Arne Duncan is enacting education policies of Newt Gingrich. That is so wrong.

[madfloridian]

In 2009 Arne Duncan went on a road trip with Newt Gingrich and Al Sharpton. They preached the policies that Newt Gingrich had long been advocating. There has been very little concern about that because it is happening under a Democratic administration.


Picture courtesy of Black Agenda Report

So what are Newt Gingrich's dreams of education reform? When you see them in black and white text there can be no doubt that his dreams are being fulfilled right now. To me that's a shame. An even worse shame is that few are taking a stand against these reforms.

Arne Duncan draws "line in the sand". Supports education policies of Gingrich.

Gingrich's education reforms with sources.

Introduce competition among schools and teachers

We should apply the free enterprise system to our education system by introducing competition among schools, administrators, and teachers. Our educators should be paid based on their performance and held accountable based on clear standards with real consequences. These ideas are designed to stimulate thinking beyond the timid “let’s do more of the same” that has greeted every call for rethinking math and science education.
Source: Gingrich Communications website, www.newt.org Dec 1, 2006

Support charters; insist on change for failing schools
We should encourage the spread of public charter schools--one of the happiest new developments on the education scene--so parents, educators, & students working together can enjoy the maximum freedom to explore options and innovations until every child has a genuine opportunity to learn. As a corollary of this, we must identify the worst schools. We should insist on immediate change for bad schools. To start with, there should be no tenure and no binding contracts in the worst 20% of schools.Source: Lessons Learned the Hard Way, by Newt Gingrich, p.208 Jul 2, 1998

Private scholarships for students at hopeless schools (aka Vouchers)

If there were families left without an acceptable public school, scholarships should be available for them to find a private one. I am a graduate of a public school, as are my wife and two daughters. All of us remain committed to the idea of public education. However, if the available public school is one that gives parents legitimate worry for their children’s future, there ought to be alternative to having to stand helplessly watching an incompetent bureaucracy destroy their children’s lives.
Source: Lessons Learned the Hard Way, by Newt Gingrich, p.209 Jul 2, 1998

As a result of the bipartisan consensus on education "reform" many hundreds of millions of dollars are now going to charter schools run by private companies, to private schools, and even to private religious schools. These funds are being diverted from public schools as taxpayer dollars are shifted to the private sector.

Here is more from Gingrich. This one is stunning. He wants to replace "muliticulturalism" with "patriotic" education.....as if the two can be easily separated.

Newt Gingrich an education

Replace multiculturalism with patriotic education

In the classroom, the very concept of America is under assault. The traditional notion of our country as a union of one people, the American people, has been assaulted by multiculturalism, situational ethics, and a values-neutral model in which Western values and American history are ignored or ridiculed. Unless we act to reverse this trend, our next generation will grow up with no understanding of core American values. This will destroy America as we know it, as surely as if a foreign conqueror had overwhelmed us. It is absolutely necessary to establish a firm foundation of patriotic education upon which further knowledge can be built; otherwise, Americans will lack understanding of American values & how important & great it is to be an American.

It is important to understand what makes America so unique and why generations of diverse people immigrated to this great land for freedom and opportunity. If Americans do not appreciate America, then how can they be ready and willing to defend her?
Source: Rediscovering God in America, by Newt Gingrich, p.133-134 Dec 31, 2006

It's amazing how Newt Gingrich's ideas are now permeating our education system. That's why he was along on the road trip. These ideas were his babies.

[madfloridian]

1. Not just Gingrich. Arne's reforms supported by Paul Ryan as well.

From an open letter to the president in 2012

http://www.good.is/posts/an-open-letter-to-president-obama-from-bill-ayers

First he congratulates the president on his win. Then he says:

The landscape of “educational reform” is currently littered with rubble and ruin and wreckage on all sides. Sadly, your administration has contributed significantly to the mounting catastrophe. You’re not alone: The toxic materials have been assembled as a bipartisan endeavor over many years, and the efforts of the last several administrations are now organized into a coherent push mobilized and led by a merry band of billionaires including Bill Gates, Michael Bloomberg, Sam Walton, and Eli Broad.

..."You and Secretary Arne Duncan—endorsed in your efforts by Newt Gingrich, Paul Ryan, and a host of reactionary politicians and pundits—now bear a major responsibility for that agenda.

The three most trumpeted and simultaneously most destructive aspects of the united “school reform” agenda are these: turning over public assets and spaces to private management; dismantling and opposing any independent, collective voice of teachers; and reducing education to a single narrow metric that claims to recognize an educated person through a test score. While there’s absolutely no substantive proof that this approach improves schooling for children, it chugs along unfazed—fact-free, faith-based reform at its core, resting firmly on rank ideology rather than any evidence whatsoever.

[awoke_in_2003]

6. Also supported by the president...

He serves at the pleasure of the president, so Obama must agree with his plans. Both sides our out to get us.

[YoungDemCA]

7. Careful there...

You wouldn't want to be accused of subverting a "Democratic President's agenda" by the Usual Suspects, would you?

[KoKo]

10. One wonders how folks like Arne Duncan manage to get to Policy Tops...

until one digs into the weeds.

It's truly disgusting.

K&R

[NCarolinawoman]

15. Another private school guy.

It's a true brotherhood.

All seem to love Bill Gates and his asinine ideas.

They need some fresh air in that department. How about some actual teachers from PUBLIC schools?!!!!

[madfloridian]

17. When both parties are on board....

it's likely public schools will be left out in the cold..away from decision making, away from policy formation.

The education community is being marginalized. It's sickening.

[yeoman6987]

30. Get rid of the testing

I think the worst thing educators did was to implement testing as a way to evaluate success. So stupid. Teachers started teaching for the test (not that they wanted too) and if the students didn't do well they were screwed. Not only did they make non English Students take the test, but also students who do not do well on tests. So instead of being positive and helpful, they made the teachers have a "fail" start right away.

[MrMickeysMom]

2. Fascism knows no partisan boundaries, unfortunately...

And Arne Duncan has been touting the route to privatization since he was appointed. It's a bad model, and robs school districts of needed funding, and it REEKS of fascism.

Contract on America---->>>>> WRONG

Privatization of Education-->>> JUST AS WRONG

[madfloridian]

3. Exactly, both are wrong.

Contract on America---->>>>> WRONG

Privatization of Education-->>> JUST AS WRONG

[madrchsod]

28. he was practicing his philosophy on the students and teachers in chicago

he did such a good job in chicago obama brought him to the nation. b-ball friends for life!

for those who do not know..duncan`s kids went to 25,000 dollars per kid private school.

[MrMickeysMom]

43. Privatization… It figures...

Corporate shill…

Vouchers, Charter Schools… lying, cheating and pretending this is a good thing for America's public school systems.

[Luminous Animal]

4. Kick.

[madfloridian]

9. Thanks.

I guess there's not much to say when we are actually seeing Gingrich policies enacted before our very eyes. Probably why this drops so fast.

[sabrina 1]

21. I think it was hard to accept that our party was so aligned with the Republican party

on so many issues for a while. I remember the first time I saw Gingrich and Hillary together AFTER all the impeachment mess, and couldn't believe that she would, in any way, associate with someone who had spent years trying to 'get' her husband impeached. Then I read that Murdoch was throwing a party for Hillary and I was even more confused.

Fox was the leading propaganda machine against Clinton and here was Murdoch, throwing a party for Hillary! And then there was the Bush/Clinton alliance, a real slap in the face to those of us who had spent years defending them AGAINST Bush supporters.

I can't say how many years it took before I finally began to put the pieces together. As George Carlin said 'It's a big club and you ain't in it'. Well, I never wanted to be in it, but to see the people we had trusted and defended betray all of us the way they did, was very hard to accept.

Gingrich, and to think we elected Dems to rid the country of their influence only to find we were pwn'd. Now what do we do?

[madfloridian]

23. This paragraph is so very true...hit home with me.

I can't say how many years it took before I finally began to put the pieces together. As George Carlin said 'It's a big club and you ain't in it'. Well, I never wanted to be in it, but to see the people we had trusted and defended betray all of us the way they did, was very hard to accept.

The betrayal of teachers and public education is not without serious consequences.

[El_Johns]

34. Yeah, normal people don't act that way. The last thing I'd do would be to attend a party thrown

by someone who'd publicly humiliated my spouse, but I guess they all know it's just a show for the rubes.

[YoungDemCA]

5. Cabinet Secretaries are appointed by the President, of course...

Just something for everyone to keep in mind.

[bvar22]

8. Oh NO!!! This has GOT to be those Obstructionst Republicans,

Besides, we don't have 60 votes in the Senate,

but if those don't work,

there is always this:

It is ALL Joe Lieberman's fault.
He is a Big Bully who is ruining everything for everybody.
It is horrible.
There is NOTHING we can Dooooo.

Hey.
Worked before.

[progressoid]

44. And don't forget...

it could have been President McCain or President Romney!!1!

[mfcorey1]

11. He is the one person in the administration who I find troubling. Many educational

policies are being changed without college students finding out until they encounter it in registration. My daughter applied for financial aid recently and was denied because the college said that the Dept of Ed has a new policy that her transfer hours are considered electives and the Department will not pay for her next classes if any are electives. It is confusing and the college's financial aid admin said it was something that has been recently changed. Let's not even talk about Sallie Mae where the older daughter just received notice that her payments are increasing by three hundred dollars with no explanation.

[madfloridian]

14. That's a terrible mess. Did not realize they were changing rules in middle of game.

How can one get through college years without electives of some kind?

That's awful. Haven't done much research on college level "reforms". Need to catch up on them.

[sabrina 1]

22. He is just one of the many people in this administration I find troubling.

This administration has appointed more Republicans to its cabinet than any other I am aware of. Gates and Clapper and Alexander, not to mention the Bush Generals, and so many others. Where are the progressives in this administration? The love affair with Republicans is extremely troubling.

I am sorry about your daughters. Sorry you have experienced the direct results of right wing policies which I thought we had voted to eliminate. Instead they were enhanced.

NCLB was bad enough, now it's even worse, for the people. For the rulers of the country it has been a windfall.

Don't know what can be done about it. We did what we thought would solve some of the problems, we elected Democrats. Now what?

[WillyT]

12. K & R !!!

[madfloridian]

13. Hi WillyT

Thx for k & r. It's hard to get education posts noticed usually.

They are validating Newt Gingrich right before our eyes. Scary stuff.

And still no top Dems defending public school teachers.

[liberal_at_heart]

16. K&R

[Starry Messenger]

18. K&R

[Sognefjord]

19. Duncan should have been replaced by someone with actual experience in public education.

[Egalitarian Thug]

20. K&R. Keep the Goldman-Sachs administration's actions and appointees in the spotlight. n/t

[xchrom]

24. du rec.

[Enthusiast]

25. Recommended X 1000!

[Frustratedlady]

31. This makes me ill. I see how demoralized my daughter and granddaughters are

over the changes already made and how they resent all the paperwork, testing and interference with what had been a progressive program before NCLB and government input. Now, instead of looking forward to each day, they are counting the days to retirement. They come home like they are old women, eat dinner and go to bed to get up the next day to the same old/same old.

Public schools must accept any and all students whereas contract schools can pick/choose. Even at that, there are more contract schools failing than public. I don't want my tax dollars to go for chits for contract schools. I want it to go to public schools.

How many more closings/failures/bankruptcies of contract schools will it take before the government catches on this was a failed idea to begin with? How many more generations of students will it take to pull out and let the communities run their own schools? By closing public schools (which I assume is this experiment's goal) they are not only graduating students that do not have a rounded education, but are shutting down community spirit to work together and encourage students to achieve.

Having Gingrich onboard makes me ill. How much is he getting paid for this charade? His opinion has never mattered to me until now. He is a snake-oil salesman and does not need to be involved with the education of any of my grandchildren. This is scary, scary news.

[Enthusiast]

33. It is deeply disturbing.

[madrchsod]

26. it`s the grifter`s club!

[vi5]

27. Jeez, what Republican appointed this guy?

Oh, wait........sorry.

I mean..."OBSTRUCTIONIST REPUBLICANS!!!!! PRESIDENT PALIN!!! PRESIDENT RYAN!!!.....THE PRESIDENT ISN"T A DICTATOR YOU KNOW!!!!"

[Solly Mack]

29. K&R

[MannyGoldstein]

32. Arne Duncan hates evidence:

"If Massachusetts were a country, its eighth graders would rank second in the world in science, behind only Singapore, according to Timss — the Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study, which surveys knowledge and skills of fourth and eighth graders around the world. (The most recent version, in 2011, tested more than 600,000 students in 63 nations.)

Massachusetts eighth graders also did well in mathematics, coming in sixth, behind Korea, Singapore, Taiwan, Hong Kong and Japan. The United States as a whole came in 10th in science and 9th in math, with scores that were above the international average."

- Expecting the Best Yields Results in Massachusetts, NY Times 9/2/2013

Isn't it strange that while Massachusetts' dreaded PUBLIC SCHOOLS achieve academic results that are among the very best in the world, Duncan and the rest of the Goldman-Sachs Posse in the White House would rather spray cash at unproven private-sector stuff than copy what we know works?

And isn't it interesting that we're told that US education sucks, despite our actually being one of the better countries when we actually measure results?

One. Giant. @#$%ing. Scam.

[El_Johns]

35. Not only that, all the other countries are being told the same thing.

The same scam is being run in most countries. "Oh, we're failing, look at our scores compared to X".

It's very weird.

[msanthrope]

37. Missed you!!! nt

[msanthrope]

36. Black Agenda Report?????? You've been warned about their loony racism before....

http://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=view_post&forum=1002&pid=2198548

(warning....link contains racist language from source.)

I think it takes away from your arguments when you use racist sources.

[bvar22]

45. Hey Everybody!!! Look Over THERE!!!!

Don't pay attention to those who only want to tear down a loyal patriot like Arne Duncan,
and especially do NOT pay any attention to the documentation of the claims being made about the horrible nature of his Policies, his track record,
and the diverting our Education funds to the private pockets of the well connected.

Look Over THERE instead!!!!
Its RACIST!!!!

[msanthrope]

47. Black Agenda Report is horribly racist....and madflo has been warned about this before. So why,

if she's looking to make a cogent point about Arne Duncan, would she continue to use an undeniably racist source????

I've never understood that persuasive technique--- this insistence that one should step over racism, sexism, or homophobia and humor racists, sexists, or homophobes with debate.

[bvar22]

52. Well, lets go take a look:

[font size=3]white racism[/font]
Freedom Rider: Black Faces for White People
Tue, 10/29/2013 - 23:36 — Margaret Kimberley


Halloween brings out the worst, in the worst white folks. “What was an enjoyable time to dress up in costume has become the white racist moment to act out sick fantasy.” The bigots would like their version of Halloween to last all year. “A return to the good old days of slavery, colonial violence, invasions and occupations is something they pine for quite openly.”

http://www.blackagendareport.com/category/african-america/white-racism

Tea Party Racist
American Conservative Politics and the Long Shadow of Slavery
Mon, 11/25/2013 - 23:02 — Elizabeth Anderson

Racism has always been central to the politics of the Right. “Not only the content, but the style and emotional register of conservative politics have been constant” since the birth of the Republic. Today’s “conservatives” are more polite than their predecessors, but white supremacy remains the message.

http://www.blackagendareport.com/category/african-america/tea-party-racist

Racist Pot Prosecution in Louisiana

by Bill Quigley

"Although whites and Blacks use marijuana at roughly equal rates, Blacks are far more likely to be arrested for possession. In Louisiana, the racial bias in prosecution is extreme. “In Tangipahoa Parish, blacks are 11.8 times more likely to be arrested for marijuana than whites and in St. Landry Parish the rate of black arrests for marijuana is 10.7 times as likely as whites.”

http://blackagendareport.com/content/racist-pot-prosecution-louisiana

environmental racism
No Fear: The Marsha Coleman Adebayo Story Green Lit for Pre-Production
Tue, 11/12/2013 - 13:10 — Anonymous

The gripping personal saga of the struggle that led to passage of the No FEAR Act will soon begin film production. No Fear: The Marsha Coleman-Adebayo Story, reveals the venality, racism and corporate greed that infests the Environmental Protection Agency, endangering the lives of millions in the United States and around the globe.

Racism and Classism Are Alive and Deadly: US Public Policies Create Environmental Injustice
by Margaret Flowers and Kevin Zeese

The non-white poor bear the brunt of industrial environmental degradation, yet are barely represented among those groups that purport to protect the environment. “The failure to include and respect the diversity of voices of those affected by unfair practices is allowing the poisoning and disappearance of whole communities.”

http://www.blackagendareport.com/category/african-america/environmental-racism

criminal justice racism

Black Man Fights Death Sentence Based on Racial Predisposition to Murder

A broad-based campaign is demanding a new sentencing hearing for Duane Buck, who was sentenced to death in a 1997 murder in Houston, Texas. “Testimony was elicited by the trial prosecutor from a psychologist indicating that Mr. Bucks was more likely to be dangerous in the future because he is Black,” said Christina Swarns, of the NAACP Legal Defense and Education Fund. Buck had no prior violent offenses and has not been cited for a single infraction in his 15 years on death row. “People should not be executed based on their race or any other immutable characteristic that has nothing to do with sentencing,” said Swarns.

Dr. Cornel West: Stop U.S. Murders by Drone

“We want our fellow citizens to know that those precious babies who are killed by U.S. drones in Pakistan, Somalia and Yemen have exactly the same value as those priceless white children who were killed in New Town, Connecticut,” said Dr. Cornel West, of the Union Theological Seminary, speaking at the Drone Summit, in Washington, DC. “We will not allow callousness to catastrophe and indifference to criminality to become the norm and routine in America.”

http://blackagendareport.com/category/african-america/criminal-justice-racism

Who decided that the Black Agenda Report is "Racist"?
Do you believe that the documentation of the ongoing Racism in America in an honest and bold manner to be "Racist"?
These were the top 5 hits that came back from Google.
Racist?

Can you tell us more about WHY you label this as Loony Racism?

I agree 100% with every every single story in this sample.
Racist?
Might seem so to some, I guess, but I can't see it.
It looks courageous to me.
Please show me the horrible racism in the above Google samples.

Racist?
because it occasionally criticizes many of the Obama Policies that benefit the (white) 1%?
Could THAT be the problem?

I am going to start checking in with the Black Agenda Report more often.
I haven't really checked out the Black Agenda Report before now,
but found the hits that came back from Google to be well documented and intriguing.


Thanks for the tip.

[msanthrope]

53. Absolutely racist.....

Barack Obama is the antithesis of Black Power, a man who promises with every word he speaks, with every nuance of phrase and body language, and through his voting record as a U.S. Senator, that he personifies the definitive end of Black organized struggle in the United States - a unilateral surrender to white racism. This is his appeal to the white masses: that they will no longer be challenged to confront history, or to relinquish privilege in the present.

Obama's siren song to African Americans is of an entirely different nature. He does not have to sing it; we provide the music, ourselves. The lyrics and melody are actually alien to Obama, but he has heard them off and on in his strange sojourn through life, and senses their power to sway us. He understands that most of us will demand nothing from him - not even elemental allegiance. His "Black" flank, he knows, is covered, while his white "progressive" flank is neutralized and confused by Black failure to recoil at his betrayals of the most basic elements of social democracy. The field is wide open to the greatest opportunist to emerge from melanin-rich ranks in the New Millennium.

Obama has already cashed in on his "Race, but not really, Card" - to the tune of $25 million dollars in contributions in the first three months of this year, three-quarters of it from corporations. This does not happen by accident. Since setting foot in the U.S. Senate, Obama has directed his entire message machine to the task of convincing corporate America that he is a friend who can be counted on to leave the actual Power Game in their hands. One of his first votes was to transfer most class action suits to federal courts, where multi-billion-dollar companies found guilty of race, gender or general employee abuse are fined the equivalent of the millionaire CEO's latest weekend at the casinos in Monaco. In the process of taking class action suits out of state courts, where the penalties to offending corporations have historically been much harsher, Obama voted against an amendment to put a cap of 30 percent on credit card debt charges. A fraction of that multi-billion dollar gift to the most unproductive sector of the economy wound up in his campaign coffers.

http://blackagendareport.com/content/why-barack-obama-needs-whuppin%E2%80%99-honest-abe-he-ain%E2%80%99t

PBO needs a whuppin? Isn't Black enough? This is Cornel West-Tavis Smiley-crazy catfood firebagger shite...Wasn't Palin just talking about the President playing the 'race card?'

I think it's interesting when DUers try to use sources they think represent a racial group to critique this President.

[bvar22]

57. Oh, Well. I see your point.

They criticize President Obama,
so what else could it be but "Racism"?


Cornel West & Tavis Smiley are respected members and spokespersons FOR the Black Community.
If they see something and call it,
I will respect their opinion long before I will respect yours.

Harry Belefonte?
He criticized Obama too.
Obama asked him when he was going to "cut him a break",
and Belefonte responded,
"What makes you think I haven't?"
Must be a racist too!

The entire Congressional Black Caucus wrote President Obama a letter complaining that he wasn't doing enough for the Black Community.
I suppose they are ALL Racists too.

I'll let the DUers reading this thread check the sample I provided in the above post and determine for themselves.
As far as YOUR opinion, well,
you are entitled to it,
but screaming "Racist" every time a black person criticizes Obama does NOTHING for your credibility.

[msanthrope]

58. It is racist to suggest that the President isn't Black enough, or that his White ancestry somehow

affects him negatively.

Neither Mr. Belafonte, nor the CBC ever suggested that.

But Smiley, West, and BAG have.

That makes the former critics, and the latter, racists.

Why on earth would you lump all those people together when their statements have nothing to do with each other? What made you group all those people together???

[bvar22]

59. So you AGREE with Harry Belefonte and the CBC..

..that President Obama hasn't done enough for the Black Community?

That is just another way of saying EXACTLY what Cornell West and the Black Agenda said,
and THAT is precisely WHY I included them.

There really isn't much difference between "not done enough" and "not Black enough",
one is just slightly more "street".


That is a strong admission coming from you,
but I am delighted to see you making some progress.

[msanthrope]

60. This is awesome...now you're going to tell us about the "street?" Please expand

on your definition of what is "street," and what is not.

Extra credit if you cite episodes of "The Wire."

[bvar22]

61. I lived there a long time,

but that doesn't make any difference.

You tell me.
What is the difference between:
"Obama has not done enough for the Black Community"
and
"Obama is not Black enough",
when BOTH statements are from acknowledged spokesmen and long time activists FOR the Black Community?

I will continue to STAND with Cornell West, Tavis Smiley, Harry Belafonte, the CBC,
and the sample excerpts I provided from the Black Agenda.

You have provided ZERO to support YOUR declaration that the Black Agenda is "Horribly Racist" beyond citing ONE article that criticizes Obama, and blindly IGNORING all the other efforts documenting and publicizing ALL the REAL Racism beyond your limited imagination that actually exists in America today.
And on THAT one article, you condemn the WHOLE of the WORKS at The Black Agenda as "Horribly Racist".

So your agenda is clear,
and it is sad you would limit yourself to an impermeable filter that is so blindly restrictive.

[msanthrope]

63. Sure you did. I bet you even have friends from "the streets." Tell us about

them. The names "Stringer Bell" and "Omar" are already taken.

[madfloridian]

38. The UNO scandal in Chicago causes a look back at Duncan's tenure there.

http://janresseger.wordpress.com/2014/01/10/chicagos-uno-charter-scandal-tarnishes-luster-of-arne-duncans-hands-off-strategy/

Now several years into Arne Duncan’s tenure as U.S. Secretary of Education, we continue to learn more about the “Chicago miracle” brought to us by Duncan, the former Chief Executive Officer of the Chicago Public Schools, and the man who has infused into federal education policy the “miracles” of innovation and freedom from too much red tape. These were the signatures of the school reform he presided over in Chicago in the form of Renaissance 2010, a decade-long program that closed public schools and launched a vibrant charter sector.

Questions about the local impact of Duncan’s programs in Chicago have exploded into an enormous scandal around Chicago’s best-known and fastest growing local charter chain, the UNO (United Neighborhood Association) Charter Schools. This week, Chicago Magazine published The Rise and Fall of Juan Rangel, the Patron of Chicago’s UNO Charter Schools, an extraordinary investigation of one of the biggest and supposedly most successful charter empires nurtured throughout Duncan’s tenure as CEO of the Chicago Public Schools.

...UNO began opening charter schools in 1997, benefiting from the array of funding streams available in Chicago to entrepreneurs who wanted to enter the charter sector. According to Chicago Magazine, UNO charter schools have received $280 million in public money in the past five years. “CPS, like many authorizing districts around the country, gives charter operators a guaranteed base allotment per student—in Chicago, that amount currently ranges from $4,140 to $5,130. On top of that, charters get additional public funds for facility rent and maintenance and even more if they teach large numbers of kids who are poor or are learning English (as UNO schools do). And that’s not all: there is a blend of local, state, and federal monies dedicated for lunch programs, special education, teacher training, and a long menu of services. Charters also attract serious dough from certain foundations. The Dell Foundation has given UNO at least $1.5 million, and the Walton Family Foundation has forked over more than $3 million.”

.....According to Cassie Walker Burke: “UNO and its CEO thrived mainly because of gaping loopholes in the charter school system. While UNO has received a staggering $280 million in public money over the past five years to spend on education, neither Chicago Public Schools nor the Illinois State Board of Education provided enough oversight. Without that, insiders say, UNO developed a free-wheeling culture that was ripe for abuse.”

[sabrina 1]

39. Thanks, I hadn't heard about that. How many more Charter school scandals will it take before

even more public funds flow into the hands of private, for profit Corporations?

It really is a disgrace.

Thank you for the OP. The only way it will end is when the public finally has had enough.

[Rex]

40. Arne Duncan is a piece of crap, he is unqualified to make big decisions on education.

Time and again he proves that his goals for education is to destroy it. Why does anyone listen to Repukes? They lie about there being a war on America...unless you include them and THEN you see the only people trying to destroy America are these very same idiots pretending to save it.

[frwrfpos]

41. didnt Obama appoint this right wing asshole?

Correct me if im wrong but Im pretty sure Obama appointed this jackass. He is real good at trying to bust teacher unions and privatize education. And appointed by someone who refers to himself as a Democrat. We are being scammed big time

[polichick]

46. But let's "praise" the president anyway - he must've meant well, right?

He's so smart and so cool and everything.

[Marr]

42. Why is the BOG crowd always absent from these threads? /nt

[polichick]

48. Nothing to contribute I guess.

[ProSense]

50. Maybe they

"Why is the BOG crowd always absent from these threads? "

...don't see the need to keep banging their heads against a brick wall

Before we get into what Obama did and didn't do, let's go over a little background. The umbrella term "charter school” refers to a range of school types, but they have the following traits in common:

• They are public schools with free tuition that don't have to abide by state or school district rules. In practice, this might mean non-unionized teachers, different disciplinary rules, longer school days, and a different curriculum, for example.

• Students choose to enroll in charter schools, often with a random lottery process when schools get oversubscribed.

• In exchange for freedom to operate independent of typical state or district rules, charter schools have specific performance standards they must meet, outlined in a charter. If the school fails, a state or school district -- whichever authorized the school in the first place -- can close it.

• Although they receive public funding, they can also accept private donations.

• They are not religious institutions.

http://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/promises/obameter/promise/246/double-funding-for-federal-charter-school-program-/

http://www.democraticunderground.com/10024360050#post40

[bvar22]

55. Charter Schools are another SCAM to divert money from the Public Treasury...

...into PRIVATE pockets.

I have no problem with "Charter Schools",
[font size=3]as long as they do NOT receive a single penny of Public Money.[/font]

I am sure they have developed the marketing brochure Talking Points that try to make it seem like they aren't really "Private" schools,
but after all is said and done, that turns out NOT to be true.
They are NOT accountable to the public.

We already have a Public School System.
If it is broken, it is our RESPONSIBILITY to FIX IT,
not steal the money from it and give it to our well connected "friends".
If someone wants a Charter School.
let them fund it from Private sources.

[ProSense]

56. LOL!

[bvar22]

62. I didn't think you would have a cogent response,

and would resort to cartoons in the desperate hope that no one at DU is smart enough to see through your "clever" evasion.

[Rex]

54. Dunno, but I would imagine the POTUS would be extremely disappointed in them

if he surfed here and saw the BOG and their ban list. I doubt the POTUS would like an echo chamber with his name on it.

[QC]

64. They don't discuss issues, only personalities.

I do recall one of them giggling over how cute she considered Duncan, though, back in the early days of the administration, when so much of the discussion around here had to do with the relative dreaminess of politicians.

[neverforget]

65. And messengers. Don't forget them for bearing the inconvenient

bad news.

[MisterP]

66. "Cabinet of Rivals"!

[Octafish]

49. What people will do for money.

Especially while in office.

[FloriTexan]

51. Kick