News

IL: Critics knock process for more charter schools. With Chicago’s Board of Education set to vote this month on proposals for 21 new charter campuses, the district’s efforts to gather community input has done little to satisfy critics of the privately run schools. Opponents say charter advocates have been given too much influence over several of the Neighborhood Advisory Councils set up by Chicago Public Schools to discuss proposals in Northwest and Southwest side neighborhoods where charters have yet to gain a foothold. Chicago Tribune

AZ: Editorial: Private prisons: Let’s see hidden cost comparisons. After years of studies showed that private prisons cost more than state prisons, conservative supporters of privatization repealed a statutory requirement to compare costs. Convenient for those who like private prisons. Not helpful to those who want policy based on solid information. Arizona is putting increasing numbers of inmates into private prisons — even guaranteeing high occupancy rates at those private facilities. This represents the triumph of an ideological bent toward privatization. We don’t know whether it represents the taxpayers’ best interests.  Arizona Republic

The 25 Best Progressive Victories of 2013. In August, Demos published a report, Underwriting Bad Jobs, that revealed that the federal government — through contracting out and privatization — is the largest employer of low wage, dead-end jobs. The think tank and its organizing allies urged Obama to issue a Presidential Executive Order raising the minimum wage for workers on all federal contracts.  Huffington Post