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