Nite Cap UPDATE
UPDATE UPDATE UPDATE UPDATE
Poor Boxoffice for Anti-Union Film
The film “Won’t Back Down,” which publicizes the idea that parents should seize control of their public school and turn it over to a charter operator, has been heavily promoted. The movie was shown at both national political conventions by Michelle Rhee; it had a glamorous opening in New York City and extensive publicity as part of NBC’s Education Nation, and full-page ads in major newspapers, as well as expensive ads on network television.
But opening weekend for WBD was a disaster. According to industry sources, WBD had the worst opening weekend of any film in wide distribution (more than 2,500 screens) in 30 years. That’s quite a record.
Pundits can ponder why. Maybe in the midst of a terrible economy, the prospect of seeing a movie in whic
The Return of Michael Winerip
But opening weekend for WBD was a disaster. According to industry sources, WBD had the worst opening weekend of any film in wide distribution (more than 2,500 screens) in 30 years. That’s quite a record.
Pundits can ponder why. Maybe in the midst of a terrible economy, the prospect of seeing a movie in whic
The Return of Michael Winerip
Michael Winerip of the New York Times has long been an invaluable source of information and perspective about what is happening in education. For whatever reason, the New York Times decided to change his assignment. He no longer writes on education, but on the boomer generation. I ask you, which is more important to the health of our society?
Be that as it may, Winerip’s first boomer column is also about education. He previously wrote about Professor
Be that as it may, Winerip’s first boomer column is also about education. He previously wrote about Professor
Reformy "Choice" Isn't REAL Choice
One more clip from Education Nation, this time featuring our old friend Derrell Bradford:
Gosh, I didn't realize that the difference between rich parents and poor parents was the "sophistication of their conversation about school choice." I thought the difference was the amount of money each had...
One of the primary selling points of reformy "choice" - and this is a point Bradford pushes quite often - is that vouchers and charters are offering the same "choice" to poor parents that affluent parents now enjoy. See, if we
Wall Street Profiteering Behind Ed Reform Propaganda
Education privatization would not, per se, create a net new stimulus for the economy. But by diverting large existing flows of money from the public to the private sector it would create new profit-making ventures that could be
Catching Up With ALEC
In case you missed Bill Moyers on The United States of ALEC.
Popout
The education stuff starts at around the 14 minute mark, with the main example being the overthrow public education in Tennessee by a virtual school operator.
What I've been too lazy to determine on my own is this: is our new unelected state charter school authority
Popout
The education stuff starts at around the 14 minute mark, with the main example being the overthrow public education in Tennessee by a virtual school operator.
What I've been too lazy to determine on my own is this: is our new unelected state charter school authority
Line of the Day, Part 3
Kwheatly, In response to the aggressively delusional Wendy Kopp:
Finally, two things that are even worse for poor children today. First, we now have a lot of rich and powerful people desperately trying to prove that poverty doesn’t matter for children’s life chances. Second, an American child’s chance of rising out of poverty is worse than it has been in decades.Well put.
Line of the Day, Part 2
From one of our new overlords:
Griffin and Dias Griffin declined to comment. But in a Tribune interview this year, Griffin said the ultra-wealthy "actually have an insufficient influence," and need to be
Line Of The Day, Part 1
Awesome.
The state’s Republicans think taxing anything is a sin. They think government is a sin. They think public schools are a sin. Which is probably why they want us praying in them all the time.
Chavez Foundation, UFW, Chavez family Applaud President Obama for Chavez National Monument Designation
President Obama journeys Monday to La Paz for formal ceremony establishing a national monument at the Keene, Calif. site where Cesar Chavez lived, worked and is buried
Cesar Chavez’s widow, Helen Chavez, his middle son, Paul F. Chavez, president of the Cesar Chavez Foundation, and United Farm Workers President Arturo S. Rodriguez have responded to President Obama’s announcement today (Oct. 1) establishing the Cesar Chavez National Monument. The President travels Monday to the National Chavez Center at La Paz in the Tehachapi Mountain hamlet of Keene, Calif. for the official ceremony marking the designation.
We thank President Obama and Secretary Salazar for establishing this national monument and ensuring that La Paz, where Cesar lived and worked his last 22 years and where he asked to be buried, will always be preserved. But the President is doing more than honoring one man. Cesar knew there were many Cesar Chavezes, men and women who made genuine sacrifices and accomplished great things but whose names are largely forgotten. If Cesar were here, he would say the President isn’t acting to recognize him; he’s honoring the farm workers and all of those who sacrificed by joining the cause. It is in that spirit that we acknowledge the President’s designation and we are grateful to him.
--Helen F. Chavez, widow of Cesar Chavez
My father inspired farm workers, millions of Latinos and people from all walks of life who never worked on a farm. So we are happy that the story of La Paz, which was a spiritual harbor and a place where my dad and thousands of selfless people worked for social justice over the years, will forever be shared with the nation through the National Park Service.
--Paul F. Chavez, Cesar Chavez’s middle son and president, Cesar Chavez Foundation
Even though Cesar Chavez dedicated his life to the farm workers, his legacy, reflected at La Paz where he spent his last quarter century, transcended farm labor and even Latinos because it became a universal message of hope, empowerment and social justice.
--Arturo S. Rodriguez, president, United Farm Workers of America
Background on the National Chavez Center at La Paz in Keene, Calif.:
Many of the farm worker movement’s most significant milestones of the 1970s and beyond and were born, planned and coordinated at La Paz. Among them were major field strikes and national boycotts, landmark political campaigns in California and Arizona, and strategy sessions leading to enactment of California’s historic 1975 Agricultural Labor Relations Act, still the nation’s only law establishing the right of farm workers to organize.
In addition to where Cesar Chavez and many others in the movement engaged in their life’s work, La Paz also offered a respite from bitter struggles in agricultural valleys and big cities. It is where Chavez returned to recharge his batteries, celebrate victories, mourn losses, forge new ideas, strategize and plan the next campaign, and where he helped the union endure and modernize, and watch his children and the children of other movement volunteers grow over the 1970s, ‘80s and ‘90s. Chavez asked to be buried at La Paz, which remains an enduring testament to the strength of his association with the property.
The Cesar Chavez Foundation, a (501(c)(3) non-profit charitable organization, was founded by the Chavez family in the wake of Chavez’s passing in 1993, to maximize human potential and improve communities by preserving, promoting and applying Chavez’s legacy and universal values. Learn more about the Chavez foundation at its web site, http://www.chavezfoundation.org/
The United Farm Workers of America, the first successful farm workers union in American history, marks its 50th anniversary in 2012. It continues actively helping farm workers organize, negotiate union contracts and enact legislative reforms in Sacramento and Washington, D.C. providing them with additional protections. For more about the UFW, visit its web site, http://www.ufw.org
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Does Classroom Size Affect Learning?
AIR DATE: October 2, 2012
Audio forthcoming
It depends who you talk to about class size, but you're guaranteed a different answer. Some studies show that class size is not all that important. Others argue that it can make a difference, depending on the age of the student. Some CCSD schools are dealing with growing class sizes, but is it really hurting the kids ability to learn?
GUEST
Paul Takahashi, Las Vegas Sun
Leonie Haimson, Executive Director, Class Size Matters
Pat Skorkowsky, CCSD Deputy Superintendent
I Have the Silver Bullet!
I Have the Silver Bullet!
Listen: we're not saying this reformy stuff is a magic pill! For gosh sakes, charters aren't a silver bullet! Everyone knows that!
Ask Jonny Alter:
Or Michelle Rhee:
But we're going to push this reformy stuff anyway, even though we admit it won't do much to help...
Um, excuse me? Yeah, just a teacher here. And you know what? I do have a silver bullet. No really, I do. It's much more effective than charters or test-based teacher evaluations or de-unionization or eliminating tenure or merit pay or vouchers or all the other reformy stuff you guys keep trying to sell. Know what it is?
ELIMINATE POVERTY!
Just a thought...
Ask Jonny Alter:
Or Michelle Rhee:
But we're going to push this reformy stuff anyway, even though we admit it won't do much to help...
Um, excuse me? Yeah, just a teacher here. And you know what? I do have a silver bullet. No really, I do. It's much more effective than charters or test-based teacher evaluations or de-unionization or eliminating tenure or merit pay or vouchers or all the other reformy stuff you guys keep trying to sell. Know what it is?
ELIMINATE POVERTY!
Just a thought...
