Threat of Privatization to our Public Schools

Presentation to Westchester-East Putnam PTA

Leonie Haimson
Class Size Matters
March 4, 2017
 Threat of privatization very real at national,
state and local levels
*Nationally US Ed Sec Betsy DeVos is a huge supporter of vouchers & tuition tax credits --
public funds going to private & religious schools

*DeVos also fan of deregulating for-profit charters with minimal oversight to protect vs
educational failure and corruption

*Her home state of Michigan has 80% for-profit charters

*38 Michigan public schools planned for closure this year

*Michigan dead last in terms of proficiency growth since 2003 on NAEPs

So what will happen nationally?

*Trump's proposed cuts to education could be as

high as $20 B according to latest news

*During campaign Trump proposed a $20B block

grant to expand charter and vouchers potentially
diverted from Title I funds

*Or could fund a national tuition tax credit scheme

as part of a larger tax bill could be approved
through the budget reconciliation process with only
51 votes in the Senate
What are tuition tax credit scholarships or
educational savings accounts?

*State awards tax credits of varying amounts to businesses

and/or individuals who contribute to organizations that
distribute private school scholarships to qualifying students

*17 states have tax credit scholarship programs and many

others are considering such bills this year.

*In NY, the Senate has passed tuition tax credit bills every year
for at least the last three years allowing millionaires to
radically cut their taxes while contributing to private or
parochial schools.
Whats the record and impact of vouchers, tuition tax credits and charters ?
*Long-term studies in Louisiana, Ohio and Indiana show that students who attend schools via vouchers or tuition tax
credits fall behind their peers when achievement compared

*Charter school research more mixed some show gains, some not

*What is indisputable: charters tend to enroll fewer high needs students than the districts in which they are located

*Many also have high student attrition rates & push out difficult kids or persuade them tor leave when they cant
make the grade

*So public schools become more and more concentrated with high needs students with less and less funding to
educated them.

*Charters and vouchers also have segregating effect.

Financial impact of charters
* In states with large numbers of charters many districts are in
extreme fiscal distress because of loss of revenue

* Losing students put stress on local budgets because enrollment

decline isnt translated into immediate cost reductions that match
the per-pupil funding loss.

* Schools stuck with overhead costs, such as heating or electricity,

which don't suddenly drop.

* In addition, district is saddled with a higher costs linked to higher

needs students leaving charter schools and entering public schools,
sometimes in mid-year.
So whats happening in NY State?
NY Senate bill approved last month would provide a
maximum tax credit of 90% up to $1M each to individuals
and corporations

The total amount allotted capped at $150M for 2017,

$225 M for 2018, and $300M for 2019 and thereafter.

In previous years, Gov. Cuomo supported similar bills

Only Assembly blocked these bills from passing into law

* This year Cuomo did not put tuition tax credits in his budget
proposal

* But hes proposed to increase payments to charter schools

statewide by about 7 percent.

* Also to cut by $22M state reimbursement to districts for

charter schools

* To eliminate the separate regional cap of 30 on the number

of charter schools allowed in NYC current statewide cap
allows for 126 more charters outside the city

* NYC would also have to find space in our overcrowded schools

for charters, or pay 30% over the per-student cost to lease
them space.
* Cuomos budget also eliminates Foundation aid formula after this
year

* Foundation aid formula created after the CFE lawsuit to send more
funds to high needs districts.

* Meanwhile, NYC already spends more than $1.7B annually on

charter schools this year plus $40M to lease them space.

* And we have 580,000 students in overcrowded schools about 62%

of total

* Mayor de Blasio estimates if Cuomos budget is approved, we will

have to pay $200 M over what would otherwise be expected.
Another form of privatization affecting
our schools
-
--Outsourcing online data collection, storage, instruction and
assessment to for-profit vendors is a HUGE business

--Nationally, annual K-12 software business was valued at

more than $8B in 2012-13

---Another ~$8B spent on computer hardware

---Yet another ~$4-5B spent on internet wiring

2014: Parent defeat of InBloom
inBloom Inc. corporation started with more than $110 M in Gates
Foundation funds to collect personal information of public school
students in 9 states and districts, including NY.

Data to be shared with for-profit data-mining software companies

w/out parental knowledge or consent.

Detailed personal data to include student names, addresses, grades,

test scores, detailed disciplinary and disability information.

Without any funding, parent activists across the country protested

and in April 2014, inBloom closed its doors.
What did we learn from inBloom debate?

Parents had believed federal law protected students personal

identifiable information (PII) in school records by requiring
parental notification & consent before disclosure to 3rd parties.

We were wrong!

We had no idea how much collection and sharing

of student data was occurring with vendors and
other 3rd parties outside school and district.
* Thousands of data-mining companies working in public
schools, often w/o parental knowledge or consent.

Clever in over 18,000 schools, allows vast array of software

companies to access PII through school student information systems
using instant log-in

Class Dojo controversial online behavioral tracking of kids with reward

system built-in

Google Apps for Education, pre-installed in Chromebooks or used

separately, data-mines personal student data & sued in CA for targeting
ads to kids.

College Board and ACT sell student data to colleges etc., not just test
scores but also lots of personal info that they obtain through online
surveys upon registering and before the test administration.
Online learning: does it work?
Little evidence that online learning improves student
achievement or outcomes in K12 education

Growing research suggests that online learning widens the gap

between high-achieving and struggling students

Many studies show that personal interaction and support from

teachers necessary for learning and engagement especially for
high-needs students
 Widely used online assessment programs with no
proven value include i-Ready and MAP tests

None of the current research on i-Ready or MAP provides any

evidence that they increase learning.

The lack of a research base on i-Ready and MAP as means

for improving student learning is both surprising and
disappointing given their widespread use as well as their
cost.

Do Formative Assessments Influence Student Learning?: Research

on i-Ready and MAP, Johns Hopkins Institute for Education Policy,
Nov. 2016
)

Recent OECD study

Countries which have invested heavily in information and communication
technologies (ICT) for education have seen no noticeable improvement in their
performances in PISA results for reading, mathematics or science.

One interpretation of all this is that building deep, conceptual understanding

and higher-order thinking requires intensive teacher-student interactions, and
technology sometimes distracts from this valuable human engagement.

Source: Organization for Economic Co-Operation & Development (OECD),

Students, Computers and Learning: Making The Connection, 2015
So what should you do to resist the tide of
Privatization ?

* Stay active and organize with other parents to advocate

against online learning and charter school expansion

* Call and write your State legislators, members of Congress

and Board of Regents

* Join Network for Public Education

* Subscribe to NY State Allies for Public Education (NYSAPE)

and Class Size Matters mailing lists to keep informed of latest
developments