First, they are an obvious attempt to circumvent and eliminate the public school system. ---------------------------------
Start and end right there. Charters ARE public. They're just not closed shop union, and THAT is because of the UNIONS. I am rather an expert here. 3 kids who went thru charter, K-12 (the first one started in 2nd grade on day 1 of the school, the other 2 were K-12. And BTW, thats part of the magic). Top 100 schools in the country 3 years running. Kid one: In here "middy" year at Northeaster, 3.89 GPA, and captain of the cheerleading team (Div 1, went to nationals) Kid two (the boy): About to start sophomore year at Providence College. 3.8 GPA Kid three: Senior a the charter, odds on fave for valedictorian, The Ivy League is courting her. All while I get hate mail from the Teacher's Unions, which I enjoy immensely. I'm sure some charters suck, but then, so do some traditional publics. On Jul 9, 6:08 pm, Bruce Majors <[email protected]> wrote: > this make it clear you are the worst kind of scum "richard blaine" i.e. > coward hiding behind fake emails > > you are a slave trader selling black kids to educrat cartels to gain money > for your incumbents > > you must be tried and imprisoned or exiled, your assets seized as > restitution to all the poor kids you have left illiterate > > On Sat, Jul 9, 2011 at 3:49 PM, Richard Blaine <[email protected]>wrote: > > > > > Interesting commentary, the kind not seen in the corporate owned and > > controlled media. > > > ----- Original Message ----- > > > Charter schools are a scam on so many levels. > > > First, they are an obvious attempt to circumvent and eliminate the public > > school system. As more and more parents are encouraged to via vouchers they > > will spend that voucher at a private (corporate for-profit) school. > > Eventually everyone will use vouchers as the public school system implodes > > due to lack of resources, thus requiring all children to enter charter > > schools. Make no mistake about it its about privatizing school systems and > > ending property taxes devoted to schools. This allows many people to skate > > on taxes. > > > Secondly, as charter schools replace public schools many parents will not > > get enough money out of their voucher to send multiple kids to school. No > > vouchers will support 2 school age kids, much less 3 or even more. This > > means many families will come up short requiring parents to home school due > > to lack of money. Home schooling, done by amateurs rather than > > professionals, creates inferior students who likewise lack social skills due > > to not being around other children. > > > Third, if they can create vouchers than can also take them away. This will > > leave parents on their own which is exactly the reason to have public > > schools in the first place, because many families especially those will > > multiple school age children cannot afford to pay for school. Education > > among enlightened people is viewed as necessary for any advanced society, > > and that by removing education such a society degrades into a 3rd world > > cesspool - exactly what we don't want. > > > Fourth, charter schools HAVE NOT - *repeat* - *HAVE NOT* produced superior > > results, and as a former teacher I know from the inside. This is the scam > > put forth by proponents and not supported by facts, but rather, ideological > > views. But it takes real work with quality teachers to make for an > > education and NOT ideological views. > > > Fifth, we now know H-1Bs are being used as cheap/docile labor and can > > guarantee you they start at the bottom of the pay scale. This can easily be > > done by NOT giving them credit for any prior teaching experience, thereby > > forcing them onto the bottom level. > > > Finally H-1Bs, being docile by nature since their presence in America is > > tied to their employer, will be non-union and therefore a tool to break > > teacher unions. This will result in lower pay as well as fewer benefits and > > likely larger class sizes - making their jobs more difficult and therefore > > less desireable. > > > Charter schools will prove to be a complete failure as to this point there > > is no evidence they produce results any better than public schools. I'd > > expect a scam like this to being in Texas, a state particularly susceptible > > to scams and loonies. > > > ============================================================= > > > http://www.ennisdailynews.com/?p=12821 > > > Charter schools, public risk, political gain > > > [image: Quantcast] > > > <http://www.ennisdailynews.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/Hight-Michae...> > > > Michael Hight > > > Stunning, jaw dropping hypocrisy! The conservative Republican Texas > > legislature, in Senate Bill 1, passed in June, will guarantee the bonds sold > > by the private owners of charter schools. Privately owned charter schools, > > for example, Harmony Charter Schools, will be authorized by the state of > > Texas to sell bonds to construct new school buildings. The state will > > guarantee them by giving charter schools access to the Permanent School > > Fund. Isn’t this the Wall Street model …. privatize the profits and > > socialize the loses. Newly minted AAA rated financial instruments will be > > bundled to hedge fund managers and other “investors.†Hundreds of > > thousands of dollars will be made by bond rating agencies and financial > > institutions that put these bond offerings together. > > > Remember the rating firms that provided AAA ratings, paid for by Wall > > Street, for worthless mortgage backed securities. The Texas taxpayer will > > now be on the hook for this private sector school financing scheme. The > > relevant section of SB 1 states, “Senate Bill 1. Sec. 45.052. GUARANTEE. > > (a) On approval by the commissioner, bonds issued under Subchapter A by a > > school district or Chapter 53 for a charter district, including refunding > > bonds, are guaranteed by the corpus and income of the Permanent School Fund. > > There is more. Harmony Charter Schools is the largest charter school chain > > in the state boasting of 36 schools. Don’t let them tell you charter > > schools are public schools, they are not. Public schools don’t have the > > luxury of “encouraging†a child to leave because they might jeopardize > > the school’s test scores. Charter schools game the system by inflating > > their successes through a process called “dumping†. The Texas Education > > Agency (TEA) acknowledges that Charter schools “dump†low performing > > students and students with special needs. They push these students out of > > their school. Dr. Ed Fuller has been quoted saying, “It’s not hard to be > > ‘exemplary’ if you lose all the kids who aren’t performing†. Harmony > > schools “lose†an extraordinarily high number, about 50 percent, of their > > students in grades 6 through 8 according to Fuller, a University of > > Texas-Austin researcher. Charter schools do not out perform our public > > schools. They create havoc. Charter schools that have closed still owe the > > state 21 million dollars because they exaggerated their enrollment numbers. > > Besides their “dumping†policies, Harmony Charter schools have been > > associated with the Gulan Islamic movement. Harmony does not teach Islam in > > the schools, but their Gulan associations are undeniable according to > > University of Oregon’s Joshua Hendrick, Ph.D. His research extensively > > studied the Gulanists and their worldwide operations. > > > Under the radar of the American public, the Gulan Islamic movement has been > > quietly advancing its presence in the United States through the > > establishment of charter schools by their acolytes. Texas politicians are > > well aware of this movement. Gulanists continue to build their political > > cover by targeting, influencing, and giving gifts and trips to Turkey to our > > politicians. Fethullah Gulan, left Turkey under threat by the Turkish > > government for his attempts to establish an Islamic government and some > > consider him the contemporary Islamic version of American evangelist Billy > > Graham. The Gulan movement goes beyond charter schools. Their public > > relations strategy incorporates the establishment of “cultural centers†> > and “interfaith dialog†centers. They are extremely well funded and > > politically connected. Cosmos Foundation, Inc., owners of Harmony Schools > > hired Jennifer Sarver, of BursonMarsteller, one of the world’s largest > > public relation firms. Karen Hughes is Global Vice-Chair of > > BursonMarsteller. This is a very expensive and high powered public relation > > effort. Followers of the Gulan Movement operate banks, educational > > institutions, media, and business networks in more than 100 countries around > > the world. > > > *The Cosmos Foundation, Inc. which operates the Harmony schools filed for > > 1,157 visas applications (H1-Bs) since 2001*. *It has brought 731 > > administrators and teachers from Turkey using H1-Bs surpassing all other > > secondary education providers nationwide*. Immigration of teachers from > > Turkey under the H1B visa program is allowed if a qualified American teacher > > cannot be found. Questions abound regarding the qualifications of these > > Turkish teachers as well as Harmony’s sincerity in attracting and hiring > > qualified American teachers. All the principals of Harmony schools just > > happen to be Turkish men. Contracting, maintenance, and a plethora of vendor > > contracts (food service, uniforms, books, furniture, etc.) which by law > > should go to the lowest bidder are in question. It has been reported that > > local Texas businesses have been shut out and bids awarded to Turkish owned > > firms. Large capital improvements and new building construction projects > > will be financed by Harmony bond initiatives, awarded to Turkish > > construction firms, and insured by the state, meaning … you. These > > contracts represent tens of millions of dollars. > > > Here’s the right wing Republican plan: Put the public school system under > > relentless attack for political, ideological, and financial gain. > > Selectively target public schools in the inner cities where poverty is the > > norm and low performance is a problem and portray every public school in the > > same light. You know the propaganda is coming when they start talking about > > “government run schools†, “competition†, “choice†, and “21st > > century skills†. A recent New York Times article by the conservative David > > Brooks uses the language of the propagandist when he speaks of the school > > “reform movement†or the “reformers†…. a detestable perversion of > > the English language in the context that they use it. These right wing > > extremists corrupt the language; undermine our traditional public schools > > for profit and political advantage. > > > Thomas Jefferson once wrote, “If a nation expects to be ignorant and > > free, in a state of civilization, it expects what never was and will never > > be†. Texas state government has seen to it that we rank almost at the > > bottom of the nation in public school funding (48th). Our public school > > teachers, staff, and administrators deserve better by virtue of their > > performance and the indispensible value they add to our community. Let me be > > clear. I am not in any way against privately funded faith based schools. > > However, Harmony Charter Schools and other charters, funded by taxpayer’s > > dollars, by their own doing, have raised serious questions about their > > practices at many levels not the least of which is the promotion of a > > particular religion and culture directly or indirectly. Finally, the Texas > > taxpayer should not bear the risk associated with the creation and issuance > > financial instruments for the private sector…. never, never, never. > > > *Michael Hight is a retired pharmaceutical executive. His education > > includes a Bachelor’s degree in microbiology, with graduate studies in > > political science and additional courses in business management abroad. He > > can be reached at > > mich...<http://www.google.com/recaptcha/mailhide/d?k=01O7q9LRkvE3-NnjjEhgjtaA...> > > @sbcglobal.net.* > > > -- > > *You CANNOT claim you support American workers while importing > > cheap/docile labor.*- Hide quoted text - > > - Show quoted text - -- Thanks for being part of "PoliticalForum" at Google Groups. For options & help see http://groups.google.com/group/PoliticalForum * Visit our other community at http://www.PoliticalForum.com/ * It's active and moderated. Register and vote in our polls. * Read the latest breaking news, and more.
