For Labor Day Weekend: Pie and/or Labor and/or #CharterPolitics
I love apple pie. I would be hard pressed to choose another pie that I like more than my grandma’s fresh baked apple pie. I mean, there are some contenders… there is also grandma’s sweet potato and pumpkin pie. It’s easy (and painful) to imagine the smells waffing from her Saginaw, Michigan oven. Then probably my great-grandmother pineapple cream pie. Then much farther behind grandmas’ cookin would be Key Lime Pie from Key West, Florida.
Second, the American Way is to vote, be heard, utilize the democratic process. So in that vein, I would like to ask for 10 seconds of your time to vote for two SXSWedu 2015 panels. You the public decide which panels are seated via SXSWedu PanelPicker.
What is PanelPicker? SXSWedu described the process in an email to applicants that I have excerpted below:
Each year, SXSWedu invites the greater online community to share their input on content they would like to see at the event. Public voting will open at 10AM Monday, August 11 and close at midnight Friday, September 5. The community will have the opportunity to vote on session proposals (votes will be kept private) and add comments on the ideas submitted. We welcome you to also use this commenting feature to expand on your session idea, make note of updates and engage with the voting community. During this four-week period, it is important to promote your PanelPicker idea to your community. Anyone with internet access can cast a single vote for as many proposals as they would like to upon creating a PanelPicker account… Community voting accounts for 30% of the final score for your session proposal. Remember, this is not a popularity contest, but an opportunity to demonstrate your ability to engage a community. Another 40% is contributed by the SXSWedu Advisory Board, and the remaining 30% is from SXSWedu staff evaluation.
Last year I spoke at SXSWedu on panel about charters during a Texas Tribune special session with representatives from Raise Your Hand Texas, Texas DFER and the Brackenridge Foundation. It was a spirited conversation. Unfortunately, I can find the 2014 session on the web.
Please consider the following two sessions for your vote.
1) Reforming Charter Reform is proposed with Kevin Welner (Of NEPC fame) and is a pragmatic look at charters.
This conversation starts with twin premises: charter schools are an important part of the overall schooling landscape, and the charter school sector can be made more equitable. We will avoid the For Labor Day Weekend: Pie and/or Labor and/or #CharterPolitics | Cloaking Inequity: