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Society for Quality Education

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September 13, 2013 by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) at 04:48 AM

The Daily Reckoning explores "stupid and unjust regulations that are robbing you blind", and in this post the DR exposes charter schools.

The main complaint against charter schools seems to be that some of them are run for profit. It's not at all clear to me why this is a problem - after all, I haven't heard anyone criticizing the textbook publishers, the school architects and contractors, the bus companies, the cafeteria operators, etc. etc. for making money from their operations. In fact, it seems to me that it would be in the public interest if more schools were run for profit (assuming the appropriate regulatory structure) - since profit-making operators are more motivated than public school operators to offer an excellent service that would attract and keep customers. Furthermore, in a competitive environment profit-making operators would be motivated to keep their prices down - in stark contrast to public school operators who currently have no such incentive.

Why is it wrong for school operators to be able to make a profit?  H/T DH

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Comments

There’s nothing wrong with running a ‘for profit’ service of any kind.  Of course, regulations have to be put in place…
It’s a little phrase that educrats found that the public had a knee-jerk reaction to without thinking the whole idea through.  They’ll beat it to death in their attempt to hold on to the monopoly where they’re making big bucks and benefits, and have to answer to no one!

Posted by Bev on 09/13 at 05:53 AM

“In our book published today, Private Enterprise and Public Education, Rick Hess of AEI and I address the topic head on. With a series of chapters by authors with a variety of viewpoints and backgrounds, including two chapters that I authored, we explore the true differences between for-profits and non-profits, including: What benefits and vices do for-profits bring and are they different from those of non-profits?” - See more at: http://www.christenseninstitute.org/for-profits-aid-or-vice-in-public-education/#sthash.XAM7FpyW.dpuf

Never could figure out the emphasis on privatization by the public educators….......but the above article does chopped it down to bite sized chunks for understanding.

I considered well over 3/4 of a public school is for profits and who cares about the outcomes of the students. In Idaho - “Several national education experts have agreed to conduct research together, to look for innovations that could improve Idaho’s rural schools.

The group, the Rural Opportunities Consortium of Idaho, met for the first time Tuesday in Boise.”  The public educators in Idaho have denounced it, even though research is desperately needed in rural education. ““The needs of rural students probably haven’t gotten the attention they deserve,” Smarick said. “I hope this work will be a profound influence on policymakers, the education reform community, and anyone interested in the needs of underserved kids.”
Of course, the public education establishment will routinely ignore the studies because it comes from a consortium of profit and non-profit characters.
http://www.idahoednews.org/news/experts-to-exam-rural-idaho-schools/

Where was all the teachers’ unions and friends of the public education system? Oops, I forgot out on the street fighting for raises….......“Lancaster is one of many districts starting the school year hit hard by the $3 billion cut from federal education funds due to sequestration. Many school districts, particularly in poor areas where schools rely more heavily on federal funding, are starting the year with bare-bones budgets and lots of uncertainty.”  http://www.npr.org/2013/09/07/219870250/new-school-year-brings-sequestration-pain-for-many-districts

What did the collective - the education stakeholders take out of the system at the expense of the students?  Profitable for teachers’ unions and the many many books authored by educators, to be sold to other educators and the public. Not at all gloom and doom, when the American feds kindly donates 10 million for a research project - “The National Center for Special Education Research awarded a 5-year, $10 million grant to the university to create an “Accelerated Academic Achievement Research Center.” Between 2,000 and 3,000 students in Nashville schools will participate in the research.”  “For example, in literacy, the interventions will focus on reading fluency and comprehension. In math, the interventions from the center will focus on decimals, fractions, and beginning algebra”
http://blogs.edweek.org/edweek/speced/2013/09/feds_invest_10_million_into_research_for_severe_learning_disabilities.html

Of course, I hold little hope when reading the education article - http://www.edweek.org/ew/articles/2013/07/18/37fractions.h32.html?tkn=PSOFkBSwIEPUhbZADi8+eAskKDPap6/BUUhe&cmp=ENL-EU-NEWS1

Not when an educator starts off with the standard premise - ” Linda M. Gojak, the president of the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics, in Reston, Va. “It’s one of the hardest things for kids to get their heads around.” - that math is hard, including arithmetic. What will never be admitted, is that fractions are taught poorly and for that matter proportional reasoning along with decimals.

What does a charter school and a public school have in common? The curriculum.  Does it really matter how schools are funded, when the curriculum is poorly designed, and education faculties pumping out teachers declaring direct and rote learning is a taboo? I am sure, the profits being made from the public education system is much greater than the profits being made by private enterprises investing in charter schools, vouchers and research. That said, back to my first link - “What this all means is that ultimately the conversation of for-profit vs. non-profit vs. governmental organization is the wrong one. Instead we should be exploring policies that focus on student outcomes and create a climate that rewards good actors and punishes the bad—regardless of tax status. It also means that for-profits need to be a part of the equation so that the public can leverage their unique strengths.” - See more at: http://www.christenseninstitute.org/for-profits-aid-or-vice-in-public-education/#sthash.XAM7FpyW.dpuf

Posted by Nancy on 09/13 at 11:53 AM

POSTED ON BEHALF OF DOUG

Nothing wrong with education for profit you just cannot have ant public money. The public does not want it. The idea of charter schools was to have a few “public” non-profit experimental schools around. Voucher advocates discovered that vouchers were very unpopular so they began to try to pervert charters slowly into vouchers.

Even some “non-profit” charters pay their principal $250000. Disgusting.

I don’t care if people run private schools but don’t ask for public money. The vast majority feel the same way, you have no right to public money to run private business.

Voucher advocates realize how very unpopular their ideas really are so they are trying hard to convert charters into vouchers.

Charters were actually begun by Albert Shanker the powerful former head of the AFT as experimental lab schools to keep public schols fresh. They are not an alternative parrallel system.

Even non-profits sometimes pay their founders and principals $250 000 like Ava Moscowitz in NYC. This is an outragious use of public money, a scandal of the Mike Duffy level. Total abuse.

Posted by Malkin Dare on 09/13 at 12:08 PM

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