Cashing in on Kids is In the Public Interest’s pick of recent news in the privatization of public education. Not a subscriber? Sign up. Make sure to like us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter.
Here’s why communities of color are increasingly rejecting charter schools.Education writer Jeff Bryant: “For decades, a wave of state takeovers of school districts overseeing tens of thousands of students has stripped elected school boards in [African American and Latinx] communities of their governing power and denied voters the right to local governance of their public schools. These state takeovers have been happening almost exclusively in African American and Latinx school districts—many of the same communities that have experienced decades of economic decline, high unemployment, and underinvestment in schools.” Alternet
Wondering how you can become a multimillionaire courtesy of taxpayers?Arizona State Rep. Eddie Farnsworth, who recently pocketed $13.9 million from selling off a chain of charter schools, shows you how in five easy steps. AZ Central
A charter school in a mall?A Colorado school district has rejected plans to house a new charter school in an old Macy’s. “District administrators and members of the District Accountability Committee raised numerous concerns about the proposal at a Nov. 14 board meeting, including the governance model, finances, not providing transportation for students and the location being in close proximity to marijuana dispensaries and alcohol outlets such as a Hooters restaurant.” The Gazette
Deja vu. Louisiana’s former education superintendent has accepted a six-figure contract to consult the school system in Puerto Rico. Paul Pastorek, who led the effort to turn New Orleans’s schools into charter schools after Hurricane Katrina, will make $250 an hour through next year on the island, which recently signed a law allowing charter schools. Nola.com
Virtual charter school spends big. Leaders of Oklahoma’s largest virtual charter school contributed at least $145,000 total to the campaigns of more than 50 candidates this year. Epic Virtual is on pace to be the same size as the fourth or fifth largest school district in Oklahoma this year, and it enrolls students living in every county. “Their giving may indicate an impending push for laws allowing the school to further expand,” said a state lawmaker and former teacher. Oklahoma Watch