Web Search powered by Yahoo! SEARCH
Thanks for reminding us of Whittle's Edison Schools fiasco. Privatization of public education money is a recipe for corruption that benefits only elite multimillionaires and the politicians they own. Vouchers and the edu-reform business in NOT about OUR children.
Edison has drained taxpayer money in FL and NY with no accountability and a failed education model. Parents in NYC tracked its web of taxpayer bailouts by tracing Edison's Chris Cerf, CEO in FL who bankrupted Edison. Jeb Bush as governor pulled a Jimmy Hoffa move by stealing, I mean "borrowing" from the state retirement funds to bail out Edison. Hmmm, using public money to bailout corporate fraud and mismanagement? Sounds strikingly familiar... http://nycpublicschoolparents.blogspo...
"A little background: Cerf was originally employed by Edison Schools, a for-profit charter management chain, between May 1997 until April 2005, rising to be the President and COO of the company. Though in many cases they used pressure tactics to charge districts more than average per pupil funding for their services, Edison utterly failed to make a profit or to create effective schools.The company was eventually saved from bankruptcy when it was taken private in 2003, in a buyout by a private company called Liberty Partners, a deal facilitated by Jeb Bush, who as Governor of Florida, invested billions of the state teacher’s pension fund in the company at the same time."
Read the entire post on Cerf and prepare for similar schemes to be cooked up in TN with our money: no transparency and no accountability for the little people.
Why is McIntyre pursuing reforms that do nothing for children and classrooms but will make private contractors rich on our tax dollars? Merit pay has NEVER worked. He is ignoring years of independent research. The National Center on Performance Incentives at Vanderbilt University published the findings of a rigorous study (2010) in which teachers were given a $15,000 bonus if test scores rose. Results? NO Effects. Teachers are working as hard as they can.
Further, Mcintyer seem wedded to promoting hack reforms. His devotion to TAP is as misguided as his religious zeal for merit pay. The TAP program has never been peer reviewed and all data concocted by the Miliken's TAP/TEAM is fraudulent. But what should we expect from a family of convicted Wall St felons?
Wow! Metro Pulse managed to get a reference from one of the prominent national education bloggers at Schools Matter. The article reveals the code of silence McIntyre has imposed on the Knox County School employees about his reform efforts. http://www.schoolsmatter.info/2011/09...
"we were told ...it was the superintendent's expectation that all KCS staff were to demonstrate "alignment" with his "vision" and policies (although any "vision" or "policy" had yet to be stated) , that we were to make no statements to friends, neighbors, or community members which expressed any doubt regarding or disagreement with his as-yet unstated policies and "vision", and that Knox County was moving in a "new direction" and we could either "get into alignment ("alignment" is one of his favorite buzzwords) or be "left behind" (there was no doubt that this meant "fired")."
Maybe McIntyre thinks his omerta edict might control blowback from Kari Hancock's parent group who are raising objections to his fraudulent use of standardized tests. The fallibility and potential destructive effects of his policies are well known to a national parent group so he won't keep his toxic secrets from parents for very long. http://parentsacrossamerica.org/
Soon McIntyre will be outsourcing the teachers to the cheapest vendor. Human capital is such a drag on profit margins.
Some background on the edu-reform privatization movement will help clarify Broad Trained McIntyre's agenda. It aligns perfectly with the billionaire's boys club (Ravitch, 2010).
http://dissentmagazine.org/article/?a...
http://dissentmagazine.org/online.php?id=504
http://www.schoolsmatter.info/2010/12...
Excellent post. Thank-you. Public schools are the next frontier for privatizers to raid the public coffers.
Ironic that Wamp would question Haslam's ethics as Wamp has his own ethics problems.
http://nashvillecitypaper.com/content...
Correction 1:"Neal:it’s probably worthwhile to give charter schools, which are run by the public school system"
Charter schools are not 'run' by local school systems. They are publicly funded autonomous schools that operate under a contract with the state. They specify a specific population & curriculum they will serve (e.g., from a particular neighborhood,a specialized curricular focus). They do not comply with IDEA mandates to serve all children in special education & often counsel students with behavior problems to return to public schools. The latest comparative study of charters in 14 states showed students at charters performed no better than students in public schools and one third of the schools performed worse than public school counterparts. They drain funds from public schools and are not the silver bullet or education reform.
Correction 2:"Marrero: I think the pre-K thing, in particular, was a bad move. Now that’s $25 million we have to come up with every year whether or not the program seems to be successful."
Early childhood education has been researched for many years. Outcomes show it is effective in both immediate gains and in long term outcomes for children across all economic groups. Education is an investment in the future which benefits all of us by developing an educated workforce. The right wing & republicans have been misrepresenting the efficacy of early childhood education for 20 years and should be challenged directly on this claim.
Head scratcher:Stacey Campfield a stand-out??? Johnson must not rent from Stacey.
