Editorial | Charter school mirage | The Courier-Journal | courier-journal.com

Editorial | Charter school mirage | The Courier-Journal | courier-journal.com:

Editorial | Charter school mirage

5:22 PM, Jan. 17, 2012 |

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Like an unwelcome relative at family gatherings, the push for charter schools has returned to Kentucky.

Politically, it needs to be taken seriously. Charter schools have had support in the past in the state Senate, and Senate President David Williams supported them during his unsuccessful Republican campaign for governor last year. Previous bids to authorize charter schools have died in the House, but there are some high-stakes issues confronting the General Assembly — expanded gambling, tax reform, a bid to create a state university in Pikeville, painful budget cuts — that could prompt game-changing bargains. Gov. Steve Beshear, who has seemed open to charter schools, can’t be counted on as a last line of defense.

But charter schools should not be

Speaking of censorship: Rahm’s plans for the NATO/G8 meetings. « Fred Klonsky

Speaking of censorship: Rahm’s plans for the NATO/G8 meetings. « Fred Klonsky:

Speaking of censorship: Rahm’s plans for the NATO/G8 meetings.

by Fred Klonsky

Chicago’s police superintendent Garry McCarthy warns of unrestricted drum circles and mic checks.

In order to scare away as many protesters as possible from the NATO/G8 protests in May, The Mayor proposed a set of new rules. They included heavy fines of $1000 for “resisting arrest.”

Veteran demonstrators like me know that the charge of resisting arrest is what you get charged with when there’s nothing else to charge you with.

In addition, The Mayor has proposed a whole set of protest restrictions, permit requirements, sound limits, limits

Let’s show Olympia that the majority of folks in our state do NOT want charter schools | Seattle Education

Let’s show Olympia that the majority of folks in our state do NOT want charter schools | Seattle Education:

Let’s show Olympia that the majority of folks in our state do NOT want charter schools

by seattleducation2011

The League of Education Voters and Stand for Children will be in Olympia this Friday with folks bused in to make it appear that everyone in our state wants charter schools. We know that’s not the case so let’s show our representatives in Olympia that charter schools are not the way to go by being there during the hearings that will occur this Friday at 1:15 PM. If you cannot attend, please contact your representatives via e-mail or give them a call and let them know that we will not allow our public schools to be taken over by the wave of privatization that has swept the country.

Anyone, including taxpayers, students, parents, teachers and activists who do not want to see the ongoing

Swaps cost Philadelphia, school district $331 million — NewsWorks

Swaps cost Philadelphia, school district $331 million — NewsWorks:

Swaps cost Philadelphia, school district $331 million

January 17, 2012

By Tom MacDonald

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As a new report shows the cost of interest rate swaps to the city of Philadelphia and the school district, public interest groups are urging banks to relieves some of the pressure..

With interest rates at historic lows, rate swaps -- in which bond issuers guarantee a rate of return --

Oppose SOPA and PIPA. « Fred Klonsky

Oppose SOPA and PIPA. « Fred Klonsky:

Oppose SOPA and PIPA.

by Fred Klonsky

This blogger supports Wikipedia and other web sites who have decided to go black today in protest of so-called web anti-piracy legislation now before Congress. I added a “no censorship” banner to my blog’s page to demonstrate my opposition to the legislation. The legislation is backed by some of the largest billion dollar media corporations in the US who, of course, have no interest in the democratic potential of the internet. They simply want to squeeze every last penny that can, threatening even little mom and pop bloggers like me who might use images and sources to engage with others. I make no profit from this blog.
Go here to contact your member of Congress and tell them to vote against SOPA and PIPA.

They’re not apathetic in Wisconsin.

by Fred Klonsky

They needed a little over half a million signatures to put the recall of Governor Scott on the ballot in Wisconsin.
The organizers planned on 750,000 just to make sure.
They got a million. Almost two million if you add in the signatures they got to recall the lieutenant  governor,  Rebecca Kleefisch, and Majority Leader Scott Fitzgerald.
The number of signatures to recall Walker are equal to nearly have the voters in the state. It required a face to 

Former schools official: Ackerman steered contract - Philly.com

Former schools official: Ackerman steered contract - Philly.com:

Former schools official: Ackerman steered contract

January 17, 2012|By Martha Woodall, Inquirer Staff Writer

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Former Superintendent Arlene C. Ackerman is now consulting…

The Philadelphia School District's onetime top procurement officer says former Superintendent Arlene C. Ackerman, despite her frequent denials, personally directed the awarding of a $7.5 million no-bid contract for surveillance cameras to a small minority firm, and sought to deflect responsibility because she had a "personal relationship" with the company's president.

John L. Byars, in a civil-rights lawsuit accusing Ackerman and several senior aides of libel and slander, says he was made the "scapegoat" for the controversy that erupted after The Inquirer disclosed in late 2010 that Ackerman had pushed aside a suburban firm in favor of IBS Communications Inc., then based in Mount Airy.

The district subsequently suspended him and then sought to fire him "for having exercised his First Amendment rights by speaking out to the FBI about this matter of public concern," according to the suit, pending in U.S. District Court.

Ackerman on Monday again denied steering the contract to IBS.