When It Comes to Sneaky - These Guys Never Disappoint

Mr. Christie (I really can't call him Governor Christie because he is never here acting as New Jersey's governor) should be privatized as soon as possible. I can't understand why an absentee public employee, involved with multiple, underhanded sleazy dealings by both him and his cronies has not been subjected to recall? 

I suppose the only answer is, having been a Federal Prosecutor, he has a pile of dirt on numerous politicians and others, tucked away in a file cabinet somewhere (J. Edgar style).

The only other possibility is the citizens and politicians of New Jersey are too stupid or lazy to "throw the bum out".

P.S.

Want a list of "The Governor's" shenanigans. Here's a bunch I can think of right off the bat.

Bridgegate (of course)

Harrison Train Station (his brother's company benefited handsomely)

Hunterdon  County Sheriff's Office Investigation (he squashed it)

Exxon Mobile "Settlement?"

RU President on Boards of Trustees of companies doing business with RU (okay by Christie)

Pension "Reform" renege

PA Appointments (Samson et al)

Loss of $400M Fed Ed Funds (and put it all on Schindler) 

Canceled ARC Tunnel (cost jobs & money during the height of the recession)

Trips and Entertainment from "Friends" - Jones, Adelson, etc.

Held Special Elections ($24M) for his personal political advantage

Screwed up the Sandy Aid program and paid $30M to company that did it

Used Sandy Funds for political advertising

Kiss DB Pensions Goodbye!

Christie has two major objectives. 

(1) privatize public education to benefit his well connected cronies and friends and 

(2) privatize the pension system to benefit his well connected cronies and friends.

And it's beginning to look like both may work!

BTW -

This 'Hybrid' Pension Plan is just a foot in the door!

Defining "Charter"

I looked up the definition of "charter" and found many. Definition number seven at "World English Dictionary" I think was most befitting for describing Charter Schools -
7. a law, policy, or decision containing a loophole which allows a specified group to engage more easily in an activity considered undesirable
Read below and you will understand why this definition is most apt!

Charter schools in Camden aren't just draining students - they're draining money, close to $66 million worth in 2013-14, compared with just just $52 million the year before. Next year, Camden has budgeted $72 million to transfer to charters. There's your $75 million shortfall. - See more at: http://thecontributor.com/how-charter-schools-are-strip-mining-one-nj-school-district#sthash.ltC8aekW.dpuf

• While Gov. Chris Christie rails about the pay of public school superintendents, top employees at these schools live in another world, spared from his rancor. Nineteen directors were paid the maximum allowed salary — $225,734 — to oversee schools with anywhere from 30 to 327 students a day. And 52 people at these schools took home more than $175,000, the most superintendents are allowed to earn in public schools with up to 10,000 students.

• About a third of the schools did business with companies owned or controlled by the same people who run the schools, or their relatives or associates, oftentimes at a higher cost than other schools pay. The deals ran the gamut from real estate to bus rentals to food.

• Nearly one-fifth of schools had instances of nepotism. One school had four related directors, three of whom earned the maximum $225,734. Another employed a part-time classroom aide related to the director who earned $94,000 in 2013, three times other aides’ salaries.

• Three dozen schools offered generous pension plans paid for by the public but requiring no contributions by employees, in stark contrast to public school teachers and administrators’ plans. At one school, a former official collected retiree health benefits after she served time for ripping off taxpayers.

• Twenty-two cars — including two BMWs, a Land Rover, three Lexus and two Mercedes — were charged in part to taxpayers despite being used for personal transportation by officials. School disclosure reports show many cars were kept at officials’ homes.

There's Gold in Them There Schools - And Wall Street Comin' to Stake Its Claim !

If you think all the "education reform" stuff in really about improving education, think again !
"Education Reform" is just a back door approach to privatization. The claims of inferior teachers and failing schools are used as wedges to crack the door open wide enough for Wall Street carpetbaggers and cronies of connected politicians to sneak in and grab the billions of education dollars just waiting to be scooped up. 
Tenure "reform" (elimination) is a prelude to the takeover by private interests. Teachers who have worked for years to arrive at decent pay levels will be easy to fire and replaced with low cost people thus insuring even greater profits when corporations finally gain full control of the system. 
The elimination of seniority under the guise of keeping "the best" teachers when layoffs occur really means keeping "the lowest paid" teachers, again to increase corporate profits once schools are privatized. (And it isn't that far off!)
How about bargaining rights? 
Kiss them goodbye!
After years of fighting to establish a fair and equitable system for determining teacher rights and compensation future "negotiations" will be "hat in hand". 
The only rights that will remain for teachers will be the right to be continually bullied, defamed and blamed ! 

I

Congrats Mr. Braun!

Congrats Mr. Braun!
I could never have said it as well as you have. You have covered all the based and hit a home run.Unfortunately, in a country that elected George Bush TWICE, there are few who will listen to you. 

They have proven that they appreciate sideshow antics much more than their own best interests !

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Interesting info from a reader
I am a retired hedge fund trader who worked for Dean Witter Reynolds/Morgan Stanley from 1982-2009. I am writing this in response to Mr. Tom Moran’s comment….apparently he is hard to contact during normal business hours. I take exception to his statement that David Tepper* is “trying to help” the education process. David’s main focus in professional life was to make money for his customers, and make even more for himself. He is not in it “to help”. As a portfolio manager from 1987-2009, I was responsible for the managment of emerging companies and industries. Both Kaplan and Apollo Group were companies that were part of David’s spectrum. Apollo is the owner of the University of Phoenix, the world’s largest for-profit university. Kaplan is the naiton’s largest test prep company. Both companies are extremely profitable…and David has shared in that profit. Whatever plans David has for “education” has only one goal in mind….to make David even more wealthy. You failed to mention another former hedge fund director from FL who is now the state’s Superintendent of Schools…Christopher Cerf. Mr Cerf made quite a pretty penny when he was managing the Edison Group, the owners of the Edison Schools. Because Cerf’s name and background were brought up during a criminal indictment in Central Florida, he is no longer able to hold a Securities license in either FL or NY State. I do not know if there is a reciprocity agreement in NJ…apparently so, since his name does not turn up on the SEC list.

*Tepper is a prime sponsor of Better Education for Kids - B4Kids - An education "reform" organization. 

Vouchers and Vetos

How much of the $2.1 Billion in tax breaks goes to the workers of these companies and how much goes to the executives and upper echelon ?

How many jobs are created via these tax breaks and what is the cost per job ?

Who is actually doling out the $2.1 billion? (I think I can answer this one - you and me!)

Vouchers will permit most parents to chose- okay! - from "cheap schools" if they exist and I'm not too sure they will for long.

Once the deluge of students from public schools flood the market, the "half the cost of public school" institutions will no longer exist! Has Muslhine ever heard of supply and demand?
If anyone thinks that the cost of education will remain low at these schools, all they need do is look at what has happened to college costs and especially private colleges costs !
It will soon become the parent's job to start saving for a child's elementary and high school education let alone college.
Well, of course, I'm sure that elementary loans and high school loans will spring up immediately to fill the gap and further indenture the middle and lower classes.
If these people have their way with privatizing public education, a real bright future for American education is looming large on the horizon ??

What If ??

I found this article on page 7 of last week's Ledger.
If an incident like this occurred involving public school students, I wonder if it would be on page 7 ?
I kind of think it would be page 1 or possibly even show up in an editorial !Could it be that private schools are not all the bastions of  learning and decorum as they are portrayed? Maybe the Ledger doesn't want to do anything to burst the bubble ?

Texas Testing Could Be Toast

Looks like those Texans are turning out to be a lot smarter than the Big City Folk here in Jersey !

Click Here for a better view of the article.

My Three Rs of Public Education Privatization - Ripoff , Robbery and Repugnant

"Committee for Our Children", "B4 Kids", "Students First", etc. -
How do they constantly come up with these flowery, lofty titles. 
They must lay awake all night thinking these up!
I'm sure that I can come with more apt titles for these organizations.
How about: 
"Committee for Stealing All We Can From Public Education" or
"Students Second Profits First" or
"B4 for My Kids at Home" or
"Committee to End Tenure So We Can Get Cheaper Teachers" ?

Notice the words "private schools" and "hedge funds". 
Those two phrases appearing in the same article is certainly telling!

Deep Throat & Deep Pockets Made Deeper

I discovered this article the other day and found that if it is true, it completely substantiates my suspicions. I have posted the abstract of the article here.

For the complete article go to:

 http://www.dailykos.com/story/2013/02/15/1187346/-So-why-do-hedge-funds-so-favor-charter-schools

Let's Privatize Everything and Get It Over With !

The paper is recently full of the news about the US Post Office ending Saturday delivery due to ever increasing deficits. The crux of the problem is explained as the dramatic increase in electronic communications usurping the first class letter business of the 
USPO. Much of this is, of course
true, but there is another major factor accelerating the Post Office's demise. That factor is a law passed by the Congress relating to the postal employee pension fund. It requires the prefunding of the pension seventy five years out over a ten year period. This is monumental financial challenge and most probably an unattainable and unnecessary one at that.
    Now, you might say "Why do you care. You're writing about education, not the Post Office?"
    Well, call me cynical (I don't know why you would), but I think the whole thing relates strongly to public education. I view the current bureaucratic, educational "reform" movement in this country to be a guise for the attempts at privatization. The demands placed on the Post Office are another manifestation of the same kind of mentality, that is, demean, destroy, and "reform" public agencies and services and then eventually privatize them.  
   I guess you might ask, "Why would politicians be interested in privatizing public institutions and services?" My answer would be:
   "How many lobbyists for Fedex, UPS, DHL, etc. do you think there are in Washington?"

   "How much money in campaign contributions is doled out by these people?"
"How many cushy, high paying jobs are waiting for them when they leave office?"
   "How many free, 'working' vacation trips are taken by our public officials on the corporation's dime?"
   And the same kind of questions are appropriate for those companies and public officials, both state and federal, seeking to privatize the public school system. I've included some excerpts below from an article relating to the Post Office situation and America's future if the rush to privatization continues unchecked. I also show a rate schedule for Fedex delivery. The rate is for a one pound package, the least weight they will carry.  
 It aint cheap! I wonder what the price for sending a letter via private carrier will be once the Post Office's termination is complete?
   I'm pretty sure it won't be forty six cents !
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