Tuesday, March 22, 2011

solidaridad: Phillip Anschutz and Mayor Villaraigosa's corporate candidate Luiz Sanchez cheating again?

Phillip Anschutz and Mayor Villaraigosa's corporate candidate Luiz Sanchez cheating again?

by Robert D. Skeels * rdsathene

"Luis Sanchez...worked the room at a posh Beverly Hills condo...The nearly 50 guests drank Au Bon Climat chardonnay and Piper Sonoma sparkling wine as Sanchez's backers, including school board President Monica Garcia and charter school leaders, lauded him..." — Los Angeles Times

It doesn't take much to realize that Villaraigosa's Luiz Sanchez, whose backers and politics are identical to Flores, will treat our community with the same arrogant disdain.

Just how perfidious is Luiz Sanchez the corporate charter candidate for the District #5 seat of the LAUSD board? Well, on top of every other scandal the vile Yolie Flores clone has perpetrated, he has now been exposed for illegal fund-raising!

This astonishing news of malfeasance first appear in a Bennett Kayser

Census shocker: Detroit's population falls to 713,000 | detnews.com | The Detroit News

Census shocker: Detroit's population falls to 713,000

Jim Lynch, Leonard M. Fleming and Ron French / The Detroit News

Detroit — Detroit's population fell to 713,777 in 2010, its lowest level in a century, according to U.S. Census figures released today.

The loss of 238,270 residents since 2000 is a sobering statistical stamp on a decade's worth of job losses, plant closings and foreclosures in a city that was home to 1.8 million residents in 1950. Detroit's nearly 25 percent decline in population was the most by far among the top 20 cities, with only Chicago showing a population loss of 6.9 percent.

It's the largest 10-year drop in Detroit's history, including the years after the 1967 riots.

The numbers follow Census figures released in December that show Michigan was the only state to lose residents since 2000, falling 54,000 to 9,883,640. Michigan is set to lose one of its 15 congressional seats.

Mayor Dave Bing declined comment to reporters at a noon gathering at the GM Renaissance Center, but has scheduled a 4:15 p.m. press conference. At the turn of the century, Detroit ranked 11th among the nation's largest cities. As of today, it is 18th, behind cities including Charlotte, N.C., Fort Worth, Texas and Columbus, Ohio.

For many, it was a drop of unexpected proportions. Even professional demographers were stunned by the scope.

Reynolds Farley, professor emeritus and research scientist at the Institute for Social Research at the University of Michigan, thought he'd misheard Detroit's population figure when first told by The Detroit News.

From The Detroit News: http://detnews.com/article/20110322/METRO/103220399/Census-shocker--Detroit’s-population-falls-to-713-000#ixzz1HLxRe9Lg

The Blackboard Awards

Welcome To The Blackboard Awards!

Founded by New York Family's parent company, Manhattan Media in 2002, The Blackboard Awards accomplish two worthy goals: They help New York City parents make informed choices about their children's education, and they honor and celebrate schools, principals and teachers of excellence from all education communities—public, private, parochial and charter—and from all grade levels, from nursery school through high school.

How does it work?

In November, we host an awards night for schools and principals, and in June we host an awards night for teachers. For most of the Blackboard Awards' history, the master of ceremonies was the legendary memoirist and NYC teacher Frank McCourt. Since his death we've welcomed a variety of distinguished educators and city dignitaries. Bolstering the ceremonies is an in-depth series of education-related articles, profiles and resources appearing in New York Family magazine as well as in our community newspapers—Our Town and the West Side Spirit—and here on BlackboardAwards.com

How can a parent participate?

Parent participation is critical to the helpfulness and success of the Blackboard Awards, and since its inception nine years ago, thousands of city parents have participated. There are two key ways to get involved.

Jose Vilson: On Why You Should Support Teachers Unions

by Jose Vilson

Imagine a teacher getting threats from their administration just because the administrator doesn't like them. Imagine a teacher receiving a letter in their file for the charge of having their own cup of coffee in their classroom. Imagine a teacher seeing administrators for observation after ridiculous observation simply because the kids like him better. Imagine a teacher getting humiliated in front of their students for not doing their bulletin board, or for knowing how to use the Internet. Imagine a new teacher getting threatened with probation or an unsatisfactory rating for wondering why their class is always considered last for everything when other classes get more privileges. Imagine how secure any teacher must feel with a climate that allows for these sorts of incidents.

You don't, because it's happening. Teachers unions aren't just about the ability to collectively bargain, but to ensure that the people in the classroom (teachers and students) can do the best job possible without the belligerence of inept managers that pervade our school systems today. It's not to say that every manager is inept, much like I would never say every teacher is perfect. But I do think every teacher deserves the right to get a true justification for their dismissal. These days, it's much harder to become a teacher and

Continuing Education: Miss Rhee and Miss Grundy

Miss Rhee and Miss Grundy

I am all for pop culture references, as you know, but like puns, they have to make sense in all directions. Of this I feel very strongly. The headline “Miss Grundy Was Fired Today” on Andrew Rice’s New York magazine piece about Michelle Rhee makes no sense. First, while the headline writer probably was referring to the advanced age of Archie’s teacher, in comicland, and how she might be at risk without a last-in-first-out policy, I recall she was actually a good teacher—so presumably her job would have been safe. Second, she diedwhile still a teacher, so she couldn’t have been fired. Third, um, how big is the

A retired teacher writes why she supports unions. « Fred Klonsky's blog

A retired teacher writes why she supports unions.

by Fred Klonsky

I’ve been thinking about what I was going to say on this blog ever since you announced it Fred, and it is difficult, not because I have nothing to say, but because there are so many reasons to support unions.
My first thoughts are with the coal miners, the railway workers, and even the women of the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory who died in a horrific fire because their efforts to unionize for safe working conditions were halted. Without their bravery, tremendous sacrifices and loss of lives, millions of people would be working in conditions that give them no control over their environment.
But unions are more than that, and people who aren’t fortunate enough to have union protection,

Citizens United: Corporate free speech and working class decimation | Dailycensored.com #wiunion

Citizens United: Corporate free speech and working class decimation | Dailycensored.com

Citizens United: Corporate free speech and working class decimation

Written by Danny WeilBusiness, PoliticsMar 22, 2011

0digg

The following is by Paul Moore:

A few days over a year ago, or to be more precise on January 21, 20 Citizens United:10, the US Supreme Court handed over what little was left of this nation’s pretensions to democracy on a silver platter to the Big Banks and the US Chamber of Commerce. The case was titled Citizens United v. Federal Elections Commissionand the Court’s decision removed all limits on corporate campaign contributions. Elections are now a sham proceeding at every level US government. The vast majority of the American people who no longer participate in the electoral charade are the smartest among us. The willfully ignorant and delusional still cling desperately to their faux-alternative Democratic politician or their Tea Party Republican politician with the tin-foil hat.

The Big Banks are running the show. Not the banks, there are 956 of those operating in the US and 950 of them lost money last year. Its the Big Banks headed by Goldman Sachs and JP Morgan Chase and the six of those

WE ARE ONE: APRIL 4 -- NATIONAL DAY OF ACTION #wearewi #WIunion

For more: http://www.we-r-1.org This video was not paid for or endorsed by any specific organization. This video is the work of an individual citizen.
Contact: DennisTrainorjr (at) gmail (dot) com
facebook: http://www.facecook.com/dennistrainorjr
Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/dennistrainorjr

Afl-cio, mlk, martin Luther king Jr, union, April 4, national day of action, protest, tea party, Koch brothers, kill the bill, budget repair bill, Collective Bargaining, Scott Walker, Scott Walker Anti-Union Bill, Scott Walker Union Bill, Scott Walker Wisconsin Union Bill, Wisconsin Anti-Union Bill, Wisconsin Anti-Union Bill Passes, Wisconsin Collective Bargaining Bill, Wisconsin Protests, Wisconsin Union Bill, Wisconsin Union Bill Passes, Wisconsin Worker Rights Bill, Politics News

This Week In Education: People: Michelle Rhee's Diane Ravitch Problem

People: Michelle Rhee's Diane Ravitch Problem

by Alexander Russo

Along with a fair amount of rehashing of old material there are lots of interesting tidbits and insights in the latest New York Magazine profile of Michelle Rhee (here) including the news that Rhee opposes the effort to strip teachers of bargaining rights in Wisconsin and that she's building an organization that she hopes will be a powerhouse force along the lines of the NRA, the Obama 2008 campaign, and the Tea Party. What's missing from the article is both obvious and subtle: that Rhee chose to stay silent during the Wisconsin debate rather than step forward and assert her leadership and vision, that she views attacking LIFO as an easy win rather than a problematic and unnecessary quagmire, and that her message is still problematically vague and negative

Six Months After Rutgers First-Year’s Suicide, Tyler Clementi’s Parents Speak Out « Student Activism

Six Months After Rutgers First-Year’s Suicide, Tyler Clementi’s Parents Speak Out

by Angus Johnston

The parents of Tyler Clementi, the gay Rutgers first-year who killed himself last fall, say they want their son’s roommate prosecuted, but they don’t want him to receive too harsh a punishment.

Dharun Ravi is accused of streaming one of Clementi’s dorm-room hookups over the internet and attempting to broadcast another. Ravi used Twitter to brag about the invasion of privacy to friends and acquaintances.

Clementi jumped off the George Washington Bridge days later, shortly after complaining to dorm staff about Ravi. Ravi and a fellow student, Molly Wei, who is alleged to have participated in the prank, withdrew from Rutgers not

Attacks on Public-Employee Unions Undermine the Middle Class #wiunion

Attacks on Public-Employee Unions Undermine the Middle Class

Monday 21 March 2011

by: Dmitri Iglitzin and Carson Glickman-Flora, t r u t h o u t | Op-Ed

Attacks on Public-Employee Unions Undermine the Middle Class
Tens of thousands of people gather in support of union employees in Madison, Wisconsin, on March 12, 2011. (Photo: Narayan Mahon / The New York Times)

It's not like we didn't see it coming.

At the very start of this year, January 2, The New York Times warned us of the coming battle with a front-page story, "Public Workers Facing Outrage in Budget Crisis." The Economist, in its January 8 issue, gave us, "The battle ahead: confronting the public-sector unions." And the January Time Magazine, "Public Employees Become Public Enemy No. 1."

So, nobody should have been surprised when public employees became enemy No. 1 in Wisconsin, whose governor and Republican-dominated Legislature are pressing a bill that would eviscerate most of

Republican’s Proposed Charter School Changes Would Hurt Quality « Larry Miller's Blog #wiunion

Republican’s Proposed Charter School Changes Would Hurt Quality « Larry Miller's Blog

Republican’s Proposed Charter School Changes Would Hurt Quality By Martin Scanlan March 21, 2011 MJSentinel On Wednesday morning at the state Capitol, the Senate Committee on Education will hold a public hearing on several bills: SB 20, SB 22 and SB 34. Senate Bill 22, which deals with public charter schools, is ...

NY Times Op-Ed: Wisconsin’s Radical Break *By WILLIAM CRONON Published: March 21, 2011 Op-Ed Contributor NY Times * NOW that a Wisconsin judge has temporarily blocked a state law that would strip public employee unions of most collective bargaining rights, it’s worth stepping back to place ...

Darling-Hammond: U.S. vs highest-achieving nations in education - The Answer Sheet - The Washington Post

Darling-Hammond: U.S. vs highest-achieving nations in education

By Valerie Strauss

This post was written by Linda Darling-Hammond, Charles E. Ducommun P rofessor of Education at Stanford University, where she was founding director of the National Commission on Teaching and America’s Future. She now directs the Stanford Center for Opportunity Policy in Education. A former president of the American Educational Research Association, Darling-Hammond focuses her research, teaching, and policy work on issues of school restructuring, teacher quality and educational equity.

By Linda Darling-Hammond
The first ever International Summit on Teaching, convened last week in New York City, showed perhaps more clearly than ever that the United States has been pursuing an approach to teaching almost diametrically

This Week In Education: Media: Huffington Post Hires New Education Reporter

Media: Huffington Post Hires New Education Reporter

by Alexander Russo

Former contributor Amanda Millner Fairbanks has just been hired as education reporter at the Huffington Post, which is on a post-AOL mergerhiring spree. After a stint running GOOD's education page and previous work at the NYT, Fairbanks will now cover national education news and her work will appear on both the main page and on the education vertical. Given the merger and all the other staffing changes it seems like there may also be changes in how the education page is handled going forward. As you may

Why teachers like me support unions | Philadelphia Public School Notebook

Why teachers like me support unions

by Timothy Boyle on Mar 22 2011 Posted in Boyle's law

Tags:

Today is EduSolidarity Day. The idea behind this action is for teachers across the nation to answer the question “Why do teachers like me support unions?” Here is my answer.

I support unions because I believe in the legitimate power of the collective. Around the world we see people turn against hegemony. The tolerance for the omniscient, all powerful leadership is nil. Union membership affords me the ability to shape the decisions that affect the students I teach. There is space between what I believe and what others believe and mechanisms to bridge the differences. I see no signs saying it is one person’s way or the highway when I am at meetings. Instead, I participate in dialogue about what are the ways we can make positive change across the School District of Philadelphia.

Being in a union means being greater than myself. We are better when we are together. I am a smarter, more effective teacher because of my peers. I can escape the sometimes crushing walls of my isolated classroom and go to my

Jon Stewart |‘You Can’t Fire TeachersAnd Tomahawk Missiles’ | Budget Crisis Video | Mediaite #wiunion

Jon Stewart | Libyan Air Strike | Budget Crisis Video | Mediaite

Jon Stewart On Libyan Strike Amid Budget Crisis: ‘You Can’t Fire TeachersAnd Tomahawk Missiles’

» 1 comment

by Colby Hall | 9:40 am, March 22nd, 2011

VIDEO

Jon Stewart and The Daily Show returned from a one-week break last night, and appeared to be in mid-season form, unlike typical Monday shows after a vacation which sometimes feel soft and labored. Stewart focused on the current military effort in Libya, ridiculing the odd name of the mission “Operation Odessey Dawn” as sounding like the title of a Yes album. He also wondered aloud, “aren’t we also out of money!” airing bipartisan clips of numerous elected officials lamenting the current fiscal straits in which the U.S. now finds itself. Yet we oddly have the resources to participate in another military operation in Muslim country? Oh, I’m certain that this will turn out well. Right?

Watch the clip below courtesy of Comedy Central:

An Age of Hypocrisy - Bridging Differences - Education Week

An Age of Hypocrisy

by Diane Ravitch

Dear Deborah,

In an earlier post, I questioned whether we live in an age of national insanity. I did so because it seems insane to think that we can improve our nation's schools by attacking teachers and the education profession and by turning public funds over to the private sector. After I reflected a bit more, I began to wonder if we actually live in an age of national stupidity, because our policymakers are pursuing policies that have no evidence to support them; this is what they think of as "innovation." When a policy fails again and again (like merit pay) and you push it through anyway, that's not "innovation," it's willful ignorance and stupidity.

In the wake of the events of the past few weeks, I have concluded that we also live in an age of hypocrisy. We see governors and legislatures claiming the mantle of "reform" as they slash school funding, increase class size,

U of Arizona Students Put Up Barbed-Wire Border Wall On Campus « Student Activism

U of Arizona Students Put Up Barbed-Wire Border Wall On Campus

by Angus Johnston

Students at the University of Arizona have installed a mock border fence, topped with barbed wire, in the middle of the campus.

The fence, which is seven feet tall and four hundred feet long, was installed by a coalition led by the UA chapter of No More Deaths, a humanitarian organization whose mission, according to the group, “is to end death and suffering on the U.S./Mexico border through civil initiative.”

The coalition that built the fence intend it as a protest not only of the wall at the US-Mexico border, but also of

Latest News and Comment from Education

Tuesday, March 22, 2011

Census shocker: Detroit's population falls to 713,000

Jim Lynch, Leonard M. Fleming and Ron French / The Detroit News

How can a parent participate?

Miss Rhee and Miss Grundy

Citizens United: Corporate free speech and working class decimation

Attacks on Public-Employee Unions Undermine the Middle Class

Darling-Hammond: U.S. vs highest-achieving nations in education

Why teachers like me support unions

by Timothy Boyle on Mar 22 2011 Posted in Boyle's law

Tags:

Jon Stewart On Libyan Strike Amid Budget Crisis: ‘You Can’t Fire TeachersAnd Tomahawk Missiles’