NYT article on Walton-funded spread of charter schools in DC

[Anonymous]

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/04/26/us/a-walmart-fortune-spreading-charter-schools.html?hpw&rref=us

A fascinating look at the spread of charter schools in DC, thanks to the deep pockets at Walmart.

[Anonymous]

I have to admit, I'm going to think of Mundo Verde differently after this.

[Anonymous]

Walton is spending this money wisely. Glad it is not all going to other cities. We have vast unmet needs in DC.

Conspiracy theorists can say what they like as kids suffer in bad neighborhood schools. Charters that don't work will be closed. That rarely happens with DCPS schools.

Outside of Ward three and a few other spots in DC with adequate public options we need the help charters provide every day.

[Anonymous]

This is a really important article.

I had no idea about the nexus between Walmart, TFA and the new ed Rheeform / century foundation / choice sets / DME situation. Am still processing.

[Anonymous]

Yes, I too am still processing....

Interesting analogy from a professor (who seems objective-although objectivity is really hard to find in this can of worms):

“When lots of charter schools open up, it’s like a new Walmart store moving in,” said Kevin G. Welner, director of the National Education Policy Center at University of Colorado in Boulder. “You could look at it and say, ‘Well, the schools in a community are losing families because of healthy competition the same way that the hardware store is losing customers because of healthy competition.’ But that doesn’t take into account the long-term harms to the community, which are probably greater than any short-term benefit.”

I wish they published more from him about the "long term harms". Do public schools completely crumble? Or can they somehow be built up to "compete" with charters?

This is a great article, has me thinking about both sides of this coin.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Yes, I too am still processing....

Interesting analogy from a professor (who seems objective-although objectivity is really hard to find in this can of worms):

“When lots of charter schools open up, it’s like a new Walmart store moving in,” said Kevin G. Welner, director of the National Education Policy Center at University of Colorado in Boulder. “You could look at it and say, ‘Well, the schools in a community are losing families because of healthy competition the same way that the hardware store is losing customers because of healthy competition.’ But that doesn’t take into account the long-term harms to the community, which are probably greater than any short-term benefit.”

I wish they published more from him about the "long term harms". Do public schools completely crumble? Or can they somehow be built up to "compete" with charters?

This is a great article, has me thinking about both sides of this coin.

Yes, they completely crumble. I believe that's what all this boundary proposal stuff is about. Breaking the public schools, turning them over to private management, and rebuilding schools in the image of walmart, gates, and the hedge fund billionaires that back this stuff. Just like with walmart , it will lead to more inequality and the education-poor will get poorer.

All that walmart money also didn't hurt I'm sure when it was time for the politicians in DC to decide whether walmart should be allowed to pay poverty wages. Not a surprise walmart won that battle despite overwhelming public opposition.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

I wish they published more from him about the "long term harms". Do public schools completely crumble? Or can they somehow be built up to "compete" with charters?

This is a great article, has me thinking about both sides of this coin.

It's a newspaper article, so it is relatively short, and by it's nature can not contain a lot of historical context. But man, does it leave out a lot of DC-specific context. Like how enrollment in DCPS was 140,000 in 1966 and 80,000 in 1995, 2 years before a single charter school was opened. What did charters have to do with that decline? Obviously nothing. There are huge forces that made those changes, riots, white flight, black flight, massive buildups of the suburbs nationally, smaller family sizes, later marriage and childbirth, etc, etc, etc.

I think you can make a good case that the Walton Foundation has a pretty strong agenda related to schools, and it is playing out in a lot of different ways. But the entire picture of schools, just in DC, is really complicated, and is even more complicated when you layer in all the different charter laws nationally. Just like there is no one type of "public school" (compare Ballou High to Wilson, or Janney to Garfield Elementary in Ward 8. All DCPS), there is no one type of charter school, not just in DC, and certainly not nationally.

And it's even complicated at the foundation level. The Gates Foundation is another one that has given a ton to charter schools and education reform. They also give billions to fight tuberculosis, malaria and polio in the poorest parts of the world Bastards!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Yes, I too am still processing....

Interesting analogy from a professor (who seems objective-although objectivity is really hard to find in this can of worms):

“When lots of charter schools open up, it’s like a new Walmart store moving in,” said Kevin G. Welner, director of the National Education Policy Center at University of Colorado in Boulder. “You could look at it and say, ‘Well, the schools in a community are losing families because of healthy competition the same way that the hardware store is losing customers because of healthy competition.’ But that doesn’t take into account the long-term harms to the community, which are probably greater than any short-term benefit.”

I wish they published more from him about the "long term harms". Do public schools completely crumble? Or can they somehow be built up to "compete" with charters?

This is a great article, has me thinking about both sides of this coin.

Yes, they completely crumble. I believe that's what all this boundary proposal stuff is about. Breaking the public schools, turning them over to private management, and rebuilding schools in the image of walmart, gates, and the hedge fund billionaires that back this stuff. Just like with walmart , it will lead to more inequality and the education-poor will get poorer.

All that walmart money also didn't hurt I'm sure when it was time for the politicians in DC to decide whether walmart should be allowed to pay poverty wages. Not a surprise walmart won that battle despite overwhelming public opposition.

That wasn't accomplished by the Walton Foundation. Wal-Mart did that themselves:

http://www.washingtoncitypaper.com/articles/41145/the-selling-of-walmart/full/

Walmart also has it's own foundation, as do most large corporations:

http://foundation.walmart.com/

Don't get me wrong, there are connections between the Walton Foundation and Walmart, of course. But there is a long history in this country of family money earned through companies (Gates, Ford, Hughes) going in very different directions from the original founders.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote: The Gates Foundation is another one that has given a ton to charter schools and education reform. They also give billions to fight tuberculosis, malaria and polio in the poorest parts of the world Bastards!

Sorry, typo at the end there. Meant to be:

They also give billions to fight tuberculosis, malaria and polio in the poorest parts of the world. Bastards!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote: The Gates Foundation is another one that has given a ton to charter schools and education reform. They also give billions to fight tuberculosis, malaria and polio in the poorest parts of the world Bastards!

Sorry, typo at the end there. Meant to be:

They also give billions to fight tuberculosis, malaria and polio in the poorest parts of the world. Bastards!

So everything they do is good and can't be questioned?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I have to admit, I'm going to think of Mundo Verde differently after this.

My husband still doesn't approve (for all the reasons mentioned in the article) but I am glad that I prevailed and sent our kid to MV because our local DCPS is not an option and I don't have the time or energy to invest in it. Ideological purity is not worth risking my child's education. Call me a hypocrite.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I have to admit, I'm going to think of Mundo Verde differently after this.

Bullshit. MV isn't even mentioned in the article.

You're a teachers-union charter-hater and this is your dog food. Eat up, but don't expect anyone else to be fooled that's it some sort of gourmet offering.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I have to admit, I'm going to think of Mundo Verde differently after this.

Bullshit. MV isn't even mentioned in the article.

You're a teachers-union charter-hater and this is your dog food. Eat up, but don't expect anyone else to be fooled that's it some sort of gourmet offering.

Did you read the article?

[Anonymous]

Mundo Verde is mentioned in the article by name. Through the organization New Ventures for New Schools, they are funded by Walton, as are Inspired Teaching, DCI, Appletree, Shining Stars and others.

[Anonymous]

NP. Read the article, but I'm confused. Is the author implying that the Walton's are intentionally trying to destroy public schools, or is that merely one of the unintended consequences of their philanthropy? Also, from the article:

"The groups have many overlapping interests, but analysts often describe Walton as following a distinct ideological path."

I don't think the author ever expanded on this. What ideological path are the Waltons supposedly adhering to?

Sorry, parent of toddler, and new to the area and to this debate.