School Privatization hurts Poor Students - New Report

http://www.alternet.org/education/scathing-report-finds-rocketship-school-privatization-hurt-poor-kids?akid=11754.294211.FdHrI0&rd=1&src=newsletter986356&t=21

The results are not pretty.
A popular chain of charter schools called Rocketship, which originated in California and has spread to Wisconsin, with the enthusiastic support of state legislators and the local chamber of commerce in Milwaukee, is "a low-budget operation that relies on young and inexperienced teachers rather than more veteran and expensive faculty, that reduces curriculum to a near-exclusive focus on reading and math, and that replaces teachers with online learning and digital applications for a significant portion of the day," Lafer writes.
Rocketship is a pioneer of the "blended learning"

Because of its extraordinarily high teacher turnover (the chain relies heavily on Teach for America volunteers), its large classes and reductive curriculum, Rocketship subjects kids most in need of consistent, nurturing, adult attention to low-quality instruction and neglect.
That model, which is also on display in Milwaukee's low-performing voucher schools, is demonstrably harmful to kids. But it has generated big profits for wealthy investors.

Lafer takes it a step further, pointing out in his report that the same chamber of commerce officials who promote Rocketship in Milwaukee send their own kids to enriching, well-funded schools with art, music and small classes.