Who would have imagined that teachers and other public employees would be forced to work at the point of a bayonet?
Last week, the newly elected Republican governor of Wisconsin, Scott Walker, said that he would balance the state’s budget by outlawing the collective bargaining rights of the state’s unionized public employees.
Today it is reported that Walker (now renamed “Hosni” Walker) has threatened to call out the National Guard to
by Rick Ayers
February 11, 2011
All changed, changed utterly:
A terrible beauty is born.
William Butler Yeats penned those lines after the Irish Easter uprising of 1916. And how haunting and true they remain. Watch the explosions of joy at Tahrir Square and across the Middle East. The people of Egypt have changed much more than the experts grasp in their cramped little calculations of power and containment can even imagine. They have shattered the myths of powerlessness, the notion that a regime built on repression and violence is impregnable. For a generation, in the Middle East and around the world, the smothering blanket of cynicism, hung over demonstrations, mobilizations, and activism.
But the people of Tunisia and Egypt have shattered that picture. They have reinvented once again, as every generation must, the innovative dance that is a mass movement. Gone forever – or at least for a long time – is
The 30-second spot blasts Bloomberg for protecting wealthy New Yorkers as public schools remain underfunded, and says the mayor "sees things differently than the rest of us."
Florida's lawmakers were starstruck.
Before them stood Michelle Rhee, the former Washington D.C. public schools chancellor recently featured on Oprah, on a Newsweek cover and in the documentary film Waiting for Superman.
"I am here today to ask you to keep being a leader," Rhee said, urging members of two education committees to tackle one the few reforms that Florida has yet to achieve: a streamlined way to get "ineffective" teachers out of the classroom. "There is so much more to do."
Senate Pre-K-12 committee chairman Steve Wise called her a movie star and even Sen. Eleanor Sobel, a more skeptical Broward Democrat, gave a nod to Rhee for "bringing new energy to the education debate."
I’ve previously posted The Best Multimedia Celebrating Mubarak’s Downfall and The Best Sites For Learning About The Protests In Egypt.
It’s obviously not clear if there will be a further “domino” effect, but there are several accessible resources that suggest — if there is — who might fall next.
Here are my choices for The Best Resources To See Who Might Fall Next After Mubarak…:
Here’s a very useful article from MSNBC titled
House Republican leaders put out a bill last night that would slice and dice education funding far below current levels and far below what President Barack Obama wanted in his never-enacted fiscal year 2011 budget request. (List of cuts is here.)
The measure, which would continue federal funding for rest of the fiscal year, takes aim at some programs that were previously considered untouchable, including special education spending and Pell Grants to help low-and-moderate income students pay for college. Overall it would cut $4.9 billion from the U.S. Department of Education's fiscal year 2010 budget of $63.7 billion.
"This absolutely would be the largest cuts ever in history for education programs," said Joel Packer, a principal with the Raben Group in Washington, who works with the Committee for Education Funding, a coalition that advocates for increasing education spending.
The bill would cover fiscal year 2011, which technically started back on Oct. 1. Most of the federal government,
I want to share some thoughts about the last few days of being a teacher in the crosshairs of the right-wing bullies who want to take away our unions and our democratic rights to speak out for what we think is right.
I’m writing this a day after the fall of Mubarak in Egypt and a victory of the Egyptian people in their fight for democracy.
It never stops, you know.
The fight for democracy and the fight against those who would steal it away. It never stops. It goes on everywhere in the world. And it never stops.
Many years ago I learned the words of the Civil Right Movement song that went, “They say that freedom is a constant struggle. We struggle so long. We must be free.”
Why me?
Why is the Education Action Group
By Assemblymember Steven Bradford
SACRAMENTO – In this Democratic Weekly Address, Assemblymember Steven Bradford (D-Gardena), Chair of the Assembly Utilities and Commerce Committee, notes the Assembly is proudly joining in celebrating Black History Month this February. Bradford also discusses the opening of a California Museum exhibit honoring California’s Freedom Riders, relating his own experience re-enacting the 1964 Freedom Ride. Bradford adds that the history of the United States is rich with inspirational stories of great African American men and women “whose actions, words, and achievements have worked to change things for the better.”
Click onto the following link for the English language MP3 file. The running time is 1:53.
http://democrats.assembly.ca.gov/Newsline/Audio/20110211RadioAddressEnglishBlackHistoryBradford.mp3
In order to open this great opportunity up to more Colorado residents with a passion for education, we are happy to announce Diane Ravitch will now speak at a larger venue. Augustana Lutheran Church is the new location (see address). To further encourage community participation, we are opening this event to the public free of charge. However, attendees are still encouraged to register so we know how many are coming. Walk‐ins will be welcome the night of the event, if there is space. While the church can seat many more people than the previous venue, space is still limited.
You will not want to miss the chance to hear the author of “The Death and Life of the Great American School
February 12, 2011 by tomwhitby
The occasional lesson, free-coverage, or spot fill-in, allows a lot of freedom. Since there is not really an “on-topic” unless we count the ubiquitous test-prep, everything is off-topic, which is how I like it.
This week I was the guest at an after-school hour-and-a-half 7th grade math team session. I love this stuff. I could have done some model American Math Competition problems (we just gave the AMC this week), and thought about it, and maybe one day I will come and do some, but this week I did not.
We started with counting vs not-counting endpoints. Good buy-in, and tested if they could algebraically represent the result. They could. Good sign.
I ran some silly “guess the numbers” – in the first they added one to their
Marion Wright Edelman is enthusiastic about the administration's Blueprint for Education Reform because of the focus on accountability. The Blueprint is not just focused on accountability, it is obsessed with it.
The Blueprint calls for more testing than we have ever seen in the history of the US, far more testing even than NCLB requires. The Blueprint encourages testing in all subjects, interim testing, and, because it endorses measuring improvement, could result in test given in both the fall and spring, all closely linked to national standards. The Blueprint is not "a good starting point," as Ms. Edelman suggests. Rather, it is a huge waste of money, spending billions on measurement that is not needed.
Ms. Edelman identifies the real problem: Poverty. Instead of spending more on tests, the investment we need
Negotiate with Teachers Now!
Sulejman F. Dizdarevic--attorney with Belongia, Shapiro & Franklin, LLP--and his fellow Board members at Chicago Mathematics and Science Academy are subverting the rights of their teachers and violating Illinois labor law by refusing to negotiate a contract.
In June, teachers freely chose to form a union to improve their working conditions and the learning environment of their students. They followed Illinois labor law and have been recognized as the legal bargaining representives for the school's teachers.
It's time Mr. Dizdarevic--attorney and CMSA Board member--followed the law too.
Send Sulejman Dizdarevic an e-mail telling him to respect teacher's rights.
Please be forceful but respectful in your message.
You Are Invited &
Your Voice is Needed!
What should real educational reform look like in Chicago?
Dream Big for Our Public Schools.
Caucus of Rank and File Educators presents
CORE’s 3rd Annual
Education Summit
Sat. Feb. 12th, 10am-2pm
@ King College Prep HS
4445 S Drexel Blvd., Chi.
Community Speakers
CPDUs for teacher participants
Food for all
Forward, text, call and bring your colleagues, friends and family!
for more information visit:
www.coreteachers.com
fb: CORE Teachers
tw: @coreteachers
Parent list-serv: COREparents@gmail.com
