Group items tagged

It's crunch time on school vouchers for disabled kids in Wisconsin. Last summer, I wrote about how Republicans and school choice groups are targeting kids in special ed. A particularly noxious piece of "school reform" legislation, drafted by ALEC (The American Legislative Exchange Council) and pushed by Republicans in statehouses around the country, would get unsophisticated parents to swap their kids' federally protected right to a free, appropriate public education for school vouchers of highly dubious value to the kids.

Their membership lists are kept secret. We don't know who is a member, legislative or corporate. We don't know how much money they get from these corporations. The public is kept in the dark about just who ALEC really is.

A group of executives who represent around 300 of America's largest corporations has labored in the shadows since the early 1970s to promote free market policies to state legislators. The cabal met this week in New Orleans' Mariott hotel and Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal was the luncheon speaker at the mid-week gathering. The influence which the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) has demonstrated includes virtual destruction of public employee collective bargaining rights, voter identification requirements that appear to be aimed at restrictive voting, and most importantly a frontal attack on public education.

In the past year, a number of states have introduced laws that "reform" education in similar ways. In state after state, teacher seniority and due process has been undermined, and the use of standardized tests to pay and evaluate teachers been expanded. In recent months, reports have emerged of a shadowy group that has developed tremendous influence over legislation in states across the country. This group is the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC).

In the 2010 midterm election, Republicans won complete legislative control of twenty-one states and the American Legislative Exchange Council was right there with model legislation to help them push through a radical right-wing agenda. Funded by billionaires like the Koch brothers, ALEC has provided the template for more than 800 bills aimed at undermining environmental protection, privatizing education, busting unions and curbing government regulation.

Perhaps most importantly, one of the best ways to improve public education would be to work to alleviate those factors beyond teachers' control that affect students' ability to learn. They are some of the same factors that lead to Louisiana's dismal Kids COUNT rating-unemployment, poverty, violence, crime rates, family instability, childhood hunger, access to health care. No, no, and no, according to the politicians. What do teachers know about education, anyway? Public-school teachers, according to most of the Senate members who testified, are obviously part of the problem, not the solution, so it's better to follow noneducators' recommendations when improving schools. The philosophies behind the legislation passed last week echo the pro-charter, pro-private philosophies of distinctly non-local figures as diverse as the anti-union former Washington, D.C., schools chancellor Michelle Rhee (who now finds her former district embroiled in a cheating scandal), the deep-pocket GOP puppetmasters the Koch Brothers and, most significantly, the American Legislative Exchange Council. (ALEC, a conservative think tank that prizes small government and free markets, hosts large meetings at which it gives politicians dummy legislation that they can personalize and file in their home states; its influence is clear in some of Louisiana's education bills.) Similar legislation has been proposed in other states across the country, particularly in legislatures that, like Louisiana's, are overwhelmingly Republican, and teachers and others with an interest in public education would do well to pay attention to what's going on here.

ALEC's 17th edition of the Report Card on American Education contains a comprehensive overview of educational achievement levels (performance and gains for low-income students) for the 50 states and the District of Columbia (see full report for complete methodology). The Report Card details what education policies states currently have in place and provides a roadmap for legislators to follow to bring about educational excellence in their state.

List of ALEC supported legislation.

In the world according to ALEC, competing firms in free markets are the only real source of social efficiency and wealth. Government contributes nothing but security. Outside of this function, it should be demonized, starved or privatized. Any force in civil society, especially labor, that contests the right of business to grab all social surplus for itself, and to treat people like roadkill and the earth like a sewer, should be crushed.

"The author infiltrated ALEC's inner sanctum -- and what she saw was chilling."

The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation today became the latest backer to withdraw financial support for the American Legislative Exchange Council. A foundation spokesman told Roll Call that it does not plan to make future grants to the conservative nonprofit, which has come under fire from progressive activists for its support of voter identification laws and other contentious measures.

Wisconsin Rep Mark Pocan clearly explains how this bill & how it's part of ALEC's plan to eliminate public education. This is a brilliant speech. This bill will gives special education funding over to voucher schools with NO accountability. This is from the Assembly floor session on March 13th 2012.

Alexander Russo chose to portray corporate reform critics such as myself as Goliaths who are trampling on the hapless reformers. But this analysis is a bit simple-minded. The corporate reformers have plenty of resources and personnel capable of responding. They are deliberately choosing to take their arguments elsewhere - to the corporate boardrooms, to the ALEC conference, to NBC's Education Nation, and to legislative hearings, speaking through hired lobbyists, astro-turf groups, and well-prepared and vetted experts. They are getting the job done there, if you notice. Most of these groups are seeing revenues climb, and state legislatures across the country are busy adopting more "reform" laws every month.

Coordinated efforts to introduce model legislation aimed at defunding and dismantling public schools is the signature work of this conservative organization.

"Today marks an important day for early education in North Carolina. Thanks to Governor Perdue's actions, that state's youngest children can continue to benefit from early learning programs that we know improve academic performance."

How ALEC, the Koch brothers and their corporate allies plan to privatize government.

New Jersey education officials had a dilemma last summer: Following the approval of a record number of charter schools, questions were flying about how closely the applications had been screened. With more prospective charters lining up, acting Education Commissioner Chris Cerf, a former charter executive, bought in help - a move that proved controversial. The National Association of Charter School Authorizers, a Chicago nonprofit, had offered to fly in 14 consultants to lead Department of Education staff in the next approval round, looking toward overhauling the entire process. What was particularly enticing was that the association could arrange funding through the Newark Charter School Fund, a nonprofit backed by the same philanthropies that support the association, including the Walton Family Foundation and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.

"When our schools are run for profit, there are disastrous consequences for both students and teachers. Teachers are "managed" through the "outcomes" they produce, meaning their students' test scores. This makes teachers focus not on their students strengths, not on their students' needs or interests, but rather on their deficits, on the skills and concepts the students must master to pass the next test. Students who are, for whatever reasons unable to produce test score gains (perhaps they might be uninterested, alienated, traumatized, hungry, special education, new to the English language, or a hundred other reasons) become a liability for the teacher and the school. Under the pressure to produce "profits" is the form of higher test scores, schools begin to systematically reject students like these, as we are already seeing among some charter schools. Schools care less about nurturing students or teachers. The environment becomes less humane. Turnover increases among teachers, and attrition rises for students. Residual public schools become a dumping ground for students too difficult to educate."

"If anyone tells you that Common Core (CCSS) is a "state-led" effort, "developed by teachers," that person is either misinformed or attempting to deceive you. Mona McDermott of United Opt Out has mapped the organizations behind CCSS. She presents discussion of their interwoven involvements in this 9-minute youtube presentation. Once you view her work, you will no longer be vulnerable to the corporate- and government-endorsed message that CCSS is "grass roots." The endgame of CCSS is massive data acquisition."

Republican lawmakers and corporations have a new target: kids in special ed.