Friday, April 1, 2011

Modern School: Exploit Kids! They’re Even Cheaper Than Non-Union Adults!

Exploit Kids! They’re Even Cheaper Than Non-Union Adults!

by Michael Dunn

In February I wrote about how Missouri was gutting child labor protections. Now Maine is attempting the same. According to Democracy Now! Republican lawmakers are trying to roll back Maine’s child labor laws with two new bills that would allow bosses to pay anyone under the age of 20 a full $2.25 per hour less than their minimum wage (for their first 180 days on the job), and it would allow teenagers to work an hour longer on a school days. The Huffington Post said that Bill LD 516 would allow 16 and 17-year olds to work until 11:00 pm on school nights (currently they are only allowed to work until 10:00), while LD 1346 would allow them to work up to 4 hours per day on school days.

In related news, Maine’s Tea Party Gov. Paul LePage removed a mural depicting Maine’s labor history from the state's Labor Department building. Working In These Times reported that he also ordered the renaming of conference rooms that had been named for labor leaders,

SACRAMENTO PROGRESSIVE ALLIANCE: Dr. Manning Marable, R.I.P.

Dr. Manning Marable, R.I.P.

by Paul B

Manning Marable, celebrated Columbia University professor and top Civil Rights scholar, dies

By Corky Siemaszko

DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITER

Friday, April 1st 2011, 6:38 PM

Columbia University professor Manning Marable, an expert on African-American history, died Friday just days before his long-awaited biography of Malcolm X is released.

In "Malcolm X: A Life of Reinvention," the 60-year-old scholar was expected to identify an elderly Newark man as

US Senator Bernie Sanders – it’s a scandal that many corporations pay no taxes, then receive IRS refunds!

by SOURCE on APRIL 1, 2011

in: AMERICAN EMPIRE, ECONOMY

March 30, 2011 – US Senator Bernie Sanders speaks to the Senate.

Exxon Mobil, Bank of America, GE and other giant corporations paid no U.S. taxes despite billions in profits. In fact, they pocketed big IRS refunds. It’s a scandal, Sen. Bernie Sanders told colleagues on Wednesday. As congressional leaders and the White House haggled over how many billions of dollars to cut spending on programs for working families, Bernie tried to broaden the debate. He compiled a top-10 list of tax-dodging corporations. “Maybe we have to reduce that deficit not simply on the backs of working families, low-income people, the children, the sick, the elderly. Maybe, maybe we might want to call for shared sacrifice. Maybe Exxon-Mobil and some of the large oil companies might be asked to pay something in taxes.”

Sen. Sanders’ 10 worst corporate income tax avoiders.

Exxon Mobil made $19 billion in profits in 2009. Exxon not only paid no federal income taxes, it actually received a $156 million rebate from the IRS, according to

Modern School: Fix Enrollment or Abolish It?

Fix Enrollment or Abolish It?

by Michael Dunn

California’s Parent Trigger law has received a lot of media attention lately. However, this is not the only new rule that increases parents’ control over their children’s school. Last year, the California state legislature fast tracked through an Open Enrollment law that would allow students from the state’s lowest performing schools to transfer to a better school, even one outside their home district. Today John Fensterwald - Educated Guess wrote about this new rule in a blog posting, “Fixing Open Enrollment,” arguing that it is basically a good idea that was poorly planned and executed.

One of his criticisms is that there are too many exemptions. For example, the law excludes charter schools and limits Open Enrollment to only 10% of the schools in any district. As a result, some schools are being punished, despite having made test score gains, because they were the lowest performing school in an otherwise high performing district. According to Fensterwald, an amended version of the law, AB 47, would exempt schools with an API score

Schools Matter: Expelling Care from the Teacher-Child Relation

Expelling Care from the Teacher-Child Relation

by Jim Horn

Published at Common Dreams:

Expelling Care from the Teacher-Child Relation

by Jim Horn and Rachel Squires Bloom

The social impact of high stakes testing in poor urban schools has grown particularly acute over the past 10 years. For beyond the shrinkage of school curriculums to fit the narrow boundaries of annual tests, along with the disappearance of recess and play, research in poorer schools has uncovered another most tragic outcome to high stakes testing: the effective elimination of care as the ethos that has bound together teacher and child for longer than there have been schools in America. Sadly, many of the teachers 10 years ago who were the protectors of and the advocates for children, who often served to help children bear their burdens that result from poverty, neglect, and racism, have left the field or have since suffered a relentless erosion of that close teacher-student bond that historically characterized the relation between educators and children in urban elementary schools.

Ironically, that erosion has been due to a desperate effort among teachers to emphasize the positive and to avoid the negative in the face of the ever-present threat of failure and the reality of failure to make Adequate Yearly

A message from students who left | Philadelphia Public School Notebook

A message from students who left

Some of those who are now reconnected say their schools could have done better.

Photo: Harvey Finkle

At Olney West and other high schools, students are greeted by metal detectors used by the District to screen for weapons. But some students say they feel treated like criminals.

While the numbers are slowly improving, four in ten of Philadelphia's young people never finish high school. This dropout crisis impacts everyone – taxpayers, parents, employers, and community members. But those affected most immediately are the youth themselves.

To gain their viewpoint on what should be done, the Notebook interviewed more than 20 young people who are in alternative schools, GED preparation classes, and other programs for out-of-school youth.

Students talk about homelessness, family crises, death, pregnancy, abuse,

This Week In Education: Blog Roundup: Tiger Mom Has Reason To Gloat

Blog Roundup: Tiger Mom Has Reason To Gloat

by Alexander Russo

Tiger Mom Triumph Gawker: Perfect daughter Sophia Chua-Rubenfeld—offspring of mean Chinese "tiger mother" Amy Chua—has got into Harvard, and plans to matriculate this fall... Justices Weigh Youths' Miranda RightsMark Walsh: The U.S. Supreme Court appeared sharply split on Wednesday over a case about the police interrogation at school of a 13-year-old student suspected of committing neighborhood thefts... In Performance Evaluations, Subjectivity Is Not Random Shanker Blog: Bias tends to operate in a manner that disproportionately affects workers from traditionally disadvantaged social groups, such as women and African Americans. What’s worse – it’s just as likely to occur within as between groups, and we often do it without realizing... Three Lessons Education Reformers Should Learn From Michelle Rhee's Missteps GOOD: The challenge in the coming weeks will be whether Rhee and her supporters can admit that some of her well-intentioned reforms aren't panning out and adjust their approach to improving public education accordingly... If D.C. Schools Changed Answers, Kids Are Being Cheated Bill Tucker: Before we heed reactionary calls to end standardized testing, it's important to remember the decades of willful neglect prior to NCLB... What Jeb Bush doesn’t like to admit Valerie Strauss: The first is Bush’s own creation of the Florida Reading Research Center, a state technical assistance agency solely focused on providing reading assistance -- complete with reading coaches... Grass Greener For Some Grass Cutters: 18 landscapers made more than $50,000 last year working for Broward County schools. Seventeen stock clerks earned $52,000 or more; two mail clerks were paid $49,000...Guaranteeing my future employment Jay Mathews: In my experience, [family and friends] are often full of ill-considered opinions different from my own — but maybe that’s just me...

SACRAMENTO PROGRESSIVE ALLIANCE: SACRAMENTO WE ARE ONE RALLY -- CESAR CHAVEZ PARK -- MONDAY, APRIL 4TH

SACRAMENTO WE ARE ONE RALLY -- CESAR CHAVEZ PARK -- MONDAY, APRIL 4TH

by Paul B

Sacramento We Are One Rally!

Sacramento, CA

April 4, 2011 05:00PM to 07:00PM

Hosted by Zak Ford

Contact: 916-927-9772

Event Description:Join us to make April 4, 2011, a time to stand in solidarity with working people in Wisconsin, Ohio, Indiana and dozens of other states.

Sponsored by:
Sacramento Central Labor Council

Location:
Cesar Chavez Plaza Park
Sacramento, CA
95814

Directions:
10th and I Streets

Starting to Imagine Non-Compulsory Schools | Lefty Parent

Starting to Imagine Non-Compulsory Schools

by Cooper Zale

As I have mentioned before, I’ve been involved in an ongoing email “forum” over the past five years with fellow members of the Alternative Education Resource Organization (AERO). Topics revolve around youth, learning, and our societies educational institutions and possible alternatives to those institutions. Admittedly, we forum participants can be guilty of arguing perhaps from more of an ivory tower rather than from the trenches at times, but then again you have to be able to see the entire forest at times to best take care of all the trees.

One of the topics that keeps coming up and engenders a lot of impassioned prose on our forum is the reality of compulsory education for youth and the possibility of making it non-compulsory instead. The opinions on what

Remembering Manning Marable « Outside the Cave

Remembering Manning Marable

by Stephen Lazar

This post will eventually grow, but just feeling a need to write something right now.

I just found out that Manning Marable passed away today. One of the great historians of black American history, he was also a trailblazer as a black historian. On a more personal note, he was my teacher, professor, mentor, and thesis adviser for my master’s and has tremendously shaped my life and views. He is perhaps solely responsible for rekindling my love of history.

Manning’s life work is the first historical biography of Malcolm X. It comes out on Tuesday. I can’t think of anything more tragic. When I was studying with him, we read and gave suggestions on a couple chapters. I

More (and More) CHARTER SCHOOL SCANDALS

CHARTER SCHOOL SCANDALS

Indiana charter school cluster (three schools) *LOCAL CHARTER SCHOOLS CITED BY INDIANA STATE BOARD OF ACCOUNTS*; March 31, 2011; The Times of Northwest Indiana (Munster, IN) The Indiana State Board of Accounts has released reports on three local charter schools, citing examples of poor ...

Sand Ridge Charter School *TEACHER'S AIDE INDICTED IN RITALIN CASE*; January 14, 2007; Democrat-Herald (Albany, NY) LEBANON - A Linn County grand jury has indicted a former teacher's aide for possession of a controlled substance and furnishing alcohol to a minor. Kelli ...

A.T. Jones Academy *TAMPA** CHARTER SCHOOL LOSES $64,000 FOR ENROLLING UNDERAGE STUDENTS*; March 23, 2011; Tampa Tribune (FL) TAMPA — Twenty-two children were removed from kindergarten this week after school district officials discovered they were too young to be ...

Williamsburg Charter High School *IN WILLIAMSBURG, REAL ESTATE TROUBLES FOLLOW DECLINING ENROLLMENT; *March 17, 2011; Gotham Schools (New York City, NY) The owner of a brand-new school building in Williamsburg is putting it on the market for $30 million after its tenant, the ...

Kingsbridge Innovative Design Charter School *7-MONTH-OLD CHARTER SCHOOL MAY BE CLOSED*; April 1, 2011; Wall Street Journal The state Education Department took the unusual step of putting a seven-month-old Bronx charter school on probation and is threatening to close the school for financial ...

Carolina International School *MEETING PLANNED FOR CHARTER SCHOOL - CAROLINA INTERNATIONAL PARENTS ARE TALKING WITH STATE OFFICIALS;* February 21, 2011; The Charlotte Observer (NC) A handful of parents have contacted the N.C. State Board of Education concerning the leadership ...

Cleveland Academy of Math, Science and Technology *MINISTER CONVICTED OF STEALING SENTENCED TO 7-YEAR TERM; *August 15, 2007 Cleveland Plain-Dealer A minister convicted of stealing $1.4 million through a Cleveland charter school he founded was sentenced to more than seven years in prison ...

Higher Ground Academy *CHARTER SCHOOL GETS MILLIONS IN TAX MONEY WITH UNLICENSED TEACHERS; March 30, 2011; KSTP-TV news broadcast* (St. Paul, MN) At the top of the list of unlicensed teachers we found the name of the guy in charge, school principal Dr. Samuel Yigzaw. He ...

Roxbury Charter High School *COMMISSIONER TO RECOMMEND IMMEDIATE CLOSURE OF ROXBURY CHARTER HIGH SCHOOL; *Tuesday, December 14, 2004; Massachussets Department of Elementary & Secondary Education press release MALDEN - Education Commissioner David P. Driscoll will ask the ...

Young Technocrats Math and Science Public Charter Laboratory School *DEEPLY IN DEBT, D.C. CHARTER SCHOOL CLOSES*; July 7, 1999; The Washington Post (DC) More than 400 D.C. students are scrambling to find a place to attend classes this fall after their year-old public charter school closed for good Friday, with the ...

Chase Academy for Communication Arts *CHARTER SCHOOL MIGHT CLOSE AFTER STATE HALTS FUNDING: CHASE ACADEMY'S ENROLLMENT CORRECTION IS COSTLY; *February 24, 2010; Columbus Dispatch (OH) No more state money is coming to a Columbus charter school, which means it likely will close. Chase ...

Jefferson Academy *JEFFERSON** CHARTER SCHOOL MUST MEET CONDITIONS TO STAY OPEN;* March 30, 2001; Rocky Mountain News (Denver, CO) A Jefferson County charter school must clean up its books, replace most of its governing board and notify parents of students' rights if ...

21st Century Charter School *PARENTS** BOYCOTT CHARTER SCHOOL*; May 10, 2006; Post-Tribune (Gary, IN) A parental uprising at 21st Century charter school led to a class boycott and an overflow of parents at a School Board meeting Tuesday. The fledgling charter school that lured ...

Thea Bowman Preparatory Academy *DISTRICT CHARTER SCHOOL TO SHUT DOWN AT END OF SCHOOL YEAR, CITING LOW ENROLLMENT AND FINANCES*; March 23, 2010; Washington Post (D.C.) WASHINGTON — A Washington public charter school says it is shutting down at the end of the school year. Thea ...

Nia Community Public Charter School *SCHOOL BOARD VOTES TO PURSUE CLOSURE OF TWO D.C. CHARTERS; *March 30, 2011; The Examiner (Washington, DC) The D.C. charter school board voted Tuesday night to move forward in closing Nia Community and Ideal Academy, charters that have not ...

Ideal Academy *SCHOOL BOARD VOTES TO PURSUE CLOSURE OF TWO D.C. CHARTERS; *March 30, 2011; The Examiner (Washington, DC) The D.C. charter school board voted Tuesday night to move forward in closing Nia Community and Ideal Academy, charters that have not ...

Equality Charter School *CHARTER SCHOOL, STRUGGLING, HIRED LEADERS' KIN;* Friday, Oct 15, 2010; City Limits (New York City, NY) …In [Equality Charter School’s] charter application to the city and the state, the school's co-founders Myers (who serves as principal), Margaret ...

Mike Klonsky's SmallTalk Blog: Pilsen neighborhood school kids ingesting toxic lead

Pilsen neighborhood school kids ingesting toxic lead

by Mike Klonsky

Alderman Solis, supported by Rahm, is taking big bucks from polluters

Today's Trib reports highly toxic levels of lead found in schools in Chicago's heavily Mexican Pilsen neighborhood.

Residents in Chicago's Pilsen neighborhood complained for years about metallic-tasting smoke rolling down their narrow streets but had little evidence it was harmful. Now they have proof.

Perez Elementary and Juarez High School sit in the middle of one of the city's most toxic areas where lead is being poured into the air by polluters like: H. Kramer & Co., Crawford Power Plant, Fisk Power Plant, United Scrap Metal, Ames Metal, and yes-- UIC.

Why is all this only now coming to light after years of

KOCH BLOWS News | www.kochwatch.org

News | www.kochwatch.org

The Daily Page: Scott Walker's crony plan to replace Wisconsin civil servants with appointees could prove costly*Workers with rights can't just be dumped for those without them* *March 31, 2011-* Lester Pines isn't at a loss for reasons to dislike a provision in Gov. Scott Walker's "budget repair bill" that calls for replacing civil servants in key state ...

The Colbert Report: Madison as Hell WATCH ON COLBERT REPORT:

The Brad Blog: Union-Busting House GOP Redefines 'Democracy' PLUS: Correlating the demise of unions and U.S. wealth disparity... *March 31, 2011-* Rep. John Mica (R-FL), Chair of the House Transportation Committee, inserted union-busting language into the 2011 Federal Aviation Administration Re-authorization ...

The Big Regent is Watching You! « occupy california

The Big Regent is Watching You!

by *

from RebelRadio:

Along with the recent discovery of an administrative infiltration of activists’ circles at UC Davis and surveillance at UC Berkeley (read here and here), it has just come to our attention that the administrative violence is rampant and quite widespread.

Information suggesting that UCIPD has been working with the Orange County Intelligence Assessment Center, a local Joint Terrorism Task Force affiliated with the Department of Homeland Security and the FBI’s National Security Network, to monitor student protests and student activists has just become available after John Bruning, a local activist on the UC Irvine campus, retrieved the information requested as per a public records

This ain’t your granddaddy’s technical education « EducationCEO's Blog

This ain’t your granddaddy’s technical education Leave a comment

‘I am done with school….I don’t need to learn anything else!’ That is what I have said time-and-time again when asked ‘What do you plan to do next? Ph.D.?’ I can’t even lie: I love learning. My problem is that opportunities to utilize (most of) the things I have learned are scarce, unless of course I belong to the ‘right’ sorority, church, etc. So whenever I have conversations with people about what I know about education, leadership, curriculum, etc. they look amazed and ask, ‘Why aren’t you in a classroom?’ Rather than give them the entire story about the drama with that school system, I just say: ‘I got tired of the politics.’

Lately I’ve gotten a bit nostalgic about the time I spent in the classroom. Yes, even the memories of the ‘problem’ students can still make me smile or literally laugh-out-loud on most days. But even more than that, I am thinking about going back to school to sort of re-invent myself. Actually, I will be going back to school next week. Not another grad program, but instead I will be enrolled in the E-Learning Design & Development Specialist certificate program at one of Georgia’s technical colleges. And I am really excited! I get to learn something new (for free) and I am not required to sit in a class and listen to someone

HechingerEd Blog | Gentrification and school reform

What if gentrification could solve the problems of inner city public schools?

by No Byline

The root problem behind the poor academic achievement in most struggling inner city schools is concentrated poverty. Being poor, while not a guarantee of low achievement in itself, is attached to all kinds of other problems that can hurt a child’s academic chances: poor health, domestic violence etc.

The new education reformers, including people like Michelle Rhee, the former D.C. chancellor, argue that good teachers can overcome all of these problems. But for years, schools with high numbers of poor children have had a hard time attracting the best teachers, who usually can have their pick of places to teach. Often, they’d rather

KOCH BREAK News | www.kochwatch.org

News | www.kochwatch.org

The Maine Department of Labor Mural Revised WATCH ON YOUTUBE:

Talking Points Memo: So How Rich Is Sean Duffy? Not Very...For A Congressman *March 31, 2011- *Rep. Sean Duffy (R-WI) is in hot water this week for saying that he's "struggling" to pay bills on his $174,000 annual taxpayer-funded salary. In the now-infamous video clip, Duffy told attendees at a Polk County, Wisc., town hall ...

LaCrosse Tribune: Democrats: We have the signatures in Kapanke recall effort *April 1, 2011-* La Crosse area Democrats say they will file petitions today with enough signatures to trigger a recall election of Sen. Dan Kapanke, one of eight Senate Republicans targeted over votes to curtail collective bargaining rights for ...

Stephen Colbert on Madison Hell | Uppity Wisconsin

Stephen Colbert on Madison Hell

by Steve Hanson

A brief commentary on Scott Walker and "activist judges".

The Colbert Report	Mon - Thurs 11:30pm / 10:30c
Madison as Hell
www.colbertnation.com
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Gov. Walker explains recalls to Dan Kapanke

by Steve Hanson

Popout

As the Kapanke recall effort announces that they've collected enough signatures.