Archives for category: Privatization
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Bill Boyle: Privatization is Not “For the Kids”

By dianeravitch
May 30, 2014 //
6

Bill Boyle writes that it is time to get over the illusion that privatization is “for the kids.” That privatization will “save poor kids from failing schools.”

After reading Ruth Conniff’s writing about the Economic Policy Institute’s study of privatization in Milwaukee, Boyle says we are “sacrificing our kids,” not saving them.

Boyle asks:

“Can we finally be honest about that fact that for profit charters simply move money from that which is set aside for the common good to corporate profits at the expense of children, particularly those in poverty and of color?”

Categories Education Reform, Privatization

A Reader Explains the Purpose of Charter School Waiting Lists and Lotteries

By dianeravitch
May 18, 2014 //
60

A reader left this comment:

**************************

 

 

I worked in the front office of a charter school for two years. We marketed heavily in the neighborhood and would get hundreds of applications for a school that had anywhere from 30-40 seats available in Kindergarten and 0-2 seats per class available in grades 1 and up. I remember the crestfallen looks on parents’ faces when it was announced at the admissions lottery that there were no seats open in a class and that the lottery would determine the order of the waiting list.

I once recommended to the principal that we stop taking applications after a certain point. I had two reasons for suggesting this: 1) We were giving families false hope, as anyone other than the first five to ten on the waiting list had no realistic chance of getting in, and 2) We could make better use of the time and money being spent on processing applications for students we knew would never be accepted, and on marketing to more families when we were already at capacity. His response was that we needed to keep adding as many names as possible to the waiting list, so that we would have numbers to back up our organization’s efforts to demonstrate the need for more charter schools.

Categories Charter Schools, Education Industry, Privatization

Lecker: There is a Growing Grassroots Movrment for Equity

By dianeravitch
May 17, 2014 //
32

As segregation grows worse than it has been for decades, the problems are worsened by current “reforms.” School privatization intensifies segregation, high-stakes testing creates cause for closing struggling schools instead of helping students.

As Wendy Lecker writes, there is a growing grassroots to prevent the corporate takeover of public education and to turn schools into profit centers. The victory of Ras Baraka in Newark is the latest example of a community fighting for dignity.

In many cities and states, this is a bad time for public education. Plutocrats want to take control of the schools and decide which children to educate.

Over time, history teaches us that bad things don’t last forever. This is a democracy, and when people organize and unite, the plutocrats lose.

Categories Charter Schools, Corporate Reformers, Privatization, Segregation , Racial Isolation and Integration

Leonie Haimson: Six Charter School Myths

By dianeravitch
May 15, 2014 //
38

In her testimony to the New York City Council Education Committee, education activist Leonie Haimson of Class Size Matters exploded several common myths about charter schools.

 

First is the myth that they are public schools. They are not. They are private corporations with contracts to run schools, exempt from most state laws and from most state oversight. In court after court, the charters themselves have argued that they are NOT public schools. We should take their word for it. They are not public schools.

 

Second is the myth that charter schools enroll exactly the same demographic of students as the real public schools. This is patently false. With few exceptions, they take smaller proportions of students with disabilities and almost no students with severe disabilities, and they enroll smaller proportions of English language learners. They have the power to kick out students who do not meet their stringent disciplinary codes, which leaves them with a very different student population than public schools. Meanwhile, neighborhood public schools get disproportionate numbers of the students who are most expensive and most difficult to educate. This is not a fair playing field on which to compete. The original purpose of charters was to collaborate, not to compete, yet charter schools take every opportunity to boast of their success with a select population of students.

 

If you want to know about the other four myths, read the rest of the post.

Categories Charter Schools, Education Industry, New York City, Privatization

Ted Mitchell, Leader in Privatization Movement, Confirmed as Undersecretary of Education

By dianeravitch
May 15, 2014 //
44

One of the nation’s leaders of the privatization movement, Ted Mitchell, has been confirmed by the. u.S. Senate as Undersecretary of Education, the second most powerful job in the U.S. Department of Education.

Mitchell most recently was CEO of the NewSchools Venture Fund, which collects millions from philanthropies and venture funds and invests the money in creating charter chains and for-profit ventures.

Among his many other accomplishments, Mitchell served as chairman of the State Board of Education for Governor Arnold Schwarzenegegger, a time of unprecedented expansion of charter schools and deep budget cuts for both K-12 piblic schools and public higher education.

Lee Fang

Categories Education Industry, For-Profit, Privatization, U.S. Department of Education

Is This the Real Reason that Cuomo Wants a $2 Billion Technology Bond?

By dianeravitch
May 14, 2014 //
32

A reader posed this question about Governor Cuomo’s reason for promoting a $2 billion bond for new technology. He wrote this after seeing that Pearson and AIR are dueling over control of PARCC assessments, which will ultimately provide several BILLIONS in revenue to the testing corporation with the contract. Pearson recently won the PARCC contract, being declared the sole bidder. AIR is suing:

 

The reader writes:

 

I hope New York residents who oppose Common Core are astute enough to grasp that Governor Cuomo’s support of a $2B Technology Bond Issue is a requisite to make many districts PARCC ready. If you want to stop Common Core you need to recognize the underlying reason that Cuomo is willing to go into debt to fund a technology bond issue–PARCC! Strange how Cuomo prefers Tax Cuts for the wealthy over aid to local school districts–but promotes a bond issue to support technology. Mr. Tax Cap–and Mr. Tax Freeze is out there promoting $2B for Gates and Google–don’t believe for a second that he does not have ulterior motives that are not good for NY kids!

Categories Common Core, Education Industry, Privatization, Technology, Computers, Testing

Chutzpah in Louisiana: Crazy Crawfish Will Run for State Board Seat

By dianeravitch
May 12, 2014 //
12

Jason France, better known in the blogosphere as Crazy Crawfish, plans to run for the seat on the state board of education now held by Chas Roemer, son of a former governor, and brother of the head of the Louisiana charter school association. Jason is one brave man. He is a Crazy Crawfish, and all those who want to see a change in Louisiana’s heedless, madcap, irresponsible privatization should support him.

 

Press release (Professional design)

Contact: Debbie Sachs: Press Secretary and Media Relations: 985-626-3595

Press Release

2015 BESE election to have a fresh face: Jason France, a.k.a. “The Crazy Crawfish” seeks to remove Chas Roemer as he announces his candidacy for the Louisiana State Board of Elementary and Secondary Education (BESE) district 6.

Jason France, a father of two East Baton Rouge public school children in BESE district 6, former Louisiana Department of Education Employee, controversial education blogger, and nationally recognized privacy and public education activist has announced his intent to seek a seat on BESE.

 

Baton Rouge, LA, April 7, 2014: Jason France has announced his candidacy for the district 6 seat on Louisiana’s State Department of Education. The district 6 seat is currently held by longtime politician, BESE President Chas Roemer, the son of former Governor Buddy Roemer, whom has not indicated whether he will seek another term. District 6 encompasses the eastern half of East Baton Rouge Parish, Ascension Parish, Livingston Parish, Washington Parish, Tangipahoa Parish and the City of Bogalusa.

 

Jason will be a dramatic change from the current office holder in charge of the state’s public schools and students, Chas Roemer, who has never attended a public school or university, and who sends his children to a non-public school that does not endorse Common Core because they find the standards inferior and does not participate in PARCC testing because they believe those tests are a waste of learning time and money, and yet actively promotes CCSS and PARCC for other children’s kids.

 

Since resigning from the Louisiana Department of Education over 2 years ago Jason has been active in fighting for student, parent and teacher privacy rights and for Louisiana to drop the substandard federally funded and promoted curriculum known by the misnomer as the Common Core State Standards as the State takeover of local schools and school districts and the rubber stamp approval process of substandard voucher and charter schools throughout the state.

 

Jason has been one of the driving forces behind the grassroots movement organizing to preserve Public Education in Louisiana. Jason hopes that by seeking this office he will be able inspire others to enter races across the state and to undo the damage wrought by influence bought by large national and multi-national corporations and organizations, as well as out-of-state billionaires seeking to profit from Louisiana children and de-professionalize the teaching profession in favor of temporary low cost, low quality alternatives.

2015 BESE election to have a fresh face: Jason France, a.k.a. “The Crazy Crawfish Jason has attended Magnolia Woods Elementary Magnet School, South East Middle School and is
a graduate of Scotlandville Magnet School Engineering Program in East Baton Rouge Parish, and is a
proud graduate of Louisiana’s flagship public university, LSU, where he obtained his BA in Business
Administration. Jason blogs under the pseudonym “Crazy Crawfish”, at The Crazy Crawfish blog. Jason
is also a featured writer at the National Education Policy Center and at Public School Shakedown, and a
strong ally of the Network For Public Education, Parents Across America, Class Size Matters and the
Southern Education Foundation and has contributed his opinions and analysis to articles featured in the

New York Times, Reuters, Monroe News Star, The Advocate, and Washington Post. For more information about the campaign please go to http://www.JasonFrance4LA.com

 

Categories Charter Schools, Education Industry, Louisiana, Privatization, Vouchers

Who or What is the “American Federation for Children”?

By dianeravitch
May 11, 2014 //
9

This is news you need to know.

The American Federation of Children is a rightwing organization that spends heavily to promote vouchers and to support candidates in state and local races who support vouchers.

When Governor Scott Walker of Wisconsin was under siege for attacking public sector workers, he was honored (along with Michelle Rhee) by the AFS.

The AFS is funded by the DeVos family, whose fortune comes from its ownership of Amway.

It belongs to ALEC.

AFC is opposed to public education.

It is one of the main forces funding privatization, along with the Walton family of Walmart fame and fortune.

Categories Corporate Reformers, Education Industry, Privatization

Peter Greene: How to Cash in on the Charter School Craze

By dianeravitch
May 9, 2014 //
8

It is National Charter School Week, President Obama issued a proclamation in their honor (did he forget National Teacher Appreciation Week?), and here is the best piece yet on what a sham industry this is.

 

Peter Greene gives sound advice here on how to score big in the charter industry. 

 

It gets funnier as he goes on, so I am only posting the beginning. You have to read the whole thing to get to the best parts!

**********************

Peter Greene writes:

 

Diversify!

Not the school– your portfolio. Set up multiple companies. Create a holding company that owns the building, and charge the school rent and facilities fees. Create a school management company, and hire yourself to run your school. Form your own custodial contracting company. Write your own textbooks, and then sell them to yourself. Buy a loaf of bread and a jar of peanut butter and set yourself up as a lunch concession with ten dollar sandwiches.

Don’t Overlook the Obvious

“Non-profit” just means “not wasting money by throwing it away on stockholders.” Taking money hand over fist that you can’t call profit? Just put it all in a big wheelbarrow and pay it to yourself as a salary. There’s no legal limit to what you can be paid as the charter school operator. The only limits to your salary are the limits set by your own sense of shame. If you have no shame, then ka-ching, my friend. Ka. Ching.

Ain’t Too Proud To Beg

Have a fundraiser. When you wave schools and children at people, they fork over money like crazy, whether you actually need it or not. The only way it could work any better would be if you found a way to work in the American flag and puppies.

Students Are Marketing Tools

Students have a job at your charter, and that’s to make your charter look good and marketable. If they won’t do the job, fire them. If they aren’t for sure going to graduate, fire them before senior year (100% graduation rate makes great ad copy). If they are going to create bad press for disciplinary reasons, fire them.

Students Are Also The Revenue Stream

The other function of students is to bring money in while not costing any more than is absolutely necessary. Never take students with special needs (unless you can use them to make the school look good without incurring extra costs). If a student will require extra disciplinary or academic intervention, fire him.

Always remember, however, that students need to be fired during Firing Season– late enough to hold onto the money they bring, but early enough that they won’t hurt your numbers.

 

 

Categories Charter Schools, Education Industry, Humor, Privatization

House Debates Legislation to Help Charter Schools

By dianeravitch
May 8, 2014 //
15

Under the leadership of House Majority Leader Eric Cantor, the conservative-dominated House of Representatives is debating a bill today that would reauthorize federal support for the charter school industry and provide $300 million, some of which is for facilities.

 

The members of the House will ignore, of course, the report issued this week showing that charter schools–which are deregulated by design and usually unsupervised– were responsible for $100 million in corruption, fraud, and waste of taxpayer dollars in only 14 states. Obviously, a full accounting would show even more waste, fraud, corruption, and abuse.

 

An informant in Washington passed along the following information:

 

HR10 is the charter legislation now being debated in the House. It it supported by the GOP House leadership, which intends to make its support for charters the major plank of the GOP education platform this fall. The bill is co-sponsored by outgoing Democrat George Miller, who is a favorite of the hedge fund managers group Democrats for Education Reform.

 

The House Rules Committee would not permit debates on the floor on such issues as:

*state caps on charter schools
*whether charter boards are required to hold open meetings
*whether charters are subject to public audit requirements
*conflict of interest guidelines for charter schools (some states exempt charter schools from conflict of interest laws–too intrusive)

 

In short, what the charter industry is lobbying to prevent is any limitation on their growth, any requirements for open meetings, any requirements for public audits of their finances, and any amendments that would bar conflict of interest (only charter schools receiving federal assistance would be required to avoid conflicts of interest). The charter industry wants public money but no public accountability or transparency.

 

This is from Politico.Pro:

 

5/8/14 1:51 PM EDT

The House of Representatives began floor debate on a bill that would reauthorize charter school law in the U.S. this afternoon.

On Friday, after today’s floor debate, the House plans to consider 12 amendments and vote on the bill. There are three bipartisan amendments, three from Republicans and six from Democrats.

The National Education Association, which has maintained a neutral position on the bill, threw its weight behind several amendments today, including two that focus on charter school transparency: One, from Democratic Rep. Gwen Moore, would require charters to disclose private funding sources and another, from Democratic Rep. Kathy Castor, would establish conflict of interest guidelines.

— Maggie Severns

 

If you want to stop the privatization of American public education, if you believe that public dollars should go to public schools, not to corporate charter chains, contact your Congressman and your Senator and tell them to vote no on the charter legislation.

 

Categories Accountability, Charter Schools, Education Industry, Privatization
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