Mike Klonsky's SmallTalk Blog:
Schooling in the Ownership Society
Schooling in the Ownership Society
Mike Klonsky's SmallTalk
Schooling in the Ownership Society
Bridging Differences
How many polls do you need?
Hey Preckwinkle, Fioretti, Bozo the Clown...somebody. What the hell are you waiting for?Only one in five Chicago voters credit Mayor Rahm Emanuel with doing a better job of running the city than Richard M. Daley did, and only 29 percent would support him if the mayoral election were held today. -- Early & OftenCarpe Diem!
YESTERDAY
Rahm's kiss of death?
Big news today is that Rahm endorses Hillary for president (before she even announces her candidacy) and starts a pro-Clinton super PAC. Could that be the kiss of death? Everything Rahm touches seems to go south. Latest polls show his job performance disapproval ratings now at 40 percent — up from 29 percent a year before.Compared with last year, Emanuel's negatives are up significantly among Afri
MAY 08
Taking Back Our Schools
My guest blogger today is David Greene, Chair Taking Back Our Schools Rally Committee, Save Our Schools Treasurer, and Author of DOING THE RIGHT THING: A Teacher Speaks60 Years AgoMay 17, 2014 will mark the 60th anniversary of the Brown Decision to integrate American public schools. What better day is there for a Rally to TAKE BACK OUR SCHOOLS from the corporate reformers who seem to defy that lan
In the mailbox: Support Luis Muñoz Marín Elementary school in North Philadephia.
Hello Mike, My Name is Maria Cruz, and I am the President of the School Advisory Council at Luis Muñoz Marín Elementary school in North Philadephia. As you may already know, our neighborhood school was targeted by Philadelphia Superintendent William Hite and the School reform Commission last month as a "turnaround" school, subject to a takeover by the private charter operator, ASPIRA of
This is not a test...
A SMALLTALK SALUTE goes out to teacher/author/activist Jose Vilson, whose book, This Is Not a Test: A New Narrative on Race, Class, and Education, was released yesterday. A definite must-read for educators in need of a little inspiration in these difficult times, Jose's memoir traces his experiences growing up in New York City, his education in the city (and later, in New York State – at Syracuse
MAY 07
Sun-Times tells Karen Lewis to "tone it down".
In the eyes of the Sun-Times editorial board, CTU Pres. Karen Lewis has gotten too uppity and disrespectful for Rahm's Chicagoland Plantation. In yesterday's editorial, the board told Lewis in no uncertain terms, as only a parent could scold a child, to "tone down your rhetoric." Problem is, Karen Lewis is a grown woman.What nerve she has, an African-American, female school teacher, marc
Standing room only for Karen Lewis at the Hideout
The HideoutLast night was political junkies' standing-room-only night at the Hideout. CTU President Karen Jennings Lewis was on stage, being interviewed by Reader writers Ben Joravsky and Mick Dumke. What a step up from last month's show when former Ald. Dick (aptly-named) Mell hijacked the conversation and left me double-tasting my beer.Lewis had just come off her roof-raising speech at the den o
MAY 06
Lewis: ''We don’t have a pension crisis, we have pension shortfall and a crisis in leadership'
CTU Pres. Karen Lewis' speech Monday, at the City ClubOur members don’t want to wind up in poverty because somebody who just rode into town wants to take away their livelihoods. It’s as if the 1% isn’t satisfied with having most of it. It seems they want it all... [They] manage by chaos and carnage. These are among the city’s fathers who are calling for our pensions and the destruction of our uni
MAY 05
Weekend Quotables
Louis C.K."Well, the way I understand it, if a school’s kids don’t test well, they burn the school down. It’s pretty high-pressure." -- Actually, Louis C.K. was right about Common Core — RavitchWashington school board member tells Arne Duncan..."You can keep the waiver. And regarding your failure letter – I have little interest in using our Lake Stevens letterhead to tell our studen
Duncan ignored his own I.G.'s warnings on charter fraud
The purpose of this report is to echo the warning issued by the OIG and to inform the public and lawmakers of the mounting risk that an inadequately regulated charter industry presents to our communities and taxpayers. NEW REPORT ON CHARTERS...“Charter School Vulnerabilities to Waste, Fraud And Abuse,” authored by the Center for Popular Democracy and Integrity in Education, echoes a warning from t
MAY 06
More Common Core Loot For Pearson
Valerie Strauss reports in the Washington Post that British publishing/testing giant Pearson, has won another multi-million-dollar deal with one of the two multi-state consortia that are designing new Core-aligned states with federal funds.The Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers, or PARCC, is hiring Pearson, according to a news release, to develop test items and forms,
MAY 03
'Tech vultures' LEAP towards profitability in Chicago
Millions of dollars intended to support innovations in resourced-starved public schools has long been funneled to privately-run charter schools. One of the chief funnelers in Chicago is non-educator Phyllis Lockett, a former leader of the Civic Consulting Alliance and New Schools for Chicago, a venture philanthropy organization that invests in the growth of privately-operated charter schools. She
Whose Help Don't We Need?
Meier: If my house were on fire, I'd not reject the help of a neighbor whose views I otherwise despise. I think our nation is on fire.
MAY 06
We Still Have Allies in the Fight
Klonsky: How bad is it out there? Who are the forces in the field? How weak or strong are they and we?