--- [ ARCHIVE ](https://mail.citywatchla.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=category&id=16) # My Own Corporate Plan to Re-purpose Charter Schools ![](https://mail.citywatchla.com/images/stories/Oct-2015/083d.png)SAVING PUBLIC EDUCATION-Let me attempt to educate both liberals and conservatives about the reality of the American political system of government as well as the economics. But I may have to destroy their respective delusions as to what this country is really about. The liberal believes that government and the economic system should reflect the needs and will of the majority of people, something it has never done. Conservatives generally share this view, but take exception when it comes to the role of government in accomplishing this goal. They believe that less government and more free enterprise will do the trick. What neither liberals nor conservatives understand is that government has *never* reflected the will of the people, but rather the will of a small, corporate, organized segment of our society that really calls the shots…using the media that it owns lock, stock, and barrel to delude the people -- left, right, and center -- into believing they have a say in how things are run. Clearly they don't. While I don't like this reality, I have no desire to waste the waning years of my life expending my rapidly diminishing energy to fight a monster that can only be beaten in fairy tales. Somehow, I need to make peace with a well-organized corporate Big Brother that must get its pound of flesh from every commercial transaction that takes place in this country and abroad. What I still have difficulty with is when this incredibly fallible monolithic corporate owner of our society makes bad decisions, then continues to double down on these decisions when it is clear that they don't work. Since “corporate think” only rewards conformity, it seems unable to pragmatically examine a policy or decision it has made and choose an alternate course. It gets away with this because we live in a world where the Citizens United decision is the law of the land, giving unlimited "free speech" to the uber rich. There is no effective way to make corporations change course in Iraq or Afghanistan or to change their decision to privatize public education. Once they have decided to get their hands on 40 percent of the nearly $2 trillion we spend every year on public education, there’s no going back from that direction. The objective efficacy of any program is never at issue. What exclusively drives corporate policy is not the efficacy of that policy, but how much money corporate interests can make in the short run fiscal year, even if they have to continue rigging the game. So a Halliburton can continue to charge $40 for every meal it serves to American troops around the world, when such a function could and has been performed for far less money in the past. Likewise, corporations can continue building charter schools, when there is not one iota of evidence showing that charters are more effective than the public schools they are bleeding into bankruptcy, all while ignoring their needs. A leading [Stanford University study](https://sp.yimg.com/xj/th?id=OIP.M6f962d5db1a1d62c225bb534f0181943o0&pid=15.1&P=0&w=259&h=174), ignored by the corporate-dominated media, says charters do worse than public schools. To bring home this point, just drive around Los Angeles and look at the brand new charter schools built at a cost of millions -- usually a cost several times the fair market value. The first thought that comes to mind is that there is no way the for-profit corporations behind these nominally non-profit charter cash cows are ever going to allow them to be closed, no matter how objectively inefficient they are or how destructive they are to real public school reform. {module \[1177\]} So let me make a peace offering to the corporate interests behind charters: Why don’t you convert all existing charter schools with API scores of less than 800 -- which is the majority -- into homeless housing with job training and drug abuse programs to get people off the street? Whether it’s for charter schools or homeless housing and job training, corporations can continue gouging huge sums of money from the state and federal governments to address these critical social needs. The only possible flaw with my proposal is that it might succeed in overturning the purposefully maintained instability of the minority poor – something that is necessary to perpetuate the racism that exists in our society. Unlike Sweden, America is not about being as good as your fellow citizens, it's about being *better,* even if it means sending America down the same path of other failed empires -- whose downfall began when they openly contradicted their core values. As Jimmy Carter recently said – something ignored by the corporate media -- "America is no longer a democracy, but rather an oligarchy." Sadly, most public school educated Americans no longer even understand what an oligarchy is. *(Leonard Isenberg is a Los Angeles observer and a contributor to* CityWatch*. He’s a second generation teacher at LAUSD and blogs at* [***perdaily.com***](http://perdaily.com)*. Leonard can be reached at* [***Lenny@perdaily.com***](mailto:Lenny@perdaily.com)*) Edited for* CityWatch *by Linda Abrams.* *-cw* CityWatch Vol 13 Issue 83 Pub: Oct 13, 2015 Written by Leonard Isenberg on December 31 2015. [](https://www.addtoany.com/share) ![](https://mail.citywatchla.com/images/stories/Oct-2015/083d.png)SAVING PUBLIC EDUCATION-Let me attempt to educate both liberals and conservatives about the reality of the American political system of government as well as the economics. But I may have to destroy their respective delusions as to what this country is really about. The liberal believes that government and the economic system should reflect the needs and will of the majority of people, something it has never done. Conservatives generally share this view, but take exception when it comes to the role of government in accomplishing this goal. They believe that less government and more free enterprise will do the trick. What neither liberals nor conservatives understand is that government has *never* reflected the will of the people, but rather the will of a small, corporate, organized segment of our society that really calls the shots…using the media that it owns lock, stock, and barrel to delude the people -- left, right, and center -- into believing they have a say in how things are run. Clearly they don't. While I don't like this reality, I have no desire to waste the waning years of my life expending my rapidly diminishing energy to fight a monster that can only be beaten in fairy tales. Somehow, I need to make peace with a well-organized corporate Big Brother that must get its pound of flesh from every commercial transaction that takes place in this country and abroad. What I still have difficulty with is when this incredibly fallible monolithic corporate owner of our society makes bad decisions, then continues to double down on these decisions when it is clear that they don't work. Since “corporate think” only rewards conformity, it seems unable to pragmatically examine a policy or decision it has made and choose an alternate course. It gets away with this because we live in a world where the Citizens United decision is the law of the land, giving unlimited "free speech" to the uber rich. There is no effective way to make corporations change course in Iraq or Afghanistan or to change their decision to privatize public education. Once they have decided to get their hands on 40 percent of the nearly $2 trillion we spend every year on public education, there’s no going back from that direction. The objective efficacy of any program is never at issue. What exclusively drives corporate policy is not the efficacy of that policy, but how much money corporate interests can make in the short run fiscal year, even if they have to continue rigging the game. So a Halliburton can continue to charge $40 for every meal it serves to American troops around the world, when such a function could and has been performed for far less money in the past. Likewise, corporations can continue building charter schools, when there is not one iota of evidence showing that charters are more effective than the public schools they are bleeding into bankruptcy, all while ignoring their needs. A leading [Stanford University study](https://sp.yimg.com/xj/th?id=OIP.M6f962d5db1a1d62c225bb534f0181943o0&pid=15.1&P=0&w=259&h=174), ignored by the corporate-dominated media, says charters do worse than public schools. To bring home this point, just drive around Los Angeles and look at the brand new charter schools built at a cost of millions -- usually a cost several times the fair market value. The first thought that comes to mind is that there is no way the for-profit corporations behind these nominally non-profit charter cash cows are ever going to allow them to be closed, no matter how objectively inefficient they are or how destructive they are to real public school reform. {module \[1177\]} So let me make a peace offering to the corporate interests behind charters: Why don’t you convert all existing charter schools with API scores of less than 800 -- which is the majority -- into homeless housing with job training and drug abuse programs to get people off the street? Whether it’s for charter schools or homeless housing and job training, corporations can continue gouging huge sums of money from the state and federal governments to address these critical social needs. The only possible flaw with my proposal is that it might succeed in overturning the purposefully maintained instability of the minority poor – something that is necessary to perpetuate the racism that exists in our society. Unlike Sweden, America is not about being as good as your fellow citizens, it's about being *better,* even if it means sending America down the same path of other failed empires -- whose downfall began when they openly contradicted their core values. As Jimmy Carter recently said – something ignored by the corporate media -- "America is no longer a democracy, but rather an oligarchy." Sadly, most public school educated Americans no longer even understand what an oligarchy is. *(Leonard Isenberg is a Los Angeles observer and a contributor to* CityWatch*. He’s a second generation teacher at LAUSD and blogs at* [***perdaily.com***](http://perdaily.com)*. Leonard can be reached at* [***Lenny@perdaily.com***](mailto:Lenny@perdaily.com)*) Edited for* CityWatch *by Linda Abrams.* *-cw* CityWatch Vol 13 Issue 83 Pub: Oct 13, 2015 [![](https://mail.citywatchla.com/images/ME%20DENTAL%20SPA/me%20dental%202026%20final.jpg)](http://medentalspa.com/) ![](https://mail.citywatchla.com/images/banners/signup-for-cw.png) ## Get The News In Your Email Inbox Mondays & Thursdays Name [ ![LA DWP #2 (Pay Your Bill Help)](https://mail.citywatchla.com/images/LADWP/dwp%20level%20pay%205-7-25.jpg) ](https://mail.citywatchla.com/component/banners/click/82 "LA DWP #2 (Pay Your Bill Help)") [ ![Home - HHR Rent is too High - SB-2](https://mail.citywatchla.com/images/HHR/AHF-rent-too-high.jpg) ](https://mail.citywatchla.com/component/banners/click/104 "Home - HHR Rent is too High - SB-2") --- ## Featured CityWatch Stories [ ![](https://mail.citywatchla.com/media/yootheme/cache/bb/062a-bb8ffb47.jpg) ](https://mail.citywatchla.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=33163:4-4-billion-later-inside-the-broken-machinery-of-los-angeles-homelessness-system&catid=312) ### [ $4.4 Billion Later: Inside the Broken Machinery of Los Angeles’ Homelessness System](https://mail.citywatchla.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=33163:4-4-billion-later-inside-the-broken-machinery-of-los-angeles-homelessness-system&catid=312) THE BOTTOM LINE - When Karen Bass became mayor of Los Angeles in December 2022, she declared a state of emergency on ho… [ ![](https://mail.citywatchla.com/media/yootheme/cache/fd/064h-fdb0b507.jpg) ](https://mail.citywatchla.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=29355:remembering-ken-draper-citywatch-and-transparency-are-his-legacy&catid=12) ### [Remembering Ken Draper: CityWatch and Transparency Are his Legacy](https://mail.citywatchla.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=29355:remembering-ken-draper-citywatch-and-transparency-are-his-legacy&catid=12) LA WATCHDOG - Ken Draper, the editor and publisher of CityWatch for more than 20 years, passed away on August 8, 2022… [ ![](https://mail.citywatchla.com/media/yootheme/cache/0f/061a-0f1ada2f.jpg) ](https://mail.citywatchla.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=33148:brace-yourself-for-a-worse-housing-crisis&catid=398) ### [Brace Yourself For A Worse Housing Crisis](https://mail.citywatchla.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=33148:brace-yourself-for-a-worse-housing-crisis&catid=398) PLANNING WATCH - The California State Legislature will soon vote on the following draft legislation. Please carefully… [ ![](https://mail.citywatchla.com/media/yootheme/cache/04/063g-04ad33d5.jpg) ](https://mail.citywatchla.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=33173:netanyahus-challengers-are-selling-the-same-poison&catid=332) ### [Netanyahu’s Challengers Are Selling The Same Poison](https://mail.citywatchla.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=33173:netanyahus-challengers-are-selling-the-same-poison&catid=332) SPEAKING OUT - One would think that after October 7 and the Gaza war that followed, the leaders from the main oppositio… [ ![](https://mail.citywatchla.com/media/yootheme/cache/19/062f-19a66144.jpg) ](https://mail.citywatchla.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=33162:prolonged-ignorance-of-a-ticking-bomb-does-not-neutralize-it&catid=9) ### [Prolonged Ignorance Of A Ticking Bomb Does Not Neutralize It](https://mail.citywatchla.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=33162:prolonged-ignorance-of-a-ticking-bomb-does-not-neutralize-it&catid=9) OP/ED - The recent landslide of chemical leaks, fires and extremely dangerous events have proven, without any doubt, th… --- ## [ ARCHIVE ](https://mail.citywatchla.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=category&id=16) [ ![](https://mail.citywatchla.com/images/stories/Apr-2018/034e.png) ](https://mail.citywatchla.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=15339:early-intervention-and-jobs-are-key-to-stemming-chronic-homelessness-in-los-angeles&catid=16)### [Early Intervention and Jobs are Key to Stemming Chronic Homelessness in Los Angeles](https://mail.citywatchla.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=15339:early-intervention-and-jobs-are-key-to-stemming-chronic-homelessness-in-los-angeles&catid=16) ### [Tucker Carlson and Gay Rightwinger Blame California Wildfires On Hiring LGBTQ People](https://mail.citywatchla.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=18755:tucker-carlson-and-gay-rightwinger-blame-california-wildfires-on-hiring-lgbtq-people&catid=16) ### [Anti-LGBTQ Veep Just Can’t Stop Talking about Mayor Pete](https://mail.citywatchla.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=17690:anti-lgbtq-veep-just-can-t-stop-talking-about-mayor-pete&catid=16) [ ![](https://mail.citywatchla.com/images/stories/Apr-2018/033j.png) ](https://mail.citywatchla.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=15316:news-pulse-corrupt-system-reason-for-not-voting-in-2018-majority-wants-more-than-two-parties&catid=16)### [NEWS PULSE: ‘Corrupt System’ Reason for Not Voting in 2018 … Majority Wants More Than Two Parties](https://mail.citywatchla.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=15316:news-pulse-corrupt-system-reason-for-not-voting-in-2018-majority-wants-more-than-two-parties&catid=16) [ ![](https://mail.citywatchla.com/images/stories/Jan-2016/1404d.png) ](https://mail.citywatchla.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=10245:dead-dog-set-on-fire-sparks-fears-for-strays-in-los-angeles&catid=16)### [Dead Dog Set on Fire … Sparks Fears for Strays in Los Angeles](https://mail.citywatchla.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=10245:dead-dog-set-on-fire-sparks-fears-for-strays-in-los-angeles&catid=16)