The Education Wars: Students Unite!
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The Education Wars: Students Unite!
*The high school student protests aren't getting enough attention*
If you need a bit of inspiration, might I suggest t...
Why Trump Wanted Immunity from Audits
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The New York Times explained why Trump wanted immunity from audits by the
IRS. Before his first presidency, Trump appears to have had a tax liability
of ne...
Memorial Day, 2026
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I’m not much of a flag waver, really. I always thought that author James
Baldwin captured my feelings precisely in Notes of a Native Son when he
wrote: I l...
18 Rules For Life (2026 Edition)
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After first posting this list years ago, I have made it a tradition to get
it out every year and re-examine it, edit it, and remind myself why I
thought su...
18 Rules For Life (2026 Edition)
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After first posting this list years ago, I have made it a tradition to get
it out every year and re-examine it, edit it, and remind myself why I
thought...
Classroom Teachers Are Policymakers
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Note that no question mark follows the title. Teachers do, indeed, make
policy. Historically, teachers have been objects of policies that have come
from th...
Are the Falling NAEP Scores a Crisis?
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By Thomas Ultican 5/19/2026 Recently both the New York Times and the
billionaire propaganda rag ‘The 74’ ran articles about the National
Assessment of Educ...
On having nice places to walk
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Lately I really have needed to walk. A lot. Every day. And I’m fortunate
that the New York Botanical Garden is right here. And I’m fortunate that
Van Cortl...
This and That, May 18, 2026
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I am aware of Danny Westneat's column - *Seattle Has the No.1 Big City
School District *- and that will be a separate post. It was an interesting
read.
...
Are You a Threat Because You’re Good at Your Job?
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Maybe you are not crazy. Maybe you are not “difficult.” Maybe you are not
“too intense,” “too ambitious,” “too direct,” or “not a team player.” Maybe
it’s ...
Chaos, Consequences, and Classrooms
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“If someone’s ninety percent awful and ten percent great, everyone says
that deep down they’re great. Like they’re an iceberg, but all that
greatness is un...
Recess: Still Denied!
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I recently had to double-check the report’s date. American schools have
been quietly killing recess to focus on test scores—and pediatricians are
warning...
“It Was Already Dead”
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In December 2023 New York Times filed suit against Artificial Intelligence
for allegedly using its stories without attribution. Last week The Times
upped t...
Read and Learn from the Past
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I just finished reading “The Boys in the Light” by Nina Willner. This is a
wonderful World War II story of survival, faith, and brotherhood. I highly
recom...
April’s Parent Engagement Resources
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‘Easy, Positive, and Judgment Free.’ How Families Can Support Their
Children is one of my Ed Week posts. Virtual Parent-Teacher Conferences
That Build Fami...
Stop the Charter School Cash Grab
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NPE celebrates Women's History month by highlighting the accomplishments of
10 inspiring women from Jane Addams to Ida B. Wells to Christa McAuliffe.
The...
Reflections on America, the world, and life
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I acknowledge that I rarely post here anymore. Folks should remember that I
am approaching my 80th birthday in less than 9 weeks, I am still teaching
ful...
Shutting Down The Site
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Ten years ago, I ran for a seat on the LAUSD School Board of Education with
the goal to *Change the LAUSD*.
I am proud of the campaign we ran. We achieve...
A colleague looks back at 2025
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Forwarded this email? Subscribe here for more I get knocked down But I get
up again BETSY WOLF DEC 31READ IN APP I’ve been quiet for most of 2025.
Much of ...
The Company You Keep
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Even though the filing period for the 2026 elections isn't until April,
let's all pay close attention. The candidates lining up to run will tell
you more a...
This Is What Democracy Looks Like
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The polls for Prop 50, CA’s ballot initiative that counters MAGA’s illegal
gerry-mandering in Texas, opened Tuesday, November 4, 2025,…
The post This Is ...
Blogoversary #19 — Time to Move on
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Times have changed. I had a nice long run here, but let’s face it, it ended
a while ago. So I’ve moved. I’m not writing much any more, but when I do it
wil...
Il Papa è Morto
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Francis brought a distinct pastoral outlook to his papacy. A simple man, he
lived in a small apartment in the guesthouse. He sought to make the church
acce...
Mike Shulman the ARISE UFT Judenrat
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I was surprised to learn that Mike Shulman has aligned himself with ARISE.
I previously supported him, advocating that the Castle Doctrine could have
bee...
How Do We Fight Trump?
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Dear Friends, I don’t know when and why it hit me. But I suddenly realized
how serious Trump is about changing the country into something that
horrifies. I...
AIN’T IT AWFUL
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As the terrible feelings of dread and angst spread across the world the
great majority of the American people feel powerless before the onslaught
of those ...
Vote NO on the UFT Contract. Here is Why:
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The best reason to vote no on this contract is this: UFT Unity* lied* to us
in 2018. They misrepresented that contract. It was predicated on deals we
wer...
Testimony to the CPS Truancy Task Force
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I prepared testimony for one of two public hearings held by the Chicago
Public Schools Truancy Task Force, a body mandated by state legislation.
The meetin...
There Is A Teacher Shortage.Not.
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THERE IS A TEACHER SHORTAGE. And just to be sure you understand, it’s not
that teachers don’t want to teach. It’s not that there aren’t enough
teachers cer...
Book Banning Turns to Dick and Jane
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Breaking News: Dateline February 4, 2022 - Parents in Dimwitty, Alabama
have asked the Dimwitty Board of Education to ban the children's primer *Fun
with...
Have You Heard Has a New Website
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TweetHave You Heard has a new website. Visit us at
www.haveyouheardpodcast.com to find our latest episodes and our entire
archive. And be sure to check out...
Follow me at Substack
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I've moved. Follow me at Substack
I'm now posting regularly at Substack. You can subscribe for free to my new
Edu/Pol blog at michaelklonsky.substack.com
...
I’ve moved.
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I’m on Substack now. You can continue to receive periodic posts for free.
Or you can read every post and comment for $5 a month, $60 a year.
fredklonsky.su...
Aspiring Teachers Get New Help Paying For College
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[image: colorful classroom pattern]
*; Credit: shuoshu/Getty Images*
Cory Turner | NPR
New rules kick in today that will help aspiring teachers pay for c...
Tips Akses Situs Judi Qq Tanpa Perlu Takut Nawala
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Kegiatan berjudi slot melalui situs judi qq online, sekarang sudah
dilakukan oleh banyak penjudi Indonesia. Tentu, Kamu yang sedang membaca
artikel ini a...
The Threat of Integration
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I have lived in the same house in the Miracle Mile section of Los Angeles
for over 30 years, where up until now I have had little or no interaction
with th...
We fight for a democracy worthy of us all!
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The nation stands at a crossroads, said NEA President Lily Eskelsen GarcÃa
in her final keynote address to the 2020 NEA Representative Assembly and
it’s up...
The Passing Of Chaz 1951-2020 Age 69
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I am the son of Chaz and like to inform you that he passed away this
afternoon from the COVID virus. My father passed in peace beside his loved
ones. We ar...
The Fight For Our Children
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*The number of suicides among people ages 10 to 24 nationally increased by
56 percent between 2007 and 2017, according to a new federal report showing
the ...
Read to Self: Just a Kid and a Book.
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Date: Monday, January 5, 2020 Place: My classroom Student: Mrs.Mims, could
we start doing Read to Self again because I got this great book for
Christmas an...
Reminiscences
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I just finished dumping the rest of my lesson plans. I guess I held on to
the calculus ones for so long because I spent so much time working on them
an...
Just Asking for some Teachers I know.
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Recently Wisconsin Governor Tony Evers stated, We must … recognize that
part of supporting our kids in the classroom means supporting the educators
who t...
Cara Menang Bermain Judi Bola Online
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Bermain judi bola online tentu saja memiliki kesenangannya tersendiri baik
itu mendapatkan keuntungan maupun ketika menantikan hasil skor pada sebuah
perta...
A Critique of Standards-Based Grading
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It first happened to me about ten years ago. I was beginning my third year
of teaching in a new school in Washington, DC. Social studies teachers were
si...
Reduced time for testing? Not so fast.
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NYSED and Commish Elia continue to say that the NYS Assessments are of
reasonable length, I completely disagree.
Here is what NYSED states are average expe...
The World According to Michelle Rhee
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The men behind the curtain fashioning the brave new world of corporate run
education in America! Michelle Rhee is the founder of StudentsFirst, The
New T...
Whose Opinions Matter in Education World?
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It's hard to identify education heroes and sheroes. And perhaps even harder
to pinpoint just whose work is slanted, paid-for and dishonest.
New Local Businesses in Sacramento
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Starting a new local business in Sacramento is a monumental task, but can
be accomplished with footwork, perseverance and knowledge. One must learn
the loc...
Lesson Plan: Rhyme and Rhythm in Poetry
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I’ve started a recent unit on poetry with my class. I’m not a poet, and I’m
not a poetry fan (I don’t hate it, but I’m a prose gal), so this makes it
harde...
The Apotheosis of Betsy DeVos
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Betsy Devos has drawn few headlines in recent months, and that is a good
thing for the Secretary of Education. Her tenure began with Vice President
Mike P...
Education Is a Civic Question
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In their final post to end Bridging Differences' decade-long run, Deborah
Meier and Harry Boyte urge readers to put the energy, talents, wisdom, and
hard w...
Site News: New Home for Education News & Commentary
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Quick! Get over there! The daily education news roundup and education
commentaries that you're probably looking for are now being published over
at The Gra...
Should We Be Grateful?
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In an odd turn of events, and with little explanation, Michigan Governor
Rick Snyder has decided to return the state’s School Reform Office back to
the Dep...
An Open Letter to NC Lawmakers
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An Open Letter to NC State Lawmakers and NC State Superintendent Mark
Johnson: I am a NC native, voter, and public school teacher. I am
addressing you all ...
The Secret to Fixing Schools (My Next Bestseller)
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The Secret to Fixing Schools (My next bestseller) Prologue I just finished
watching a fascinating documentary on Netflix entitled, “The Secret”. The
film p...
Farewell, Sleep
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Today is the official last day of my spring break. I've done a scientific
survey: My natural bedtime is 2 AM, and my natural wake up time is 9:41
AM. Tom...
REPORT: States With the Best and Worst Schools
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States With the Best (and Worst)Schools
By *Evan Comen, Michael B. Sauter, Samuel Stebbins and Thomas C. Frohlich*
January 20, 2017- http://247wallst.com
...
Test Refusal = People Power
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In recent months, social media has been ablaze with talk of regular folk
taking action to resist the Trump agenda. Protests are a daily occurrence,
and ev...
Random Musings and Observations. . . .
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I’ve been gone a while from the blogging scene. Some of my more regular
readers no doubt noticed but did not hassle me about it. Thank you for
that. Sinc...
AB 934: A LEGISLATIVE FIX FOR VERGARA?
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By Michael Stratford | in the Politco Morning Education Report | via email
05/24/2016 10:00 AM EDT :: Two national education groups are backing a
Califor...
MY NEW BLOG
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My new blog will consist of fictitious headlines, meant to be a blend of
humor and satire. I apologize ahead of time if any other satirical site has
simila...
Thank you
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Dear Readers,
Thank you for visiting *The Perimeter Primate*. This blog is being retired
for the time being. Although I no longer post here, I do still s...
I am Retiring
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I have some news: I am retiring from the PBS NewsHour and Learning Matters.
[[ This is a content summary only. Visit my website for full links, other
conte...
New Beginnings: Kickstarter and EdWeek Teacher
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Greetings to InterACT readers one and all! If you’ve been following posts
here recently you might recall that I’m moving my blogging activity to
other loca...
Adelaide L. Sanford Charter School
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*“With Adelaide L. Sanford Charter School closing, Newark families must
move on.”* The Star-Ledger (NJ), 6/25/2013
NEWARK — Bobby and Troy Shanks saw the...
Written by Candi Peterson, WTU General Vice President
DC Public Schools Chancellor Kaya Henderson issued “You’re fired letters" this past week to 206 DC teachers. Before DC teachers knew of their own fate, the mainstream media had received a lengthy DCPS press packet on Friday, July 15 from the Office of the Chancellor (OOC) lauding teacher terminations and celebrating highly effective teachers eligible for merit pay.Bill Turque, staff writer for the Washington Post reported on the details of the DCPS firings as early as July 15. Turquewrote: “Of the 206 fired, D.C. officials said, 65 were rated ineffective this year and 141 were judged minimally effective for the second consecutive year, triggering dismissal.” An additional twenty-one teachers who were effective and/or highly effective were also terminated byDCPS because they could not find a permanent placement.
Friday's teacher firings are a continuation of Michelle Rhee's educational plan to terminate a significant share
Below is a post from a teacher, "No Confidence," from another thread but I read it and said bingo! (Emphasis mine.)
I think that the first change that could make some difference would be for teacher & administrators to understand the limits of their abilities to assess. At least the teacher could say, Sally is learning differently than many other kids I see and we don't know why. Johnny is refusing to do writing assignments and we don't know why.
Next I think that PD should include training about learning & developmental differences, with case studies, to
You’ve got to be wondering what a teacher like me is doing marching against the “reform” trends. For those of you unfamiliar with my background, I graduated with a degree in Computer Science from Syracuse University. A year later, after 6-8 months of unemployment and a stint as a data entry person at an educational database firm, I went into the NYC Teaching Fellows program, an offshoot of Michelle Rhee’s New Teacher Project. On the surface, I’m a perfect candidate to follow the corporatist thinking about education, and should be easily molded into the dominant thinking from elites who ostensibly believe they’re going into education for the common good. All it takes is the right amount of fear, the right amount of frustration, the right amount of ignorance, and the right amount of failure to tip people into the hands of those who wish to rotate our profession backwards.
Fortunately for me, I lucked out. And if you’re reading this, I’m thinking the same goes for you.
You see, I teach at a school that, somewhere along the line, decided to value veteran leadership and collaboration. They fostered a culture of discussion and unity that stems from decades of hardship from a neighborhood and administration standpoint. As leaders changed and gangs ran the block, teachers fortified the
OUR BROKEN ESCALATORBy NICHOLAS D. KRISTOF. Op-Ed Columnist in the NY Times | http://nyti.ms/nm6gio July 17 , 2011 - YAMHILL, Ore. -- THE United States supports schools in Afghanistan because we know that education is one of the cheapest and most effective ways to build a ...
FLORIDA CHARTER SCHOOLS’ MANY F’s GIVE AMMUNITION TO CRITICS: Charters were seven times more likely than regular public schools to receive F's on state's report cardBy Dave Weber, Orlando Sentinel | http://thesent.nl/qgYvwF 4:26 PM EDT, July 16, 2011 - Charter schools, which account for only a fraction of the state's public schools, received half of all the F's when the state handed out its annual letter grades two ...
bigeducationape.blogspot.com - Schools Matter: What school is all aboutWhat school is all aboutby skrashenSent to the Los Angeles Times, July 17, 2011In addition to influencing the medical literature (LA Times, July 16), J.K. Ro...
bigeducationape.blogspot.com - Yong Zhao » BlogDitch Testing: Lessons from the Cheating Scandal in Atlanta (Part 1)[14 Jul 2011 | 5 Comments | 2,146]Ditch Testing: Lessons from the Cheating Scandal in Atlanta (Part 1)Last week a...
huffingtonpost.com - Carlsbad, CA -- Tonight at the "All Things Digital" conference sponsored by the Wall Street Journal, Rupert Murdoch -- Chairman of News Corp, new WSJ owner, and longtime torchbearer for conservativ...
lacrossetribune.com - There has been much chatter — on both the local and national level — about charter schools. There is also a lot of misinformation out there, too. Unlike their public counterparts, privately run cha...
michaelklonsky.blogspot.com - This NYT editorial "Hold the line on school reform," harks back to the days when they were calling for the invasion of Iraq to get rid of those "weapons of mass destruction." In other words, the T...
nytimes.com - A cheating scandal in which scores of teachers and principals in Atlanta’s public schools falsified student test results has thrown the system into chaos and made its name synonymous with fraud. Th...
nytimes.com - MILLBURN, N.J. — Matthew Stewart believes there is a place for charter schools. Just not in his schoolyard. Mr. Stewart, a stay-at-home father of three boys, moved to this wealthy towns...
bigeducationape.blogspot.com - Is thinking differently the new “wrong”? - Arlington, VA, United States, ASCD EDge Blog postIs thinking differently the new “wrong”?Walter’s blog archive: http://surfaquarium.com/blog.htmMi...
blogtalkradio.com - History will be made this Tuesday night, July 19, at 9 PM EDT. Join us as we welcome Matthew's mom, Karen Sprowal as she takes us through the Kafkaesque hell she went through as she took on Harlem ...
washingtonpost.com - What, after all these years, did we learn from “Harry Potter”? That miracles can happen, at least to: *A single mother named J.K. Rowling who was living on public assistance and didn’t give up on h...
businessinsider.com - Rupert and James Murdoch will not be appearing before British Parliament to face questioning over the phone-hacking allegations rocking News Corps empire. Rebekah Brooks will. Earlier this week it ...
reuters.com - By Joseph Ax and Noeleen Walder NEW YORK | Fri Jul 15, 2011 6:12pm EDT NEW YORK (Reuters) - When Joel Klein stepped down from running New York City's schools last year to head the education divisio...
nypost.com - The government gravy train just keeps rolling for the contractor at the center of the massive CityTime payroll scandal. Virginia-based Science Applications International Corp. won two more federal ...
nytimes.com - LONDON — As a textbook example of how not to manage the relationship between private industry and the academy, Deutsche Bank’s agreement with two leading German universities to sponsor their joint ...
bigeducationape.blogspot.com - CHARTER SCHOOL SCANDALSAbramson Science and Technology Charter School *"Records show glaring faults at school with ties to Turkish charter network.”* Times-Picayune (LA) 7/15/2011 Inci Akpinar, the...
zhaolearning.com - A Bold Education Experiment: What We Should Learn From China World’s longest high-speed rail networks, fastest trains, fastest computer, second largest economy, and #1 standing in international tes...
blog.oregonlive.com - When Bill Travis called friend Cornelia Welch one evening in 1978, her slurred speech was a clear sign something was wrong. She never drank alcohol, Travis knew. So he called her only son, Claxton ...
womensenews.org - As Nina transitions into Nick, he discovers the space between being a man and a woman. In this excerpt from his book, "Nina Here Nor There," he describes a similar journey undertaken by his friend ...
bigeducationape.blogspot.com - SACRAMENTO PROGRESSIVE ALLIANCE: Van Jones on What We Can Learn From the Tea PartyVan Jones on What We Can Learn From the Tea Partyby Paul BFriday 8 July 2011by: Amy Dean, Truthout | InterviewVan J...
bigeducationape.blogspot.com - 4LAKids - some of the news that doesn't fit: CONSERVATIVES BEGIN EFFORT TO REPEAL CALIFORNIA’S GAY HISTORY LAWCONSERVATIVES BEGIN EFFORT TO REPEAL CALIFORNIA’S GAY HISTORY LAW BY ON TOP MAGAZINE ST...
dissenter.firedoglake.com - There will be much more to report on this on Monday, but here is some news on the prisoner hunger strike at Pelican Bay. The Prisoner Hunger Strike Solidarity (PHSS) coalition reports:This afternoo...
bigeducationape.blogspot.com - SACRAMENTO PROGRESSIVE ALLIANCE: Van Jones on What We Can Learn From the Tea PartyVan Jones on What We Can Learn From the Tea Partyby Paul BFriday 8 July 2011by: Amy Dean, Truthout | InterviewVan J...
bigeducationape.blogspot.com - Do Americans understand the debt crisis? - The Answer Sheet - The Washington PostDo Americans understand the debt crisis?By Valerie StraussHow well do Americans understand the complexities of the n...
schooltechconnect.com - Whether you're going to the SOS March or not, there's something very smart and productive you can do this week to help save our schools, and that is to contact your member of congress with a specif...
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