Mike Klonsky's SmallTalk Blog:
Schooling in the Ownership Society
Schooling in the Ownership Society
Mike Klonsky's SmallTalk
Schooling in the Ownership Society
Byrd-Bennett goes postal. Boycott movement grows.
Nice flight down to Austin this morning. It seemed like half the plane (slight exaggeration) was filled with Chicago, NPE Conference goers. Hilarious -- there was $8 Wi-Fi available on Southwest and next thing I knew everyone on the plane was checking in on FB. I wound up sitting next to old friend Mike Charney, former Pres. of the Cleveland Teachers Union. Thanks Mike, for making the flight seem
FEB 27
Suspensions/expulsions key to building charter school 'culture'
"Charter schools should not be allowed to 'expel' their way to better performance if they are truly public schools." -- Ald. Bob FiorettiLast month, the U.S. Department of Education and U.S. attorney general's office released national guidelines on student discipline codes, acknowledging many urban school districts' zero-tolerance policies have created school-to-prison pipelines.Chicago
FEB 26
Saturday's lineup for the NPE Conference in Austin
I'm looking forward to the NPE Conference taking place Saturday and Sunday at The Thompson Conference Center at the University of Texas. I'm moderating a Movement Building panel on Saturday morning, which includes:Jitu BrownJitu Brown - formerly the education organizer for the Kenwood Oakland Community Organization (KOCO) on Chicago's south side, Jitu has been a leader in the citywide movement ag
Saucedo test boycott, 'a step towards reclaiming humanity, joy of learning and education.'
A SmallTalk Salute...This one goes out to the 40 teachers at Maria Saucedo Elementary Scholastic Academy who voted unanimously Tuesday to boycott the Illinois Standards Achievement Test. Byrd-Bennet warns that they could face disciplinary action.But CTU V.P. Jesse Sharkey says: “I think it would be outrageous and wrong. . . . The teachers aren’t doing this for any gain. They’re doing this because
FEB 25
The war on teachers: Test 'em all, let God sort 'em out
Arne Duncan demands Value-Added teacher evaluation asking, “What’s there to hide?”BUSH MENTALITY...Remember when Bush and Cheney decided to invade Iraq even though they knew Iraq had nothing to do with the 9/11 attacks and that there were no WMDs? Now that same mentality is being used by the current administration, only in this case, it's applied to teacher evaluation. A stretch, you say? Take a l
FEB 24
"So if Christian didn’t like the pension bill, then why did he vote for it?"
In this morning's mail... Jay Travis asks a great question of her opponent, incumbent 26th Dist. Rep. Christian Mitchell. He's quoted in the Sun-Times as saying he “didn’t like Senate Bill 1”—that is, House Speaker Michael Madigan’s bill that slashed the retirement security of elderly teachers, social workers, and other state employees. Asks Travis: "So if Christian didn’t like the bill, then
Weekend Quotables
Michael BrennerA feature of the Obama presidency has been his campaign against the American public school system, eating way at the foundations of elementary education. That means the erosion of an institution that has been one of the keystones of the Republic. The project to remake it as a mixed public/private hybrid is inspired by a discredited dogma that charter schools perform better. -- The A
Charter hustlers launch ad campaign attack on de Blasio
Eva Moskowitz leading the attack.New York's deep-pocketed charter school hustlers and privateers have launched a multi-million-dollar ad campaign against Mayor de Blasio. They are also using the ads to make wild, unsubstantiated claims about the benefits of charters over community-based public schools. No mention, of course, of massive suspension and expulsion rates in the charter schools.They cla
FEB 24
FEB 23
New religious charter believes in Value-Added
Students participating in By the Hand Club's after school program, say a prayer at the end of their chapel session before returning to their classrooms to begin their homework. | Jessica Koscielniak / Sun-Times“My faith motivates me to do more,” says Donnita Travis, the founder and executive director of By the Hand and the charter’s chairman of the board. The politically-connected Travis claims th