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One of Slate's education cartoons for your amusement:
Have we seen this movie before?
Oh, yes we have.
At last year’s IEA RA, President Swanson and the leadership steamrolled a change in the legislative platform that would allow for the first time IEA lobbyists to discuss compromises to a two-tier pension system with the state’s legislators.
Seeing this as a green light, Boss Madigan passed the two-tier plan a few days after the RA.
Check this out.
Two weeks ago, Swanson steamrolled a change in the legislative platform that would allow for the first time IEA
Young voters have had a stronger presence in recent elections but some members of New Hampshire's House of Representatives would like to reverse course on that. The Washington Post reports on two state bills coming out of New Hampshire that propose to "permit students to vote in their college towns only if they or their parents had previously established permanent residency there" and, to get rid of election day registration, the source of many a young voter's involvement in elections and what the Republican Speaker of New Hampshire's House of Representatives William O'Brien believes is also the source of much election fraud.
According to the Post, O'Brien referred to young voters, particularly college kids, as "foolish" at a recent tea party gathering. From a YouTube video of
On April 4, Stand in Solidarity with Working People | 
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Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated on April 4, 1968in Memphis where he was standing with sanitation workers demanding their dream of a better life. Today, the right to bargain collectively for a voice at work and a middle class life are under attack as never before.
People across America—black, white, Latino and Asian American—are electrified by that same dream and are standing up for the right to join together for our common dreams.
Join us to make April 4, 2011, a day to stand in solidarity with working people in Wisconsin, Ohio, Indiana and dozens of other states where well-funded, right-wing corporate politicians are trying to take away the rights Dr. King gave his life for. It’s a day to show movement. A day to be creative, a day to show that “We Are One.”
Save the date. To learn more, click here.
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2/22/011 Washington Post
If there is no organized force to advocate for public education in the state capitols of this nation, our children and our schools will suffer. That’s the bottom line. And that’s why I stand with the teachers of Wisconsin. I know you do too.
As I write, thousands of teachers are staging a protest in the state capitol in Wisconsin against proposed legislation by Gov. Scott Walker that would destroy their collective bargaining rights. Others stand with them, including members of the Green Bay Packers and other public sector workers, even those not affected by the legislation, namely, firefighters and police.
Gov. Walker demanded that the teachers pay more for their health benefits and their pension benefits, and they have agreed to do so. But that’s not all he wants. He wants to destroy the union.
Last week, Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates published an op-ed in the Washington Post, “How Teacher Development could Revolutionize our Schools,” proposing that American public schools should do a better job of evaluating the effectiveness of teachers, a goal with which none can disagree. But his specific prescriptions, and the urgency he attaches to them, are based on the
I was that this meeting and President Obama was there too.
So I went up to the President and I said, “You know, Mr. President, many of teachers were very disappointed to see you sharing the stage with Jeb Bush and praising his education “reform” efforts, when the Bush agenda is really about privatization and destroying unions.”
Actually, that’s not true. That’s what I would have liked to
Standing Strong Around the State |
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This is a cross-post from the Wisconsin State AFL-CIO.
Working families have been standing up against Gov. Scott Walker’s extreme attacks on the middle class for more than three weeks now.
Poll after poll has shown that the American public opposes Gov. Walker’s agenda and supports Wisconsin workers.
The more we learn about Walker’s budget, the scarier it is. His budget is wrong for Wisconsin.
Gov. Walker is attacking education, seniors and working families by putting the budget burden on their backs. Meanwhile he is asking for no shared sacrifice from the extremely wealthy and corporations who funded his campaign.
Around the state Wisconsinites are standing up against his agenda. It is time for Gov. Walker and Republican senators to show leadership and listen to their constituents.
This weekend more than 60,000 union workers, nonunion workers, community members, concerned citizens and activists marched in Madison to stand up for workers’ rights.
In Columbus, at a dinner that Scott Walker was attending, more than 800 citizens showed up to ask him why he is attacking Wisconsin’s middle class.
In Eau Claire, more than 1,800 rallied against Walker’s budget plans.
In Grafton, an estimated 500 people gathered to support public workers.
In Hudson, more than 600 residents rallied against the Americans for Prosperity bus tour.
In La Crosse, the same bus tour was met by more than 500 Wisconsinites who say Walker’s cuts go too far.
In Stevens Point, more than 1,000 rallied for rights.
Rallies, town halls and budget information sessions were also held in Appleton, Burlington, Greenfield, Green Bay, Juneau, Kenosha, Milwaukee, River Falls, Racine and Stoughton.
Mark your calendars. Saturday, March 12, will be the biggest rally yet. The rally will start at 3 p.m. at the Capitol Square. We stay until we win.
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I recently had the terrifying experience of being a guest on Comedy Central's "The Colbert Report." I put stage fright aside because Stephen Colbert, one of the sharpest wits in comedy, was dealing with a serious issue -- attempts in Wisconsin, Ohio and elsewhere to strip public workers of any input or voice in what they do, how they do it and what they earn.
Colbert unmasked the absurdity of these efforts with questions such as "Why should union members get something good because they organized and fought for it, if other people don't have it?"
"I know that a rising tide raises all boats," he continued. "But when the tide goes out, I want to make sure I drag you down with me. Shouldn't everybody live a [terrible] life?"
Unions provide working people -- from teachers to steelworkers, nurses, janitors and firefighters -- with a vehicle to raise their standard of living and to press for the conditions they need to do thei
Local Event Ideas
Dozens of Wisconsin teachers, students and community members will walk three days and almost 100 miles from Milwaukee to Madison this weekend to protest Governor Scott Walker's attacks on public employee unions and public education.