Ravitch on NYC Mayoral Race and Charters Piling in

Dianne Morales has pitched herself as the most progressive candidate in the field, but neglects to mention that she was a Pahara Fellow or that she has long-standing ties to charter world... Diane Ravitch

I've been sleptical about Morales but will get deeper into those weeds soon. The charter industry has evil intent -- to destroy public schools and offer them up to private industry. Any candidate who takes money from them is suspect.

What campaign other than Stringer has no charter money? That alone tells you something. Charters are anti union - 95% non union. And anti public schools. The goal is to charterize which is privatize the nation and eliminate teacher unions. Like they did in New Orleans and fired mostly black union members. Funded by billionaires. Here in nyc coalitions have managed to hold the line and charters are a dirty word in some quarters. Even the Uft has been weak and we formed a pre More group called GEM to engage them in battle and push the Uft. The charter cap is what’s holding them back and protecting your jobs. They are spreading money around to candidates for that purpose. The honorable thing to do is refuse their money. The BloomKlein admin was a despicable neo liberal operation and Disnevtook a high position in that admin which is what caused my initial reaction. But let’s give her a benefit of the doubt though I have tried to discern an explanation. She also worked for New Visions and during the school closing wars of attacks on poor communities they were on the wrong side. To watch kids crying and begging for their schools to remain open was searing. I have hours of tape of those hearings and we used that footage which also included abused parents who left charters crying in our interview in our movie.

 

@eapelosi asked a meaningful question

@eapelosi asked a meaningful question. What campaign other than Stringer has no charter money? That alone tells you something. Charters are anti union - 95% non union. And anti public schools. The goal is to charterize which is privatize the nation and eliminate teacher unions. Like they did in New Orleans and fired mostly black union members. Funded by billionaires. Here in nyc coalitions have managed to hold the line and charters are a dirty word in some quarters. Even the Uft has been weak and we formed a pre More group called GEM to engage them in battle and push the Uft. The charter cap is what’s holding them back and protecting your jobs. They are spreading money around to candidates for that purpose. The honorable thing to do is refuse their money. The BloomKlein admin was a despicable neo liberal operation and Disnevtook a high position in that admin which is what caused my initial reaction. But let’s give her a benefit of the doubt though I have tried to discern an explanation. She also worked for New Visions and during the school closing wars of attacks on poor communities they were on the wrong side. To watch kids crying and begging for their schools to remain open was searing. I have hours of tape of those hearings and we used that footage which also included abused parents who left charters crying in our interview in our movie

Ka-Ching! The Charter Lobby Buys into NYC’s Mayoral Race by dianeravitch

 

In a crowded field of candidates in the Democratic primary, only two are opposed to expanding the number of charters in a city with hundreds of them: Scott Stringer and Maya Wiley.

The other candidates support more charters at a time when the national Democratic Party seems to realize that charters are a key component of the rightwing’s longtime goal of privatization of the public schools. Charter advocates started a PAC for Eric Adams. Andrew Yang supports charter schools and is advised by former Mayor Bloomberg’s advisor Bradley Tusk (Bloomberg was very pro-charter). Financier Ray McGuire’s campaign relies on Bloomberg’s chancellor Joel Klein for advice (his wife is the campaign manager).

Betsy DeVos loves charter schools, so does the anti-union Walton family and Charles Koch. Across the country, Republican legislators and governors are passing legislation to expand charters and vouchers, while Democrats put public schools first.

This article explains how deeply entangled one of the candidates is with the charter industry. Dianne Morales has pitched herself as the most progressive candidate in the field, but neglects to mention that she was a Pahara Fellow or that she has long-standing ties to charter world.

Those ties are now producing an outpouring of contributions from the charter industry. And Kathryn Garcia, who was endorsed by the New York Times and the New York Daily News, declared recently that she wants more charter schools in the city and will ask the legislature to raise the cap.

There are currently 267 charter schools in the city. Of 1.1 million public schools in the city, 88% are enrolled in the long-neglected public schools. Ironically, by handing off more students to charter schools, the mayor (whoever it may be) is acknowledging his or her own incompetence as leader of the city’s schools.

At the beginning of the campaign, Scott Stringer was the favorite. He served in the legislature, and he is currently the City Comptroller, meaning he has detailed knowledge of the budget and the city’s massive bureaucracy. The United Federation of Teachers endorsed him, along with many progressive groups. But then a woman stepped forward to say that 20 years ago, when they were both single, he groped her. Many of those who endorsed Stringer withdrew their endorsements. Although I have a tendency to believe women in these situations, I think it’s unfair to discredit a candidate based on an unverified allegation. Stringer has been a candidate many times, and the accuser remained silent.

The charter industry has demonstrated time and again that it has the deep pockets to buy elections. What it has not bought is academic success.

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