Public School Shakedown

A fundamental struggle for democracy is going on around the country, as a handful of wealthy individuals and foundations pour money into efforts to privatize the public schools. The Public School Shakedown pulls back the curtain and reveals what is at stake. We follow the money, expose the privatizers, and report on the resistance and the hard work of people on the front lines of public education.

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  Ohio’s Online Charter Scandal Is a Warning to the Nation

  And a reminder of the importance of an independent press. more

  Jul 14, 2017

  Jan Resseger

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  An Insider's View of Charter Schools: Who Is Working Together to Improve Them?

  While the popularity of charters is growing, so is concern about charter schools, particularly in the civil rights community and among grassroots educators in teachers unions. more

  Jul 7, 2017

  Julian Vasquez Heilig

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  Gage Skidmore

  Four Things Betsy DeVos Doesn’t Want You to Know about Education Tax Credits

  Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos is a big fan. more

  Jun 30, 2017

  Dora Taylor

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  TeroVesalainen

  In Virginia primary, Democrats Get a Lesson: Being Progressive Means Supporting Public Schools

  As Democrats struggle to find their footing in the Trump era, the primary for governor in Virginia shows how the party needs to evolve on the issue of education “reform.” more

  Jun 23, 2017

  Rachel Levy

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  What the Venice High School Student Walkout Teaches Us

  We support cooperative education when it teaches our kids to go out and get work, but not to go out and make their community better. more

  Jun 22, 2017

  Karen Wolfe

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  Trump and Devos Ignore Science, but This High School Teacher and His Students Embrace It

  Most of my students have only deepened their commitment to do what Trump will not: honestly explore and enact how best to live on Earth. more

  Jun 19, 2017

  Dora Taylor

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  courtesy of Ashana Bigard

  Confederate Statues Are Down in New Orleans, but Structural Racism Still Stands Tall in Our Schools

  When Stalin's statues came down in Russia, it was because the people had toppled the system—not just a statue. We certainly cannot say the same thing about the system of racist oppression General E. Lee’s statue represented. more

  Jun 7, 2017

  Ashana Bigard

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  Was the Most Expensive School Board Race in U.S. History Really All About the Money?

  How Melvoin and his billionaire backers took the L.A. School Board election. more

  Jun 5, 2017

  Karen Wolfe

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  John Stavely

  Betsy DeVos Wants to Take Money From Poor Kids and Give it to Schools That Could Discriminate Against Them

  Trump’s education budget cuts $9.2 billion of federal outlays to public schools, and eliminates twenty-two programs - But Betsy DeVos claims her department's budget prioritizes “what’s working.” more

  May 26, 2017

  Jeff Bryant

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  School Choice: The Controversial Debate

  Education Fellow Julian Vasquez Heilig debates the proposition that “choice is essential to improving education in the United States” at the Better Chicago Education Summit 2017 more

  May 24, 2017

  Julian Vasquez Heilig

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  March to Springfield

  Fed Up with a Budget Crisis, Illinois Citizens Take to the Streets

  About a dozen marchers, ranging in age from twenty-three to ninety, are marching 200 miles to the state capital in the hopes of budging Illinois lawmakers out of an almost two-year-long logjam over the state budget. more

  May 22, 2017

  Jeff Bryant

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  DeVos image Gage Skidmore

  Why Graduating Seniors Are Booing Commencement Speeches

  Let's follow Bethune’s students example and not accept false choices. Let’s fight for the agency and power that provides the truest “choice” to all: equity. more

  May 12, 2017

  Xian Franzinger Barrett

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  Why the U.S. News Best High School Rankings Are Like Basketball

  If we believe that a successful school curates students to be good test takers who will do lots of AP tests, then maybe these ratings mean something. more

  May 10, 2017

  Peter Greene

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  Brian Hubble

  New Orleans Schools Are Taking Back Local Control. But Will It Matter?

  No school board should allow children’s social, emotional, and physical well-being to become a bargaining chip in educational experiments on vulnerable populations. more

  May 8, 2017

  Ashana Bigard

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  Courtesy of Sarah Lahm

  Magnet Schools Push Back Against a Growing Tide of Segregation

  "All welcome here." more

  May 2, 2017

  Sarah Lahm