Slog
News & ArtsTuesday, November 13, 2012
2012 Charter Schools Officially Win in Washington
Posted by Bethany Jean Clement on Tue, Nov 13, 2012 at 9:50 AM
30
@22: I was simply offering what the other side sees and thinks on the issue. I am well aware that our public schools are mostly decent, and the many who are failing can not be blamed on teacher's unions, or even teachers.
However, in a bad economy where many people are out of work, or underemployed, seeing Chicago teachers strike because they do not want their performance reviewed, and they want a bigger automatic raise pisses a lot of people off. A lot of voting people.
However, in a bad economy where many people are out of work, or underemployed, seeing Chicago teachers strike because they do not want their performance reviewed, and they want a bigger automatic raise pisses a lot of people off. A lot of voting people.
28
Dammit. Those bastards! They killed Kenny.
Seriously, I find this so depressing. If you have enough money, much of the time you can eventually buy your way to an election win. What was this? the 4th vote on this in the last 15 years? The publics view on this hadn't changed at the outset. What changed was the money poured into this by billionaire union busting slime like Paul Allen, Bill Gates, Bezos and the rest...
With those guys buying the airwaves and the rest of us putting our energy trying to hold the line on Romney, McKenna, and anti-gay bigotry, its hard to muster a response in the information war, or in their case, the DISinformation war, rather.
Seriously, I find this so depressing. If you have enough money, much of the time you can eventually buy your way to an election win. What was this? the 4th vote on this in the last 15 years? The publics view on this hadn't changed at the outset. What changed was the money poured into this by billionaire union busting slime like Paul Allen, Bill Gates, Bezos and the rest...
With those guys buying the airwaves and the rest of us putting our energy trying to hold the line on Romney, McKenna, and anti-gay bigotry, its hard to muster a response in the information war, or in their case, the DISinformation war, rather.
27
@12 Experimenting is fine. On bacteria. On children? Not so much. Charters have been in AZ for about 20 years now, but they're nothing to crow about. A few good ones, lots of bad ones, and lots of public schools left with a large percentage of minority and special Ed kids.
Charters are ideology-driven, not research-driven. Darwinism (as in survival of the fittest) and capitalism do not make a good base for public education when the intent is to educate all to provide for an educated citizenry in a democracy. But that's been the right-wing plan all along - since A Nation At Risk came out - if you repeat something enough, people will believe it. If you continually say the public education system is failing - even though the most reliable test we have, the NAEP (National Assessment of Educational Progress) has data that shows a pretty steady upward trend until No Child Left Behind really took a strong hold in schools - people will believe it. Soon the R wing will have the schools they desire - full of rich white children- while the minority children, special needs children and those of poverty will attend poorly funded schools that teach with a military-like curriculum, focusing only on basic skills using skill and drill/repeat-after-me pedagogies (see KIPP, for example). They'll have their caste-like system that so many of them dream of. The irony here is, there's all this focus on data, yet NCLB and Race to the Top/Bottom are not based in data. Again, they are based in ideology. Data schmata. It only matters when they think they can evaluate teachers and schools with it. /soapbox
Charters are ideology-driven, not research-driven. Darwinism (as in survival of the fittest) and capitalism do not make a good base for public education when the intent is to educate all to provide for an educated citizenry in a democracy. But that's been the right-wing plan all along - since A Nation At Risk came out - if you repeat something enough, people will believe it. If you continually say the public education system is failing - even though the most reliable test we have, the NAEP (National Assessment of Educational Progress) has data that shows a pretty steady upward trend until No Child Left Behind really took a strong hold in schools - people will believe it. Soon the R wing will have the schools they desire - full of rich white children- while the minority children, special needs children and those of poverty will attend poorly funded schools that teach with a military-like curriculum, focusing only on basic skills using skill and drill/repeat-after-me pedagogies (see KIPP, for example). They'll have their caste-like system that so many of them dream of. The irony here is, there's all this focus on data, yet NCLB and Race to the Top/Bottom are not based in data. Again, they are based in ideology. Data schmata. It only matters when they think they can evaluate teachers and schools with it. /soapbox
26
The people at my work who voted for it say that charter schools are for the kids who need more attention from teachers. I voted NO, because Charter sounds too much like Private, meaning, if it's not a public school, it must be a private one.
25
@23 You are wrong. There are plenty of teachers who are not part of the union. They have a special status/term for it that I can't remember, but it is there. If they think otherwise, then they need to educate themselves. However, it's funny how many teachers who say they abhore the union end up coming to the union when their class sizes get larger and larger, when their principals start a personal vendetta against them, when they are called in to take over for another teacher during their lunch or prep period...day after day after day. The unions ensure due process is followed, and bargain working conditions for teacher - which, coincidentally, is the same as negotiating learning conditions for students.
As for the No on 1240 campaign? They had no Walton family donors. They had no Bill Gates sugar daddy. They had a bunch of motivated parents who educated themselves on the fallacies and pitfalls of charters and sought to spread the word as best they could on a very small budget. Unfortunately the citizens of Washington who voted for them either chose to be uninformed, or have this grudge against unions and see charters as a way to union bust, or serve to make a profit off charters coming to Washington. Just wait. Soon Washington can have as much fun as Utah and Arizona with the sudden school closures mid-year (oops we're all out of money!), with the selective admissions (we're open to all students, but since we don't provide transportation, there goes all you po' folk who might pollute our school with dark skin and low test scores), or the "recommended donation" to the school (Great Hearts charter chain out of AZ "requests" a $1500 donation).
Enjoy, those of you who voted them in. I can guarantee you'll be complaining soon, and you won't be able to blame the union. You'll have to find a new scapegoat to blame for poor test scores.
(oh and as for the DFER people and Stand On Children? They're nothing more the DINOs, and if you voted yes, you fell for their BS).
More...
As for the No on 1240 campaign? They had no Walton family donors. They had no Bill Gates sugar daddy. They had a bunch of motivated parents who educated themselves on the fallacies and pitfalls of charters and sought to spread the word as best they could on a very small budget. Unfortunately the citizens of Washington who voted for them either chose to be uninformed, or have this grudge against unions and see charters as a way to union bust, or serve to make a profit off charters coming to Washington. Just wait. Soon Washington can have as much fun as Utah and Arizona with the sudden school closures mid-year (oops we're all out of money!), with the selective admissions (we're open to all students, but since we don't provide transportation, there goes all you po' folk who might pollute our school with dark skin and low test scores), or the "recommended donation" to the school (Great Hearts charter chain out of AZ "requests" a $1500 donation).
Enjoy, those of you who voted them in. I can guarantee you'll be complaining soon, and you won't be able to blame the union. You'll have to find a new scapegoat to blame for poor test scores.
(oh and as for the DFER people and Stand On Children? They're nothing more the DINOs, and if you voted yes, you fell for their BS).
24
First of all there is NO official to it. The State of Washington says when it's done and they have NOT. That the supporters of the Yes and the AP say it's done, well, last time I looked, it's when all the votes are counted.
Second, I think the information was out there for those who looked. If you didn't see an tv ad against charters, well, that's because there wasn't the money. But The Stranger did a notable job on info that was easily available.
Third, kids, it's not an experiment. It's a law and undoing a law that creates schools will be almost impossible to overturn but yes, it can be done.
That and the coming lawsuits.
Second, I think the information was out there for those who looked. If you didn't see an tv ad against charters, well, that's because there wasn't the money. But The Stranger did a notable job on info that was easily available.
Third, kids, it's not an experiment. It's a law and undoing a law that creates schools will be almost impossible to overturn but yes, it can be done.
That and the coming lawsuits.
23
@20 Also depressing: I know a lot of teachers who would just like to do their jobs to the best of their ability, and don't care to get involved in what the rest of the union wants to do. But being a union member isn't a choice. If you want to teach, you have to join.
22
Education Reform Organizations have done a perfectlty brilliant job over the past several years convincing people like Theodore Gorath that our public schools are dreadful failures and the teachers union is to blame.
Of course, neither of those are true. But the lie is so appealing to people in so many ways and media reports have a bias that plays right into those myths and affirms them that it is difficult to combat these lies with the truth. It gets even harder when there's millions of dollars out there flogging the message and the media that is supposed to be telling us the truth is on the side of the mythmakers.
We will have a very hard time reversing this no matter how much a disaster it proves to be. And it is not likely to prove a grave disaster. Most likely it will result in no significant change at all - other than squandering a lot of time, money, attention, and trouble to realize no net change to speak of.
Of course, neither of those are true. But the lie is so appealing to people in so many ways and media reports have a bias that plays right into those myths and affirms them that it is difficult to combat these lies with the truth. It gets even harder when there's millions of dollars out there flogging the message and the media that is supposed to be telling us the truth is on the side of the mythmakers.
We will have a very hard time reversing this no matter how much a disaster it proves to be. And it is not likely to prove a grave disaster. Most likely it will result in no significant change at all - other than squandering a lot of time, money, attention, and trouble to realize no net change to speak of.
20
@18: your summation of the dynamic is probably accurate, but it's fucking depressing, since it boils down to "I get treated like shit at my job. Hey, you know what would help my childrens' education? If their teachers were also treated like shit."
19
@12,
I'm "afraid" of this experiment because charter schools under-perform public schools, and I'm not eager to fuck with the education of current students to benefit a private company's bottom line.
I'm "afraid" of this experiment because charter schools under-perform public schools, and I'm not eager to fuck with the education of current students to benefit a private company's bottom line.
18
Measures like this pass because tons of people are really tired of what they see as teachers and politicians putting their union above their job of educating children. This is seen by a lot of voters as a way of getting around that.
I am not sure why anyone is surprised. A teacher's union is by definition not concerned with educations or children. It is concerned with teachers, and will gladly harm the education of children if it will get teachers more pay, more time off, lowered standards, etc.
People working crappy jobs in the private sector see that teachers are once again threatening a boycott because they do not want their performance reviewed or want bigger raises, and it pisses them off. Because for most workers, every day is a performance review, raises have to be earned, and they actually have to worry about job security.
I support teachers wholeheartedly, but a lot of people only see the union making more and more demands, while the quality of their children's education stagnates. When it comes to voting, perception is often more important than facts.
I am not sure why anyone is surprised. A teacher's union is by definition not concerned with educations or children. It is concerned with teachers, and will gladly harm the education of children if it will get teachers more pay, more time off, lowered standards, etc.
People working crappy jobs in the private sector see that teachers are once again threatening a boycott because they do not want their performance reviewed or want bigger raises, and it pisses them off. Because for most workers, every day is a performance review, raises have to be earned, and they actually have to worry about job security.
I support teachers wholeheartedly, but a lot of people only see the union making more and more demands, while the quality of their children's education stagnates. When it comes to voting, perception is often more important than facts.
17
This seems to me the kind of policy for which the devil is in the details...there are good and bad charter schools. So let's see if we can make them good here. After all, we should not pretend that there is not a vast space for improvement of public education, generally.
It's worth an experiment. And if we've seen anything in the last week, it's that we're pretty good at changing laws we don't like in this state.
It's worth an experiment. And if we've seen anything in the last week, it's that we're pretty good at changing laws we don't like in this state.
16
I wasn't sure how to vote on this one. Everyone I knew was sure how they'd vote on gay marriage and pot, but charter schools was something we knew nothing about. I talked to people at work about it, and discovered that no one had a clue whether it was good or bad. The "no" campaign really dropped the ball on giving voters information (unlike gay marriage, which was very well publicised).
In the end, I voted against. I think my friends did, too. But we really could have used some decent info.
In the end, I voted against. I think my friends did, too. But we really could have used some decent info.
15
Shorter Sgt Doom: whatever the original post was about is TOTALLY RELEVANT to what I want to tell you about the BBC. Derp.
14
Disinformation campaign is why this won. People don't understand why this is a bad idea. Privatized does not mean more choice or more freedom. That's the basic capitalist lie...it's very hard for people raised with this ideology to see through.
13
@9, --- you can't read? Is that your significant mental handicap?
There is and was no significant differences between Romney's and Obama's platforms --- how can anyone be so bloody ignorant?????
http://www.ips-dc.org/reports/ceo-campai…
(Read the above, jackhole!)
There is and was no significant differences between Romney's and Obama's platforms --- how can anyone be so bloody ignorant?????
http://www.ips-dc.org/reports/ceo-campai…
(Read the above, jackhole!)
12
What's wrong with an experiment?
Fourty schools over the whole State.
Watch 'em like a hawk and if there is doing something untoward, stop the program.
Are you afraid of this experiment because you think it might work?
Fourty schools over the whole State.
Watch 'em like a hawk and if there is doing something untoward, stop the program.
Are you afraid of this experiment because you think it might work?
11
Look for this to pass it had to have support from Dems so maybe itsnot the unspeakable evil the stranger makes it out to be.
10
There will always be more money on the side that is driven by profit. Yet if there's a hopeful lesson to be learned from this election cycle it's that more money doesn't always translate into a win. With this one it did.
7
Yup, the 'tards of Washington state voted for privatizing education (part and parcel of the design to Privatize Everything) while the 'tards of California voted for Monsanto (against GMO labeling, etc.).
Hurrah for the 'tards of America, also known as Ameritards!!!!
The Media? What Effing Media ? ? ?
The other day Goldy criticized a submediocre Seattle Times’ columnist, coinciding with a CNN hit job on American citizens who think critically (i.e., have zero confidence in the so-called American media --- better known as the Skank News Network).
A perfect case in point illustrates why there should be zero confidence: the New York Times' hiring of Mark Thompson, former director-general of BBC, as their chief executive, who was at the BBC during the spiking of the special exposing the pedophile former BBC personality, Jimmy Savile (chronically molesting underage girls, who actually bragged about it in his autobiography, and former victims recounted how Savile used girls' reform schools as his personal rape preserves).
George Entwhistle, who had been BBC director-general for less than two months, just resigned --- although Entwhistle really wasn't involved in the matter, it was Thompson who should have suffered the consequences, instead of being hired at the NY Times!
This is still an evolving situation at the BBC; reports vary on certain aspects. Evidently, after the exposé of Jimmy Savile was quashed, another pedophile special was rushed into production, but facts weren't verified and "gross libel" was televised instead (to quote one accurate commentary). The uncertain facts concern whether several other editors/BBC employees, who were suspended actually had anything to do with the original spiking, but due to their removal, fact checking apparently was also suspended on the second sloppy pedophile special?
So, Thompson, the New York Times' new chief executive, who should be held accountable for spiking that Jimmy Savile exposé of his many years of pedophile crimes while at the BBC, will now be responsible for who-knows-what at the Times --- definitely not a bastion of veracity where the news is concerned!
During the Bush administration, when the Council on Foreign Relations, the US Chamber of Commerce (USCoC) and individual state chambers of commerce (smaller CoCs) and business forums were promoting the North American Transnational Highway (the NAFTA superhighway, leading from a deep-water port on the Pacific coast of Mexico, built by China, through America and into Canada, circumventing American unions such as the Teamsters and ILWU, etc. --- the cheapest transportation and shipping system possible to destroy the workers and enrich the super-rich and their executives), an Australian multinational involved, the Macquarie Group, purchased over forty independent American newspapers in the central region of the USA, in order to halt criticism of that project.
This is what corporate so-called "media" looks like and why CNN finds it necessary to label any critics as "conspiracy theorists" --- no theory here, it's all easily verifiable fact, and facts can be pesky things to the criminal class.
http://vigilantcitizen.com/latestnews/cn…
More...
Hurrah for the 'tards of America, also known as Ameritards!!!!
The Media? What Effing Media ? ? ?
The other day Goldy criticized a submediocre Seattle Times’ columnist, coinciding with a CNN hit job on American citizens who think critically (i.e., have zero confidence in the so-called American media --- better known as the Skank News Network).
A perfect case in point illustrates why there should be zero confidence: the New York Times' hiring of Mark Thompson, former director-general of BBC, as their chief executive, who was at the BBC during the spiking of the special exposing the pedophile former BBC personality, Jimmy Savile (chronically molesting underage girls, who actually bragged about it in his autobiography, and former victims recounted how Savile used girls' reform schools as his personal rape preserves).
George Entwhistle, who had been BBC director-general for less than two months, just resigned --- although Entwhistle really wasn't involved in the matter, it was Thompson who should have suffered the consequences, instead of being hired at the NY Times!
This is still an evolving situation at the BBC; reports vary on certain aspects. Evidently, after the exposé of Jimmy Savile was quashed, another pedophile special was rushed into production, but facts weren't verified and "gross libel" was televised instead (to quote one accurate commentary). The uncertain facts concern whether several other editors/BBC employees, who were suspended actually had anything to do with the original spiking, but due to their removal, fact checking apparently was also suspended on the second sloppy pedophile special?
So, Thompson, the New York Times' new chief executive, who should be held accountable for spiking that Jimmy Savile exposé of his many years of pedophile crimes while at the BBC, will now be responsible for who-knows-what at the Times --- definitely not a bastion of veracity where the news is concerned!
During the Bush administration, when the Council on Foreign Relations, the US Chamber of Commerce (USCoC) and individual state chambers of commerce (smaller CoCs) and business forums were promoting the North American Transnational Highway (the NAFTA superhighway, leading from a deep-water port on the Pacific coast of Mexico, built by China, through America and into Canada, circumventing American unions such as the Teamsters and ILWU, etc. --- the cheapest transportation and shipping system possible to destroy the workers and enrich the super-rich and their executives), an Australian multinational involved, the Macquarie Group, purchased over forty independent American newspapers in the central region of the USA, in order to halt criticism of that project.
This is what corporate so-called "media" looks like and why CNN finds it necessary to label any critics as "conspiracy theorists" --- no theory here, it's all easily verifiable fact, and facts can be pesky things to the criminal class.
http://vigilantcitizen.com/latestnews/cn…
6
@2, I think @3 has it exactly right: the pro-charter campaign had millions of dollars to throw around on lying ads ("Only people who HATE children would vote against this!"), and opponents had, I think, 43 cents. That it was this close shows how, even in the face of propaganda, Washington voters are pretty smart.
On the down side, get ready for your neighborhood school to become a charter. I bet, out of the "forty" charter schools (and we all know it'll be a hell of a lot more than that), maybe as many as two will be schools which were "failing" in some sense to start with. The rest will be perfectly fine or even excellent schools to begin with, but now, they'll be private schools, paid for by the public. Isn't it fun living in an oligarchy?
On the down side, get ready for your neighborhood school to become a charter. I bet, out of the "forty" charter schools (and we all know it'll be a hell of a lot more than that), maybe as many as two will be schools which were "failing" in some sense to start with. The rest will be perfectly fine or even excellent schools to begin with, but now, they'll be private schools, paid for by the public. Isn't it fun living in an oligarchy?
2
I voted against charter schools. I don't have kids, so I don't really care, but it just seems like another stupid Republican idea.
But I do wonder how much of the yes vote was caused by all the Seattle Public School scandals. The effects of them surely reverberated beyond the Seattle City Limits.
On another electoral note, it looks like both the annexation measures on the ballot (White Center going to Burien, Skyway going to Renton) went down in flames - the White Center one in particular. I wonder what the next step will be. Aren't these unincorporated areas required to choose somebody eventually, or have a city imposed on them?
But I do wonder how much of the yes vote was caused by all the Seattle Public School scandals. The effects of them surely reverberated beyond the Seattle City Limits.
On another electoral note, it looks like both the annexation measures on the ballot (White Center going to Burien, Skyway going to Renton) went down in flames - the White Center one in particular. I wonder what the next step will be. Aren't these unincorporated areas required to choose somebody eventually, or have a city imposed on them?
1
There really wasn't that much passion about defeating charter schools this time around.
But then Obama and his Secretary of Education are pretty supportive of Charter Schools...
But then Obama and his Secretary of Education are pretty supportive of Charter Schools...
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