Mike Klonsky's SmallTalk Blog:
Schooling in the Ownership Society
Stopping the charter invasion.
KIPP Guru Seligman helped develope GITMO interrogation techniques
KIPP's long record of child abuse must stop
Behind the big money flowing into Common Core
Mother Jones: Less crime, immigration reform and legalization of drugs could hurt Gates' bottom line
Sen. Warren warns Duncan: Don't be a 'lapdog' to the banks
Schooling in the Ownership Society
Mike Klonsky's SmallTalk
Schooling in the Ownership Society
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I guess I've become cynical about CPS-run community meetings ever since David Vitale confided to me that they were called simply to rein-in the dissenters. It got worse after CEO Byrd-Bennett completely ignored the 20,000 parents and community members who turned out to opposed her planned school closings.Wednesday's community meeting about Noble Network and Intrinsic's charter school invasion of the northwest side had all the dama of a done deal. Even though the crowd of teachers (a big group from Prosser), parents and community activists that packed the Northwest Community Church, was overwhe
Thanks to reader Dienne (see comment below) for pointing out the role played by KIPP guru Seligman in developing interrogation techniques used on the prisoners at Guantanamo. While Seligman denies working for the SERE Program or directly for the CIA, (he was granted a $31-million no-bid Army contract to provide “resilience training” to US soldiers) his own experiments, using electric shocks on caged dogs, heavily influenced the Bush Administration's use of torture techniques. First read this from the Times story on KIPP:Toll and Levin are influenced by the writings of a psychology professor fr
KIPP padded cell for kindergartnersSince their start in Houston in 1994, KIPP (Knowledge Is Power Program) charter schools have been the most celebrated of the No Excuses schools.But reports that a KIPP charter school in N.Y. is locking children in small padded cells in order to "calm them down" are just the latest example of the charter chain's long record of child abuse and mis-education targeted primarily at African-American and Latino children.The Daily News reports that a kindergartner and first grader at KIPP Star Washington Heights Elementary School were emotionally damaged af
DEC 11
The Great SUPES Hustle now under investigation by the IG
Back in July, I posted about Gary Solomon's SUPES Academy and their $20 million no-bid contract with CPS to facilitate some workshops and other activities with principals. As I reported then, there was a barrage of complaints from principals critical of the quality of the SUPES training.You might recall that schools CEO Byrd-Bennett worked as a high-paid consultant for Soloman right up until the d
D.C.'s Mayor Gray under fire for Rhee-ism without Rhee
Like President Obama, who campaigned as a critic of the war in Iraq but then continued many of George W. Bush’s military policies once in office, Gray ran as a skeptic of the reforms being implemented by Rhee but continued them under Henderson, who also has closed more than a dozen schools and fired hundreds of teachers. -- Melinda Henneberger, Washington PostD.C. students protest 2010 teacher fir
DEC 09
Valerie's white blindspot
"We called it ‘segregation,’ they called it ‘apartheid,” it’s the same system and the same political and military and diplomatic players. We had to fight that same system running parallel.” -- Rev. Jesse JacksonD.C. Mayor Gray at South African Embassy (AP Photo/Cliff Owen)I never thought I would be saying this, but I'm shocked and dismayed by Valerie Strauss's column in yesterday's Washington
Weekend Quotables
Nelson Mandela Overcoming poverty is not a gesture of charity. It is an act of justice. It is the protection of a fundamental human right, the right to dignity and a decent life. While poverty persists, there is no true freedom.” -- Johannesburg July 2, 2005Secret TeacherMy son brought home a Christmas card that consisted of a piece of white card folded in half which had been decorated with pic
DEC 06
The struggle continues
Nelson Mandela after he was sentenced to life imprisonment in June 1964Bridget Murphy writes, re. community resistance to the military coup at Ames Middle School:The referendum drive is in full swing. 40 parents will be meeting at Ames (1920 N. Hamlin) this morning (Friday, Dec 6th) at 10:30am to continue collecting signatures door to door. We will be out on the doors every day between now and De
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The Common Core market is booming, especially for the tech companies and textbook and testing companies. Perhaps that is why self-interested and connected companies as well as power philanthropists like Bill Gates, are investing so heavily in it.In the Dec. 10th Answer Sheet column in the Washington Post, ("Millions in private money poured into Common Core promotion") award-winning Principal Carol Burris of South Side High School in New York, documents the flow of private funding being used to promote Common Core Standards.Among its biggest financial backers is The Committee for Econ
With an endowment larger than all but four of the world's largest hedge funds, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation is easily one of the most powerful charities in the world. According to its website, the organization "works to help all people lead healthy, productive lives." For those who still believe that the world's largest foundation, run by the world's richest plutocrat, is all about helping people, Mother Jones has news for you. Most of the investments made by the Bill & Melinda Gates Fund have nothing to do with curing disease or educating the poor but are directed to
The U.S. Department of Education risks becoming a “lapdog” as a result of recent actions toward financial companies such as Sallie Mae, Sen. Elizabeth Warren charged Thursday.“The Department of Education needs to be aggressive in watching out for students, not for profit-making loan servicers,” Warren said. “They’re there for our students, not to help loan servicers make a profit.”Run, Elizabeth run!
DEC 02
Why doesn't Moskowitz pay rent?
From deutsch29, Mercedes Schneider's EduBlog:Since 2006, Eva Moskowitz has been running a small charter empire that has at least $50 million in government per-pupil funding, at least $30.9 million in total, end-of-year assets, and the support of hedge fund millionaires. Why is it, then, that her Success Academies have never paid a dime in rent for the public school space occupied by her charter sc