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Friday, January 3, 2014

Education reformer admits, destruction of teachers unions is the goal.

Ugh, I will just get right to the horses mouth, Doug Tuthill who already takes millions from Florida tax payers through Step up for Students, Florida’s voucher program wrote in Jeb Bush’s blog ReDefined Ed: 

Jeb Bush offered the nation’s teacher unions a grand bargain: “If unions released their grip on political levers, and parental choice was absolute, many public school reforms would be unnecessary because the desired results would be achieved through market forces.”

Eventually, teachers unions will accept this deal and embrace full parental empowerment in exchange for full teacher empowerment, but only after membership nationally slips below 25 percent. With market share in the low twenties, financial necessity will force unions to expand their business model to include educators working in charter, private and virtual schools.


He doesn’t mention that teachers at charter schools and private schools typical make less and pay more for their benefits than their public school counterparts. Let alone how they don’t perform better. Nor does he mention all the money sucked out of classrooms that vouchers and charter schools do. His step up for students takes out nearly 7 million annually. Also I don't know of anything but employers threatening teachers jobs that stops teachers from organizing at charter schools and private schools. Oh wait, yeah.

Then this stalwart of free market capitalism goes on to criticize public schools that have decided to compete against private and charter schools. He wrote in the same article:  Pinellas County Superintendent Mike Grego is “studying the number and location of charter and private schools” in the district to fine tune his strategy for recapturing lost market share. “I believe as a public school system we ought to compete,” he said.

Part of Grego’s strategy includes putting new magnet programs in closed school buildings so he won’t be pressured to sell these buildings to charter school operators.

That this will waste tax dollars by creating excess capacity in several neighboring district schools is apparently not a concern.

School districts should not be competing for market share.

Oy vey, so let me sum up, he wants unions to be forced into a position of irrelevancy while attempting to get private entities to throw their members nickels and he thinks competition should just be one way. This is who we are up against, he all but admits the destruction of unions and public schools is his goal. 

1 comment:

  1. I live in the Greater New Orleans Metropolitan area in a state now controlled by one of Bush's shills (former TFA now Chiefs for Change John White) who, by virtue of our Governor, controls 9:2 our state board of education.

    Our Recovery School District is, after 8 or so years of statutorial control of most New Orleans schools, just moments away from "selling off" the last two traditional public schools under state control. The illusion has been created thatRSD charter boards can choose to revert back to Orleans Parish School Board supervision (district elected school board that retained control of about 17 schools, mostly charters now, after Katrina). Only a couple have made that choice but with contracts that allow them continued "autonomy." Therein lies my theory that the plan for future governance will transform public school districts to systems with elected school boards to give the illusion and satisfy the definition of "public" but those boards will defer to charter autonomy and serve only as administrators for the free market,competitive assemblage of charters. Non elected boards of directors will still oversee each school or will be replaced by their "non profit" management companies as individual boards will no longer be needed. Our Orleans Parish School Board is well on its way to becoming the first of this governance model having fooled district voters into electing several reformers last election in order to accomplish this. This appointment of a new district superintendent is in the process and will be key to moving this plan forward. Even if the public does see this and wants to prevent it, will they now have any control to stop it?

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