Seattle Schools Community Forum

I previously posted the long memo called Real Choice vs. False Choice: The Repercussions of Privatization Programs for Students, Parents, and Public Schools that Senator Patty Murray sent to her colleagues in late March about the privatization of public schools. She does credit in laying out real world examples of how privatization has not worked in the U.S. Her most basic point? Privatization efforts provide a false sense  of choice for many students and families.  From the Network for Public Education comes the NPE Toolkit: School Privatization Explained on Privatization .  There are a variety of topics covered about charter schools as well as tax credit and voucher programs.  They give Washington State a "C" for school privatization.  Here's some of what Senator Murray's memo says:

Some older articles I had on the back burner for far too long.  Compiled, they are a good picture of what is happening in our country today.  It's a two-fold problem. 1) Billionaires who decide they (and their foundations know best) and throw money for public education towards their focus and their beliefs. 2) Corporations trying to make money from public education.  Now before anyone takes me to task, I know that companies have been making money from education for decades.  There are a ton of services and products sold to schools.  What I am referencing is making money from the management of public education, from testing to charter schools.

From Diane Ravitch:  The trade journal Alpha recently reported that the hedge fund industry’s top 25 earners collected $21.15 billion, a whopping 50 percent over their total the year before. A hedge fund manager in 2013 needed to take in $300 million just to make the top 25. Ten years ago, in 2004, an aspiring hedge fund kingpin only had to grab $30 million to enter the industry’s top 25 elite. But the real enormity of America’s annual hedge fund jackpots only comes into focus when we contrast these windfalls with the rewards that go to ordinary Americans. Kindergarten teachers, for instance. The 157,800 teachers of America’s little people , the Bureau of Labor Statistics tells us, together make  about $8.34 billion a year .   Hedge fund America’s top four earners alone last year grabbed $10.4 billion. From Moyers & Company's Sam Pizzigati: Hedge fund billionaires are indeed investing  colossal millions  in charters...