Folks catching on to Charters' failed promise | Secret group wants control of schools (2 fm Alternet [View all]
Reports highlight awful charter schools and people are catching on.
By Jeff Bryant / Salon
Last week when former President Bill Clinton meandered onto the topic of charter schools, he mentioned something about an original bargain that charters were, according to the reporter for The Huffington Post, supposed to do a better job of educating students.
A writer at Salon called the remark stunning because it brought to light the fact that the overwhelming majority of charter schools do no better than traditional public schools. Yet, as the Huffington reporter reminded us, charter schools are rarely shuttered for low academic performance.
. ...
In a real bargaining process, those who bear the consequences of the deal have some say-so on the terms, the deal-makers have to represent themselves honestly (or the deal is off and the negotiating ends), and there are measures in place to ensure everyone involved is held accountable after the deal has been struck.
But thats not whats happening in the great charter industry rollout transpiring across the country. Rather than a negotiation over terms, charters are being imposed on communities either by legislative fiat or well-engineered public policy campaigns. Many charter school operators keep their practices hidden or have been found to be blatantly corrupt. And no one seems to be doing anything to ensure real accountability for these rapidly expanding school operations.
More
http://www.alternet.org/education/great-charter-school-rip-finally-truth-catches-education-reform-phonies?akid=13164.1924881.5Hm_H0&rd=1&src=newsletter1037181&t=7
The Secret Group That Wants to Take Over Your School
Their work behind the scenes is every bit as dangerous for the future of education as ALEC's.
By Sarah Lahm / The Progressive
Dont look now, but theres something creepy coming toward you, and it wants to take over your public school system. Sure, its connectedthrough all-important grantsto many of the big names in todays education reform movement (Gates, Walton, Broad), but most people have probably never heard of it.
This education reform powerhouse is the Center on Reinventing Public Education, which goes by the acronym CRPEor creepy. How fitting. While there are many individuals and organizations on the front lines of the free-market education reform movementfrom Teach for America, to Education Secretary Arne Duncan, to the Recovery School District in New OrleansCRPE has not been publicly outed. Instead, it has steadily carved out an influential role for itself behind the scenes.
In fact, CRPE operates in a manner that is strikingly similar to ALEC (the American Legislative Exchange Council), the secretive, powerful group funded by the Koch brothers and a large roster of corporations. Heres a look at how the two organizations work:
1. Member networks: Both CRPE and ALEC have a secret club component, ...
2. Network meetings: Both CRPE and ALEC host member network meetings or conferences, where a common philosophy (based on a distinct rightwing ideology) is honed, articulated, and shared.
3. Model legislation: ...
4. Free-market funders: Like ALEC, CRPE is funded by very wealthy, free-market-focused special interests, including the Walton Foundation.
One difference is that ALEC has been around since the early 1970s while CRPE is a more recent concoction. University of Washington political science professor Paul T. Hill founded the group in 1993, ...
More
http://www.alternet.org/education/secret-group-wants-take-over-your-school?akid=13164.1924881.5Hm_H0&rd=1&src=newsletter1037181&t=11