http://www.democracynow.org/2010/2/11/charter_study
http://www.democracynow.org/2010/2/11/charter_roundtable
These frame the debate around one particular charter school in Harlem that is doing well. Unfortunately in this round table there was little time given to the opponents, and the guy running the charter was fast talking with a well honed series of arguments and answers---some kind of passive-aggressive class A business type asshole.
This segment on DN seems to me to capture just the kind thing that is happening all over the country as the Arnie Dung-kin goes round selling the competitive bidding system for federal aid to education. In California, the state delivered its grant bid for 700 million (I think?). It amounts to something near 1% of the state budget for education, so it is pretty much meaningless. Even so, the OE got the state government to overhaul its cap on charters and re-arranged employment provisions that teacher unions and associations opposed.
The LA system evidently had an advisory vote on who should manage the charter schools and the LA system won the vote. That doesn't seem like much of a victory, but at least it `advises' management of a public system in public hands. It means for example that private operators don't control public funded charter schools. But nothing is final. Dennis Claxton, comments?
Two versions of the LA news:
http://www.contracostatimes.com/california/ci_14370415
http://socialistworker.org/2010/02/11/la-teachers-take-on-charters
The second link has some cheery news:
``At a door-knocking that we did in the community surrounding Carver Middle School in South Central LA, for example, we gathered 300 signatures in support of the teacher-parent reform plan in just three hours.
We began to get a taste of what a real demand for "community control of schools" could look like when we teamed up with Spanish-speaking parents and long-standing African American community activists to go door-to-door to talk about schools. We were greeted enthusiastically by everyone we met.
In that spirit, UTLA chapter chairs, activists and leaders gathered January 24 in the huge auditorium of Miguel Contreras Learning Center to map out a plan for a spring of fightbacks.
Next comes UTLA's participation in California's statewide action to defend public education on March 4. UTLA, the California Teachers Association, the California Faculty Association and many other teachers' unions have joined forces with college students.
In LA, there will be afternoon rallies on March 4th in several locations around the district, the largest likely to be in Pershing Square in the heart of downtown. Teachers are also being encouraged to do informational leafleting with parents before school. These actions will supplement presumably more militant ones going on among students--including walkouts and building occupations in some places.
Many activists have advocated for a one-day statewide public sector shutdown. While March 4 may or may not include teacher job actions, it has already helped to raise the question of work stoppages in teachers' unions up and down the state and to make them more likely in the future if that's what it will take to defend and improve funding for public education.''
Hopefully groups up here from UCB, Hayward, SF State, the local community college systems, and the public school systems will put together enough demos to get some media attention.
CG