The Massacre of the Innocents in 2015-2016 | Reclaim Reform

The Massacre of the Innocents in 2015-2016 | Reclaim Reform:

The Massacre of the Innocents in 2015-2016

History repeats itself, or it rhymes as some insist. Rahm Emanuel’s Chicago with its school closings, intentional bankrupting of the public school system, the school to prison pipeline, and its mass killings of innocent children repeats/rhymes with the Massacre of the Innocents as commemorated in Christian churches during this season.

(Disclosure: I am personally not a very religious person, but I respect the lessons of religion and history as I endeavor to lead a “do-unto-others” life. I also honor everyone’s religious convictions.)

In the Gospel of Matthew (2:16-18) King Herod feared that a local newborn child would overthrow his throne. When he learned from the Magi, the Three Kings, that a possibly messianic child was born, he ordered the killing of all children under twelve months of age in his kingdom – The Massacre of the Innocents. His personal police carried out his wishes in the name of law and order – his law and his political order. An angel warned Joseph in a dream that Jesus would be slaughtered, so Joseph took Mary and Jesus on the Flight into Egypt.

What did the mothers and fathers of the children victims feel as the orders for police The Massacre of the Innocents in 2015-2016 | Reclaim Reform:

Special Nite Cap: Catch Up on Today's Post 1/2/15

CORPORATE ED REFORM

The New Gold | Save Maine Schools

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YESTERDAY

Special Nite Cap: Catch Up on Today's Post 1/1/15

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The New Gold | Save Maine Schools

The New Gold | Save Maine Schools:

The New Gold

Only a short time ago, I thought my husband was being paranoid when he asked me if I’d read the security agreement for an app I was about to download.

“Does it tell you how it will use your data?” he asked.

I shrugged and told him to relax. What could they possible find out about me that would be of concern?

A year or so later, I still have a tendency to give out personal information with far too much haste, but – for the most part, at least – I no longer think my husband is paranoid when it comes to concerns over data collection.

 (You’re welcome, dear.)

The fact is, big data = BIG money  – this article even goes so far as to call it “the new gold”– and where opportunities for profit exist, boundaries will be pushed as far as possible.

We are in uncharted territory, and – inconvenient though it may be – we need to be on our toes with this, lest we end up traveling down The New Gold | Save Maine Schools:

CURMUDGUCATION: Resolutions for USED

CURMUDGUCATION: Resolutions for USED:
Resolutions for USED

After I earlier took a swipe at Acting Pretend Secretary of Education John King's resolutions for the new year, blogger, author, activist and fellow trombonist Jose Luis Vilson asked me what my resolutions would be, were I the Secretary of Education. It's a fun question, so here we go-- if hell froze over and I were writing the resolutions for the Ed Secretary's office, here's what I would resolve:

That we will do everything possible to see that each community in America has the tools and support it needed to create and maintain the great local school system that it dreamed of.

That means local control, local decision-making, local vision of what the schools should be. Every single community in America is different, and that means that every school is different, with different needs, goals, resources and aspirations. And nobody knows all of those factors better than the people in that community. But not all communities have the resources and support needed to make their dreams real. We will make sure that the USED is there to get them those resources-- and that does not mean giving some corporation a contract to provide what we decide the community needs. We will not tell the community what they need; they will tell us. If that means a lot of corporate interests go hungry, so be it.

We will not be there to tell them what "great" must look like or what goals they must embrace, or else. We will be there to make sure that no school's vision denies basic principles of democracy or CURMUDGUCATION: Resolutions for USED: