venture capital firm Palm Ventures.
The title of the conference is:
“Private Equity Investing in
For-Profit Education Companies —
How Breakdowns in Traditional Models &
Applications of New Technologies Are Driving Change”
The description:
“Private equity investing in for-profit education is soaring, and for good reason — the public and non-profit models are profoundly broken.
“This is why for-profit education is one of the largest U.S. investment markets, currently topping $1.3 trillion in value.”
Diane Ravitch's blog 