Charter schools are private corporations under contract with the state. Their accountability is off limits and in many states do not have to hire certified teachers. The problem with entrepreneurs is they know nothing about education. I think what Reed Hastings doesn't understand is that the highest-performing nations in the world don't have charter schools and do not have voucher schools. The highest-performing nations in the world have a very fine, very equitable public school system.I was in Finland not long ago. They aim to have an equitable school system. And it doesn't matter where you go to school in that country, you will find a good school...

ALEC wants to eliminate public schools and promote online charter schools. ALEC wants money to flow freely throughout the economy. They do not want any restraints on how they spend and where they spend. They don't even want to be audited if they could avoid that. That's why the charter schools, for example, have fought in court to prevent public audits, because they share this philosophy that what they do is their business.

I see parents of Florida and all over this country saying, we don't want the corporations taking over our schools. So it's the grassroots that I'm counting on. It's democracy that I'm counting on. How can democracy beat big money? We have students in college organizing against this corporate takeover. So I see all these things happening. Whether it's Tennessee or Louisiana, state of Washington, Illinois, Wisconsin, Michigan, New York, and I feel very hopeful that democracy will win out over big money.

to watch the 26-minute interview of Diane Ravitch broadcast March 28, 2014, click on

http://billmoyers.com/episode/public-schools-for-sale/