THE NETWORK FOR PUBLIC EDUCATION (CLICK PICTURE)
WE ARE MANY. THERE IS POWER IN OUR NUMBERS. TOGETHER, WE WILL SAVE OUR SCHOOLS. THE NETWORK FOR PUBLIC EDUCATION
Randi Weingarten Arrested in Philadelphia Protest
Randi Weingarten and other protestors were arrested and hauled off in handcuffs while demonstrating against school closings in Philadelphia. Neither the Mayor nor the School Reform Commission was willing to meet with Weingarten.
After her release from custody, said the article in the Huffington Post,
“Weingarten said she sees the school closure plan as siphoning money away from public schools, since the plan doesn’t touch charter schools. “This was really a plan to eliminate public education,” Weingarten said. “This
After her release from custody, said the article in the Huffington Post,
“Weingarten said she sees the school closure plan as siphoning money away from public schools, since the plan doesn’t touch charter schools. “This was really a plan to eliminate public education,” Weingarten said. “This
CPS Plans to Close Schools, Increase Class Sizes
I just received a press release from the Chicago Teachers Union, alerting the public that CPS plans to close schools and to increase class sizes. To call this “reform” is outrageous. The children in Chicago needs smaller classes, not classes of 35-40. A teacher who is a “high-quality” teacher in a class with 24 students will not be a “high-quality” teacher if placed in a class of 35-40 students. Many of the students will have disabilities, or language learning issues, or behavioral problems. Instead of instruction, the teacher will spend most of his or her time on classroom management. This is just more of the corporate reform babble; neither Bill Gates nor Michael Bloomberg ever put their own children in classrooms with 35-40 students. Why do they want to do that to other people’s children?
Below is the CTU press release:
Below is the CTU press release:
Big Money Didn’t Buy Much in L.A.
Great reporting by Howard Blume in the Los Angeles Times about the school board race.
DFER–the hedge fund managers who call themselves Democrats for Education Reform–put out a hilarious press release boasting of the victory of Monica Garcia over a field of four candidates with no funding. She outspent her closest competitor by 50-1, more or less.
But the nearly $4 million raised by the billionaire boys wasn’t enough to beat Steve Zimmer.
True, the teachers’ union spent $1 million. But why shouldn’t they? They are directly affected by the decisions of
DFER–the hedge fund managers who call themselves Democrats for Education Reform–put out a hilarious press release boasting of the victory of Monica Garcia over a field of four candidates with no funding. She outspent her closest competitor by 50-1, more or less.
But the nearly $4 million raised by the billionaire boys wasn’t enough to beat Steve Zimmer.
True, the teachers’ union spent $1 million. But why shouldn’t they? They are directly affected by the decisions of
Will Public Education in Philadelphia Die Today?
Helen Gym of Parents United for Public Education in Philadelphia writes here:
Dear Friends:
On the day of the SRC vote to close down a historic and unprecedented number of schools, I’m hoping you’ll join (or send your support for) PCAPs, Parents United, the PFT and others in a large rally at 440 at 4 p.m. today. The school closings are just the tip of the iceberg in what we expect will be both a rapid and massive spiral of disinvestment (even more so than before) in our public schools and in our neighborhoods and communities. If you read the teachers contract proposal,you know that this will impact every single classroom, teacher and student, whether you’re in the poorest of schools, the most overcrowded, magnet schools or struggling neighborhood high school.
I wrote in the Notebook today, that the problems facing Philadelphia public schools have as much to do with a lack of vision for public schools today as it does with resources. What do we do with not only dramatically smaller populations, but also dramatically altered populations? Parents United and others have long touted alternative visions that engage communities and re-invest around schools as community anchors. No matter the results of today’s vote, we want history to remember that there were people standing up for a different vision of public education that has yet to be realized.
Read more here:
- On Facebook? Read beautiful testimonies by students, former students, advocates on what public education means: http://www.facebook.com/groups/phillyunderattack/193828627408074/?notif_t=group_activityIf you can’t access facebook, Media Mobilizing Project did work here: http://www.mediamobilizingproject.org/updates/underattack-when-there-enough
- Read Helen’s piece “Where’s the vision for public education?” at the Notebook: http://thenotebook.org/blog/135725/wheres-vision-public-education
- Read Rebecca Poyourow on why we sat in at the Mayor’s Office: “Mayor Nutter’s door”:http://parentsunitedphila.com/2013/03/06/mayor-nutters-door/
As always, I appreciate any thoughts, opinions, feedback and shares. Thanks!
Helen
Helen Gym
Parents United for Public Education
Parents United for Public Education
Breaking News: New Group to Oppose Corporate Reforms LISTEN TO DIANE RAVITCH 3-7-13 Diane Ravitch's blog
coopmike48 at Big Education Ape - 2 hours ago
Diane Ravitch's blog | A site to discuss better education for all: [image: Click on picture to Listen to Diane Ravitch] Breaking News: New Group to Oppose Corporate Reforms by dianerav Dear Friends, It is time to organize to support our children, our schools, and our educators against the well-funded attacks on them. Please join me and a group of education leaders from across the country in building a movement for improving and strengthening our schools with research-based reforms, not fads and sanctions. Today we announce the creation of the Network for Public Education. We invi... more »