Thanks to the Oklahoma Observer for the cartoon.
I was born in Indiana, started my career in Indiana. Most of
my family of educators taught there. So, I was saddened to read
Hoosier School Heist by Doug Martin,
about the systematic destruction of public schools in Indiana. I learned about
this book from Justin Oakely,
an education activist who was teaching in the district I started teaching:
Martinsville Public Schools. The illustrious John Wooden of UCLA fame also
started his career in Martinsville.
Oklahoma and Indiana school systems were once ruled by
Chiefs for Change, Jeb Bush’s cadre of school-choice proponents. Indiana was
the first to show their Chief, the vilified Tony Bennett, the door. His
opponent, Glenda Ritz, earned more votes than the governor or Mitt Romney. I
was proud when our Chief came in dead last in the Republican primary. Despite
these victories, reformers are clearly in charge.
Until I read this book, I didn’t know how bad it was in Indiana.
How far down the path of privatized education my beloved home state has gone. I
see this book as a cautionary tale for us in Oklahoma. We must pay attention.
Indiana’s charter laws are much more lenient than ours.
For-profits, online schools, religious schools have all been welcomed with open
arms and open palms accepting donations. Vouchers are equally wide open. Public
schools have been stolen. And Martin traces the story, one Foundation, one
player, one payoff, one school at a time.
Martin
systematically uncovers the agenda of several big players: the pretend
liberals, the “Free-market Jesus” religious interests, and the
government-corporate complex. All coming from a different place ideologically, they
converged in a perfect storm attack on public schools.
The Pretend-Liberal Saviors include KIPP, the no-excuse
charter chain, and Annie E. Casey Foundation, which does great work for kids.
But they also funnel funding to groups who want to privatize education, including
Teach for America, Stand for Children, and Democrats For Education Reform.
These groups, as well as Bill Gates, use the language of liberals to push an
agenda that will kill public schools. Free-market charters and vouchers to
private schools are their tools; profit their aim.
Martin traces the work of religious groups in Indiana. Starting
with the John Birch Society, he discusses groups funded and supported by the power
brokers: Excellence Through Choice in Education, supported by Dan Quayle (yes,
Dan, P-O-T-A-T-O-E, Quayle), John Bennett, and the Friedman Foundation. Others
include Excellence Education for Everyone and Institute for Justice. Also
mentioned are the Ayn Rand Institute and a religious charter chain called
Lifeline, Youth and Family…who may or may not practice conversion therapy (the
parallels keep appearing).
Then he zeroes in on the unholy alliance of government and business
in Indiana and beyond: Chris Christie, Chris Cerf, Jeb Bush and his family, Walton,
DeVos, supported by the Amway fortune, the Eli Lilly Foundation, and K12 online
schools. All with buckets of cash to donate to hungry government agencies. He
speaks at length about the Gulen charters. I know we have some in Oklahoma, but
they must follow our charter laws…at the moment. Gates’ and Broad’s cozy
partnerships with government agencies are here. Governmental agencies seem to
be conspiring with business – for a price.
Martin ends his book with the defeat of Tony Bennett at the
polls, calling him the “Sam’s Club Hero.” We know the rest of the story, with
the allegations of abuse and fraud at his beloved charters. We know he didn’t
last long at Jeb Bush’s Foundation for Excellence in Education. But the damage
he and his buddies wrought didn’t go away.
As I read the book, my head hurt from all the names of
groups and foundations and institutes and societies and federations and
associations. If we needed any evidence of how well-connected and
well-organized the privatizers are, Martin leaves no doubt. I reread the book,
copying the groups and individuals he mentioned. I was overwhelmed by the power
they wield.
But this book is information, and information is power. We
can use the Hoosier Heist as our warning.
Right now as I write, SB68
has passed the Senate and is on its way to the House. It will give cities power
to create charter schools, and cripple the already-struggling public schools.
It appears that any charter – for profit, religious, ideological – can petition
for a school. The author, Sen. Holt, cites all the middle-class parents in the
inner city who want a choice. I read ‘white parents who want to send their kids
to schools with other white kids, leaving the ‘others’ in their struggling
school.’
SB609, the voucher
bill, will be the finishing blow. Tax money leaves the public schools for
private schools with no accountability. None. No real choice for parents either,
since the choice is all on the side of the schools. From Martin: “'School choice' is their choice and will only make the
gap wider." In one document I’ve seen that by 2028, Oklahoma public
schools will be subsidizing every child in private schools…and what will be
left for our students in public schools?
These two bills seem to be inspired by the success of Hoosier
School Heist. Gut the current charter school law and invite Wal-Mart Charters,
and then funnel public money to private schools with any agenda they choose to
promote. Will we be talking about a Sooner School Stickup in the near future?
A quote at the end of the book from Katherine Stewart,
author of The Good News Club: The
Christian Right’s Stealth Assault on America’s Children, crystallizes all
my fears for public schools, and for my family business.
"We may well find, in a future world--where the
rich have their own system of education, the religious have theirs, the poor
don't get educated at all, and everyone
is schooled in contempt for those who are different (my emphasis)--that we
have kept all our rights, yet lost everything but the pretense of
democracy."
We have been warned, Oklahoma.
What follows is an alphabetical list of some the major players
identified by Martin in Hoosier School
Heist. Scary. I will not link to each of these…but if you have any
information, I’d love to hear more. Please feel free to comment.
ALEC
All Children Matter (DeVos)
Alliance for School Choice
American Enterprise Institute
American Federation for Children (DeVos)
American Quality Schools
Americans for Prosperity (Tea Party)
Amway
Annie E Casey Foundation
Ayn Rand Institute
Black Alliance for Educational Options (Walmart, Bradley)
Bradley Foundation
Broad
Center for American Progress
Center for Education Reform
Center for Excellence in Leadership and Learning
Challenge Foundation
Charter Schools Development Corporation
Charter Schools USA (FL)
Christian Focus on the Family’s Indiana Family Institute
Clubs for Growth
Connections Academy
Democrats for Education Reform
Dick and Betsy DeVos Family Foundation
Discovery Institute (Intelligent design)
Ed Power
Edison Learning
Education Action Group
Education Writers Association
Educational Excellence Network
Excellence Through Choice-in-Education (Quayle, Bennett,
Friedman)
Excellent Education for Everyone
Foundation for Excellence in Education (Bush)
FourD Education Foundation
Freedom Works (Bradley)
Friedman Foundation
Gates Foundation
Greater Educational Opportunities Foundation (Walton)
Gulen Schools
Hechinger Institute
Heritage Foundation
Holy Dove/Turkish American Society
Hoosiers for Economic Growth
Hudson Institute
Ignite! Learning (Bush)
Indiana Charter School
Indiana Education Roundtable
Indianapolis Mind Trust
Institute for Justice
Institute for Justice
John Birch Society
Joyce Foundation
K12
Keystone
KIPP
Lambe Foundation (Koch)
Lifeline Youth and Family Services
Lumina Foundation
MATCH Corps Recruiting
MET – teacher evaluation (Gates)
Mind Trust
Niagra Foundation
National Council for History Education (Bradley Foundation)
National Heritage Academies
New Horizons Youth Ministry
New Teacher Project
Noble Network of Charter Schools
Office of Faith-Based and Community Initiatives (Bush)
Pearson (Sandy Kress)
Purpose Built Communities
Robertson
School Choice Indiana
School Choice Wisconsin
Stand for Children
Strategic Capital Partners
Strategic Partners Urban Fund
Teach for America
Teach Plus
The Project School
Thea Bowman Leadership Academy
Tiger Foundation (Robertson)
Troops for Teachers
Turnaround Academy Public Charter Schools Association
US Chamber
Walmart American Federation for Children
Walton Foundation
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