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.
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.
ReplyDeleteOur 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?