Mike Klonsky's SmallTalk Blog:
Schooling in the Ownership Society
Schooling in the Ownership Society
Mike Klonsky's SmallTalk
Schooling in the Ownership Society
Why Ames should stay a neighborhood school and why we haven't given up.
January 24, 2014Contact: Joanna Brown, Save Ames Commttee, 773-744-1655Press release: Referendum campaign starts Saturday at Ames.Come and find out why Ames should stay a neighborhood school and why we haven't given up.The Save Ames Commttee will start its door-to-door campaign to -show voter support for a community -based Ames School Saturday, January 25, 2014 at 10:00 am, starting from Ames Sch
Notes from the bottom of the barrel
Note to Cong. Eric Cantor -- Hope you are enjoying your junket to Davos and relaxing after working so hard to cut our unemployment benefits. Must be great skiing this time of year. But next time you and Rory grab some coffee over at the Kongress, be sure not to leave the receipt on the table. Folks back in Virginia might get pissed. You don't want to wind up like your pal, Bob.Note to Dinesh D'So
JAN 23
Charter vote another reason why we need an elected school board and a new mayor
A group of supporters for Communities United for Quality Education protest in opposition of new charter schools, outside the Chicago Public Schools headquarters on Wednesday. It wasn't as if anyone doubted how yesterday's vote on charter school expansion would go. Despite the claim by one board member, that the decision was a "difficult one," Rahm's hand-picked CPS board rarely, if ever,
JAN 22
Braving sub-zero temps to stop the charter invasion
At last night's vigilA SmallTalk Salute goes out to the dozens of protesters who demonstrated their commitment last night by holding an all-night vigil and sleeping out in sub-zero temps, outside CPS headquarters. They, along with hundreds of others, will pack today's board meeting to try and stop Rahm's hand pick board's vote for further charter expansion.Another goes out to Wisconsin high school
JAN 21
Prosser community resists charter invasion
Protest at the site of new Noble Charter school across the street from Prosser High School. The community knows the game may be rigged against them. The pro-forma community meetings are a sham with the process being run and controlled by a corporate-funded pro-charter groups, Stand For Children. But in the face of all this, school communities and parent groups are determined to roll back the chart
More from the 'bottom of the barrell'
While teachers in America often come from the bottom of the academic barrel and are disproportionately teaching students from disadvantaged backgrounds, Duncan said, teachers in South Korea are selected from the top of the class and are rewarded for working with low-income students. -- U.S. NewsIn fairness to Duncan, he didn't actually use the words "bottom of the barrel". He said that a
JAN 20
Weekend Quotables
Amiri Baraka's son Ras, delivers his eulogy (Video).Ras Baraka "Every nurse that would come in the room he said, 'Hey, my son is running for mayor. He came to the hospital with a bag of (political) literature." -- NJ.comMichael Eric Dyson We’ve deliberately dismembered him [Dr. Martin Luther King] through manipulation of his memory. And those of us who have failed to see his radical chal
JAN 19
Press Release: Npe National Conference
Network for Public Education 2014 National Conference Robin Hiller | Executive Director | robin@networkforpubliceducation.org | (520) 668-4634PRESS RELEASEJanuary 19, 2014The Network for Public Education has announced a national gathering of public education activists. The organization’s first National Conference will take place at The Thompson Conference Center at the University of Texas at Aust
More from Davos
From BloombergFilipino mogul Enrique Razon loathes rubbing shoulders with fellow billionaires in Davos. “It’s loaded with bloated self-importance,” the casino and cargo-terminal owner said in an interview today in the Swiss village, where he was wrapping up his second trip to the World Economic Forum’s annual meeting. “I’m here to do business, not save the world.” Razon, who controls a $4.7 billi
JAN 23
Uh oh. Is Pearson in trouble?
Arne Duncan and state around the country have all their Common Core eggs in Pearson's basket. Problem is, the basket's got a hole in it.The Guardian reports that the British mega-publisher's 2013 earnings would be lower than expected due to higher restructuring costs and poor demand for its North America education business in its key selling quarter.In education, where it is the world leader, it i
JAN 21
Norway fund won't invest in Walmart because they breach 'human rights & labor rights'. Gates objects.
Report from Davos where the super-rich and powerful come to party and to strategize.Norway has a population slightly larger than the state of South Carolina but its government-run wealth fund has $833 billion in assets, making it one of the largest investors in the world. It owns 1.25 percent of all the shares worldwide, 2.5 percent in Europe, and it has a unique ethical mandate. That sees it avoi
JAN 15
What's at stake in privatization?
I don't think so and neither does CounterpunchThe Jan.14th edition of Counterpunch asks and answersNothing short of genuine education itself is at stake. What particularly vitiates the learning process is the introduction of a corporate culture or “market” forces that insist on measuring “student learning outcomes” by “objective” standards such as standardized tests; that place an emphasis on comp