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Tuesday, September 17, 2013

Schooling in the Ownership Society: Milwaukee targeted as next New Orleans-style "recovery zone"

Schooling in the Ownership Society: Milwaukee targeted as next New Orleans-style "recovery zone":

Milwaukee targeted as next New Orleans-style "recovery zone"

Milwaukee's public school system, already hit hard by devastating budget cuts and teacher firings, has become the next big urban school system to be targeted for privatization. MPS, the home of the nation's first crippling school voucher system, is now threatened with a New Orleans-style "recovery zone" where dozens of public schools would be handed over to private companies to operate with poorly trained, non-union teachers.

Right-wing privatization groups, like WILL, are also trying to force MPS to sell off school buildings or hand them over directly to private charter school operators in what would be one of the largest real estate swindles in city history.

Among the groups vying for a piece of the action is Rocketship Charter Schools,owned by tennis player turned ed entrepreneur, Andre Agassi. Eight Rocketship