Thursday, November 1, 2012

Schools Matter: Finding 1: OII Did Not Conduct Effective Oversight of Grantees Receiving Charter School Grants

Schools Matter: Finding 1: OII Did Not Conduct Effective Oversight of Grantees Receiving Charter School Grants:


Finding 1: OII Did Not Conduct Effective Oversight of Grantees Receiving Charter School Grants

Late in 2010 near the end of his second term, Gov. Phil Bredesen of TN worked up the courage to suggest shutting down one of Tennessee's unnecessary private prisons run by CCA.  When the new governor, Bill Haslam, swept into office with the backing of CCA and ALEC, the plan to shut down the CCA facility in West Tennessee was quickly cancelled, even though Haslam admitted to reporters that the the prison was not needed, and even though Haslam cut $20 million from public colleges and $40 million from Medicaid patients to come up with the $31 million to pay for it.  When asked to respond, Bredesen quipped, "business wants government to act like a business except when they act like a business."

As we now contemplate the significance of Mitt Romney's Gatorade and canned yams relief supplies that he is sending to the Jersey shore to curb the economic pain of starting over from scratch, Bredesen's response to Haslam's public largesse for Corrections Corporation of America is worth keeping in mind.  This kind of dopey