Mike Klonsky's SmallTalk Blog:
Schooling in the Ownership Society
Schooling in the Ownership Society
Mike Klonsky's SmallTalk
Schooling in the Ownership Society
Rep. Grijalva, first to support NPE's call for congressional hearings on testing misuse
Rep. GrijalvaArizona Democrat-Rep. Raúl Grijalva became the first to support the Network for Public Education’s call for congressional hearings into the “misuse and abuse of standardized tests.” Grijalva, a member of the House Committee on Education and the Workforce, says:"The need for an impartial and transparent hearing on mandatory testing and privatization efforts directed at public edu
YESTERDAY
Your machine politics took a beating, Big Daddy. Get over it.
“Guzzardi was able to walk the district for four years, didn’t have to work, didn’t have to do anything.” -- Joe "Big Daddy" Berrios. My only response to Chicago machine boss Joe Berrios, after reading this inane piece in the Sun-Times, is -- You lost, Big Daddy. Get over it. That's right, Will Guzzardi (a "self-styled reformer" according to the S-T) demolished your kid and kic
Mass school closings 'great success' declares Byrd-Bennett
“None of the negative predictions have come true. In fact the opposite has happened.” -- Byrd-BennettHow do we know Chicago's mass school closings in black and Latino communities were a "success"? Because Byrd-Bennett declared them such. No one got killed, she says (at least while safe-passage workers were guarding school routes) and GPAs went up at the receiving schools.Of course she ne
MAR 27
Helen Gym -- Honored at White House as Champion of Change
Gym is being honored by the White House next week. (ALEJANDRO A. ALVAREZ / Staff Photographer) Read more at http://www.philly.com/philly/blogs/school_files/Helen-Gym-to-be-honored-by-White-House.html#gOH8brjFTEKd7MVE.99CONGRATULATIONS to Philly public school activist and parent leader Helen Gym who will be honored at the White House next week. Gym has been named a Chesar Chavez Champion of Change
A retired educator speaks out. Quinn steps up.
No vote was taken yesterday on the bill to abolish the state's ALEC-initiated Charter Commission. Maybe today. Word is that we need 3 more votes. Still time to call senators: Senator Mike Noland (D-Elgin) - (847) 214-8864 Senator Iris Martinez (D-Chicago) - (773) 463-0720 Senator Dan Biss (D-Skokie) - (847) 568-1250Thanks go out to John J. Garvey, a retired Chicago public school teacher and admini
MAR 26
What's a nice kid like you doing in a place like this?
Kamryn (left) and her pal Delaney. A SMALL TALK SALUTE goes out to Caprock Charter School third-grader Kamryn Renfro who had shaved her head over the weekend to show support for good friend 11-year-old Delaney Clements who lost her hair from chemotherapy. The charter board in its wisdom, voted to kick her out of school until her hair grew back. It seems that baldness violates their school dress co
MAR 25
Time to get rid of the IL State Charter Commission
On March 20th, HB 3754 that would dissolve the ALEC-created Illinois State Charter School Commission passed the House by a vote of (78-33). Today the bill is being heard in the Illinois Senate Education Committee. You can tell members of the Senate Education Committee that you support the senate version of this bill, SB2627, by filling out a witness slip.Reminiscent of Central FallsTURNAROUNDS...
MAR 24
Weekend Quotables
Courageous Saucedo student speaks out against ISAT. Sun-Times editorial...CPS damaged its credibility with parents, and undermined the trust that is so essential to good schooling, by choosing, foolishly, to interview small children on such a sensitive matter without even informing their parents — the ones who made the final decision on skipping the test. CPS had the law on its side, but wisdom w
The Strange Anonymity Of Gun Violence
Stock footageGun violence continues to plague Chicago's communities. Over the weekend, 21 more people were shot, 2 of them fatally. I hate to relate this story simply in terms of numbers because the huge weekend shooting count published in the press every Monday morning, along with the stock footage of yellow crime tape, keeps us from seeing this horror in personal terms. This for example is from
MAR 21
Creepy Rauner Dems
CREEPY! Rauner Dems"DEMS" FOR RAUNER...Interesting to see who showed up Thursday for Rauner's photo shoot of “Democrats and Independents for Rauner” besides Mrs. Rauner. Only surprise was that Bruce's buddy Rahm's wasn't in this picture, even though everyone knows it should be.Interesting names on the list include:Rahm/Daley pal, billionaire James Crown -- President of Henry Crown and Co
Next frontier for the charter school hustlers, 'Inner Ring' Suburbs
For those of you who aren't fluent in post-racial-era reform/speak, inner-ring is code for black and Latino suburbs. As the inner cities become whitenized, with hundreds of thousands of African-Americans being pushed out because of lack of jobs, limited access to social services, and unaffordable housing costs, these suburban districts are growing rapidly and are now being targeted for takeover by
MAR 26
The sun continues to shine on Florida's charter school hustlers
Attention charter operators and ed profiteers. Florida is the place if you like warm weather and easy money in real estate. I got to see how the charter game is played in the Sunshine State during my days at USF when Jeb Bush was the guv. Now, under Rick Scott and his ed adviser Michelle Rhee (not to mention disgraced former ed commissioner Tony Bennett), the state has opened up even wider for cha
MAR 21
N.Y. hedg-fund 'reformers' spend $3.6M on anti-de Blasio TV ads
Instead of paying their share of rent for co-occupying N.Y.C. public school buildings, Eva Moscowitz and her hedge-fund friends, have spent $3.6 million over the past 3 weeks, for TV ads attacking Mayor de Blasio.According to the Daily News:Families for Excellent Schools — founded by a deep-pocketed group of current and former financiers — has run a series of ads, including a heart-wrenching spot