News
The Charter School Vs. Public School Debate Continues. Charter schools turn 21 this year. In that time, these privately run, publicly funded schools have spread to 41 states and enrolled more than 2 million students. But one key question lingers: Do kids in charter schools learn more than kids in traditional public schools? NPR
Air Force Considers Privatizing Cape Canaveral Operations. Meetings this week will explore a major change to that historic role, studying the possibility of privatizing some or all operations at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station and the Eastern Range, “the nation’s premier gateway to space.” SpaceNews
NY: Fraud Lawsuit Proceeds Against Toll Road Firm. Justice Melvin L. Schweitzer A New York state court decided last Wednesday that a financial guaranty insurance company could sue a toll road company for fraud over a scheme to buy public infrastructure assets at hefty premiums. TheNewspaper.com
IL: Proposed Bill Paves Way for Water Privatization Boom in Illinois. Legislation currently on Governor Quinn’s desk could dramatically alter the way Illinois manages its own water resources. House Bill 1379 would allow Illinois American Water and Aqua Illinois, two of the state’s largest private water companies, to expedite acquisitions of municipal water systems and increase customer rates to fund their expansion….Critics of the proposed legislation insist water and sewage privatization is a dangerous gamble with an essential public resource that will cost Illinois residents. Non-profit water advocacy group Food and Water Watch explains that multinational water corporations are beholden to stockholders, not the public they serve, which inevitably limits transparency and public accountability. Gapers Block
MI: What would happen if we consolidate schools into county-wide districts? State Superintendent of Schools Mike Flanagan…. is proposing either going to a system of county-wide districts, or, if that won’t fly, at least consolidating and centralizing administrative and some academic functions at either a county or a regional level…. Scott Warrow is both a Groves English teacher…thinks this is just another ploy by the governor and the legislature to eventually privatize education. “What has been going on is an attack on public teachers and their unions,” he told me. He thinks the public schools would be fine if the state would just give them all the money they have cut over the past decade or so. Michigan Radio