CURMUDGUCATION: ICYMI: Special Take a Breather Edition + Catch up with CURMUDGUCATION

CURMUDGUCATION: ICYMI: Special Take a Breather Edition:

CURMUDGUCATION: ICYMI: Special Take a Breather Edition 

Man, I just can't. I've been reading election-related stuff all week, and either you have, too, or you have given up. Either way, you don't need any more. So let's just take a break, for a few moments, before we wade back into it again.

Gunhild Carling is a musical prodigy from Sweden.

Genius duet between Astaire and Eleanor Powell, the unfairly forgotten Queen of Tap. Fun to watch Astaire work on equal footing with a female partner. "Begin the Beguine" is one more superior song by Cole Porter.

Sorry-- no video, but the performance is too good to pass up. Another genius love song from Cole Porter, who was, of course, gay. Funny, but his love songs have worked just fine for heterosexual wooing, too.

Bill Robinson was just one of many great American performers whose career was held down by segregation and Jim Crow. Shirley temple movies became one of the main ways that white audiences learned about him. But this scene, and others like it, were cut in the South because audiences didn't want to see Robinson and Temple hold hands.

Rita Moreno is one of the only twelve EGOT winners in the world, and this clip never gets old. It's a simple throwaway bit, and yet she manages to sing and act the crap out of it.

Linda Ronstadt was a pop queen back in the day (still love her Pirates of Penzance work). Her great-grandfather was a German engineer who moved to Mexico and raised a family there. Later in her career, Ronstandt embraced the music of her heritage. Sadly, I learned while sifting through her clips, Ronstadt retired from music because of Parkinson's

Admit it. You used to listen to this all the time. I am not generally a huge guitar fan, but Carlos Santana is the shit, and he makes the thing just sing. In the hands of anyone else, the lick that anchors this tune would be just a strong of notes. And the solo-- it's a treat to hear someone really turn it out like this for a simple Top 40 hit.

Cab Calloway was rock and roll before it was rock and roll, and whenever I want to cheer up, I go back to Nicholas Brother clips.

I'll be back next week with real reading to do. In the meantime, hug a loved one and gather your strength.

CURMUDGUCATION: ICYMI: Special Take a Breather Edition:

Catch up with CURMUDGUCATION

Uganda Shuts Down For-Profit Ed Provider

9by Peter Greene / 22h

We can get so focused on the USA aspects of reformsterism that we forget how much privatization is being exported. Take, for instance, the export of some of our worst, most developmentally-inappropriate ideas to schools in Ecuador. But one of the thriving edu-exports has been the business of selling school-in-a-can t9o nations in Africa. Bridge Academies are one such edu-business , founded by a no

Principled Bullies

49by Peter Greene / 22h

At the end of this seemingly endless week (perhaps it just seems linger because I've spent so little of it sleeping), what I most treasure are people of principle. And I'm going to ask you to do something for me here, because if you get mad and check out in the middle of this piece, you are going to miss the point. One of the most striking and disappointing things about many Trump supporters has b

NOV 11

Education's Trumpian Crystal Ball

21by Peter Greene / 1d

Today's new cottage industry is Trumpian predictive activities-- what will he do, what will happen next, what will he decide about My Favorite Issue. This is a bit of a fool's game-- on the one hand, Trump has told us pretty clearly what he's going to do, and on the other hand, this is a man who feels no particular obligation to think about what he says before he speaks or stay true to it once it

NOV 10

Will Trump Kill the Core

24by Peter Greene / 3d

Apparently one more side effect of Trumpocracy will be the revival of half-baked, ill-informed writing and bloviating about Common Core. Let me do my part to add to that. Trump has, of course, promised to rid the world of Common Core, even though he has no idea what it is, what's in it, how it works, or how it is implemented. This may well actually happen when pigs fly. But this is the perfect cue

The Racist Dinner Party

71by Peter Greene / 3d

Many of my Trump-voting friends are genuinely baffled and upset at being called racist, sexist, bigoted by association. "Really, not about race," they say about their vote. Let me try to explain, as I often do, with a story. You are an American of Ostrogoth ancestry. You and your wife and children are going to a neighbor's house for Thanksgiving dinner. You're pretty pumped. Out on the sidewalk yo

NOV 09

A Lesson from 11/9

24by Peter Greene / 3d

I am still crawling out of the festering dung hole that is the 2016 Presidential election. There is an awful lot to unpack and learn and understand going forward. But there are good lessons from last night as well: * In Massachusetts, the charter school early Christmas bill that was supposed to open the floodgates to endless charter paydays-- well, that bill was squashed like a bug . Gov. Charlie

Making the Team

8by Peter Greene / 3d

I only recently encountered this article from back in February, but it has really stuck with me. It has nothing at all to do directly with education, but it has everything to do with education. Charles Duhigg's "What Google Learned from Its Quest To Build the Perfect Team " was part of a package of articles about "reimagining the office," but there is of course a whole world of teams, including th

NOV 08

Teaching in Trump's America

400+by Peter Greene / 4d

And let's face it-- we had to face the prospect of a Trumpified America whether he won tonight or not. Now it's just that much more real, more powerful. And I still have to go to school and teach in it (especially now that my retirement fund is worth about $1.50). I teach 11th grade English, which means it's my job to teach about American literature and the culture that it reflects. This has alway

NOV 07

Democracy vs. Money

36by Peter Greene / 5d

Perhaps the most striking thing about the many, many elections going on around the country (honest, the Presidency is not the only thing up for a vote) is the huge amount of money being invested in so many of these races. * In Massachusetts, an extraordinary amount of dark, out-of-state money has been spent to open the market for more charter entrepreneurs to come in and make a buck revitalize edu

NOV 06

Digital Natives Are Lost

59by Peter Greene / 6d

I have had this conversation a thousand thousand times with people of my own generation, people who don't actually work with students. They will be going on about their own computer illiteracy and waxing rhapsodic about the super-duper skills of the young generation, the digital natives. "You don't understand," I'll tell them. "The vast majority of my students don't know jack about modern technolo

ICYMI: Almost Election Day (11/6)

5by Peter Greene / 6d

Good lord, this ugly mess is almost over and we can move on to the ugly aftermath. In the meantime, here are some things to read. Don't forget to share the ones you like-- remember, only good content can drive out bad content. 

CURMUDGUCATION - http://curmudgucation.blogspot.com/

Education Policy 2017: Trumpian Levels of Uncertainty | Daniel Katz, Ph.D.

Education Policy 2017: Trumpian Levels of Uncertainty | Daniel Katz, Ph.D.:

Education Policy 2017: Trumpian Levels of Uncertainty

With the election of Donald Trump to the Presidency (I will take a long time to get used to typing that), education policy until at least January 2021 is a giant question mark.  Secretary Clinton’s education policy was fairly easy to predict – she’d attempt to chart a “middle course” between the full embrace of corporate reform by President Obama and the concerns of her union supporters and close confidants like AFT President Randi Weingarten.  She’d have softened the test and punishment aspects of federal education policy while continuing to support standards and testing in general, and she’d try to pivot the charter school debate into more oversight for the sector as a whole and narrowing federal support to co-called “high quality” charter schools.  That’s hardly my ideal, but at least it would have been highly predictable territory and her credentials as someone genuinely interested in policy meant that she’d have approached education with a degree of thoughtfulness that I’d have appreciated.

President Trump?  Not so much.

The only thing guaranteed by Donald Trump is something that I will deeply regret and his own preening self-regard.  Make no mistake:  education policy in the Trump Administration will favor privatization and be hostile to unionized teachers.  The evidence for this is fairly clear in his choice of Indiana Governor Mike Pence as his Vice President.  Governor Pence made education reform a central feature of his administration, and the results have not been especially pretty.  Pence’s administration made a hard charge for additional charter school funding, although he did increase oversight in the sector.  He also pushed to allow more public funds to go to vouchers for private schools, and he “rejected” the Common Core standards, only to have Indiana develop its own that look remarkably like the Common Core standards along with an Indiana specific standardized test that costs far more than the federally backed PARCC and SBAC exams.  Even if Mr. Pence does not have much say in federal education policy (his real passions in government seem far more related to banning abortion and making life hell for LGBTQ people), Trump surrogate Donald Trump Jr. used his July convention speech to trash public education in the United States without regard for facts or nuance, and when Donald Trump spoke on education he focused mostly on bashing the Common Core Standards and emphasizing school choice as curative.

Suffice to say: Education policy in the Trump administration will come down to as much privatization as they can squeeze in, aided by a Congress that is wired to the bone to hate teacher unions and to believe that the free market can do anything.  People who loathe the Common Core standards will be relieved to see an administration that is hostile to them, but they certainly cannot expect any Education Policy 2017: Trumpian Levels of Uncertainty | Daniel Katz, Ph.D.:

I Walk For Many – redqueeninla

I Walk For Many – redqueeninla:

I Walk For Many

There is street poetry* everywhere; angry and articulate, rude and respectful: “Respect existence or Expect resistance”, “Dear Climate: We’re sorry”, “Say it loud, say it clear: Immigrants are welcome here”, “We Shall Over-Comb”, “Pussy Grabs Back”, “Read a fucking book”, “Reject the fascist-elect”.

I stand for more than a dozen first-degree relatives, people who are too young or too old or too busy or too oversubscribed to turn out today, but whose dismay wants even so to be counted. I stand for several dozen second-degree relatives, for more, and beyond, from whom I read and hear their distress, who by walking for I may caress. I stand for dozens upon hundreds of friends and neighbors, workers and acquaintances who stand with me in spirit yet who cannot turn out in person.

We cannot all turn out but this is in my job description and so I do.

I raise children, I hold them and instruct them and walk with them hand-in-hand as they gain their own foothold on the path of life.

This is my bailiwick so I turn out today and walk for those who mayn’t, not now, I Walk For Many – redqueeninla:

Not our President. New York. 11/12/06 | Fred Klonsky

Not our President. New York. 11/12/06 | Fred Klonsky:

Not our President. New York. 11/12/06

Not our President. New York. 11/12/06 | Fred Klonsky: 

Trump Lite or the Dark Donald: A Reagan Impersonator or a Proto-Fascist? | Ed In The Apple

Trump Lite or the Dark Donald: A Reagan Impersonator or a Proto-Fascist? | Ed In The Apple:

Trump Lite or the Dark Donald: A Reagan Impersonator or a Proto-Fascist?

Will the president-elect govern as Trump lite, a blustering demeanor outside; following a Reagan agenda, or, will candidate Trump, the dark, retributive Donald be the dark, retributive President Trump?

At the Wednesday regularly scheduled Delegate Meeting the expected victory lap became a wake. UFT President Mulgrew scraped the agenda and asked the delegates: what happened in your school today? How should the union respond?

Students were frightened and angry:  Would their parents be deported? What would happen to them? Would high school students be barred from attending college? Read the Mulgrew letter here.

AFT President Weingarten, an undefeatable campaigner for Hillary wrote in a letter to her membership,

Throughout this campaign, Donald Trump promised to fix the rigged economy. He promised to restore America’s middle class, to bring back the country’s manufacturing and industrial base, and to restore dignity and opportunity for Americans—values that we as trade unionists understand intimately…. as Hillary Clinton said on Wednesday, we owe President-elect Trump the chance to lead. We will also hold him accountable for the promises he made to restore the sense of greatness and opportunity that too many Americans feel they have Trump Lite or the Dark Donald: A Reagan Impersonator or a Proto-Fascist? | Ed In The Apple:

Anti-Trump Protesters Gather In Union Square | Raginghorseblog

Anti-Trump Protesters Gather In Union Square | Raginghorseblog:

Anti-Trump Protesters Gather In Union Square

And so again they came.

New Yorkers aghast at the election of Donald J. Trump to the presidency of the United States gathered in Union Square, just as they are gathered in towns and cities across the country, to signal their fears, their outrage, their beliefs, their defiance and ultimately their hopes for a sane, inclusive and compassionate America. They then proceeded to march peacefully up 5th Ave to the hideous Trump Tower where they were met by a massive police presence.

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Anger over election turns to action, chants and tears in Newark |

Anger over election turns to action, chants and tears in Newark |:

Anger over election turns to action, chants and tears in Newark

Nenseh Koneh, a Temple University student from Newark, speaks to anti-Trump demonstrators at City Hall

About 100 demonstrators, mostly young women of color, marched and chanted their way through the streets of downtown Newark Saturday afternoon, part of a spreading movement against the presidency of Donald Trump. They staged two sit-down protests in four hours, closing McCarter Highway and occupying the concourse of Newark Penn Station.

“If there ain’t gonna be no justice, there ain’t gonna be no peace!”

Their chants–“If there ain’t gonna be no justice, there ain’t gonna be no peace!”–and their makeshift signs–“Fuck Trump” and “Pussy grabs back!”–showed how the shock and sadness over the results of Tuesday’s election have been transformed into anger and, possibly, sustained action.

“Love trumps hate!”

Many of the students said they would travel to New York and Philadelphia to join continuing demonstrations against Trump whose campaign against Hillary Clinton was marked by threats to ban Muslim visitors to the United States and the creation of a task force to deport more than 11 million undocumented workers.

Anti-Trump protesters stage sit-in in Newark Penn Station

“Build bridges not walls!”

Although it was noisy, the demonstration was peaceful and there were no arrests.

“No justice, no peace–no racist police!”

“I was only worried once,” said Anger over election turns to action, chants and tears in Newark |:

BAT Board of Directors - Statement on the Election of Donald Trump - Badass Teachers Association

Badass Teachers Association:

BAT Board of Directors - Statement on the Election of Donald Trump

The Badass Teachers Association, an education activist organization of over 80,000, remains undaunted in our efforts to save public education and fight for social justice for ALL communities. The election campaign was one filled with vile hatred toward immigrants, people with disabilities, Muslims, the LGBTQ community, Jews, People of Color, and women. Not only was the campaign filled with hateful rhetoric, but there have been over 1000 incidents of racist, sexist, and xenophobic bullying since the election. Some of these incidents have been in our schools and directed toward our children. At this time we call on President-elect Trump to denounce these acts of violence and intimidation being done in his name. As an organization we will continue to fight any and all language, actions, or deeds that hurt, marginalize, and oppress children and their families. We will not sit idly by and allow hatred to enter our school buildings and communities. In classrooms throughout America we will continue to teach our children to respect individuality and humanity. We will continue to teach them kindness, compassion, and to embrace justice.

Donald Trump will soon be the President. On the campaign trail he made statements about K-12 education. The statements he had made talked of directing federal funding to support for-profit schools, homeschooling, dismantling the USDOE, supporting voucher programs to private schools that discriminate, unconstitutional vouchers for parochial schools, and firing 400,000 teachers. Public education should be the great equalizer. President-elect Trump states that he will downsize the USDOE with the possibility of eliminating the Office of Civil Rights. This will have a drastic impact on IDEA enforcement, our children with disabilities, our children who live in poverty, and our minority children who have always gotten less. These are reasons we worry about his impending Presidency. We worry that in the next four years he will destroy public education and he will advance the attack on public education in communities of color.

BATs is an organization devoted to social justice and a strong, equitable public education for all children. Our purpose is to support public education as the great equalizer and for the public good. A vision of public education cannot be determined by or stay in the hands of private corporations. Public education is defined by its democratic essence. It demands having a network of institutions dedicated to service all the communities. These institutions must act independently from each other and from any type of coercion from federal or state governments, or private institutions, but in coordination so cooperation can be practiced with the goal of improvement. We oppose the attempt to privatize our public school system and the fact that the weapons of privatization have been used to attack public education in black and brown communities. Now, more than ever, it is vital for us as educators to use our voices to stand and advocate for those who have been marginalized and silenced. It is time for us to actualize the work we have done, mostly through a national online platform, and grow it as a viable living presence in each and every one of our communities.

PLEASE JOIN THE BAT CAMPAIGN #TEACHERSTALK2TRUMP - GO HERE FOR MORE INFO!

https://www.facebook.com/BATsTeachersTalk2Trump/

Badass Teachers Association:

Seattle Schools Community Forum: High School Walkout Planned for Monday

Seattle Schools Community Forum: High School Walkout Planned for Monday:

High School Walkout Planned for Monday

It is my understanding that some SPS high school students are planning a walk-out on Monday because of the presidential election results.  I only have firm notice from one school but have been told that others will participate.  SPS says that students participating will be given an unexcused absence. 

“TOGETHER WE STAND”

West Seattle, WA: The Chief Sealth Intl. High School Black Student Union will be participating in a school wide walkout and rally outside of Chief Sealth Intl. High School on Monday, November 14, 2016 at 1:30pm. 

In this rally, we want to show that our students are here for each other and that we won’t back down. We are proud of our school’s diversity, no matter who’s elected into office or what they may say. 

After the election of Donald Trump as president of the United States, there has been a heightened fear among Students of Color, Immigrant Students, Muslim Students, Female Students, and more. The examples of hate crimes and discrimination all over the country has our students afraid for their future and the future of their friends and family. 

We say “heightened” because the struggle for Students of Color, Immigrant Students, Muslim Students, and Female Students is not new. It has been ongoing, and we come together today to show that we will have each other's backs as we enter this new era.

We will not be afraid. We know that when we stand together, we are strong. We know that when we stand together, the racism, islamophobia, anti-immigrant sentiment, homophobia and misogyny that Donald Trump stoked during his campaign will not find a voice in our community. We know that when we all stand together those that have been empowered by Seattle Schools Community Forum: High School Walkout Planned for Monday: