The question of whether to privatize the city run charter schools followed contract disputes between the Broward Teachers Union and city leaders who said the city doesn’t have enough money to run the highly-successful Pines Charter schools unless there are major salary cuts for the city’s 375 teachers.
Pines leaders have been warning that the city’s seven-school charter system for months that it was struggling financially. In recent weeks, the city asked its teachers, who are represented by BTU, to accept a pay cut that would cause them to be paid less than teachers who work for the much-larger Broward School District
As a result, Pembroke Pines city officials responded with the surprise plan to privatize by partnering with Charter Schools, USA, a Fort Lauderdale-based firm that is one of the nation’s
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| Payola Continues to Work Well For Corporate Education Reform |
Arts, foreign-language classes and even recess are among the first programs being shed by principals trying to deal with budget cuts of 10 percent or more. Many of those were added for this school year as part of Emanuel’s promise to make the longer school day that he demanded an improved “Full School Day.” -- Sun-Times columnist Greg BrownSeveral Chicago Local School Councils are openly resisting the Mayor's draconian cuts and rejecting their school budgets. A full-scale LSC revolt could take place unless funding is restored.
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| Burley students protest cuts |
Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world.
The power of education extends beyond the development of skills we need for economic success. It can contribute to nation-building and reconciliation. Our previous system emphasized the physical and other differences of South Africans with devastating effects. We are steadily but surely introducing education that enables our children to exploit their similarities and common goals, while appreciating the strength in their diversity.
No one is born hating another person because of the color of his skin, or his
Dear Edgewater and Andersonville Neighbors,
Last night, at the Senn High School Local School Council, I, as your community representative, voted against the proposed school budget.
The $6.8 million allocation this year, while representing a budget cut, is enough to keep our tremendous, out-performing faculty and staff employed for another year. We did not have to cut a single instructional position. The transformation of Senn High School, under the leadership of Principal Susan Lofton, can continue for another year.
Still, I found the budget unacceptable.
I voted against the budget because I questioned its sustainability.
The Chicago Tribune published my last letter to the editor on June 19, 2013—-I am going to try again. I sent the copy below to the Chicago Tribune
Metra negotiated a separation agreement for CEO Alex Clifford that carries a potential price tag of $740,000. Clifford’s three-year contract was due to expire in February 2014 (eight months from now). The term that interests me is CONTRACT. The Metra board has chosen to honor Clifford’s contract with a sum of money nearly three-times Clifford’s annual salary. The action was taken “so that Metra can move forward with a clean slate and avoid wasting time and money on attorneys.”
“Who needs the government to try to criminalize journalism when you have David Gregory to do it?” -- Politico
“This project could not be worse for human priorities. We can’t afford neighborhood schools, but we can bankroll an unnecessary basketball arena for a private university?” --New York TimesWilliam Ferris
“The memory of slavery and Jim Crow and civil rights is still very much alive,” said William Ferris, a University of North Carolina folklorist and an editor of the Encyclopedia of Southern Culture. “We carry those burdens through our lives. How we deal with them measures who we are. It’s always
May 31, 2013Yesterday we reported on the outrage of PAVE charter being handed 400 grand by Tweed to help them steal pre-k kids from the local public schools in Red Hook, which have had their requests to expand their own pre-k ...
I thought they had taken the PAVE pre-k off the agenda of the May PEP but all they did was change the name ofMay 06, 2013Remember billionaire run PAVE charter? They moved out of PS 15 and got their own 34 million building. You see charters aren't supposed to have pre-k.
Saddle up the reform ponies, reader. We’re headed to Tennessee—home to the Smokey Mountains, Dollywood, Graceland and a boldly innovative new way of payingteachers. If this bold new approach works, and studies already show that it has, Tennessee’s bold new approach will likely be coming to a state near you.
