November 26, 2013

News

NY: Bill de Blasio gives cold shoulder to education reformers. Charter school operators and Bloomberg-style education reformers are getting the cold shoulder from mayor-elect Bill de Blasio as he assembles his transition team and prepares to choose a chancellor. New York Daily News

WI: UW School of Education Dean highlights privatization of American education, issues with voucher schools. In light of the passage of the state budget this past June, which included $75 million additional funds for voucher and choice schools, University of Wisconsin School of Education Dean Julie Underwood addressed the increasing privatization of the American education system at a lecture Thursday…. Underwood said vouchers are harmful for the public school system because they turn education into a “mere private good” while still using money from the public system. “If you believe education is a public good, you are not likely to support vouchers,” Underwood said. UW Badger Herald

IN: 5 things to know about the ongoing legal battle over Indiana’s failed welfare privatization. A three-judge panel for the Indiana Court of Appeals heard arguments Monday in the ongoing legal battle between the state and IBM over the failed effort to privatize welfare. Former Gov. Mitch Daniels signed off on privatization in 2006, and IBM won the $1.4 billion contract, but the state canceled the contract in 2009 amid growing complaints from welfare recipients.  Daily Journal