Privatizing Public Education - There is Money to be Made

If you read nothing else about the takeover of our public schools by people who want to control the system (and some who want to make a buck), please read this article from The Nation Institute.  It is probably one of the best written and in-depth articles around. 

Highlights:

• If the national movement to "reform" public education through vouchers, charters and privatization has a laboratory, it is Florida. It was one of the first states to undertake a program of "virtual schools" — charters operated online, with teachers instructing students over the Internet — as well as one of the first to use vouchers to channel taxpayer money to charter schools run by for-profits.  (More on Florida which has continued it fall in education AND business rankings.  Scientology in charters in Florida.

• But some in Florida are fighting back against these reforms and winning.  Lamenting this series of defeats, Patricia Levesque, a top adviser to former Governor Jeb Bush, spoke to fellow reformers at a retreat in October 2010. Levesque noted that reform efforts had failed because the opposition had time to organize. Next year, Levesque advised, reformers should "spread" the unions thin "by playing offense" with decoy legislation. Needling the labor unions with all these bills, Levesque said, allows certain charter bills to fly "under the radar."

• Who did Levesque say this to?  She was giving it to a group of education philanthropists at a conference sponsored by notable charities like the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and the Michael and Susan Dell Foundation. Indeed, Levesque serves at the helm of two education charities, the Foundation for Excellence in Education, a national organization, and the Foundation for Florida's Future, a state-specific nonprofit, both of which are chaired by Jeb Bush.

• Lobbyists like Levesque have made 2011 the year of virtual education reform, at last achieving sweeping legislative success by combining the financial firepower of their corporate clients with the seeming legitimacy of privatization-minded school-reform think tanks and foundations. Thanks to this synergistic pairing, policies designed to boost the bottom lines of education-technology companies are cast as mere attempts to improve education through technological enhancements, prompting little public debate or opposition. In addition to Florida, twelve states have expanded virtual school programs or online course requirements this year.  

• Listen to Deep Throat - Follow the Money.   Standing at the lectern of Arizona State University's SkySong conference center in April, investment banker Michael Moe exuded confidence as he kicked off his second annual confab of education startup companies and venture capitalists. A press packet cited reports that rapid changes in education could unlock "immense potential for entrepreneurs."

• As Moe ticked through the various reasons education is the next big "undercapitalized" sector of the economy, like healthcare in the 1990s, he also read through a list of notable venture investment firms that recently completed deals relating to the education-technology sector, including Sequoia and Benchmark Capital.  

• And watch for this in the future;  Another sponsor, a group called School Choice Week, was launched last year as a public relations gimmick to take advantage of the opportunity for rapid education reforms. Although it is billed as a network of students and parents, School Choice Week is one of the many corporate-funded tactics to press virtual school reforms. The first School Choice Week campaign push earlier this year featured highly produced press packets, sample letters to the editor, a sign in Times Square and rallies for virtual and charter schools organized with help from the Koch brothers' Americans for Prosperity. The blitz got positive press coverage, providing "grassroots" cover for newly elected politicians who made school privatization their first priority.

• What is the big watch phrase?  On-line/virtual learning.  The rush to privatize education will also turn tens of thousands of students into guinea pigs in a national experiment in virtual learning — a relatively new idea that allows for-profit companies to administer public schools completely online, with no brick-and-mortar classrooms or traditional teachers.

• "We think that's so important because every student, regardless of what they do after high school, they'll be learning online," said Tom Vander Ark, a prominent online education advocate, on a recently distributed video urging the adoption of online course requirements. Vander Ark, a former executive director of education at the influential Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, now lobbies all over the country for the online course requirement. Like Moe, he keeps one foot in the philanthropic world and another in business. He sits on the board of advisors of Democrats for Education Reform and is partner to an education-tech venture capital company, Learn Capital.

• To be sure, some online programs have potential and are necessary in areas where traditional resources aren't available. For instance, online AP classes serve rural communities without access to qualified teachers, and there are promising efforts to create programs that adapt to the needs of students with special learning requirements. But by and large, there is no evidence that these technological innovations merit the public resources flowing their way. Indeed, many such programs appear to be failing the students they serve.  Why are our legislators rushing to jump off the cliff of cyber charter schools when the best available evidence produced by independent analysts show that such schools will be unsuccessful?" asked Ed Fuller, an education researcher at Pennsylvania State University, on his blog.

• Like other digital reform advocates, the Bush nonprofit is also supported by Microsoft founder Bill Gates's foundation. The fact that a nonprofit that receives funding from both the Gates Foundation and Microsoft pressures states to adopt for-profit education reforms may raise red flags with some in the philanthropy community, as Microsoft, too, has moved into the education field. The company has tapped into the K-12 privatization expansion by supplying a range of products, from traditional Windows programs to servers and online coursework platforms. It also contracts with Florida Virtual School to provide cloud computer solutions.

• Who's writing education legislation today?  David Byer, a senior manager with Apple in charge of developing education business for the company, groaned and leaned over to another attendee sitting at the edge of the room after a lunch session. "You have this many people together, why can't you say, 'Here are the ten elements, here are some sample bills'?" said Byer to David.
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• Electronic Classroom of Tomorrow, is the largest provider of virtual schools in Ohio. ECOT schools have consistently underperformed; though the company serves more than 10,000 children, its graduation rate has never broken 40 percent. The company was fined for billing the state to serve more than 2,000 students in one month, when only seven children logged on during the same time period. 

• Rather than "intellectualize ourselves into the [education reform] debate…is there a way that we can get into it at an emotional level?" Richard Berman asked. "Emotions will stay with people longer than concepts." He then answered his own question: "We need to hit on fear and anger. Because fear and anger stays with people longer. And how you get the fear and anger is by reframing the problem."

• Levesque ended the strategy discussion with a larger strategic question. She pointed to the example of Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg donating $100 million to Newark schools. She then asked the crowd to imagine instead raising $100 million for political races where we "could sway a couple of seats to have more education reform." "Just shifting a little bit of your focus," she added, noting that new politicians could have a greater impact.  Don't give money to schools or districts; give to politicians. 

• The writer of the article, Lee Fang, tells his own story:  A day before he opened his education reform conference to the media recently, Bush hosted another education meeting. This event, a private affair in the Palace Hotel, was a reconvening of investors and strategists to plan the next leg of the privatization campaign. Michael Moe, Susan Patrick, Tom Vander Ark and other major players were invited. I waited outside the event, trying to get what information I could. I asked Mayor Fenty how I could get in. "Just crash in, come on in," he laughed, adding, "so what company are you with?" When he learned that I was a reporter, he shook his head. "Oh, nah, you're not welcome, then."

We need to be the state that fights back.  Not just holds the line; fights back.