Sunday, June 12, 2011

Jersey Jazzman: Why Oh Why Can't We Have A Better Press Corps?

Why Oh Why Can't We Have A Better Press Corps?

by Duke

Apologies to Brad DeLong, but I just couldn't think of a better headline after reading this from the Record:

New Jersey is spending roughly the same amount of every dollar it collects from taxpayers on direct school aid under Governor Christie as it did under prior Democratic governors.

The New Jersey Education Association - which disagrees with Christie on a number of issues, including tenure reform, merit pay and vouchers - is running a multimillion-dollar ad campaign against the governor that calls attention to education spending cuts.

"Tax cuts for millionaires, but education cuts that hurt middle class families, Chris Christie is making the wrong choices for New Jersey," says the narrator in an NJEA ad running on television.

Yet Christie, according to an analysis of recent state budgets by The Record, is allocating

Astroturf and Education « Education Is…

Astroturf and Education

JUNE 12, 2011 BY EDUCATION IS LEAVE A COMMENT

Poison

A threat to democracy

In the past, conservative groups like FreedomWorks have been pilloried for organizing and advocacy tactics calledastroturf. These organizations imitate grassroots citizens’ organizing campaigns, creating a false, misleading impression that citizens are independently rising up to support a cause, when instead, money is being spent to create just such an illusion.

It isn’t tough to see why tactics like paying staffers to post comments or posing as a supporter to catch an NPR executive saying something stupid on camera ought to be seen as a threat to open and honest political dialog. Just as importantly, this type of fake activism creates an atmosphere that allows politicians and public policy makers to remain uninformed about the public’s true perspective on an issue. It’s manipulation of public information at it’s devious best, mixing up even honest politicians with confusion over where the public stands.

In the worst cases, astroturf organizing pollutes the debate on an issue to such a severe extent that it’s impossible to discern where public opinion falls. A vicious cycle ensues where leaders respond to their mistaken perception of public opinion, rallying more support for policies and causes that are favored only by the monied few. This is

Commentary: $8 million District slush fund is why we need more than political theater | Philadelphia Public School Notebook

Commentary: $8 million District slush fund is why we need more than political theater

by Helen Gym

It’s business as usual at the School Reform Commission. $629 million budget gap? Pshaw. Public officials demanding oversight? Meh.

All you have to do is look at the resolutions on the docket for the Monday, June 13 voting meeting. Let’s start with SRC-16, a resolution that sets aside a whopping $8 million for the coming year for what the administration calls “limited contracting authority” (LCA). District officials define it as contracts under $15,000 that would not require SRC review but would go through a staff committee instead. One argument presented was that the SRC had so many resolutions to look at already, it shouldn’t be bothered with contracts of such a low amount.

Hold on a second right there.

This Week In Education: Weekend: Duncan Threatens "Recess Reauthorization"

Weekend: Duncan Threatens "Recess Reauthorization"

by Alexander Russo

Education Secretary May Agree to Waivers on NCLB NYT: Unless Congress acts by this fall to overhaul NCLB Secretary of Education Arne Duncan signaled that he would use his executive authority to free states from the law’s centerpiece requirement that all students be proficient in reading and math by 2014... Duncan Threatens to Alter No Child Left Behind WSJ: Mr. Duncan is promising to waive specific requirements of the law in exchange for states agreeing to adopt other efforts he has championed, such as linking teacher evaluations to student achievement, expanding charter schools and overhauling the lowest-performing schools... NCLB works but needs updates Margaret Spellings: These are the same voices that once complained to me that No Child Left Behind was too draconian — then asked Congress to fully fund it... 5,200 New Teach For America Teachers TFA: In the upcoming school year, 9,300 first- and second-year corps members will reach 600,000 students in 43 regions including new sites in

Seven Other Acronyms For the SS: LAUSD, UTLA, PAC, PEAC, HOR, LASUBS and STC by Mark Hemphill - Perdaily.com

Seven Other Acronyms For the SS: LAUSD, UTLA, PAC, PEAC, HOR, LASUBS and STC by Mark Hemphill

by Leonard Isenberg

(Mensaje se repite en Español)

(For a national view of public education reform see the end of this blog post)

When we think of those who collaborated with Nationalsozialismus or Nazism and the Third Reich during World War II, we usually have quite appropriate visions of Vichy France. But early on, the Nazis had sympathizers in many other countries organizations including in America and some moved on to becoming allies and collaborators. It may be surprising to realize but some of these were even Jews themselves who went so far as to help in the selection of other Jews who would go to the camps. Most noteworthy and vile among the many features of Nazism was racism, assassination and genocide. But the Nazis also opposed liberalism, democracy, capitalism, industrialization and, of greatest interest to us, trade unionism. The most powerful unit within Nazi corps was the Schutzstaffel or the SS which faithfully enforced the policies listed above. They did the dirty work. So the issue to be addressed here is the similar nature of certain organizations and their working

Big Education Ape: 6-12-11 PM School is Out: Let Your Education Begin! Edition

Big Education Ape: Ed News Now

Published by Coopmike48 – 4 contributors today

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