Welcome to Cashing in on Kids, a weekly email newsletter for people fed up with the privatization of America’s public schools—produced by In the Public Interest.
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Separate but equal redux? Education historian Diane Ravitch reports that leading figures in Minnesota’s charter school lobby are proposing a constitutional amendment to enable segregated schools.
“A number of its charters are segregated by race and ethnicity, intentionally so, because the charter industry believes that segregation is culturally affirming. This situation led to a lawsuit to assure the rights of children of color in the state. So now leading figures in the state charter lobby want to pass an amendment to the state constitution that would make segregated schools acceptable, while adding that school quality would be determined by standardized tests.” Diane Ravitch’s Blog
Former Obama White House advisor accused of stealing from charter school he founded. Seth Andrew is facing criminal charges alleging he used funds from Democracy Prep Public Schools to get a favorable home mortgage interest rate. CNBC
How we’re fighting back
California online charter school bill moves on. A California bill to close legal loopholes that were exposed by a rash of online charter school scandals has been advanced out of the Assembly Education Committee. The San Diego Tribune
How a Florida school improved test scores with a community approach. Journalist Jeff Bryant reports on the dramatic turnaround at Gibsonton Elementary School, a community school that has worked with its local community to support its students and families. AlterNet
The end of common enrollment in Oakland. Last Friday, Parents United for Public Schools wrote, “In 2020, families, teachers and grassroots organizations came together and won 3 of the 4 open School Board seats, and last night we had our first real evidence of how important local elections are.” Parents United for Public Schools
Take action
Join the Center for University Education at Brookings and the Coalition for Community Schools for a public forum on May 12, 2021 3:00 PM – 4:30 PM ET. Both will share promising practices for using new federal funding to expand community schools. Brookings
Photo by Allison Shelley for EDUimages.