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
Vergara Ruling, Californication
Best Tweet this morning comes from Pedro Noguera @PedroANogueraCalifornia court ruling is a setback for public education. When teachers lose so do kids. Don't blame tenure for the flaws of the system.Judge Rolf M. Treu's ruling was based on the notion that teachers and students have conflicting interests, ie. what's good for teachers, like bargaining rights, is bad for kids. Treu even had the ner
JUN 07
How world's richest man bought school reform
WaPo reporter Lyndsey Layton tells the story of how Bill Gates bought and paid for so-called school "reform". He even got NEA and AFT leaders to buy-in to Common Core. On a summer day in 2008, Gene Wilhoit, director of a national group of state school chiefs, and David Coleman, an emerging evangelist for the standards movement, spent hours in Bill Gates’s sleek headquarters near Seattle
Principals Revolt? Or not...
Bob MosesI'm taking part in a great event, "Youth Organizing For Social Justice -- Then and Now", at DePaul Student Center this evening. Bob Moses, 60s Civil Rights leader and founder of the Algebra Project, will interact with participants and discuss the significance of the 50th anniversary of Freedom Summer, describing what actually happened, and its implications for America's future.
JUN 12
Duncan's foul support for Vergara. He must go.
Main backers of corporate-style school reform, Duncan, Rhee & Gates. Today’s court decision is a mandate to fix these problems. -- Arne DuncanArne Duncan's support for the anti-teacher Vergara decision in California, describing it as a "mandate" and an "opportunity" was even too much for teacher/historian John Thompson, who's not a line-in-the-sands guy. But in his latest p
CTU -- Judge Treu misinterpreted the real causes of discrimination
STATEMENT FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE CONTACT: Stephanie Gadlin 312/329-6250June 11, 2014 CTU Statement on California Tenure DecisionIt must be nice to be a wealthy tech mogul like David Welch. When you want to “prove” a theory, you just go get someone else’s kids to be the guinea pigs. When you want to “prove” a theory, you conveniently omit the m
JUN 11
What are the take-aways from Cantor loss?
Cantor was too far "left" for the Limbaugh Party and not anti-immigrant enough. I'm still trying to get a handle on Cantor's defeat in Va.'s bright red 7th Cong. Dist. The obvious is that Cantor, the most conservative member of the GOP House leadership, was just too far "left" and not anti-immigrant enough for the Limbaugh Party.It's too bad, in a way. Cantor was one of my favo
JUN 10
Outside closed Lafayette School this morning
Lafayette Save Our School Protest in 2013School closings have done nothing to improve the education of CPS students, nor have they saved money, but the same policies that led to massive closures continue to be implemented. -- CTU ReportThis morning I'm standing outside of the former Lafayette Elementary School talking to NBC Chicago's Phil Rogers on the anniversary of D-Day (Devastation Day). That
JUN 09
For Immediate Release: Dyett High School Set To Close
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Contact: Jitu Brown, 773.317.6343E-mail: brothajitu@gmail.comMONDAY, JUNE 9, 2014 Walter Dyett High School Set to Close, Making Way for an Underperforming Contract SchoolParents and Students Charge City Officials with Lacking Courage, and Mayor Emanuel with Lacking Compassion CHICAGO – Walter Dyett High School has been under-resourc
Weekend Quotables
Is Rahm toast?Maggie HabermanIn Chicago, [Rahm Emanuel]is the ham-fisted gentrifer who’s been tripped up by the city’s entrenched racial politics. -- PoliticoEric Levitz at SalonBut a political system designed for gridlock, the grossly disproportionate influence of the rich, and Americans’ ideological aversion to class politics conspire to make it politically inadvisable for a Democratic president