Both Bernie AND Hillary said no to privatized prison money: why not privatized public ed money?
The privatized prison industry is an engine for political corruption and diverts taxpayer dollars into private profits.
Arguably, efforts to privatize K-12 public spending is having far more disastrous results, with hedge fund managers and billionaires dictating education policy instead of educators and academics.
These are not misguided philanthropists. They are wealthy individuals who see taxpayer dollars spent on education as rightfully belonging in their pockets and have said so at their business conferences.
Politicians love this movement because a company that profits from government contracts can funnel money into campaign donations and when the politician leaves office, they can get jobs with these donors as lobbyists, consultants, CEO's, and do-nothing board members, much like their relationship with defense contractors, Wall Street, and oil companies.
When was the last time you heard of a retiring congressman or senator going to work for teachers' union? Or any public employee union?
Teachers just want to make a decent middle class living and not be punished for wanting to teach kids.
The education reformers public education as a way to add to the billions of the already wealthy.
Frankly, any time a politician expresses any support for this agenda, that should be proof enough of corruption and that they are unworthy of our donations and votes.
For proof, see this recent report:
“For years, no reporters or citizens could readily examine where their federal tax dollars had been spent on charters, which have a higher failure rate than [traditional] public schools and have been plagued by numerous fraud indictments of charter school operators,” said the introduction to the report, Charter School Black Hole: CMD Special Investigation Reveals Hugh Gaps in Public Info on Taxpayer Money Spent.
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“Nearly 200 charters have closed in California, nearly one of every five that have opened,” CMD said, beginning its report on the state with the most charter schools, where one-fifth of U.S.’s charter students resiee. “Their failures have included stunning tales of financial fraud, skimming of retirement funds, and financial mismanagement, material violations of the law, massive debt, unsafe school conditions, lack of teacher credentials, fairlure to conduct backgroud checks, terrible academic performance and test results, and insufficient enrollment.”
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CMD cites examples of failed California schools such as “Renew Virtual Academy #1” in San Joaquin, where “CEO Ellen Ringer hired her son, Deputy Executive Director of Business Services Christopher Walenta, at an annual salary of nearly $100,000 and paid other relatives without disclosing relationships.” He telecommuted from “his Lone Tree, Colorado home” for “two weeks each month” and received full benefits and expenses. Such nepotism is typical of the many instances where school founders turn charters into a quick ticket to enrichment despite their industry’s polished rhetoric of doing a better job to lift up underserved and inpoverished communities.
http://www.alternet.org/education/brazen-ways-charter-school-industry-rips-you?akid=13603.1084699.__xhiW&rd=1&src=newsletter1044657&t=4
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