Evidence abounds that privatization has spawned abuse, fraud and waste…The for-profit education industry, for one, appears to be rife with fraud at every level, from kindergarten to college. The firm [Nathaniel] Davis heads, K12 Inc., has yet to show it is superior to public schools. In Kansas, the company’s Lawrence Virtual High School posted a graduation rate last spring of 26.3 percent, compared to the 90.9 percent rate at the city’s two public high schools.
The local school board kicked out K12 management last month, but the company will collect its fee until June 30. Experienced teachers and education researchers, notably Diane Ravitch, have challenged its effectiveness and its secretive policies, including what it pays teachers and supervisors…
Given K12 Inc.’s management failures, why would any school board hire it? The answer may lie in its membership in the American Legislative Exchange Council, an association of self-proclaimed conservative state legislators who have an affinity for paying corporations to do taxpayer work…
Are children better off if taxpayers finance a $9.5 million paycheck for Nathaniel Davis or if that same sum were used to put 166 more teachers in classrooms?http://mag.newsweek.com/2014/03/14/bringing-home-big-bucks-public-sector.html