Thursday, July 28, 2011

Blogger Fred Klonsky's crusade against public education reform | Ben Joravsky on Politics | Chicago Reader

July 28, 2011NEWS & FEATURES » BEN JORAVSKY ON POLITICS

Blogger Fred Klonsky's crusade against public education reform

Klonsky's is a voice from the classroom that's oft overlooked

In the last few weeks, Fred Klonsky has been the Paul Revere of the school blogging world, writing post after post on his education blog warning readers that, in as many words, "The reformers are coming! The reformers are coming!"

In particular, Klonsky is talking about the zealots, backed by multimillionaires, who are crusading against teachers' unions as they claim to fight for the "reform" of public education.

It was Klonsky, as much as anyone, who was responsible for shining a light on the now-infamous I'm-the-king-of-the-universe talk Jonah Edelman gave last month at a think-tank gathering in Aspen, Colorado.

That's the one where Edelman, CEO of the education group Stand for Children, explained how he and his cohorts had effectively

The Corporate Education Act Becomes Law | Dissident Voice

The Corporate Education Act Becomes Law

by Luke Hiken

Republican lawmakers were ecstatic today to announce passage of the Corporate Education Act (CEA). The President expressed his support for the Act because the Republican sides of both the House and the Senate had backed it, and that meant it was certainly good enough for Obama. Democrats went along with the Act because they didn’t want to lose the potential financial support of the corporations that would benefit from the CEA.

The first order of business after the passage of the CEA will be to close all of the existing “liberal arts” colleges in the country. As Senator Boner pointed out, the whole concept of “liberal” is passé, and “art” has nothing to do with good job performance. Instead, the CEA will ensure that all education is geared towards employment with America’s leading corporations, and graduates will have been properly trained and groomed to serve

We May Be Numb, But We Ain’t Dead

by David Macaray

Even though union membership hovers at about a 12-percent (down from a high of 35-percent in the 1940s and 1950s), there’s a way of looking at these figures that gives us cheer. With the U.S. population at more than 300 million, that 12-percent figure converts to about 14.7 million members—which is pretty close to the total number of union workers you had back in the 1950s.

And because, undeniably, there is strength in numbers, let’s consider a tantalizing hypothetical. What if America’s 14 million union members went on a spontaneous one-day strike to remind the country of just how important working people are, and how skewed and weird and mind-numbing our priorities have become? Let’s take a moment to consider that.

Admittedly, right out of the chute there will be skeptics and naysayers who will argue that such a thing couldn’t

#SOSMarch Welcome to the Save Our Schools Conference Day I: Keynote speech by Jonathan Kozol | The Classroom Sooth

Welcome to the Save Our Schools Conference Day I: Keynote speech by Jonathan Kozol | The Classroom Sooth

Welcome to the Save Our Schools Conference Day I: Keynote speech by Jonathan Kozol

by classroomsooth

It is an exciting time to be a public school teacher! If you are at the SOS Conference come say “hi,” if you are tuning in from elsewhere, please comment on posts and ask questions I can relay to others here.

Rick Meyer opened the Save Our Schools Conference with this statement. ”We don’t need another book, we need activism.” Meyer also noted that Secretary of Education Arne Duncan will be present at the SOS March on Saturday.

Jonathon Kozol (standing ovation welcome from audience):

“We are gathered here to say

Florida Education Association Sues State « Tangerine, Florida

Florida Education Association Sues State

by 5redherrings

Reposted from Union Library Workers:

FEA suing state over pay cuts to teachers, other state workers for pension “contribution.”

TALLAHASSEE – The Florida Education Association has filed a lawsuit today in Circuit Court in Tallahassee seeking to stop the 3 percent pay cut on teachers, school employees and other workers imposed by the Florida Legislature and signed by Gov. Rick Scott.
The lawsuit asserts that the Legislature enacted legislation that was unconstitutional when that body required that 3 percent of the salaries of active members of the Florida Retirement System (FRS) be taken from such employees to serve as “contributions” toward their retirement benefits. The lawsuit further contends that the actions by the Legislature to reduce the cost-of-living benefits

voiceofsandiego.org: Education

Why Would Focusing on Weakest Students Cost School?Comments (3) | 11:34 am

I had one big question for the U.S. Department of Education: Why should focusing on struggling students cost a Logan Heights school?

Last week I reported that federal money to turn around Burbank Elementary could be in jeopardybecause the Logan Heights school offered extra tutoring to struggling students after school. The feds say schools were supposed to add more school time for all children, not just some of them.

Five Possible Problems on Jackson's ResidencyComments (3) | 12:02 pm

We teamed with NBC7 San Diego to do a television version of our story about questions swirling over where San Diego Unified school board member Shelia Jackson lives. Here it is:

View more videos at: http://www.nbcsandiego.com.

Board Prez Wants Legal Advice on JacksonComments (1) | 12:27 pm

After voiceofsandiego.org reporting raised questions about where school board member Shelia Jackson lives, the president of the San Diego Unified school board has asked for its attorney

Oakland teacher turned activist rallies for education reform | KALW #SOSMarch

Oakland teacher turned activist rallies for education reform | San Francisco Bay Area News - Crosscurrents from KALW

Oakland teacher turned activist rallies for education reform

By BEN TREFNY on July 27, 2011 - 5:13pm

Flickr photo by Thomas Favre-Bulle. http://www.flickr.com/photos/lnx/6783644/

download
open in popup

Share1

President Obama’s Race to the Top program has challenged schools to excel, providing grant funding for states that implement measurable programs to achieve “significant improvement in student outcomes.” He talked about the program in a commencement address this year at Booker T. Washington High School in Memphis, Tennessee.

PRESIDENT BARACK OBAMA: And as a country, we need all of our young people to be ready. We can’t just have some young people successful. We’ve got to have every young people contributing. Earning those high school diplomas, then earning those college diplomas or getting certified in a trade or a professions. We can’t succeed without it.

This Week In Education: Thompson: Culture Of Respect A Two-Edged Sword

Thompson: Culture Of Respect A Two-Edged Sword

I always had mixed reactions when told, "Dr. Thompson, students listen to you because they respect you." I never got over the implicit criticism of most of my fellow teachers. I had the same feelings when listening to Claudio Sanchez' NPR report on dropping out. A mother told Sanchez that her son had trouble in middle school but it had little to do with problems at home. It was the fault of insensitive teachers, she said, "he would tell me ... 'Momma, those teachers, they expect me to respect them, and they don't respect me at all.' " Schools must be sensitive of the culture of "respect,"

Charts: The State Of Education

by Alexander Russo

Media: Education Journos Win Casey Recognition

by Alexander Russo

Kudos to Helen Zelon and Emily Hanford for having their work recognized by the Casey Awards for 2011 (Journalism Center on Children & Families). As you may recall, Zelon's City Limits package looked into the accomplishments of the much-touted Harlem Children's Zone

Latest News and Comment from Education

Thursday, July 28, 2011