Headlines
Mass privatization put former communist countries on road to bankruptcy, corruption
Gambling on national security
OH: Privatizing government assets a growing trend
SC: SC House approves private school choice bill
FL: Trump hotel poaching public beach, says neighbors

Mass privatization put former communist countries on road to bankruptcy, corruption
…Authored by sociologists at the University of Cambridge and Harvard University, the study, which appears in the April issue of the American Sociological Review, is the first to trace a direct link between the mass privatization programs adopted by several former Soviet states, and the economic failure and corruption that followed…The more faithfully countries adopted the policy, the more they endured economic crime, corruption, and economic failure. This happened, the study argues, because the policy itself undermined the state’s functioning and exposed swathes of the economy to corruption. The report also carries a warning for the modern age: “Rapid and extensive privatization is being promoted by some economists to resolve the current debt crises in the West and to help achieve reform in Middle Eastern and North African economies,” said King. “This paper shows that the most radical privatization program in history failed the countries it was meant to help. The lessons of unintended consequences in Russia suggest we should proceed with great caution when implementing untested economic reforms.”…The researchers argue that mass privatization failed for two main reasons. First, it undermined the state by removing its revenue base—the profits from state-owned enterprises that had existed under Soviet rule—and its ability to regulate the emerging market economy. Second, mass privatization created enterprises devoid of strategic ownership and guidance by opening them up to corrupt owners who stripped assets and failed to develop their firms. “The result was a vicious cycle of a failing state and economy,” King said. Science Codex

Gambling on national security
In confronting any other national security threat, the U.S. wouldn’t trust unreliable and unproven solutions. We would go with what works. Why, then, do some in the education sector insist we gamble on the privatization of our public schools?..Stanford University professor Linda Darling-Hammond notes that “the nation’s largest multistate study on charter schools found that charters have been, overall, more likely to underperform than to outperform district-run public schools serving similar students.” Voucher programs perform even worse in empirical studies. More importantly, charters and vouches siphon badly needed resources away from our public schools and thereby undermine the institution at the heart of our nation’s democracy. By neglecting to mention the negative consequences of school privatization, the report is pushing an agenda that encourages us to forsake our public responsibility to education and to deny public schools the resources they need to educate all of our children. Huffington Post

OH: Privatizing government assets a growing trend
Whether it’s Hamilton County selling Drake Hospital property, the city of Cincinnati trying to unload Music Hall or the state of Ohio talking about selling prisons, the turnpike and the lottery, government increasingly appears to be, in real estate jargon, a very motivated seller….For governments struggling to make ends meet, the financial lure of such deals is powerful – even if, as skeptics argue, they frequently offer only a short-term solution. “That big pot of money is very attractive,” said Richard Little, a senior fellow at the Price School of Public Policy at the University of Southern California. “The problem is, sometimes it’s like going to the pawn shop. You get what you can, not necessarily what it’s worth.” That is the fault that Hartmann and Hamilton County Auditor Dusty Rhodes find with the controversial Drake deal, under which UC Health paid the county $15 million for the Hartwell rehabilitation hospital’s buildings and land. Rhodes argues that the county sold “a valuable asset at a bargain basement price,” and Hartmann agrees the deal – which will help pay for the Bengals’ and Reds’ stadiums and restore a property tax credit for homeowners – was not a good one for taxpayers. “Even putting price aside, selling a valuable asset for what amounts to a one-year fix of the (stadiums’ funding) problem is poor policy,” Hartmann said. “It’s shortsighted.”  The Cincinnati Enquirer

SC: SC House approves private school choice bill
After eight years of fighting, proponents of helping parents send their children to private schools won approval Wednesday in the South Carolina House. Spartanburg Herald-Journal

FL: Trump hotel poaching public beach, says neighbors
In typical South Florida fashion, there’s a tug-of-war underway over sun and sand. This latest seaside skirmish has neighbors living in the shadow of Trump Hollywood incensed, arguing that the luxury condo treats the public beach like a private one…Since January, the Trump Hollywood employees have been setting up a corral of chairs and chaise lounges on the public beach, defining a seemingly exclusive space for their high-end residents. A team of four resisters from The Wave next door has staged daily late-afternoon sit-ins in the sunny corral when their beach sits in the shadow of the Trump.
“What they’re doing with those chairs, it’s just to keep the common folk out and I d In typical South Florida fashion, there’s a tug-of-war underway over sun and sand. This latest seaside skirmish has neighbors living in the shadow of Trump Hollywood incensed, arguing that the luxury condo treats the public beach like a private one. Palm Beach Post

Headlines
Two states, two different paths on charter schools
Food inspectors, consumer groups to protest poultry proposal
WI: Are private voucher schools failing to deliver as promised?
IL: $7B public-private plan in Chicago for aims to fix transit, schools and parks
IL: East Chicago council rejects call to privatize EMS
MI: State takeover of Michigan cities slowed by courts
AZ: Records reveal charter school spent public money on home
OK: Editorial: Judge made right choice on school vouchers

Two states, two different paths on charter schools
Legislators in Georgia want to the state to be able to create new charter schools without local approval, while legislators in New Jersey would like to slow down the process by requiring local consent. Stateline

Food inspectors, consumer groups to protest poultry proposal
Federal food inspectors represented by the American Federation of Government Employees will join with consumer watchdogs and concerned citizens to protest proposed changes to the poultry inspections process that they fear could put the American public at risk. A rally outside the Agriculture Department headquarters in Washington is planned for 11:30 a.m. Monday, April 2…Participants hope to raise awareness of a regulation proposed by Agriculture’s Food Safety and Inspection Service that will partially privatize the poultry inspections process and drastically increase the number of birds federal inspectors must examine. Marketwatch

WI: Are private voucher schools failing to deliver as promised?
Wisconsin kids enrolled in private school choice programs aren’t performing as well as their public school counterparts on standardized exams, according to data released Tuesday by the state’s Department of Public Instruction, sparking another round of partisan debate about whether taxpayers should be funding voucher programs. “The report confirms what many of us have been saying, which is that the voucher program is a poor investment for Wisconsin taxpayers,” says state Sen. Kathleen Vinehout, D-Alma, who sits on the Senate’s Committee on Education and is a candidate for governor. “We see unprecedented cuts to education and higher education in this state, yet we’ve seen the expansion of the voucher program. While I think it’s wise to invest our tax dollars in programs that we know can improve academic performance, we don’t see that in the data released (Tuesday).”..According to the results of these 2011 Wisconsin Student Assessment System exams, 48.6 percent of Milwaukee Public School students scored proficient or advanced in mathematics, compared to 39.9 percent attending Milwaukee choice schools. In reading, 58.2 percent of Milwaukee students attending public schools were proficient or advanced compared to 56.3 percent of those attending Milwaukee choice schools. The Cap Times

IL: $7B public-private plan in Chicago for aims to fix transit, schools and parks
..Some of it will come from the newly created Chicago Infrastructure Trust, an initiative announced this month by Mayor Emanuel and former President Bill Clinton, who has long had an interest in infrastructure and energy efficiency. The fund, a nonprofit corporation, pools outside investment and applies it to a wide range of possible projects. Other funds will come from cost cutting, some from the savings in energy and water use from retrofitting buildings, and some from user fees, but “none of these funds will come from an increase in property or sales taxes,” according to the speech…Still, economic development efforts in the past have tended to disappoint, Mr. Puentes noted, because they tended to pay businesses to relocate or threw money into projects like stadiums. Some public-private partnership projects have been criticized as giveaways to the private businesses that take them over — including two prominent cases in Chicago itself, the privatized Chicago Skyway and the city’s parking meter system, which obligate the city to leases that span generations. Mr. Emanuel says that the city has learned an important lesson, and that “I am not leasing anything,” or selling off the city’s assets, he said in an interview. “I’m using private capital to improve a public entity that stays public.” The New York Times

IL: East Chicago council rejects call to privatize EMS
An ordinance sponsored by East Chicago Mayor Anthony Copeland to terminate the city’s Emergency Medical Services Department failed Monday night when no council member would bring the controversial measure to the floor…Ambulance service vendors seeking a contract with the city submitted their proposals last week, and the bids for the work will be opened at the Wednesday meeting of the Board of Public Safety, Morgan said. Paramedics and their supporters have packed council meetings since the privatization proposal was first floated last month, but Monday was the first time anything related to the plan was part of the council’s agenda. An ordinance to charge inmates of the city jail for medical services and transportation, bringing in an addition $51,000 per year in EMS revenues, received unanimous preliminary approval Monday. “We came up with this as a step in the right direction,” said Adrian Santos, D-1st, co-sponsor of the measure with Myrna Maldonado, D-at large.  NW Times

MI: State takeover of Michigan cities slowed by courts
It’s not clear who is in charge of Flint, Mich these days. Earlier this month, a state circuit court judge unseated the city’s emergency manager, Michael Brown, and voided all decisions he’s made since being appointed by Republican Gov. Rick Snyder four months ago. The ruling found the state violated the Open Meetings Act when appointing Brown in December and is just the latest in a series of legal challenges that could freeze Michigan’s controversial emergency manager law…Under the law, the governor can appoint one person to run city affairs with expansive powers to fire elected city officials, privatize services, break union contracts, sell public assets and violate city charters. While court challenges proceed, state elections officials are reviewing 227,000 signatures that opponents to the law delivered to Lansing on Feb. 29. If the state approves 162,000 of them in early May, the law would be frozen until voters decide its fate in a referendum next year. iWatchNews

AZ: Records reveal charter school spent public money on home
A Valley charter high school used public funds to pay for and fully furnish a residential home in a neighborhood less than a half a mile from the school. According to financial documents supplied to the ABC15 Investigators by the Vicki A Romero High School , a Phoenix charter school, the school paid more than $48,681 for upgrades, repairs, and amenities before a salaried school employee moved into the home for several months..State Department of Education documents show the school, which enrolls between three and four hundred high school students each year, received more than two and a half million dollars in state aid (not including government grants) during fiscal year 2011.  According to Arizona’s new accountability letter-grade standards, the school currently has a “D” rating, demonstrating a below average level of performance. ABC15

OK: Editorial: Judge made right choice on school vouchers
Tulsa County District Judge Rebecca Nightingale took the absolutely correct course of action this week when she struck down a law that permitted state funds to be applied toward private-school tuition for special-needs students. The stage now is set for the lawsuit to be appealed to a higher court…The state Constitution clearly prohibits sending public dollars to private, sectarian institutions. A key point in the judge’s ruling was that school districts had standing to sue and that they were able to show that the districts would be harmed by the law…Reductions in state funding over the past few years have imperiled districts’ ability to educate Oklahoma children. If allowed to stand, the law would further erode that ability. As noted by state Rep. Ed Cannaday, D-Porum, “privatization of education benefits the select few, and not all our citizens.” The decision by Nightingale wasn’t easy. She obviously is keenly aware of parents’ desire to see that their children have their educational needs met. In the end she did not display any of the judicial activism so often criticized by conservatives. Instead she did exactly what judges are mandated to do – follow the law. Tulsa World

Headlines
KS: House blocks tax credits for private school tuition
MD: Legislation to privatize Maryland’s workers comp fund moves forward
‎OH: Faculty challenges parking privatization option at Ohio State

KS: House blocks tax credits for private school tuition
A bill that would have provided tax credits for those who contributed to scholarships to send students to private schools was rejected by the House on Monday…State Rep. Jim Ward, D-Wichita, tried to eliminate the bill and replace it with one that would raise public school funding by $150 million over two years to restore a portion of the cuts made to schools in recent years. “I have a scholarship program for every child that enters public schools. I’m going to call it state aid,” Ward said. His amendment failed. Other opponents said giving tax credits would drain tax revenue to the state general fund that goes to public schools. State Rep. Bob Brookens, R-Marion, said the measure was in conflict with the duty of the Legislature concerning public education. “Is it our duty to use tax dollars and tax policy to send Kansas money to private schools? Kansas was built on and Kansas will live or die on its public education,” Brookens said. State Rep. Bill Otto, R-LeRoy, said he feared that “schools that may not agree with your values or my values,” could benefit from the proposal. The Lawrence Journal-World

MD: Legislation to privatize Maryland’s workers comp fund moves forward
‎S.B. 745 would require Maryland’s Injured Workers’ Insurance Fund to restructure itself into a private workers comp insurer named Chesapeake Employers’ Insurance Co. The fund has been Maryland’s workers comp insurer of last resort since 1914, according to a draft of the legislation. The bill asks the Maryland Insurance Administration to conduct an independent study to determine what financial benefits the fund has gained from the state. Based on the study results, the state fund would need to pay at least $50 million to Maryland’s general revenue fund, plus any additional money determined by the insurance administration review.  Business Insurance

OH: Faculty challenges parking privatization option at Ohio State
The university’s plan to lease the parking assets to an outside vendor could bring in big money for the academic core, but some faculty members say it comes at a price..Paul Beck, an OSU professor in the political science department and member of the faculty council, said one reason many faculty members oppose the change is due to the private operator being permitted to raise parking prices by 7.5 percent each year for the first 10 years, or the price of inflation, whichever is higher. This rate is much higher than the average 4.8 increase for an ‘A’ permit from 2003 to 2012, according to the resolution. “The more I thought about it, the more I thought this is unfair,” Beck said. “Not only to faculty and staff, but for students as well because they are paying double. First they are paying for their tuition, but then they’re being hit again by increasing parking prices.”..Enrico Bonello, an OSU professor in plant pathology and member of faculty council, said faculty council members want the administration to make them more involved in the process and informed of actions being taken…“We teach our students to be open and objective and I think the university should do the same,” he said. “We just wanted to get information that we need to have to be able to make this decision and they’re not giving us that information.”..Beck said he understands the university’s efforts to try to profit from parking, but the profitable benefits are nonexistent.  “As I began to dig more deeply and listen to the administration talk about what it’s going to do with the money, I realized they are trying to spend the proceeds twice and they can’t do that of course,” he said. The Lantern

Headlines
MD: Bill would let Maryland seek out private partners for public projects
AZ: Arizona lawmakers push to take over federal land
UT: Public-Lands bill giving Utah control to become law
WA: State weighs more private contracts for services
ME: Federal judge says Gov’s decision to remove mural was ‘government speech’
Lobbyists, guns and money – Paul Krugman

MD: Bill would let Maryland seek out private partners for public projects
Maryland Gov. Martin O’Malley has joined a little-noticed wave of Democratic governors gravitating toward the privatization of government facilities — a practice once anathema to blue states and their often-powerful public employee unions. A bill proposed by O’Malley and being shepherded through the legislature by Lt. Gov. Anthony G. Brown (D) follows laws approved recently in California and Illinois and under consideration in a half-dozen other Democratic-controlled states. In the name of job creation, it would make it Maryland’s policy to seek out private partners to build, operate and maintain roads, bridges, schools, government buildings and most any other public asset…But Maryland’s methods would make the process ripe for corruption, critics say, and even upend an existing lawsuit challenging one of the state’s biggest plans.  To appease labor, the shift would come in a distinctly Democratic mold. Under legislation expected to come to a vote Monday in the House of Delegates, any jobs generated as the state hands off public assets would carry requirements that private enterprises pay living wages, ensure minority business involvement and put in place other labor-friendly protections.  With that, the legislation has gained unlikely allies. The American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees and nearly every other major public employee union in Maryland has lined up in support of the bill. The Washington Post

AZ: Arizona lawmakers push to take over federal land
Another “sagebrush rebellion” is spreading through legislatures in Arizona and other Western states with a series of formal demands that the federal government hand over title to tens of millions of acres of forests, ranges and other public lands. Arizona could claim as much as 25 million acres — all federal land in the state except military bases, Indian reservations, national parks and some wilderness areas. If the federal government fails to comply by the end of 2014, the states say they will begin sending property-tax bills to Washington, D.C. While the original sagebrush rebellion grew out of conflicts over management of federal lands, often as specific as keeping a forest road open, the new takeover movement owes more to “tea party” politics, with a strong focus on reducing the scope of federal influence and opening land to more users…Legal experts say the movement is based on a misreading of federal law and the U.S. Constitution and will almost certainly fail to survive court challenges. Conservation groups and other critics say the takeover would threaten iconic landscapes now protected by federal rules. States, those critics say, are ill-prepared to oversee so much land, with the roads, recreation areas and management needs that go along with it.  “In an era of apparent fiscal responsibility, why would the state seek billions of dollars of liability and management responsibility to assume ownership over the (25 million) acres or so of parks, forests and public lands in Arizona?” said Matt Skroch, executive director of the Arizona Wilderness Coalition. “It is ill-conceived, it is irresponsible and it makes absolutely no sense.”  Arizona Republic

UT: Public-Lands bill giving Utah control to become law
Gov. Gary Herbert will sign a bill Friday that demands the federal government relinquish control of public lands in Utah by 2014, setting the table for a potential legal battle over millions of acres in the state.
House Bill 148, which easily passed the Legislature, is saddled with a warning from legislative attorneys that there is a high probability it will be found unconstitutional. But Republican lawmakers and Herbert are optimistic about their chances in court…Opponents, including Utah Democrats and the Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance, said the bill is not only unconstitutional but bad public policy. If implemented, they said it could eliminate important protections from development and vehicle use for wildlife refuges, forests and other sensitive areas. At the core of the issue is limited access to about 28 million acres of federal land, which hurts energy development, recreation and grazing. State lawmakers claim the federal lands cost the state millions of dollars every year, although no comprehensive studies have been done to quantify those losses. The bill exempts national parks, military installations, Native American reservations and congressionally approved wilderness areas and monuments. It primarily focuses on lands controlled by the U.S. Forest Service and Bureau of Land Management. The Associated Press.

WA: State weighs more private contracts for services
A decision is due by October on whether to roughly double the amount of central state-government printing that is farmed out to private companies. That will follow other potential boons to the private sector this summer, when state officials are to decide if companies should be tapped to replace public employees as Web designers and as couriers for state mail. It’s all part of the authority lawmakers gave the governor last year to put back-office work out to bid in search of cost savings. The targeted work at the state printer alone accounts for more than $8 million in spending on bulk printing of forms, business cards, stationery and other big orders, plus storage and delivery of printed materials…A decision on whether it makes sense to contract out each of those services will come from Gov. Chris Gregoire’s budget office, as long as the process wraps up as scheduled before she leaves office. The Olympian

ME: Federal judge says Gov’s decision to remove mural was ‘government speech’
A federal judge on Friday ruled in favor of Gov. Paul LePage in a lawsuit concerning the governor’s controversial removal of a Department of Labor mural, saying LePage’s action amounted to “government speech.” …LePage’s decision to remove the mural, which contains 11 panels depicting the history of Maine’s labor movement, gained national attention, including a disapproving editorial in The New York Times and sendups by political comedians such as Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert. LePage initially stated that the mural displayed a one-sided view of Maine’s labor history, but said later during an interview with NBC’s Brian Williams that his objection stemmed from where the money used to pay for the mural was obtained. “Regardless of Judge Woodcock’s opinion, while we may not have yet prevailed in the court of law, we already have prevailed in the court of public opinion,” the plaintiffs’ attorney, Jeffrey Neil Young, said in a statement. “Mainers recognize what the court has failed to appreciate, that the removal of the mural is nothing less than government censorship of artistic speech in violation of the First Amendment.” Bangor Daily News

Lobbyists, guns and money – Paul Krugman
Florida’s now-infamous Stand Your Ground law, which lets you shoot someone you consider threatening without facing arrest, let alone prosecution, sounds crazy — and it is. And it’s tempting to dismiss this law as the work of ignorant yahoos. But similar laws have been pushed across the nation, not by ignorant yahoos but by big corporations. Specifically, language virtually identical to Florida’s law is featured in a template supplied to legislators in other states by the American Legislative Exchange Council, a corporate-backed organization that has managed to keep a low profile even as it exerts vast influence (only recently, thanks to yeoman work by the Center for Media and Democracy, has a clear picture of ALEC’s activities emerged). And if there is any silver lining to Trayvon Martin’s killing, it is that it might finally place a spotlight on what ALEC is doing to our society — and our democracy….ALEC seems, however, to have a special interest in privatization — that is, on turning the provision of public services, from schools to prisons, over to for-profit corporations. And some of the most prominent beneficiaries of privatization, such as the online education company K12 Inc. and the prison operator Corrections Corporation of America, are, not surprisingly, very much involved with the organization. What this tells us, in turn, is that ALEC’s claim to stand for limited government and free markets is deeply misleading. To a large extent the organization seeks not limited government but privatized government, in which corporations get their profits from taxpayer dollars, dollars steered their way by friendly politicians. In short, ALEC isn’t so much about promoting free markets as it is about expanding crony capitalism. And in case you were wondering, no, the kind of privatization ALEC promotes isn’t in the public interest; instead of success stories, what we’re getting is a series of scandals. Private charter schools, for example, appear to deliver a lot of profits but little in the way of educational achievement…Now, ALEC isn’t single-handedly responsible for the corporatization of our political life; its influence is as much a symptom as a cause. But shining a light on ALEC and its supporters — a roster that includes many companies, from AT&T and Coca-Cola to UPS, that have so far managed to avoid being publicly associated with the hard-right agenda — is one good way to highlight what’s going on. And that kind of knowledge is what we need to start taking our country back. The New York Times

Headlines
NY: Cuomo seeks law for private investment in new Tappan Zee Bridge
CA: Whistle-blower says city jobs sent to India
MI: Michigan symposium to explore privatization
LA: Jindal’s education proposal basics expected to pass the House
NY: Viewpoint: Outsourcing nursing home jobs hurts residents
OH: Ohio Gov’s budget could force town to privatize fire and EMS services

NY: Cuomo seeks law for private investment in new Tappan Zee Bridge
New York Governor Andrew Cuomo is seeking legislation that would allow private-equity firms to help finance construction of public-works projects, including a new $5.2 billion Tappan Zee Bridge. The bill would authorize the state to lease bridges, roads and state buildings to help pay for construction, maintenance and operations of infrastructure…Carlyle Group LP (CG) and Macquarie Group Ltd. (MQG) are among companies expressing interest in the Tappan Zee…Last year, the state Senate approved a measure that would create a nine-member commission to determine which projects are best suited for private financing. It would then execute and oversee the contracts. The bill, which covered only transportation projects, stalled in the Assembly. Rae said Cuomo is interested in a measure that would include state buildings and possibly parks…As public funding for infrastructure projects has dried up, New York needs to look for other sources, Transportation Commissioner Joan McDonald said in a Senate hearing on Fuschillo’s bill..New York is ripe for investment because it already has tolls on bridges and tunnels leading in and out of New York City as well as on more than 500 miles of highway from Buffalo to Manhattan, said D.J. Gribbin, managing director of Macquarie Capital (USA) Inc., who helped advise Puerto Rico on its public- private partnership law. Macquarie Capital is a division of Australia’s biggest investment bank. Bloomberg

CA: Whistle-blower says city jobs sent to India
A whistle-blower lawsuit claims that the firm hired to take over the computer help desk for San Diego city operations — saving money for taxpayers — did it by outsourcing the jobs to India in violation of its contract. The employee accuses the company of an elaborate cover-up to hide the offshore work from city officials and says sensitive information, such as police records, may have been vulnerable to abuse.  The city conducted an investigation and found no evidence to back up the allegations…The contract with Gardena-based En Pointe was the city’s first foray into outsourcing under Mayor Jerry Sanders, who has pushed privatization of certain services as a way to reduce the costs of city government. The work had been performed for 30 years by the San Diego Data Processing Corp., a nonprofit city agency, but had never been competitively bid until Sanders took office. ..Dominguez, an account manager, also says En Pointe had Allied Digital workers put fake name plates on their cubicles for a site visit by city officials to the Gardena offices and had them use dummy “enpointe.com” emails for any communications with the city. He said he was fired Oct. 3 after he raised concerns that the firm might be violating its contract. UTSandDiego.com

MI: Michigan symposium to explore privatization
Organizers of a Friday event at Wayne State University in Detroit say state lawmakers have responded to the recent wave of economic hardship facing Michigan cities and schools with a controversial agenda that has transformed local governments and allowed for the transfer of public assets into private hands. The nature and impact of these changes will be explored Friday at a symposium at Wayne State’s Law School called “Michigan in Transition: The Restructuring of Governance Through Privatization and Corporatization.” The event is sponsored by the the Damon J. Keith Center for Civil Rights and the “Journal of Law In Society,” a publication put together by Wayne State law students. U.S. Rep. Hansen Clarke (D-Detroit) will provide the symposium’s morning keynote address and will focus on the transition of governments under emergency managers. Columbia University Professor Elliott Sclar, author of the book “You Don’t Always Get What You Pay For: The Economics of Privatization,” will give the afternoon keynote address.Conference-goers will also tackle the consequences of the privatization of Detroit’s water system and health care system. Huffington Post

LA: Jindal’s education proposal basics expected to pass the House
The anchor measures of Gov. Bobby Jindal’s proposed restructuring of primary and secondary education are expected to pass the Louisiana House of Representatives on Thursday, but not without significant debate over how to structure a statewide program that uses taxpayer money for private-school tuition aid. Leading lawmakers said they do not expect fundamental changes to Jindal’s proposals to expand publicly financed charter schools, curtail teacher tenure protections and tie teacher pay to formulas driven by student performance. But Capitol hallways and the House floor were a flurry of activity Wednesday, as lawmakers huddled in small groups to hash out details over, among other things, who should be eligible for the tuition assistance and what kind of accountability provisions should be imposed on private schools that accept the public money.  The Times-Picayune

NY: Viewpoint: Outsourcing nursing home jobs hurts residents
..To say that I am worried for our residents is an understatement. Our residents are people who have had many children, worked their entire lives, lived through the Depression, lived through war and drafts of both their children and themselves, and now they are facing the possible sale of the home they live in. They have already given up so much; many have lost their spouses, some have lost children and none of them have the home they worked their entire lives for. Instead, they have us, the people who work at the Steuben County Health Care Facility. If we were outsourced, meaning they would hire different companies to come in and do the work at the lowest bid, there would be different people coming and going all the time. The maintenance people they are used to could be switched with a grumpy worker who could very well hire by the minute. Many of our residents know our maintenance crew by name and have good relationships with them…Outsourcing is just the tip of the iceberg. If they decide to sell, many or all of us could be out of jobs. I know there is a public worker stereotype; many people think county workers receive humongous paychecks and have time to take an afternoon nap. Last year, I made less than $35,000. Yes, the benefits are excellent, but we’re not all stuffed shirts. We are regular people like you, trying to get by. Where are we going to go when we are out of jobs? The unemployment line. Social services. Medicaid. The end result of 100-plus workers out of jobs could be astronomical to the area. I invite anyone to come and see our level of commitment, see how happy our residents are — because it is you, the taxpayers, who own this facility. Be the judge of whether our residents deserve to have a wonderful place to live, and I hope you are as committed to caring as we are. I also invite our legislators to come and take a look, meet our people and make an informed decision. Elmira Star-Gazette

OH: Ohio Gov’s budget could force town to privatize fire and EMS services
This year, cuts in Kasich’s budget are again causing ripple effects in the area of public safety — this time by forcing one town near Cincinnati to choose between raising taxes or privatizing its fire and EMS services. According to a video released by Township Trustee Tom Weidman at the beginning of the process, the Township’s financial problems can be tied directly to Kasich’s budget. Local officials were shocked and amazed when Kasich and the legislature “abruptly ended” the “important source of income” from the Local Government Fund, the Tangible Personal Property Tax and the Estate Tax…And while towns like Sycamore are forced to sell off public safety, Kasich’s latest economic plan provides a break for the richest Ohioans. Under his proposed income tax cuts, the state’s top one percent would receive a quarter of the benefits. The middle class, meanwhile, wouldn’t receive enough to pay for a tank of gas.ThinkProgress

Headlines
NY: Albany boosts private schools
GA: Senate passes charter school amendment
IL: Skeptical Chicago eyes P3s
LA: Report deplores La. group homes
SC: Privatization of school bus system poor decision

NY: Albany boosts private schools
New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo and state lawmakers have proposed increasing public funding for religious and private schools, potentially reversing years of cuts and handing the Roman Catholic Church a political victory. Under Mr. Cuomo’s budget plan, nonpublic schools would get about $117 million, or a 13% increase, to carry out administrative duties the state requires, such as taking attendance, giving standardized tests and running immunization programs. The Assembly’s plan puts such spending at about $118 million, while the Senate sets aside $133 million….The New York State Catholic Conference led the push for money for 1,800 nonpublic schools with 416,000 students…The reimbursements sit in a cozy area of legally allowable government funding for religious organizations. Courts have ruled that the state can pay private schools back for expenses such as textbooks, busing and test-taking, but not for actually providing instruction to students. The Wall Street Journal

GA: Senate passes charter school amendment
The state Senate passed the controversial charter school amendment this afternoon, enabling a constitutional amendment on the question in November. The amendment passed 40-16, which represents the two-thirds majority required. The amendment already had passed the House…However, skeptics argue that the language is fuzzy enough that the state will still be able to divert money from local school districts to pay for state-approved charter schools. The bill has become one of the most promoted pieces of legislation in the General Assembly this year, in part because of the assistance of the influential for-profit charter school industry, including online providers , which is looking to expand its foothold and profits in Georgia. The research on charter schools remains mixed, as noted in a detailed Education Week review this month. A new state Department of Education study found that Georgia charter schools do not outperform traditional schools. The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

IL: Skeptical Chicago eyes P3s
With public ire over the former mayor’s flawed $1.15 billion lease of Chicago’s parking meter system still clouding the local political landscape for public private partnerships, the city is turning to a next-generation model as it eyes private dollars to fund infrastructure and lower the cost of some city services. Skepticism runs deep in the veins of Chicagoans when discussing the P3 model most familiar to a local crowd – leasing an existing revenue-generating asset to private investors and operators who capture future asset revenues in exchange for a hefty upfront cash payment…But the parking meter privatization in late 2008 turned the public against such deals. The private operators were unprepared initially to manage the system, adding to the public’s anger over skyrocketing rates…With state and federal funding lagging and international investment interest in P3s rising, Mayor Rahm Emanuel and the city’s sister agencies are looking to tap private dollars and panelists at the conference outlined some of the opportunities…One lease deal that stalled, but John Schmidt, a partner at Mayer Brown LLP  Chicago, said could now be resurrected, is the city’s proposed $2.5 billion lease of Midway Airport. Struck in 2008, it fell apart in 2009 when the private consortium couldn’t raise financing due to the international credit crunch. The city had banked on the Midway deal to help shore up its pension funding and to fund infrastructure, because of restrictions imposed in state legislation…With investment interest building internationally, Schmidt said Chicago could pull off a successful Midway privatization, although the question remains “whether the city wants to do it.” Bond Buyer

LA: Report deplores La. group homes
A new Advocacy Center investigation released Tuesday criticized continuing deplorable conditions at 16 state-funded, privately operated group homes for the developmentally disabled despite numerous state citations since 2008. “We want people to understand that their (tax) money is funding something that’s all about the provider making money. It’s not about treatment and care,” said Lois Simpson, executive director of the non-profit organization that advocates for citizens with disabilities. The homes surveyed were deemed the worst in their regions by state ombudsmen who advocate for the rights of home residents, Simpson said…The report — “When a House is not a Home” — is the result of an investigation that began in 2008 into homes where ombudsmen identified what the Advocacy Center called “a clear pattern of neglect” that was allowed to continue, despite repeated complaints and citations in state surveys. The Advocate

SC: Privatization of school bus system poor decision
The South Carolina Legislature has proposed a bill that has angered a large portion of residents likely to receive an increase in their property taxes in order to privatize the school bus system. If passed, the bill would require school systems to fork out millions, which would in turn be handed to the taxpayers…Some school districts, however, have done the math and have concluded that the budget is just not there for a privatized bus system to be enacted. With the ever-increasing cost of vehicles and fuel, privatizing school bus systems in South Carolina would seem to be a difficult feat for school districts, which already receive meager funding from the state. The privatization’s effects would be felt not only by the South Carolina school districts, but taxpayers as well. The amount of property taxes residents are already paying is exorbitant, and the economy has been, and will likely remain, impecunious. The burden privatization will have will be detrimental to many families who are already having difficulty choosing between whether to fill up their gas tanks or put food on the table. The Gamecock

Headline
Condi Rice-Joel Klein report: Not the new ‘A Nation at Risk’
WA: Judge upholds Washington state liquor initiative
CA: Privatizing scholarship at Santa Monica College
NE: Neb. bill would increase state contract scrutiny
NY: Nassau to select private vendor to run sewers
OR: State weighs more private contracts for services

Condi Rice-Joel Klein report: Not the new ‘A Nation at Risk’
A new report being officially released today — by a Council of Foreign Relations task force chaired by Joel Klein and Condoleezza Rice — seems to want very much to be seen as the new “A Nation at Risk,” the seminal 1983 report that warned that America’s future was threatened by a “rising tide of mediocrity” in the country’s public schools.  It’s a pale imitation…The report cites lots of statistics that paint public schools in the worst possible light, and continues the trend of comparing America’s educational system with that of high-achieving countries — but doesn’t note that these countries generally don’t do the kinds of things these reformers endorse. Its recommendations would lead to further privatization of public schools and even more emphasis on standardized testing…Klein was chancellor of of New York City public schools for eight years, running it under the general notion that public education should be run like a business. He closed schools, pushed the expansion of charter schools and launched other initiatives before resigning in 2010 after it was revealed that the standardized test scores that he kept pointing to as proof of the success of his reforms were based on exams that got increasingly easy for students to take. Now he works for Rupert Murdoch…Rice was secretary of state under president George W. Bush. She has expressed her admiration for Bush’s key education initiative No Child Left Behind, which ushered in the current era of high-stakes testing but has now been called a failure by both Republicans and Democrats. Washington Post

WA: Judge upholds Washington state liquor initiative
A Cowlitz County judge on Monday upheld a voter-approved initiative privatizing liquor sales in Washington state, reversing an earlier decision that had left the measure’s fate in question. Initiative opponents said they would appeal the ruling directly to the state Supreme Court, but the decision enables the state to continue to move forward with implementing it…Voters approved Initiative 1183 last fall to privatize liquor sales and dismantle Washington’s state-run liquor system, which was formed in the 1930s in the aftermath of Prohibition. The measure, backed by retailing giant Costco, allows stores larger than 10,000 square feet to sell liquor, though it could allow smaller stores to sell liquor if there are no other outlets in a trade area. The Seattle Times

CA: Privatizing scholarship at Santa Monica College
Santa Monica College, a community college in California, recently proposed charging different tuition rates for different courses. Students taking high-demand courses would pay more money. Less popular courses would be cheaper. The two-tiered policy has drawn criticism, in part because it’s probably illegal….Santa Monica College’s plan to offer some high-demand classes at a premium cost received a boost Thursday with the announcement of a $250,000 donation to support scholarships for students who qualify…..How many more colleges are going to deal with declining state funding by charging students more money to take required courses? All the colleges can’t count on the largess of the Electro Rent man. The real policy solution to this problem is for California to just have higher taxes on rich people like, well, Daniel Greenberg. California needs these higher taxes in order to provide necessary support for higher education, making this questionable dual pricing system (and voluntary private donations) unnecessary.
Through the middle of the 1980’s community colleges in California were free. Washington Monthly

NE: Neb. bill would increase state contract scrutiny
…The bill by Sen. Bill Avery of Lincoln was inspired by oversight problems with Nebraska’s child welfare privatization effort, which has led to ballooning costs and prompted four of five private agencies to back out of their child welfare contracts. Nebraska has reclaimed case management duties for children statewide, except in two Omaha-area counties, since the privatization move began in 2009.  “I believe there was conviction and genuine belief in the efficacy of privatization,” Avery said. “I don’t believe anybody was prepared for the outcome that we’ve witnessed since we actually started the privatization process.” The bill is part of the state’s broader effort to change Nebraska’s child welfare services. Lawmakers are on the verge of passing child welfare measures this session that would scale back caseloads for social workers, create a child welfare watchdog that reports to the Legislature and end the state’s experiment with privatized services in all of Nebraska except for Douglas and Sarpy counties. CBS News

NY: Nassau to select private vendor to run sewers
Nassau County is poised to pick a private operator for its sprawling sewer system in a nearly $1 billion deal that would represent the largest and most complex financial transaction in county history…Nassau will maintain ownership of the system and the contract will stipulate that the county will continue to set usage rates, Deputy County Executive Rob Walker said…The Mangano administration says that after a separate bidding process, the county will select a private investor who will provide the county with the funds. The investor will then be repaid by the private operator. The operator, meanwhile, makes its profit through operating efficiencies that it institutes…Some lawmakers and civic activists also have expressed concern that the deal will lead to less government oversight of the treatment system and possible environmental problems. They question the wisdom of relinquishing control of one of the county’s most vital assets for a one-shot budget fix. They also complain that they have not received enough details about the changeover. “We should not be the incubator for privatizing a public necessity,” said Nassau Legis. David Denenberg (D-Merrick), who also is skeptical of the county’s promises not to raise sewer rates. Newsday

OR: State weighs more private contracts for services
A decision is due by October on whether to roughly double the amount of central state-government printing that is farmed out to private companies…It’s all part of the authority lawmakers gave the governor last year to put back-office work out to bid in search of cost savings…A decision on whether it makes sense to contract out each of those services will come from Gov. Chris Gregoire’s budget office, as long as the process wraps up as scheduled before she leaves office…A process set in union contracts allows state employees to bid on work. But that doesn’t apply to the new process that is targeting printing, mail and Web design, because of the law passed last year. It allows governors to contract out six government functions every two years. The Olympian

Headlines
OH: Privatizing government assets a growing trend
MI: Leasing of city assets could bring quick cash to Detroit
PA: Gov Corbett: I’d understand if Pitt wants to become private
FL: Move to privatize public libraries makes inroads in Florida
NY: Another battle in the war against public schools
ME: School choice, public money for private religious schools draw public to hearings
TX: DPS outsourced border security to private firm via no-bid contracts
SC: Proposal aims to privatize school buses
UK PM unveils plan to sell off the roads

OH: Privatizing government assets a growing trend
…“That big pot of money is very attractive,” said Richard Little, a senior fellow at the Price School of Public Policy at the University of Southern California. “The problem is, sometimes it’s like going to the pawn shop. You get what you can, not necessarily what it’s worth.” That is the fault that Hartmann and Hamilton County Auditor Dusty Rhodes find with the controversial Drake deal, under which UC Health paid the county $15 million for the Hartwell rehabilitation hospital’s buildings and land. Rhodes argues that the county sold “a valuable asset at a bargain basement price,” and Hartmann agrees the deal – which will help pay for the Bengals’ and Reds’ stadiums and restore a property tax credit for homeowners – was not a good one for taxpayers. “Even putting price aside, selling a valuable asset for what amounts to a one-year fix of the (stadiums’ funding) problem is poor policy,” Hartmann said. “It’s shortsighted.” Cincinnatti.com

MI: Leasing of city assets could bring quick cash to Detroit
… For the city of Detroit, leasing municipal assets could be a way to bring in cash while moving the costs of operations, maintenance and investment off the books. Two versions of draft consent agreements include the possibility of selling or disposing of city assets, and would bypass the anti-privatization ordinance…No matter who pulls the strings, experts say, private investment in municipal assets is increasingly popular for investors who see infrastructure as a safe market. Asset sales, according to Detroit’s City Charter, require approval by popular vote. Long-term leases, called concessions, are less problematic, though they are still constrained by the city’s anti-privatization ordinance, which restricts outsourcing work that could be done in-house, barring extensive documentation as to cost savings. Crain’s Detroit Business

PA: Gov Corbett: I’d understand if Pitt wants to become private
Gov. Tom Corbett told a University of Pittsburgh audience on Friday that he would be disappointed if the school became a private university in the face of continuing state budget cuts. “But I would understand if they had to do it,” Corbett told about 300 Pitt students and faculty members, many of whom questioned his proposal to reduce state subsidies to the school from $136.1 million this year to $95.2 million next year. Shortly before Corbett arrived, police escorted about two dozen protesters out of the university’s William Pitt Union as they chanted, “Stop the cuts!” to the beat of a bass drum..His proposed budget reductions, about 30 percent for Pitt, Penn State and Temple universities and 20 percent for the 14 State System of Higher Education universities, have prompted speculation that Pitt and Penn State could become private universities. Officials at Pitt and Penn State insist they want to maintain their state affiliations but are struggling, given reductions in state subsidies…The governor defended his reluctance to raise taxes to balance the budget. Pittsburgh Tribune-Review

FL: Move to privatize public libraries makes inroads in Florida
..The contract stipulates that LSSI keep all library staff at their current salaries for at least 6 months. Benefits however, are a different matter because those workers are no longer county employees…“There are many people who were in the Florida Retirement System and they’ve no longer in it so they lose that vesting.” Klroy said. “And some of the families have been unable to afford the new insurance packages they’ve been offered.” He said…He and other public library advocates worry that private companies, responsible primarily to their shareholders, don’t have an incentive to invest in new materials and technology. They’re also concerned that the company may cut back on library hours and services such as computer, art and adult literacy classes and kid’s reading programs. Faye Roberts, President of the Florida Library Association said the statewide group is also concerned about issues of accountability and transparency. “Who’s in charge?” Roberts asked. “Is it an elected official or is it someone whose primary focus, as a private company, would need to be on making a profit.”…Still some opponents, like Ed Kilroy, worry that the move toward private libraries fundamentally endangers one of America’s oldest public institutions. “It’s different in Europe and in parts of South America. They have more of a paid library where you have to pay to use the library.” Kilroy said. “So the public library is truly an American institution and community control of the library is part of that institution.”  WMFE

NY: Another battle in the war against public schools
The “parent trigger” must be understood within the current context of vilifying public education. Today, there is a national effort to privatize public schools by turning them over to privately managed charters. This movement is financed by some of the nation’s richest foundations — the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, the Eli and Edythe Broad Foundation and the Walton Family Foundation.
Collaboration — not hostile takeovers — is the most effective way to improve their public schools…A parent trigger — a phrase that is inherently menacing — enables 51percent of parents in any school to close the school or hand it over to private management. This is inherently a terrible idea. Why should 51 percent of people using a public service have the power to privatize it? Should 51 percent of the people in Central Park on any given day have the power to transfer it to private management? Should 51 percent of those riding a public bus have the power to privatize it? Public schools don’t belong to the 51 percent of the parents whose children are enrolled this year. They don’t belong to the teachers or administrators. They belong to the public. They were built with public funds. The only legitimate reason to close a neighborhood public school is under-enrollment. If a school is struggling, it needs help from district leaders, not a closure notice. Parents in Florida got it right earlier this month. By organizing, they stopped a parent trigger law. No Florida-based parent group supported it. By their actions, they recognized that collaboration — not hostile takeovers — is the most effective way to improve their public schools. New York Times

ME: School choice, public money for private religious schools draw public to hearings
One bill proposes an open enrollment program, in which schools can decide to become “schools of choice” and accept students from outside their districts. Students and families could enroll their students in these “schools of choice” without needing permission from the district in which they reside. The second bill removes a sentence from current state law that says public dollars cannot be used to fund private, religious schools. Currently any students can attend a religious school, but they must pay tuition. Opponents, including several high school students, told lawmakers on the Legislature’s Education Committee the school choice proposal would hurt public schools, particularly those in rural Maine and could lead to some closing as state aid is shifted from public to private schools.  Bangor Daily News

TX: DPS outsourced border security to private firm via no-bid contracts
A little-known private defense contractor from Virginia has quietly received about $20 million under a series of no-bid contracts with the State of Texas to develop its border security strategies, an effort that included shaping the state’s public message on the increasingly controversial nature and extent of violence spilling into Texas from Mexico. According to an internal Department of Public Safety memo, the role of Abrams Learning and Information Systems Inc. expanded dramatically after Gov. Rick Perry, then in the midst of a campaign for governor, ordered an acceleration of border security operations that the state wasn’t equipped to handle on its own….State Sen. Jose Rodriguez, D-El Paso, said he plans to call for an investigation into the state’s relationship with ALIS, saying that the state had outsourced vital security operations to a firm with “less accountability and less transparency than I would expect from state agencies.”   The Austin American-Statesman

SC: Proposal aims to privatize school buses
Currently, South Carolina is the only state in the nation that owns and operates its own school bus fleet. That fleet, all agree, is in pitiful shape. The average bus is about 14 years old and has more than 200,000 miles. Advocates say getting the state out of the school bus business will benefit both the state – in over its head, running a massive bus system – as well as the local school districts, who will gain control over bus routes, bus stops and get new buses. It also will get the state out of business that it has no business being in. The State

UK PM unveils plan to sell off the roads
David Cameron will clear the way for a multibillion-pound semi-privatisation of trunk roads and motorways as he announces plans to allow sovereign wealth funds from countries such as China to lease roads in England. Just 48 hours before the budget, the prime minister will give a speech calling for radical action to improve Britain’s infrastructure, which is falling behind those of key competitors in Europe…The prime minister’s plan, modelled on the funding of the mains water and sewage network, would see sovereign wealth funds and pension funds given the right to lease roads over a long period. They would be set a series of targets to, for example, reduce congestion and carry out improvements. George Osborne recently travelled to China to persuade the world’s largest fiscal-surplus country to invest in Britain’s infrastructure…There will be no tolls on the existing road network. But if the road companies create new capacity – by adding lanes to existing roads or building new roads altogether – then they would be entitled to charge for their use. The Guardian