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Sunday, December 16, 2018

Do all lives still matter? Asking for a little girl - enrique baloyra @nenebalo YouTube

Do all lives still matter? Asking for a little girl - YouTube

Do all lives still matter? 
Asking for a little girl


 enrique baloyra @nenebalo YouTube



On Thursday the Washington Post broke the story that an indigenous girl had died while in U.S. Customs and Border Protection custody the week before. Seven-year-old Jakelin Ameí Rosmery Caal Maquin and her father traveled over a thousand miles through some of the most inhospitable terrain in the Western Hemisphere, fleeing gang violence, extortion, and crippling poverty in their home village.
They surrendered themselves to CBP agents on December 6, then waited over five hours for a bus to transport them to an internment camp. On the way there, she started having convulsions. By the time emergency workers reached her, her body temperature was almost 106 degrees.
She died of dehydration, shock, and liver failure.
Naturally, those same pro-lifers who’ve been screaming that all lives matter are now, like, meh. Her father should’ve made better choices.
Jason Chaffetz said her death “should be a message” to others planning this journey. Why don’t we just hang her body at the border? Like a bunch of thugs marking out turf.
On Friday Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen said, “This family chose to cross illegally.”
Like the secretary’s family chose to send her to private school. Just make better choices, refugees.
“It’s come to this: Threats that we won’t just take your children, but kill your children, if you dare seek safety from people who are also trying to kill your family members.”
https://twitter.com/AmandaMarcotte/st...
“DHS Secretary Nielsen blames Jakelin's family for her death, but here are some of her goons happily kicking jugs of water left for migrants that could have saved her life.”
https://twitter.com/Marmel/status/107...
“Kirstjen Nielsen Urges Migrant Parents Leave The Weak Ones Behind
https://trib.al/qBNF63e “ https://twitter.com/TheOnion/status/1...
Investigative immigration reporter Aura Bogado has documented how detainees are placed in freezing cold rooms, called “hieleras.” They’re served instant ramen for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. They sleep on the cold floors. And border agents refuse to drink, cook with, or even bathe with the same contaminated water given the detainees.
This inhumane policy of teargassing refugees and putting their children in perreras was supposed to stop the flow of Central American immigration. But it’s clearly not working, and 15 thousand unaccompanied minors remain in CBP custody.
This holiday season we’re reminded the lengths to which desperate parents are willing to go to save their children.


Do all lives still matter? Asking for a little girl - YouTube




SPOTLIGHT BLOG OF THE WEEK: GADFLY ON THE WALL BLOG (gadflyonthewallblog.com)

gadflyonthewallblog | "To sting people and whip them into a fury, all in the service of truth."

SPOTLIGHT BLOG OF THE WEEK: GADFLY ON THE WALL BLOG (gadflyonthewallblog.com)






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What Happened to 2018 As The Year of the Teacher?

This year teachers took their mission way beyond the classroom. Starting in West Virginia, we staged half-a-dozen walkouts in red states across the country demanding a better investment in children’s educations and often getting it. Then we took that momentum and stormed our state capitals and Washington, DC, with thousands of grassroots campaigns that translated into seats in government. It was

DEC 07

Charter School Lobby Silent as Charter Teachers Continue Strike

Charter school teachers in Chicago are in their fourth day of a strike . Yet I wonder why the leaders of the charter movement are quiet. Where is Peter Cunningham of the Education Post ? Where is Shaver Jeffries of Democrats for Education Reform ? Not a word from Campbell Brown or Michelle Rhee ? Nothing from Bill Gates , Cory Booker, Barack Obama or Hillary Clinton ? Not a peep from Betsy DeVos

DEC 04

The Holiday Season Brings Fear and Resentment for Many Students

“I hate Christmas.” Teachers hear that with surprising regularity around this time of year . I hate Christmas. I hate Thanksgiving. I hate every holiday. America’s public school students are living under tremendous pressure. The social safety net is full of holes . And our children are left to fall through the ripped and torn fabric. The sad fact is that one in four students in America’s classroo

NOV 30

Billionaire Heiress Lashes Out at Unions Because Her Fortune Didn’t Buy Election

Betsy DeVos is furious! She and her family spent boatloads of money this election cycle and few of their candidates won. Instead, lawmakers were largely selected by these things called… ew… voters. She was so enraged that she used her platform as Secretary of Education – another prudent purchase by her family – to lash out at teachers unions for – get this – having too much influence!!!!! She tol

NOV 27

Teachers, It’s Okay to Smile

I’m standing in front of my first period class after a long Thanksgiving break. Papers are rustling. Pencils are being sharpened. Voices are lowering to a whisper. And it occurs to me how glad I am to be here. So I tell my students. “We have a lot to go over today,” I begin and most of my middle school faces turn serious. “But I just want to tell you all how happy I am to be here.” Curiosity move

NOV 23

Dear Lawmakers, Please Hire Teachers as Education Aides – Not TFA Alumni

Dear freshmen lawmakers, We did it! After a fiercely contested election, we have finally begun to turn the tide back toward progressive politics. Midterms usually are sparsely attended, but this year we had an unprecedented turnout. A total of 2 3 states had double-digit percentage-point increases compared with their 1982-2014 midterm election averages. And the result is one of the largest and mo

NOV 19

Charter School Cheerleaders Elected to Leadership with PA House Dems

Democratic gains in the midterm elections were a repudiation of the policies of Donald Trump. Yet holding nearly the same views as Trump’s Education Secretary Betsy DeVos earned two Pennsylvania state representatives high leadership positions with House Democrats. Rep. Jordan Harris, D-Philadelphia, was elected minority whip – the second highest position after floor leader. Rep. Joanna McClinton,

NOV 16

Why is There a Racial Achievement Gap?

Sometimes the most racist aspects of a society are right there in front of you, but no one seems to notice. Take the racial achievement gap . It’s a term used to describe the fact that black and Latino students don’t do as well academically as white students. Why does it even exist? Why do students of color in the United States achieve less than their white peers? They have worse grades, lower te

NOV 12

Linda Darling-Hammond vs. Linda-Darling Hammond – How a Once Great Educator Got Lost Among the Corporate Stooges

Linda Darling-Hammond is one of my education heroes. Perhaps that’s why her recent article in the Washington Post hurts so much. In it, she and her think tank buddies slam education advocates Diane Ravitch and Carrol Burris for 


gadflyonthewallblog | "To sting people and whip them into a fury, all in the service of truth."




KLCS THE LAUSD PUBLIC TV STATION Dismissed: Protest at LAUSD Board Meeting

KLCS Dismissed

KLCS Dismissed: Protest at LAUSD Board Meeting




LAUSD Parents and Students


As if the responsibility for educating 694,096students was not enough, the Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD) also owns and operates a television station. KLCS is part of the Public Broadcasting System and one of the Los Angeles homes for Sesame Street. It is also responsible for broadcasting and live-streaming public meetings held by the LAUSD Board. For many working parents, this is the only way to oversee the actions of their School Board.
KLCS’ coverage of public meetings is supposed to be devoid of editorial content and should be gavel-to-gavel as if the viewer is sitting in the gallery of the meeting room. Everything that the Brown Act allows the public to see should be seen by the viewer. Unfortunately, this was not the case for the meeting held on December 11, 2018.

Feeling that their voices have been drowned out by the wealthy interests who fund the campaigns of the Board Members, parents and students began to protest as the public comment section of the School Board meeting came to a close. At this point, KLCS cut the audio from the room even CONTINUE READING: KLCS Dismissed

CURMUDGUCATION: A Book About Rural Ed: No Longer Forgotten

CURMUDGUCATION: A Book About Rural Ed: No Longer Forgotten

A Book About Rural Ed: No Longer Forgotten


Andy Smarick and Mike McShane, they of the AEI-Bellwether-Fordham axis of reformerdom, have put together a book about "the triumphs and struggles of rural education in America," and I grabbed a copy because rural education A) is hardly ever part of the Education Debates and B) is mostly where I've spent the last fifty or so years, both as student and teacher.

This collection of eight papers essays reads a little like the stack of end-of-semester research papers for Rural Ed 101, which is another way of saying that a certain amount of devotion to and interest in is required to read this puppy. Some portions are interesting, some worthwhile. I've read this so you can decide whether you want to. Let's break it down.

First, about that title.

No Longer Forgotten,either intentionally or un, is a title that captures one of the problems of rural education (actually, of rural pretty much everything). Don't see it? Well, think about who would have announced that North America was "no longer undiscovered." It would be the people who were already living there before 1492.


Nobody who lives in rural America ever forgot about it. The title announces, for better or worse, that this work is going to be centered on the non-rural folks; it will be about rural education seen from the outside.

As I said, this is not unusual. Rural spaces are almost always framed as outside. My own neck of the woods is frequently framed, by government bureaucrats, politicians, media, and even companies like supermarket chains, as outside Pittsburgh, as if we were an extension of that metro area. We are actually 90 to 120 minutes away from the CONTINUE READING: 
CURMUDGUCATION: A Book About Rural Ed: No Longer Forgotten




School Choice Deception: Florida’s Plan and Students Who Don’t Measure Up

School Choice Deception: Florida’s Plan and Students Who Don’t Measure Up

School Choice Deception: Florida’s Plan and Students Who Don’t Measure Up



Florida is a bellwether state. What happens to schools there will move to other states in one form or another.
I would like to share a personal story of how I met school choice as a teacher in Florida and how it helped cement in me the desire to advocate for a public school system that denies no child the right to an education.
The State of Florida is in trouble when it comes to democratic public schools and its children. Governor-elect DeSantis appears to be a Jeb Bush, Betsy DeVos groomed ideologue. His governorship is a school privatization victory.
There will be more public school closures and an increase of second rate flimsy charters for the poor, with tax credits to exclusive private school attendance for the wealthy.
The state school board DeSantis chose is loaded with individuals who adore school privatization. Peter Greene gives a thorough description of the chosen individuals who will be overseeing Florida’s schools. There are no public school supporters, no one from the PTA, no students, or teachers.
Warren Hudson is one of the state board members. He is President of Lake Highland CONTINUE READING: School Choice Deception: Florida’s Plan and Students Who Don’t Measure Up