Archives for category: Privatization

We have been following the unfolding saga of the Metro Nashville school board’s refusal to approve a charter for the Great Hearts charter school in Arizona. The school board voted four times to deny the charter. The state board and the education commissioner Kevin Huffman ordered the Metro Nashville school board to approve the charter but it refused. The state is punishing Nashville by withholding $3.4 million from the district. So far, what we know about this affair is what we have read in the local Nashville newspapers. But here is an insider’s report about why Great Hearts has been turned down four times. Please read the Google document that is linked. It contains links and documentation. It is an eye-opener.

The reader writes:

“Wow, this is SO very needed for me as I sit here after a REALLY long day of just shaking my head at the insanity that is going on in the city that I call home (Nashville). I can not tell you how much I appreciate the breath of fresh air from all of your comments.

“Our newly elected board took a stand for ALL of our students with their 4th and final denial of Great Hearts. There was enormous pressure from the Mayor and our state officials and our Governor. The most ironic part of the 3.4 million dollar fine is the fact that it is from the BEP funds that are designated for “non-classroom”. Several things fall under that heading and of them is transportation. So the state has decided to withhold money that would go toward transporting our children to school who are Free and Reduced Lunch (FRL), in zone but not within walking distance or who are disabled.

“Do you know one of the major sticking points for why Great Hearts did not get approval? Transportation! They did not want to provide adequate transportation for students that were outside of the affluent west Nashville location. Their plan was to provide MTA bus passes for (FRL) kids that are old enough to ride mass transit and then they were going to provide limited busing to a specific neighborhood if the demand was great enough. Sounds pretty good until you get to the part that they were only going to do it for 2 years. Apparently after 2 years those kids’ families were magically going to come into some money to be able to buy a car or quit their second job or whatever so they could drive their child to and from school that is across town.

“So it seems that the state has shown us exactly how they feel about our students that need transportation. When they tried to bully the elected board into approving a charter that did not meet diversity requirements via transportation to the school or location of the school it didn’t work. Now they are punishing the very kids that would have been punished by approving a charter that did not give them adequate access. Oh the irony.

“I wrote an open letter to Nashville prior to the last board meeting which lays out the whole mess and the reasons Great Hearts’ business model was not a good fit for ALL of our children and therefore not a good fit for Nashville. You can read it here if you want all the details.

https://docs.google.com/file/d/0Bx0LSuayKtIWTlI0Zy1pM2U3WkE/edit?pli=1

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

A Philadelphia Student Speaks Out

By dianeravitch

September 19, 2012 //

This student opposes the planned closure and privatization of 40 Philadelphia public schools. He realizes that the closures are concentrated in minority communities and have a harmful effect on the students and the communities. He notes that Governor Corbett wants to spend more on prisons and less on schools. This is ominous.

As I have said in the past, when students awaken, the reform game is over. There are all these billionaire-funded groups with names like “Children First,” “StudentsFirst,” “Stand for Children.” Put a “not” in front of them. Listen to students, not to millionaires and billionaires who claim to speak in their name.

Join this student tomorrow in the Journey to Justice in D.C. if you are in the area.

Categories Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Privatization, Students

What the CTU-CPS Contract Includes

By dianeravitch

September 19, 2012 //

Fred Klonsky summarized what the union won in the contract negotiations.

This is the contract approved by 98% of the delegates. It will be submitted to the membership for final approval.

Frankly, the biggest threat that lies ahead for the teachers is that Rahm Emanuel will continue closing schools and opening non-union charters. Given that he controls the school board, and given that he has a low opinion of public education, watch for continued privatization in Chicago.

Categories Charter Schools, Chicago, Emanuel, Rahm, Privatization, Unions

Did President Obama Embrace the GOP Agenda?

By dianeravitch

September 19, 2012 //

The conservative think tank American Enterprise Institute has published a paper commending President Obama for standing up to teachers’ unions.

The paper compares President Obama’s support for school choice and evaluation of teachers by test scores as a “Nixon-to-China” paradigm shift.

In other words, the paper suggests, Obama’s education policy has done a full pivot, aligning it with the traditional GOP agenda.

Can anyone explain this?

Categories Charter Schools, Corporate Reformers, Democrats, Education Industry, For-Profit, NCLB (No Child Left Behind), Obama, Privatization, Race to the Top, Unions

What Is The Mind Trust?

By dianeravitch

September 19, 2012 //

When I first read that The Mind Trust had proposed a sweeping reorganization of the Indianapolis public schools, I assumed it was another reform scheme to dismantle and privatize public education.

But I didn’t want to jump to conclusions, so I held my tongue. I decided to wait and see.

Today I received an invitation from The Mind Trust to hear one of the nation’s leading voucher advocates and all doubt was dispelled.

When I saw that the event was co-sponsored by the anti-teacher, anti-public school group “Stand for Children,” as well as Education Reform Now (the Wall Street hedge fund managers’ front-group), no further question remained.

Something tells me that Howard Fuller, the speaker, won’t acknowledge that the children in voucher schools do no better than those in public schools. Nor will he admit that black children in Milwaukee schools, whether public, charter or voucher, have NAEP scores about the same as black children in Mississippi. That’s the result of 21 years of competition, with public dollars divided three ways.

Indiana, once so proud of its tradition of public schooling, is now the playground for privatization, for-profit charters, TFA, and entrepreneurs of all stripes.

Time for Hoosiers to wake up before the reformers sell off or give away the public sector.

Categories Black Alliance for Educational Options, Charter Schools, Corporate Reformers, Education Industry, Education Reform, For-Profit, Indiana, National Council on Teacher Quality (NCTQ), Privatization, Teach for America TFA, Vouchers, Wisconsin

Spread the word: Stop School Closings!

By dianeravitch

September 18, 2012 //

A note from a friend:

Attached you will see our media advisory that we are just about to get out. We are part of a national alliance of youth, parent and community groups who have joined to fight against school closures. We believe they have displaced our communities, in some places like Chicago increased the violence and are a violation of our civil rights.

Cities like Detroit, Chicago, NOLA, Boston, Philly just to name a few will ride to D.C. on what we are labeling our “Journey for Justice”. 500 youth and parents will converge on D.C. on the 20th of September and send a message to the President and Duncan.

Can you help us? We are really trying to get the #journey4justice hashtag to trend. We have already begun to tweet using it and are working to create a strategy behind this. We have a powerful video of rallies and protests over the years from different cities around school closure. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o6X5rRI7MyE&feature=youtu.be

Would love any ideas you might have about getting others to participate on Twitter or FB?

Zakiyah Ansari
Advocacy Director
ALliance for Quality Education

233 Broadway
New York, NY 10279
212 328 9266
917 309 5742

Twitter @zansari8

Human progress is neither automatic nor inevitable… Every step toward the goal of justice requires sacrifice, suffering, and struggle; the tireless exertions and passionate concern of dedicated individuals.
Martin Luther King, Jr.

Categories Corporate Reformers, Education Reform, Parents, Privatization, Students

TFA Leading Corporate Reforms in Indiana

By dianeravitch

September 17, 2012 //

Read this glowing report about how TFA alums have taken over leadership roles across Indiana, with 11 working in the State Education Department.

This is a state where the Republican Governor and Legislature have passed voucher legislation, encouraged the proliferation of charter schools, and welcomed for-profit schooling. It is the full rightwing agenda, exceeded perhaps in scope and ambition only by Bobby Jindal’s privatization agenda (which is led by TFA alum John White).

Near the end of the article, the reporter finds an experienced educator or two to wonder whether five weeks of training is sufficient, but the rest of the piece glows with adulation for the kids who are reshaping the state along the lines of corporate-style reform.

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

Who Are the Members of Florida’s Board of Education?UPDATE!

By dianeravitch

September 16, 2012 //

This blogger wondered who was appointed to the Florida state board. This is a powerful board that selects the state commissioner of education and sets policy for the children, teachers, and schools of the state. The board has given the green light to charters, vouchers, online schools, for-profit schools, any alternative that anyone can dream of.

Who are these people? Read the post and you will understand.

Read it and you will see how Florida became a Mecca for privatization.

Categories Bush, Jeb, Corporate Reformers, Education Industry, Education Reform, Florida, For-Profit, Privatization, Vouchers