New Michigan dictatorship privatizes entire school district

Now that Michigan's T-Party Gov. Rick Snyder has been given the power of a fascist dictator over the state's impoverished cities and towns, one of the first things he's going after is public education. First stop -- struggling Muskegon Heights, where Snyder has already replaced the elected city government with a hand picked business czar. The czar, Don Weatherspoon, has now decided to turn the entire public school system over to a for-profit company, Mosaica Education, Inc.

NPR reports:

So far, the details of the contract with Mosaica are still secret. Though the document was approved in an open meeting, it wasn't available to the public, and attorneys refused to share the information with reporters; basic information like how much money the district will pay Mosaica.

I have been following Mosaica, which operates more than 90 schools across the country and in India, since they ran into trouble for mismanaging a school near New Orleans. The Louisiana dispute led to arbitration. In the end, Mosaica was forced to pay $350,000 in damages. Then there was this cheating scandal in D.C. and that mess with the management of King High School in Philly.

The company already operates six Michigan charter schools, five of which fall below the 20th percentile on the state's ranking of schools. One school is at the 26th percentile.