Privatizing Public Schools Doesn't Work!
A Perfect Storm: The Takeover of New Orleans Public Schools
A Perfect Storm: The Takeover of New Orleans Public Schools is a series of short videos, that reveals the real story behind the creation of the nation’s first all charter school district.
News and Articles
Separating fact from fiction in 21 claims about charter schools
Washington Post - February 28, 2015
The National Alliance for Public Charter Schools released a report last year titled “Separating Fact & Fiction: What You Need to Know About Charter Schools,” which takes 21 statements that it calls “myths” about charters and attempts to debunk them, one by one. Now three education researchers have completed a fact-checking analysis of the charter report, coming to some difference conclusions about each myth.
REPORT FAULTS CHARTER SCHOOL RULES ON DISCIPLINE OF STUDENTS
The New York Times - February 11, 2015
Most of New York City’s charter schools have disciplinary codes that do not meet either state or federal requirements, according to a report by a children’s advocacy organization that is to be released on Thursday.
Black Lives Matter—at School, Too
The Nation - January 19, 2015
In the wake of the Ferguson uprising, black students nationwide are indicting the state violence they face in American education everyday.
Majority of U.S. public school students are in poverty
The Washington Post - January 16, 2015
For the first time in at least 50 years, a majority of U.S. public school students come from low-income families, according to a new analysis of 2013 federal data, a statistic that has profound implications for the nation.
The great charter school rip-off:
Finally, the truth catches up to education “reform” phonies
Salon - October 2, 2014
Fraud, financial mismanagement, lousy results: Reports highlight awful charter schools and people are catching on
VOUCHERS FAIL, YET POLITICIANS WANT MORE
Education Justice - 2011
Taxpayer-funded vouchers for private and parochial schools have raised their ugly heads again. They're the darling of governors and some legislators in Wisconsin, Florida, Pennsylvania, and elsewhere. But their track record is one of consistent failure.
CHARTER SCHOOLS DO NOT EQUAL EDUCATION REFORM
Baltimore Sun - February 27, 2015
As Philadelphia's Superintendent of Schools, I recommended the approval of more than 30 charter schools because I thought it would improve educational opportunity for our 215,000 students. The last 20 years make it clear I was wrong.
Charter board could close school amid allegations that leader diverted money
The Washington Post - February 11, 2015
The D.C. Public Charter School Board is scheduled to vote Thursday on a recommendation to revoke the charter of the Dorothy I. Height Community Academy Public Charter Schools amid allegations that Amos used a private management organization to personally profit from the diversion of taxpayer dollars meant for the public school.
Koch brothers/charter school nightmare:
“White kids get to go to a school with a Montessori approach while children of color get eye control”
Salon - January 17, 2015
A fight over education in Nashville might come your way next: It's a proxy for dangerous right-wing education ideas
AROS Convening, Charter Accountability and Community Schools
AROS - October 8, 2014
The amazing local organizing that's been happening to challenge charter school corruption, stop school closures and demand excellent community schools is having a huge impact!
VOUCHER SCHOOLS MUST NOT DISCRIMINATE AGAINST STUDENTS WITH DISABILITIES
Education Justice - May 3, 2013
In a letter released this week, the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) told Wisconsin that the state must ensure that students with disabilities who seek to attend or are currently enrolled in the state's voucher schools must "not encounter discrimination on the basis of their disabilities."
VOUCHERS FAIL TO IMPRESS, BUT SUPPORTERS PRESS ON
Education Justice May 18, 2010
Researchers studying Milwaukee's school voucher program have, for the third consecutive year, found no significant difference in performance on state tests between students who used vouchers to enroll in private schools, and those who remained in public schools.
Reports
FRAUD AND FINANCIAL MISMANAGEMENT IN PENNSYLVANIA'S CHARTER SCHOOLS
September 2014
Charter school officials have defrauded at least $30 million intended for Pennsylvania school children since 1997. Yet every year virtually all of the state’s charter schools are found to be financially sound. While the state has complex, multi-layered systems of oversight of the charter system, this history of financial fraud makes it clear that these systems are not effectively detecting or preventing fraud.
2013 CREDO National Charter School Study
2013
This report provides an updated and expanded view of charter school performance in the United States. All states that were included in the 2009 report have continued their participation. Together, the participating states educate over 95 percent of the nation’s charter school students.
Do Poor Kids Deserve Lower-Quality Education Than Rich Kids? Evaluating School Privatization Proposals in Milwaukee, Wisconsin
April 2014
This report evaluates the “blended learning” model of education exemplified by Rocketship and seeks to understand how the “school accountability” legislation debated during the most recent legislative session would likely affect Milwaukee schools. This briefing paper also explains how such proposals might fit within the broader economic agenda of both local and national corporate lobbies. Above all, the report questions why an educational model deemed substandard for more privileged suburban children is being so vigorously promoted—perhaps even forced—on poor children in Milwaukee.
COMMUNITY SCHOOLS TOOLKIT
Resources for parents, community organizations and policymakers about making community schools a reality in your neighborhood, school district, or state.