Open thread for night owls: Studies show charter schools threaten the existence of public education

At People’s Action, Jeff Bryant writes—Charter Schools Threaten the Existence of Public Education:

Proclaiming May 6-12 National Charter Schools Week, President Trump kicked off a huge public relations campaign by the charter industry to ballyhoo the supposed success of these schools, although that success is a matter of bitter and ongoing dispute.

But one outcome these privately-run, mostly taxpayer-funded schools certainly produce is they financially harm the public education system.

“The term ‘existential threat’ is way overused, but charters and vouchers really are a threat to the existence of public education,” Brad Miller tells me. Miller is a highly-rated practicing attorney and a former U.S. House of Representative from North Carolina. [...]

The facts back Miller up.

New studies from California and North Carolina find charter schools extract millions from the public systems.

The California study, written by political economist and University of Oregon professor Gordon Lafer, looks at three large public-school systems in the Golden State and concludes the annual costs to the three districts run upwards of $142 million. The three districts in the study – Oakland Unified, San Diego Unified and East Side Union – struggle with annual deficits that have led to layoffs, class size increases, and program cuts.

The North Carolina study, written by Duke University economics professor Helen Ladd and University of Rochester professor John Singleton, finds evidence that charter schools come with “fiscal externalities,” or additional costs to the budgets of public schools. In their examination of urban and nonurban districts in the Tar Heel State, the researchers calculate an additional financial cost of about $3,500 per charter school enrollee to the Durham school district and “comparable or larger” costs to two non-urban districts.

Both studies note that additional costs imposed by charters are most apt to result in local schools cutting funding they need to maintain reasonable class sizes, well-rounded curriculums, and support staff including nurses, counselors, librarians, and special education [...]

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BLAST FROM THE PAST

On this date at Daily Kos in 2010—Kagan Filbuster? All Part of the GOP Plan:

TWI's Mike Lillis catches Mitch McConnell mid-flip-flop. Last month, he ruled out a Republican filibuster of any Obama nominee, unless that person had "really bizarre fews."

But today he's saying that "it's way to early to be making a decision about the issue of whether there should be a 60 vote threshold on the nominee." Way too early, because it's not like they've already been through a nomination process for Kagan when she received confirmation as Solicitor General, or as Lillis put it, as if she "just arrived in a coffee can from Pluto."

On today’s Kagro in the Morning show, Greg Dworkin and Armando have lots to offer. What the media and pols should have learned from John Edwards (but didn't). The latest Cohen, Broidy and Trump-Russia fallout. And what the media and pols should have learned from Gina Haspel, but didn't.