KOCH OUT PM News | www.kochwatch.org #WIUnion #p2

News | www.kochwatch.org

Protesting the removal of a mural at the Maine Dept.of Labor WATCH ON YOUTUBE:

Politico: Kochs lash out at 'dangerous' critics, 'radical' Obama *March 26, 2011-* In lengthy interviews with a conservative magazine, the billionaire Koch brothers mounted an aggressive defense of their business and political interests, describing their liberal critics as “very, very extreme” and “very dangerous” ...

Politicus USA: Scott Walker Kills His Wisconsin Union Busting Bill By Publishing It *March 25, 2011-* Wisconsin Republicans stunned the nation today when they published Governor Scott Walker’s anti-union bill in seeming violation of a restraining order. The legislation was enjoined from publishing by a judge who ruled that ...

The Young Turks: GOP Plan To Attack Families Over Strikes, Food Stamps WATCH ON YOUTUBE:

4LAKids - some of the news that doesn't fit: NOAM CHOMSKY ON THE ROLE OF THE EDUCATIONAL SYSTEM (Video)

4LAKids - some of the news that doesn't fit: NOAM CHOMSKY ON THE ROLE OF THE EDUCATIONAL SYSTEM (Video)

NOAM CHOMSKY ON THE ROLE OF THE EDUCATIONAL SYSTEM (Video) The goal of education, Chomsky argues, is to produce free human beings whose values are not accumulation and domination, but rather free association on terms of equality. Added by Thomas Whitby to The Educators PLN blog | http://bit.ly/hAXOnm |on ...

THE TEACHER AS PUBLIC ENEMY #1, A RESPONSE: New Approaches to Art Education in these most Uncivil Times Elizabeth M. Delacruz, Ph. D. | http://scr.bi/dT3Ao5 Acceptance speech given on the occasion of receiving the United States Society for Education through Art (USSEA) 2011 National Ziegfeld Award, March 20, 2011 Dr. Delacruz is Professor of Art ...

Democracy and Possibility « Outside the Cave

Democracy and Possibility « Outside the Cave

Democracy and Possibility

by Stephen Lazar

Two quotes to start the week:

The first, a recent one, from Deborah Meier:

In all these years we have never seriously confronted society with the question of “why?” Do we really want schools to undo our class divisions? Do we want them to produce adults who are members of a shared and commonly cherished adult world—with inequities that we could all imagine living with? With adults who more or less equally appreciate and utilize democracy for their own self-interests, have more or less equal access to the media, to political influence, with fair and equal protection of the law?

I’d like, Diane, given the obvious reality of the above (it’s said harshly, but isn’t it the simple truth?), to suggest we shift the discussion. Maybe it’s time to think together about what schooling could be if we truly saw it as the bedrock of democracy—if we imagined we cared enough for the future of democracy to put everything we have into using schools toward such an end. We need something

Almost Famous at #ASCD11 « InterACT

Almost Famous at ASCD « InterACT

Almost Famous at ASCD

by David B. Cohen

Accomplished California Teachers is all about teacher leadership, and I’m please to say that we are present and accounted for here at the ASCD 2011 Annual Conference.

And hat’s off to the folks at ASCD for allowing bloggers to have “press” passes – access to all the sessions, and a nice, quiet place to sit and write (with the laptop plugged in).

So what have we ACT members been up to?

Jason Buell and Alice Mercer are both ACT members and bloggers, seen here in the press room getting ready for press/blogging action on the first day of the conference. Jason has been writing some great posts on specific

SOUTH BRONX SCHOOL: It Is Apparent That Eva Moskowitz Only Cares For Eva

SOUTH BRONX SCHOOL: It Is Apparent That Eva Moskowitz Only Cares For Eva

It Is Apparent That Eva Moskowitz Only Cares For Eva

Posted: 27 Mar 2011 12:59 PM PDT

As you recall, this past Monday it was reported that Sith Lord Eva Moskowitz was having a hiring party, shin ding, or soiree in her honor this past Thursday night. Not to feel left out, several members of the crack team here at SBSB infiltrated the festivities and found out quite a bit of information. Unfortunately, the crack team needed to take Silwood showers when they came back to the SBSB offices.

The event was at Harlem Success Academy headquarters on Lenox Ave. In fact the affair was catered. Hors d'oeveres were served as well as an open bar with a bartender. We here at SBSB wonder if alcohol is allowed to be served in any NYC Public schools or in fact in any borough offices. More to the point, how can any public school compete with hot hors d'oeveres and

ASCD Inservice: Duh!: Should Public Schools Do More to Protect Themselves from Privatization?

ASCD Inservice: Should Public Schools Do More to Protect Themselves from Privatization?

Should Public Schools Do More to Protect Themselves from Privatization?

Are public schools doing a good job of defending themselves during a time when critics are gaining momentum on voucher and charter-school efforts?

Not at all, said members of an ASCD annual conference panel presented by the Horace Mann League, a group that advocates for public education as one of the cornerstones of American democracy. "I think this is the biggest threat to education we've ever had," said Evelyn Blose-Holman, the superintendent of Bay Shore Schools in New York.

The panelists, all members of the group's board of directors, sought to discuss ways to protect schools from privatization and arm public education advocates with information to counter arguments for charters and vouchers. However, they also acknowledged that there needs to be tough discussions among educators about what public schools are doing right and

Why Top-down School Systems Don't Work

by ASCD Bloggers

In the past 80 years, the number of school districts has shrunk from 127,000 to 16,000, but the number of students has grown from 25 million to 50 million. That has created top-down systems that must be decentralized to allow...

Schools Matter: Arne Duncan solves Greygower's problem

Schools Matter: Arne Duncan solves Greygower's problem

Arne Duncan solves Greygower's problem

by skrashen

"Greygower" just recorded a song called the Test Teacher Anthem on http://educationrumination.com/. Here is the chorus:

"Test teacher, test teacher

Teaching to the test

Work on math and English

And forget about the rest."

Don’t worry, Greygower. Arne Duncan has

The National Writing Project is a revolution « Cooperative Catalyst

The National Writing Project is a revolution « Cooperative Catalyst

The National Writing Project is a revolution

by coopcatalyst

Guest blogger Art Peterson contributes this #blog4nwp post to the Coöp.

Recently, Paul E. Peterson, writing on the Hoover Institution’s EdNext blog, referred collectively to the educational programs axed from the 2011 federal budget as “busy little nothings.” One of these “nothings”—along with such established and useful programs as Teach for America and Reading Is Fundamental—is the National Writing Project (NWP).

If it were 1978, one part of Peterson’s pejorative designation would indeed be on target. In those days the Writing Project was nothing if not “little.” That year thirty college writing teachers, determined to do something about the dismal state of writing education, sat around on folding chairs in a Kansas City, Missouri, hotel ballroom and

Irony Alert: Koch Brothers Call Critics Extremists | Firedoglake #WeAreWI #WIUnion #p2

Irony Alert: Koch Brothers Call Critics Extremists | Firedoglake

Irony Alert: Koch Brothers Call Critics Extremists

by Blue Texan

by cdrummbks

You’ll not be surprised to learn that he men behind the Teabagger craziness and hysteria are in fact, crazy hysterics.

In lengthy interviews with a conservative magazine, the billionaire Koch brothers mounted an aggressive defense of their business and political interests, describing their liberal critics as “very, very extreme” and “very dangerous” and President Barack Obama as a “radical”

Who are the witch hunters? The American Legislative Exchange Council. « Fred Klonsky's blog

Who are the witch hunters? The American Legislative Exchange Council. « Fred Klonsky's blog

Who are the witch hunters? The American Legislative Exchange Council.

by Fred Klonsky

When Professor William Cronon had the chutzpah to write an op-ed piece on the right-wingers who are behind Governor Scott Walker, the Republican Party tried to intimidate the respected historian by filing a FOIA request for his emails.

Who are these right wingers? They are members of the American Legislative Exchange Council.

Their Education Task Force, which is leading the charge against collective bargaining, is headed by Representative David Casas of Georgia. You can talk to their staff members: Dave Myslinski, Director

Warning to parents about ALEC and its draft education legislation « Parents Across America

Warning to parents about ALEC and its draft education legislation « Parents Across America

Warning to parents about ALEC and its draft education legislation

See the message below from a PAA member in Texas, Karen Miller. Karen is forwarding information about William Cronon, a noted historian at UW-Madison, who wrote about ALEC, the American Legislative Exchange Council, a conservative organization backed by business interests that circulates draft legislation in every state capital, including anti-union legislation approved in Wisconsin.

In retaliation, Cronon has now had his emails FOILed by the Wisconsin GOP party.

As Karen points out, ALEC has a number of damaging education model bills, including legislation promoting the spread of virtual schools (a tremendous profit potential for

BOYCOTT KOCH INDUSTRIES #wiunion #p2 #mounion #miunion #ohunion #inunion #paunion #tcot #teaparty #solidarity

BOYCOTT  KOCH  INDUSTRIES

WHY?

Because the Koch brothers’ values are in direct contrast with American Middle Class values, and because Koch Industries has been involved in polluting American rivers, streams, oceans, and ground water sources, and tampering with American elections.

____________________________________________________

Charles G. Koch and David H. Koch run Koch Industries and Koch Family Foundations, one of the largest single sources of funding for conservative organizations in the United States. Organizations and think tanks supported by the foundation include The Tea Party, Americans for Prosperity, the libertarian Cato Institute, the Heritage Foundation, Reason Magazine, the Manhattan Institute, and the Heartland Institute. The Koch brothers were the primary funders of Glenn Beck's "Restoring Honor" rally in Washington DC last year, which was held on the anniversary of Martin Luther King's "I Have a Dream" speech.  More recently, the public has become aware of the brothers' influence on union busting in states like Wisconsin, Ohio, and New Jersey.

The billionaire brothers have spent more money than any individual or oil conglomerate to spread misinformation about global warming.  Many of their "donations" have been funneled through the political process to defeat any and all attempts at creating climate control legislation. In 2010, they donated huge sums of money to defeat Democrats and Progressives in the November election. In addition, it is believed they may have influenced Supreme Court Justices Scalia and Thomas to pass the "Citizens United" ruling last year, which allows millionaires, billionaires and large corporations to donate unlimited sums of money to political campaigns without being required to divulge the dollar amount or source.

Because the brothers' influence is in direct contrast with Middle Class values, we urge a boycott of all their products.  Please note that boycotts are most effective when retailers are made aware of the reasons for the boycott.  Please remember that when boycotting products and companies, it’s important to inform others of the reasons why.  Our primary goal as an organization is to engage ordinary citizens in a process 

of educating the public at large about a problem that affects them in adverse ways.

Koch Industries Products

Subsidiary Companies

Georgia Pacific

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Dupont

Gasoline

Chevron 

Union

Union 76

Conoco

Georgia-Pacific

Household Paper Products

Angel Soft toilet paper

Brawny paper towels

Dixie plates, bowls, napkins and cups

Mardi Gras napkins and towels

Quilted Northern toilet paper

Soft 'n Gentle toilet paper

Sparkle napkins

Vanity fair napkins

Zee napkins

Invista Fabric/Fiber Products

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TERATE® polyols

TERATHANE® polyether glycol

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PHENREZ® resin

POLARGUARD® fiber and

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Building products

Dense Armor Drywall and Decking

ToughArmor Gypsum board

Georgia pacific Plytanium Plywood

How Wisconsin Republicans Respond to Their Critics | Politeia | Big Think #WeAreWI #WIUnion #p2

How Wisconsin Republicans Respond to Their Critics | Politeia | Big Think

How Wisconsin Republicans Respond to Their Critics

Robert de Neufville on March 26, 2011, 12:55 PM

A couple of days ago, I wrote about an op-ed William Cronon wrote in The New York Times arguing that by attempting to strip public unions of their bargaining rights, Wisconsin Republicans “are seeking to reverse civic traditions that for more than a century have been among the most celebrated achievements not just of their state, but of their own party as well.” Cronon also published a blog post suggesting that a conservative group called The American Legislative Exchange Council—which I have written about here—is behind the push to eliminate collective bargaining rights in Wisconsin.

Shortly afterward, the University of Wisconsin-Madison, where Cronon is a professor of history, geography, and environmental studies, received a request under the state’s Open Records Law from the Wisconsin Republican Party for copies of any e-mails sent from Cronon’s university e-mail account which either use keywords like “AFCSME,” “collective bargaining,” “rally,” and “union,” or the names of a number of Wisconsin political figures.

Why Is the Good Men Project Peddling a Bogus, Racist Penis-Size Map? « Student Activism

Why Is the Good Men Project Peddling a Bogus, Racist Penis-Size Map? « Student Activism

Why Is the Good Men Project Peddling a Bogus, Racist Penis-Size Map?

by Angus Johnston

The Good Men Project is something I’ve been vaguely meaning to learn more about recently. Some prominent feminist men (and women) have been writing for them, and they’ve gotten some good buzz from other folks I respect. So I followed them on Twitter a few days ago, and recently clicked through to a piece on their site for the first time.

Um, wow.

It’s a map of the countries of the world, color-coded by penis size, under the headline “Who Has the Biggest Penises in the World?”

A few things about this map.

First, it’s bullshit. I’ve done a spot check on about a dozen of the (vaguely identified) national data sources, and literally none of them have panned out. Some are completely fictitious, others are real people or organizations

#ASCD11 Day 2 – Focus on Evaluation « InterACT

ASCD Day 2 – Focus on Evaluation « InterACT

ASCD Day 2 – Focus on Evaluation

by David B. Cohen

I’m back for more at the ASCD 2011 Annual Conference. I came to the conference with two main goals for my own development: learn more about implementation of professional learning communities, and learn more about teacher evaluation. Yesterday I hit sessions about PLCs, and today’s focus will be evaluation.

The most interesting session yesterday was a presentation by the folks from Barrington Public Schools, in Rhode Island. I was impressed at their process and their human touch in thinking about teachers and students. But the lingering question for me turned out to be more about the teaching profession. I’ll take what I learned at their presentation and try to put it to good use in my own school and district, but I kept coming back to the part of their story about teachers voluntarily adding days to their work year in order to do professional development. I

South Korean Official Advises Caution in Following His Country's Model - State EdWatch - Education Week

South Korean Official Advises Caution in Following His Country's Model - State EdWatch - Education Week

South Korean Official Advises Caution in Following His Country's Model

by Sean Cavanagh

A former top education official in academically high-flying South Korea has warned against U.S. officials attempting to copy his nation's approach, saying it has grown too test-centered and often detracts from students' love of learning.

Byong Man Ahn, the former minister of education, science, and technology in South Korea, said government officials in his country are attempting to scale back the heavy test emphasis and nurture broader student skills, a step some of the United States' other foreign competitors also have taken.

Mr. Ahn made his remarks during a keynote address Friday at the annual meeting of the Association for Education Finance and Policy, in Seattle.

"Although the pain of memorizing is unavoidable for young students to acquire new knowledge, they should also be motivated by the pleasure of creative expression," Mr. Ahn told the audience. "However, we force the students

I’m A Test Teacher Teaching to the Test! | Seattle Education 2010

I’m A Test Teacher Teaching to the Test! | Seattle Education 2010

I’m A Test Teacher Teaching to the Test!

Posted on March 27, 2011 by seattleducation2010| Leave a comment

Hey!

By Greg Gower, a great guy and teacher. You can check out his website:

Educationrumination

ASCD 2011 Conference: Sunday's Social Media Highlights - Copy / Paste by Peter Pappas #ASCD11

ASCD 2011 Conference: Sunday's Social Media Highlights - Copy / Paste by Peter Pappas

ASCD 2011 Conference: Sunday's Social Media Highlights

I'm following the ASCD conference in San Francisco via the social web. Here's the best of the feed from Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, Flickr and SlideShare. I follow the feed from #ASCD11 - so you don't get overloaded with RTs.

• Twitter
• Email
• Embed

ASCD 2011 Sunday's Social Media Feed

by Peter Pappas, 3 minutes ago

I select the top tweets from the conference hashtag #ASCD11. Get the best of the feed without the RTs and chatter.

• First Sunday post 12:30 PM Eastern

  
  
• Stop back, I'll be updating through the day.

  Newest tweets will be at the top of the page - older below.

  Tag your tweets with #ASCD11 so I'll find you.

  
  

  See more of my 2011 conference posts here.

  Or see my ASCD 2010 conference Prezi updates.