Why Are Our Public Schools Up For Sale?

By Sarah Knopp, Jeff Bale
Alternet
August 13, 2012

http://www.alternet.org/why-are-our-public-schools-sale

While charter proponents claim that their schools are
less bureaucratic, more efficient, and more effective,
the evidence fails to back those claims.

"Back-to-school" sales seem to start earlier every
year. These days, more than binders and backpacks are
on offer. Now, public schools themselves are for sale.

In July, Muskegon Heights, Michigan became the first
American city to hand its entire school district over
to a charter-school operator [4].

More than 1.6 million American kids attend charter
schools, which emerged in the early 1990s. Whatever
their original intent, charters are fundamentally
restructuring the school system by placing it in
private — often for-profit — hands. They're making
teachers and staff work harder and longer for less pay,
usually without union benefits or protection.

In May, Philadelphia's schools announced a plan [5] to
close 64 schools and outsource 25 more to so-called
"achievement networks" run by charter operators. The
goal: that 40 percent of Philadelphia's children attend
charters by 2017. Detroit's plans [6] are similar.

Restructuring may seem the best option. Urban school
districts have long struggled to serve their students.
And many of us know firsthand — as former students,
teachers, administrators, or parents — that many of
America's public schools require radical change.

Charter proponents claim that their schools are less
bureaucratic and more efficient, and thus save taxpayer
money. Yet evidence is mounting to show that the
opposite is true. When Philadelphia first announced its
restructuring plans, the budget earmarked for charters
stood at $38 million. By July, that figure was "rounded
up" to an astonishing $139 million [7]. Since when is a
$100-million cost-overrun a sign of cost-effectiveness?

Moreover, charter proponents argue that competition and
choice pressure all schools to perform better. This
assumes that schools operate on even playing fields.
However, Detroit officials followed their restructuring
plans by imposing a contract [8] on teachers that caps
class sizes at more than 40 students starting in
kindergarten and at a staggering 61 for sixth grade
through high school. No school can possibly "compete"
under such conditions.

Finally, consider Muskegon Heights. The city hired
charter operator Mosaica Education, a for-profit
company premised on earning more from contracts to run
schools than it pays out in expenses. In fact, Mosaica
expects to earn as much as $11 million [9] in its
Muskegon Heights deal [10]. That's roughly the same
amount as the current budget deficit that officials
gave as the reason to hire this outfit in the first
place. Apparently, officials weren't troubled by
Mosaica's record elsewhere in Michigan — its six other
charter schools performed on average at the 13th
percentile, according to the state's annual ranking in
2011 [11].

That none of these developments has made national
headlines is mind-boggling. Perhaps this has something
to do with the institutional racism that led to the
Supreme Court's crucial Brown v. Board of Education
ruling in 1954.

Muskegon Heights is a highly segregated African-
American community adjacent to the predominantly white
Muskegon. In Muskegon Heights, median household income
stood at just over $26,600 in 2010, with over 30
percent of residents living below the poverty line.

It's primarily in minority-majority communities like
this where schools are being sold off to the highest
bidder, regardless of those bidders' track records.

The same story has played out in Chicago for almost a
decade. The city has closed dozens of neighborhood
schools and considered replacing them with charters.
What's different in Chicago, though, is that the
Chicago Teachers Union is leading the fight against
this agenda. After several years of building strong
alliances with parent and community groups, the union
is challenging Democratic Mayor Rahm Emanuel's attack
on public schools. In July, Emanuel blinked and agreed
to reinstate 477 laid-off art, music, PE, and foreign
language teachers.

The union is demonstrating that teachers and students
share common interests. Together with their parent and
community allies, Chicago's teachers and their unions
are proving that they can put public schools back in
the public's hands and win the funding required for the
world-class education that all our children deserve.

[Jeff Bale is an assistant professor of second language
education at Michigan State University. Sarah Knopp is
a public high school teacher in Los Angeles. They are
the co-authors of the book Education and Capitalism,
published this year by Haymarket Books.]

Links:
[1] http://www.otherwords.org
[2] http://www.alternet.org/authors/sarah-knopp
[3] http://www.alternet.org/authors/jeff-bale
[4]
http://michiganradio.org/post/muskegon-heights-schools-
handed-over-charter-school-company
[5]
http://articles.philly.com/2012-05-15/news/31701823_1_c
harter-schools-school-reform-commission-private-schools
[6]
http://detroitk12.org/content/2011/03/12/dps-presents-
renaissance-plan-2012-to-radically-restructure-
academically-failing-schools-significantly-reduce-
operating-costs-under-model-to-seek-charter-proposals-
for-41-schools/
[7]
http://articles.philly.com/2012-07-14/news/32664421_1_n
ew-foundations-charter-school-marc-mannella-kipp-
philadelphia-charter
[8]
http://www.detroitnews.com/article/20120713/SCHOOLS/207
130335
[9]
http://michiganradio.org/post/check-out-details-
michigan-s-first-privatized-public-school-system
[10]
http://michiganradio.org/post/muskegon-heights-charter-
school-budget-assumes-more-students-and-state-money
[11]
http://www.freep.com/article/20111011/NEWS05/110110376
[12] http://www.alternet.org/tags/education-0
[13] http://www.alternet.org/tags/charter-schools
[14] http://www.alternet.org/tags/public-education
[15]
http://www.alternet.org/tags/chicago-public-schools
[16] http://www.alternet.org/tags/school-privatization
[17] http://www.alternet.org/tags/philadelphia-schools
[18] http://www.alternet.org/tags/mosaica-education

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