Cashing in on Kids is In the Public Interest‘s pick of recent news about the privatization of public education and the parents, students, teachers, and communities fighting back.
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“Public-Private Virtual-School Partnerships.” George Mason University’s Mercatus Center, funded by the libertarian Koch Family Foundations, is calling for deregulation of public education to allow for a dramatic expansion in online schooling. Mercatus Center
The National Education Policy Center reviewed the Mercatus Center’s argument: “This recommendation runs counter to a solid body of evidence documenting the shortcomings of this online approach.”
Never let a crisis go to waste. The Heritage Foundation, which led the charge in privatizing New Orlean’s public schools in the wake of Hurricane Katrina, is plugging online school too. The Heritage Foundation
The unregulated world of online charter schools. Historian and retired Oklahoma City teacher John Thompson exposes the unregulated world of online charter schools: “After years of failing to regulate charters, especially online and for-profit charters, Oklahoma is just one state that illustrates how hard it is to catch up and hold virtual schools accountable for either education outcomes or financial transactions.” The Progressive
“I feel like I’m being intimidated, and it’s just not right.” A whistleblower teacher who revealed to news media that a North Carolina charter school was forcing him to report to work during the state’s stay-at-home order has been put on leave. WRAL
Oakland rallies against charter school co-locations. Parents, teachers, students, and school employees in Oakland, California, are calling on the local school board to stop permanent school closures, mergers, and charter school co-locations. The Oakland Post
“Now that the entire country has had a stiff dose of distance learning, its faults are showing.“ Education historian Diane Ravitch on the crisis: “From the view of students, what I hear is that they are bored, they miss their friends, they miss their teachers, and they miss the activities that happen in school.” The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
(Photo by Brad Flickinger)