Headlines
NY: Mayor Bloomberg wants to privatize NYC parking
IN: Toll Road, 6 years later
IN: Hoosier lottery takes steps toward privatization
CA: Did the UC just take a major step toward privatization?
NH: School voucher system approved
NH: Privatizing prisons would be a mistake – opinion
MD: In Frederick, groups want to be heard in public
PA: Opponents exhale as state drops plan to privatize prison nurses
PA: Hostile witness – opinion
IL: Chicago plans 60 more charter schools in 5 years
IL: Nurses defy Chicago mayor, rallying for Robin Hood tax
NY: Mayor Bloomberg wants to privatize NYC parking
Mayor Bloomberg Wednesday said the city will privatize the operation of its parking meters if the price is right. Signing a deal with a private contractor would in all likelihood wipe out many of the jobs of workers who collect money from meters – but the mayor said that should not be the city’s main concern. “The city government and the city taxpayers are not here to run a full-employment agency,” Bloomberg said…But a 75-year deal in Chicago to sell future parking meter revenue to a private vendor has come under criticism, as drivers have seen sharp increases in rates, the Chicago Sun-Times reported earlier this month. The private company is also demanding millions of dollars in revenue it claims it lost when Chicago took meters out of service for street repairs and other activities. “What they did in Chicago or other cities has nothing to do with what we’re about to do,” Bloomberg said. New York Daily News
IN: Toll Road, 6 years later
Mitch Daniels’ controversial plan to privatize the Indiana Toll Road through a long-term lease, both advocates and opponents can find evidence to support the views they expressed in 2006. Fort Wayne Journal Gazette
IN: Hoosier lottery takes steps toward privatization
The state will take steps to hire a private company to help run the Hoosier Lottery in an effort to make more money from the games — a step already taken by Illinois and under consideration in Pennsylvania, New Jersey and other states as well. The Indiana State Lottery Commission voted 3-0 Wednesday to seek information from companies that would be willing to “perform a broad scope of services” for the lottery. Then in September, the state plans to accept actual bids. The Hoosier Lottery generated $791 million in revenue and $188 million in profits during Fiscal Year 2011. ï There are 177 full-time employees working for the Hoosier Lottery. The Courier-Journal
CA: Did the UC just take a major step toward privatization?
Shortly after Gov. Jerry Brown presented his latest budget proposals, which he says will slash $8.3 billion from government spending to close a $15.7 billion deficit, UC faculty delivered a bold response: “UC President Mark Yudof and Governor Jerry Brown are working out a deal behind closed doors that will loosen the most important ties between the university and the state. Although they will both praise the deal by saying that it “stabilizes” funding while granting greater “flexibility,” its essence is that each will let the other off the hook: UC will mute complaints that it does not get enough money from the state and the state will stop holding UC accountable for the money it still gets. The likely result is that UC will dump a larger number of eligible Californians onto the CSU and Community Colleges, which will in turn pass on their overflow to for-profit schools, where students take on inordinate amounts of debt with a very high likelihood of default.” DavisPatch
NH: School voucher system approved
After several rounds of editing over the course of the past year, two bills creating a business tax credit and educational voucher system passed by veto-proof margins in the state House and Senate yesterday. The program would allow businesses to get a credit worth up to 85 percent of their contributions to an approved scholarship organization. It allows up to $3.4 million in business tax credits in the first year, and up to $5.1 million in credits the second year…Gov. John Lynch “has very serious concerns about the impact on revenues and concerns about using public money to fund private schools,” said his spokesman Colin Manning. The governor has not decided whether he will sign the legislation, veto it, or let it become law without his signature. Both houses approved the bill by margins that would override a veto. Concord Monitor
NH: Privatizing prisons would be a mistake – opinion
Before Granite State politicians take this bait, they should study a 2012 report by the American Friends Service Committee, which found Arizona overpaid $10 million for private prison services that were deemed shoddy at best between 2008 and 2010. Among the many questions I have are how can a private for-profit compete with New Hampshire’s frugal prison system without grossly undercutting basic safety and efficiencies? What incentives does a private company have regarding rehabilitation and timely discharge of inmates? Certainly, it is good to periodically debate the effectiveness of public-private endeavors, but the feedback from other states that have already tried privatizing prisons is not very promising. Nashua Telegraph
MD: In Frederick, groups want to be heard in public
County commissioners won’t budge on budget as opposition groups speak out…If cutting government means cutting jobs, then the county commissioners do have something to crow about. Since January 2011, they have laid off 171 county employees; the county work force sits at 2,128. Some of the jobs lost have been “privatized,” or contracted to private vendors. Commissioners do not know if their actions have saved the county money, because the net results have not yet been “quantified,” according to County Manager Dave Dunn…Privatization “drip by drip” is how Dale terms the county’s actions. Aside from the layoffs, all of the privatization efforts and the small cuts in the budget have not added up to much, she said. Maryland Gazette
PA: Opponents exhale as state drops plan to privatize prison nurses
Gov Corbett announced last summer he would look into privatizing prison health care as a way to cut costs, and similar privatization plans have been floated by past administrations. But Fleck, whose district includes two state prisons, said he’s not convinced privatizing nursing care in prisons isn’t cheaper than having nurses paid and trained by the state.“The turnover rate is incredible,” said Fleck, referring to privately-employed nurses working in prisons. “The money leaves the area because most of the private, contracting firms are not domiciled in Pennsylvania. WITF
PA: Hostile witness – opinion
The fiscal crisis facing our public schools is being exploited by a movement to privatize public education, break unions and subject students to high-stakes test-prep regimes. But it is a crisis nonetheless — one that requires long-term solutions, immediate band-aids and, critically, a substantial commitment from Philly’s largest stakeholders. Philadelphia City Paper
IL: Chicago plans 60 more charter schools in 5 years
Chicago Public Schools plans to create 60 more charter schools over five years, which would increase the share of privately run charters to about a quarter of all schools in the district. The plan for charter growth, part of a larger proposal for 100 new schools over the same five years, is laid out in an application seeking $20 million for charter schools from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. Chicago Tribune
IL: Nurses defy Chicago mayor, rallying for Robin Hood tax
Chicago teachers are threatening to strike over Emanuel’s agenda to close schools, privatize, and force concessions on the union. Labor Notes