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Marion Brady: A Primer on Privatization

By dianeravitch
January 27, 2016 //
45

Veteran educator Marion Brady has written a concise guide to the privatization movement.

 

He begins with an overview of the talking points and tactics of the privatizers:

 

“The pitch

 

“Talking Points: (a) Standardized testing proves America’s schools are poor. (b) Other countries are eating our lunch. (c) Teachers deserve most of the blame. (d) The lazy ones need to be forced out by performance evaluations. (e) The dumb ones need scripts to read or “canned standards” telling them exactly what to teach. (f) The experienced ones are too set in their ways to change and should be replaced by fresh Five-Week-Wonders from Teach for America. (Bonus: Replacing experienced teachers saves a ton of money.) (g) Public (“government”) schools are a step down the slippery slope to socialism.

 

“Tactics

 

“Education establishment resistance to privatization is inevitable, so (a) avoid it as long as possible by blurring the lines between “public” and “private.” (b) Push school choice, vouchers, tax write-offs, tax credits, school-business partnerships, profit-driven charter chains. (c) When resistance comes, crank up fear with the, “They’re eating our lunch!” message. (d) Contribute generously to all potential resisters—academic publications, professional organizations, unions, and school support groups such as PTA. (e) Create fake “think tanks,” give them impressive names, and have them do “research” supporting privatization. (f) Encourage investment in teacher-replacer technology—internet access, iPads, virtual schooling, MOOCS, etc. (e) Pressure state legislators to make life easier for profit-seeking charter chains by taking approval decisions away from local boards and giving them to easier-to-lobby state-level bureaucrats. (g) Elect the “right” people at all levels of government. (When they’re campaigning, have them keep their privatizing agenda quiet.)”

 

The key weapon in the privatization campaign is standardized tests. Privatizers use tests to “prove” that public schools are failing.

 

Here is a great line:

 

“If challenged, test fans often quote the late Dr. W. Edward Deming, the world-famous quality guru who showed Japanese companies how to build better stuff than anybody else. In his book, “The New Economics,” Deming wrote, “If you can’t measure it, you can’t manage it.”

 

“Here’s the whole sentence as he wrote it: “It is wrong to suppose that if you can’t measure it, you can’t manage it — a costly myth.”

 

And here’s the clincher:

 

“Notwithstanding their serious problems, America’s public schools were once the envy of the world. Now, educators around that world shake their heads in disbelief (or maybe cheer?) as we spend billions of dollars to standardize what once made America great—un-standardized thought.”

 

 

 

 

 

Categories Corporate Reform, Education Reform, Privatization, Standardized Testing, Vouchers

Jeb Bush’s Foundation for Excellence in Education Calls for Reversal of Nevada Decision

By dianeravitch
January 12, 2016 //
8

The Foundation for Excellence in Education, founded by Jeb Bush, but now run by Condoleeza Rice, called for an immediate reversal of the Nevada decision halting the state’s voucher program. They said it would cause “irreparable harm” to the less than 1% of the state’s students who signed  up for vouchers.

 

 

ExcelinEd Calls for Immediate Reversal of Nevada Education Savings Account Program Injunction

 

Tallahassee, Fla. – Today, Carson City District Court Judge James Wilson granted a preliminary injunction that orders the State Treasurer to stop implementing Nevada’s new education savings accounts pending further court deliberations.

 

 

Patricia Levesque, CEO of the Foundation for Excellence in Education (ExcelinEd), released the following statement.

 

 

“Today’s action by a Nevada District Judge to block the groundbreaking new Education Savings Accounts program will harm Nevada families and their ability provide a great education for their children. Every child deserves access to the education that will empower them to succeed. And parents should be able to choose the best education option for their children. Today’s action will cause irreparable harm, disruption and uncertainty for Nevada families and the 4,100 children who were counting on these accounts for their education. ExcelinEd calls for the immediate overturning of this Judge’s harmful action.”

 
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Statement from @ExcelinEd calls for immediate reversal of injunction in Nevada. Read here:http://bit.ly/1mSCzZr #NVed #NVleg
Today, Nevada judge granted injunction to stop implementing ESAs. @ExcelinEd calls for immediate reversal http://bit.ly/1mSCzZr #nved

Categories Nevada, Vouchers

The Nevada Voucher Decision

By dianeravitch
January 12, 2016 //
1

Yesterday, a district judge in Nevada ruled that state’s “education savings accounts” (aka vouchers) to be unconstitutional. Here is an analysis of the opinion by some of the legal team for the parents who sued the state.

 
Here is the link. It contains a link to the decision itself.

 

COURT DECLARES NEVADA VOUCHER LAW VIOLATES STATE CONSTITUTION

PUBLIC SCHOOL PARENTS WIN INJUNCTION TO STOP IRREPARABLE HARM

 
January 11, 2016

 

 

Judge James Wilson of the First Judicial District Court of Nevada (Carson City) held in Lopez v. Schwartzthat the state’s school voucher law (SB 302) enacted last summer by the Legislature violates two provisions of the Nevada Constitution. Judge Wilson issued a preliminary injunction to prevent the State from implementing the law.

 
The case challenging the voucher law was filed by parents of Nevada public school children from across the state. They argued that the program would divert scarce funding from public schools, triggering cuts to essential programs and services for their children and all other children attending Nevada’s public schools. 

 
The Court explained that the Nevada Constitution requires the Legislature to appropriate funds for the operation of the public schools, which “must only be used to fund the operation of the public schools.” [Nevada Constitution, Article 11, Sections 6.1 and 6.2.] However, the Court continued, under the voucher law, if implemented, “some amount of general funds appropriated to fund…the public schools will be diverted to fund” the vouchers for private school tuition and other uses. 

 
Judge Wilson further found that the parents “have [proven] that SB 302 violates Article 11, Sections 6.1 and 6.2, and that irreparable harm will result if an injunction is not entered. Therefore an injunction will issue to enjoin Treasurer Schwartz,” who is charged with implementing the law, from doing so.

 
“This is a clear victory for the 460,000 children attending Nevada’s public schools,” said David G. Sciarra, ELC Executive Director and member of the legal team representing the plaintiffs. “We’re pleased that Judge Wilson found that the Legislature cannot take funding designated for the operation of the public schools and transfer that funding to private schools and other private education expenses.”
The Court will next schedule a trial on the merits. 

 
The pro bono counsel representing the parents in their lawsuit include Education Law Center in Newark and Las Vegas; Wolf, Rifkin, Shapiro, Schulman & Rabkin LLP based in Nevada; and, Munger, Tolles & Olson in Los Angeles.

 
The Attorney General is representing the State of Nevada and defending State Treasurer Dan Schwartz. 

 

Also- this is from Educate Nevada Now

 

 

JUDGE WILSON RULES IN FAVOR OF NEVADA PARENTS

Grants Preliminary Injunction To Block

Unconstitutional Private School Voucher Law

 

 

LAS VEGAS, NV (Jan. 11, 2016) – Today, Judge James Wilson in the First Judicial District Court in Carson City issued an order halting implementation of Nevada’s unlimited voucher program. The ruling is a clear victory for the children attending public schools all across the state.

 
Educate Nevada Now (ENN), powered by The Rogers Foundation, stands fully behind these parents’ efforts to safeguard Nevada’s public schools.

 
Judge Wilson’s ruling grants a preliminary injunction to halt implementation of Senate Bill 302 (SB302), a private school voucher law that would have otherwise diverted funds from public schools beginning as early as February. 

 
“Not only the plaintiffs won today,” said Sylvia Lazos, ENN’s Policy Director. “Judge Wilson’s ruling is a victory for all 460,000 public school children in Nevada, their parents, teachers, administrators and school board members. We are thrilled with the decision and look forward to continuing dialogue focused on improving our state’s education systems.”

 
Today’s decision upholds the important legal principle that the Nevada Constitution protects the educational rights of all children. It also affirms the Constitutional requirement that public school funding, once earmarked by the Legislature, can only be dedicated to supporting public education and nothing else.

 

 

The legal team representing Nevada parents in this case are working pro bono. The team consists of: Tamerlin J. Godley, Laura Mathe, Samuel Boyd and Thomas Clancy of Munger, Tolles & Olson, LLP; Don Springmeyer, Justin Jones and Bradley Schrager of Wolf, Rifkin, Shapiro, Schulman & Rabkin, LLP; and David Sciarra and Amanda Morgan of the nonprofit Education Law Center, a partner of ENN and The Rogers Foundation.

 
For more information, visit http://www.educatenevadanow.com or follow on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

 
About Educate Nevada Now

 

Educate Nevada Now, powered by The Rogers Foundation, is a multi-year campaign aimed at securing school finance reform and improving education outcomes and opportunities for all of Nevada’s public school children. The campaign raises awareness about the need for school funding reform, engages parents, students, and community and statewide stakeholders in the effort, conducts critical research, proposes policies to address funding and resource deficiencies, and ensures the effective and efficient use of resources in schools and districts. A centerpiece of the Educate Nevada Now strategy is to break legislative gridlock and move the focus to the rights of children. For more information, visit http://www.educatenevadanow.com.

 
About The Rogers Foundation

 
The Rogers Foundation is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization based in Las Vegas, Nevada. Founded in 2013 by James E. and Beverly Rogers, The Rogers Foundation awards scholarships to individual students in Southern Nevada and grants to educational institutions, artists and organizations that support the arts in Southern Nevada. For more information, visit http://www.therogers.foundation.

# # # 

Media Contact:

Jeff Wagner Agency

Ryan Marquardt

ryanm@jeffwagneragency.com

309-531-7464

Michelle Loosbrock

michelle@jeffwagneragency.com

702.287.4130

Categories Education Reform, Nevada, Vouchers

First-Year Evaluation of Louisiana Voucher Program: Student Achievement Declines

By dianeravitch
January 12, 2016 //
2

In the first evaluation of the Louisiana voucher program, the results are negative for the students involved. It is an evaluation of only the first year, so perhaps things will get better in the future. But given the low quality of many of the voucher schools, that doesn’t seem likely. The best private and sectarian schools accept few or no voucher students. Many of those that accept vouchers are struggling to survive.

 

Here is the take-away:

 

This comparison reveals that LSP participation substantially reduces academic achievement. Attendance at an LSP-eligible private school lowers math scores by 0.4 standard deviations and increases the likelihood of a failing score by 50 percent. Voucher effects for reading, science and social studies are also negative and large.

 

 

 

Atila Abdulkadiroglu, Parag A. Pathak, Christopher R. Walters

 
NBER Working Paper No. 21839
Issued in December 2015

We evaluate the Louisiana Scholarship Program (LSP), a prominent school voucher plan. The LSP provides public funds for disadvantaged students at low-performing Louisiana public schools to attend private schools of their choice. LSP vouchers are allocated by random lottery at schools with more eligible applicants than available seats. We estimate causal effects of voucher receipt by comparing outcomes for lottery winners and losers in the first year after the program expanded statewide. This comparison reveals that LSP participation substantially reduces academic achievement. Attendance at an LSP-eligible private school lowers math scores by 0.4 standard deviations and increases the likelihood of a failing score by 50 percent. Voucher effects for reading, science and social studies are also negative and large. The negative impacts of vouchers are consistent across income groups, geographic areas, and private school characteristics, and are larger for younger children. These effects are not explained by the quality of fallback public schools for LSP applicants: students lotteried out of the program attend public schools with scores below the Louisiana average. Survey data show that LSP-eligible private schools experience rapid enrollment declines prior to entering the program, indicating that the LSP may attract private schools struggling to maintain enrollment. These results suggest caution in the design of voucher systems aimed at expanding school choice for disadvantaged students.

Categories Louisiana, Vouchers

Nevada: Judge Issues Preliminary Injunction to Block State Voucher Program

By dianeravitch
January 11, 2016 //
3

At least two lawsuits have been filed to stop Nevada’s sweeping “education savings account” legislation, which would allow parents to use public funds to enroll their children in private or religious schools or for home schooling. Today, District Judge James E. Wilson, Jr., ruled in one of those cases. He issued a preliminary injunction against the law, in that it does irreparable harm to the parents who sued by diverting public funds from public schools.

 

I will post more tomorrow on this decision.

Categories Nevada, Vouchers

Texas: Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick Wants a Voucher Program Like the One in Nevada

By dianeravitch
January 9, 2016 //
7

The Lt. Governor has a powerful role in Texas government. Unfortunately, the Lt. Gov. right now is Dan Patrick, a former radio talk show host, who is a zealous supporter of vouchers. When he headed the Senate Education Committee, he put forward voucher bills but they died in the House. They died because of rural opposition to vouchers; it seems that rural Republicans in the House don’t see any good reason to kill off their public schools and divide their communities.

 

But Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick now says he wants “education savings accounts” so that public money can flow to private and religious schools, as well as homeschoolers, and he wants to model his plan along the lines of the one enacted in Nevada. It is still public money going to religious schools, but that’s what he wants. As he says in the article, he wants school choice for all children, not just the poor.

 

The Nevada plan is being challenged in court by several organizations, because it violates the explicit language of the Nevada state constitution. Studies show that it primarily benefits well-to-do families, not poor families.

 

As in most other states, about 90% of the children in Texas go to public schools. Those schools are underfunded, especially since a dramatic $5.4 billion cut in 2011. Some of the money was later restored, but not most of it. The children in Texas are poorer than they were five years ago. The pupils are majority-minority. This is the scenario in which Dan Patrick proposes to gut public education.

 

It is time for the Texas Pastors for Children, for Friends of Texas Public Schools, and for every organization that believes in democratic control of public schools in Texas to step up and beat back Patrick’s bills.

Categories Education Reform, Nevada, School Choice, Texas, Vouchers

Breaking News: Arizona Governor Appoints Libertarian to Supreme Court

By dianeravitch
January 6, 2016 //
9

Arizona Governor Doug Ducey appointed Clint Bolick of the Goldwater Institute to the Arizona Supreme Court. Ducey bypassed many experienced jurists by choosing Bolick.

 

Bolick has litigated many cases to fight government regulation of all kinds. He strongly supports vouchers and charters. He defended vouchers in Wisconsin and Ohio.

Categories Arizona, Charter Schools, Education Reform, Vouchers

Wisconsin: Right-Wing Bradley Foundation Spent $108 Million to Privatize Public Education

By dianeravitch
January 5, 2016 //
7

A major new report from the progressive One Wisconsin Institute finds that the right-wing Bradley Foundation spent more than $108 million, working with 130 partner groups, to privatize public schools in Wisconsin between 2005 and 2014. During the same period, the state’s public schools experienced dramatic budget cuts.

 

Key findings of the updated “P Is For Payoff” report include:

 

 

Bradley Foundation head Michael Grebe, a political insider who chaired Gov. Walker’s presidential and gubernatorial campaigns, continues to orchestrate a massive propaganda campaign to advance the privatization of public education;

 
An analysis of IRS Form 990 records and Bradley Foundation reports reveals over 130 organizations supportive of their education privatization agenda and working to advance their cause have received over $108 million from 2005 through 2014;

 
Bradley’s tactics have continued to evolve, now featuring litigation to advance their privatization agenda and intimidate opponents. Leading the effort is the Wisconsin Institute for Law and Liberty which since its inception in 2011 has been larded with over $2 million from Bradley;

 
According to the nonpartisan Legislative Fiscal Bureau, the voucher program will cost Wisconsin taxpayers over $1.1 billion from 2011 through the end of the 2015–17 budget cycle. Meanwhile, a new report found that Wisconsin schools have suffered the 4th biggest cuts in in the nation through 2014.

 

The Bradley Foundation is one of the nation’s most active reform organizations. It hopes to reform public education out of existence. Watch how skillfully the Bradley Foundation followed the usual reformer script:

 

Original research by One Wisconsin Institute in 2013 first exposed the Bradley Foundation as a leading player in the campaign to gut public education and promote the unaccountable, radical privatization of K-12 education. The Milwaukee-based group spent millions to support organizations, think tanks, journalists and right-wing academics. They engaged in a campaign that manufactured a crisis, singled out their enemies, generated a cure, justified their scheme with pseudo-science, broadcast their message through the media, helped elect politicians to advance their agenda and kept them in line with high-powered lobbyists and well-funded pressure campaigns. [Emphasis added by me.]

 

Ross concluded, “Wisconsin families and public schools are left paying the price as billions of dollars that could have been used for public education are siphoned off for the Bradley Foundation’s ideologically driven experiment. Until a majority of policy makers are willing to stand up to the Bradley Foundation’s millions, Wisconsin’s tradition of great public schools will remain under assault.”

Categories Charter Schools, Corporate Reformers, Education Industry, Education Reform, Hoax, Privatization, Testing, Vouchers, Wisconsin

Nevada’s Radical Voucher Plan Will Aid the Rich, Ignore the Poor

By dianeravitch
January 4, 2016 //
15

Nevada’s new voucher program is the most radical in the nation. Of course, it is not called a “voucher” program, but “education savings accounts.” A rose by any other name. A stinkweed by any other name. You can call a stinkweed a rose, but it is still a stinkweed. The ESA will accomplish the same purpose as vouchers, by transferring public funds to private and religious schools.

 

Since the Republicans took control of the Legislature, school choice has been their top priority in education. This is their answer to the financial woes of Nevada’s underfunded public schools.

 

Says the article, “Nevada’s public schools are in the toilet. The Silver State consistently ranks near the bottom when it comes to education spending. Things got so dreary in the mid-2000’s that the state even amended its constitution with “Nevada Fund Education First,” a measure to ensure the education budget is determined before all other items. Even worse, Education Week ranked Nevada dead last in 2014 in a “Chance for Success” analysis that combined data on student achievement, state spending, and standards and accountability.” 

 

But why fund the schools when you can pass a school choice measure instead? The bonus is that you can call yourself a reformer as you are drawing even more money away from the schools that the majority of the state’s children attend.

 

Funny, the Nevada state constitution bars the use of public money for religious schools. Two-thirds of the private schools in Nevada are religious schools.

 

The Nevada Constitution states that, “No public funds of any kind or character whatever, State, County or Municipal, shall be used for sectarian purpose.” Anything ambiguous about that?

 

Nevada law also states in NRS 387.045 that, “No portion of the public school funds shall in any way be segregated, divided or set apart for the use or benefit of any sectarian or secular society or association.” Anything ambiguous about that?

 

Remember when conservatives used to be “strict constructionists” of state and federal Constitutions?

 

But that was then. Now, conservatives, led by ALEC, have set their sights on privatizing public education.

 

Don’t expect vouchers to reduce the achievement gaps between rich and poor: “It doesn’t promote better schooling for low-income [kids],” said Martin Carnoy, a professor at Stanford University’s Graduate School of Education. “It’s going to benefit new private-school providers and current private-school providers…It’s welfare for the rich.”

Categories Hoax, Nevada, Vouchers

North Carolina: Important Discussion of Wrecking Ball Crew Trying to Demolish Public Education

By dianeravitch
December 13, 2015 //
4

North Carolina was once the most progressive state in the South. Under the leadership of Governor Jim Hunt, it enacted many progressive programs for education and invested in public education, both K-12 and higher education.

But Tea Party Republicans took control of the legislature in 2010, and a Republican governor was elected in 2012, the first time in a century that Republicans controlled the state. Since taking power, the Republicans have slashed the budget for public education at all levels. They have enacted a law to authorize charter schools, including for-profit charters. They enacted a voucher law. They welcomed for-profit virtual schools. They have set out to shrink government and diminish the public sector. Per-student spending is now near the lowest in the nation, as are teacher salaries. The legislature has gone after teachers’ tenure and benefits. It shut down a five-year career teaching preparation program at the University of North Carolina, called the North Carolina Teaching Fellows, yet allocated almost the same amount of money to pay for Teach for America recruits, who will come and go.

This webinar should address these issues and more.

It should be of special interest to members of the Network for Public Education who intend to participate in our annual conference at Raleigh, NC, on April 16-17. Please visit our website and register. 

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Register For Our Upcoming Webinar

North Carolina Voters and the Value of Public Education,

2015 Survey Highlights

December 15, 2015, 2-3 pm EST

North Carolina Voters and the Value of Public Education, 2015 Survey Highlights

Leslie Winner, Executive Director of the Z. Smith Reynolds Foundation, shares the findings from their 2015 statewide survey of voters perceptions of public education.  The results show that North Carolina voters strongly value local public schools, support greater investments in overall funding and want more investment in teachers. The most recent survey shows great concern that state education policy and funding are undermining the public’s desire to ensure that each child is challenged to grow and is prepared for success in college, career and life.  Learn about tools for communicating the value of and advocating for public education!
Register here.
We are also excited to be soft-launching our new Southern Education Network, an online forum and virtual network created for you — advocates, organizers, students, parents, educators — who are working to support public education in the American South.  We’re providing this forum as a means for you to find resources, connect with others, dialogue about issues you’re facing and strategies you’re using, and to get support in the work to achieve education justice. 
The site is free to join, and by signing up as a member, you gain access to an online forum and a member directory, where you can search and connect with others. 
Over the coming months, you’ll see us add resources and additional information to the site.  As you check out the site during this initial launch phase, we’d love to get your feedback so that we can keep improving  the site and making it as user-friendly and efficient as possible.  We look forward to continuing to work with you in new ways.
Categories Budget Cuts, Charter Schools, Education Reform, Privatization, Virtual Charter Schools, Vouchers
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