Public Schools should be for the Public Good not for Private Profit!

Defend Public Education and Oppose SB 22!

SB 22: Creates a 9-person authorizing board for charter schools, changes current law that limits
organizations to opening only one charter school, modifies teacher licensure requirements, lifts cap
on and promotes virtual (online) charter schools, eliminates the limit on the reduction in general
school aid used to fund independent charter schools.

Talking Points
1. SB 22 would dramatically change public education. We need more time to understand this
bill and its implications.
2. Creating a nine-person appointed Charter Authorizing Board circumvents the authority of
elected school boards and undermines the democratic process. This allows those with no
specific experience in education to make influential decisions about the education of our
children. Essentially, taxation without representation.
3. There is NO EVIDENCE that charter schools do a better job at educating young people! In
fact, there is evidence that, in terms of test scores, the majority of charter schools do no
better or worse than public schools.
4. Charter school and virtual school per-pupil costs will be taken from general pool of school
aid paid to all school districts, diminishing the amount of overall funding going to public
schools.
5. SB 22 authorizes nonprofits to operate charter schools. Nonprofits, however, can receive
funding from and outsource services to corporations that serve private interests. The
Walton Family Foundation (Walmart) is among the biggest private funders of charter
schools today. This is a move to privatize public education.

Education should benefit CHILDREN not corporations!

How are public schools privatized?

 When budgets are slashed for public schools and the operating costs remain the same,
schools must look to other places for money. They often look to corporations.
 Corporations are responsible to their shareholders, not to kids and families. This is a huge
conflict of interest, challenging the goal of education, to prepare citizens for democracy.
Charter Schools:
 What are charter schools? Schools that are funded by public per-pupil money but run as
private institutions with autonomy over school finance, hiring, and curriculum.
 History: Charter schools were initially developed by progressive educators who wanted to
innovate new and alternative solutions in education. Some charter schools still stand by these
original intentions.
 Currently: Conservative groups and corporations promote charter schools. This is because
charter schools are directly in line with political agendas to destroy and capitalize on the
public sector and break apart unions.

For Additional Information Please See: Public Schools for the Public Good ps4pg.blogspot.com