• Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer
  • HOME
  • NEWS+OPINIONS
    • NEWS TO US
    • COLUMNS
      • APPARENT HORIZON
      • DEAR READER
      • Close
    • LONGFORM FEATURES
    • OPINIONS
    • EDITORIAL
    • Close
  • ARTS+ENTERTAINMENT
    • FILM
    • MUSIC
    • COMEDY
    • PERFORMING ARTS
    • VISUAL ARTS
    • Close
  • DINING+DRINKING
    • EATS
    • SIPS
    • BOSTON BETTER BEER BUREAU
    • Close
  • LIFESTYLE
    • CANNABIS
      • TALKING JOINTS MEMO
      • Close
    • WELLNESS
    • GTFO
    • Close
  • STUFF TO DO
  • TICKETS
  • ABOUT US
    • ABOUT
    • MASTHEAD
    • ADVERTISE
    • Close

Dig Bos

The Dig - Greater Boston's Alternative News Source

CHARTER TANK: A ROUNDUP OF ARCANE AND ONGOING ‘SCHOOL REFORM’ SNOW JOBS IN MASS AND BEYOND

Written by CHRIS FARAONE Posted October 29, 2015 Filed Under: News, NEWS+OPINIONS

NWS_CharterGates_728

Image by Tak Toyoshima

 

I attended a social event last week with numerous reporters and political media folk, more than a few of whom made some kind of comment about my dislike of charter schools. My sentiments are something of an ongoing joke in those circles, and have been ever since I figured out about four years ago that I am incapable of faking any attempt to cover the issue objectively.

 

But back to those media friends. One chum (who prefers that his name be omitted from my writing) advised that I jazz up some of my investigative digging on the charter front. “How about a list?” he said. “People would probably like a flowchart or something along those lines. Talk to them just like you’re talking to me right now, like you do with other topics.”

 

A charter flowchart is in the works. For now, though, I’m starting with a sizzling compendium that might attract some readers from beyond my typical ed crowd of public school professionals and true progressives. Without further ado, here’s a spattering of sleazy charter school developments that you’re not likely to read about anyplace else. Told casually, roundup-style.

 

-About that current push for more, bigger, and better charters… Though it’s hard to imagine that Governor Perfect can do any wrong, it’s important to consider that Charlie Baker’s purple heart bipartisanship sows fertile soil which those who profit from school privatization can plunder—real estate investors, test administrators, consultants, consultants, and especially consultants. So far, Baker appointed a venture capitalist with no relevant ed experience to chair the state Board of Elementary and Secondary Education, while his testimony last week on behalf of legislation to “Improve and Expand Educational Opportunity and Charter Schools” showed far more interest in fertilizing alternatives than in repairing traditional infrastructure:

 

  • Baker’s legislation would “add up to 12 new Commonwealth charter schools and/or expansions annually—outside of the current cap of 120—focusing the growth in districts that are performing in the bottom 25% of districts statewide.” The administration boldly claims their budgeting will “level the financial playing field between high income and low income communities” and deputizes these proposed new charters to “work on closing the education opportunity gap that had historically left too many kids behind.” That’s Baker’s baseline—that charters are inherently good, and capable of saving us.

 

  • The governor then performed the increasingly common charter stat cherry-picking routine, in which he at once hails “our charter schools [as] the envy of the nation,” and notes that “despite all this positive progress, the difference in overall student achievement in underperforming school districts and the rest of the Commonwealth remains too high.” The problem? According to Baker, it’s that “37,000 children sit on waiting lists, trying to get into the Commonwealth’s very successful charter school network.”

 

  • The governor then neglected to acknowledge the demoralizing experiences of countless special-needs students, English-language learners, and families of those children, many of whom have struggled in the kinds of failing Massachusetts charter schools that don’t get put on pedestals. “Charter school operators are often criticized,” said Baker, “unfairly I think, for not serving a full cross-section of students.”

 

  • Finally, and most tellingly, Baker revealed that his own ego is on the line: “I served for several years on the board of the Phoenix Charter School network, which operates alternative high schools in Chelsea, Lawrence and Springfield.” The State House News Service noted this tendency to rely on anecdotal evidence and allies over actuality: “Baker, citing his previous work on the board of the Phoenix Academy Charter Network, said he rejected the notion that charters skim the best students from the pool, leaving traditional public schools to educate students in need of more services and attention.”

 

-This next one you may have glimpsed in the mainstream, as the scam involves a number of marquee charter boosters including Bill and Melinda Gates, and has garnered some big headlines in the past couple of years. Still, the plight of public schools in Newark marks a warning sign that people in Mass should study. I advise everyone to join me in reading the long version—Dale Russakoff’s new book, The Prize: Who’s in Charge of America’s Schools?—but Democracy Now! summarizes so much subterfuge sweetly:

 

Five years ago, Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg donated $100 million to fix the trouble-plagued schools of Newark, New Jersey. Joining forces with Republican Gov. Chris Christie and then-Democratic Mayor Cory Booker, the effort was billed as a model for education reform across the nation. But the story of what followed emerges as a cautionary tale. Tens of millions were spent on hiring outside consultants and expanding charter schools, leading to public school closures, teacher layoffs and an overall decline in student performance.

 

FROM SLIDE SHOW CALLED 'TOUGH TIMES AS OPPORTUNITY'-As for the Gates Foundation’s tentacles in Massachusetts, they are plentiful, but for now I’ll remark on a tip that I received from out of state (as one of the few writers who cover charter shenanigans, I’ve become something of a “Dear Abby” in this niche). The reader asked for information about Education Resource Strategies—a Watertown nonprofit with strong links to Gates—and said the outfit is angling for a contract to advise their struggling district. I took a look at the vendor’s credentials and track record, and wrote the reader back the following:

 

You’re fucked. Among ERS board members—always a good place to start in checking if these operations are nefarious or altruistic—the nonprofit boasts an advisor partner from Bain Capital, as well as former Ted Kennedy advisor Ellen Guiney, who I recently reported has been instrumental in directing public education dollars to third-party service providers. I’m glad you wrote me though, because I now see that our own struggling school system has partnered with the same nonprofit for 8 out of the past 16 years, working with ERS in “several areas including professional development spending, comprehensive resource mapping and analysis, and supporting the creation of a district-wide strategy for turnaround schools.” As it turns out, the same consultants making money grabs in your neck of the woods have preached the education reform gospel for a decade from behind administrative lines in Boston. I appreciate your letter, and I’ll bring your concern to my readers in New England. Until I have time to write my own book about the influence of Gates and his ilk on education—in the Commonwealth, of course—I’m always happy to spread news about the outside players and consultants who are influencing policy and pedagogy leagues under the radar.

CHRIS FARAONE
+ posts

A Queens, NY native who came to New England in 2004 to earn his MA in journalism at Boston University, Chris Faraone is the editor and co-publisher of DigBoston and a co-founder of the Boston Institute for Nonprofit Journalism. He has published several books including 99 Nights with the 99 Percent, and has written liner notes for hip-hop gods including Cypress Hill, Pete Rock, Nas, and various members of the Wu-Tang Clan.

  • CHRIS FARAONE
    https://digboston.com/author/chris-faraone/
    Justice Department Completes Vetting Of Rachael Rollins
  • CHRIS FARAONE
    https://digboston.com/author/chris-faraone/
    AG Investigating BPD To Determine If “Gang Unit” Engages In “Unconstitutional Policing”
  • CHRIS FARAONE
    https://digboston.com/author/chris-faraone/
    Little, Yellow, Different, Delicious: Håvn Sativa Lemon Gummies
  • CHRIS FARAONE
    https://digboston.com/author/chris-faraone/
    Meet The Cartoonist Who Lampooned Mass Cannabis Regulators

Filed Under: News, NEWS+OPINIONS Tagged With: Bain Capital, Beacon Hill, Boston Public Schools, BPS, Charlie Baker, charter cap, Charter Schools, consultants, DESE, ed reform, Governor Baker, Massachusetts, school reform, teacher's unions, venture capitalists

WHAT’S NEW

Massachusetts Bill, Victim Advocates Call For Coordinated Date-Rape Drug Response

Massachusetts Bill, Victim Advocates Call For Coordinated Date-Rape Drug Response

Report: Fewer Youth Transition Out Of Massachusetts Foster Care System

Report: Fewer Youth Transition Out Of Massachusetts Foster Care System

State Wire: Activists Urge Congress To Raise Debt Ceiling, Resist Spending Cuts

State Wire: Activists Urge Congress To Raise Debt Ceiling, Resist Spending Cuts

Dancing On Banana Peels: Life On Lifetime Parole In Massachusetts

Dancing On Banana Peels: Life On Lifetime Parole In Massachusetts

Justice Department Completes Vetting Of Rachael Rollins

Justice Department Completes Vetting Of Rachael Rollins

AG Investigating BPD To Determine If “Gang Unit” Engages In “Unconstitutional Policing”

AG Investigating BPD To Determine If “Gang Unit” Engages In “Unconstitutional Policing”

Primary Sidebar

LOCAL EVENTS

AAN Wire


Most Popular

  • AG Investigating BPD To Determine If “Gang Unit” Engages In “Unconstitutional Policing”
  • Over Yondr: Are Cell Phone Pouches At Shows Liberating, Dangerous, Or Annoying?
  • Deep Cuts Brings Sandwiches, Craft Beer, And Live Music To Medford
  • Family Of Woman Killed By Commuter Rail Sues MBTA For Crash Records
  • Daring Greatly: TikTok Star Alden McWayne (aka Gucci Pineapple) On Scheming And Dreaming

Footer

Social Buttons

DigBoston facebook DigBoston Twitter DigBoston Instagram

Masthead

About

Advertise

Customer Service

About Us

DigBoston is a one-stop nexus for everything worth doing or knowing in the Boston area. It's an alt-weekly, it's a website, it's an email blast, it's a twitter account, it's that cool party that you were at last night ... hey, you're reading it, so it's gotta be good. For advertising inquiries: sales@digboston.com To reach editorial (and for inquiries about internship opportunities): editorial@digboston.com