Ohio: Charters Are a “Parasitic Industry”

dianeravitch posted: "William Phillis, a retired Deputy Commissioner of Ohio, leads the Ohio Equity and Adequacy Coalition. He fears for the future of public education because of the capture of the State Legislature by the privatization movement. The greatest danger, he write" Respond to this post by replying above this line New post on Diane Ravitch's blog Ohio: Charters Are a "Parasitic Industry" by dianeravitch William Phillis, a retired Deputy Commissioner of Ohio, leads the Ohio Equity and Adequacy Coalition. He fears for the future of public education because of the capture of the State Legislature by the privatization movement. The greatest danger, he writes, is charters, because they are promoted as reforms when they are a threat to pubic education and an insidious tool for privatization. He writes: The privatization of the public common school movement can be stopped: but a different approach is necessary Many, if not most, public common school officials and public education advocates in Ohio have humored state officials since 1999 about the supposed merits of charter schools; and at the same time have given these state officials a pass on not creating a constitutional school funding system. So what has been the result of this passive approach? Loss of tangible personal property tax funds/state reimbursement for the loss *Current public school funding level at about where it was seven years ago and no progress toward a constitutional system *$1 billion being extracted from school districts this school year for a grossly failing charter industry *Harmful education mandates being foisted on school districts *$200 million being extracted this year from school districts for vouchers *Charters are the epicenter of the privatization movement. So what is the definitive goal of the privatizers? Replace the common school, not supplement it Eliminate teachers unions, boards of education and the teaching profession as it currently exists Charters in Ohio have performed less well for children in neighborhoods with a high concentration of poverty; nevertheless, the market-driven reformers, aided by the Wall Street billionaires, education philanthropists and U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan are moving forward with their agenda-replace the public common school system with a multi-faceted, privately-operated array of education competitors. It is now time to recognize and renounce the dishonesty and greed inherent in the Ohio charter industry. The Ohio charter experiment is not fixable because it was created under false pretenses and is not answerable to the people it claims to serve. Common school officials and public education advocates need to engage every community in a campaign to repeal the laws that created the parasitic charter industry. William Phillis Ohio E & A ohioeanda@sbcglobal.net Ohio E & A | 100 S. 3rd Street | Columbus | OH | 43215 dianeravitch | December 11, 2015 at 9:00 am | Categories: Charter Schools, Education Reform, Ohio | URL: http://wp.me/p2odLa-c36 Comment    See all comments