5-31-14 Mike Klonsky's SmallTalk Schooling in the Ownership Society All Week

Mike Klonsky's SmallTalk Blog:
Schooling in the Ownership Society

Mike Klonsky's SmallTalk 

Schooling in the Ownership Society

Bridging Differences

Community Rejuvenation Muralist Desi Mundo

Desi MundoStrong coffee this morning with Desi Mundo, visionary artist and  founder of the Oakland-based Community Rejuvenation Project. Desi grew up tagging and writing on the walls of Chicago and eventually became an airbrush artist of renown. His work in Oakland and surrounding towns has covered the walls of schools, grocery stores, housing projects, bridges, and buildings threatened with demol

17 by Mike Klonsky / 21h 

MAY 29

In the 'Post-Racial Era': The Pre-school-to-Prison Pipeline

Manual Arts Senior High School student Damien Valentine, 16, worked with community groups to pass a proposal last year that bans suspensions of defiant students in L.A. Unified. (Christina House / For The Times)Black children make up 18% of preschoolers (mostly 4-year olds), but make up nearly half of all out-of-school suspensions. -- NPRQuick-trigger suspensions of African-American students, espe

14 by Mike Klonsky / 2d 

MAY 28

For immediate release from N.C. NAACP

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASEMay 28, 2014Contact: Sarah Bufkin, NC NAACP - smbufkin@gmail.com or 404.285.3413Workers and Clergy Members Arrested in Speaker Thom Tillis' Office for Petitioning to Repeal a Flood of Unjust, Destructive Laws Hurting North Carolina We Shall Not Be Moved | Tillis 15RALEIGH, NC - Hundreds of North Carolinians showed up yesterday to lobby their state legislators to repent f

by Mike Klonsky / 2d 

As if Rahm didn't know...

MAYOR PLAYS DUMB ON POT ARRESTS... He asks top cop McCarthy to explain why misdemeanor marijuana possession means one thing on the North Side — and a very different thing on the South and West Sides. On North Side, cops write tickets for bogarting. On South and West sides its prison.ANSWER: The same reason Rahm's school closings and selective-enrollment school  openings mean one thing on the North

4 by Mike Klonsky / 2d 

We need a living wage

R.I.P. Maya Angelou (1928-2014)Find a beautiful piece of art. If you fall in love with Van Gogh or Matisse or John Oliver Killens, or if you fall love with the music of Coltrane, the music of Aretha Franklin, or the music of Chopin - find some beautiful art and admire it, and realize that that was created by human beings just like you, no more human, no less. -- Note to self LIVING WAGE...While Ra

12 by Mike Klonsky / 3d 

MAY 27

Weekend Quotables

Christie tells Baraka, "We are the deciders..."Gov. Chris Christie to Mayor Baraka"I also made very clear to [Baraka] that it is the state government that runs the school system in Newark, and that while I will talk with him and hear his ideas, that we are the deciders on what happens in the school system.” -- Thom HartmanChicago Alderman "Slow Eddie" Burke“There are a lot

1 by Mike Klonsky / 4d 

Zuckerberg is at it again

'The word 'policy' makes us think of politicians and bureaucrats. But what happens when powerful policy-makers aren’t elected or appointed? Today, billionaires are shaping education policy in the United States. Buying political influence—-even legally...' -- Robin RogersVast private donations have brought public dollars with them, giving America’s wealthiest people power over the  public agenda th

15 by Mike Klonsky / 20h 

MAY 24

IL Senate votes to kill Charter Commission. Bad news for Gülen charters?

Fethullah GülenThe IL Senate voted to abolish the State Charter School Commission which had the power to override school district decisions to reject charter applications. The bill to abolish was sponsored by Sen. Kimberly Lightford, D-Maywood and passed the Senate 34-22. It now goes back to the House for possible action next week.This watered-down version of the bill still leaves rejected charter

by Mike Klonsky / 7d 

'Urban' Schools and Other Euphemisms

Meier: It's amazing the lengths to which we will go to avoid the questions that surround poverty and segregation, and how useful instead it has been to focus our animosity on schools.

25 by Deborah Meier / 2d hide  //  save

MAY 27

Urban, Rural Schools Connected by Inequality

Klonsky: Small rural schools, which often served as community anchors, were (are) being closed by the hundreds.

13 by Guest Blogger / 4d 

MAY 22

We Need a Strong Alliance for Schools

Meier: States are making it easier to hand over our schools to private interests or providing money to existing private schools.

5 by Deborah Meier / 8d 

5-31-14 Wait What? All Week

Wait What?:

  Wait What? All Week

Define fiscal irresponsibility….

While most Connecticut residents feel a growing unease about the Malloy administration’s irresponsible and underhanded approach to state budgeting, I’m often asked to give specific examples of how Governor Dannel “Dan” Malloy has handled the Connecticut budget during his term in office. Long-time readers may remember this one, but here is a prime example for […] The post Define fiscal irresponsibi

by jonpelto / 2h 

Will the Working Families Party stand up for working families in this year’s election

The Working Families Party is based in New York.  They also have a chapter here in Connecticut. Considering Dannel “Dan” Malloy only won by 6,000 votes in the last election, many observers credit the Working Family with giving him them victory since the WFP line added more than 26,000 votes to his total four year […] The post Will the Working Families Party stand up for working families in this ye

5 by jonpelto / 1h 

YESTERDAY

A huge thank you for the PO Box full of checks!

If Governor Dannel “Dan” Malloy and the Connecticut political establishment wanted a sign of the frustration out here in the real world, they need only look at far as PO Box 380433 in East Hartford. Just 72 hours after posting the address of the Pelto 2014 Post Office Box here at Wait, What?, the box […] The post A huge thank you for the PO Box full of checks! appeared first on Wait What?.

5 by jonpelto / 14h 

THE HIGH COST OF IGNORING SKEPTICISM (By Ann Policelli Cronin)

What if the People are right and the Education Reform Industry is wrong! THE HIGH COST OF IGNORING SKEPTICISM (By Ann Policelli Cronin) A recent UConn poll reported that most people (59% of respondents) believe their schools are already good or excellent.  Many (73% of respondents) like the idea of national standards but are highly […] The post THE HIGH COST OF IGNORING SKEPTICISM (By Ann Policell

33 by jonpelto / 1d 

MAY 29

And from Bridgeport – Even more serious questions about the Moales daycare center

Question:     Did the Malloy administration inappropriately aid and abet Moales’ in his successful effort to get a third daycare facility license on his property? Question:   Did Mayor Finch and his top staff help Moales get around zoning and code requirements for his new daycare facility? Question:  Although Moales was caught inappropriately bill taxpayers for more […] The post And from Bridgepor

11 by jonpelto / 2d 

MAY 28

Pelto 2014 Exploratory Committee is up and running!

May 28, 2014 Friends, I want to thank all the people who have stepped forward with words of support and encouragement as I explore whether to run for governor in 2014 Your continued help is the vital building block in this developing effort. First, we hope to have the petitioning forms available by next Monday. […] The post Pelto 2014 Exploratory Committee is up and running! appeared first on Wait

80 by jonpelto / 3d 

MAY 27

Ravitch on Pelto:  “Hope Every governor who abandons public education faces a similar challenge”

The nation’s leading pro-public education advocate has used her blog to tell her 80,000 readers about our work here in Connecticut. Diane Ravitch’s latest piece is entitled, “Jonathan Pelto Mulls Third Party Challenge to Governor Malloy in Connecticut.” Diane Ravitch writes, Jonathan Pelto, ex-state legislator and prolific blogger, is deciding whether to mount a challenge […] The post Ravitch on P

3 by jonpelto / 4d 

MAY 26

Media Week in Review – Pelto candidacy stories

Former state Rep. Jonathan Pelto explores third-party run for governor (New Haven Register) Blogger and former state Rep. Jonathan Pelto plans to file paperwork by the end of the week to establish the Education and Democracy Party as he explores the possibility of running as a third-party candidate for governor. He said over the next […] The post Media Week in Review – Pelto candidacy stories appe

20 by jonpelto / 5d 

MAY 25

A reporter and a teacher highlight why we need new leadership for Connecticut

The story could be called “Hooray for one hundred thousand dollar pensions” or “How Governor Malloy pulled a fast one on the people of Connecticut.” Hartford Courant investigative reporter Jon Lender lays out the details in his story, “New Law To Restrict Excessive Judges’ Pensions Has Holes In It – Intentionally Lender writes, State legislators […] The post A reporter and a teacher highlight why

32 by jonpelto / 6d hide  //  save

MAY 24

Renaissance Man says – Sign My Petition (sort of)

Say what you will about Colin McEnroe but he is one of those has guys who has earned the mantle of being called a “Renaissance Man,” a term that first appeared in the 17th century to describe a “person whose expertise spans a significant number of different subject areas.” Colin McEnroe’s WNPR radio show can […] The post Renaissance Man says – Sign My Petition (sort of) appeared first on Wait What

3 by jonpelto / 6d