You all know what happened in New Orleans — democratically governed public schools were wiped out and replaced by charters. Despite the hype, that experiment failed, as I explain in my new piece in The Progressive [link]. Now, the same forces are at work across the country, with right-wing legislatures and corporate reformers teaming up to dismantle local school districts and hand them over to private operators.
In Florida, the plan is called Schools of Hope — and it’s an unprecedented assault on local control. What began as a small program to help struggling schools has morphed into a sweeping privatization scheme that gives state-approved charter chains, called Hope Operators, the right to occupy working public schools, claim district resources, and recruit students directly from the schools they invade. Districts are forced to turn over floor plans, utilities, and maintenance at no cost, while all disputes bypass local boards and go straight to the State Board of Education. In short, Tallahassee and private companies now decide what happens inside community schools.
Meanwhile, Texas is using state takeovers to crush democratic governance. When the Texas Education Agency seized Fort Worth ISD last week, it mirrored the earlier Houston takeover — elected board dissolved, teachers replaced, wraparound services cut, and high-performing schools handed to charter groups under Senate Bill 1882. Whether called “Schools of Hope” or “district reform,” the goal is the same: to erase public oversight, silence local voices, and turn our public schools into privately controlled charter franchises funded by taxpayers.
On the afternoon of November 10, please be sure to join NPE President Diane Ravitch and me as we discuss her recently released memoir. An Education: How I Changed My Mind About Schools and Almost Everything Else is a beautifully written account of both the personal and professional growth of this hero of public education. This is a discussion you will not want to miss. To register, click here.
Don’t forget to register for our national conference! Go here to register for the conference and the discounted hotel room. We can’t wait to see you.
The invitation for panels will be out shortly.