The Sky is Falling: LAUSD Has Only $700 Million in Surplus
Last week, LAUSD presented an Interim Financial Report stating that it will end the 2011-2012 school year with reserves of over $700 Million, roughly 12% of its $6 Billion budget.
Despite this sizeable nest egg, the district still voted 6-1 to approve a worst-case scenario budget closing all the adult schools and it issued pink slips to all teachers, administrators and staff in Adult Education. This is after laying off thousands of regular education employees earlier in the month.
So why all the gloom and doom when the districts is sitting on so much cash?
Districts around the state have been using the financial crisis to argue that financial uncertainty
Democracy in Action: No Hoodies in Congress
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| Up Against the Wall Motherfu=*#er (Image from Flickr, by keatssycamore) |
A legislator was forcefully removed from Congress this week for wearing a hoody as he spoke out against racial profiling and the murder of Trayvon Martin in Florida by a racist vigilante. Speaker of the House, John Boehner, had Congressman Bobby Rush (D-Ill) removed by the sergeant at arms because hats and other head coverings are prohibited by the rules of decorum.
What Does Modern School Have Against Democracy?
First, Modern School reserves the right to criticize everything. Nothing is sacred. By criticizing Democracy, I am not condoning any other form of government, or lack thereof. However, I would ask people to consider what they so cherish about Democracy?
Of course the notion that Democracy is the best possible form of government has been inculcated into us from an early age, so it is no surprise that people embrace it uncritically. However, I suspect that what Americans