Mike Klonsky's SmallTalk Blog:
Schooling in the Ownership Society
Schooling in the Ownership Society
Mike Klonsky's SmallTalk Schooling in the Ownership Society
Jeb Bush's "Mystery Guest"
What's Mayor 1% doing in Boston? Why he's the "mystery guest" at Jeb Bush's Education Forum of course. Throw in his support for Republican Bruce Rauner in the upcoming governor's race and it's pretty easy to see what kind of "Democrat" is running our schools and our city.BIRDS OF A FEATHERFrom left: Quinn, Rangel, Madigan, and Burke.HOW HIGH WILL IT GO?The Bond Buyer reports th
OCT 17
I found some of the disappeared school-closing kids
Whitenizing ChicagoAlmost half the youngsters most affected by Mayor Rahm Emanuel's school shutdowns did not enroll this fall in the new schools where officials planned for them to go. Hundreds of them are MIA.CPS spent $233 million preparing "welcoming schools" to receive thousands of new students who never came, and millions more on "Safe Passage" routes after shuttering 50 o
OCT 16
Thousands vow to 'Take Back Chicago'
The headline in this morning Tribune summed things up pretty well -- Emanuel talks politics while activists rally to 'take back Chicago'. (M. Klonsky pic)All that was missing last night, was a mayoral candidate to rally around as thousands filled the UIC Forum, vowing to Take Back Chicago. The activist base, mobilized by the Grassroots Coalition of unions and community groups, was there and the is
OCT 15
Empowerment
When asked about the data showing only 60 percent of 10,542 students from Chicago’s shuttered elementary schools ended up at so-called “welcoming schools,” CPS Liar-in-Chief Becky Carroll had this to say:Carroll said it is okay that many families chose not to enroll in the designated “welcoming” school. District leaders want to empower parents to choose which school their children attend, she said
Taking back our city
Busy day today. I'm sitting in on a doc student's dissertation defense at UIC and then heading down the street at 5 p.m. to the UIC Forum for the Take Back Chicago rally and town hall meeting.TCB is being organized by the Grassroots Collaborative, an alliance of neighborhood and community organizations who are working to develop a unifying vision for the city's future. I'm hoping that the coalitio
OCT 14
Safe passage to nowhere. CPS lied about receiving-school enrollment.
As a designated "welcoming school," Johnson School of Excellence on the West Side, an AUSL "turn-around" school, got upgrades to technology. But only 34 students out of 145 from shuttered Pope Elementary are enrolled. I'm reading about a gunman in a car opening fire on an on-duty Chicago Public Schools Safe Passage worker Tuesday. Gave me the chills. Thank goodness, nobody was
Weekend Quotables
Karen Lewis"I believe there's this notion that if you have a lot of money that you can overwhelm your opponents and we don't believe that. We believe that the number of people going to vote is what's going to be important. His polling is what it is. He hasn't released the polls, but I think other people have been doing them, and we know what the numbers look like and they're not good for him.
OCT 11
Taking back Chicago
I'm looking forward to next Tuesday, October 15th when a coalition of union and community groups will come together to "Take Back Chicago." Several thousand people are expected to take part in this community meeting at the UIC Forum. Things will start with a 5 p.m. march and rally and continue on with a forum.With local elections on the horizon, the goal of TBC will be to forge a common
Militarism passes for 'school reform' in L.A. charter
The bugler lifts the brass instrument to his mouth and waits. A short delay betrays the illusion, but then a recording of "Reveille" blares out from stereo speakers as the flag moves up the pole.That's how the day starts at North Valley Military Institute, a Los Angeles Unified School District charter school that this year transformed from a traditional campus into a military-style boot
OCT 10
Schools are broke but Rahm rolling in election dough
While he was busy closing public schools, shuttering public health clinics, and reaming the teachers pension fun, Rahm still found time to raise another $1.1 million last month for his election war chest. He hopes to be able to exceed the $14 million he used to buy the election the last time around.You won't be surprised to learn that the mayor got a $10,000 gift from the group, Stand For Children