West Michigan school chief warns staff of severe cuts, says Gov. Rick Snyder's budget aims to break teacher union | MLive.com

West Michigan school chief warns staff of severe cuts, says Gov. Rick Snyder's budget aims to break teacher union | MLive.com

West Michigan school chief warns staff of severe cuts, says Gov. Rick Snyder's budget aims to break teacher union

Published: Saturday, March 12, 2011, 9:10 AM Updated: Saturday, March 12, 2011, 4:15 PM

By Garret Ellison | The Grand Rapids Press
Follow

Rex Larsen | The Grand Rapids PressGodfrey-Lee Schools Superintendent Dave Britten tells district employees of the budget problems that will lead to serious cuts to programs and staffing.

WYOMING — Godfrey-Lee Superintendent Dave Britten likened the public education cuts proposed by Gov. Rick Snyder to the military pulling billions of dollars and every tenth person from commanders in Afghanistan, and asking them to “get better and win.”

“Where’s the logic?” he asked employees Friday while explaining the district’s financial woes and why more than 100 of them may get pink-slipped in April.

Glum faces greeted his outline for not just staff cuts, but significant program and curriculum cutbacks that would happen if Snyder’s plan passes the Legislature unchanged.

Message of Solidarity from a Haitian Teachers’ Union to the Workers in Wisconsin | Defend Wisconsin #union #wearewi #WIunion

Message of Solidarity from a Haitian Teachers’ Union to the Workers in Wisconsin | Defend Wisconsin

Message of Solidarity from a Haitian Teachers’ Union to the Workers in Wisconsin

by jillhopke

Union Nationale des Normaliens d’Haïti (UNNOH)

313, Rue Joseph Janvier

Port-au-Prince, HAITI

Le 06 Mars 2011

The Executive Council of the National Union of Teachers’ College Graduates of Haiti (UNNOH) has received word of the huge and difficult struggle which you are in the midst of waging against the Governor of your State, who is attempting to trample underfoot your legitimate rights by getting an anti-union law passed. These rights, which were acquired by means of tough battles and for which the blood of workers has been shed, may on no account be given away. Therefore there is a categorical imperative, to cite Immanuel Kant, to carry on this fight until ultimate victory, so as to block the vote for such a law and to consolidate the gains which the Governor intends to take away from the comrades in the public sector unions.

In the name of the duty of union solidarity, UNNOH brings to you, comrades of the State of Wisconsin, our firm support in this struggle for the respect of union rights. We urge our comrades there to keep going, to hold firm, in spite of the enormous difficulties which stand in your path. Because victiry is not far off!

For the Executive Council of the National Union of Teachers’ College Graduates of Haiti (UNNOH):

Josué Merilien

Coordinator General

The Nation: Tractors Roll Into Madison, As Wisconsin Readies for the Biggest Protest Yet | www.kochwatch.org

The Nation: Tractors Roll Into Madison, As Wisconsin Readies for the Biggest Protest Yet | www.kochwatch.org

The Nation: Tractors Roll Into Madison, As Wisconsin Readies for the Biggest Protest Yet

By CD - Posted on 12 March 2011

March 11, 2011- The numbers tell the story of Wisconsin’s resistance, and its resilience.

The tens.

The hundreds.

The thousands.

The tens of thousands.

The hundreds of thousands.

Wisconsinites from every background, every religion, every politics and every job have filled the Capitol Square for the past month.

Their message has been clear and unequivocal. They oppose Scott Walker’s assault on working families. They oppose the lawless actions of legislative leaders who are more

Daily Kos: Here's an opportunity for input to my classroom

Daily Kos: Here's an opportunity for input to my classroom

Here's an opportunity for input to my classroom

by rss@dailykos.com (teacherken)

I have been given an opportunity by my principal to explore the use of personal electronic technology and social media in an instructional context in my classroom. Currently students are not allowed to have their personal electronics - phones and mp3 players - on during the school day. Of course that is unrealistic on several levels.

First, we are trying to instruct students while attempting to disconnect them from how they interact with the world.

Second, it doesn't work. On Friday, in my three AP classes and my one American Scholars class, I asked students to be honest - no punishment would be applied - and tell me how many had their phones or mp3

M&I Bank, Among Scott Walker’s Chief Financial Backers, Is the Target of a “Move Your Money” Campaign #union #wearewi #WIunion

We Party Patriots » Blog Archive » M&I Bank, Among Scott Walker’s Chief Financial Backers, Is the Target of a “Move Your Money” Campaign Reaching from Wisconsin to Arizona and Minnesota

Comparison of “Right-to-Work” Language in Maine, New Hampshire, Missouri Bills Reveals Alarming Similarities

by E.M. Ployd

Dirigo Blue has decided to examine “Right-to-Work” bills introduced in three states, suspicious of who is actually behind the 8-state Right-to-Work effort. Americans for Prosperity, a “free market” advocacy group founded by David Koch, has been shopping a right to work initiative for Michigan’s ballot since 2008. And this year can be found “right to

M&I Bank, Among Scott Walker’s Chief Financial Backers, Is the Target of a “Move Your Money” Campaign Reaching from Wisconsin to Arizona and Minnesota

by E.M. Ployd

M & I Bank, among Scott Walker’s chief financial backers, is bearing the burden of its political donations as customers in the Madison, Wisconsin area have begun to take their business to more union-conscious establishments. The buck, pun intended, does not stop there. People are Facebooking and Tweeting about the jubilance of withdrawing their money

Help Los Angeles Students March in Sacramento – This Monday, 3-14-11 | Dailycensored.com

Help Los Angeles Students March in Sacramento – This Monday, March 14th! STOP Governor Brown’s Budget Cuts! Defend CA’s Promise of Higher Ed for All! | Dailycensored.com

Help Los Angeles Students March in Sacramento – This Monday, March 14th! STOP Governor Brown’s Budget Cuts! Defend CA’s Promise of Higher Ed for All!

Written by Danny WeilEducationMar 12, 2011

0digg

Share

This coming Monday, March 14th, has been called as a Day of Action in Sacramento to fight against Governor Brown’s proposal for massive cuts of $1.4 billion to public higher education in his budget.

Mass action in Sacramento on Monday can turn the tide in our favor in the battle over Brown’s proposed cuts.

The California State Student Association (CSSA) and Student Senate for California Community Colleges (SSCCC) put out the initial call for March 14th. Cal State and community college students from across the state have been organizing to go to Sacramento for the march to the Capitol.

BAMN is organizing vans for students at LA area community colleges and high schools who want to march in Sacramento on Monday. We need your help in building and organizing the movement if we are to win.

See BAMN’s most recent statement on the growing movement in California in defense of public education: http://www.bamn.com/doc/2011/110211-march2-dayofaction.asp

We need your financial assistance to help us get students to Sacramento on Monday. Even modest donations would be a great help. Please contact us atcalifornia@bamn.com for more information or call 323.474.8222.

If you would like to make a tax-deductible contribution go to:

United for Equality and Affirmative Action (UEAALDF)

http://www.ueaa.net/donate.htm

Marchers will assemble in Sacramento on March 14th from 6:30 to 10 a.m. at the

California Auto Museum, 2200 Front Street. Then, we’ll march to the west steps of the Capitol at 11 a.m. for a rally that will last until around noon.

See the Student Senate for California Community Colleges site at:

http://www.studentsenateccc.org/NewsEvents/MarchinMarch/tabid/294/Default.aspx

See the California State Student Association flier here:

http://www.csustudents.org/images/CSSA_March_For_Higher_Ed_FINAL%282%29.JPG

Modern School: Class War: A National Wave of Anti-Worker Repression

Modern School: Class War: A National Wave of Anti-Worker Repression

Class War: A National Wave of Anti-Worker Repression

by Michael Dunn

Across the nation the attacks on workers is growing, and it’s not just by Republicans, either. The ruling class smells blood and fear and is getting cockier each day. As Walker and others strip away collective bargaining rights and other union protections, the mainstream union leadership has all but given up, telling workers to go back to work and not to make any trouble. This is exactly the kind of message that riles up the rich for further attacks. They can see that their prey is weak and unwilling to resist. They recognize that the time is ripe to go for the jugular.

The Republicans are preparing to destroy unions entirely. They hate unions’ ability to negotiate higher wages, which cuts into profits. They also hate unions’ ability to raise large sums of money for their Democratic allies. The Republican goal is the destruction of unions and the Democratic Party. The Democrats, on the other hand, desperately need unions and their resources and votes, but they, too, want to see a decline in the power at the workplace. The Democrats, after all, are also part of the ruling elite. They too have large investments on Wall Street, successful law partnerships and appointments on boards.

Partial Rundown of State Attacks on Labor

• Arizona has several bills on the table that will lead to a virtual police state for workers. SB 1350 blocks public employees from

Communicators. « Fred Klonsky's blog

Communicators. « Fred Klonsky's blog

Communicators.

by Fred Klonsky

Charlie McBarron and me at the IEA RA. Charlie is the Director of Communications for the IEA. Photo by Ed Rosenthal, IEA Retired, who is known for bringing folks together.

PFT rallies to defend Philly teacher who spoke out « JD2718

PFT rallies to defend Philly teacher who spoke out « JD2718

PFT rallies to defend Philly teacher who spoke out

by jd2718

Hope Moffet works at a school that the Philadelphia superintendent wants to close. She spoke out, publicly, strongly, against the closure. As a result, she was suspended, and the District was moving to fire her. Would the Philadelphia Federation of Teachers step up? We have the answer: absolutely.

The closing of Audenried HS is not justified. Hope, a TfAer, said so, clearly. The data were wrong. Audenried, recently reopened, was improving.

The district reassigned her first, and then created charges later. One of the charges was that she shared the

Randi Weingarten: History and Voters Will Not Be Kind #union #wearewi #WIunion

Randi Weingarten: History and Voters Will Not Be Kind

Randi Weingarten

President, American Federation of Teachers

Posted: March 12, 2011 11:55 AM

History and Voters Will Not Be Kind

Over the last three weeks, Gov. Scott Walker and his allies in the Wisconsin Legislature made a mockery of representative government. Rather than listen to the citizens of Wisconsin, who are strongly opposed to stripping teachers, nurses and other workers of their rights, Walker rammed through a bill that was a blatant political payback to his out-of-state major campaign donors and cronies, who have sought for years to crush the aspirations of workers who dare to demand a voice in the workplace. This charade culminated when Walker shredded 50 years of labor peace, built through bipartisanship and a democratic process, and signed a bill into law against the wishes of a majority of the voters in Wisconsin.

The governor may have won a short-term political victory, but history and Wisconsin voters won't be so kind. Power exercised without discretion and prudence is corrupting. And based on Gov. Walker's actions -- his underhanded maneuvering to get the bill passed, his misrepresentations that the bill was part of reducing the budget deficit, and his manipulation of the process so the bill could

U1TV: Union Busting 101 | www.kochwatch.org #union #wearewi #WIunion

U1TV: Union Busting 101 | www.kochwatch.org

U1TV: Union Busting 101

by CD

Episode 1: "Fear"

WATCH ON YOUTUBE:

Democurmudgeon: One of the Best Signs Today #union #wearewi #WIunion

Democurmudgeon: One of the Best Signs Today....

One of the Best Signs Today....

by Democurmudgeon

Explained: The Republican Redistribution from the Poor and Middle Class to the Wealthy. Watch this!!!

by Democurmudgeon

Rachel put a lot of work into the best explanation I've seen so far regarding the current attack on the poor and middle class. Remember the tea party screams about Obama's "redistribution" comment?

These same low information voters don't see that happening in reverse, upward to the wealthy elite.

Wisconsin State Journal columnist Chris Rickert presented this interesting comment from our local tea party organizer in Fort Atkinson:

Nate Friedl, an organizer of the Fort Atkinson-based tea party group Rock River Patriots, said members "very much support the governor." … To the extent that his group can help defeat Republicans too closely tied to corporate interests in the future, it will, he said.

I guess we shouldn't hold our breath waiting for "help" from these partisan costumed freaks.

Ezra Klein Warns Job Losses on the Way, and Questions GOP intentions of "Job Creation."

by Democurmudgeon