Mike Hutchinson's 2015 Article on the Billionaire Takeover of Oakland Schools
The Re-takeover
How 4 billionaires have taken control of education policy in Oakland
- Mike Hutchinson -
Public education is under attack both nationally and here in Oakland. There has been a well orchestrated and highly financed takeover of our schools in order to privatize them through policies proponents refer to as education reform. The most known aspect of education reform is charter schools, but these reforms also include Common Core, high stakes testing, outsourcing, virtual schools, school closures, over reliance on technology, teacher evaluations tied to students test scores, and takeovers of parts or even entire school districts. Oakland now has over 40 charter schools and the highest rate of charter schools in the state of California. Most of the charter schools are run by private companies based outside of Oakland and were started by application, not by parents, educators, or the community. Charter schools are not required to take all students, are non-union, have not out performed public schools, receive public facilities for little or no cost, receive tax payer support, do not pay on Oakland’s debt to the state, are not subject to public oversight, are exempt from parts of the ed code, and in Oakland, have almost entirely been started in low income communities of color. Oakland has had charter schools that have lost accreditation, abused students, and stolen money. Even if Oakland’s School Board rejects a charter school application, the county or the state can overturn Oakland’s decision and grant the charter. These education reformers have largely been successful in rewriting policy due to an unlikely alliance between conservative Republicans (ALEC, Koch brothers, Jeb Bush) who oppose public education and teachers’ CONTINUE READING: With A Brooklyn Accent: Mike Hutchinson's 2015 Article on the Billionaire Takeover of Oakland Schools
