Headlines
NC: Legislation to privatize state pre-K dropped
IL: Private money may fund Chicago’s public works
WI: Milwaukee supervisors rip plans to privatize court security
AZ: New law expands tuition tax credits for private schools
K12 manifesting its corporate destiny
Students unite for the National Day of Action to Defend Education

NC: Legislation to privatize state pre-K dropped
A legislative committee on Thursday backed away from a controversial proposal to fully privatize state-funded preschool after a public outcry and protests from local school officials…A little more than half the students in prekindergarten are in public school programs. The effort to restrict prekindergarten to private settings was launched after private providers told legislators that school districts that run the program favor their own classrooms over child care centers. Children’s advocacy groups were pleased with the changes. Charlotte Observer

IL: Private money may fund Chicago’s public works
Mayor Rahm Emanuel on Thursday pitched an innovative private-public partnership to rebuild Chicago and create jobs, but left more questions than answers about how it would be paid for and who would profit. The idea is to tackle big-ticket projects the administration said could include “roads, rails and runways,” using mostly private money to get them done. …In the audience Thursday were executives from investment companies that specialize in taking over public assets in return for providing cash windfalls to struggling governments, ranging from parking decks to airports to the controversial 99-year lease of the Chicago Skyway. Emanuel and the firms provided few details about how the Chicago Infrastructure Trust would work, although both city officials and investment company representatives said it would be a far cry from the auctioning off of city assets such as the parking meter deal that dogged former Mayor Richard Daley…Traditionally, the city has paid for public works projects one of two ways: going out to Wall Street to borrow money and receiving bids, or leasing a city asset for upfront cash but in return giving up the revenue for decades to a private operator.  It would appear Emanuel wants to try a third way. The mayor identified five major investment firms that would work with the trust to raise money for public works projects: Citibank N.A.; Citi Infrastructure Investors; Macquarie Infrastructure and Real Assets Inc.; J.P. Morgan Asset Management Infrastructure Investment Group and Ullico…Emanuel wants to establish a nonprofit to oversee the trust. Chicago Tribune

WI: Milwaukee supervisors rip plans to privatize court security
Milwaukee County supervisors Thursday angrily threatened to withhold funding for private security guards that Sheriff David A. Clarke Jr. wants to hire as courtroom bailiffs, saying the four dozen deputies laid off last month should be rehired. Clarke is proposing an emergency contract worth up to $1.4 million with G4S Wackenhut, an international private security firm, to handle a small portion of courtroom security work. The one-year deal would mean hiring the equivalent of 12.5 full-time guards to help with the county’s 78 courts, with regular full-time deputies handling the bulk of the work…Supervisors on a County Board panel hearing about the plan questioned Clarke’s motives in privatizing courtroom security…Supervisor Gerry Broderick accused Clarke of political gamesmanship in the bailiff privatization and warned top aides to the sheriff of a bare-knuckled fight if the sheriff persisted. Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

AZ: New law expands tuition tax credits for private schools
Gov. Jan Brewer signed legislation Wednesday to allow individuals to divert more money they would otherwise owe the state to instead help children attend private and parochial schools. East Valley Tribune

K12 manifesting its corporate destiny
An April 23, 2010 e-mail from Kevin Corcoran to a host of his colleagues is likely the sort that, in one form or another, millions of Americans deal with regularly during the work day. Bluntly noting “We have not made the progress we need to in this area,” Corcoran adds, “More than $1[million] in funding” is in the balance.” “Anyone who has not fulfilled their obligation in this area should not be surprised….when it’s time to discuss performance evaluations, bonuses and raises.” The $1 million in question isn’t from a customer but represents tuition and fees from Pennsylvania’s various school districts to an online public charter school called Agora. In turn Agora pays Corcoran’s employer, K12 Inc. (LRN) many millions of dollars annually to provide the curriculum and administer the school. There is a lot at stake in collecting this money since Agora and a sister school in Ohio, the Ohio Virtual Academy, represent about 26% of K12′s annual revenues. Seeking Alpha

Students unite for the National Day of Action to Defend Education
Today, students around the country will march, rally, teach-in, and walk-out in honor of the National Day of Action to Defend Education. Born out of the Occupy movement and the rise in student activism that came with it, the day is meant to draw attention to the corporatization and privatization of education, from pre-K through higher education, in both private and public institutions. As Wall Street continues to gain unprecedented influence in our schools, we’re standing up and demanding that our disapproval be heard and our interests be acknowledged. The Nation