StickWithANose

Diane Ravitch has reached the same conclusion as I in regard to where current trends in education reform are leading us. The “free marketeers”  driving the education policies of BOTH political parties are not interested in capitalism and market competition; they seek to create and dominate politicized educational markets. Their primary concern is to establish a direct conduit to public funds, and where it will end is becoming all too clear.

I have a prediction to make: As hundreds and possibly thousands more charter schools open, we will see many financial and political scandals. We will see corrupt politicians and investors putting their hands into the cashbox. We will see corrupt deals where public school space is handed over to entrepreneurs who have made contributions to the politicians making the decisions. We will see many more charter operators pulling in $400,000-500,000 a year for their role, not as principals, but as “rainmakers” who build warm relationships with politicians and investors. When someday we trace back how large segments of our public school system were privatized and how so many millions of public dollars ended up in the pockets of high-flying speculators instead of being used to reduce class size, repair buildings, and improve teacher quality, we will look to the origins of the Race to the Top and to the interlocking group of foundations, politicians, and entrepreneurs who created it.