American education — BREAKDOWN continues

 Washington bloats war budget destroying millions abroad, destroying thousands at home by denying essential quality education 

Excerpt, minor edit by Carolyn Bennett

From recent article at World Socialist Web Site “U.S. Schools in Crisis”

“Pennsylvania’s Chester Upland school district is responsible for the education of nearly 7, 000 students in and around the working class city of Chester” and Chester Upland is in financial crisis [BREAKDOWN]. This school district hangs on month-to-month to meet expenses.

Two-party complicity in BREAKDOWN

School districts map

The crisis in the Chester public school system is an illustrative “episode of far-ranging attacks” waged by members of Democratic and Republican parties on U.S. public education.

Pennsylvania Governor Thomas (Tom) Corbett early in his tenure (2011- ) “pushed through $765 million in cuts to primary education and recently proposed an annual budget implementing another $422 million in cuts. Corbett also eliminated a funding formula that was designed to provide more state support to lower-income districts with little in the way of residential property tax revenue.

“Chester Upland might be only the beginning in a wave of public school closures in the state. Six other Pennsylvania school districts are reportedly on the edge of insolvency.

“The Obama government’s ‘Race to the Top’ initiative has intensified the attack on public education by implementing ‘turn around’ interventions targeting school districts like Chester Upland and introducing merit pay for teachers. …”

Public-private tear down, kick back

Chester Upland, as is the case with other U.S. school districts, “has been starved of funding by semi-private charter schools. Nearly half of Chester Upland’s students attend either the Chester Community Charter School (CCCS), considered to be a ‘nonprofit’ institution, or the much smaller Widener Partnership Charter School. …”

The public-private scheme involves “The Pennsylvania Department of Education [sending] a certain amount of per pupil funding to the school district, district officials then being expected to forward a share of that funding to the charter school, then the charter school’s paying its private management.…” Amidst Chester Upland’s budget crisis, Chester Community Charter School — further obstructing or sacrificing teaching and learning — filed “an injunction demanding $3.8 million in overdue funding from the district.”

Chester Community Charter School (CCCS) “is managed by Charter School Management, Inc., a private company” whose owner, Vahan Gureghian, “was the largest single donor to now Governor Thomas Corbett’s 2010 gubernatorial campaign.”

Sources and notes

“Chester, Pennsylvania schools in crisis”  (Trent Novak), April 9, 2012,

http://www.wsws.org/articles/2012/apr2012/ches-a09.shtml

Author Trent Novak recommended:

“Defend public education!” [February 22, 2012]; “Charter schools in the U.S.: Wall Street’s education model” [July 11, 2011]; “Obama administration continues assault on public education” [March 31, 2011]

U.S. politician Thomas W. (Tom) Corbett (b. June 17, 1949), a member of the Republican Party, has been Governor of Pennsylvania since 2011. One of his first actions as governor was the proposal of a new state budget that would decrease spending by 3 percent. The proposed budget received significant criticism due to its cuts in state-supported higher education by 50 percent.

Under the new budget, funding granted to the 14 universities of the Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education and state-related universities Penn State, Pittsburgh, Temple, and Lincoln would be cut in half, totaling $625 million.

Before the governorship, Corbett was the Attorney General of Pennsylvania (1995 to 1997), appointed by Governor Tom Ridge to fill the unexpired term of Ernie Preate following Preate’s indictment; then elected Attorney General (2004) and served from 2005 to 2011, assuming the governorship January 2011.

Corbett is a baccalaureate graduate of Lebanon Valley College, J.D. graduate of St. Mary’s University Law School, a member of the Pennsylvania Army National Guard 28th Infantry Division (1971-1984), a 9th grade teacher for one year and various positions between private practice and civil service. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tom_Corbett

Images

Pennsylvania Chester Upland School District, http://www.cusd.schoolfusion.us/modules/cms/pages.phtml?pageid=196275

http://www.bing.com/images/search?q=Chester+Upland+School+Of+The+Arts&view=detail&id=0EE57CCC31AEB4B04D8F02010A49CDB9545E7FC7&first=0&FORM=IDFRIR

“Chester-Upland School District, one of the poorest in the state, is rapidly running out of cash, and will not be able to make payroll unless the state fronts them $18.7 million in expected funding.”

PA map: http://www.map-of-usa.co.uk/images/pennsylvania.gif

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