Chicago principals: If you want poor performing, filthy schools, privatize

Chicago principals don't think so.

If you want schools that dominate the bottom quartile, privatize their management. And if you want dirty, filthy schools, privatize their custodial services. That seems to be what Chicago principals are saying.

Ace Catalyst reporter Sara Karp writes:

The $340 million privatization of the district’s custodial services has led to filthier buildings and fewer custodians, while forcing principals to take time away from instruction to make sure that their school is clean. That is the finding from a survey done by AAPPLE, the new activist arm of the Chicago Principals and Administrators Association.

The survey follows by a week, a report put together by AAPLE member Troy LaRaviere showing a list of the 45 lowest-performing (test-wise) schools saturated with privately-run charters while the list of top-performing schools has none.

So the question continues to be asked, what is the source of this great love of privatization among school reform leaders and system bureaucrats? I think it's something in the drinking water at Harvard.