Charter Schools

  • Juan Gonzalez: NYC Schools chancellor Joel Klein won’t be missed

    November 10, 2010 | Blog Post

    You could tell the Joel Klein era was ending long before Mayor Bloomberg made it official on Tuesday.

  • Education

    Educators Push Back Against Obama’s "Business Model" for School Reforms

    September 03, 2010 | Story

    It’s back-to-school season. As millions of children around the country begin a new school year, the Obama administration is aggressively moving forward on a number of education initiatives, from expanding charter schools to implementing new national academic standards. We talk to Karen Lewis, the president of the Chicago Teachers Union, and Lois Weiner, a professor of education at New Jersey City University. [includes rush transcript]

  • Obama-education

    Obama Defends Sweeping Education Reforms in Face of Criticism from Minority and Teachers’ Groups

    July 30, 2010 | Story

    President Obama took on critics of his administration’s sweeping education reform plan on Thursday in a nearly hour-long speech at the National Urban League’s 100th anniversary convention. His address came on the heels of news that New York public school students are not performing nearly as well as prior state tests had revealed. We speak with Diane Ravitch, the former Assistant Secretary of Education under George H.W. Bush, and Leonie Haimson, executive director of Class Size Matters. [includes rush transcript]

  • Charter-school

    Juan Gonzalez: Big Banks Making a Bundle on New Construction as Schools Bear the Cost

    May 07, 2010 | Story

    "Wealthy investors and major banks have been making windfall profits by using a little-known federal tax break to finance new charter-school construction," Democracy Now! co-host Juan Gonzalez write in the New York Daily News. "The program, the New Markets Tax Credit, is so lucrative that a lender who uses it can almost double his money in seven years." [includes rush transcript]

  • Arne-duncan

    A Look at Arne Duncan’s VIP List of Requests at Chicago Schools and the Effects of his Expansion of Charter Schools in Chicago

    March 26, 2010 | Story

    When President Obama’s Education Secretary, Arne Duncan, was the head of Chicago’s Public Schools, his office kept a list of powerful, well-connected people who asked for help getting certain children into the city’s best public schools. The list — long kept confidential — was disclosed this week by the Chicago Tribune. We speak with the Chicago Tribune reporter who broke the story and with two Chicago organizers about Duncan and his aggressive plan to expand charter schools. [includes rush transcript]

  • Ravitch-democracynow-1

    Part II: Leading Education Scholar Diane Ravitch on "The Death and Life of the Great American School System"

    March 08, 2010 | Blog Post

    Amy Goodman and Juan Gonzalez interviewed Diane Ravitch in the Democracy Now! studios last week. You can see Part One of their conversation here. After the broadcast, they continued the conversation. [includes rush transcript]

  • Ravitch-democracynow

    Leading Education Scholar Diane Ravitch: No Child Left Behind Has Left US Schools with Legacy of "Institutionalized Fraud"

    March 05, 2010 | Story

    As the Obama administration touts No Child Left Behind and the "Race to the Top" competition for school grants, we speak to leading education scholar and former Assistant Secretary of Education Diane Ravitch. She’s long been known as an advocate of No Child Left Behind, charter schools, standardized testing, and using the free market to improve schools. But she’s had a radical change of heart, as chronicled in her latest book, The Death and Life of the Great American School System: How Testing and Choice Are Undermining Education. Ravitch says, "The evidence says No Child Left Behind was a failure, and charter schools aren’t going to be any better." [includes rush transcript]

  • Juan-amy-talk

    Juan Gonzalez: Eva Moskowitz Has Special Access to Schools Chancellor Klein

    February 25, 2010 | Story

    "Schools Chancellor Joel Klein often lauds a small group of Harlem charter schools founded by former City Councilwoman Eva Moskowitz," writes Democracy Now! co-host Juan Gonzalez in the New York Daily News. "But few New Yorkers are aware of the access Moskowitz has to the chancellor or the special support he has bestowed on her program, whose four schools enroll just 1,300 of the city’s more than 1 million public school students." [includes rush transcript]

  • Charter-schools

    Study: Charter Schools Increasing Racial Segregation in Classrooms

    February 11, 2010 | Story

    Encouraged by the Obama administration, efforts to expand the number of charter schools are being organized around the country. But concerns are being raised about the system. We speak to UCLA’s Civil Rights Project co-director Gary Orfield about a new study that suggests charter school growth is increasing classroom segregation. [includes rush transcript]

  • Charter-school-discussion

    Roundtable: Do Charter Schools Worsen Inequality of Two-Tiered Education System, or Help Address It?

    February 11, 2010 | Story

    We host a roundtable discussion on charter schools and the controversial closing of ninetten New York City public schools with New York State Senator Bill Perkins, one of the most vocal state lawmakers against lifting the cap on charter schools in New York; Seth Andrew, superintendent and founder of the Democracy Prep charter school in Harlem; Daniel Clark, Sr., the field director of advocacy group Parent Power Now!; and Leonie Haimson, executive director of Class Size Matters. [includes rush transcript]