What does the changing Pa. Supreme Court mean for school funding, charters? | Philadelphia Public School Notebook

What does the changing Pa. Supreme Court mean for school funding, charters? | Philadelphia Public School Notebook:

What does the changing Pa. Supreme Court mean for school funding, charters?

The results of Tuesday's Pennsylvania Supreme Court election could have wide-ranging implications for a number of high-profile cases related to education issues in Pennsylvania.

Three Democrats swept the open seats on the state's highest court – shifting the balance of power 5-to-2 in their favor when they assume the bench in January.

Superior Court Judge Christine Donohue, 62, of Pittsburgh; Philadelphia Court of Common Pleas Judge Kevin Dougherty, 53; and Superior Court Judge David Wecht, 55, of Pittsburgh edged out their Republican opponents and one independent.

Traditional public education advocates closely followed the race, anticipating that a shake-up in favor of the Democrats could mean rulings favorable to their interests.

The biggest education-related case the new court is expected to hear will be one brought by the Education Law Center and the Public Interest Law Center that asserts that the legislative and executive branches of state government have failed to deliver "a thorough and efficient" education to all children, as promised in Pennsylvania's Constitution.

In April, the Commonwealth Court dismissed the case, arguing that education funding should be decided by the legislature, not the judiciary. The two law centers appealed to the Supreme Court in May. The plaintiffs contend that the state has skated on its constitutional obligation by adopting content standards and performance expectations without providing the funding needed to meet them.

Susan Gobreski, executive director of Education Voters of Pennsylvania, expects the new justices will be more inclined to agree with the plaintiffs' interpretation of the law.

"I think that having a change on the court, having a court that's more friendly to the idea of an expansive view of rights, is a really good thing," said Gobreski. "Because education has become a partisan issue, and because we elect judges, it's hard not to say that a partisan approach has an impact on issues."

Veteran pollster and Franklin & Marshall College political scientist G. Terry Madonna said that, historically, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court has not acted as a partisan body.

In 2012, former Chief Justice Ron Castille broke from his fellow Republican justices to reject the legislature's first attempt at redistricting after the 2010 census. Ultimately, a revised redistricting plan was unanimously approved in 2013.

Recently, the court unanimously voted to strip Attorney General Kathleen Kane, a Democrat, of her law license.

But with Tuesday's election, Madonna sees a changing tide.

Read the rest of this story at NewsWorks

What does the changing Pa. Supreme Court mean for school funding, charters? | Philadelphia Public School Notebook:

Pa. high schools get their grades | Philadelphia Public School Notebook http://bit.ly/1Nt3Zzd

Dumping Children – The immoral and unethical Charter School tactics to push students back to public schools - Wait What?

Dumping Children – The immoral and unethical Charter School tactics to push students back to public schools - Wait What?:

Dumping Children – The immoral and unethical Charter School tactics to push students back to public schools

The undeniable truth is that while gobbling up massive amounts of scarce public funds, the vast majority of Charter Schools refuse to accept their fair share of students who need special education services and children who aren’t proficient in the English Language (So-called ELL students.)

And when “the unwanted” do get into Charter Schools, the companies running the schools use immoral and unethical tactics to push out students that don’t fit their corporate profile.

No real public school could ever engage in the abusive and unfair dumping practices that have become the norm in the Charter School Industry.

In Connecticut, a leading example of a push-out strategy was the one utilized by the Achievement First Inc. Charter School chain. (See The “Shocking Numbers Of Kindergarten, First Grade Suspensions” at Achievement First Schools.)

The depth to which Charter Schools will lower themselves became apparently last week with a New York Times expose on Eva Moskowitz and her Success Academy Charter Schools in New York City where a “Got to Go” list was developed to targeted specific students for dismissal.

As the article revealed, students on the “Got to Go” list were routinely suspended until their parents withdrew them. The suspension rate for elementary students at Success Academy Charter Schools is seven times the rate of New York City’s public elementary schools and, like Achievement First, Inc. the charter school was targeting and abusing children as young as kindergarten.

New York’s Alliance for Quality Education has begun an on-line petition to focus Dumping Children – The immoral and unethical Charter School tactics to push students back to public schools - Wait What?:

A bad week for corporate reform | Parents Across America

A bad week for corporate reform | Parents Across America:

A bad week for corporate reform 

The news was so bad last week for privatizers and the testing industry that we had to make sure our representatives in Congress didn’t miss any of it as they move to finalize ESEA. Thanks to Jeff Bryant of the Educational Opportunity Network for pulling these news items all together in one place for us.

We sent the following fax out to the full Congress. You can cut and paste it from here or download a pdf here to share with your own Senators and Congresspersons:

It’s not too late to stop funding failed “reforms” in new ESEA

Over the past few days, several studies and reports have come out which call into question the two pillars of corporate reform: privatization of our public schools through charter schools, and use of high-stakes standardized testing to judge students, teachers, schools and districts. Both of these “reforms” have been shown to be expensive failures, yet both are slated to receive continued generous funding from the federal government in both Senate and House revisions of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act, unless Congress acts to stop funding failure in a reauthorized ESEA. Here are examples of these findings:

On charter schools:

• The Center for Media and Democracy reported that more than $3.7 billion in federal funding has been poured into charter schools with virtually no accountability.

- See more at: http://parentsacrossamerica.org/paas-word-esea/#sthash.CFFJKGIn.dpuf

Federal government puts the brakes on $32 million to Ohio for charters - The Washington Post

Federal government puts the brakes on $32 million to Ohio for charters - The Washington Post:

Federal government puts the brakes on $32 million to Ohio for charters

More than a month after the Obama administration gave $32.5 million to Ohio to expand charter schools despite Ohio’s history of multiple scandals involving charters, the U.S. Department of Education sent a letter to state officials in which it said it did not realize the extent of concerns regarding Ohio’s charter schools.

As a result, federal officials said they would place a new restrictions on the way Ohio can use the federal money, including a temporary hold that requires explicit approval from Washington before any of the dollars can be spent.

In a letter to Ohio Superintendent of Public Instruction Richard Ross, the federal department explained that when the agency made the initial award in September, it had conducted “an expedited review” of Ohio’s record and believed the state could properly track the spending of federal funds.

Ohio was among seven states that won grants under the Obama administration’s program to expand public charter schools. The District also won a charter school grant.

But Ohio got the largest single award — $32.5 million — raising eyebrows because the state’s problems with charter schools are well-documented.

The state has had charter school scandals involving fraud, poor academic performance, oversight failures and the July resignation of a senior official at the state education department after it was discovered he manipulated performance statistics to favor some charters.

That official, David Hansen, was responsible for writing Ohio’s application for the federal grant.

Ohio State Auditor Dave Yost and several others questioned why the Obama administration was awarding millions in federal dollars to a state with multiple charter school problems. Yost’s staff had released a special audit that found a pattern of charter schools inflating enrollment to pocket taxpayer subsidies for students who don’t actually attend their schools.

[Ohio official “shocked” by federal grant to his state]

Nadya Dabby, an assistant deputy secretary at the Department of Education, defended the decision in September. “Ohio has a pretty good mechanism in Federal government puts the brakes on $32 million to Ohio for charters - The Washington Post:

Did the 2015 Elections Put Common Core and School Funding At Risk? - The Atlantic

Did the 2015 Elections Put Common Core and School Funding At Risk? - The Atlantic:

What School Proposals Failed on the Ballot?

The results of Tuesday’s elections could mean shifts in Common Core standards, teachers unions, and more.  

Kentucky was the first state to adopt the Common Core, but with a new Republican governor elected Tuesday—who opposes the standards for English language arts and math—that pioneering legacy could be upended. Indeed, while the 2016 presidential race has dominated the campaign news lately, state and local election results this week could have significant implications for education policy and funding, from Mississippi to Indianapolis, Indiana, and Jefferson County, Colorado.

In the Bluegrass State, Matt Bevin won what’s widely been described as an upset victory over the state’s Democratic attorney general. The governor-elect won’t be able to throw out Kentucky’s Common Core standards on his own, but he could appoint state school-board members who would support such a move. That’s not to say that approach wouldn’t face opposition. Kentucky’s newly hired state education commissioner—Stephen Pruitt—is a strong Common Core supporter. (Pruitt previously worked for Achieve, a national organization that played a key role in helping to craft the standards.) Bevin also campaigned heavily on school choice, and pledged to support a coalition of black ministers’ campaign to allow charter schools in the state, according to WDRB in Louisville.

In Louisiana, where a run-off race for governor takes place on November 21st, both John Bell Edwards, a Democrat, and David Vitter, a Republican, have pledged to overhaul and replace the Common Core standards. However, replacing the state superintendent—whose office would be responsible for implementing the new standards—isn’t a unilateral decision the governor can make, as The Advocatereports. (John White, a rising young star among education “reformers,” currently holds the post of state schools’ chief.) And the majority of the leading candidates for Louisiana’s education board support the Common Core, according to the newspaper.

Here are some other education-related election results:

• In Mississippi, a campaign to force more state spending for education suffered a major setback at the polls, with 54 percent of voters rejecting a ballot measure that would have amended the state’s constitution and changed the formula for funding public schools. If the initiative had passed, the constitution would have been revised to require that the state—rather than the legislature—provide “an adequate and efficient system of public schools” and give courts the authority to enforce that mandate. This would have been a significant change for Mississippi, and brought it closer in line with the rest of the nation when it comes to school funding, as an article in the Clarion-Ledger explains.
• In Colorado, a high-profile—and highly unusual—recall vote ended the tenure of three conservative members of the Jefferson County School Board. All three had been elected in 2013 by wide margins in the wake of a backlash against a controversial data-management program, as Chalkbeat Colorado reports. The conservative board members ousted as a result of Tuesday’s election favored expanding charter schools and vouchers. Their replacements on the board, all Democrats, will serve out the remaining two years of their predecessors’ terms.
• Indianapolis voters elected a new Democratic mayor (after eight years of Republican control) but there are more questions than answers as to Mayor-elect Joe Hogsett’s positions on key education issues, including charter schools and teacher policies, according to Chalkbeat Indiana’s Scott Elliott. Elliott writes: “His five-point education plan focused on issues that sound more traditional than reform-oriented: Studying ways to reduce the impact of poverty on schools, expanding state-supported preschool for poor Did the 2015 Elections Put Common Core and School Funding At Risk? - The Atlantic:

What the drop in NAEP math scores tells us — about Common Core and NAEP - The Washington Post

What the drop in NAEP math scores tells us — about Common Core and NAEP - The Washington Post:

What the drop in NAEP math scores tells us — about Common Core and NAEP

The recently released reading and math scores from the 2015 National Assessment of Educational Progress caused some consternation in the education world because they went down for the first time in the history of the NAEP. The exam is often called the nation’s report card because it is the only measure of student achievement given periodically to a sampling of students around the nation. Here is a piece about what the drop in math scores tell us about the Common Core State Standards, which have been implemented in most states for the past few years, and about the Core’s relationship to the NAEP.

[U.S. student performance on NAEP slips]

[What the national drop in NAEP scores means]

It was written by Sarah Lubienski, a professor of mathematics education at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.  Her research focuses on inequities in students’ mathematics outcomes and the policies and practices that shape those outcomes.  She conducts large-scale studies using national data sets, as well as smaller, classroom-based studies.  Lubienski has chaired the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) Special Interest Group of the American Educational Research Association and is a member of its Grants Governing Board.  Her previous NAEP analyses have been funded by the National Center for Education Statistics and the Institute of Education Sciences. She is co-author of The Public School Advantage: Why Public Schools Outperform Private Schools.

By Sarah Lubienski

The one- to two-point point drops in math and reading scores on the National Assessment of Educational Progress announced last week have caused quite a commotion, with various critics blaming school testing, accountability, choice and other policies prominent over the past decade. Departing Secretary of Education Arne Duncan and other defenders of recent policies have pointed to early implementation issues and demographic/economic shifts as possible What the drop in NAEP math scores tells us — about Common Core and NAEP - The Washington Post:

TEACHER BURN OUT HAS BECOME EARLY TEACHER RESIGNATION | DCGEducator: Doing The Right Thing

TEACHER BURN OUT HAS BECOME EARLY TEACHER RESIGNATION | DCGEducator: Doing The Right Thing:

TEACHER BURN OUT HAS BECOME EARLY TEACHER RESIGNATION

Back in the 1970’s there was a far more optimistic climate about teaching, but in my 4 years of teaching at a NYC high school and by contacting many teachers in other schools regardless of level I found, way back then, that although they may choose to stay or have stayed in teaching for decades, many teachers had already “burnt out” approximately by year 5. So for my Masters thesis in 1974 I decided to look at teacher burn out, a very common term to describe a big drop off of energy, involvement, and in some cases competency.

There were a variety of reasons but a sizable percentage just started to go along to get along…. go through the motions. Given the more pro union (although that didnt necessarily equate to pro teacher) sentiments at the time, it is easy to see why so many stayed in the profession, even though they werent as highly motivated as they were when they started. Many stayed TEACHER BURN OUT HAS BECOME EARLY TEACHER RESIGNATION | DCGEducator: Doing The Right Thing:

CURMUDGUCATION: A Not Quitting Letter

CURMUDGUCATION: A Not Quitting Letter:

A Not Quitting Letter

It has become its own internet genre-- the "why I am quitting" teacher letter. It is apparently on the rise again, because lately lots of folks have been forwarding examples to me. And I don't want to seem unsympathetic-- it has to suck to feel so backed into the corner that quitting looks like your best option. 

But still, I long to read something different. Something feistier. Something more like this:

Dear Board of Education:

Just wanted to know that I am not going any damn where.

Yes, a lot of people have worked hard to turn my job into something I barely recognize, and yes, I am on the butt end of a whole lot of terrible education policy, and yes, I am regular instructed to commit educational malpractice in my classroom.

But here's the thing-- you don't pay me nearly enough for me to do my job badly, on purpose.

I'm not going to make children miserable on purpose. I'm not going to waste valuable education time on purpose. I'm not going to teach them that reading is a miserable activity with no purpose other than to prepare for testing. I'm not going to tell them that these big stupid tests, or any other tests, or grades, even, are an important measure of how "good" they are or how much right they CURMUDGUCATION: A Not Quitting Letter:

Expert Calls Metro Schools Testing Policy "Gamesmanship" - Story

Expert Calls Metro Schools Testing Policy "Gamesmanship" - Story:

Expert Calls Metro Schools Testing Policy "Gamesmanship"

NASHVILLE, Tenn. - A policy developed by Metro Nashville Public Schools, supposedly to help students, may also help bureaucrats to mask the real problems in those schools, a national testing expert told NewsChannel 5 Investigates.

That plan, which the school system insists does not violate any rules, raises the question: Can the public trust the message when the school system brags about its test scores?

"We would call it gamesmanship, manipulating test scores so that the district's educational policies appear to be a bit better," said Bob Schaeffer, who works with the National Center for Fair and Open Testing, better known as FairTest.

Among the students who disappeared from the Metro Schools' statistics was Brenda Seay's granddaughter, a student at Nashville's Hunter's Lane High School.

Her course load included English I and Algebra I - both courses that she would need to graduate.

"She didn't have an A/B average, but she was passing," Seay recalled.

But Seay said that, when the second semester came around, someone at Hunters Lane pulled her granddaughter from both classes -- without ever telling her why.

"I wasn't even aware that she got moved," Seay said.

MNPS officials said that there were extenuating circumstances with Seay's granddaughter that they cannot discuss because of federal privacy laws.

But former high school guidance counselors Shana West and Kelly Brown -- both still employed by Metro -- told NewsChannel 5 Investigates that wasn't uncommon.

They said that some schools pulled some struggling students from classes that had state-mandated End-of-Course exams -- the same exams that are used to measure how well the schools are performing.

Why would they do that?

"The only reason is because they want their scores to go up," Brown said. "That's the only reason."

Chief Academic Officer Jay Steele -- the architect of the city's high Expert Calls Metro Schools Testing Policy "Gamesmanship" - Story:

fairtest.org

The Forgotten VAM: The A-F School Grading System | VAMboozled!

The Forgotten VAM: The A-F School Grading System | VAMboozled!:

The Forgotten VAM: The A-F School Grading System

Here is another post from our “Concerned New Mexico Parent” (see prior posts from him/her here and here). This one is about New Mexico’s A-F School Grading System and how it is not only contradictory, within and beyond itself, but how it also provides little instrumental value to the public as an invalid indicator of the “quality” of any school.

(S)he writes:

1. What do you call a high school that has only 38% of its students proficient in reading and 35% of its students proficient in mathematics?
2. A school that needs help improving their student scores.
3. What does the New Mexico Public Education Department (NMPED) call this same high school?
4. A top-rated “A” school, of course.

Readers of this blog are familiar with the VAMs being used to grade teachers. Many states have implemented analogous formulas to grade entire schools. This “forgotten” VAM suffers from all of the familiar problems of the teacher formulas — incomprehensibility, lack of transparency, arbitrariness, and the like.

The first problem with the A-F Grading System is inherent in its very name. The “A-F” The Forgotten VAM: The A-F School Grading System | VAMboozled!:

Who will lead L.A. Unified? Jose L. Banda Superintendent Top Prospect? - Los Angeles Times

Who will lead L.A. Unified? - Los Angeles Times:

 Superintendent Jose L. Banda  Top Prospect?

Who will lead L.A. Unified? - Los Angeles Times: 

Superintendent Jose Banda Welcome to Sacramento, Don't Mind the Bee Bashing (they were hoping for another Broadie)

 http://bit.ly/1NQwHrS

Who will lead L.A. Unified?

By HOWARD BLUME AND JON SCHLEUSS

NOV. 4, 2015

The Board of Education is searching for a new leader to head the nation’s second-largest school system. Interviews with insiders, civic leaders and experts have yielded many names, including some unconventional suggestions. Based on these interviews, The Times has rated potential candidates on how likely they are to be finalists, should they apply. Click on a photograph and you can see more about each one. You can even build your own superintendent.Who will lead L.A. Unified? - Los Angeles Times: 

Submit additional suggestions to howard.blume@latimes.com

Who will lead L.A. Unified? - Los Angeles Times:

Next phase begins in the search for new leader of L.A. Unified - LA Times

Next phase begins in the search for new leader of L.A. Unified - LA Times:

Search for new L.A. schools chief shifts focus to individual candidates

The search for the next leader of the Los Angeles Unified School District entered a new phase this week as an executive search firm officially closed a two-week public input period, putting more focus on individuals who might want the job.

It will be up to the seven-member Board of Education to decide who will replace current Supt. Ramon C. Cortines, who said he would like to retire by the end of the year.

"We have an intense and incredible job ahead of us in the coming weeks," said school board President Steve Zimmer at a meeting last week.

The hunt is being conducted confidentially in hopes that a better field will be available if candidates can apply without jeopardizing their current jobs. But that approach hasn't stopped those inside and outside the nation's second-largest school system from speculating or suggesting names. 

The Times has compiled a list of potential applicants, including some who have not exhibited interest and would need to be recruited, such as Long Beach Unified Supt. Christopher Steinhauser. The roster also includes other superintendents with experience in urban districts, such as Richard Carranza of San Francisco Unified and Alberto Carvalho of Miami-Dade County Public Schools. L.A. Unified employees with a shot at the top job include Michelle King, the chief deputy superintendent. No one has publicly declared interest in the post.

Cortines, 83, returned from retirement after John Deasy resigned under pressure just over a year ago. The next schools chief will face numerous challenges, including declining enrollment, ongoing budget pressures and a proposal, spearheaded by philanthropist Eli Broad, that would move half of L.A. Unified students to charter schools over the next eight years. 

Twitter: @howardblume Next phase begins in the search for new leader of L.A. Unified - LA Times:

Bronin says win due to door-knocking not benefits of $1.3 million or White Privilege - Wait What?

Bronin says win due to door-knocking not benefits of $1.3 million or White Privilege - Wait What?:

Bronin says win due to door-knocking not benefits of $1.3 million or White Privilege

Attributing his political success to his door-knocking efforts rather than the record breaking $1.3 million he raised from city and state contractors, lobbyists and donors from his hometown of Greenwich and out-of-state or the advantages of White Privilege, Luke Bronin’s dream of becoming leader of Hartford has come true.

During the campaign Bronin said he would save Hartford by reducing crime and expanding programs, all while promising not to raise taxes.  The solution, according to the political novice, was more state funding and the wealth that would come with the wave of people moving into the new luxury apartments in the City’s Downtown.

Flanked by Governor Dannel Malloy and Lt. Governor Nancy Wyman, Bronin claimed victory Election Night but warned residents that “there will be no easy answers.”

In his successful effort to unseat one of the nation’s highest ranking Puerto Rican Mayors, Luke Bronin spent the primary attacking Pedro Segarra for not getting enough money from the Malloy administration, raising taxes and supporting the controversial Dunkin Donuts Baseball Stadium that is being constructed as part of Hartford’s DONO Development.

With his primary victory in hand,  Bronin flip-flopped on the Stadium issue taking tens of thousands of dollars from the Stadium’s developers while remaining quiet about the developers failure to fulfill their contractual obligation to begin construction on the project’s promised grocery store and other elements of Phase II (Parcel E).

As Bronin’s campaign finance reports revealed, not only did he break the record for the Bronin says win due to door-knocking not benefits of $1.3 million or White Privilege - Wait What?:

When Educators Help Call the Shots: Panel Discusses the Future of Teacher Leadership - NEA Today

When Educators Help Call the Shots: Panel Discusses the Future of Teacher Leadership - NEA Today:

When Educators Help Call the Shots: Panel Discusses the Future of Teacher Leadership

A long history of top-down bureaucracy in public schools has created a deep-rooted system in which administrators make the decisions and teachers carry them out. But recent shifts in culture and policy are providing more opportunities for teachers to take on leadership roles and make their voices heard in decisions that impact their day-to-day work in the classroom.

Creating environments that encourage teacher leaders was the topic of the Teacher Leadership Policy Panel at “Advancing the Profession: The Outcomes of the Teacher Leadership Initiative,” an event held yesterday at the National Press Club in Washington, D.C.

Panelists, including Kerri Dallman, president of the Colorado Education Association (CEA), Fred Frelow, Education and Scholarship senior program officer at the Ford Foundation, and Joshua Starr, Chief Executive Officer of Phi Delta Kappa, discussed ways to allow more teachers to make an impact on teaching and learning conditions without having to leave the clssroom and pursue administrator careers.

The panel was moderated by Caroline Hendrie, executive director of the Education Writers Association, who began by asking Dallman of CEA how conditions would need to change to encourage more teacher leaders.

Dallman said the two most important factors to create those conditions are trust and collaboration – between educator colleagues, between educators and parents, and especially between educators and administrators.

“We need administrators who are comfortable with distributed leadership,” she said. “When there are strong, collaborative teams, teachers will step up to lead.”

Frelow agreed, saying that teachers are too often isolated in their classrooms and that they should use new platforms — like virtual professional learning communities — to collaborate and organize.

But Starr suggested that perhaps the question isn’t how to create more teacher leaders, but “how to bring everyone else along.”

“Teachers must feel highly engaged, they must feel they are part of the larger When Educators Help Call the Shots: Panel Discusses the Future of Teacher Leadership - NEA Today:

With the election of Democrats Jim Kenney as mayor and Helen Gym to City Council - Notes from the news, Nov. 4 | Philadelphia Public School Notebook

Notes from the news, Nov. 4 | Philadelphia Public School Notebook:

Kenney, Gym change the education conversation. Notebook

Mayor-elect Kenney: What are his biggest issues? Daily News

Mayor-elect Kenney's campaign promises. Philly.com

Jim Kenney, Former Councilman, Elected Mayor of Philadelphia. NBC10

DN Editorial: New mayor, old issues. Daily News

Editorial: Enter Kenney. Inquirer

Four - or maybe five - new faces headed for Council. Inquirer

High School Students Work The Polls On Election Day. CBS Philly

The federal government urges K-12 schools to try open educational resources. Hechinger Report

The role of police in schools: A discussion on 'Radio Times'. Notebook

Jury deliberating in Fattah Jr. trial. Daily News

Environmental Education Grants empower local schools to affect change. Philly.com

Cheryl Ann Wadlington’s Fight to Save Black Girls. Philly Magazine

News summary from Keystone State Education Coalition

State budget stalemate Day 127:

Pa. budget impasse forces Philly schools to borrow half billion. NewsWorks

Pennsylvania budget fight about mandates. Inquirer

Pa. Republicans should meet Wolf halfway on state budget. NewsWorks

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Who's hiring teachers for 2015/2016 in Philly? For education job postings, visit jobs.thenotebook.or

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Notes from the news, Nov. 4 | Philadelphia Public School Notebook:

The Billionaire Boys Keep On Experimenting, Charterizing, and Limiting Democracy | janresseger

The Billionaire Boys Keep On Experimenting, Charterizing, and Limiting Democracy | janresseger:

The Billionaire Boys Keep On Experimenting, Charterizing, and Limiting Democracy

Until Diane Ravitch published her 2010, The Death and Life of the Great American School System, we didn’t really have name for the major transformation in the size and practice of venture philanthropy.  Ravitch describes “the Billionaire Boys Club” to explain a new trend in gigantic philanthropy in our age of the plutocrats, fortunes being used to transform society, and in particular the public schools, in ways citizens cannot really control.

Ravitch worries about the abrogation of democracy as philanthropies with enormous fortunes manipulate public policy privately, accountable only to their own carefully chosen boards of trustees: “There is something fundamentally antidemocratic about relinquishing control of the public education policy agenda to private foundations run by society’s wealthiest people; when the wealthiest of these foundations are joined in common purpose, they represent an unusually powerful force that is beyond the reach of democratic institutions.  These foundations, no matter how worthy and high-minded, are after all, not public agencies… They have taken it upon themselves to reform public education, perhaps in ways that would never survive the scrutiny of voters in any district or state.  If voters don’t like the foundations’ reform agenda, they can’t vote them out of office… If their plans fail, no sanctions are levied against them.  They are bastions of unaccountable power.” (pp. 200-201)

Joanne Barkan, who has written extensively about mega-philanthropy, points out that because gifts to non-profit foundations are not taxed, foundations are making influential investments for which they can take credit, but they are doing so at public expense: “Although this plutocratic sector is privately governed, it is publicly subsidized.  Private foundations fall into the IRS’s wide-open category of tax-exempt organizations, which includes charitable, educational,  religious, scientific, literary, and other groups.  When the creator of a mega-foundation says, ‘I can do what I want because it’s my money,’ he or she is wrong.  A substantial portion of the wealth—35 percent or more, depending on tax rates—has been diverted from the public treasury, where voters would have determined its use.”  Writing in The Billionaire Boys Keep On Experimenting, Charterizing, and Limiting Democracy | janresseger: