Archives for category: Privatization
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Parent Leaders in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, Oppose Gulen Charter School

By dianeravitch
February 18, 2013 //
17

Two parent leaders in Lancaster, Pennsylvania–John MGrann and Dennis Deslippe–are organizing opposition to a Gulen charter in their community. The Gulen charters are the largest charter chain in the nation. They are associated with a reclusive Turkish imam who lives in the Poconos but has a powerful political movement in Turkey.

This is their petition:

The application for a new charter school in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, has generated a strong public response in opposition to its approval. On Tuesday, February 19, the school board for the School District of Lancaster in Pennsylvania will conduct a hearing for the Academy of Business and Entrepreneurship Charter School (ABECS), a school which promises to “integrate business and leadership opportunities” and “launch entrepreneurial skills” for students in kindergarten through fourth grade. The lead applicant for ABECS is Sait Onal.

Troubling letters of support

A group of local parents has been working to review the proposed program and curriculum, and to research the background of the charter school’s board members and letters of support. They have serious concerns about the curriculum, but equally troubling are the letters written in support of the charter school, including several which were subsequently withdrawn after these parents started asking questions and raising concerns. The withdrawn letters include:

· One letter, originally written by Harrisburg Area Community College, withdrawn because, “we believe that based on the ongoing public scrutiny and concerns regarding allegations of the organization, we cannot in good faith continue to support the charter application, at this time.”

· Letters from two Pennsylvania non-profit organizations that “promote teaching financial literacy”, withdrawn after a board member was alerted to the letters and discovered that they overstated the organizations’ position. The board member in question is president of the Pennsylvania State Education Association (the statewide teachers’ union) who added in a follow-up letter, “I do not support the development or creation of any new charter schools in Pennsylvania at this time.”

· A letter of support from Lutheran Refugee Services, withdrawn after leadership from that organization’s office in Philadelphia discovered that the lead applicant’s wife, Selma Onal, issued the letter without authorization.

The remaining letters of support include:

· Letters from US Representative Joseph R. Pitts and Pennsylvania State Senator Lloyd Smucker.

· A letter sent from the local office of the Transamerica Agency Network where lead applicant Sait Onal is District Manager, signed by an employee of that office.

· A letter sent from MUDI Farm Export, a business in which the lead applicant Sait Onal is a partner, signed by Onal himself.

· A letter from Godiva Chocolatier / Yildiz Holdings, promising the opportunity for “job shadowing” and “summer internships” at their facility in Reading for the school’s K-4 students. This letter is signed by Murat Ulker, son of deceased Turkish industrialist Sabri Ulker who was a friend of Fethullah Gulen.

· A letter from Etimine USA in Pittsburgh, also promising “job shadowing” and “summer internships” for the school’s K-4 students. This letter is signed by Gokhan Yazici, former Deputy Undersecretary in the Turkish Ministry of Energy and Natural Resources (2002-2004) and former Advisor to the Prime Minister of Turkey (1996-2001). The opposing parent group has noted the absurdity of a summer internship being offered to K-4 students which necessitates a four-hour drive from where they live.

The lead applicant

Sait Onal has repeatedly attempted to establish charter schools in the midstate-Pennsylvania region. In addition to his failed effort with the Lancaster Science Academy (denied in 2008), Onal was part of the group that attempted to start the Capital [sic] Academy of Harrisburg (denied in 2006). The ABECS application closely resembles two other charter school applications that were submitted in Pennsylvania in 2012, for the Allentown Science Academy and the Erie Biosciences Academy.

Although Onal insists that he has no connection to the Gulen movement, his work has appeared in The Fountain, a magazine produced and published by the Gulen Movement which features a lead article by Fethullah Gulen in every issue. In his capacity as president of two NGOs, the Red Rose Intercultural and Educational Foundation and the Turkish Cultural Center of Pennsylvania, Onal has hosted a number of political dignitaries on trips to Turkey, including State Senator Mike Brubaker.

It was while they were in Turkey in April 2011 that Onal accompanied Brubaker to the headquarters of TUKSON, a Turkish business association described by the RAND Corporation in 2008 as the “fourth leg” of the Gulen movement – the other three being its education, media, and interfaith dialogue activities.

Onal has also organized several Turkish Cultural Days at the Pennsylvania State Capitol, one of which was held in May 2011 shortly after the above-mentioned Turkey trip. The afternoon senate session that day was started with prayers by Bekir Aksoy, president of Golden Generation Worship & Retreat Center in Saylorsburg, Pennsylvania. Fethullah Gulen has been living at this center ever since he fled from Turkey in 1999.

The parent group has posted an online petition at http://www.change.org/petitions/school-district-of-lancaster-pa-oppose-the-academy-of-business-and-entrepreneurship-charter-school

Categories Charter Schools, Parents, Pennsylvania, Privatization, Support for public schools

Activists in Four States Organize to Support Public Education

By dianeravitch
February 18, 2013 //
3

If you are in Indiana, Michigan, Ohio, or Illinois–or anywhere else–please join with parents, students, and educators to support public schools. These states have been targets for rightwing demands for privatization. Enough is enough. Time to organize and mobilize to fend off the attacks on teachers, principals, and public schools.

Time For Action Update:

Parents Across America, in cooperation with Northeast Indiana Friends of Public Education and with other grassroots groups, invites you to “Public Schools Across America,” a 4-state Regional Action Planning Meeting.

Across the country, there is a rising chorus of protest against corporate-style school reform. Parents, teachers, students, principals, superintendents, scholars, school board members, civil rights lawyers and other concerned citizens are voicing opposition to the privatization of our schools which threatens the future of our children and the fundamental democratic principles upon which our system of public education is based.

With “Public Schools Across America,” we hope to create a model for coordinated regional action in support of public education which could be expanded and replicated across the U.S.
Who: You are invited! And please share this invitation with others interested in regional joint action in support of public education (even if they are not in our region – as long as they are able to get themselves to Ft Wayne). This meeting is not limited to educators. It for parents, grandparents, and concerned citizens who support public education and want to get more involved in supporting our public schools and our children.

What: The first “Public Schools Across America” Regional Action Planning Meeting.

Featured speaker: Indiana State Superintendent Glenda Ritz, newly-elected superintendent.

Where: Fort Wayne, IN, chosen because it is located within a reasonable drive from all 4 states, and is FULL of public education activists!. We will meet at the Plymouth United Church of Christ, conveniently located at 501 W Berry Street in Ft. Wayne.

When: Saturday, Feb 23, 2013 from 12 noon to 5 pm (snacks provided).

Why: To share our concerns about attacks on public education and how we have addressed them locally, and to consider joint activities across our region and potentially across the U.S. to strengthen public education.

Thank you for all you do in support of our public schools and our children. Hope to see you in Ft. Wayne!

Julie Woestehoff and Maureen Reedy

Julie Woestehoff, executive director, Parents United for Responsible Education (Chicago)
Co-founder of Parents Across America.
E-mail: pure@pureparents.org

Maureen Reedy ~ Co-founder of Public Schools Across America
Parent and 29-year public school teacher
Ohio Teacher of the Year, 2002
E-mail: Maureen.reedy@gmail.com

Northeast Indiana Friends of Public Education (NEIFPE) Blog: http://neifpe.blogspot.com/;

Email: neifpe@gmail.com; LinkedIn: NEIFPE and Twitter

Categories Corporate Reformers, Education Industry, For-Profit, Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Ohio, Privatization

Corporate Greed Targets Public Schools in Philadelphia

By dianeravitch
February 18, 2013 //
12

Abetted by the example of Race to the Top, as well as encouragement from the Gates Foundation, the William Penn Foundation, and the rightwing Corbett administration in Harrisburg, the state-appointed School Reform Commission in Philadelphia is poised to close an unprecedented number of Philadelphia public schools. The schools are under enrolled, says the commission, but the commission created the under-enrollment by opening charter schools. now Philadelphia will run a dual system, like many other cities, even though the charters are no better than the public schools.

Cui bono?

Categories Charter Schools, Closing schools, Education Industry, Gates Foundation, Bill Gates, Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Privatization, Race to the Top

How Mayor Vincent Gray Is Failing DC Students

By dianeravitch
February 18, 2013 //
4

During Michelle Rhee’s book tour, the nation will hear a lot of claims about the dramatic changes she imposed on the D.C. schools, which qualifies her to export her ideas to the rest of the nation.

What should other states and cities seek to copy? D.C. Schools continue to be among the lowest performing in the nation, with the lowest graduation rate.

Michael Shank faults Mayor Vincent Gray for continuing to follow Rhee’s formula of thinking that firing teachers and closing schools is a substitute for addressing socioeconomic problems. The low education levels of D.C. high school students, he says, show how little Rhee’s reforms changed the quality of education in the schools she ran for nearly four years (and continues to influence through her successor and deputy Kaya Henderson).

Shank writes: “A neighbor of mine in Anacostia, who was interviewed for this article, is a teacher in a Ward 8 school. He notes that kids are dropping out of high school because they don’t have the basic skills that should’ve been acquired in elementary school. His high school students can barely “decode” (that’s teacher speak for sounding out words), and most of his students, with the exception of one, needed a calculator to tell him the answer to this math problem: What’s half of three? Remember, these are high school students.”

Mayor Gray won in large part because of dissatisfaction in the black community against Rhee. Yet he has maintained her people and policies. He even boasted, writes Shank, that D.C, will soon be a district in which half the students are in privately managed schools. “There is nothing radical about closing schools. It fails to address the problem, shifts the burden elsewhere and moves this city closer to a privatized all-charter system, out of accountability’s reach and away from public oversight.”

Shank concludes:

“This is where Gray’s fixes fall short. They’re looking at what ultimately is a socioeconomic problem, albeit manifested in the classroom, with educational lenses and educational tools. The adage is true: If all you have is a hammer, everything looks like a nail.

“A more effective mayoral blueprint would operate across all sectors of D.C. jurisdiction, including housing, health and human services, public safety, environment, business, and education. This should be an all-cabinet and all-council conversation.

“The architectural integrity of this city is a stake if we don’t wake up to what is happening in our classrooms. Amid decorated State of the District speeches and ceremonious book signings, our kids’ minds are closing at a faster rate than D.C. can close its schools. Time to wake up and smell the mental decay, Mayor Gray, before it’s too late.”

Categories Poverty, Privatization, Rhee, Michelle

Indianapolis: Farewell to Public Education

By dianeravitch
February 18, 2013 //
33

I received a desperate message on Facebook from Tarrey Banks, the founder of The Project School in Indianapolis. TPS is a charter school started with a grant from the Walton Foundation. Greg Ballard, the mayor of Indianapolis, is the authorizer. TPS has low test scores, after four years, and the mayor has decided to close it. Banks and TPS parents are outraged. They went to court, blocked the mayor in a lower court, but then lost when a federal judge upheld the closure. TPS is losing the battle.

To get the big picture of what is happening in Indianapolis, read here. You will encounter a familiar cast of characters, including, of course, Bill Gates and Stand for Children.

What is happening in Indianapolis is terrifying if you believe that public education belongs to the public, not to private corporations. .

Here comes a scary future. First, the “blueprint” for Indianapolis, confidently predicting a future of perfection and excellence, but without any meaningful road map. Just promises. And here come the charters, opening with high hopes and closing when judged by scores.

Open, close. Open, close. Open, close.

Below is Banks’ letter. Read it. Read Mayor Ballard’s Blueprint for Utopia. But if you read nothing else today, read this article about the grand plan to privatize the schools of Indianapolis.

https://docs.google.com/file/d/0B5_NQFzJRhSGZ2ZEaWZFYmhwNU0/edit?usp=sharing

This is the Mind Trust / Mayor Ballard (TFA Deputy Mayor Jason Kloth) take-over blueprint. This will literally be the end of public education in the urban core of Indianapolis.

We need help. It’s all but over. The 10th most populated city in the country is about to be one of the biggest systems of educational apartheid in the nation.

My name is Tarrey Banks and I’m the founding school leader of the Indianapolis Project School. I am a lifelong public school educator who made the decision to start a charter school with a group of passionate educators. We are the only truly progressive public school in our city. We take and teach all kids…we don’t push out, kick out, expel, etc. My daughter is a 7 year old student at our school…I made it for her because I know that all kids deserve what she deserves. We are four years old and this week we were the victim of a conservative political strategic attack. Just 3 weeks our mayor has decided to close our doors. The process was corrupt and the information they used was false and/or inaccurate. We are fighting the good fight, but I firmly believe our school will be shut down by the close of business on Monday. I truly believe this is the death of progressive public education in our city if we do not use this as a catalyst to attack the corporate reform agenda.

I know you are busy…you must be. I intend to use the closing of our school as the beginning of a rebellion. Will you help? How can I get you to Indianapolis to push this force back and make folks wake up and see what is happening? Our city is doomed if I can’t move this conversation in a different direction. We have 100’s of families, students, community members, educators ready to protest…to really blow it up…but I need more…I need a national presence…

Will you? What can I do?

Tarrey Banks

Categories ALEC, Black Alliance for Educational Options, Charter Schools, Corporate Reformers, Education Industry, For-Profit, Gates Foundation, Bill Gates, Indiana, On-Line Education, Privatization, Stand for Children, U.S. education

Ken Previti: Brevard County Schools Did Not Have to Close

By dianeravitch
February 17, 2013 //
5

Ken Previti writes this comment about the three public schools closed in Brevard County over the objections of the parents. The best solution: Elect a new school board. Run for school board. Organize and mobilize.

One harsh fact needs to be remembered about school closings, teacher evaluations and school ranking by student test scores. The total amount that “needed” to be cut from the budget by closing three Brevard schools was identical to the amount “needed” to build the new charter school demanded by the appointed Florida State Board of Education.

Brevard County IS the Space Coast, home of brilliant Kennedy Space Center at Cape Canaveral engineers and large military installations and military/industrial corporations.. (I live there.) It is also overwhelmingly republican at-all-costs, and that includes Tea Party candidates.

Tea Party Republican Billionaire Gov. Rick Scott was the CEO of the corporation convicted of the biggest fraud against Medicare in history. When questioned personally he replied that he repeatedly refused to answer on the grounds that it might incriminate him, yet his money paid for TV messages that got him elected.

Past Gov. Jeb Bush, brother of W. and son of H.W., has organizations and investments in huge corporate education reform interests – including testing and test prep materials.
The school closings are a scam.

“Public-private partnerships” is the euphemism meaning “public tax money for private profit.” The school closings and the charter school building (scheduled to be built blocks from where I live) are part of the financial scam of the selling of America – one school at a time.

Categories Charter Schools, Closing schools, Corporate Reformers, Florida, For-Profit, Privatization, Support for public schools

Reader Asks: Is This the True Goal of “Reform”?

By dianeravitch
February 17, 2013 //
46

A reader posts the following comment.

Thought you might be interested in Gates latest “Request for Proposal: Literacy Courseware Challenge.” More teacher-less, computerized learning to support his Common Core [National] Standards. “Adaptive digital learning tools” are his robo-teachers, because apparently the standards [read: curriculum, no matter how many people say that the CC are not a curriculum] are teacher-proof. Just create a huge quonset hut, or even better, a stadium, full of computer cubicles, sit the kids down, and, voila! A perfect Gates-ian school. Disgusting.

http://www.gatesfoundation.org/learning/Pages/rfp-literacy-courseware-challenge.aspx

Categories Corporate Reformers, Education Industry, For-Profit, Gates Foundation, Bill Gates, On-Line Education, Privatization

New Blog Will “Follow the Money”

By dianeravitch
February 17, 2013 //
8

I just heard from a new blogger who has spent years quietly investigating the money trail behind the privatization movement.

He has decided to be silent no more.

Read his new blog.

It is called “Charter School Finance Footnoted.” Its subtitle is:  “Public funds lining private pockets.”

And he adds, as a descriptor:

“Keeping an eye on what charter schools tell their investors but not the rest of us.”

This should be interesting.

 

Categories Accountability, Charter Schools, Education Industry, For-Profit, Privatization

Florida Pays Crooks and Liars to Tutor Kids

By dianeravitch
February 15, 2013 //
6

Florida hands out millions of dollars to ex-convicts, profiteers, and crooks to tutor poor kids.

People who would never be hired to teach in a public school because of their criminal history are paid as much as $60 an hour to tutor needy students.

The program has no accountability or quality.

The next time you hear boasting about Florida, think of this story. Privatization opens the public treasury to corruption. It’s predictable.

Another step backward for American education.

Categories Education Industry, Florida, For-Profit, Privatization

The Corporate Reform Cult of Rhetoric and Riches

By dianeravitch
February 15, 2013 //
6

To understand the tentacles of corporate reform, you must read this post

Here Mercedes Schneider continues her review of the board of the National Council on Teacher Quality. As her research deepens, she uncovers the links among the big-money investors and their plans to privatize education, turn teachers and children into assets, and monetize public education.

Categories Charter Schools, Corporate Reformers, Education Industry, For-Profit, National Council on Teacher Quality (NCTQ), On-Line Education, Privatization, Teacher Evaluations, Teachers and Teaching
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