AZ: Gov Brewer wants to buy back privatized state buildings
IN: Judge to consider Gov’s testimony over cancelled IBM contract
NJ: Christie to sign bill to privatize some schools
NC: NAACP seeks to block for-profit charter schools
MI: A rallying cry against privatization in St. Clair
News summaries
AZ: Gov Brewer wants to buy back privatized state buildings
Citing the state’s upcoming 100th birthday, Gov. Jan Brewer on Monday asked lawmakers to buy back three buildings at the Capitol that were mortgaged off two years ago to balance the budget. The move will cost the state $105 million out of its current budget surplus. Benson acknowledged the state actually got only $81 million for the state House, the Senate and the nine-story executive tower that includes Brewer’s office when it negotiated a “sale-leaseback” arrangement in 2010…When Arizona borrowed the money two years ago, it essentially promised investors they would get interest for at least 10 years. Hence the $105 million price tag. Yuma Sun
IN: Judge to consider Gov’s testimony over cancelled IBM contract
The Indiana Supreme Court today agreed to hear arguments from Gov. Mitch Daniels’ attorneys that the governor should not be required to appear for a deposition as part of a civil lawsuit between the state and IBM…Attorneys for IBM want to question Daniels as part of a lawsuit brought by the company over the state’s cancellation of the computer company’s contract to modernize the state’s welfare application process…IBM had won a $1.37 billion, 10-year contract to modernize the state’s welfare system. But after numerous complaints from the public and from lawmakers about an error-riddled system that left people without the help they needed, Daniels canceled the contract in 2009. The state sued IBM in May 2010 to recoup the $437 million it had paid the company; IBM countersued saying the state has some of its property and that it is still owed about $100 million. IndyStar
NJ: Christie to sign bill to privatize some schools
Gov. Chris Christie is planning to sign his first major education reform bill, which would allow publicly funded private schools in three New Jersey cities. The Democrat-controlled Legislature moved quickly on the bill even though it has been slow to act on Christie’s other school overhaul plans. 6abc
NC: NAACP seeks to block for-profit charter schools
The emergence of for-profit charter schools is drawing fire in North Carolina. The Chapel Hill-Carrboro NAACP sent a letter to the North Carolina State Board of Education last month to block the application for Howard and Lillian Lee Scholars Charter School, which is on the fast track to open in August. According to its application, the school would serve up to 723 students in grades K-8. The charter school would partner with National Heritage Academies, a for-profit company that got its start in Grand Rapids, Mich., to manage day-to-day school operations…Of the five charter schools managed by NHA in North Carolina only one – Greensboro Academy – made Adequate Yearly Progress last school year, school report cards show. “It’s not about the ethnic background of the kids,” Campbell said. “We’re talking about the whole total concept of the complete package does not show that students from an NHA school perform any better than children in our school system.” A statement from the Chapel Hill-Carrboro NAACP read: “The Lees have done some great things for our children. But we believe they failed to do their homework in checking out the track record of the Grand Rapids, Michigan for-profit corporation, the National Heritage Academies Inc. (NHA). This proposal comes at the wrong time, at the wrong place, from the wrong ultra-right outfit. It is unnecessary.” Charlotte Post
MI: A rallying cry against privatization in St. Clair
City workers contend that privatizing key city departments in St. Clair is wrong and will damage the level of service residents deserve and have come to expect. ..”I would like to respond to the issue of privatizing public services here in St. Clair by reminding you of who we are and what we do,” said Dale Kaufman, Chapter Chair and a longtime employee in the city’s water plant. “We are employees working at the water plant, the waste water plant and the department of public services… We know what the people living here in the city of St. Clair expect and we work tirelessly to meet those expectations.” The city council voted unanimously on Dec. 19 to direct City Superintendent Scott Adkins to obtain bids to outsource or privatize specific city services – police, water, sewer and public works – with an eye toward cutting costs. Anticipating a fourth consecutive year of falling property tax revenue, the council is looking to slash as much as $350,000 from the city’s budget for fiscal year 2012-2013. Councilmember Tom Foley introduced the proposal and Jane Krebs seconded it. The Voice