Friday, March 4, 2011

State officials back off Capitol damage claim - JSOnline #WIunion #SolidarityWI

State officials back off Capitol damage claim - JSOnline

State officials back off Capitol damage claim

By Jason Stein and Sharif Durhams of the Journal Sentinel

March 4, 2011 11:36 a.m. |(260) COMMENTS

Madison — State officials charged with overseeing the state Capitol are now backing away from their estimate that demonstrators did more than $7 million in damage to the building.

"I think that's more of a worst-case scenario," said Jeff Plale, the former Democratic state senator who is now the state facilities administrator. "There are other estimates."

Touring the Capitol Friday morning with state architect Dan Stephans, Plale said he had not immediately observed any damage from demonstrations over Gov. Scott Walker's budget-repair bill, though the pair was just starting their tour. Plale said that he didn't believe the state had had any experienced contractor provide the quote on the damages.

Officials said in Dane County court Thursday that the damage could come from tape used for posting

State Rep. in Wisconsin Tackled to the Ground By Police | FDL News Desk

State Rep in Wisconsin Tackled to the Ground by Police

by David Dayen

As I noted last night, a Dane County judge ordered an end to the lockdown tactics of the Capitol Police and the Department of Administration, but also required that the building be shut after hours if no public business is taking place. So this meant that the occupation of the Capitol ended last night, with the final protesters streaming out of the building, to a chorus of “Solidarity Forever,” at 10pm. They left peacefully and triumphantly, secure in the knowledge that they would return today. And indeed, they did return today. The Department of Administration opened the building at 8am with a revised set of procedures. There will be two open entrances and exits, but protesters will be restricted to the ground floor Rotunda area. DOA will restrict sleeping bags, mattresses, guitars and drums, noisemakers, cooking appliances and other items. And taping up signs inside the Capitol is now prohibited, though the signs already up will be returned to the public.

The protests will look very different from what occurred over the past couple weeks. But protesters still have the moral high ground. Look no further for evidence of that than this appalling display last night, when Capitol Policeforcefully tackled State Rep. Nick Milroy (D). The police said they thought he was one of the protesters. In fact,

Dickinson College Students Sit In for New Sexual Assault Policies « Student Activism

Dickinson College Students Sit In for New Sexual Assault Policies

by Angus Johnston

Two days ago, a group of more than two hundred students at Pennsylvania’s Dickinson College marched on the school’s administration building to protest campus policies on sexual assault.

They’re still there.

The Dickinson activists — a significant fraction of the total student population of the 2400-person campus — are demanding specific changes to the college’s policies, and they’ve already won several concessions. (The college

Activities scheduled for Wisconsin this weekend: Fred Klonsky's blog #wearewi #wiunion

Fred Klonsky's blog

(title unknown)

by Fred Klonsky

Activities scheduled for Wisconsin this weekend:

MADISON
Saturday 3/5/2011 – The Amalgamated Transit Union will gather between 10:30 and 11:00 am at the Inn on the Park (22 S. Carroll St.) to rally at the Capitol
Saturday 3/5/2011 – 12pm
AFSCME march to the capitol at noon. Meet @ Wisconsin St. & the Capitol (by blue AFSCME tent).

Saturday 3/5/2011 – 2 pm
- International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers rally at the Capitol. The Wisconsin State AFL-CIO Building Trades will be grilling free brats and hot dogs on Wisconsin Ave. near the Capitol and will join the rallies.
Sunday 3/6/2011 – 12 Noon Rally
ALL ARE WELCOME TO ATTEND THESE RALLIES!
- – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – — – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - -
Saturday 3/12/2011 – 3pm
Rally at the Capitol
MILWAUKEE AREA (Jennissee Volpintesta 262-364-6751) and Peter Drummond (414-333-1606)

Friday, March 4 – 7pm Metropolitan Baptist Church, 1345 W. Burleigh Ave., Milwaukee – Jesse Jackson & Organized Labor event
Saturday, 3/5/2011
Anti-Walker Budget Rally & Visibility – North Shore Park & Ride – I-43 & E. Silver Spring Drive, Glendale – 9am
2nd and 30th Senate District (Julie Heun – 920-904-2005)

Friday – 3/4/2011 – 7 am
Americans for Prosperity Protest – Perkins Restaurant & Bakery – 2800 S. Oneida St. – Green Bay, WI 54303
Friday – 3/4/2011 – 12:30pm
GB Correctional Officers Rally – Green Bay Correctional Institution – Webster Avenue (between C & D Towers)
Monday – 3/7/2011 – 12:30pm
GB Correctional Officers Rally – Green Bay Correctional Institution – Webster Avenue (between C & D Towers)
Sunday – 3/13/2011 @ 5:30pm
Lincoln Reagan Dinner of the Brown County Republicans, Rock Garden Conference Center, 1951 Bond St., Green Bay Contact: Gary Lonzo at (920) 366-1107
10th Senate District (Jim Mangan 715-505-2835)

Saturday – 03/05/2011 – 1:30 p.m.
Americans for Prosperity Protest – Best Western Hudson House – 1616 Crest View Drive – Hudson, WI
12th Senate District (Scott Wright – 920-450-2121)

Friday, 3/4/2011
Americans for Prosperity Protest – Wolff’s Log Cabin Restaurant – 721 W. Kemp Street – Rhinelander, WI 54501 – 4:00 p.m.
13th Senate District (Greg Neil 608-556-9521)

Friday – 03/04/2011 – 6:30am
“Breakfast with Fitz”, Meet at the IAM Labor Hall, 258 Barstow St., Horicon. Contact: Todd Wetzel at (920) 210-7853 Saturday – 03/05/2011 – 6:30am
“Breakfast with Fitz”, Meet at the IAM Labor Hall, 258 Barstow St., Horicon. Contact: Todd Wetzel at (920) 210-7853
Saturday – Lincoln Day Dinner Protest - – 3/5/2011 – Kestrel Ridge Country Club – 900 Avalon Road,Columbus, WI – 4:30 p.m.
Sunday – 03/06/2011 – 6:30am
“Breakfast with Fitz”, Meet at the IAM Labor Hall, 258 Barstow St., Horicon. Contact: Todd Wetzel at (920) 210-7853 Monday – 03/07/2011 – 6:30am
“Breakfast with Fitz”, Meet at the IAM Labor Hall, 258 Barstow St., Horicon. Contact: Todd Wetzel at (920) 210-7853
14th Senate District (Scott Wright 920-450-2121)
Friday, 3/4/2011 – Rep. Fred Clark Listening Sessions
Lake Delton – Kay C. MacKesey Administration Building – 50 Wisconsin Dells Pkwy South – Board Room – 9am-11am
Montello – Marquette County Court House – 77 W. Park St. – Public Safety Room – 12pm-2pm
Portage – Wayne Bartels Middle School – 2505 New Pinery Rd – School Gymnasium – 3:15pm-5:15pm
15th Senate District (Justin Geiger 414-745-4177)
7th Senate District (Mayrose Wegman )

Friday, 03/04/2011 @ 4:30pm – 6:30pm
Juneau County Courthouse, Mauston. Please feel free to invite anyone who opposes the budget repair bill that strips workers of their rights. Learn more at; http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=191001420932224
18th Senate District (Skyler Johnston, 573-355-0578)
19th Senate District (Greg Hinds 920-540-2309)

Daily in Menasha — 10am – 5pm
Canvass/call and yard sign assembly; USW District 2 Office
Tuesday, 3/8/11 5:00 PM – 6:00 PM
Rally – Appleton. Houdini Plaza (corner of College Ave and Appleton St.)
Thursday 3/10/11
Potential Town Hall Meeting

Potential Town Hall Meeting
Menasha
Canvass/calls/and yard sign assembly (until all finished)
USW District 2 office
Monday to Friday 10 am – 5 pm. Hours can be extended. Please respond if there is interest in later hours.
21st Senate District (Justin Geiger 414-745-4177)

Friday, 03/04/2011 @ 4:00pm – 6:00pm
Informational Picket at the intersection of Highways 31 and 20, Racine. People are encouraged to bring megaphones, if you have them. Contact is Trista Serrano (262) 498-5037.
Friday, 03/04/2011 @ 6pm
Faith Forum – Budget Impact on Racine County – 2nd Missionary Baptist Church – 1250 Lathrop Avenue,Racine
22nd Senate District (Justin Geiger 414-745-4177)

Saturday, 3/5/2011 @ 10:00am
Rally & Canvassing – Southern Lakes United Educators Office – 616 Droster Avenue, Burlington, WI
23rd and 31st Senate District (Andy Thompson (715) 456-4113)

Saturday, 03/05/2011 – 10:30 a.m.
Counter-rally at Governor Walker’s AFP-sponsored bus tour – Holiday Inn 2703 Craig Rd – Eau Claire, WI 54701
24th Senate District (Scott Wright 920-450-2121)

Thursday, 03/03/2011 @ 4:30pm – 6:30pm
Rally at the Adams County Courthouse
25th Senate District

Friday – 3/4/2011
Spooner Rally – Corner of River & Main Street – 4:30 p.m.
Saturday 3/5/2011
2:00 p.m. Rally at the Solon Springs post office – 9226 E Main St., Solon Springs
Saturday, 03/05/2011 @ Noon – 2:00pm
Rally, Douglas County Courthouse, Belknap St. & Hammond St., Superior
27th Senate District

Monday, 03/07/2011 @ 6:00pm – 8:00pm
Mount Horeb Public Hearing, Mount Horeb High School Auditorium, 305 S. 8th St. Speaker: Rep. Sondy Pope-Roberts (D-79).
32nd Senate District (Tabbitha Norris 502-939-8459)
Saturday, 3/5/2011 5:30 PM
Protest against Americans for Prosperity, Radisson Hotet, 200 Front Street in La Crosse

Monday, 3/7/2011 8:00 AM
Speak with Senator Kapanke, Vernon County Courthouse, 400 Court House Square, Viroqua

Thursday, 3/10/2011 7:30 -9:30 PM
Black River Beach Neighborhood Center, 1433 Rose Street, La Crosse
Other WI Locations

Friday, 3/5/2011 @ 12:30pm
Americans for Prosperity Protest – Plaza Hotel – 201 N. 17th Street – Wausau, WI – 12:30pm

Queens Teacher: How is it people will vote against their own economic interests?

How is it people will vote against their own economic interests?

Maddow: "There are two sides and because the democratic side has inherently the one that has more people in it and this is a democracy and it's one person, one vote. The Republican side, in order to compete with thay has to use money to leverage as many votes as they can because their side represents the interests of fewer people. That's where they

ThinkProgress » EXCLUSIVE: GOP Senator Yanked Off Committee Speaks Out, Was Informed 30 Minutes Before Anti-Union Vote

EXCLUSIVE: GOP Senator Yanked Off Committee Speaks Out, Was Informed 30 Minutes Before Anti-Union Vote

On Wednesday, just moments before a key committee in the Ohio State Senate was to vote on a GOP bill that would effectively dismantle public employees’ right to collectively bargain, the Senate’s Republican leaderreplaced a GOP committee member who opposed the bill with someone who supported it to ensure the measure passed. It was a brazen and nearly unprecedented move, and even more so considering that State Sen. Bill Seitz (R) told ThinkProgress that he is good friends with, and has been roommates for ten years with State Senate President Tom Niehaus, who yanked Seitz off the committee. Indeed, they were sworn in to the state House on the same day and eventually followed each other to the Senate, sharing an apartment in the capital throughout.

In a telephone interview with ThinkProgress yesterday afternoon, Seitz recounted how he was informed of the move by his good friend Niehaus just a half hour before the vote. Seitz, a conservative Republican who proudly noted that he works for a

Mike Klonsky's SmallTalk Blog: Duncan's Croissants

Duncan's Croissants

by Mike Klonsky

I'm really pissed at my friend Arne Duncan. He never even thought to invite me to hisBreakfast With Bloggers over at the DOE. He knows how much I love those croissants and coffee, ordered up fresh from the department commissary. I guess he's not quite ready to reach across the other aisle. That's OK, Arne. I'm patient.

Or maybe the breakfast was one of those Race-To-The-Top-type deals where you have to submit your blog posts in advance. Then Arne could look you right in the eyes, like he did with Arizona's Sen. McCain and Gov. Brewer, and determine who was most deserving of this meal on the taxpayer's dime. (Oops, put your guns away, T-baggers. I may be wrong about that. He probably paid for the croissants with private foundation dollars.)

Anyway, I'm not really grousing or complaining (I got my own coffee & muffins Letitia's in Logan Square). I also got a full report on the eat-in this morning from Edweek's Michelle McNeil and from my favorite teacher/union-bashing blogger, Rick Hess, who probably had only a short cab ride over from his AEI think-tank office. You can

First there was Dumb and Dumber… | Dailycensored.com

First there was Dumb and Dumber…

Written by Ken_SayersDaily Journal (Opinion)Mar 4, 2011

0digg

Now we have greed and greedier. I remember when movies were ridiculously inexpensive. In high school, one could take his girlfriend out for movie and a pizza for around twenty dollars. Baseball and football games were more expensive, but were not cost prohibitive. Today, if you are a fan, you have to spend thousands of dollars just to buy a license that lets you buy season tickets that can cost you more than what an automobile used to cost, not that long ago. It is laughable to see football players and owners fighting over who can get a bigger piece of the revenue from the games. They are already making millions and they want more. I think it is time to boycott these crooks who threaten to pull their franchises out if the taxpayers, most of whom cannot even afford tickets, do not build them a brand new place to play. Shut these greedy bast@#*s down.

We still have dumb and dumber, however. We have Rick Scott, in Florida, who says he is all about increasing jobs in Florida. His first real action is to turn down billions of $$$ in federal aid (JOBS) to build a high-speed rail

Des Moines Education Association: Time to Take A Stand - Monday, March 7, 5 PM!!!

Time to Take A Stand - Monday, March 7, 5 PM!!!

by Mr. R

In 2002 we faced across the boards cuts in education spending that were some of the largest seen in our state. In answer to these cuts we organized a rally where over 2,000 educators gathered at the state Capitol on one of the coldest days of the year.

Now we are faced with an even larger challenge. The Republicans in the Iowa House have introduced a bill (HF 525) that would:

· Eliminate the ability of DMEA to bargain health insurance benefits. DMEA has one of the best health insurance programs in the state. This is provided at no cost to virtually all staff in the District. Can you imagine what DMPS will do with this program if you no longer have the right to bargain these benefits? Some teachers in Iowa pay as much a $1,000/month for family health insurance. This could be you!

· Eliminates the ability of DMEA to bargain staff reduction language in your contract. Current staff reduction

No evidence mayoral control led to D.C. schools' better test scores, report says

By Bill Turque

Washington Post Staff Writer
Friday, March 4, 2011; 11:06 AM

The District has made a good faith effort to implement the 2007 law that placed public schools under mayoral control, but there is no evidence that the change in governance has been a factor in improved standardized test scores, according to the first major independent study of D.C. school reform.

The National Research Council, the research arm of the National Academies, said in its report Friday that it is premature to draw sweeping conclusions about the effectiveness of school reform under the Public Education Reform Amendment Act (PERAA). But the report is likely to reignite a simmering debate about the test-centered culture of D.C. schools and other systems across the country.

Researchers issued a strong caution against using what they called the "modest improvement" in test scores over the past four years as evidence that mayoral control had improved learning in District schools. They said such a conclusion required more rigorous analysis of students' socioeconomic status, along with a better

This Week In Education: Media: Why Journos Overstate Federal Influence Over Education

Media: Why Journos Overstate Federal Influence Over Education

by Alexander Russo

Blogger Matthew Yglesias notes that people overestimate the influence of the federal government when it comes to education issues and thinks that the media plays a role in this (Systematic Misinformation About Responsibility). "People don’t realize how small a role the federal government plays in education policy," writes Yglesias. I'm inclined to agree, though I don't think it's just national political reporters who struggle on this account. Anytime someone sneezes "education" in Washington -- yesterday's Duncan press call is a great example -- education reporters dutifully cover it and their papers dutifully publish it. But why? Duncan doesn't have any real influence over how state and local governments respond to their budget crises. He wasn't announcing the discovery of a new, unspent pot of

This Week In Education: Thompson: Why Seniority Saves the Taxpayers' Money

Thompson: Why Seniority Saves the Taxpayers' Money

by john thompson

In both the private and the public sectors, there is a long history of job performance evaluations being an "intimidating tool that makes employees too scared to speak their minds." Someday over the rainbow, evaluations might be more than an annoyance but now in the real world they mostly are silly rituals where subordinates try to please their bosses. Most people who have worked for a living already know that. Business school professor Samuel Culbert has spent years studying job performance reviews and he explained in the New York Times why the repeal of seniority

Jon Stewart Turns Over Show to Oft-Neglected Side of the Education Debate | FDL News Desk

Jon Stewart Turns Over Show to Oft-Neglected Side of the Education Debate

by David Dayen

Popout

I don’t usually make a blog post out of “did you see what was on Jon Stewart last night,” but his show last night was so rare and important, I’ll make an exception.

The subject was Wisconsin, but Stewart boiled it down to an attack against teachers. Really this was a commentary on his favorite targets in the media, Fox News and Fox Business. But this perspective is so ingrained, the show almost looked like it came from a foreign country. Stewart showed multiple takes of news anchors appalled at the $50,000 a year base salary for teachers, plus benefits, as irresponsibly generous, and then the same anchors downplaying $250,000 a year as not actually rich, when in the context of the Bush tax cuts. He showed reporters decrying any effort to strip bonuses of bailed-out Wall Street executives as a violation

Big Business Paid for Their Beds, Now Republicans Have to Lie in Them | Dissident Voice #teachers #WeAreWI #WIUnion

Big Business Paid for Their Beds, Now Republicans Have to Lie in Them | Dissident Voice

Big Business Paid for Their Beds, Now Republicans Have to Lie in Them

by Walter Brasch

Historian and satirist, Thomas Carlyle, said “a lie cannot live.” However, Mark Twain casually remarked, “It shows that he did not know how to tell them.”

More than a century later, newly-elected Gov. Scott Walker and the Republican-dominated Wisconsin legislature have proven themselves to be “quick studies,” having learned how to tell whoppers about the working class and unions. Here are just a few.

LIE: The public workers’ pensions are what caused much of the financial crisis not just in Wisconsin but throughout the country. Gov. Walker has repeatedly said, “We’re broke . . . We don’t have any money.”

FACTS: Wisconsin had a $120 million surplus whenWalker came into office in January. Had the newly-elected Republican-dominated Legislature in January not given about $140 million in special tax breaks (also known as “corporate welfare”) to business, the state could have had a surplus, according to the Legislative Fiscal Bureau. About two-thirds of all Wisconsin corporations pay no taxes at all, according to the Wisconsin Department of Revenue.

Wisconsin could also save significant expenses by having state-employed fiscal analysts, not Wall Street investment counselors, handle the entire pension investment portfolio. Wisconsin pays about $28 million to state managers to handle about half the portfolio; it pays about $195 million to Wall Street investment brokers to

NYC Public School Parents: Yesterday was a great day for the real reformers!

Yesterday was a great day for the real reformers!

by Leonie Haimson

Hail Julie Cavanagh, NYC public school teacher and one of the leaders of the Grassroots Education Movement (GEM), who was brilliant on NY1's Inside City Hall last night, pointing out the importance of teacher experience (and class size!) in opposition to the mayor's push to eliminate seniority protections for teachers.

Hail Diane Ravitch who, with her usual incisiveness, pointed out the importance of poverty and the unfairness of teacher-bashing on Jon Stewart’s the Daily Show.

(Earlier in the show, Jon Stewart showed a short clip of the segment on Fox News I appeared on this Tuesday, to ridicule the commentators’ attack on the “greed” of teachers, while defending the huge bonuses and salaries of Wall Street financiers and bankers whose irresponsible behavior caused the economic collapse in the first place.)

Let’s hope this is just the beginning of a reversal in which the real educational reformers will finally get a

Find An Awake The State Rally Near You Awake The State

Awake The State

Find An Awake The State Rally Near You

Mar 08 201110:30 AM

Tallahassee Awake The State Rally Join us in Tallahassee on March 8th as we send a clear message to our legislators and Gov. Scott: ...

Leon County Courthouse
301 South Monroe Street
Tallahassee, FL 114 attendees

Email the host

Mar 08 201102:30 PM

Miami Awake The State Rally Join us in Miami on March 8th as we send a clear message to our legislators and Gov. Scott: ...

111 NW 1st St
Miami, FL 57 attendees

Republican War On Working Families #WIunion #SolidarityWI

BoldProgressives on Mar 1, 2011

Help put this on TV:https://secure.actblue.com/contribute/page/waronworkingfamilies?refcode=youtube This ad was launched March 2, 2012 by the Progressive Change Campaign Committee (PCCC) and Democracy for America -- airing in Madison and Milwaukee, Wisconsin. It was created by GumSpirits Productions (Aaron Duffey and Jim Cole).

Three questions. John Stewart and the IEA. « Fred Klonsky's blog

Three questions. John Stewart and the IEA.

by Fred Klonsky

John Stewart’s show comes on at 10PM in Chicago. Frankly, I’m sleeping by then.

So, I didn’t get to watch his latest teacher monologue until this morning on the internet. And his interview with Diane Ravitch.

If you haven’t watched his Crisis in Dairyland: Angry Curds this week, you must.

You will not see or hear a greater defense of teachers and the hypocrisy of our critics then this.

At some time in the future, when we look back and analyze when the public began to shift in

Latest News and Comment from Education

Friday, March 4, 2011