SmallTalk Salutes Sen. Warren for standing up to charter lobby

“Education is about creating opportunity for all our children, not about leaving many behind.” -- Sen. Elizabeth Warren.

A SmallTalk Salute goes out to Sen. Elizabeth Warren who's taken some time out from kicking Donald Trump's behind to stand strong against her state's powerful charter school lobby.

This from the Washington Post:

There is a pitched battle underway in Massachusetts over charter schools, with proponents pouring money into an initiative on the November ballot that would raise the state cap on their growth and opponents arguing that charters are draining resources from traditional public schools. Now critics have gotten a big boost: Sen. Elizabeth Warren said she was going to vote against Question 2

There are now nearly 80 charter schools in Massachusetts, where no more than 120 charter schools are currently allowed to operate. Question 2 would allow 12 new or expanded charter schools to open every year anywhere in the state.  a move that supporters say will give more parents choices about where to send their children to school and help close the achievement gap.

Sen. Warren 

Jennifer Berkshire, who posts at Edushyster, interviews political scientist Maurice Cunningham who says the campaign to lift the cap on charter schools in Massachusetts is driven by GOP operatives and a handful of wealthy Republican families.

There are a handful of wealthy families that are funding this. They largely give to Republicans and they represent the financial industry, basically. They’re out of Bain, they’re out of Baupost, they’re out of High Fields Capital Management. Billionaire Seth Klarman, for example, has been described as the largest GOP donor in New England, and he gives a lot of money to free market, anti-government groups. Then on the campaign level, you have Republican strategist Will Keyser who certainly knows his stuff, and Jim Conroy who certainly knows his stuff. They know how to make something look like a grassroots campaign that really isn’t.

 On the other side of the battle lines is Arne Duncan's successor at the D.O.E., John King who just sent $245M, money that should have gone to public schools, straight to the charter school operators. That included $8M which will go to the chain he once operated himself.

John King gives $245M to charters incl $8M to Uncommon chain he once ran w/sky high suspension rates @leoniehaimson https://t.co/wUmPAGIU7S

— JulianVasquezHeilig (@ProfessorJVH) September 28, 2016