Why Are Our Public Schools Up For Sale?
August 13, 2012 |
Photo Credit: Margie Hurwich via Shutterstock.com
"Back-to-school" sales seem to start earlier every year. These days, more than binders and backpacks are on offer. Now, public schools themselves are for sale.
In July, Muskegon Heights, Michigan became the first American city to hand its entire school district over to a charter-school operator .
More than 1.6 million American kids attend charter schools, which emerged in the early 1990s. Whatever their original intent, charters are fundamentally restructuring the school system by placing it in private — often for-profit — hands. They're making teachers and staff work harder and longer for less pay, usually without union benefits or protection.
In May, Philadelphia's schools announced a plan to close 64 schools and outsource 25 more to so-called "achievement networks" run