Headlines
LA: Grade all schools  – editorial
PA: Pittsburgh water nominee open to privatization
FL: Prison vote: Strong arms and strong stands
FL: Skate park failure should be privatization wake up call
FL: Labor leaders, state workers pull together at Capitol rally
For-profit college chiefs unwind at lavish Tahoe resort

LA: Grade all schools  – editorial
If “scholarships” or vouchers are to be offered to families whose children attend failing schools, and those parents choose to send their children to a charter, parochial or private school, how does anyone really know that school is a good one?  As the Legislature considers the education reform agenda of Gov. Bobby Jindal, the state’s school superintendents are asking the administration to require that private and parochial schools that accept students who get state aid also receive an annual letter grade like public schools. That does not seem like an unreasonable request, if parents are to be armed with appropriate information about school choice. We agree with Jindal that families need to have options when they are geographically zoned into a school whose annual grade is “C” or below….State Superintendent of Education John White, who is Jindal’s chief lieutenant for public schools, disputed the need for private and parochial schools to get letter grades…We disagree.  Charter, private and parochial schools have an advantage the public school systems don’t. They can select students for admission based on an individual’s educational strengths. Public schools take everyone who lives in a zone.  If public tax dollars are going to be spent to send our children outside the public school system, there must be a measure of accountability for the expenditure of those dollars. The News-Star‘

PA: Pittsburgh water nominee open to privatization
A nominee to the Pittsburgh Water and Sewer Authority on Wednesday said she’d be open to the possibility of privatizing the agency, comments that led to an unusually bumpy confirmation interview with city council.  Privatization rumors have been swirling around the authority for more than a year. Council President Darlene Harris and Councilman Patrick Dowd, who is an authority member, asked South Side resident Darlene Williams Yanakos for her views on the issue.  “I think it is an option. I don’t know if it’s the right option,” Ms. Yanakos, nominated by Mayor Luke Ravenstahl for a five-year term on the authority, said…But her answer irritated Mr. Dowd and Mrs. Harris, both of whom oppose privatization. Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

FL: Prison vote: Strong arms and strong stands
What are things in the Florida Legislature coming to when one senator needs protection to walk on the Senate floor? The debate over privatizing much of Florida’s prison system last week probably marks one of the few times a couple of senators provided an escort for one of their colleagues — from the opposing political party, no less. It attracted little attention last week when Sens. Charles Dean, R-Inverness, and Jack Latvala, R-Clearwater, walked onto the Senate floor before the debate on privatizing prisons with Sen. Larcenia Bullard, D-Miami, between them. Bullard, who has been seriously ill with a recurring heart condition, had been in tears after days of pressure from Senate leaders and lobbyists who wanted her to be the deciding vote in favor of a bill that would have privatized 27 South Florida prisons.
..Bullard ultimately withstood the pressure and voted against the bill. The 21-19 vote against privatizing South Florida prisons was a rare defeat for the Senate leadership. In the Legislature, bills are rarely brought up for a vote by the full House or Senate unless the leaders are certain of victory.  This defeat was a particular public embarrassment for its supporters, who included Senate President Mike Haridopolos. Tampa Bay Times

FL: Skate park failure should be privatization wake up call
The rush to dump Hernando County government services onto the private sector just fell off the half-pipe. Last week, the county had to resume control of the Stewy’s Skate Park/Pioneer Park when a private group, undermined by intramural squabbling, didn’t maintain its required insurance. The failure of the private entity to fulfill its partnership with the county is a significant disappointment. Commissioners had begun to rely upon community groups to help operate and maintain specific parks as a cost savings….The collapse of the park agreement should serve as a warning to commissioners to scrutinize closely the private-sector promises of bettering county services. Tampa Bay Times

FL: Labor leaders, state workers pull together at Capitol rally
Hundreds of green-shirted state employees and their supporters took their message to Florida legislators Tuesday, lobbying against “dangerous legislation” affecting the jobs and paychecks of government workers.  “The middle class in this nation has been decimated, weeded out,” state Rep. Michelle Rehwinkel Vasilinda, D-Tallahassee, told about 200 members of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees on the west steps of the Capitol. “But you are making inroads. There are people who support you up here.”…Rich Templin of the Florida AFL-CIO said that in addition to the prison privatization, which the governor can still order the Department of Corrections to accomplish, there are other bills that would contract state services to private companies. He said some legislators still want to bar new employees from the traditional pension plan, moving them to the 401(k)-style investment retirement plan, and that bills making it easier to form charter schools would amount to “privatizing education” in Florida. “It’s kind of like ramming your head against a big brick wall with a Legislature that seems so out of touch with the daily lives of Florida’s working people,” said Templin. Tallahassee Democrat

For-profit college chiefs unwind at lavish Tahoe resort
The private four-day getaway marked the annual senior executive management seminar of the trade group representing the for-profit college industry — a sector that derives most of its $30 billion-plus annual revenue from federal funds, in the form of student loans and grants. Students at for-profit colleges often end up with enormous debt burdens and lean job prospects, resulting in a disproportionate number of student loan defaults. But the scene at this resort tucked into the Sierra Nevada Mountains served as testament to the fact that those running the institutions have fared far better.  Five dozen executives, who flew in on Sunday from states as far afield as Florida, Indiana and Virginia, gathered at the Ritz-Carlton, paying nearly $400 a night. They enjoyed the ski slopes, a spa and cocktail lounges, putting their taxpayer-financed revenues to lavish effect. They devoted some of their hours to work, plotting political and business strategies in a key election year. Among the distinguished guests was former Senate Majority Leader Trent Lott of Mississippi, who was recently brought on as a lobbyist for the trade group, the Association of Private Sector Colleges and Universities. New rules from the Obama administration aimed at stemming marketing abuses within the industry have impeded growth. The trade group has filed suit in a bid to derail the regulations. Huffington Post