StickWithANose

The structural adjustment programs forced down the throat of debtor nations during the 1990’s were an abysmal failure that amounted to little more than the looting of impoverished economies by the West. Yet, the model is still alive and well today here within the borders of the US of A. The model is quite simple. Employ tactical resources and political leverage at failing, dysfunctional governments in the midst of economic crisis in order to force through policies that turn over strategic areas of the state’s institutional mandate to the private sphere that will then reap steady profits from government coffers for years to come. From the Mercury News, we see how this model is playing out in California’s [manufactured] crisis as the charter corp.’s are now making even greater in-roads: [H/T Schools Matter]

Schwarzenegger’s deep ties to the charter school movement haven’t been a secret. He has taken at least $1 million in contributions from charter school advocates, stacked the State Board of Education with charter school educators, overseen since taking office in 2003 more than a doubling in the number of charter schools and steered hundreds of millions of construction bond money to charter schools.

“One can say that the charter school lobby has defined how the governor tries to craft school reform,” said Bruce Fuller, director of the Policy Analysis for California Education at UC Berkeley. “Because he’s got well-heeled donors that remain very supportive of charter schools, it’s a no-brainer for the governor, given his affection for market remedies.” [...]

EdVoice board members have rewarded Schwarzenegger, contributing at least $1 million to his various campaign committees.

Eli Broad, a co-founder of EdVoice and billionaire Los Angeles developer who has run a Superintendent Academy, which trains CEOs how to run schools, has contributed $430,000 to Schwarzenegger.

Don Fisher, the late Gap founder and a co-founder of EdVoice, and his family have donated $245,000 to Schwarzenegger, and Netflix founder Reed Hastings, also a co-founder of EdVoice, gave $251,491 in stock to the Proposition 1A-1E campaign pushed by Schwarzenegger this year.

Many of the same donors are beginning to bring Romero, the Los Angeles senator who is pushing Schwarzenegger-backed Race to the Top legislation, into their orbit. Romero, who is running for state superintendent of public instruction, has received at least $72,000 from various members of the EdVoice board, including $13,000 from Broad’s wife, Edyth, and $6,500 from Hastings.

The Fisher family, deeply involved in school reform causes, has contributed $45,500 to her campaign.

As the California budget continues to crash, funding will continue to be cut from public schooling, and what you see here is how the state is planning on dealing with those cuts. The goal is to privatize as much as possible so as to save money in overall expenditures. Of course, you get what you pay for…