Ever wonder who is the supplying the money behind the privatization of public schools?
It
is a long list, and it starts with the U.S. Department of Education.
Every year
since 1992?, your taxpayer dollars have been used to open schools that drain
resources from your public schools while selecting the students they want.
If
your state has charters, you can expect that they will lobby the legislature
for more charters. They will close their schools, hire buses, and send
students, teachers, and parents to the State Capitol, all dressed in matching
T-shirts, to demand more charters.
Since the children are already enrolled in a charter and can’t attend more than one, they are being used to advance the financial interests of charter chains, which want to expand.
The
big foundations support the growth of the charter industry: the Walton Family
Foundation (Wal-Mart) has put more than $1 billion into charters and vouchers.
The Gates
Foundation and the Eli Broad Foundation also put millions into charters, often
partnering with the Far-right Walton Foundation.
There
is a long list of other foundations that fund the assault on public education,
including the John Arnold Foundation (ex-Enron trader), the Dell Foundation,
the Helmsley Doundation, the Fisher Family Foundation (Gap and Old Navy), the
Michael Bloomberg Foundation, and many more.
Here
is a list of the funders of
50CAN, which started in Connecticut as ConnCAN, created by billionaires,
corporate executives, and hedge fund managers, led by Jonathan Sackler,
uber-rich Big Oharma.
Here is an example of
a foundation that is very active in support of privatization. Check out where
their money goes.
ALEC uses its clout with
far-right legislators to promote charters and vouchers, as well as to negate
local control over charters.
To
see where the Walton Family Foundation spread over $202 million to advance
privatization, look here.
The
money trail is so large, that it is hard to know where to begin. Certain
recipients do collect large sums with frequency, including KIPP, Teach for
America, Education Trust, to name just a few.
As
we say at the Network for Public Education, we are many, they are few. They
have money, we have votes. Out ideas for children and education are sound,
their ideas fail every time, everywhere.