Yeah! N.O. is rising. Charter schools and casinos blossoming everywhere.

[Billy Burnett]

Heard Anderson Cooper say this morning ... "Some people call N.O. an entrepreneur's dream."

[Nicholas D Wolfwood]

1. ...And the charter schools are doing far better than the traditional schools were.

I admit that I don't like using New Orleans as a model for how well charters can work - it's such a unique model given the circumstances post-Katrina, but they've reduced the number of kids in the city not learning at grade level from 2/3rds the population down to 1/3rd. And, mind you, poverty has risen in the city since then, so we're not exactly talking about any significant downwards fluctuation in the number of at-risk children.

[TBF]

3. Ah, the joys of slave labor ...

http://blogs.findlaw.com/law_and_life/2010/08/suit-alleges-exploitation-of-filipino-teachers.html

Suit Alleges Exploitation of Filipino Teachers
By Tanya Roth on August 6, 2010 12:06 PM | No TrackBacks

If you ask, most teachers will tell you their job is much more difficult than it looks. Most will tell you they feel underpaid and under-appreciated. However, a lawsuit filed in California on Thursday, August 5, takes those difficulties and pushes them to the level of exploitation, at least according to the claims of the plaintiffs. This class action suit filed by the Southern Poverty Law Center on behalf of plaintiffs claims that 350 Filipino teachers were lured to the U.S. and forced by debt, high fees and confiscated passports into virtual slavery.

The suit was filed against the Los Angeles-based Universal Placement International Inc., its owner Lourdes Navarro, her husband, Universal's sister operation in the Philippines, and the East Baton Rouge Parish School Board. Charges include racketeering and fraud on behalf of the plaintiff teachers working in schools in New Orleans, according to a report by the Associated Press.

The suit alleges that the teachers were recruited in the Philippines and brought to the U.S. under the H1-B visa. Before ever leaving their country, the teachers were required to pay about $16,000 in fees. Since this amount is close to five times the average income in the Philippines, the teachers often borrowed the money, sometimes from lenders recommend by the recruiting firm and charging huge interest rates, according to the suit...

(read entire article at the link above)

[maryf]

4. Thanks so much!!!

Could you cross post this here?

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=389&topic_id=9024804&mesg_id=9024804

:hi:

[mzteris]

5. That was a traditional public district that did that.

While that district did have - I think - 3 or 5 charter schools - which the district "owns" & operates, the other - 25? schools are trads.


So don't lay that at the feet of charter schools.

[TBF]

6. That district also owns charter schools -

and you missed the point (probably intentionally), that I responded to. Most companies would make more profit and thus appear more "successful" if they could take advantage of slave labor.

Why do I always feel like I'm back in the 1800's when I'm talking to conservative dems?

[Nicholas D Wolfwood]

7. You know many unhappy employees/slaves that work harder and better than paid ones?

Because I don't. Most unhappy workers only do the minimum. So I find it very hard to reconcile that with your notion that somehow having this alleged "slave labor" - which sounds fishy on its face anyway and has teacher union nonsense written all over it - actually means that they'll somehow do a better job of teaching. I would think the exact opposite would be true - that the kids would be doing much worse, with the only positive being a much slimmer budget, which is not at all what is being celebrated.

[TBF]

8. "Teacher Union Nonsense" ...

here we go again, disparaging unions on DU. Lovely what this place has become...

[Nicholas D Wolfwood]

9. Teacher unions - yes. Other unions - no.

Believe it or not, having the union tag does not automatically make someone right.

[mzteris]

10. I said they had 3 or 5

the vast majority of their schoools are not - and the fact that they are "owned and operated" BY the school district pretty much puts lie to the claim the charter is a "for-profit money scam" meme.

I am NOT a conservative DEM - in fact, I would dare say that because I support alternatives in education that makes me MORE LIBERAL!!!!!!!

[stray cat]

2. Why begrudge NO schools - maybe even better and better funded than what they had