Trump/DeVos plan to make Public Schools look bad just so they can sell choice to private-for-profits and religious schools.

Well, a big congratulation to Trump voters who thought, what the heck, let’s take a chance.

Those voters who believed millionaire Trump would help the little people…well, you’re about to get socked with higher education costs. There goes Scott Walker's tax savings, and more. No free lunch.

Public schools are on the outs and private unaccountable for-profit schools will be squeezing every dollar out you soon. Moyers and Company: 

Trump’s Education Budget Feeds School Privatization at The Expense of Students: The Post reports, deep spending cuts — a net $9.2 billion or 13.6 percent — for many “long-standing programs” that largely serve children and youth from low-income households.

At the same time, more money would go to incentivize “alternatives to traditional public schools” at the K-12 level and increase the costs of college loans, a federal program with significant ties to the financial services industry.

Why is Trump and DeVos doing this? 

(It) cuts programs that make public schools attractive options for parents, especially in low-income communities, while boosting federal support for “school choice” that incentivizes parents to turn to charter schools and private schools instead.

1. $1.2 billion for after-school programs would be eliminated,

2. (Eliminate) $2.1 billion for teacher training programs that lead to class-size reductions in schools.

3. Funding that supports arts education, international studies and foreign languages get the axe.

4. Federal help for educating Alaska Native and Native Hawaiian students and gifted students are killed.

5. A $400 million fund to pay for an array of school-enriching services and academics — such as mental-health support, anti-bullying programs and advanced courses — gets zero.

6. Even money for Special Olympics education programs would be gone.

7. Schools would get a lot less money from the federal government for technical education, adult basic literacy instruction.

8. Trump and DeVos would take $1 billion out of the federal government’s Title I funds — money sent to the states to support educating poor children — to a new grant program that incentivizes those states to fund the competitive privately operated schools such as charters and religious schools. The grant program is called Furthering Options for Children to Unlock Success (FOCUS) that only goes to school districts that “agree to allow students to choose which public school they attend — and take their federal, state and local dollars with them.”

9. The proposed budget provides “$500 million for charter schools, up 50 percent over current funding.” 

Trump and DeVos aren't done yet reaching into your pockets, hurting the economy and stuffing your hard earned cash into the pockets of billionaire bankers...

10. The “reshaping” includes cutting loans and work-study programs for disadvantaged students and ending subsidized loans for students still in schools and the program that forgives college loans for students who eventually take jobs in the public sector. Eliminating these student loan programs means “the government could eventually make more money off of student loans” 

But not only is it ethically problematic for our government to treat college students like cash cows; it’s also just another way to ensure more money for education is directed to the immense financial empire that profits off servicing those loans, refinancing the debt and collecting on loans that go into default.

Yea, Trump is gonna take care of the disenfranchised. Suckers. 

And here's a tricky one...

$250 million for grants that would ”pay for expanding and studying the impacts of vouchers for private and religious schools.

As the Post reporters explain, “It’s not clear how much would be spent on research versus the vouchers themselves.” But what’s also unclear is how one studies the “impacts” of an initiative simultaneously as it rolls out. Rather than a research endeavor, this additional money sounds more like it’s for a marketing program.

Shredding college affordability so banks can make more money is spelled out in this Post report sidebar.

State Superintendent Challengers/Businesses have Plans for Privatizing Public Schools.

The privateers of our public schools just exposed their slimy underbellies. Ends justify the means/or whatever it takes to get the job?

It looks like the candidate challengers to State Superintendent Tony Evers just made it clear what really matters to them, and it ain't education. You can't make dirty politics like this up...:

Candidate John Humphries said in an interview with the Wisconsin State Journal that during discussions between he and opponent Lowell Holtz about the possibility of the two working together instead of running against each other, Holtz proposed in writing that either he or Humphries should drop out in exchange for a guaranteed, three-year, $150,000 job with the Department of Public Instruction should one of them defeat incumbent Tony Evers in the general election.

Once the privateers eliminate the publically controlled schools, business responds something like this:

Humphries said the two met after speaking to "business leaders," who Humphries declined to identify. 

"It’s true that we had breakfast together. It’s true that a number of business people asked us to get together and discuss options for working together because they thought we would have a better chance," said Holtz. "There was no specific proposal. There were ideas that were thrown around. They were ideas."

How real is any of this and how outraged are these two challengers? What a circus. Here's the proposal:

 "suggestions from business people that were put in writing because the business people asked for them to be put in writing." - Holtz

Intentionally Silent Voucher Privateers quietly taking larger taxpayer handouts from bought off Walker Republicans.

One thing that has frustrated me most about the voucher debate was the lack of coverage over the privateers end game; dramatically increased public funding. While most stories brag about the bargain price of voucher schools, privateers have been whining about the disparity, and demanding equal per pupil funding...and more.

Welcome to the real world Wisconsinites! According to the nonpartisan Legislative Fiscal Bureau, vouchers have taken the lead under the Scott Walker Authority:

1. The amount of state money spent on each student using a private school voucher has increased $911: 14 percent since 2010 = $7,214, and $7,860 for high school students

2. The amount of money the state spends on each public school student has decreased $210: 4 percent since 2010 = $5,108.

3. The 2015-16 school year was the first year school districts experienced a loss in state aid to pay for students living in district boundaries who were attending private schools using a school voucher ... per pupil aid dipping below the national average for the first time in history. Previously, state general purpose revenue paid for vouchers. 

4. Voucher school operators are getting nearly $1000 more per student from state taxpayers than in 2011.”

5. In order to make up for state funding reductions, since 2011 Wisconsin communities have passed 667 referenda to increase local taxpayer funding of public schools.

So while Walker and his band of plundering legislative pirates can brag in their reelection ads they cut spending and taxes, individual communities statewide have had to do just the opposite:

Washington State Supreme Court says Charter Schools unconstitutional, unaccountable; Gov. Kasich's Charter influenced Corruption.

It's a ruling that could slow down the school privatization movement, and give taxpayers second thoughts about the unaccountable ways their money is being spent.

According to the Seattle Times, the Washington State Supreme Court ruled 6-3 charter schools to be unconstitutional.

In the ruling, Chief Justice Barbara Madsen wrote that charter schools aren’t “common schools” because they’re governed by appointed rather than elected boards. Therefore, “money that is dedicated to common schools is unconstitutionally diverted to charter schools.”
The ruling is a victory for a coalition that ask(ed) a judge to declare the law unconstitutional for “improperly diverting public-school funds to private organizations that are not subject to local voter control.”

State's that are now dominated by Republican super majorities plan to change what earlier framers of their state constitutions tried to protect us from:

It seems as though a door may be open for restructuring charters … In 2011, the Georgia Supreme Court struck down a 2008 law that created a state commission which have been legal in the state since 1993. In 2012, voters approved a constitutional amendment that reinstated the state commission.

Republicans Attack the Judicial Branch…Again: It’s time the public take notice of what is now a familiar tactic by Republicans; attack judges and justices that don’t agree with conservative orthodoxy. Take Kansas for instance, where GOP legislators unconstitutionally took away the State Supreme Courts power to select district judges because they didn’t like their rulings on abortion, capital punishment and education funding. That's happening everywhere. Here’s one Washington state Republicans bizarre upside down response that contradicts reality:

Rep. Chad Magendanz, R-Issaquah, and ranking member on the House Education Committee and a charter-school supporter, said he was stunned by the decision. “I’m shocked. I’m worried about the political aspects about this. The court is becoming too much of ‘a political animal.”

That's not all, Charters may sink Gov. Kasich's run for president. Since charter school leaders are some of the biggest donors to the Ohio Republican Party, one Gov. Kasich political appointees and husband of his former chief of staff took it upon himself to make charter school results look really good to the public. Again, if Republicans can't win on the ideas front, cheat:

The Enquirer received records that may clarify who was involved in the charter-school misconduct. What we know now: David Hansen, Ohio's school-choice director, resigned in July, the weekend before Kasich launched his presidential campaign. Hansen admitted he intentionally had scrubbed data when he was completing evaluations of the groups that sponsor charter schools.

Skirting guidelines outlined in state law, he omitted failing grades for online and dropout-recovery schools in an effort to make the charter-school sponsors look better overall. Hansen is the husband of Beth Hansen, who served as Kasich’s chief of staff until he launched his presidential campaign, which she now manages. The charter-school situation takes on additional significance because it involves a high-level conservative priority. Republicans have prioritized sending state money to charter schools, charter school leaders are among the biggest donors to Ohio Republicans, especially in the Legislature.

One final thought: If Republicans blame the increasing availability of federal student loan money for the rising cost of tuition, why are they opening the floodgates for more state taxpayer money for K-12 private tuition?

Of course in reality, college tuition increased due to GOP state funding cuts, but using their BS narrative, I thought it was interesting contradiction.  

Nevada let's parents reform education on their own with taxpayer money, because parents know what's best, right?

Thank you Nevada! Now we'll get to see what happens with a totally voucherized educational system where parents can devise any kind of reform they want, on their own. What a way to spend taxpayer dollars. And I thought Netflix's Daredevil and Amazon's Mozart in the Jungle was fun to watch:

The new school choice law in Nevada giving parents near-total control over the way state education dollars are spent on their children was heralded as "groundbreaking" and "historic" when the governor signed it in June … with hundreds of applications pouring in, state officials are encountering challenges as they try to put the law into practice without any roadmap.

Yup, no roadmap, no real plan. So what could go wrong when you leave educational reform up to…parents?

Parents can use their ESA money to pay tuition at any private school, including those that are religiously affiliated, or buy materials for home schooling. A parent could even use the money to mix and match courses and services from private and public sources to create a customized education for their child … They predict a sizable chunk of ESA applicants will opt to use their money to home school

Ye-ha, that sounds like money spent well. Republicans and private schools are already openly offering ways for people to get around the law:

To qualify for the program, students must have attended a public school for 100 consecutive days before applying for an ESA … Officials in the treasurer's office have been trying to find a work-around so students can become eligible without completely dropping out of their private school and enrolling in a public school.

Gaming the system is easy:

The treasurer's office has since tweaked some rules to allow students to take a single class at a district or charter school while remaining in private school or home school to meet the 100-day eligibility requirement.  

Got some extra time between your job and family, why not try managing your multiple ESA accounts for multiple kids. You can fit that in somewhere between shopping for health insurance, dealing with family illnesses and accidents, shopping for car-homeowners-life insurance, grocery shopping, staying on top of the kids homework, home disasters and improvements...etc. Who's got time to call your representative: 

Most families that sign up for ESAs will get 90 percent of the state money allocated to each child, about $5,000 per student, while low-income students and students with disabilities will get 100 percent, or around $5,700 … some students with expensive needs and possibly deter some poor students and students with disabilities from participating, said Rau of Nevada Succeeds.

Oh, after just a few months in existence, the voucher program is already under funding private schools, effecting the poor and disabled. Don't worry, corporate schools will ask for more of your money:

And despite a survey from the Friedman Foundation that found $5,700 would cover 80 percent of tuition at half of the state's private elementary schools, there's lingering skepticism that ESAs will really put private education within the reach of poor families.

Private Schools want to data mine you and your kids personal information

Tea party "stand with Walker" followers of the governor better start paying attention, or they're likely to wake up one day to find their kids have become government controlled commodities with limited rights and freedoms.

We already know Republicans represent the corporate and wealthy, positively packaged as "job creators." Well, the tentacles of private business are now about to burrow deeply into your child's most personal information, creating a private free market national database. What will they do with that information?  Maybe a little economic blackmail?

Remember when the tea party Republicans couldn't stop whining about Common Core's "data mining?"

Dozens of tea party supporters sent lawmakers a letter this week raising concerns about a loss of local control, lowered educational standards and an invasion of student privacy.    

Implementing Common Core will lead to "data mining" — the federal government collecting student and family information and sharing it with employers and others. Duke Pesta, an assistant professor of English at the University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh, also a guy who spoke at a “packed into a Republican gathering at an American Legion hall in Cedarburg,” contends that in accepting common assessments aligned to the national standards, states agreed to share data they collect with the federal government.

DPI said no new data collection is required as part of the Common Core State Standards. The data are owned by the districts, and in no case would the data ever be sold to anyone, according to the DPI. 

Private Schools want You and your Kids personal information...NOW! Don't expect any blowback on this latest leap into fascism, since deep down inside this has always been the end game whether they knew it or not:

jsonline: School choice advocates have requested the names, addresses, phone numbers and grade levels of every student enrolled in 30 different public school districts, gearing up for a marketing campaign should lawmakers lift the enrollment cap on Wisconsin's statewide voucher program.

But what School Choice Wisconsin sees as a legal way to augment its mailing list, public school supporters see as a legal affront on personal privacy. The issue is prompting some district leaders to revisit options for limiting the release of student data, including reminding parents of their ability to opt out. "We're trying to augment our mailing list."

Tea Party for Data Mining? 

The organization (School Choice Wis) is particularly keen on connecting with public school parents ... Directory information includes information such as students' names, addresses, telephone numbers, date and place of birth, major field of study, height, weight, athletic team participation, awards achieved, and schools attended.  

Oshkosk School District Superintendent Stan Mack, "That information getting into the wrong hands could create significant danger," he said. "...that information floating about seems to not to be the best idea." Scot Ross, executive director of the liberal group One Wisconsin Now, said there's no way to predict what School Choice Wisconsin will do with the data. "We're not saying what they did was illegal, we're saying it's sleazy, and given the voucher industry's record on accountability, there are legitimate concerns about how this data is used, resold and transmitted," Ross said Friday.

Trust us, misusing the information is not our intention....

Bender countered that they've stated that they don't intend to sell or use the data for commercial purposes.

That's reassuring. 

While our own government stores a lot of our personal information, it also has safeguards against sharing that data, or using it against us. There would be political hell to pay if that trust were ever broken. But the private sector has no limits. Headlines about data breaches in the private sector over charge cards and personal information are so common now, even tea party Republicans don't give a rats ass. They fear their own government more. But what happens when government and business are one and the same?   

Walker voters back dismantling Public Education for a $5 a year property tax savings, a new low.

Scott Walker voters are getting easier to pay off; from $32 to just $5. But that's not all.

It’s also easy to take advantage of teachers, who’s calling in life is to help others...kids. As disturbing as that would seem to any normal human being, it’s not disturbing enough for conservative Republican true believers.

Scott Walker bragged about doing just that when he said Act 10 didn't end up destroying public education after all. See, our dedicated public school teachers didn't quit their jobs or lose the passion they feel educating our kids. We knew we could take advantage of them.

Walker: “Recently, some have raised concerns about this (UW) proposed reform. These are some of the same claims we heard four years ago when our Act 10 reforms were enacted. Today, our graduation rates are higher, third grade reading scores are better, and Wisconsin ACT scores are second best in the country.

Never mind the endless hour’s teachers spend at school and at home devising better ways to capture the imagination and interest of their students. Or the roll out of Common Core standards and the ever changing advanced teaching methods used to broaden a child’s understanding of math, science, reading, etc. It's Walker's magical belief system that has made the difference. 

Walker’s odd answer to higher graduation rates and higher reading and ACT scores is to make massive changes to something he brags isn't broken. 

Ideologically it makes perfect upside-down sense to toss 4 years and tens of millions of dollars away that were invested in improving public education. Walker's into expanding a 25 year Milwaukee voucher experiment that hasn't improved a thing, and trolling for untrained "life experienced" teachers. That's just smart.  

Republican hatred for public education is based on those sneaky "liberal" teachers indoctrinating our students. As we know, private schools would never think to do that, with either religion or conservative orthodoxy online, at home or in their church classrooms. 

If all it takes is a mere $131 reduction in property taxes since 2010 ($32 a year), and another 5 dollar savings in each of the next two years to buy their loyalty, god help us.     

Superintendent of Private Instruction Scott Walker seeking "Real Life Experience" Teacher wannabes.

College dropout Scott Walker's knows education. That's why he has created an entirely different parallel private system of schooling that mostly under performs its public counterpart, teaches mostly religion and turns our kids into what profiteers call a "commodity."

Commodity: "A raw material or product that is bought and sold commercially in large quantities." How nice.

That's not all; Walker also wants schools to be accountable, so he's letting the private ones take their own preferred tests, whatever that means. So we really can't compare schools at all, but I'll bet you the private schools improve quickly.

Now Superintendent Walker wants those battered by life's bitter experiences to take that right into the classroom. WISC:  

Walker on Thursday announced that he is proposing that people with work experience be allowed to take a competency test to gain a teacher license. Walker's spokeswoman says the Department of Public Instruction will be charged with creating a competency exam that will allow someone with "real life experience" to gain a teacher license.

For comparisons sake, consider our legislative block of "real life experience" accountants, true believers in supply side, voodoo economics. Can you say Great Recession? Who knows, maybe when they leave office they go into teaching.

Republican School Accountability Disaster Political Meddling from not-so-smart Freeloading Legislators.

WISC's Jessica Arp, covering the ever changing school accountability legislation, showed us all just how out of whack the Republican are in dealing with the realities of making schools even better than they already are.

In two important stories, local districts don't like what they're seeing, especially when it comes to the simple minded grading system. Instead of rating the strengths and weaknesses of each school, the GOP authority is pushing A through F grades. Really?

Overall scores will bring down a schools total average unfairly, so they appear to be failing, forcing a quicker switch over to private schools. There's a more responsible way to do this. Like your own child's report card, it's much better to see where they have strengths, so you can direct more time working on their weaknesses. This works for schools and businesses alike.



Edgwood College Dean of Education Tim Slekar trashed the idea, calling the penalties "Hunger Games for kids." Accountability has for decades helped schools adapt and improve over time. The myth created around the drive to go private, that public schools are failing, will become a reality if Republicans get their way. From a past WKOW Capitol City Sunday, Slekar doesn't hold back:



One radio caller was right in suggesting a similar grading system for each lawmaker and for the assembly and senate. They collect big paychecks, so how come they don't get a written evaluation?

Act 10 Ushers in High Teacher Turnover, declining experience.

Those small government, small minded losers controlling our one party system have won.

What we’re now seeing after Scott Walker passed Act 10 is a noticeable change in the teaching profession, where dedication to our children is being slowly replaced by high turnover “employees” looking for the best monetary fit.

A free market based educational system will turn our dependable public schools into Dollar Store deals, where communities who once attracted relocating families due to their highly rated school districts will now be offering up well advertised private schools that could pick up and go anytime they feel they're not making enough money. 

It started with Act 10. jsonline-Erin Richards:

-In the summer of 2013, hundreds of veteran teachers retired from Milwaukee Public Schools, many taking advantage of the favorable terms of expiring contracts.

-One year later … there's been another, even greater, spike in teachers leaving. But those walking away now are predominantly educators with three or fewer years of experience

-MPS officials say … "There is a national trend toward not staying with the same employer for decades."

-Some teachers get a taste of today's workplace and leave education entirely … pressures and politics of the job have heightened in recent years … it's common to hear teachers say they feel disrespected by the public, unsupported by their administration and beaten up by parents.

-Act 10 has created an open market for teachers, which makes it harder for districts to retain staff with sought-after skills. "Everyone is talking about resignation rates, they're higher everywhere in the past several years," Johnna Noll, director of instructional services at the West Allis-West Milwaukee Public Schools said.

The trend is to take the dedicated teacher out, and replace those top professionals with “salaried competitive high turnover jobs.” The following list of changes should leave you with a hollow sinking feeling. It’s a world where privateers use the word “commodity” when they talk about our kids:

-Among teachers with three or fewer years of experience, 174 resigned in 2013-'14, compared with 67 in 2012-'13 and 63 the year before.  40% of the resignations were relative newcomers.

-Salary structures in teacher’s union contracts once rewarded teachers for staying with the same district until retirement. But under employee handbooks, pay raises are no longer tethered to years of experience … teachers might be more easily lured away by competing districts, which now have more ability to offer rewards such as signing bonuses.

-Many districts have implemented heftier financial penalties for teachers who resign midyear. MPS teachers who sign a contract of employment for the coming school year now can face fines of up to $1,000 to $2,000 if they resign for non-catastrophic reasons. In the past, MPS teachers were not required to pay anything to resign.

Here's the best explanation why so many young teachers are leaving:

Rachel Schlueter is a 25-year veteran MPS teacher, said she had "incredible teachers" in the rooms next to her, who offered support and tips. "I think now, young people are kind of thrown into it," she said. "There's never enough time to collaborate with colleagues and to get a lot of help from other teachers. In my opinion, that's when people get frustrated and leave any district as a new teacher."

GOP Voucher School Success?

So, let’s expand the voucher privatization efforts statewide?

It will be interesting to see how Republicans defend media questions about the poor test results, IF they’re ever asked by reporters in the first place.

But the spin is already whirling around the topic, as exemplified by this ridiculously deceptive headline in the Journal Sentinel:

Lags? WKOW put the following graphics together that offered the most breathtaking and honest assessment.

Vouchers have been a complete and unmistakable disaster.

The Wisconsin State Journal left the spin out with this headline, "Wisconsin voucher schools show lower test scores compared to public schools." Just as interesting is the opt out penalty, where schools are discouraged from trying to hide their failings by not testing as many kids. The "statewide" voucher schools do not include Milwaukee or Racine: 

Students attending private schools receiving taxpayer-funded vouchers in a new statewide program did not score as high overall as public school students on state tests in reading and math ... 48.6 percent of all students enrolled in public schools scored proficient or advanced in math and 36.6 percent in reading ... Just 578 of more than 432,000 public school students in tested grades didn’t take the test under the opt-out provision.

Of the 272 (voucher) students enrolled in tested grades in the statewide program, 33.2 percent scored proficient and advanced in both reading and math. But that percentage doesn’t include 61 students — or 22.4 percent — that opted out of taking the state tests.

When those who opted out were included in the total and counted as not scoring proficient — as is the case for public school students who opt out — (vouchers) 25.7 percent scored proficient or advanced overall.

Graphics from both the State Journal and Journal Sentinel:

Republicans try to exempt failing grades at virtual schools from local districts report cards, so no ones accountable to taxpayers. Hey, how's privatization working out?

Private online virtual charter schools are failing, but you’d never know it by the way the media generally accepts how bad they are. It’s like we've had the debate, now move on. 

  

The following EdWeek article excerpt seems to just take our virtual schools failure for granted:

..."watchdogs maintain that given their generally poor academic performance and high student turnover, full-time online schools—particularly independent cyber charter schools run by for-profit management companies..."

That might come as a shock to a few parents. Online schools are generally doing a bad job academically.

At the same time, this Wisconsin State Journal article details how one district is trying to exempt their virtual charter schools bad grades from being included in their overall report cards. Outrageous? Yes:

The performance of Wisconsin virtual charter school students would no longer affect their school district’s overall state report card rating if more than half of the virtual school’s enrollment is from outside the district, under legislation proposed last month. Officials from the McFarland School District and its Wisconsin Virtual Academy, the state’s largest virtual charter school, are among those seeking the change … The McFarland School District created WIVA in 2009 … The K-12 virtual school has not been meeting state standards for two years, in contrast to the district’s traditional schools, which overall exceed state standards.

In September, District Superintendent Scott Brown noted in a letter to district parents that the overall district report card rating would have been “notably higher” without the virtual academy’s rating included in the cumulative score.

Many virtual charter schools are run by for-profit operators and have recently been scrutinized for poor performance statewide.

Of course Republicans have their fingerprints all over this virtual school cover-up:

The amendment proposed by Sens. Alberta Darling, R-River Hills, and Luther Olsen, R-Ripon, is opposed by DPI, which releases the report cards.

Spokesman John Johnson said … no district would be held accountable for the virtual schools with high open-enrollment numbers under the proposal … “If the virtual charter schools don’t have those students accounted for in their district’s totals and they won’t be counted in their home districts, then they wouldn’t be counted anywhere,” Johnson said. “We oppose that amendment. We believe it goes against what we’re trying to do for accountability of school districts for taxpayers.”

Even more to the point:

“If the bill passes, McFarland and other host school districts will be able to enjoy the revenues they rake in from hosting a virtual charter school without worrying that the poor performance of the virtual school will pull down the report card score for the district,” wrote Madison School Board president Ed Hughes...

The superintendent made my case for good public school systems, and ending privatization:

“Having a good school district causes a good demand for housing in your area, attracts businesses to your area, and we want people to have an accurate view of our district, and the way it’s working out, it isn’t,” Brown said. “Ultimately, (the virtual school) can’t harm our bricks-and-mortar efforts, that’s kind of the bottom line.”

If a Tax Deduction for Unaccountable Private Schools is such a great idea....

If parents that decided to go outside the public school system, the one they know they’re paying for, can get a tax deduction why can’t we apply that same standard elsewhere?

This letter to the editor explores expanding that idea:

PITTSFIELD — Gov. Scott Walker, I live in rural Brown County. I feel the sheriff’s department affords me less protection than that provided to those in urban areas. Therefore, I expect that you will, at your first opportunity, forward to me a “voucher” check so that I may hire a private security firm. Said funds may be deducted from the state aid given to the Brown County Sheriff’s Department.

In addition, my town is unable to plow my road as quickly as I’d like so please forward a second “voucher” check so that I may hire a private plow service. Those funds may be deducted from the road aids that are paid to the town.

I also insist that you not ask for licensing, accountability or oversight of the contractors involved.I’ll be watching my mailbox closely.Gary Hanson

Michigan Republicans Violate State Constitutional Guarantee of a Public Education. Shut Down School District Early.

One of my biggest raps on private schools is that they can do anything they want, like....pack up and leave before daybreak. And that did happen in Milwaukee. I praised public schools for always being there, after all, they're guaranteed in state constitutions.

I guess the Republicans in Michigan want to make sure we don't even believe that about public schools. The fact the Gov. Rick Snyder broke the law, violated the constitutional guarantee, should land this guy in jail right? Snyder and his Republican pirates will do anything to shake the public confidence, as I've reported before.

Let's hope Michigan loses federal dollars, and Republicans get run out of town or jailed. From education historian Diane Ravitch's blog:

The school district of Buena Vista, Michigan, is out of money. The schools are closed for the year. The district will offer “skills camp” to students.

The state of Michigan, which has a responsibility to provide a free public education to all children, has abandoned the students and their schools. The town and the schools are predominantly poor nd black. The town once thrived but started to die when the automobile industry collapsed. Nw those left behind have been betrayed by Governor Snyder.

The Congressman who represents Buena Vista is upset:

“The students of Buena Vista have a constitutional right to an education and deserve the same educational opportunities as other Michigan children, and that means being in a classroom full-time to complete their school year,” said Rep. Dan Kildee, a Democratic congressman who represents Buena Vista, on Monday. “I do not believe that a voluntary camp amounts to a proper education for the children of Buena Vista.”

Here's All in with Chris Hayes' nice coverage:

Voucher School Schemes Flourish with the Help of Taxpayer Money.

Charter and voucher schools are ripe for taxpayer exploitation. This is a point that seems to always get lost in the discussion. Just like the most egregious corporate schemes, private school operators are looking to game the system, funded by you and me.

For instance, private schools set up separate corporations to own the land their schools are on, make yearly leases increases, paid for by taxpayers, and then write the expense off on their taxes. That’s just one example. It's a con. Another?

Educator and historian Diane Ravich just pointed 3 others in one state. Issue one:

Last year, the Metro Nashville school board rejected Great Hearts Academy four times because it insisted on locating its charter school in the city’s most affluent neighborhood, with no plans for diversity … the equivalent of a publicly-funded private school for affluent white students. State Commissioner of Education Kevin Huffman (Michelle Rhee’s -ex, whose sole previous education experience was TFA) was furious (and) withheld $3.4 million in state funds owed to the children of Nashville to punish the board for defying him.

Issue Two:

In Arizona, Great Hearts was known for high test scores, but also for expecting parents to contribute $1,200-1,500 annually to defray school costs and keep classes small. For parents thinking of private schools, that’s a bargain, but it’s not public education. Last year Great Hearts directed $1 million in textbook purchases to a board member, who gave generously to the school.

Issue Three:

Then House Speaker Beth Harwell (R) expressed her displeasure by introducing ALEC legislation to create a state charter commission to authorize charter schools at will, without regard to the wishes of elected local school boards. This made other Republican legislators uncomfortable, some because they remembered that local control is (or used to be) a conservative idea, others because they worried that charters for inner-city kids might open in their own neighborhood.

So the legislators dropped Harwell’s ALEC proposal and shifted to a bill saying that the state board of education should have the power to override local school board decisions. That way they can protect their own neighborhood schools from those “poor kids trapped in failing schools,” while making it possible for the state board to open publicly financed private schools in white neighborhoods.

The expensive con game of privatization has so many other tricks up their sleeves. Search this blog with the word “charter” and “voucher” for more. You really won't believe what they're doing.

Free Market has Decided: Private School Enrollment way Down.

The free market says private schools just aren't worth the gamble or money for cash strapped parents. But that flies in the face of the Scott Walker plan to destroy public schools. So it looks like taxpayers are on the hook to pay for Walker's for profit vision of education.

For example: Remember when free market/small government Republicans State Sen. Glenn Grothman decided government would step in and pick a winner (private schools), and a loser (public schools), by bribing state parents to send their kids to private schools with a tax credit?

“Private school attendance has fallen from 147,000 in year 2000 to 123,784 last year," Grothman said in a statement on his website. "Also, 23,200 of these students are choice students. If we do not act quickly the situation will continue to get worse for private schools."

But the market has decided...right? The chart below is proof:

So should taxpayers foot the bill on a tax credit for private schools? 

The public provides and pays for public education. If parents choose to turn that down and do something else, should they get a refund? Of course not, they made a choice to not use the services they're already paying for. Some...

...local private school administrators expressed no interest in vouchers because they valued their ability to screen admissions, wanted to maintain autonomy from state requirements and test-based accountability…

Private schools failing? They see huge declines in attendance, so Republicans want taxpayers to bribe parents with tax credits to leave Public Schools.

It’s simple really; in a free market, consumers speak with their feet, and their money. So when tea party State Sen. Glenn Grothman offers up lousy numbers for private and voucher schools, you've gotta ask why we should care, and why we would want to throw more money at them.

“Private school attendance has fallen from 147,000 in year 2000 to 123,784 last year," Grothman said in a statement on his website. "Also, 23,200 of these students are choice students. If we do not act quickly the situation will continue to get worse for private schools." 

Like that's our problem? And besides, "parents know what’s best," right? They’re not choosing private and voucher schools, for a reason. But Grothman wants to “act quickly” anyway, by offering revenue draining tax credits.   

Mt. Pleasant Patch: Grothman's and Rep. Dean Kaufert, R-Neenah reasoning is that public schools get up to $15,000 per child in taxpayer support but parents who choose private schools don't get any public assistance. Speaker of the Assembly Robin Vos, R-Burlington, told the Associated Press that he's open to the idea of such a tax credit.

And as usual, Republicans have no way of paying for it:

As for how the tax credit would be funded, Grothman told Patch he's not sure.

Reader reactions included the clueless who believe private schools are just better, to the single person (probably a public school graduates) who doesn’t think it’s fair that they have to pay for something they’re not using. But the smart ones made the point so much better than I could:

Bobbi Barrows disagrees because parents who choose to send their kids to private school understand the cost of that choice. "If the school isn't meeting my child's needs and I home school, I don't get a tax credit. We are all paying for schools … even if we don't have kids IN school. Just like we pay for parks. If I don't use the Parks at all and choose to pay to go to monkey Joe's instead should I get credit for that?"

Denise Predny sends her kids to private schools and doesn't expect a tax credit in return. "As a parent who sends their children to private school, I say 'no. I made the choice based on our belief in Montessori education (and) do not expect someone to be compensated for the decision."

Jeff Woosley agrees. "They are choosing to not avail themselves of a service provided by their tax dollars. It's a choice they make," he posted. "They aren't forced by anyone to 'double-pay' on education."

Perhaps lower wages and job insecurity has forced parents out of private schools for financial reasons. Austerity and pure ideology aren't solving our state's problems, and the sooner voters see that, the faster we'll see Republicans voted out of office.