Privatization of basic government services is a major trend in recent years, driven by—who else—the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC). Education is one of the key targets, with 157 bills passed in 39 states (including the District of Columbia) to expand
cyber schooling. There are a couple huge problems with that. For one thing, they don't work. By a host of measures, including graduation rates, kids aren't learning like they do in real schools. And no wonder:
One former teacher from Pennsylvania’s Agora Cyber Charter School, which is run by K12 Inc., talked about being assigned 300 students and not having any idea how many attended class: "A huge portion of my students never showed up or did anything. I have no clue what happened to them, though I have no doubt Agora was charging the state for them," she said.
Another former teacher from K12 Inc.’s Colorado Virtual Academy said, "Three-quarters of my credit recovery kids never logged in, never completed any work, never answered their emails or phone calls, yet they remained on my class rosters. I began wondering about the state-mandated hours for students at the high school level. No one is monitoring this as far as I can see."
Cyber charters have raked in big profits, but there's some cause for hope their bubble may be bursting:
Although his firm was born on Wall Street, some on Wall Street have turned against [K12 Inc. CEO Ron] Packard’s model. Hedge fund manager Whitney Tilson recently announced he was shorting K12 Inc. stock, effectively betting that the company would fail. His 125-page slide show explaining his reasoning is a compelling indictment of the model. He points out that Milken's Knowledge Universe group recently distributed its shares in K12 Inc. to investors, a predicate to cashing out.
K12 still has an army of lobbyists and the allegiance of a lot of Republican politicians who don't care so much if kids are actually being educated, though.
Continue reading below the fold for more labor and education news.
A fair day's wage
- There was no official jobs report this week, so the Alliance for American Manufacturing asked people to tell their own job search stories.
- Late last week, workers protested benefits cuts the University of California has unilaterally imposed on its service workers. Workers will see their take-home pay decrease as they pay more for benefits that won't be as good.
- BART management living it up as the clock counts down:
But no sooner had the sixty days [cooling-off period] started than management reconsidered its position on utilizing “all alternatives” to avoid a strike. Instead of bargaining around the clock, management steadfastly refused to meet, and repeatedly stymied efforts by state-appointed mediators to schedule bargaining sessions. BART management informed its unions that it had already made its “best, last, and final offer.” There was therefore no reason to negotiate, explained BART’s expensive Ohio-based negotiator Tom Hock, as further sessions would “not be fruitful.”
Hock, who is being paid almost $400,000 or about $3,400 per day, was unavailable for almost a third of the 30-day contract extension period in July, and he refused to meet the unions during the first month or so of the 60-day cooling off period. Hock found nothing in the injunction that “specifies any required meeting schedule.” Instead, it required “only that the parties maintain the status quo” -- i.e., avoid a strike or lockout. When the 60-day cooling off period started, his position appeared to be, “See you on day 40”! On Thursday, the unions were told, yet again, that Hock was "unavailable."
- Good news in Vermont, via emailed press release:
After two years of organizing, independent homecare providers in Vermont voted overwhelmingly in favor of American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME) Vermont Homecare United to represent them in collective bargaining with the State of Vermont. With nearly 7,500 eligible voters (about one in every 100 Vermonters), it is the largest union vote and organizing win in the state’s history. In fact, it is the largest organizing win in the nation in 2013. [...]
“I’m so excited! It makes the hard work worthwhile. I walked through ice and snow to talk with other homecare providers like me because I want AFSCME Vermont Homecare United behind us to improve our jobs so we can give the best to those we care for,” said homecare provider Janelle Blake. “Now we can building our union and get our contract.”
Vermont had to first pass a law allowing home care workers the right to unionize.
- Don't forget: Republicans are still trying to kill the postal service.
- Textile and apparel manufacturing is coming back to the United States, and providing an example of what it looks like when employers actually want to hire people:
But because the industries were decimated over the last two decades — 77 percent of the American work force has been lost since 1990 as companies moved jobs abroad — manufacturers are now scrambling to find workers to fill the specialized jobs that have not been taken over by machines.
Wages for cut-and-sew jobs, the core of the apparel industry’s remaining work force, have been rising fast — increasing 13.2 percent on an inflation-adjusted basis from 2007 to 2012, while overall private sector pay rose just 1.4 percent. Companies here in Minnesota are so hungry for workers that they posted five job openings for every student in a new training program in industrial sewing, a full month before the training was even completed.
- Related:
Manufacturing expanded in September at a faster pace than forecast, indicating U.S. factories will provide a bigger boost to the expansion.
The Institute for Supply Management’s index unexpectedly rose to 56.2, the strongest since April 2011, from 55.7 a month earlier, the Tempe, Arizona-based group’s report showed today. Readings above 50 indicate growth.
- On the other hand, New York City is going ahead with plans to spend $34 million on Chinese steel in repairs to the Verrazano-Narrows bridge.
- Pregnant workers in New York City are getting some new protection from discrimination thanks to the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act.
Education
Miscellaneous