FL budget: $133-$1,000 per charter student, $18 per public school student

[yurbud]

If Democrats want to rebuild a lasting majority instead of falling in and out of power by razor thin wins and losses, they could break with the privatizers of public education unequivocally and permanently.

Most people send their kids to public schools, and a lot are realizing that charters steal money from regular schools as this budget shows. Almost as many realize they don't necessarily do a better job--they just get to pick the best students.

On education at least, Democrats need to put good policy ahead of their Wall St. donors.

In working out a proposed state budget deal in the wee hours of the morning, state House and Senate leaders divvied up Public Education Capital Outlay money for such things as repairs and renovation this way:

* $4.7 million, or $1,000 per student, for Florida Lab Schools, a small group of schools connected with universities across the state. They have about 4,700 students.

* $1.6 million, or about $133 per student, for Polk charter schools. They have about 12,000 students.

* $1.5 million, or about $18 per student, for the Polk County School District. It
has about 85,000 students, not counting those in charter schools.

https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2014/4/30/1296034/-FL-budget-133-per-charter-student-18-per-public-school-student

[Hermit-The-Prog]

1. education and health care

The primary purpose of national government is to protect the nation. The primary component of a nation is the citizen. We provide a national defense but are failing to protect citizens by underfunding education and health care.

Strange that the cold war was won by throwing money at the problem but there's always the argument that money won't solve education ailments.

Use public funds for public purposes.

[CrispyQ]

2. 21st Century Feudalism - that's the goal.

Health care, education, leisure time, that & all the other fine things of life, will be for the ruling class only.

[jmowreader]

3. In most states they cant pick their student bodies

They can, however, expel anyone they want on the flimsiest of pretexts.

[d_r]

4. our state

doesn't fund charter school buildings. They get the same per student as the county schools, but the county schools get county tax dollars for buildings.

Also, in our state they can not pick or choose students, they have to lottery. In our county, if a student starts the year in a charter school they can not change to a county school for the rest of that school year, so the charters can not "dismiss" students.

[stuffmatters]

5. It's downright obscene

[Blue_Tires]

6. What, you mean charter schools are a racket?

I thought this was well-trod territory from the time that Michelle Rhee was a household name?

[appalachiablue]

7. Pls. that name, I remember the woman and her 'work' too well...

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michelle_Rhee

[Hortensis]

8. Yurbud, DEMOCRATS are behind charter schools now?

For our "Wall Street donors?"

What's next?

Are we plotting to profitize the VA for our "Wall Street donors"?

Are we plotting new tax cuts for our "Wall Street donors?"

Are we taking screaming, terrified children away from their parents at the brown-skin border to boost detention camp profits for our "Wall Street donors"?

Is there anything Democrats WON'T do for our "Wall Street Donors?"

[yurbud]

9. So because Democrats are nicer on immigration we should ignore their betrayal on education?

[Hortensis]

10. Nancy Pelosi on education. She's discussed so

much these days, people will be interested in her stand, which she posts for all of us:

Education

Nothing brings more revenue to the Treasury than an investment in our children’s education whether it is early childhood, K-12, higher education, post graduate, or lifetime learning. We must ensure that access to a high-quality education is the right of every student, not just the privileged few. House Democrats are working to expand educational opportunities for every student by strengthening our schools, expanding early childhood education initiatives, and modernizing our classrooms. At the same time, we must work to reduce the achievement gap, create opportunities for students to attain higher education, and make sure that we have the best trained, most qualified teachers in the world.

In strengthening our education system, we will create a thriving, 21st century workforce that will lead emerging industries and ensure America remains a leading economic power on the world stage.

WHAT DEMOCRATS ARE DOING

Early Education

Early childhood learning programs have proven to be one of the most valuable investments in our children’s future, dramatically increasing their ability to succeed later in school and in life. House Democrats are dedicated to investing in teacher and classroom quality, focusing on school readiness, implementing universal pre-kindergarten programs, and making Head Start and Early Head Start available to more children.

Investing in Head Start: For more than 40 years, the Head Start initiative has helped more than 20 million low-income children and families reach kindergarten ready to learn and succeed. House Democrats remain committed to strengthening Head Start and expanding access so more children and families can benefit from its comprehensive efforts to improve school readiness.
Expanding and improving early learning opportunities: House Democrats introduced the Strong Start for America’s Children Act, a bold, 10-year federal-state partnership to support Head Start and other services for infants through four year olds, including strong parent and family engagement, nutrition, health care, and child care.
Supporting affordable child care: As part of our “When Women Succeed, America Succeeds” economic agenda for women and families, House Democrats are working to support and fund affordable quality child care, the linchpin of a working mother’s success in the workplace: children learning, parents earning.

K-12 Education

Five decades after Brown v. Board of Education, we still do not offer all children the same educational opportunities. In addition to the achievement gap between low-income and minority children and their peers, American students suffer from a second kind of achievement gap when compared globally. Even in this period of shrinking federal, state and local budgets, we must work together to ensure that our classrooms are centers of academic excellence and to ensure a strong education is a right afforded to every student. House Democrats are committed to:

Investing in STEM: Investments in STEM programs will support our students and teachers by providing them with the skills and resources needed to succeed by training a workforce ready to lead in clean energy, health care, and the innovative industries of tomorrow.
Supporting our teachers: Studies show that teachers are the most important factor in determining the success of students. For teachers and school leaders, it is critical to increase access to the necessary tools to do their jobs and create working conditions that support student success, which includes providing much-needed resources, offering professional development, targeted training, and the time to collaborate with students and one another.

Improve No Child Left Behind: There is a clear need to improve and strengthen NCLB to reflect current best educational practices, protect students’ rights, and guarantee a world-class education to all students regardless of background or zip code. Democrats want to see reform that:
Ensures states set high-standards and goals to ensure students graduate from high school and college career ready.
Provides states more flexibility to craft their own accountability systems while ensuring schools remain accountable for all students.
Supports a professional environment for teachers and school leaders through modern, locally-driven evaluation systems.
Provides additional resources and improves access to those resources to support much-needed school initiatives through economically difficult times.

Higher Education

Our nation’s colleges and universities are the centers of the groundbreaking research, innovation, and opportunity that give America’s students an opportunity to achieve their goals. Unfortunately, the skyrocketing cost of college is forcing many students and graduates to put their dreams on hold. The state of student loan debt in America is reaching crisis proportions, holding back our economy and weighing on the lives of a generation of young people. That is why House Democrats are not only fighting to expand higher education opportunities but to keep that higher education well within in reach for America’s middle class.

Under the Democratic Majorities, Congress acted to:

Help students afford a higher education by increasing the maximum Pell Grant and creating the American Opportunity Tax Credit, which provides a maximum $2,500 tuition tax credit to eligible families and students.

Assist graduates in paying back their loans by cutting interest rates in half on subsidized Stafford loans from 6.7% to 3.4%; by creating an income-based repayment program; and by providing loan forgiveness for graduates in public interest careers after ten years of payments.
Help families and students find a good deal by creating a user-friendly website to compare costs, graduation rates, and popular majors.

Require schools to have an online calculator so students and families could estimate their costs based on their financial situation and to offer an understandable financial aid disclosure form so students can better understand the aid for which they qualify.

Eliminate taxpayer subsidies to banks and reinvest the savings back into students and create a single, secure, and efficient lender to originate all federal student loans

Democrats remain committed to providing high quality education to all of America’s students and creating a nation ready for the challenges of the 21st century by:

Allowing Refinancing of Student Loans: Through the Bank On Students Emergency Loan Refinancing Act, House Democrats are working to allow federal and private student loan borrowers to refinance their loans at more affordable rates that will save them thousands of dollars.
Protecting Pell Grants and College Accessibility: Budgets are a statement of values, and House Democrats continue to fight relentless Republican efforts to slash Pell Grants and other initiatives that help hardworking students of all backgrounds pursue their dreams in college.

[yurbud]

13. We need student loans to be taken OUT of private banks, given same rate as Wall St. bailout

and forgiven after some reasonable number of payments.

Going forward, it needs to be replaced with financial aid that ends the need for massive loans.

I was shocked to read recently that since about 1980, Pell grants went from covering something like 70-80% of a public university education to about 20%. At the same time the Cold War ended, and our supposed big enemy in the world is "terrorists" with no navy or air force, who are mostly funded by our Persian Gulf allies--but our defense spending is still going UP.

[yurbud]

11. Here's a recent article that might get you up to speed:

Support for it was going to be in the 2016 platform until progressive demanded it be removed or at least severely qualified.

I know it's hard to believe the party of FDR and even LBJ would sell out our kids for campaign donations, but it's not too late to change course and flush those who won't let go of this out of the party.

In an unexpected move, Democrats have revised the K-12 education section of their party’s 2016 platform in important ways, backing the right of parents to opt their children out of high-stakes standardized tests, qualifying support for charter schools, and opposing using test scores for high-stakes purposes to evaluate teachers and students.

Some of the changes are being welcomed by public school advocates who have been fighting corporate school reform, which includes standardized test-based accountability systems and the expansion of charter schools. Many of these activists have been worried that Hillary Clinton, the presumptive Democratic nominee, would back corporate reform, just as the Obama administration has. While it isn’t clear exactly what she will do if she becomes president — as platform language does not necessarily translate into policy — supporters of those reforms are furious at the changes, highlighting a rift in the party over how to improve K-12 education.

One of them, Shavar Jeffries, president of the Democrats for Education Reform, an influential political action committee supported heavily by hedge fund managers favoring charter schools, merit-pay tied to test scores and related reforms, issued a statement that went so far as to say that the original draft on education was “progressive and balanced” but that the new language “threatens to roll back” President Obama’s education legacy. (See full statement below.)

Negotiators on the platform committee met this past weekend in Orlando (you can watch here, starting at the 31st minute) and changed an earlier draft of the K-12 education plank (one of five education sections) that had drawn criticism from activists who wanted the Democrats to take a stand against some of the key elements of corporate reform, including on charter schools and test-based accountability. Clinton got booed recently when she appeared at the National Education Association’s convention and touted charter schools (though most of her speech was met with approval).

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/answer-sheet/wp/2016/07/12/democrats-make-key-education-revisions-to-2016-platform-and-a-key-reformer-is-furious/?utm_term=.aa179fe20969

[Hortensis]

12. How do you get off presenting THIS as support for your

claims that Democrats are serving Wall Street? The sad fact is that many millions of Americans currently want alternatives to regular public education, including many Democratic voters, but on the happy side, we are a democracy.

At the bottom of all the tributes paid to democracy is the little man, walking into the little booth, with a little pencil, making a little cross on a little bit of paper—no amount of rhetoric or voluminous discussion can possibly diminish the overwhelming importance of that point. — Winston Churchill

“Equality is not the empirical claim that all groups of humans are interchangeable; it is the moral principle that individuals should not be judged or constrained by the average properties of their group.” ― Steven Pinker, The Blank Slate: The Modern Denial of Human Nature

[yurbud]

14. My original post shows WHY people want alternatives: corrupt pols are starving traditional schools

of funds, then pointing at their failure as reason to give far more money to their donors for profit scam schools.

It is embarrassing that this even has to be argued in a Democratic Party forum.

Instead of letting rich people dictate what "choices" are offered to the rest of us, maybe politicians should be talking to actual teachers and education researchers who AREN'T in the employ of the foundations of the wealthy to find out what will make our public schools work for all students.