---------------------- Forwarded by David H Kirshner/dkirsh/LSU on 05/13/99
09:47 AM ---------------------------
Jerry Becker <jbecker who-is-at siu.edu> on 05/12/99 09:07:28 PM
To: jbecker who-is-at siu.edu
cc: (bcc: David H Kirshner/dkirsh/LSU)
Subject: Campaign Against Public Schools
[From People For the American Way Foundation, Washington, D.C.,
Special Issue, April 21, 1999]
****************************************************************
New Report Details Links Between Charity and Vested Interests in
Campaign Against Public Schools
People For the American Way Foundation today released a report that
gives the most detailed look to date into the organizations, leaders
and strategies behind the nationwide push for school privatization,
a campaign at odds with efforts to strengthen education for all our
nation's children.
The report, "Privatization of Public Education: A Joint Venture of
Charity and Power," exposes the interlocking goals, leadership and
strategies of allied organizations such as the Children's Scholarship
Fund (CSF), CEO America and a network of statewide and local groups,
including shared CEO/CSF affiliates, to turn public education money
over to private schools and entrepreneurs. These organizations'
efforts to remove children from the public schools dovetail with a
goal long espoused by Religious Right leaders such as Pat Robertson,
Gary Bauer and Jerry Falwell - to eliminate public schools entirely.
This report, on the eve of CSF's highly publicized "lottery" to pick
the "winners" of 40,000 $600 to $1,600 scholarships, shows how this
alliance uses charity to promote privatization through publicly funded
vouchers that strip needed resources and support from the public
schools and funnel vast amounts of money to private institutions,
including pervasively sectarian ones.
A white paper also issued today, "Grand Illusions: A Look at Who Backs
School Vouchers, Who Profits - and Vouchers' Dismal Performance to
Date," documents the poor performance and damaging impact of the
nation's two current private school voucher experiments in Milwaukee
and Cleveland. It provides a review of current research showing that
educational quality has made no appreciable gains and, in some cases,
has actually declined for students participating in these voucher
programs.
The reports noted below are available at:
http://www.pfaw.org/issues/education/CSF-report.shtml
*Privatization of Public Education: A Joint Venture of Charity and
Power
*Grand Illusions: A Look at Who Backs School Vouchers, Who Profits -
and Vouchers' Dismal Performance to Date
*The Children's Scholarship Fund's Target Markets
*The Best Way to Help Children: Corporate and Private Philanthropy
to Support Public Schools
******************************************************
*
Jerry P. Becker
Dept. of Curriculum & Instruction
Southern Illinois University
Carbondale, IL 62901-4610 USA
Fax: (618)453-4244
Phone: (618)453-4241 (office)
E-mail: jbecker who-is-at siu.edu