Gates Pushes Charter Giving to $1 Million
The Stranger Slog is reporting that Bill Gates' spending for I-1240 -which is not even on the ballot yet - is over $1M.
Fine, he wants a fight, he'll get one.
People of Seattle please understand. This is NOT about right and wrong - it's about telling the truth.
Gates, Allen, League of Education Voters, Stand for Children, all these people supporting charters will NOT tell you the truth about what this initiative will or will not mean to Washington State.
They will give you hearts and flowers, challenge you on why you (yes, you) don't want to allow poor and disadvantaged children choices and tell you charters are better.
Overall, they are not.
People of Seattle please understand. This is NOT about right and wrong - it's about telling the truth.
Gates, Allen, League of Education Voters, Stand for Children, all these people supporting charters will NOT tell you the truth about what this initiative will or will not mean to Washington State.
They will give you hearts and flowers, challenge you on why you (yes, you) don't want to allow poor and disadvantaged children choices and tell you charters are better.
Overall, they are not.
I will tell the ENTIRE truth about charters and this initiative
(because folks, what we end up with is what is in THIS initiative).
We won't win on money but we will win (or have a fighting chance) if people promise to do their duty as voters and listen and ponder what they are told.
And, look at who is funding this effort. Is this a parent-driven, grass-roots effort? It is not.
We won't win on money but we will win (or have a fighting chance) if people promise to do their duty as voters and listen and ponder what they are told.
And, look at who is funding this effort. Is this a parent-driven, grass-roots effort? It is not.
Comments
I've run into several parents in the past day or so who have been pissed off by the signature gatherers and their blatant lies. One mom equated them to Fox News - making it up as they go along.
CT
Democracy Can beat big money
This initiative is being funded by a few wealthy individuals.
This is going to be a heck of a fight.
However, they take as well as they give and boy, do they get what they want.
Frankly, it makes me more determined.
I would blame the worker if they are just making stuff up. If they were actually told by their employers to say things like, "help increase school funding!" then certainly I would blame the employer (cough*gates*cough) but if the signature gatherer is just freestylin' with the facts, then I blame them. That's just heinous, whoever is responsible (and because this is the democratic process we're talking about, I would also expect signature gatherers to do some checking on their own and not just spout whatever "facts" they are given.
http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/06/13/us-usa-education-gates-idUSBRE85C17Z20120613
EXCERPTS
DENVER (Reuters) - The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, which has poured more than $4 billion into efforts to transform public education in the U.S., is pushing to develop an "engagement pedometer." Biometric devices wrapped around the wrists of students would identify which classroom moments excite and interest them -- and which fall flat.
. . .
Gates officials hope the devices, known as Q Sensors, can become a common classroom tool, enabling teachers to see, in real time, which kids are tuned in and which are zoned out.
. . .
Skeptics aren't so sure. They call the technology creepy and say good teachers already know when their students are engaged. Plus, they say it's absurd to think spikes in teenagers' emotional arousal necessarily correspond to learning.
"In high school biology I didn't learn a thing all year, but boy was I stimulated. The girl who sat next to me was gorgeous. Just gorgeous," said Arthur Goldstein, a veteran English teacher in New York City who has long been critical of Gates-funded education reform.
Emile
Article on signature gathering for charter schools and the money behind this push.
Public School Parent
Lesson is: you don't always get what you lobby for.
Just Saying
CT
Public School Parent
The mom talked about the expensive administrative building that they are building in Everett, and compared it to the good old days when the administration of a school was the principal and the secretary.
My take was that this woman wasn't a paid signature gatherer - she was a Republican. She mentioned her banker ancestor and talked about how both she and her student daughter are politically involved. I don't talk with Republicans much - I avoid talking to my own family because they are Republicans.
And I think it's going to be hard to convince a Republican when all they have to do is talk about some school district somewhere spending more than the absolute minimum on a school project as justification for not letting the school districts have more money.
- Lurker
My thoughts on #1 are: there are good and bad stories on both sides of the charter aisle (as well as good and bad stories on both sides of the public school aisle). I think that the appropriate response here is to note how flawed the language of this bill is (in terms of how schools get started, how they remove assets from any sort of system that bears any overarching, centralized responsibility for deploying assets for maximum benefit and minimum cost, and how there are no details on how charters will become authorized, and how we will shut down bad ones). Many Republicans are annoyed by bad management/governance. This bill oozes flawed governance and opportunities for mismanagement of public funds.
On #2, it should be noted that nothing in this legislation saves a dime. In fact, to the extent that a charter school takes over public buildings and then sets its enrollment low, or demands a "share" of building and repair funds for use in a building that an intelligent District might have mothballed -- it will cost, not save money. No one interested in watching the public purse would EVER have written an initiative the way this one is written.
http://washingtonstatewire.com/blog/the-gangs-all-here-tech-biggies-backing-charter-schools-gates-now-at-1-million/
Public School Parent
http://schoolfinance101.wordpress.com/2012/05/02/charter-schools-are-public-private-neither-both/
CT