Headlines
The peril of Rahm Emanuel’s public private partnerships – Cohen
Senators urge USPS to delay post office, plant closures
Ravitch: A primer on the group driving school reform
GA: Private collection firms go after public debt in Fulton
GA: Committee votes against commercializing Briscoe Field
OH: OSU parking privatization worrying students
PA: Union: Wash. auction shows Pa. liquor privatization unrealistic
WA: Privatization of liquor sales may not boost public safety after all
CT: Charter school model not permitted for turnaround schools

The peril of Rahm Emanuel’s public private partnerships – Donald Cohen
Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel is proposing a bold new plan to rebuild the city’s aging infrastructure. He has lined up financing giants including Citibank NA, Citi Infrastructure Investors, Macquarie Infrastructure and Real Assets Inc. and JPMorgan Asset Management Infrastructure Group willing to invest $1.7 billion in Public Private Partnerships with the city. The city council is balking because Chicago knows from experience how partnerships can sour. Former Mayor Richard Daley’s sale of the city’s parking meters is now widely recognized as a poorly negotiated partnership that locked the city into a bad deal (for the city, not the investor partners) for 75 years. And now the ink is dry and Chicagoans have to live with it — a deal’s a deal. Dozens of websites and tons of business literature warn about the perils of partnerships. They all say: pay attention to the details now or pay the price later in litigation over ambiguities, poorly drafted language or the unanticipated and unpredictable future; make sure you really trust your new partner shares your interests and vision; and above all don’t rush into it until you are absolutely certain. Huffington Post

Senators urge USPS to delay post office, plant closures
The U.S. Postal Service should freeze plans to close several thousand post offices and processing plants until Congress signs off on a comprehensive fix for the cash-strapped mail carrier, four key senators told Postmaster General Pat Donahoe in a letter released Tuesday. Federal Times

Ravitch: A primer on the group driving school reform
Since the 2010 elections, when Republicans took control of many states, there has been an explosion of legislation advancing privatization of public schools and stripping teachers of job protections and collective bargaining rights…This outburst of anti-public school, anti-teacher legislation is no accident. It is the work of a shadowy group called the American Legislative Exchange Council, or ALEC. Founded in 1973, ALEC is an organization of nearly 2,000 conservative state legislators. Its hallmark is promotion of privatization and corporate interests in every sphere, not only education, but healthcare, the environment, the economy, voting laws, public safety, etc. It drafts model legislation that conservative legislators take back to their states and introduce as their own “reform” ideas. ALEC is the guiding force behind state-level efforts to privatize public education and to turn teachers into at-will employees who may be fired for any reason. The ALEC agenda is today the “reform” agenda for education. Washington Post

GA: Private collection firms go after public debt in Fulton
Anyone who thinks they got away with blowing off a citation written in Fulton County — even a decade ago — should think again. Fulton County is turning over to collection firms the names of people who not paid code violation fines or parking tickets. Expect letters and phone calls from strangers who don’t give up easily…Concerns have been raised about the potential for harassment by profit-driven debt collectors as well as the possibility of errors on cases that are so old…The county has hired Chicago-based Harris & Harris, Texas-based Linebarger Goggan Blair & Sampson, Texas-based Municipal Services Bureau and Pennsylvania-based Penn Credit Corp. All four have generated complaints in other parts of the country, such as claims of people being hassled to pay tickets they already settled. Phineas Baxandall, an analyst with the Georgia Public Interest Research Group, a consumer advocacy organization, said that with the firms going so far back, there are bound to be thousands of people who don’t get the letters because they’ve moved. There could be erroneous claims and cases of mistaken identity, he said. He would prefer governments keep collections in-house. “This might be the easiest and fastest way,” Baxandall said, “but they should do it in a way that would be best for residents.” The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

GA: Committee votes against commercializing Briscoe Field
An airport citizens review committee voted Monday against privatizing or commercializing the Gwinnett County airport, reports the Gwinnett Daily Post. ..The vote was led by members who have protested a proposal to add commercial flights at Briscoe Field. That lead to a split vote on the majority of measures considered by the group — with six members voting in favor and five abstaining, the newspaper reported. Some members of the committee were bothered by what they saw as a rush to vote and said they would have liked more time before a decision was made…The citizens board said if the privatization or commercialization is approved by Gwinnett officials, they recommend a “full and exhaustive public review” of financial risks to the public for infrastructure, as well as a review of how the project would affect the environment and public safety, the paper reported. Atlanta Business Chronicle

OH: OSU parking privatization worrying students
OSU students are going public with their concerns about possible private ownership of campus parking garages. OSU officials say privatizing parking could net the university up to $400,000,000. But at a Tuesday protest, students told ABC 6/FOX 28 that such a deal would allow the purchasing company to raise parking rates up to 7 1/2% each year for a decade. ABC6OnYourSide.com

PA: Union: Wash. auction shows Pa. liquor privatization unrealistic
…Washington last week announced the results of an online auction for the licenses of its 167 liquor stores. Voters last year passed a referendum privatizing the system.  The auction earned $30.75 million, or $184,000 per license. Yet, privatization advocates have claimed Pennsylvania could raise nine times more per store, United Food and Commercial Workers Local 1776 said in a statement. Republican State Rep. Mike Turzai is the lead sponsor of a privatization bill that would auction 1,250 licenses, doubling Pennsylvania’s 621 existing liquor stores…A figure of $2 billion works out to $1.6 million per license. “Licenses just do not sell for that amount anywhere in the country,” Local 1776 President Wendell Young said. The Washington numbers suggest Pennsylvania would earn just $230 million from selling 1,250 licenses, the UFCW said. Central Penn Business Journal

WA: Privatization of liquor sales may not boost public safety after all
Remember that firefighter who wanted you to privatize liquor? Echoing others who also starred in last fall’s ad campaign for Initiative 1183, the firefighter told TV watchers: “1183 dedicates millions in new revenues for local law enforcement and public safety programs across the state.” Voters giveth and the Legislature taketh away. The Costco-backed measure passed in November, locking in a guaranteed extra $10 million for local governments, but state lawmakers cut a different $10 million from cities’ and counties’ liquor haul. The local governments want Gov. Chris Gregoire to veto that diversion of money when she signs this year’s key budget-balancing bills into law Wednesday. The Olympian

CT: Charter school model not permitted for turnaround schools
Charter school advocates were stunned — and now are angry — that the latest proposal for education reform does not include charter schools as an acceptable model to turn around low-performing schools. …Malloy’s original education bill gave the commissioner the authority to turn around a network of low-perfoming schools by choosing from among a variety of school models, including charter schools… However, a staff member for the Senate Democrats suggested contacting Kenneth Saltman, a professor in education policy studies and research at DePaul University in Chicago, who is writing a book to be published in June called “The Failure of Corporate School Reform.” In an interview Tuesday, Saltman criticized charter schools as less accountable than public schools. He also said charter schools have high teacher turnover; can be used as a tool to get rid of teachers unions; and that nationally, charter school students perform on standardized tests about as well or worse than students who attend traditional public schools. The Hartford Courant

Headlines
Federal program subsidizes toll roads
VA: Virginia considers 2 jail firms with sketchy pasts
OH: Cost of Ohio Turnpike study increases to $3.4 million
Chuck Colson’s prison ministry accused of favoring Christians

Federal program subsidizes toll roads
TIFIA, which stands for Transportation Infrastructure Finance and Innovation Act, is administered by the Federal Highway Administration. The scope is to provide credit assistance in the form of direct loans to states and agencies to complete significant transportation projects. An overview report released this month shows that more TIFIA projects of late involve tolling as the preferred source for repayment of the loans…Truckers who pay the tolls worry about where their money goes, especially when a percentage of the toll revenue is set aside to guarantee profit for the project investors….TIFIA has become a buzzword in DC of late as lawmakers discuss ways to speed up project delivery and cut red tape. Congress is considering a provision in its surface transportation authorization bill to provide more seed money for the TIFIA program. Land Line

VA: Virginia considers 2 jail firms with sketchy pasts
Virginia is considering privatizing its sole facility fully devoted to treating sexually violent predators, but the two companies in the running have a history of multimillion-dollar legal settlements and illicit behavior that includes a charge of “deliberate indifference” to sexual misconduct between staff and youths at a facility. The Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Services is evaluating proposals from private prison-operating companies GEO Care Inc. and Liberty Healthcare Corp. to take over the Virginia Center for Behavioral Rehabilitation in Burkeville because of an increase in the number of offenders and concerns about costs…Despite a long history of operating such facilities, the two companies have dubious records in other states. Washington Times

OH: Cost of Ohio Turnpike study increases to $3.4 million
The cost of studying the Ohio Turnpike’s future has increased to $3.4 million after the state approved payments for two law firms consulting on the issue…The study team led by Texas-based KPMG Corporate Finance LLC will advise the state by the end of the year on a variety of options. Some options under consideration would include leasing the turnpike to a private operator, maintaining public ownership and operation, or using a mix of public ownership and private operation. Some northern Ohio leaders do not want major changes to the turnpike. They fear that privatizing it would lead to toll increases and poor maintenance and could cause truck traffic to use toll-free roads, making them less safe. U.S. Rep. Tim Ryan, a Niles Democrat, said money allocated to the turnpike study would be better spent in other areas such as early childhood education.”We’re blowing money on a firm from Texas to study this stuff,” Ryan said. The Trucker

Chuck Colson’s prison ministry accused of favoring Christians
…Religious programs have always been around prison, of course, but the Christian ones in particular got a boost in federal funding once George W. Bush became president, bringing with him to Washington a “solution” to prison problems he’d devised and implemented in Texas: Use the faith-based community to bring about changes in the violence and high rates of recidivism common to incarceration. The state clearly wanted out of the business of rehabilitation and it was an appealing notion to pass off a government function to the private sector, not to mention it was setting the table for privatization. The only problem is, there no evidence such a strategy works—recidivism rates remain stubbornly high in Texas, in spite of all the proselytizing. Daily Beast

Headlines
Public-private deals seen boosting road projects
More universities charging more tuition for harder majors
IL: Chicago City Council approves mayor’s public-private infrastructure plan
NM: City shuts off water, sewer for ticket nonpayment
PA: Phila. district outlines plan for drastic overhaul
LA: How Jindal reshaped Louisiana’s public education system based on ALEC’s blueprints
NC: Unwise outsourcing of prison health care – opinion
FL: Gov. Scott signs privatization of reclaimed water bill into law
NY:  NYC high-schoolers on strike

Public-private deals seen boosting road projects
Financing for roads and highways is likely to attract a growing number of public-private partnerships once Congress passes federal transportation funding, a panel of experts at a Federal Association of Municipal Analysts conference in Las Vegas said on Friday. Congress last month opted for a 90-day extension of transportation funding amid a standoff between Democrats and Republicans over competing long-term proposals, casting uncertainty over the eventual level of federal spending for building and repairing highways…However, the partnerships cannot replace public funding, experts at the conference said. “One point is funding, and another is financing,” said Joung Lee of the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials, which represents state transportation departments. Gasoline taxes, both federal and state, account for the bulk of funds for building and maintaining highways, and revenue from these is in decline in real terms. More fuel-efficient vehicles and a federal gasoline tax long set at a flat rate of 18.4 cents per gallon are pushing this primary source of road revenues down. “We presented the Congress with a wide variety of financing options,” said Lee, showing a wide matrix including endless possibilities, such as drivers’ license surcharges or other taxes and fees. “What is lacking is the political will to implement any of these options.” Chicago Tribune

More universities charging more tuition for harder majors
A growing number of public universities are charging higher tuition for math, science and business programs, which they argue cost more to teach — and can earn grads higher-paying jobs. More than 140 public universities now use “differential tuition” plans, up 19% since 2006, according to research from Cornell’s Higher Education Research Institute. That number is increasing as states cut higher-education spending and schools try to pay for expensive technical programs…Some worry that higher tuition will put off low-income students. “The fear in all of this is will it lead to people being rationed out of classes?” said Ronald Ehrenberg, the Cornell researcher behind the tuition study….In Florida, if Gov. Rick Scott signs a bill approved by the Legislature, certain universities will get to charge tuition at their own rates rather than what’s mandated by the state. USA Today

IL: Chicago City Council approves mayor’s public-private infrastructure plan
The Chicago City Council on Tuesday approved a plan to use public-private partnerships to finance an ambitious $7 billion program to overhaul the city’s aging infrastructure…Mayor Rahm Emanuel announced the multibillion-dollar plan in February, saying Chicago would go ahead with projects without waiting for federal assistance or raising taxes…Some urban planners and policy experts were skeptical that remaking a city on such a grand scale could be pulled off without either raising taxes or privatizing major pieces of infrastructure, as former Chicago Mayor Richard M. Daley did with the Chicago Skyway and the city’s parking meter system…The City Council on Tuesday rejected alternative proposals from aldermen who remain skeptical about the plan. One of those alternative plans would have required the council’s approval of all Trust-funded projects, set aside 1 percent of the nonprofit’s operating budget for oversight and empower Inspector General Joe Ferguson to investigate the Trust. “It’s not free money. It’s gonna come to us in user fees and taxes,” said Alderman Leslie Hairston. “Things that will add to the burden the city is already imposing, we’re gonna saddle them with.” The Republic

NM: City shuts off water, sewer for ticket nonpayment
With more and more vehicle owners simply deciding refuse to pay red light camera and speed camera tickets, private, for-profit companies and municipalities are growing increasingly desperate. America’s second-largest city shut down its photo ticketing program last year largely because residents who could not afford the $500 citations did not pay them. On Monday, Las Cruces, New Mexico announced it would shut off the utilities of city residents who refused to pay Redflex Traffic Systems, the Australian company that owns and operates the cameras…The city provides gas, water, sewer and trash services. Ordinarily, the New Mexico Public Regulation Commission prevents shutting off the utilities of low-income residents from November 15 to March 15. This is primarily a safety issue as lack of heating during a cold snap — Las Cruces recorded a -10 degree temperature in 1962 — could endanger the elderly. The commission also protects the seriously ill and customers on Medicaid or on assistance from a charitable organization. A spokesman for the commission, however, told TheNewspaper that no such protections apply to utilities run by a municipality. To have service restored, Las Cruces and its private vendor will charge a $48 re-connection fee on top of $125 per ticket. .Las Cruces gave Redflex approval to issue speeding and red light tickets three years ago. In January, a local university was unable to prove the program delivered a substantial safety benefit. Last year, a majority of voters in Albuquerque voted for the removal of red light cameras.  The Newspaper

PA: Phila. district outlines plan for drastic overhaul
The plan – subject to public comment and SRC approval – would close 40 schools next year and 64 by 2017, move thousands more students to charters, and dismantle the central office in favor of “achievement networks” that would compete to run groups of 25 schools and would sign performance-based contracts. Knudsen, in a news conference, avoided references to the “Philadelphia School District.”..Teachers union president Jerry Jordan decried the radical restructuring as the SRC divesting itself of many of the core responsibilities of public education. He called it a “cynical, right-wing, market-driven” blueprint. “This is totally dismantling the system,” Jordan said. “It’s a business plan crafted to privatize the services within the School District.”  Philly.com

LA: How Jindal reshaped Louisiana’s public education system based on ALEC’s blueprints
Last week, he signed into law a suite of landmark reform bills that will likely change the direction of public education in Louisiana forever. But not all change is good, and critics say both Jindal’s agenda and the strategy to move it come right from the playbook of conservative advocacy group ALEC, in an effort to revive Jindal’s national political profile. Louisiana is now home to the nation’s most expansive school voucher program. Charter school authorization powers have been broadened. And teacher tenure policies have been radically transformed. Louisiana already had something of a reputation as a radical-reform state, thanks to the post-Katrina educational climate in New Orleans. But not all change is good, and education advocates have deep concerns about the efficacy of Jindal’s overhaul, and the interests that have pushed it. “With these laws Gov. Bobby Jindal has sold our kids out for his political aspirations,” said Karran Royal Harper, a Louisiana parent activist and education advocate. The bills all sprinted through the state legislature. Committee hearings were conducted at a breakneck speed, Democratic lawmakers complained, and members were asked to vote on amendments they didn’t actually understand. When the House took up a bill changing teacher-tenure rules, it ran the session past midnight, refusing to break until they called for a vote…ALEC’s 2010 “Report Card on American Education” (PDF) suggested that lawmakers overwhelm their opposition in exactly this manner. “Do not simply just introduce one reform in the legislature—build a consensus for reform and introduce a lot,” the report authors told ALEC members. Salon

NC: Unwise outsourcing of prison health care – opinion
Hiring private contractors to take over the state’s prison health care system is a bad move for North Carolina and for all of us in the state who pay taxes. Privatization won’t save money, and if other states are a guide, initial low-ball bids and multiple malpractice suits will push the state’s costs even higher. Deliberate understaffing at Central Prison has led to many negative outcomes. But it looks like the Perdue administration would rather scapegoat 2,500 prison medical professionals than acknowledge its own culpability and fix the problems. Let’s call this privatization proposal what it is – either a leadership failure or a sweetheart deal for a private prison contractor with job promises to high-ranking lame-duck politicians and political appointees looking for a parachute because the boss decided to forgo another term…Despite the lack of evidence in other states that outsourcing saves money, the Department of Public Safety decided to look at privatization as a way to cut costs. But significant cost saving from privatized prison medical care is illusory, according to Alex Friedman, an editor at Prison Legal News. States that have turned medical care over to for-profit companies find themselves in the middle of negligent care lawsuits. It’s happened in Florida, New York and New Jersey. News Observer

FL: Gov. Scott signs privatization of reclaimed water bill into law
Another measure (HB 639) originally created a firestorm among environmentalists concerned that it would have allowed the privatization of “reclaimed” water, or water treated by sewage facilities. The final version of the bill will make it easier for counties and cities to use the treated water for irrigation without getting a permit. Palm Beach Post

NY:  NYC high-schoolers on strike
Occupy has caught young students’ attention — and some are planning to join the May 1 general strike. In a short video released last week, a group of students from New York’s Paul Robeson High School stand in an unremarkable classroom: school bags slung over wooden chairs and busy pinboards in the background. Their message, however, is a radical one: at front and center of the shot, a young man holding a white sheet of paper announces a mass high school student walkout on May 1, the day of the Occupy-planned general strike.  “Dear New York City. We the students of public education are here to inform you of the injustice that is taking place in our school system,” he begins, surrounded by members of the school’s student leadership, some staring defiantly into the camera with arms crossed. After listing student grievances including the privatization of the public school system, budget cuts, school closures against community wishes and over-policing in schools, the young man announces the May Day walkout to nearby Fort Greene park in Brooklyn. Salon

Headlines
U.S. suspends controversial outsourcing training program
NY: Public kept in dark about sweet deals NYC charter schools
NY: Nassau County lease of sewer plant faces hurdles
PA: Anti-public education group funds gay, Muslim Dem as stealth candidate
OH: OSU advances $400M parking privatization
ID: Idaho among states pushing private school credits
CA: Occupy the Farm activists reclaim agricultural land in SF Bay Area

U.S. suspends controversial outsourcing training program
The U.S. Agency for International Development has suspended funding for a program under which Filipino nationals were trained to work in offshore, English language call centers that serve U.S. companies. The program drew heavy criticism from lawmakers who said it posed a threat to American call center workers….Congressman Tim Bishop (D-NY) and fellow Congressman Walter Jones (R-N.C.) on Friday wrote to USAID administrator Rajiv Shah to complain about the program, known as JEEP (Job Enabling English Proficiency). JEEP used USAID funds to train students in the Philippines troubled Mindanao region, which has seen unrest by Muslim activists, to work in call centers and other industries. Feinstein said JEEP was initially conceived as a way to help students in the region integrate into Filipino society. “The intent of the program is to enable these youth to make productive contributions to society, and to reduce alienation and marginalization that may make them vulnerable to the influence of terrorism and extremism.”  Information Week

NY: Public kept in dark about sweet deals NYC charter schools
SUNY trustees are rushing to approve a whopping 50% increase in the annual per-pupil management fee the state pays to one of the city’s biggest and most controversial charter school operators. Under the plan, the Success Charter Network, run by former City Councilwoman Eva Moskowitz, will see its management fee jump from $1,350 to $2,000 for each pupil enrolled at its five schools in the Harlem area. Moskowitz, who currently runs 11 charter schools throughout the city, has made no secret of her plans to expand that number. The jump in her network’s management fees from 10% to 15% of total state aid per child, however, would place it nearly on a par with fees charged by the city’s few for-profit charter operators…The increase for the Success Network is being carried out in a stealth manner, as is an accompanying proposal to reorganize its five Harlem schools — Harlem Success Academy 1 to 5 — under a single nonprofit corporation, even though they are located in three separate community school districts. Moskowitz submitted a formal application in March to both the state and the city to amend her charters for the five schools.  But it was not until a week ago, on the evening of April 17, that the DOE informed local parents and community education councils by email that a hearing to solicit comments on the proposal would be held three days later. “When we asked to see the actual proposal, we were told we would have to file a Freedom of Information (Act) request,” Noah Gotbaum of the District 3 Community Education Council on the upper West Side said. “How can the public respond when we can’t even see the real documents?” New York Daily News

NY: Nassau County lease of sewer plant faces hurdles
A long-term lease of Nassau’s Sewer and Storm Water Finance Authority, outlined in September by Republican County Executive Edward Mangano, has drawn interest from Severn Trent Services, Veolia Environment VE SA and United Water, a unit of Suez Environment Company SA. However, it is not clear if and when any lease contract might be approved. State control board officials and Democratic legislators have criticized the proposal. Credit agencies say public assets – from roads to parking garages – should not be leased to private companies if the cash raised from them just papers over deficits.
About $115 million of the money raised by a long-term lease of the sewer system would be spent closing deficits in 2013 and 2014, according to Fitch. It views this strategy “negatively.” Reuters

PA: Anti-public education group funds gay, Muslim Dem as stealth candidate
How far is the school privatization juggernaut willing to go to disguise and promote their agenda?  The Betsy DeVos-led American Federation for Children, through its PA affiliate Students First and its funding recipients, is financing the campaign of Fatimah Muhammad. She is an openly gay, African American, Muslim candidate for State Representative in Pennsylvania’s Democratic primary in the 188th District. The primary is on Tuesday, April 24. Adding to the irony, a 2012 recipient of Students First funding has sponsored fliers touting 27-year old candidate Muhammad’s liberal credentials and her willingness to challenge Governor Tom Corbett’s “War on Women.”  Daniel Denvir wrote in the Philadelphia City Paper,     “This is politics at its most cynical: major funders of the pro-choice, pro-Muhammad ad are anti-abortion Republican extremists.” If you follow the money trail, it shows that Students First has been funded solely by American Federation for Children in the 2012 election cycle. Gov. Corbett was the keynote speaker at the American Federation for Children’s national conference last year. (I was outside with protesters from Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, and D.C.) Betsy Prince DeVos’ family and that of her husband Dick DeVos, have been leading funders of Focus on Family, Family Research Council, Crisis Pregnancy Centers, Proposition Eight, and other anti-abortion and anti-gay rights organizations.  AlterNet

OH: OSU advances $400M parking privatization
Ohio State has sent out an official request for proposals (RFP) to private companies interested in managing campus parking operations, hoping for a bid of at least $375 million…Companies interested in bidding must include a bid amount, a 50-year commitment and a cap in the annual parking rate increase that is consistent to historical increase. Gee also said in the email that no current Transportation and Parking employee would lose his or her job from a new contract….In a survey sent out to faculty, 92.4 percent of participants said they do not support the university’s consideration to privatize parking. Gee, however, said the survey was flawed and the accuracy of it should be questioned. Several cities such as Chicago, Pittsburgh and Indianapolis have moved toward parking privatization, but no public universities have made the switch.  The Lantern

ID: Idaho among states pushing private school credits
Idaho is among the states where lawmakers are debating tax breaks for people who donate to private-school scholarships. It’s a big issue in the Louisiana Legislature right now, with a final package in the works. Idaho’s proposal, debated during the 2012 Legislature before the session ended, is smaller than even a scaled-back Louisiana program…Idaho’s plan, touted by Rep. Bob Nonini of Coeur d’Alene, proposed a $10 million credit. Detractors fear this is just another way for religious schools to undercut public education.  The Idaho Statesman

CA: Occupy the Farm activists reclaim agricultural land in SF Bay Area
Hundreds marched yesterday from the Earth Day rally in Berkeley, California to an empty tract of land to establish a new occupation. Occupy the Farm, a coalition of local residents, farmers, students, researchers, and activists are planting over 15,000 seedlings at the Gill Tract, the last remaining 10 acres of Class I agricultural soil in the urbanized East Bay area. The Gill Tract is public land administered by the University of California, which plans to sell it to private developers. For decades the UC has thwarted attempts by community members to transform the site for urban sustainable agriculture and hands-on education. With deliberate disregard for public interest, the University administrators plan to pave over this prime agricultural soil for commercial retail space, a Whole Foods, and a parking lot. Occupy the Farm seeks to address structural problems with health and inequalities in the Bay Area that stem from communities’ lack of access to food and land. Today’s action reclaims the Gill Tract to demonstrate and exercise the peoples’ right to use public space for the public good. This farm will serve as a hub for urban agriculture, a healthy and affordable food source for Bay Area residents and an educational center. OccupyWallStreet

Headlines
Public-private deals seen boosting road projects
Community colleges: Privatization without angst
Conservative nonprofit acts as a lobbyist for business
MO: Interstate 70 toll proposal hits roadblock
MI: Unions say charters, privatizing contribute to state employee pension problems
NJ: Privatized paraprofessionals may mean many in middle schools unemployed
Public-private deals seen boosting road projects
With tight budgets at the federal and local levels reducing the availability of public funds for new infrastructure projects, some planners will turn to private investors. “There is ample capital available to invest in revenue-backed U.S. infrastructure projects,” said Little, noting some of the $12 trillion of pension funds could become available for infrastructure investments. However, the partnerships cannot replace public funding, experts at the conference said. “One point is funding, and another is financing,” said Joung Lee of the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials, which represents state transportation departments.Gasoline taxes, both federal and state, account for the bulk of funds for building and maintaining highways, and revenue from these is in decline in real terms. More fuel-efficient vehicles and a federal gasoline tax long set at a flat rate of 18.4 cents per gallon are pushing this primary source of road revenues down. “We presented the Congress with a wide variety of financing options,” said Lee, showing a wide matrix including endless possibilities, such as drivers’ license surcharges or other taxes and fees. “What is lacking is the political will to implement any of these options.” Reuters

Community colleges: Privatization without angst
…By such measures, Curtis said, his college is private. By next year, he said, the college will be close to having two-thirds of its revenue come from tuition revenue. But Curtis stressed that his college is embracing many other characteristics of privatization “and they are not all bad.”..But even in the audience of administrators here, not everyone seemed entirely comfortable with the idea of simply embracing privatization as a model…There were also some philosophical questions — although no one challenged the idea that traditional means of financing community colleges are likely dead or dying. One administrator asked how, if such a vision were to be embraced, community colleges would be different from for-profit colleges. Another asked how the idea of community colleges competing for contracts with businesses, creating new profit-making ventures and looking for new markets might make them all competitors with one another. The AACC meeting is one where community college leaders today share ideas and talk of shared values, not one where people talk much about competition with one another. “In the private world you do not necessarily share your best innovations with those who you begin to see as competitors,” said one official here. He asked Glasper if he thought about “the impact on collegiality as we begin to see each other as competitors.”  Inside Higher Ed

Conservative nonprofit acts as a lobbyist for business
The American Legislative Exchange Council, whose members include lawmakers and corporations, drafts legislation on which 1,000 bills introduced annually in state legislatures are based.Despite its generally low profile, ALEC has drawn scrutiny recently for promoting gun rights policies like the Stand Your Ground law at the center of the Trayvon Martin shooting case in Florida, as well as bills to weaken labor unions and tighten voter identification rules. Amid the controversies, several companies, including Coca-Cola, Intuit and Kraft Foods, have left the group…But a review of internal ALEC documents shows that this is only one facet of a sophisticated operation for shaping public policy at a state-by-state level. The records offer a glimpse of how special interests effectively turn ALEC’s lawmaker members into stealth lobbyists, providing them with talking points, signaling how they should vote and collaborating on bills affecting hundreds of issues like school vouchers and tobacco taxes. The documents — hundreds of pages of minutes of private meetings, member e-mail alerts and correspondence — were obtained by the watchdog group Common Cause and shared with The New York Times. Common Cause, which said it got some of the documents from a whistle-blower and others from public record requests in state legislatures, is using the files to support an Internal Revenue Service complaint asserting that ALEC has abused its tax-exempt status, something ALEC denies. The New York Times

MO: Interstate 70 toll proposal hits roadblock
..State Sen. Mike Kehoe, R-Jefferson City, said last week that he would be ‘shocked” if the Missouri Legislature passes a bill authorizing tolls as part of a public-private partnership to rebuild a 200-mile stretch of I-70 across the middle of the state…The Missouri Department of Transportation said converting I-70 to a toll road would involve adding lanes and replacing interchanges at a cost of $2 billion to $4 billion. The idea was to have a private consortium finance, rebuild and operate the highway. MoDOT leaders suggested the toll road proposal would not likely require a public vote. The proposal faced fierce opposition from the trucking industry, gas station and convenience store owners, and others…Convenience store owners along I-70 voiced concern that a significant percentage of drivers would use free highways to drive across the state and would deal a blow to their bottom lines. The powerful trucking industry decried imposing tolls without a public vote. Post-Dispatch

MI: Unions say charter schools, privatizing have contributed to state employee pension problems
The growth of charter schools and privatizing school jobs is contributing toward a potential crisis in the state’s school employee retirement system because there are fewer workers paying into the plan, union leaders testified Thursday.  Mlive.com

NJ: Privatized paraprofessionals may mean many in middle schools unemployed
Over 200 people came en masse Thur. April 19 to listen and make their case before the Middle Township Board of Education to keep the district’s paraprofessionals as employees of the school district. The board is considering privatizing the district’s 52 regular aides, 13 bus aides and 290 substitute teachers in what it calls a possible cost-savings measure….One issue brought to the fore throughout the meeting was the need to have aides in the schools that supply consistency to their charges along with a level of caring that will only be found in community-based employees who are committed to the district and the children it educates. “Do you have any idea what we do?” Middle School aide Debbie Avicolli asked the board. “We’re with these children six hours a day, longer than any one teacher or administrator. We get to know their strengths and weaknesses. We know what they eat, and in a lot of cases, that they don’t eat at all. We provide them with consistency. We help them be the best they can be so they are receptive to learning.” Privatization of paraprofessionals would result in those employees no longer covered by the state pension plan. Instead, by working for a private company, employees could contribute to other retirement plans such as 401Ks and IRAs. According to sources, it would also eliminate sick and vacation days. Cape May Herald

Headlines
OH: State plan for ‘enterprise universities’ on hold
FL: Miami-Dade to close controversial charter school
CA: Costa Mesa to keep fire department, won’t outsource
FL: Augusta privatized city bus company has new boss with legal problems
Shocking conflict of interest: Private water companies partner with fracking lobby
Google, tech execs accelerate space privatization

OH: State plan for ‘enterprise universities’ on hold
Gov. John Kasich has decided not to include the plan to create “enterprise universities,” which are often referred to as charter universities, in the mid-biennial budget review, because of a stalemate between lawmakers and college leaders.  After years of steady declines in state support, many Ohio college leaders want more freedom from bureaucratic red tape that they say forces them to waste money, Ohio Board of Regents Chancellor Jim Petro said yesterday. But many lawmakers are happy with the current oversight, saying that otherwise, taxpayers would have fewer means to hold the universities accountable…Kasich spokesman Rob Nichols said the administration still believes in the concept of charter universities because it would help make higher education more affordable…Petro’s plan would have cost schools 10 to 20 percent of their per-student state funding in exchange for relief from an array of state mandates, such as rules that govern contracts. The money would have gone to a scholarship fund to attract the brightest students. The Columbus Dispatch

FL: Miami-Dade to close controversial charter school
Miami-Dade School Board unanimously voted to close a charter school accused of holding raunchy late-night parties in its cafeteria. The Balere Language Academy in South Miami Heights has the option to appeal to the state Board of Education. The school’s attorney, Marlon Hill, said it had not decided whether it would…The School Board also decided against renewing a contract with another charter school, Lawrence Academy Elementary, in Florida City. The school has received consecutive F-grades from the state and can be closed under state law. Miami Herald

CA: Costa Mesa to keep fire department, won’t outsource
In a unanimous vote late Tuesday night, the council rescinded layoff notices to 87 firefighters, effectively canceling a proposal to use the Orange County Fire Authority, the Daily Pilot reported. Under that plan, the county was expected to have absorbed most — but not all — of the fire department’s employees. Firefighters had received nearly 43% of the 203 layoff notices sent to city employees since March 2011, when the council began its outsourcing research and implementation. The council will now work on a fire department restructuring plan that aims to improve service and save money. Councilman Gary Monahan said the plan would address high overtime costs…”The administrative staff is quite relieved,” interim Fire Chief Tom Arnold said. “The issue has weighed very heavily on staff, and this decision obviously boosts morale. Everyone is working very hard with less.” Los Angeles Times

FL: Augusta privatized city bus company has new boss with legal problems
An official for Mobility Transit Services LLC met accusations from two Augusta Commission members that his firm might be shortchanging city bus driver trainees with a morsel of company news Monday: Mobility has a new president, and he’s Florida taxicab mogul Cullan Meathe…Meathe has a trail of liens and judgments against him and various transportation companies he owns in Florida and Michigan, according to records on file with the Florida Department of State and published reports. Meathe is named as a party in 31 federal lawsuits filed in Florida, Georgia and Michigan district courts, although all but six of them are closed…Money concerns were raised with Mobility by Augusta Commission members Monday during a work session on the city’s transit contract. Commissioner Bill Lockett said Mobility’s delay in reimbursing driver-trainees a $25 per diem and the firm’s late payments to Augusta vendors gave the perception of “a fly-by-night operation,” but he did not point to Meathe’s background…Mason said the firm’s inability to maintain certain staffing levels might indicate a breach but sought to take the conversation behind closed doors at Tuesday’s meeting, which general counsel Andrew MacKenzie agreed was appropriate…“I do this for a living every day for the federal government,” he said. “This is a bad contract.”  The Augusta Chronicle

Shocking conflict of interest: Private water companies partner with fracking lobby
Two of the country’s largest private water utility companies are participants in a massive lobbying effort to expand controversial shale gas drilling — a heavy industrial activity that promises to enrich the water companies but may also put drinking water resources at risk. The situation — which some watchdogs describe as a troubling conflict of interest — underscores the complex issues raised by the nationwide push to privatize infrastructure and services like water, prisons, and roads. The water companies — American Water and Aqua America — are leading drinking water suppliers in Pennsylvania, where drilling is booming. They also sell water to gas companies — which use a drilling technique that requires massive amounts of water — and have expressed interest in treating drilling wastewater, a potentially lucrative opportunity. These investor-owned, publicly traded water utility companies are also dues-paying “associate members” of the gas industry’s powerful Marcellus Shale Coalition, a fact confirmed by coalition spokesman Travis Windle, who says associate members pay $15,000 annually in dues. Both water companies serve millions of people across the country — Aqua America operates in 11 states and American Water in more than 30. AlterNet

Google, tech execs accelerate space privatization
Google’s Larry Page and Eric Schmidt and ex-Microsoft exec Charles Simonyi are backing Planetary Resources, a new space exploration company to be unveiled April 24…With cuts in NASA’s budget and the end of the space shuttle program at the agency, NASA will need to play a supporting role if it wants to keep itself involved in manned spaceflight. InformationWeek