Ravitch Charter Position Gets the Jay Mathews Seal of Approval
Yesterday on "Giving Tuesday" both FairTest and NPE were beating the bushes for donations to prop up their unacknowledged corporate union support of privatization via charter schools and depersonalized learning via computer screens.
A year ago NPE and FairTest were appealing for support for passage of ESSA, whose chief architect and Senate sponsor, Lamar Alexander, supported a states rights model for ESEA that would give conservative state legislatures (two thirds are Republican) control of billions of Federal dollars that, historically, have been used to provide educational resources for the disadvantaged. With AFT and NEA on board the Alexander money train, NPE and FairTest could not afford to remain on the platform.
Lamar's version of ESSA passed, of course, and Diane Ravitch turned over her blog to Alexander's Washington office to explain to her readers the virtues of what is essentially a massive federal giveaway program for segregated charter privatization and deeper infusions of the computer tutor to replace teachers.
Last week Ravitch gave Jay Mathews the chance to announce her support for "non-profit" charter schoolsand to, therefore, soften the blow for teachers when they see the same charter-friendly rhetoric coming from their union reps.
Ravitch's position mirrors the Weingarten/Clinton position, which supports more disabled children in the "no excuses" non-profit" segregated hell schools where special services are few or none.
Ravitch could have made her support for charters conditional on school climate, classroom management conditions, or socioeconomic mix, but she did not. Oh well.
With regards to charter schools, then, the difference between Ravitch and Betsy DeVos is that DeVos also supports for-profit charters.
As for Lamar Alexander, he loves both Diane and Betsy. Then, why wouldn't he?
