Welcome to Cashing in on Kids, a weekly email newsletter exposing the billionaires, corporations, and politicians profiting off of public school students.

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Former charter school student, teacher, and parent reflects on oppressive schooling. Frances Scarlen Martinez writes, “At my Bronx elementary I’d regularly made the honor roll. Suddenly adults were policing my every move, my every word. Suddenly I wasn’t good enough. The way I carried myself was no longer acceptable, the way I spoke was not proper.” Public Voices for Public Schools

Charter schools for profit. Carol Burris, a former award-winning New York school principal who is executive director of the Network for Public Education, writes about Ohio’s Capital Collegiate Preparatory Academy, formerly Buckeye Preparatory Academy, which is a charter school managed by for-profit operators. The Washington Post

Getting education reform right. Donald Cohen, executive director of In the Public Interest, writes, “Trying to fix public education with market-based reform [like charter schools and vouchers] is like using a hammer to cook an omelet. It’s just the wrong tool.” The Washington Post

ICYMI. The Washington Post published an excerpt from “School’s Choice: How Charter Schools Shape Access and Control Enrollment,” a new book authored by Wagma Mommandi and Kevin Welner. The Washington Post

Take action

Join Dr. Nancy MacLean, award-winning American historian and author of “Democracy in Chains,” in an online conversation with Dr. Diane Ravitch, President of the Network for Public Education on February 3, 2022 at 3:00pm ET. They will be talking about the road to privatization in America’s public schools. Public Funds Public Schools

Photo by Nashville Area Chamber of Commerce.