Charter school supporters are hypocritical and misleading (AL.com)
By Guest opinion
on September 15, 2015 at 9:28 AM, updated September 15, 2015 at 9:30 AM
By Larry Lee
The legislative supermajority in Montgomery would have us believe that when they conjure up education policy like the Alabama Accountability Act or the charter school bill they retreat to a darkened room with their Ouija board and magically re-appear with ideas they alone thought up.
But evidence increasingly shows this tale is as plausible as telling us that every night an army of fairies flutters across Alabama exchanging money for teeth first-graders leave under their pillow.
Truth is, the same folks who invoke "Alabama values" at the drop of a hat are getting their marching orders from a Washington DC think tank when it comes to school children in Alabama. What makes this all the more incredulous is these legislators are people who decry Washington intrusion--while endorsing Montgomery intrusion on local governments and school boards.
Case in point--the similarities between the charter school bill recently rejected by the state of Washington Supreme Court as unconstitutional, "model" charter legislation churned out the American Legislative Exchange Council and Alabama Senate Bill 45 passed last spring.
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One of their nine task forces deals with education policy. They support voucher programs like the Alabama Accountability Act, tax credits for parents who send their children to private schools and charters schools. In short, anything that results in more education privatization.
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more: http://www.al.com/opinion/index.ssf/2015/09/charter_school_supporters_are.html#incart_river