Here’s our pick of recent news about the effort to privatize public education in California and the families, students, and teachers fighting back.

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11 warning signs that someone is trying to privatize your public school. As students, parents, educators, and school districts struggle to adjust to the COVID-19 pandemic, others see the crisis as an opportunity to escalate their efforts to further privatize public education.

For years, “education reformers,” private companies that want to profit from public education dollars, and others have worked to undermine public education by privatizing all aspects of it—from charter schools, to contracted out bus services and cafeterias, to private testing companies, to software and hardware providers touting the benefits of virtual/online education.

Here are 11 warning signs that your school is under attack. In the Public Interest

The charter industry goes virtual. The California Charter Schools Association (CCSA) has released a bevy of policy and educational webinars and handouts on everything from financing campus expansions to non-classroom-based legal compliance. CCSA

The struggle continues. Public school teachers in Los Angeles are holding the line against charter school co-location attempts. “The ongoing pressure campaign was on display in a socially-distanced demonstration at Shirley Elementary in Reseda on Tuesday morning, April 14, as teachers in masks stood six feet apart and protested a plan to open a new privately operated public school on their campus this Fall.” Whittier Daily News

Charter growth in San Diego. New data shows that charter school enrollment in San Diego County has grown by 27 percent from five years ago. Enrollment for San Diego Unified, the state’s second-largest school district, fell 6 percent from five years ago. The San Diego Union-Tribune

And from beyond state lines… Kevin P. Chavous, president of academics, policy and schools at the for-profit online education corporation K12 Inc., has taken up a position on the Heritage Foundation’s “National Coronavirus Recovery Commission.” The Heritage Foundation has close ties with the Trump administration and is pushing for slashing regulations to “boost the economy.” While Chavous was a board member of the American Federation of Children, he pushed for the post-Katrina privatization of New Orleans schools.

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