can be seen in the contents of an email I just received from Education Week, the single most important publication in the coverage of education in this country:
Education Week would like to extend an exclusive invitation to you for The Capital Roundtable’s conference on Private Equity Investing in For-Profit Education Companies, being held on Thursday, July 25 in New York City.
As a partner, we have the privilege of putting your name on our VIP list, allowing you to register for a special rate of $995 – a savings of $400 off the standard registration price.
This day-long conference is being chaired by Avy H. Stein, CEO, Willis Stein & Partners LLC, and features 20 expert speakers.
Click here to view the conference webpage.
This special rate is not available online. To register, please call Mara Kane at 212-xxx-xxxx ext. 0, or email her at mkane@xxxxxx.com. Be sure to mention Education Week to qualify for the discount.
This conference sold out in January – please register now to reserve your seat!
This message was intended for [xxxxx@xxx.xxx]. You are receiving this e-mail because you asked to receive special offers when you registered on edweek.org or teachermagazine.org. To change your e-newsletter subscriptions or other email preferences, please click here.
Editorial Projects in Education, Inc., 6935 Arlington Road, Suite 100, Bethesda, MD 20814. Copyright © 2013 Editorial Projects in Education.
Please keep reading.
I went to the Conference webpage where I note the list of "expert" speakers:
CHAIRED BY
Avy H. Stein, CEO
Willis Stein & Partners LLC
Featuring 20 Expert Speakers, including --
Jay N. Bartlett, The Parthenon Group
Craig F. Cassell, Cushman & Wakefield Inc.
Judith S. Eaton, Council for Higher Education Accreditation
Gregory Ferenbach, Dow Lohnes PLLC
Lincoln E. Frank, Quad Partners LLC
Anthony J. Guida, Education Management Corp.
Michael B. Goldstein, Dow Lohnes PLLC
Tim Hannegan, Hannegan Landau Poersch Advocacy
David A. Hoverman, The Parthenon Group
J. Michael Locke, Rasmussen College Inc.
Barry F. Malkin, Apollo Global Inc.
Chip Paucek, 2U Inc.
Ralph Protsik, BSG Team Ventures
Andrew S. Rosen, Kaplan Inc.
Joshua N. Schwartz, East Wind Advisors LLC
Matthew J. Shafer, Vision Capital Americas LLC
Sally Stroup, Association of Private Sector Colleges & Universities
Trace Urdan, Wells Fargo Securities LLC
Kimberly Vender Moffat, Sterling Partners
Susan H. Wolford, BMO Capital Markets Corp.
I am somehow reminded of a scene from Farenheit 911 where there is a conference for investors in Iraq - remember it?
I am not going to quote more, but trust me - follow the link to the webpage and you will realize what is happening.
Remember this - education "reform" has little to do with improving learning for students. It is being driven as an opportunity to make money for for-profit entities. The backers of this conference understand and seek to profit from that.
And understand - this is not just about K-12 schooling, it is also about higher education.