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Victory in Los Angeles!

By dianeravitch
January 29, 2019 //
4

 

 

A statement by LAANE: Los Angeles for a New Economy.

 

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

January 29, 2018

Contact: Haley Potiker – 714-457-2852 – hpotiker@laane.org

Parents Are Standing Tall as LAUSD Board of Education Votes in Favor of Charter Moratorium

Los Angeles parents who were leaders in teachers’ strike support celebrate an important step towards regulating the charter industry

LOS ANGELES — Parents who spent much of the last few years organizing for better charter industry regulation declared victory this afternoon as the school board voted 5-to-1 in favor of a resolution to impose a moratorium on new charter schools in LAUSD. Board Member Nick Melvoin was the lone “no” vote.

“We came to this meeting to hold the board accountable to the agreement they made with the teachers,” said Alicia Baltazar, a parent at Fries Avenue Elementary School in Wilmington. “It is gratifying to see that all but one member of the board were able to make good on an important promise they made to the community.”

The vote comes two weeks after a tentative agreement was struck between UTLA and LAUSD, which included a commitment by the district to ask the state of California to impose a moratorium on charter growth in LAUSD.

“We want all our children to have the opportunity to learn and succeed in school. But in our neighborhoods, LAUSD can open a new charter school without considering how it affects other public schools, even other charter schools,” Baltazar said. “Today’s vote gets us one step closer to ensuring that LAUSD will better regulate the charter industry so that we can protect funding for our existing schools.”

# # #

Founded in 2016, Reclaim Our Schools LA is a broad-based coalition of parents, educators, students, and community members working to improve access and advance opportunities in public education for all students in Los Angeles. This event is a part of a series actions that will take place in the coming week in support of the demands being advanced by Los Angeles teachers, parents and community groups.  

 

—

                                                        
Haley Potiker
Communications Specialist
E hpotiker@LAANE.org
T 213.977.9400 x114
M 714.457.2852

                                                        

 

464 Lucas Ave. Suite 202

Los Angeles, CA 90017

www.laane.org 

Categories Accountability, Charter Schools, Education Industry, Privatization

LAUSD Board Votes for Charter Moratorium

By dianeravitch
January 29, 2019 //
17

 

In a stunning turn of events, the Los Angeles Unified School District board passed a resolution asking for a moratorium on new charter schools.

https://www.latimes.com/local/education/la-me-edu-lausd-teachers-contract-vote-20190128-story.html

This was part of the new contract with the UTLA, the United Teachers of LA, but many observers predicted that the board would never pass the resolution because four of its six members were elected by the charter lobby’s money.

Apparently the only no vote was cast by Nick Melvoin, whose campaign received more than $5 million from the charter advocates.

More than 1,000 charter students and parents massed outside the building to oppose the moratorium, although none of their schools would be affected by it. They were brought out by charter operators hoping to open more charters, even though 82% of current charters have vacancies, according to board member Scott Schmerelson.

The decision about a moratorium will be made by the legislature.

Categories Accountability, Charter Schools, Education Industry, Privatization

New York Times: L.A. Teachers’ Strike Was a Setback for Charter Schools

By dianeravitch
January 29, 2019 //
17

 

In a somewhat ambivalent article in the New York Times, Jennifer Medina and Dana Goldstein write that the L.A. teachers’ strike was a setback for charter schools. They say that in the age of Trump, charters are no longer popular with the Democratic Party, which is moving left. They point out that the teachers held a massive rally in front of Eli Broad’s museum to express their displeasure with his support for charters.

The ambivalence in the article comes in two parts. First, they treat somewhat skeptically the union’s accurate portrayal of the link between charters and billionaires. Second, they stress that charters are popular and have long waiting lists. They are wrong on both counts. The charter “movement” is a billionaire obsession. Think Waltons, Gates, Broad, DeVos, Koch brothers, Hastings, Bloomberg, Anschutz, etc. Read the NPE report, which the reporters obviously have not read, called “Hijacked by Billionaires.” Without the billionaires, there is no charter “movement.”

Second, they are peddling charter lobby propaganda when they write about the public demand for charters.

Why would unions support charters? Nationally, 90% are non-union. In L.A., 80% are non-union. Moreover, they drain $600 million a year from the L.A. public schools, which are underfunded already.

Contrary to the report in the Times, LAUSD board member Scott Schmerelson wrote on his Facebook page this week that 82% of the charters in L.A. have vacancies.

But the main point of the article is heartening: Charter Schools have become toxic for most Democrats. They even list Senator Booker as a supporter of the striking teachers, which is odd, as he announced his run for the Democratic nomination in 2020 at a charter rally in New Orleans. Maybe he whispered his support. The Democrats will have to choose: unions or charters.

 

The article begins:

 

LOS ANGELES — Carrying protest signs, thousands of teachers and their allies converged last month on the shimmering contemporary art museum in the heart of downtown Los Angeles. Clad in red, they denounced “billionaire privatizers” and the museum’s patron, Eli Broad. The march was a preview of the attacks the union would unleash during the teachers’ strike, which ended last week.

As one of the biggest backers of charter schools, Mr. Broad helped make them a fashionable and potent cause in Los Angeles, drawing support from business leaders like Reed Hastings, the co-founder of Netflix; Hollywood executives; and lawmakers to create a wide network of more than 220 schools.

Mr. Broad was so bullish about the future of charter schools just a few years ago that he even floated a plan to move roughly half of Los Angeles schoolchildren — more than 250,000 students — into such schools. In 2017, he funneled millions of dollars to successfully elect candidates for the Board of Education who would back charters, an alternative to traditional public schools that are publicly funded but privately run.

His prominence has also turned him into a villain in the eyes of the teachers’ union. Now Mr. Broad and supporters like him are back on their heels in Los Angeles and across the country. The strike is the latest setback for the charter school movement, which once drew the endorsement of prominent Democrats and Republicans alike. But partly in reaction to the Trump administration, vocal Democratic support for charters has waned as the party has shifted further to the left and is more likely to deplore such schools as a drain on traditional public schools.

When the Los Angeles mayor, Eric Garcetti, announced a deal between the teachers’ union and the school district after the weeklong strike, it became immediately clear that the fate of charter schools was part of the bargain: The union extracted a promise that the pro-charter school Board of Education would vote on a call for the state to cap the number of charters.

It was the latest in a string of defeats for a movement that for over a decade has pointed to Los Angeles and California as showcases for the large-scale growth of the charter school sector.

Backers of charter schools argue that they provide a much-needed choice for parents in poor neighborhoods, where low-performing schools are often the norm. Many supporters expressed frustration that student achievement had not been a focus of the debate around the Los Angeles strike. Overall, the city’s public school students tend to perform worse in reading and math than their counterparts in many other large urban school districts across the country, according to the National Assessment of Educational Progress. The low performance of district schools, charter supporters say, has led to about a fifth of the district’s students being enrolled in charter schools…..

But the defeat in the court of public opinion is clear: After years of support from powerful local and national allies — including many Democrats — charter schools are now facing a backlash and severe skepticism.

Over the past two years, charter school supporters were dealt painful political defeats in California, New York, Massachusetts, Illinois, Michigan, Wisconsin and other states.

As the push for alternatives to traditional public schools has come to be more associated with President Trump and his secretary of education, Betsy DeVos, the shift in Democratic Party politics has been especially pronounced. President Barack Obama supported expanding high-quality charter schools, and pushed teachers’ unions to let go of some of their traditional seniority protections and put more emphasis on raising student achievement.

But after a wave of mass teacher walkouts across the nation, and with a noticeable shift to the left in the party, ambitious national Democrats now seem more hesitant to criticize organized labor. Senators Cory Booker, Sherrod Brown, Kirsten Gillibrand, Kamala Harris, Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren were among those who said they supported the striking teachers in Los Angeles. The city’s charter school leaders couldn’t help but notice that no equally prominent elected Democrat rose to the defense of Los Angeles charter schools as union leaders attacked them.

 

 

 

 

Categories Accountability, Billionaires, Broad Foundation, Charter Schools, Education Industry, Education Reform, Los Angeles, Privatization

Jersey Jazzman: The Charter Scam in Camden, New Jersey

By dianeravitch
January 29, 2019 //
12

Jersey Jazzman (aka Mark Weber) has been preoccupied both teaching and earning his doctorate degree, but fortunately he did earn the degree so he is blogging again, shining the light of accuracy and truth on inflated claims.

In this post, he reviews the bait-and-switch in Camden, New Jersey. Camden has opened charters called “Renaissance Schools,” which were required by law to be open to all the children in their neighborhood. The charters are run by KIPP, Uncommon Schools, and Mastery, all of which have a history of skimming the students they want.

JJ reviews a state auditor’s report that chides the charters for gaming the system, picking the students they want, contrary to the law.

No surprise here. More broken promises from the privatization industry. They are not better than public schools, although they are better at picking the students they want.

Categories Accountability, Charter Schools, Cheating, Education Industry, Education Reform, New Jersey, Privatization

John and Laura Arnold Foundation Moving into Political Advocacy Role

By dianeravitch
January 28, 2019 //
35

 

 

i always watch my words when I mention John Arnold. In 2014, I referred to him as a billionaire who used to work for Enron, the hot energy company that went bankrupt, leaving its many employees without a dime since they invested in the company’s worthless stock. I got an email from John’s PR person telling me that he would sue me if I didn’t retract my words implying that he benefitted while others suffered. At that moment, I was in the hospital having my broken knee replaced and I had no fight in me, nor any desire to be sued by a billionaire. I apologized.

Here is a headline from the Chronicle of Philanthropy. 

John and Laura Arnold Join Other Billionaires in Move Away From Traditional Philanthropy

I don’t have a subscription. It’s behind a paywall.

The story:

”The Laura and John Arnold Foundation is changing its structure so its billionaire founders can rely more heavily on political advocacy as they work toward goals such as reducing the cost of health care and overhauling the criminal-justice system.”

Another passion of John Arnold is pensions. He thinks they are a danger to our society. He once tried to fund a PBS special on the “pension crisis,” but it was canceled after investigative reporter David Sirota challenged the funding deal.

He is also passionate about hating public schools and loving charter schools.

 

Categories Accountability, Billionaires, Charter Schools, Education Industry, Pensions, Privatization

Longview, Texas: New Charter Schools Will Get More Funding than Public Schools

By dianeravitch
January 28, 2019 //
5

The Longview (Texas) News-Journal doesn’t understand why Longview needs charter schools. A chain of 7 is opening.

But the answer, the newspaper says, is money.

The charters will get more money than the public schools. After all, they need more money for field trips, for international field trips. What?

The charter industry is making its move in Texas.

Will Beto stand up for public schools even though his wife operates a charter?

If he doesn’t, he can write off the votes of teachers and public school parents.

Categories Accountability, Charter Schools, Education Industry, Funding, Privatization, Texas

St. Louis: Charter School Under Investigation for Inflated Enrollments, Missing Money

By dianeravitch
January 28, 2019 //
11

St. Louis College Prep charter school is under investigation for fraud.

St. Louis College Prep has lost tens of thousands of dollars in state funding amidst an investigation into whether the charter school’s founder over-reported attendance records.

The Missouri State Auditor’s office accepted a request Jan. 11 from Education Commissioner Margie Vandeven to review St. Louis College Prep’s finances. Charter schools are public schools that receive state and federal funding but operate independently from traditional school districts.

The charter school’s sponsor, University of Missouri-St. Louis, in October “identified possible issues with attendance data and remedial enrollment numbers that would have resulted in overpayments to the school in previous years,” Bill Mendelsohn, the executive director of UMSL’s charter school office, said in a statement.

Mendelsohn brought the findings to the school’s board of directors. When questioned about the potential irregularities, the school’s founder and executive director, Mike Malone, resigned Nov. 1. The board alerted the state Department of Elementary and Secondary Education — or DESE — the following day.

Categories Charter Schools, Education Industry, Fraud, Privatization, St. Louis

Tom Ultican: Watch Out, Texas! The Reformers Want to Steal Your Public Schools

By dianeravitch
January 28, 2019 //
2

 

 

Tom Ultican has awarning for thegreat state of Texas: Protect your public schools and your children!

The Corporate Reformers are coming to Texas to privatize public schools.

Tom has the story here.

The privatizers are landing on Texas because they have failed everywhere else.

They tried to grab Massachusetts in 2016, and got their rear ends kicked out in a referendum they lost overwhelmingly.

They thought they owned New York because of the millions they gave Cuomo, but when the Republicans lost control of the State Senate, the billionaires came up empty.

They got kicked out of Maine and Nevada.

They spent $60 million in California and lost both statewide races.

So why not flood Texas with charter schools?

Governor Greg Abbott and Lt. Dan Patrick are Choice supporters but had to forget about vouchers.

No wonder the charter industry, the entrepreneurs and grifters think that Texas is fertile territory for snake oil.

 

 

Categories Accountability, Charter Schools, Corporate Reformers, Education Industry, Privatization

Oklahoma: Tulsa Charter School, Mired in Chaos and Scandal, Will Close in June

By dianeravitch
January 27, 2019 //
5

The Langston Hughes Academy for Art and Technology, a Tulsa charter school, will close by the end of June.

The school has been caught up in a series of scandals. Grade tampering. Sexual misconduct. Declining enrollments. Chaos. Mismanagement. A deputy reported: “a general lack of structure and order at the school, unfilled teacher vacancies and even faculty meetings held during the day left students unsupervised to the point that there were physical assaults, drug usage, medications kept in the school’s main office being dispensed and consumed without adult supervision, and students freely leaving campus.”

The school wants more time, but is not likely to get it.

https://www.tulsaworld.com/news/local/education/new-issues-keep-popping-up-langston-hughes-academy-ordered-to/article_fe7f1cea-da34-52fb-9b96-c41f9c200a93.html?utm_medium=social&utm_source=twitter&utm_campaign=user-share via @tulsaworld

 

The recommendation to yank the school’s state accreditation came after state accreditation officers reportedly raised new questions about the truthfulness of the school’s student counts, its compliance with federal laws that dictate how special education students must be served and corroboration of some of the Tulsa deputy’s claims about the school not completing required criminal background checks on employees.

“If we do not see the kind of improvement and corrective action plans that have not been met after being agreed to, we as a state are going to have to answer to the Office of Inspector General and U.S. Department of Education for what we allowed to happen,” Hofmeister said. “This is not about intention. It is about capacity and what this charter school board stood before us and told us they would do — and did not do.”

School leaders, their attorney, and even state Sen. Kevin Matthews, who represents the part of Tulsa where Langston Hughes Academy is located, pleaded for more time.

Libby Adjei, who was hired as Langston Hughes’ new superintendent in early September, told the board that she had secured assistance and training for the school’s employees from wherever she could find it, including the charter’s authorizer, Langston University, and the state Department of Education.

And Langston Hughes Board President Carmen Pettie questioned why the sheriff’s office had not shared the school resource officer’s concerns with school leaders — or even made arrests based on some of the described activities.

But state board members said the documented issues were too numerous and too serious.

“What is distressing is the students have spoken with their feet,” said board member Bill Price, pointing to declining enrollment figures at the school, which has added one grade each year since it opened in 2015-16 for only freshmen. “And I know so much of the blame is deserved by the previous administration and they managed to hide it very effectively and I know it seems unfair now that this has been brought to light and it is so difficult to turn around. But I just basically don’t have confidence that the whole team is going to be able to run a school effectively.”

Board member Lee Baxter said, “Every board meeting has given Langston Hughes exactly what they wanted — more time. More time, more time, more time.”

Reports of turmoil at the four-year-old school began in April, when Rodney Clark, the founder and then-superintendent and three other staff members were suspended by the school’s governing board amid allegations of grade tampering.

The school made headlines again in October when a bus driver and football coach at the academy was charged in Tulsa County District Court with second-degree rape and making a lewd or indecent proposal to students at the school.

Categories Accountability, Charter Schools, Education Industry, Oklahoma, Privatization, Scandals

Jeremy Mohler: The Failure of Privatization, a Disaster for Democracy

By dianeravitch
January 26, 2019 //
19

Jeremy Mohler of “In the Public Interest” has written a brilliant analysis of the disaster of privatization: bad for people, bad for the economy, bad for democracy.

He begins:

New York Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez’s suggestion to raise the top marginal tax rate to 70 percent has reignited a long overdue debate about taxation. The idea that lower taxes on corporations and the wealthy is key to a healthy economy—known as “trickle-down economics”—has been the mainstream political consensus since the 1980s.

By explaining that massively increasing taxes on the super-rich can help fund social programs like Medicare for All, tuition-free college, a jobs guarantee and a Green New Deal, Ocasio-Cortez has rightly disrupted the politics of austerity that has dominated both major political parties for decades.

Now is the time to burst a similar—and deeply related—bubble: The myth that the privatization of public goods and services “saves taxpayer money.” Much like trickle-down economics, privatization is a choice—meaning, it’s ideologically and politically motivated. And it’s pushed by the same corporate interests that profit from its implementation.

Like austerity, privatization has boomed at all levels of government since the 1980s. There were more government employees when Ronald Reagan won reelection in 1984 than when Barack Obama won reelection in 2012. It’s estimated that three-quarters of workers that serve the American public actually work for private contractors. The Pentagon alone obligates more than $300 billion to contractors each year.

This shift has been backed by the claim that the “free market” is more efficient and innovative than government. Privatizers argue that outsourcing school cafeteria workers, bus drivers or nurses at Veterans Affairs hospitals cuts costs for taxpayers. Yet they don’t mention that such cuts often come out of workers’ paychecks—if those workers are even lucky enough to keep their jobs. When privatization policies are carried out, “innovation” often simply means layoffs and decreased wages and benefits.

And when it comes to saving money, the evidence is mixed at best. In many cases, privatization turns out to be far more costly. A 2007 survey found that over half of the local governments that placed services back under public control did so because privatization didn’t cut costs. After Iowa hired insurance corporations to manage its Medicaid program in 2017, the average cost of insuring people climbed nearly three times as fast as when it was under public control. An Indiana toll-road built using private financing—known as a “public-private partnership”—launched in 2014 by then-Gov. Mike Pence turned out to be $137.3 million more expensive than if the state had used traditional public financing. Charter schools, which are publicly funded but privately operated, are costing San Diego’s school district $65.9 million a year. And then there’s healthcare, an area where the United States spends twice as much as other countries thanks to a “free market” of private doctors, nurses, hospitals and drugs.

Politically, privatization kills two birds with one stone for fiscal conservatives. It reinforces the idea that public budgets are inevitably “tight,” rather than because taxes have been cut to the bone, particularly for the wealthy. But more directly, it weakens labor unions representing teachers, sanitation workers and other public sector employees.

Categories Education Reform, Privatization
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