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Hedge Fund Manager: Investing in Charter Schools is “Easiest Money” He Has Ever Made

By dianeravitch
October 7, 2018 //
9

Forbes reports on the investment strategy of billionaire hedge fund manager William Ackman. He makes money investing in charter schools and thinks he is “doing good” by undermining public education.

“It turns out that Bill Ackman is making good money in the most unexpected of places: financing charter schools for low-income kids.

“Since 2011, the billionaire hedge fund manager has invested $20 million of his own money in the Turner-Agassi Charter School Facilities Fund, which was started by former tennis star Andre Agassi and has built 79 new charter schools in poor neighborhoods around the country. The impact investment, which Ackman made via his charitable foundation, has netted annual returns north of 10%.

“Meanwhile, performance at his hedge fund has been languishing. Ackman has lost money for the past three years running, largely because of disastrous bets on two companies: Valeant and Herbalife. During that time, his net worth has dropped by more than half, to an estimated $1.1 billion. Recently he’s managed to turn things in the right direction, with his Pershing Square Holdings posting gains of 15.8% through September 30, according to the firm.

“Ackman’s foray into impact investing began in 2011 when Agassi, a tennis champ with eight Grand Slams under his belt, pitched him on his new fund, the Turner-Agassi Charter School Facilities Fund. Agassi, who had teamed up with professional impact investor Bobby Turner, promised Ackman that his capital would go toward the construction of 100 new charter schools for low-income children by 2020 in areas like the Bronx and Southwest Detroit—and that he would see double-digit returns, to boot. Ackman put in $10 million and agreed to take calls from other potential investors who were deciding whether to plunk down their own money. (Ackman, who began playing tennis at age 7, says he managed to beat Agassi in a doubles match—sometime after the two first met in 2011).

“With that, Ackman became a vocal and early proponent of impact investments, which are designed to reap a financial return as well as some positive social or environmental impact. His foundation has put a total of $42 million toward these investments in recent years, in areas ranging from affordable housing to financial inclusion to education…

“His largest impact investment to date is in the Turner-Agassi Charter School Facilities Fund, which has financed construction for 79 new charter schools that have served over 41,000 students since 2011. It generates returns for investors by leasing or selling new schools to charter school operators like KIPP at a profit. Ackman has put a combined $20 million into two funds. (Stewart Rahr, another U.S. billionaire and a Forbes 400 member, has put in $10 million.)..

“Ackman, who signed the Giving Pledge in 2012 and promised to donate more than half his wealth, has pledged or donated over $400 million to organizations like Teach for America and Human Rights Watch through his foundation.”

Someone should tell Mr. A koan that his investments and gifts are undermining a basic democratic institution and harming the teaching profession by sending inexperienced amateurs into classrooms to replace professional teachers. At the same time, he is helping to kill unions.

Maybe that, plus return on investment, is exactly what he wants.

Categories Accountability, Charter Schools, Corporate Reformers, Education Industry, For-Profit, Privatization, Teach for America

DeVos Doles Out $399 Million to Charter Schools and Charter Organizations

By dianeravitch
October 6, 2018 //
10

Politico reports the latest federal handouts for charter schools and charter advocacy organizations, as well as to state agencies.

There is no sector of American education less in need of federal funding than charter schools. They have the support of the nation’s largest philanthropies—think Bill Gates, the Walton family, Eli Broad, Michael Bloomberg, Reed Hastings, etc.—as well as abundant gifts from the financial industry and individual billionaires.

Among the federal grants was $2.4 million to the California Charter Schools Association, the richest lobby in the state, which fights any legislative efforts to establish accountability and prohibit conflicts of interest and self-dealing.

Betsy DeVos has put the Trump administration strongly behind charter schools. The Trump administration puts no money into establishing ethical standards or financial oversight for charters. They pretend to want a “free market,” but free markets are not subsidized by the federal government. In a free market, businesses make it or fail on their own, without public subsidies.

When you see new charters opening, thank DeVos and Trump, as well as the billionaires who have created this new business opportunity.

Politico reports:


EDUCATION DOLES OUT CHARTER SCHOOL GRANTS: DeVos has awarded $399 million in federal grants to expand and support charter schools across the country.

— Eight states received $313.4 million over five years to “support approximately 300 new, replicating, and expanding public charter schools.” The grants were made to state education agencies in Arkansas, Arizona, Colorado, Delaware, Michigan, New York and North Carolina. Bluum, Inc., a nonprofit that provides financial advising to charter schools, received a grant on behalf of Idaho. Charter schools in those areas may apply for a piece of their state’s funding.

— The department also awarded $29.5 million to 32 charter school developers, none high-profile charter operators. Nine recipients plan to use the funding to launch new charter schools in Hawaii, Missouri, Alabama, North Carolina, Michigan and Maine. The rest of the grantees plan to expand existing charter schools.

— Four groups received grants totaling $39.9 million to help charter schools enhance their credit and tap into private-sector capital to pay for the cost of new school buildings or renovations. Charter schools often lack access to public funding for infrastructure projects, which the grant program was created to address. The grants were awarded to the Center for Community Self-Help, the Charter Schools Development Corporation, the Local Initiatives Support Corporation and the Nonprofit Finance Fund.

— The last bucket of funding, totaling $16.2 million, was directed to eight recipients tasked with supporting the charter school sector. The list includes some of the most prominent charter school advocacy groups, like the National Alliance for Public Charter Schools and the National Association of Charter School Authorizers. As we reported earlier this week, the alliance plans to use its funding to create a national center that will help charter schools acquire and renovate their facilities.

— The grants were made through the Charter Schools Program under the department’s Office of Innovation and Improvement. The program has seen a funding boost under the Trump administration, which has made school choice expansion a priority. The fiscal 2019 spending bill H.R. 6157 (115), included a $40 million boost for the program, bringing the overall level to $440 million. The Charter Schools Program has awarded roughly $4 billion since 1995.

Categories Charter Schools, Education Industry, Education Reform, Privatization, U.S. Department of Education

New Jersey Hits the “Pause” Button on New Charter Schools

By dianeravitch
October 6, 2018 //
11

After the free-for-all expansion of charter schools in New Jersey during the Chris Christie administration, it is clear there is a new sheriff in town.

The State Commissioner of Education Lamont Repollet has turned down every charter application, saying that time is needed for the state to review the 20-year-old law and figure out how many new charters are needed.

No big surprise, Gov. Phil Murphy’s promise of a “timeout” on new charter schools is coming to fruition, with the Murphy administration rejecting two more charter schools that had been hoping to open next year.

State Education Commissioner Lamont Repollet on Friday informed the last two finalists in the current cycle — which would have opened next year, if successful — that their applications had been denied.

It was the first time in at least a decade that the state has rejected every charter school bid in a cycle, and this time without even interviewing the applicants, according to charter-school advocates.

With five other expansions also rejected last spring, just one new charter is now slated to open next year.

The charter industry, as is now customary, responded with rending of the clothes and wailing about the “35,000” on the waiting list for charters. The waiting list is usually a myth, composed of students who applied to multiple charters, students who applied and were accepted, students who applied and returned to public schools, and non-existent students. These lists are never audited. You just have to take the word of the charter lobbyists.

Governor Phil Murphy is calling for a time-out that is much needed. He wants to review the process for granting charters. He might also have professionals audit that waiting list and decide whether the state needs a dual system of schools, one that accepts everyone, and the other that chooses its students and kicks out those it doesn’t want.

Categories Accountability, Charter Schools, New Jersey, Privatization

Ohio: Bill Phillis Reviews Public Records About Gulen Charter Schools (Or Tries to)

By dianeravitch
October 5, 2018 //
7

Bill Phillis, retired deputy superintendent of the state department of education, is a zealous advocate for accountability and transparency. He has made a public records request about the Gulen charter schools in Ohio. He has written a multi-part series based on what he learned. This is Part 4.


Public Records and Charter Schools – Part Four: Buckeye Community Hope Foundation (BCHF)

According to its website, the Buckeye Community Hope Foundation “was founded in 1991 as a non-profit corporation with the mission of developing affordable housing for low-income families and individuals.” In 2005, the organization decided to expand its core purpose by becoming a charter school sponsor. According to an analysis completed by the Education Commission of the States, 44 states provide for charters by statute. However, only Minnesota and Ohio clearly allow non-profit organizations without a singular, core educational purpose like BCHF to serve as sponsors legally responsible for the oversight of these publicly-funded but privately-operated schools.

Since entering the charter school business, BCHF has become the sponsor for 47 schools, nearly as many as the ESC of Lake Erie West (ESCLEW), one of the original charter school sponsors in Ohio. Nine of these are Concept Schools operating under the Horizon Science Academy and Noble Academy brands. These schools are located in Cleveland, Columbus, Dayton, Lorain, and Youngstown.

Consistent with the public records requests sent to the Ohio Department of Education (ODE) and the ESC of Lake Erie West, the Ohio Coalition for Equity & Adequacy of School Funding (Ohio E & A) sent a letter on May 2 to the Buckeye Community Hope Foundation requesting comparable records for the schools it sponsors. But the reply on June 4 from the BCHF attorney was not unexpected:

“… The Buckeye Community Hope Foundation is not a public entity subject to public records requests. Other places you may get the records you desire are the Ohio Department of Education and the public schools themselves.”

In trying to inform the public about state policy and practices, along with reporting on the condition and needs of schools, it was regrettable, but also predictable, to receive this reply from counsel. Instead of dealing with one agency (ODE and ESCLEW), it was suggested that Ohio E & A deal with nine, along with the state agency, to get the information desired. Irrespective of the statute which allows BCHF to collect significant public revenue but use its non-profit status to be immune from responding to public records requests, legislators need to reexamine the statute and require more transparency and accountability from private organizations that benefit from public funds. We will examine this more in Part Five, the final segment in this series.

A final observation on BCHF and its stance on public records reveal that in fact, the public has to rely on ODE to provide the information about the Concept Schools that are sponsored by the non-profit. For example, we had to find out through records sent by ODE, not BCHF that the non-profit had to deal with the same type of issues in its Concept Schools as the public agency sponsor ESCLEW. When you have to find out information from another source when the first party says no, we are not required to do so, that is not reassuring.

The records available to us from ODE, and not BCHF, clearly demonstrate that it is up to the state education agency and, again, not BCHF, to inform the public regarding the operational condition of nine schools. The ODE records revealed a string of parent concerns regarding student expulsion, Individualized Education Program (IEP) issues, and a teacher complaining about one of the schools cherry-picking students in violation of standard public school admission practices. Again, it is not reassuring to find out about such issues through a third party – ODE.

In our final look in Part Five at the topic of public records requests and charter schools, we will make some recommendations about what we learned and what needs to be done regarding the charter school industry that will better serve the public.

William L. Phillis | Ohio Coalition for Equity & Adequacy of School Funding | 614.228.6540 | ohioeanda@sbcglobal.net| http://www.ohiocoalition.org

Categories Accountability, Charter Schools, Education Industry, Education Reform, Gulen Charter Schools, Ohio, Privatization

D.C.: Mayor Picks Private School Parent and Privatizer as Deputy Mayor for Education

By dianeravitch
October 5, 2018 //
4

Thanks to G.F. Brandenburg for alerting me to this important post by Valerie Jablow, public school advocate in D.C.

D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser picked a bona fide corporate reformer as her deputy mayor for education. Even the pro-charter Washington Post Thought the choice was “odd.” Jablow thinks the correct word was not odd but conflicted.

The new deputy mayor Paul Kihn is a private school parent. He has close ties to the power structure. He previously worked in Philadelphia where Jablow notes some of his less than admirable feats, which make his appointment to oversee the D.C. public schools very odd:

Also odd is how the Post article did not mention a few things about Kihn that are, well, downright strange–if you believe in public schools BY, FOR, and OF the public:

–Kihn apparently made changes in a teacher contract in Philadelphia to eliminate guarantees about water fountains–because teachers wanted to ensure every school would have functional water fountains. (Not to mention what we know this means for kids’ developing brains.)

–Kihn also was apparently behind an idea to increase public engagement in Philadelphia’s public schools by allowing parents at a few underfunded district schools to vote to turn their schools into charters–or accept no additional funding. Now that’s school choice–with teeth!

[Confidential to Paul Kihn: As a DCPS parent, I really don’t wake up at night thinking about how I need to have even less engagement in my kids’ schools by turning them into charter schools that are not subject to FOIA; that can use annual facilities allocations for anything without any public accountability; and whose plans are not a matter of public knowledge until after the fact. But I do think about stranded costs and empty seats and civil rights violations created by the uncontrolled growth of charter schools in our city. Do you?]

–The wife of Scott Pearson (head of the charter board) is the boss of Kihn’s wife–at a think tank started by Pearson’s wife, called JPMorgan Chase Institute (associated with the financial institution of the same name).

Even more odd is that Paul Kihn, his wife, and Scott Pearson are all former employees of McKinsey, which applies business thinking to every activity.

If all of this sounds incestuous, well, it is.

The mayor has controlled D.C public schools since 2007. We are still “waiting for Superman” to land in D.C. So far, the biggest change has been to hand over half the kids to charter schools, most funded by the rightwing Walton Family Foundation and to introduce a failing voucher program. This looks more like floundering than strategy. Abandoning public responsibility for public schools is retreat, not success. Soon, Betsy DeVos is likely to name D.C. as one of her demonstration districts.

Categories Accountability, Charter Schools, Corporate Reformers, District of Columbia, Education Industry, Privatization

Hess and McShane: Why Did the Bush-Obama Reforms Fail to Achieve Their Goals?

By dianeravitch
October 5, 2018 //
42

Rick Hess and Michael McShane of the AMERICAN Enterprise Institute bring a fresh perspective from their perch on the right. Writing in the conservative journal Education Next, they speculate on the reasons for the disappointing results of No Child Left Behind and Race to the Top, the twin policies of Bush and Obama.

Policy makers in Washington loved the ideas of testing, accountability, choice, and national standards. Yet, we now know that these policies were controversial and ultimately ineffective. NAEP scores flatlined, and there is little or no evidence that these policies succeeded.

They write:

“Within a few years, though, those Obama administration efforts—especially its support for teacher evaluation and the Common Core state standards—would themselves turn controversial, breeding backlash that rivaled the dissatisfaction with NCLB. Obama’s reforms would get mired in bitter debates about their emphasis on test scores and whether they constituted federal overreach.

“The results of all this activity were decidedly mixed. There’s some evidence that NCLB’s accountability push led to modest test score gains, at least early on (though one can reasonably ask how much of those gains was evidence of schools “getting better” and how much might have been due to teachers shifting time and energy from other subjects to reading and math instruction). Over the past decade, however, the National Assessment of Educational Progress has shown an unprecedented flat-lining of achievement growth. Research suggests that ambitious efforts to remake teacher evaluation did not lead to meaningful changes in how candidly teachers are actually evaluated, and that the $7 billion in the federal School Improvement Grant program did not, on average, improve achievement in participating schools. The Common Core and many of these other efforts may yield benefits down the road, but the results have certainly not been revolutionary and are widely perceived to be disappointing.

“This brief recap prompts a simple query: What happened? Why did each of these initially promising, seemingly popular efforts at federal leadership ultimately lose its luster? Were the high-profile initiatives of the Bush-Obama years a much-needed kick-start that forced America to get serious about school improvement, or a recipe for slipshod policymaking and rushed implementation that ultimately undermined reform? Did these reforms reflect a gutsy commitment to putting students first or political gamesmanship that yielded a counterproductive series of distracting mandates?”

There is no reason to believe that the latest version of these policies—the Every Students Succeeds Act—Will fare any differently.

Categories Accountability, Charter Schools, Corporate Reformers, Education Industry, Education Reform, Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA), NCLB (No Child Left Behind), Privatization, Race to the Top, Testing

Los Angeles: Superintendent Beutner Meets Often with Privatization Advocates, Not Public School Leaders

By dianeravitch
October 4, 2018 //
6

Hedge fund manager Austin Beutner, superintendent of schools for the Los Angeles Unified School District, has lots of time to meet with Eli Broad, Peter Cunningham, the head of the California Charter Schools Association, and a long list of charter leaders and privatization advocates.

The teachers’ union, which has already authorized a strike, fought to get Beutner to release his calendar. He resisted, and now we know why.

Here is the story.

Of course, he has also met with union leaders, which is inevitable. But he has an unusual availability to charter school leaders and their lobbyists.

Perhaps Beutner could arrange a visit by Betsy DeVos. He could show her the progress he has made in undermining the public schools that he is supposed to lead.

This was LAUSD’s comment on Beutner’s calendar.

Categories Accountability, Broad Foundation, Charter Schools, Corporate Reformers, Education Industry, Lies, Los Angeles, Privatization

NPE Action Endorses Tony Thurmond for Superintendent of Public Instruction in California!

By dianeravitch
October 4, 2018 //
6

The Network for Public Education Action Fund endorses Tony Thurmond for Superintendent of Public Institution in California!

California is a mess because of the intrusion of billionaires into education, billionaires who do not send their own children to public schools but want to control and privatize them. They pour millions into school board races, and they are now pouring millions into the state superintendent race, in hopes of capturing that important position.

Tony Thurmond’s opponent, Marshall Tuck, has a long history in the charter industry. Although he claims to be a Democrat (as in DFER), Tuck was endorsed by the California Republican party. Thurmond won the support of 95% of the delegates to the California Democratic party convention. Tuck was also endorsed by Arne Duncan, and Duncan’s endorsement means support of charter schools, high-stakes testing, and misuse of test scores to evaluate teachers.

California desperately needs accountability and transparency for its unregulated charter sector, not a fox in charge of the henhouse.

Please help Tony Thurmond. He is wildly outspent by the candidate of the billionaires, including Eli Broad, Reed Hastings, Arthur Rock, and the Walton family.

This is the NPE Action statement:

The Network for Public Education Action proudly endorsed East Bay Assemblyman, Tony Thurmond, for California State Superintendent of Public Instruction.

We are writing today to remind you just how important your support for Tony Thurmond is.

Marshall Tuck, a corporate reformer, is gaining ground thanks to millions supplied to his campaign by the California Charter School Association and its allies.

Here is what one of the state’s leading public school advocates Professor Julian Vasquez Heilig had to say about this race:

“Marshall Tuck would clearly be an important ally for the Donald Trump and Betsy DeVos education agenda in California. In contrast, Tony Thurmond has vowed to lead the resistance against their education agenda. Marshall Tuck has millions of campaign dollars given to him by his billionaire allies and others lobbying to privately control and privatize public education in California. While Tuck has millions, Thurmond has people power. As Superintendent of Public Instruction he would be our champion for community-based solutions and better funding for education across our state.”

It is no wonder that Tuck is the darling of the charter-school backing billionaires.

Tuck is a former charter school executive and CEO. In 2014, Tuck ran an unsuccessful campaign for State Superintendent, losing to incumbent Tom Torlakson. Tuck was heavily funded by outside money from national charter advocates, including Michael Bloomberg, Eli Broad, the Waltons, Laurene Powell Jobs, Arthur Rock and John Arnold. Thurmond stated that, “California’s voters don’t want this election to be bought by the Walton family, Eli Broad, and other billionaires who want to privatize public education.”

Thurmond is passionate about improving public schools. His public school education prepared him for a 20-year career in social work, where he ran after-school programs and taught life skills and career training. Those years of experience provided him with a unique perspective into the lives of California’s youth.

Thurmond has vowed to “lead the resistance against Donald Trump and Betsy DeVos and their agenda to undermine and defund our public education system,” promising that he will not support policies that seek to divert taxpayer dollars from public education to private schools.

Thurmond has already received numerous endorsements, including the endorsement of Superintendent of Public Instruction, Tom Torlakson. Thurmond will be on the general election ballot on November 6th. NPE Action urges our over 21,000 supporters in California to educate and inform your friends, family, neighbors and colleagues about Thurmond’s campaign and the importance of this election for the future of public education in California.

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

Arizona: Governor Ducey, Facing Election, Decides It Is Time to Curb Charter Corruption

By dianeravitch
October 4, 2018 //
12

Governor Doug Ducey of Arizona has been a stalwart champion of unregulated charters and vouchers. He has looked the other way when members of the legislature pass laws to enrich themselves while running charter chains and voucher programs. He has ignored conflicts of interest, nepotism, and self-dealing because, hey, that’s how unbridled capitalism works!

But the state is now knee-deep in scandals committed by privatizers, and guess what? Governor Ducey says it is time to reign in the corruption!

In a debate with his Democratic opponent, David Garcia, Ducey claims he wants to reform charter law. Is it because of the latest scandal, where a legislator (Eddie Farnsworth) sold his for-profit charter chain to a nonprofit and cleared at least $11.8 million in profit plus a contract to manage the nonprofit chain?

Laurie Roberts of the Arizona Republic is outraged that the government is indifferent to charter fraud.

She writes:

Farnsworth says he’s just a businessman who took a risk, followed the law and is now reaping the reward.

“Charter schools have been lucrative to me because I’ve done what every other business has done to make money: I had an idea,” he told Harris. “I put the business plan into place. I followed every law and every contract. I provided a product that is a good product that people wanted.”

“It doesn’t hurt that for most of the last two decades, Farnsworth, along with other legislators who own charter schools, has helped write some of those laws. In his 16 years as a legislator, for example, Farnsworth has voted 12 times to boost “additional assistance” to charter schools (read: himself).

“But there is no conflict, we are told.“

Garcia is an education professor. He has pledged to eliminate the profiteering from the charter se tor. His own children have attended an arts-focused charter school, so he is not opposed to charters on principle, just to the rampant fraud that makes Arizona a national laughing stock.

Despite his support for charters, the Network for Public Education Action Fund Endorses Garcia because Ducey is an ALEC stooge and a voucher proponent. Garcia opposes vouchers and has pledged new dedicated funding for public schools.

Categories Accountability, ALEC, Arizona, Charter Schools, Corruption, Education Industry, Education Reform, For-Profit, Fraud, Privatization

Charles Foster Johnson Barnstorms Across Tennessee to Rally Ministers Against Vouchers

By dianeravitch
October 3, 2018 //
26

Charles Foster Johnson, founder of Pastors for Texas Children, barnstormed across Tennessee, Meeting with like-minded ministers who believe in separation of church and state.

Rev. Johnson organized 2,000 ministers in Texas, and PTC played a significant role in forging an alliance between rural Republicans and urban Democrats to stop vouchers.

“Johnson’s mission is starkly different from church leaders who want public funding available for religious and private schools. He is a fierce advocate of separation of church and state, as well as local control of schools and education funding.

“We want full funding of our public schools, and we are against privatization that diverts God’s common good money to underwrite private schools,” he said. “The public should stay public, and the private should stay private.”

“His advocacy model is being replicated in Oklahoma, Kentucky, Mississippi, and now Tennessee, where Johnson is rallying local pastors this week during stops in Knoxville, Nashville, and Pleasant Hill. He’ll close out his tour on Friday at First Baptist Church of Memphis, the city where some Tennessee lawmakers sought last year to create a pilot voucher program. That effort failed, but groups on both sides expect some type of voucher legislation will be introduced next January, when a newly elected General Assembly convenes under a new administration replacing outgoing Republican Gov. Bill Haslam.”

Pastors for Tennessee Children will be ready to fight against vouchers.

The support for vouchers comes from the American Federation for Children, an organization funded and founded by Betsy DeVos to promote vouchers. AFC spends hundreds of thousands of dollars in Tennessee at every election, to support voucher-friendly candidates.

Categories Accountability, Betsy DeVos, Education Industry, Privatization, Tennessee, Vouchers
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