Wall Street's attack on public education

[Panaconda]

Wall Street's attack on public education

October 18, 2010 10:59 pm CDT

The friendly folks who want to privatize Social Security are also one of the driving forces behind charter schools. --PG

by Laura Clawson

Sun Oct 17, 2010 at 04:59:08 PM PDT

The question of money is seeded through the debate over education, in several ways. This week I want to focus first on the way money most immediately factors in the current political debate; namely, where is the money behind the push for charter schools coming from? Answer: To a significant extent, the money for charter schools is coming from Wall Street, and in particular from hedge fund managers. Consider:

Mr. Petry, 38, and Mr. Greenblatt, 52, may spend their days poring over spreadsheets and overseeing trades, but their obsession — one shared with many other hedge funders — is creating charter schools, the tax-funded, independently run schools that they see as an entrepreneurial answer to the nation’s education woes. Charters have attracted benefactors from many fields. But it is impossible to ignore that in New York, hedge funds are at the movement’s epicenter.

“These guys get it,” said Eva S. Moskowitz, a former New York City Council member, whom Mr. Petry and Mr. Greenblatt hired in 2006 to run the Success Charter Network, for which they provide the financial muscle, including compensation for Ms. Moskowitz of $371,000 her first year. “They aren’t afraid of competition or upsetting the system. They thrive on that.”

Hedge fund managers may be better known for eight-figure incomes with which they scoop up the choicest Manhattan penthouses and Greenwich, Conn., waterfront estates. But they also dominate the boards of many of the city’s charters schools and support organizations. They include Whitney Tilson, who runs T2 Partners; David Einhorn of Greenlight Capital; Tony Davis of Anchorage Advisors; and Ravenel Boykin Curry IV of Eagle Capital Management.

...

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2010/10/17/910960/-Education:-follow-the-money

[Starry Messenger]

1. Thank you.

And to anyone who has any lingering doubts what this is all about, I give you some notes from an Education Industry Investment breakfast found right on the internets:


http://eduvest.blogspot.com/2010/01/education-industry-investment-business.html

Teachers should be paid more, but there is this socialist attitude around teaching. One panelist said that he could foresee that the teacher's union is the last great union that needs to be broken. It's limiting attitudes on what is viable in teaching and what can enrich the society.

I even jumped in and circled back to this point about a JP Morgan analyst. Why can't a teacher build herself up as a brand? Why can't she sell her brand? Why can't she be paid for things like being a consultant, or be a speaker at a business conference because she has figured out how to run her school classroom like a business, using a John Dewey model of taking the student out of the isolated icebox of a classroom and allowing the free world to come in and the student to go out in it.

School, I alluded, has always been about control, as if there is this social mindset that what happens in school is only about training, when it can indeed be about fixing social problems, making money from fixing them, and being the incubator for the world's greatest entrepreneurs.

Education "reform" is Wall Street propaganda. It's all about introducing profit to a government revenue source. To do this, they must break the union. To advocates of "reform", how has that worked out for the last 30 years eh?? I don't doubt its the same guys privatizing Social Security. I'm sure all of our "socialist" institutions are in the display case for Wall Street's product market.

[Turbineguy]

2. When the only tool you have

is a hammer, everything looks like a nail.

[Starry Messenger]

11. These guys always claim to be innovative.

All I see is the same shit over and over again, too.

[blindpig]

4. Is that damning or what?

Multiple levels of damnation too. Right out in the open. Bronze that sucker.

[Starry Messenger]

6. It is totally damning.

And as you say, multiple levels. It's one thing to suspect what is going on, but to see them actually say so...there is no "conspiracy theory" as we've been accused. It's all out in the open.

[LWolf]

3. More: "And this isn't just some long-term project to privatize public education."

There's short-term profit in it, as well. NY Daily News columnist Juan Gonzalez explained on Democracy Now:

There's a lot of money to be made in charter schools, and I'm not talking just about the for-profit management companies that run a lot of these charter schools.

It turns out that at the tail end of the Clinton administration in 2000, Congress passed a new kind of tax credit called a New Markets tax credit. What this allows is it gives enormous federal tax credit to banks and equity funds that invest in community projects in underserved communities and it's been used heavily now for the last several years for charter schools. I have focused on Albany, New York, which in New York state, is the district with the highest percentage of children in charter schools, twenty percent of the schoolchildren in Albany attend are now attending charter schools. I discovered that quite a few of the charter schools there have been built using these New Markets tax credits.

What happens is the investors who put up the money to build charter schools get to basically or virtually double their money in seven years through a thirty-nine percent tax credit from the federal government. In addition, this is a tax credit on money that they're lending, so they're also collecting interest on the loans as well as getting the thirty-nine percent tax credit. They piggy-back the tax credit on other kinds of federal tax credits like historic preservation or job creation or brownfields credits.

That kind of gives the lie to the "non-profit" status of many of those charter schools who claim just that, doesn't it?

Interestingly, I can find post nearly every day, right here on DU, in which some DUers are applauding the privtization and union-busting of public education with the same hateful fervor of their centrist and right-wing counterparts. Some of those same people will chime in on posts bemoaning the corporatization of America. Thanks for helping to point out this disconnect; I hope more and more people will begin to see through the smoke and mirrors of the current "reform" efforts.

One DUer pointed out the agenda we see being enacted seven years ago:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/articles/03/09/04_school.html

[WinkyDink]

18. Some adults just harbor a hatred of their old school teachers and find some kind of "vengeance"

in this movement.

[LWolf]

48. I think that's true, as well. nt

[dkf]

5. So we don't try to fix failing schools because we don't like some of the guys who fund some of the

Projects?

Personally I would rather all schools have the flexibility of a charter school without having to go through the charter school process. Then we can take out this controversy where we accuse the hedge managers of wanting to make money and focus instead on graduating more kids from high school and preparing them for college.

[TBF]

7. No, the point is that we don't try to kill teacher unions and public schools

with privatization efforts. Personally I'd like to see teachers actually make a decent salary for their important work, collective bargaining continue, and the continued education of ALL children. Public schools are not broken, but they are being picked apart by vultures hoping to tear off a piece for profit. YMMV.

[dkf]

13. I think a salary should be negotiated but once that is done teachers need to

Think like all other professionals who work til the job gets done. Having a reasonable class size is important but working the equivalent of a full years work less a month off for vacation is the workload that should be expected. Summers should be dedicated to educating those who are falling back or teacher training. It should not be for oodles of free time.

[TBF]

14. "Oodles of free time"? Have you ever spoken to a teacher?

Most spend plenty of time beyond their "work hours" grading papers, preparing lesson plans, and taking additional training. I personally would love to see year-round school with breaks at the big holidays, and I'm sure many working parents wouldn't be opposed to that (it would give more time to fit in the "extra curricular" activities as well). And I would like to see a corresponding professional salary to go with it.

[AngryAmish]

21. Chicago Public School teachers make an average of $69,900 per year

That is not a professional wage? How much more do they deserve?

[Tatiana]

24. That's Chicago - not downstate IL or many Southern/rural areas.

Also, Chicago has a large number of master's (+30) and National Board Certified teachers. They are, for the most part, a highly qualified teaching staff.

[AngryAmish]

25. Is it your assertion that teachers in Chicago make enough money?

I don't think they would agree with you.

[Tatiana]

32. As one of them, and a member of CTU, I'd say some people do and some don't.

Fifteen to twenty years ago, I'd say salaries were pretty fair in terms of the work a teacher had to do. You didn't have the number of discipline problems we do now. You had more parent involvement. There was less emphasis on standardized testing (though we still had tests such as the Iowa Test of Basic Skills and Stanford Achievement Test) and more on critical thinking skills. Teachers had time to fully explore units and concepts and revisit them, if necessary, to make sure students had mastered the material. That really isn't the case now.

A typical week for a teacher easily entails 50-60 hours per week of work. There's lesson planning, instruction, grading, assessment, data disaggregation, CPDUs (continuing professional development units), behavior management, and lots and lots of meetings to discuss the latest fad they want us to try. I've noticed that education has become more political instead of research and fact-based. I've been fortunate in that (when I taught elementary) my kids performed quite well on the ISATs, but I'm under no delusion that they were learning more than other kids who performed worse. I'd eliminated whole social studies modules and science projects in order to accommodate the weeks of test prep and drills.

I probably have two weeks during the summer of work-free vacation. Usually, I am taking classes or attending workshops/seminars to keep up with the latest educational research and concepts to fulfill the requirements of my job. Of course, I pay for these courses and workshops myself. August is spent tweaking lessons for the upcoming school year, cleaning and organizing my room and boards, writing grants, and scouring the sales flyers for supplies to purchase for my room.

I make less than the average teacher salary in Chicago. It certainly is not enough to help support a family in the city of Chicago. But we're thrifty and we make it work.

[TBF]

33. That is Chicago - wages are different in the major cities.

As a corporate paralegal in Washington DC my salary was in the 50's (with overtime I made over $100K a year - and that was in the 90's) - and that was a job any college graduate with a 3.0 could do - no special certifications or licensing.

[dkf]

22. The teachers in Hawaii do get paid professional salaries.

I have family in the profession and their salaries are up to par with most bachelors/masters degrees. But they have much better retirement benefits and entire summers off.

[TBF]

34. I admit I don't know much about salaries in Hawaii -

my cousin taught in Alaska for awhile and she did get a special stipend for that (she was also willing to teach in a remote area).

[WinkyDink]

19. Are you under some delusion that "the job gets done" when every young human masters a

subject?
Because you could use a look at a Bell Curve.

[dkf]

27. I think everyone should be capable of graduating from high school.

Only those who have severe learning problems, like autism or downs syndrome, should not be expected to graduate.

[WinkyDink]

37. Everybody is. I once begged a student not to quit; he quit. There are reasons beyond "teacher

effort" why students withdraw prior to graduation.

HOME, for example.

[dkf]

38. Students should not be allowed to quit under the normal age of graduation.

I don't understand why we let them.

[bvar22]

44. How would you stop them?

Seriously.
How would you stop a teen who is determined to quit school?
Have you ever tried?

[HelenWheels]

9. Wake up!

Public schools will never have the "flexibility" of charter schools. Charter schools are the next thing to private schools where one must pay to attend. Public schools don't have the money that charter schools do. Public schools can't pick and choose which students they want. Charter schools don't have to take the mentally or physically handicapped nor do their schools have to be adapted to accommodate these students. Charter schools don't have to tolerate students that act out. Charter schools have only parents that are involved with their children. These hedge managers would better serve the world by putting their money into public education.

[w4rma]

10. No. We terminate *all* of these failing and cheating charter schools. (nt)

[dkf]

12. Yes failing and cheating charter schools should be shut down.

[donco6]

16. I certainly wouldn't trust any solution they think is wise.

Why would I?

[dkf]

29. How about Obama's plans? Do you trust him?

[donco6]

30. Obama's plans for public ed? Hell no!

Not for a microsecond. He chose Arne on purpose.

[dkf]

31. The man was a college professor... Why is he not qualified to make suggestions on education?

[donco6]

35. Qualified? Maybe. Wrongheaded on his direction? Absolutely!

The two don't necessarily go hand-in-hand. Newt Gingrich taught college, coo.

[dkf]

41. What I see is people trying to improve a school system that has baked in inflexibility.

That makes charter schools a necessary evil unless we can completely redo teachers contracts. Yes you let in the door to privatization but that is what we have been forced to do.

And unless we want to raise property taxes and cause more foreclosures I don't see teachers salaries being boosted without using philanthropic funding.

So what I see is a man forced to move in this direction. I see no solutions coming from teachers who insist they cannot do much with students who are poor.

In Hawaii the teachers are the ones sending their kids to private schools because they don't want their children around other kids they see as unfixable and who will hold them back. So says my family member and her co workers who are employed by the state DOE.

[donco6]

43. That's the problem with making national policy based on limited experience.

Because your friends in Hawaii send their kids to private school, ALL schools have to privatize? All schools have to become beholden to private foundations funding teacher salaries?

Here in Colorado, a typical school tax is 40 mills. Per $100,000 of home value, that's about $318 per year in school property tax (levy*assessment ratio*home value). Is that too much tax? Really? I don't think so.

And our teachers here aren't saying they cannot "do much with students who are poor." They do say it's much harder, that it takes more time, and that it's totally unfair to compare a high-poverty school's performance directly to a high-wealth school's performance. But it doesn't stop Arne and Obama.

Here in my district, we have one of the highest monolingual Spanish populations in the state - more than 50%. By April of 3rd grade, the kids have to be able to take the English state test and score proficient. Even in the face of all of our obstacles, we're getting there. And it's not by saying "we can't do much with these kids."

[Panaconda]

45. Doesn't it bother you

that you are defending, using straw men mostly, some of the most avaricious and predatory members of our society?

I'm loving this. Someone can actually defend hedge fund barracuda being actively involved in our children's education.

These people described in the article are the lowest vermin in the land living the highest off the hog and our collective backs and you are defending their ideology to the hilt. Perhaps your class interests dovetail nicely with theirs eh?

[TBF]

36. As far as I'm concerned Duncan is qualified for the job -

but he is a republican as evidenced by his actions and philosophies. His quest for privatization would make Reagan proud.

[WinkyDink]

40. By-choice college is nothing like mandatory-until-age-16 public education.

Doesn't mean the president doesn't know from it; just that being a professor isn't an automatic badge of expertise on the lower grades.

[dkf]

42. But he does understand teaching and grading and motivation.

[TBF]

8. Welcome to the century of privitization ... nt

[WinkyDink]

15. I think you mean: Welcome to the Dickensian Past.

[TBF]

17. Yes, isn't it funny how the more things "change" the more they stay the same -

or in this case regress. You're absolutely correct. :hi:

[WinkyDink]

20. We're seeing wealthy people who consider the term "Robber Baron" an accolade.

[WinkyDink]

23. Look, the wealthy come from REAL private schools. What THESE new for-profit entities are planned for

is...profit.

"Learning" will be basic, rudimentary, approved-by-Texas, and taught to the For-Profit-Standardized-Tests.
"Discipline" will be heavily enforced, complete with merits and demerits.
"Teachers" will not need state certification, with some (many? All?) gleaned from the private and/or military sector, for "real world" lessons.

These new Charters will not be like in "Fame"; they will not be the High Schools for the Performing Arts. Moreover, they will not seek to rival the Bronx High School of Science.

Nay; these schools aim to produce obedient consumers uncritical of their government. The curricula will include JROTC before it includes poetry.

IMO.

[Tatiana]

26. Sounds like the KIPP charters to me. n/t

[Starry Messenger]

28. I think they are all on that track.

American Indian Schools in the Bay Area have to recite a pledge of allegiance to capitalism, on top of the other stuff.

http://articles.sfgate.com/2010-03-19/opinion/18838566_1_traditional-schools-charter-schools-two-charters

Time to regulate what charters are teaching

When writing about charter schools, journalists regularly include some variation of this sentence: "Charters are independently operated public schools that are exempt from some rules that govern traditional schools." One of those rules that some charters ignore is the U.S. Constitution.

Two charters, both cited as models that traditional schools should emulate, must include a warped version of the First Amendment in their civics curriculum. The schools, American Indian Model Schools in Oakland and Green Dot Public Schools' Locke High School in Los Angeles, are so committed to indoctrinating students with their promoters' economic ideology that they require students to recite pro-capitalist pledges or prove that they believe in the economics of Adam Smith.

California's social studies guidelines do not even mention capitalism, although the economics section could have been written by Milton Friedman.

[WinkyDink]

39. P.S. Mixed my numbers: "curriculum/it" or "curricula/they." :-)

[Starry Messenger]

46. kick

[Reader Rabbit]

47. K&R - n/t

[maryf]

49. kick

Error: you can only recommend threads which were started in the past 24 hours