2021 has brought both good and bad news for our public schools.
Schools were able to open, and although COVID is surging and difficult to manage, our students are in class with the teachers they love. We thank all of our educators for their heroic efforts during such difficult times.
The bad news is that a new war on public schools has begun. Public schools and teachers became a target after the 2008 recession; sadly, it is happening again. Post-2008 brought teacher evaluations by test scores, Common Core testing, and a push for charter schools. This time we face book-banning, anti-CRT laws, and more charter schools and vouchers.
Here is a quote from The New York Times:
Chris Rufo, the right-wing intellectual entrepreneur behind the anti-critical race theory campaign, told me last month that the next phase of his offensive will be a push for school choice, including private school vouchers, charter schools, and home-schooling. “The public schools are waging war against American children and American families,” he said, so families should have “a fundamental right to exit.”
The Network for Public Education will defend our communities’ right to have well-funded, neighborhood schools open to all students and governed by the public. We believe in the ultimate goodness of our communities, even when times are dark. Public education is a pillar of our democracy; privatized “choice” is its wrecking ball. We must fight it in all of its forms.
Won’t you help us keep the lights on and continue the fight?
Diane and Carol Take on the Billionaire Who Thinks Public Schools Are Broken
Billionaire Michael Bloomberg is re-emerging to continue his war against public schools. Read Diane’s and my piece in the Washington Post Answer Sheet, in which we set the record straight.
NPE’s New Charter Scandal Research Tool Makes its Debut
We have been posting charter scandals on our website, Twitter, and Facebook for years. Now you can use those postings as a research tool. Bookmark our scandals page here. You can search scandals by state, type, or name.
NPE Welcomes Georgina Cecilia Pérez to our Board of Directors
We are delighted that Georgina Cecilia Pérez has agreed to serve on our board. Pérez is serving her second term as a member of the Texas State Board of Education, representing students, parents, and educators in 40 counties in West Texas in a region that encompasses over 900 miles of the Texas-Mexico border.
Pérez is an El Paso native and proud graduate of Eastwood High School in the Ysleta Independent School District. Before state board service, she was an eighth-grade English Language Arts and Reading teacher, department chair, teacher mentor, and professional development educator in Ysleta ISD for more than a decade.
In January, NPE will welcome three additional board members to our outstanding leadership team.
Stay tuned!
How Will NPE Ring in the New Year?
- We will continue to speak to members of the House and Senate regarding the 2023 education budget (no, it’s not done yet).
- I will register additional complaints with the Office of the Inspector General of the U.S. Department of Education regarding abuses and violations of charter schools.
- Thanks to courageous whistleblowers, we will issue a blockbuster expose on a national for-profit chain.
- Look for the release of our 2022 State Privatization Report Card.
- We will re-open registration for our National Conference to be held in Philadelphia this March.
And that is just during the first few months.
To get all of that done, however, we need your help.
Please give generously and give today.
May this holiday season bring peace, joy, and the love of family and friends.
Happy holidays from Diane and the NPE Board, Carol, Darcie, Marla.
