6-7-14 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

Quick Review: 'Exit Strategy' Looks At A Doomed School

Guest blogger Susan Klonsky reviews Exit Strategy If there has been another theater piece about the impact of school closings,  I haven’t heard about it. Ike Holter’s Exit Strategy at Jackalope Theater takes place entirely in the teachers’ lounge of a dilapidated Chicago school slated for closing.There are dazzling moments in this play but I won’t be the spiller of plot twists. The intensity and p

9 by Mike Klonsky / 21h 

Rahm's boat springs more leaks

‘I’m not an emperor. I do not look good in a toga.’ -- Rahm EmanuelAs we head into the weekend, Little Emperor's gold-plated political ship continues to spring leaks. Even with his giant City Hall damage-control battalion working overtime, Rahm can't catch a media break.His latest proposed boondoggle, to spend millions to turn the Windy City into a f*#k-the-environment, Paris-like City of Lights w

3 by Mike Klonsky / 1d 

JUN 05

Rahm's new kind of patronage with a new 'partner'

Rahm's new "partner", IG Joe FergusonRAHM ON CHICAGO TONIGHT was like a broken record, last night, letting us know, no less than 6 times, that he and I.G. Joe Ferguson were now working as  "partners" to get the city out from under the burdensome and "expensive" federal Shakman decree. Problem is, Rahm's other "partners" have included Juan Rangel and his UNO

5 by Mike Klonsky / 2d 

JUN 04

At the Hideout: Mitchell explains how pension theft is constitutional

It was monthly political junkie night again at the Hideout last night. This time around it was Ben and Mick engaging soon-to-be State Rep. Will Guzzardi, Rep. Christian Mitchell, and AFSCME lobbyist Adrian Alexander. The trio found plenty of common ground in the sense that they were all under 30 and in many ways, represent the future of progressive Democratic politics in the state. Of course, that

15 by Mike Klonsky / 3d 

JUN 03

Labor vs. Labor: WFP's Endorsement of Gov. Cuomo stinks

Cuomo at pro-charter rally in Albany, joins with charter hustlers & hedge-funders in attack on Mayor de Blasio.“It’s very simple at these political conventions: you either win or you lose. Uh, and I won...” -- Gov. CuomoThe ability of the system to buy-off some union leaders is nothing new. It's been going on since unions were invented. But it's still stunning to watch the process unfold as it

3 by Mike Klonsky / 3d 

JUN 02

Weekend Quotables

Maya Angelou on Race To The Top James Forman Jr.  Angelou kept coming back after that first fundraiser. For 17 years, even when her health was failing and she needed an oxygen tank nearby, she would get on the bus and log the miles from Winston-Salem, North Carolina, to D.C. There were no inaugural throngs at our events. No television cameras, no glamour. Just a few kids whom most of the world had

2 by Mike Klonsky / 5d 

SEC charges UNO with fraud. $37.5M from charter school 'investors"

Once you get past all the rhetoric about "business models" and charters sharing "innovations" with traditional schools, you're left with this.Everyone in Chicago knows that UNO is too big to jail. But that didn't stop the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) on Monday from filing a complaint against Juan Rangel's UNO cabal, charging the clout-heavy Chicago charter scho

2 by Mike Klonsky / 4d hide  //  save

MAY 30

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

28 by Mike Klonsky / 7d 

What's Good for Rich Kids Is Good for Poor Ones, Too

Meier: It is galling when rich people in the ed policy field tell me that class size doesn't matter-and pay a lot to send their kids to schools with half as many students per class as urban schools.

30 by Deborah Meier / 2d hide  //  save

JUN 03

Reform for Other People's Children

Klonsky: What we know for sure is that all over the country, power-philanthropists are making "gifts" to resource-starved school systems.

59 by Guest Blogger / 3d 

MAY 29

'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.

33 by Deborah Meier / 9d 

6-7-14 Wait What? - Jonathan Pelto: Gubernatorial Candidate and A Really Nice Guy

Wait What?:

  Wait What? All Week

Ipswich, Mass sixth grade students demand payment for taking Common Core Field Tests

In a Boston Tea Party like moment, a group of sixth-grade students from Ipswich, Massachusetts are making a stand.  Like Connecticut’s public schools students, they were used as unpaid lab rats in this spring’s Common Core test of the test. Under the laws and regulations of the United States, people cannot be made to be […] The post Ipswich, Mass sixth grade students demand payment for taking Comm

33 by jonpelto / 1h 

YESTERDAY

Look there goes a flying pig!

The truth is that Connecticut is facing a projected state budget deficit of at least $1.3 billion dollars for the fiscal year that begins after this year’s gubernatorial election. But today Governor Dannel “Dan” Malloy boldly announced… “We don’t face a deficit.” In a late afternoon CT Newsjunkie story entitled, Malloy Dismisses Deficit Projections, Won’t […] The post Look there goes a flying pig!

1 by jonpelto / 16h 

Malloy must take responsibility for many of the these hospital layoffs

When Governor Malloy proposed his bait and switch “provider tax” strategy he promised hospitals that they would be “held harmless.”  The goal he said was simply to maximize federal reimbursement rates. But two years later, the impact of Malloy’s decision to renege on that promise is leading to massive layoffs and undermining many of Connecticut’s […] The post Malloy must take responsibility for ma

28 by jonpelto / 22h 

JUN 05

A call to arms (I mean pens) – A big day as I announce a running mate and petitions now available

After dropping off the appropriate paperwork, the Connecticut Secretary of the State’s office tweeted:   Denise Merrill @SOTS Merrill   @Jonathanpelto today was authorized by my office to collect signatures to be a petitioning candidate for governor.   And Jonathan Pelto is petitioning under the Education and Democracy Party and must collect 7,500 signatures by […] The post A call to arms (I mean

70 by jonpelto / 1d 

JUN 04

Statement from Jonathan Pelto on the Connecticut American Federation of Teachers’s LPAC endorsement of Malloy

Statement from Jonathan Pelto, exploring gubernatorial candidate on American Federation of Teacher’s Connecticut Legislative and Political Action Committee (LPAC) endorsement of Dannel Malloy  Without providing gubernatorial candidates with any opportunity to fill out a questionnaire or present their case, the members of the American Federation of Teachers’ Connecticut Legislative and Political Ac

63 by jonpelto / 2d 

JUN 03

Supporters of Corporate Education Reform now targeting higher education

While it is obvious that the widespread access to higher educational opportunities is more important than ever, elected officials have been consistently reducing support for our public colleges and universities. The shocking and disturbing trend has been especially visible here in Connecticut where Governor Dannel “Dan” Malloy has pushed through the deepest cuts in Connecticut […] The post Support

18 by jonpelto / 3d 

New York Working Families Party fails to move Cuomo on education but endorses anyway

When it comes the to the rise of the corporate education reform industry, New York Governor Andrew Cuomo and Connecticut Governor Dannel “Dan” Malloy continually jockey for 1st and 2nd place as to which one is more anti-teacher and anti-public education. While Cuomo has poured more money into charter schools than Malloy, Malloy is the […] The post New York Working Families Party fails to move Cuom

15 by jonpelto / 4d 

There goes another $100,000 in taxpayer funds

Following up on yesterday’s Wait, What? post entitled, NEWS FLASH:  Pryor’s No Bid contract costs taxpayers another $100,000 plus, CTNewsjunkie provides the details about the Malloy administration’s decision to pay an out-of-state consulting education reform company another $100,000 despite the fact that the company did not have a written contract extension. As Christine Stuart explains, […] The p

18 by jonpelto / 4d 

JUN 02

Important Wait, What? weekend stories you might have missed

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 […] The post Important W

13 by jonpelto / 4d 

NEWS FLASH:  Pryor’s No Bid contract costs taxpayers another $100,000 plus

A Hartford Superior Court Judge is being asked today to authorize an “agreement” between the Malloy Administration and Leeds Global Partners, a major player in the national education reform industry.  The agreement will cost Connecticut taxpayers an additional $100,000 on top of the $195,000 the out-of-state education reform corporation has already collected in state funds. […] The post NEWS FLASH

30 by jonpelto / 5d 

JUN 01

Does it really only cost $30,000 to get Governor Malloy to veto a good bill?

Over the past few months Governor Malloy and his political operatives have raised more than $30,000 from major health insurance companies and their corporate executives.  The funds were deposited into the special Democratic State Central Committee account that will be used to augment the $6.2 million that Malloy will be getting from the State’s public […] The post Does it really only cost $30,000

76 by jonpelto / 5d 

MAY 31

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

20 by jonpelto / 6d 

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

21 by jonpelto / 7d