Mike Klonsky's SmallTalk Blog:
Schooling in the Ownership Society
Schooling in the Ownership Society
Mike Klonsky's SmallTalk
Schooling in the Ownership Society
'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
APR 27
Gordon Lafer On EPI Milwaukee Private Charter Schools Report
Don't miss this excellent Wisconsin Public TV interview with EPI economist and ed researcher Gordon Lafer criticizing "blended learning" at Rocketship charters.Backers of these reforms are particularly enamored of a new type of charter school represented by the Rocketship chain of schools—a low-budget operation that relies on young and inexperienced teachers rather than more veteran and
APR 26
Wal Mart special on charter schools
New York Times education writer, Mokoto Rich reveals the extent to which the billionaire Walton Family underwrites the entire national charter school enterprise. For example, in Washington D.C....In effect, Walton has subsidized an entire charter school system in the nation’s capital, helping to fuel enrollment growth so that close to half of all public school students in the city now attend chart
APR 25
Philly fires thousands of teachers, then hires a new 'director of recruitment'
Here's how things work in the Ownership Society.There's a revolving door between the private sector and what's left of the public. Take for example this week's hiring by the nearly-collapsed Philadelphia Public Schools, of TFA alum Kendra-Lee Rosati as director of recruitment -- whatever that it. Rosati will pull down $90K to start in this newly-created slot in the bureaucracy.Rosati's last job wa
Gated communities for children of privilege
Ald. Pat DowellDowell is not about to use such divisive language. She just wants results. -- Sun-Times reporter Fran SpielmanJulie Woestehoff, executive director of PURE, is a straight shooter. She's quoted in PE&O, letting us know that since CPS leaders vacated the Consent Decree, the city's selective enrollment schools have been turned into “gated communities for children of privilege,” with
Biggest laugh of the day -- Vallas fundraising letter
Biggest laugh yesterday came from opening the mail and finding a campaign fundraising letter from Paul Vallas. He wants me to send a check to his campaign for IL lieutenant governor (he must not read my blog). V says he wants the money to head off Republican billionaire Bruce Rauner's run for governor.As someone who has spent his life working to improve education, I am deeply concerned by what Bru
MAY 01
May Day Warning: 'We're rapidly returning to the conditions of Ludlow days.'
Ludlow: The striking miners and their families, 1914BILL MOYERS' blog has an excellent piece on the 100th anniversary of the Ludlow strike and massacre, by Erik Loomis, "US Workers Were Once Massacred Fighting for the Protections Being Rolled Back Today." The headline says it all.A century later, the bloody incident might seem a relic of the distant past, but the Ludlow Massacre retains
APR 30
Let's not lose sight of most dangerous racism
EYES ON THE PRIZE... A great point was made by Rev. Jesse Jackson re. Sterling/Bundy racism. Let's not lose sight of where the real problem lies. The Supreme Court and Congress are making changes in the law that will deprive millions of opportunity and equal justice. We should keep our eyes on the prize, and hold on.The gang of five conservative justices on the Supreme Court has disemboweled the V
APR 29
20,000 homeless CPS students. Not an 'excuse' but a reality.
Homeless Jesus statue unveiled in Chicago. But 20,000 homeless students remain invisible. I and many others have been trying to make the case for years, that children's lived experiences outside of school have as great, or even greater impact on measurable learning outcomes than anything that goes on in the classroom. Conditions of poverty, homelessness, poor medical care, pandemic violence, poor
YESTERDAY'S CLASS -- Malcolm London, Schuette, Rocketship...
THANKS MALCOLM...Thanks to brilliant, young Chicago poet/activist/educator Malcolm X London from Young Chicago Authors for his guest lecture in my class yesterday. My students, all aspiring teachers, were bowled over as Malcolm recounted his experiences as a Chicago high school student and then read two of his latest epic poems. If you're not familiar with his work, High School Training Ground, pe
APR 28
Life In The 'Post-Racial' Era
A SMALLTALK SALUTE goes out to NBA Players Assoc. Pres. Chris Paul and the rest of the L.A. Clippers players who hung together in protest against the racism spewed by club owner Donald Sterling. Even though they were beaten by Golden State last night, they acted with dignity and grace. Though their protest was silent, nobody could mistake the clarity and forcefulness of their message.STERLING -- &
Weekend Quotables
Justice Sonia Sotomayor's brilliant dissent “In my colleagues’ view, examining the racial impact of legislation only perpetuates racial discrimination. This refusal to accept the stark reality that race matters is regrettable...The way to stop discrimination on the basis of race is to speak openly and candidly on the subject of race, and to apply the Constitution with eyes open to the unfortunat
APR 25
More two-tier schooling in Rahm's Chicago
A couple of items before I shut down SmallTalk for the weekend and get busy on Bridging Differences with Deb Meier.First is Rahm's decision to use $60 million from his TIF slush fund towards another selective-enrollment high school, this one named Obama College Prep, in the upscale Lincoln Park neighborhood. On the bad side, the planned school is too big. It's too selective and it's in the wrong l
Bundy's Racist Moocher Army Headed for Motown?
Cliven Bundy's moocher Army.BREAKING... Justice Scalia announces he is deputizing Cliven Bundy and his Nevada moocher army to ride herd on Schuette decision. Moochers were last seen headed for Michigan to put down any protests and to graze their cattle for free on the overgrown fields in Detroit. Their banner reads, "Slavery Worked Better. Let's Do it Again."ScaliaQUOTABLE SCALIA “As Ju
Who Do We Ally With?
Meier: Of late, teaching is not a field I'm comfortable seeing my grandchildren or their friends entering.
APR 29
An Assault on Public Schools
Klonsky: What we are facing at this moment though, is not so much the problem of choice schools vs. neighborhood schools, or progressive schools vs. traditional schools. Rather, it's an assault on public schools and public space in general.
APR 24
Choice, Small Schools, and Trade-Offs
Meier: I also recognized that the new "reformers" used this to argue that their approach could be implemented, top-down, which would make it easier to replicate.
APR 22
Is the Small Schools Movement Really Dead?
Klonsky: How did we let this dynamic movement of educators and community activists morph into a top-down, corporate-style web of privately operated charter schools?
APR 10
Welcoming Mike Klonsky to Bridging Differences
Meier: The standards are a curriculum and imply a pedagogy, too.