Election Update: Charter schools, billionaire supporters, and their lobbyists are despicable – Cloaking Inequity

Election Update: Charter schools, billionaire supporters, and their lobbyists are despicable – Cloaking Inequity:

Election Update: Charter schools, billionaire supporters, and their lobbyists are despicable

Charter schools and their lobbyists have quietly raise tens of millions of dollars from billionaires to attack supporters of public schools that are running for local school boards (see below).

The Post News Group reported that,

The California Charter Schools Association (CCSA), funded by pro-charter school billionaires, is sending out negative mailers to voters’ homes.  The “hit pieces” are attacking attorney Roseann Torres, the incumbent Oakland school board member who is running for reelection in District 5.

One of the mailers attacks Torres for being a defense lawyer, saying she is a “lawyer for child molesters.”

“Rosie does well as a lawyer, defending abusers, molesters and kidnappers,” the CCSA mailer said.

Another mailer said, “Rosie opposes affordable housing” for teachers. The actual school board discussion it references, which never resulted in a vote, was whether to build “tiny houses” for teachers on public property where a school was located. The proposal was opposed by many teachers.

A third mailer blasted Torres for going to conferences, where she represented Oakland on statewide and regional issues and accuses her of going on “travel junkets,” for which the school district paid about a total of about $11,000.

The campaign to unseat Torres is funded by the CCSA and Great Oakland (GO) Public Schools political action committee (PAC), an Oakland-based pro-charter school organization, which receives funding from the CCSA and donations from some of the same billionaires who are making independent expenditures for three Oakland school board candidates.

The negative mailers are attributed solely to the California Charter Schools Association Advocates and the CCSA Advocates’ Independent Expenditure Committee.

In a statement sent to the Post, Torres responded to the hit pieces.

“I get the honor of (working as a lawyer) representing mostly low-income Latino families with legal issues like custody/divorce, arrests of all kind, often profiling by police, as well as horrible car accidents because of someone’s negligence,” she said.

Torres said the flyers attacking her are “negligent and misleading, (and) the GO Public Schools Oakland Advocates’ candidate (has) messaged this hate to me personally at forums.”

The actions of GO and California Charter School Association are despicable. I stand with school board members that are supporters of public schools. I am not bamboozled by the school privatization and private control positions of candidates supported by billionaires, GO, and the CCSA in the 2016 campaign.

Charter school supporters should immediately disavow this smear campaign perpetrated by GO and CCSA.

See also Capitol and Main’s excellent investigative series:

Gap Co-Founder Doris Fisher Is Bankrolling the Charter School Agenda – And Pouring Dark Money Into CA Politics

Election Inflections: Mega-Donor Bill Bloomfield’s Journey From GOP Champion to Charter School Rainmaker

The Battle of Hastings: What’s Behind the Netflix CEO’s Fight to Charterize Public Schools?

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Election Update: Charter schools, billionaire supporters, and their lobbyists are despicable – Cloaking Inequity:

 

Don’t give up on teaching, union president urges

Don’t give up on teaching, union president urges:

Don’t give up on teaching, union president urges

With high stakes testing taking over class time and a national teacher shortage that keeps growing, being a teacher today can be tough.

Despite these challenges, persistent students are still flocking to a profession they say offers plenty of rewards.

“Any job has negatives, but this job has the most pros,” said Erika Guido, an early childhood education major. “Children give you gifts every day – they give you hugs, they tell you things that make you laugh and maybe by mistake they call you mom.”

Future educators like Guido heard first-hand the challenges they can expect in the classroom during a recent visit with Randi Weingarten, president of the American Federation of Teachers. Weingarten bemoaned the burdensome mandatory testing regimens enacted by Congress and state legislatures.

“Test scores have been used to shame students, penalize teachers, close schools,” she said. “It’s sapped joy out of teaching and learning from teachers and kids.”

Yet, the need for teachers has never been greater.

“There’s no doubt that teaching is a tough profession, but those drawn to the classroom shouldn’t be deterred by the challenges,” said Laura Dinehart, executive director of FIU’s School of Education and Human Development. “Passion and persistence are the only way to ensure that we give voice and continue to elevate the profession.”

Nationwide, 2016 could be the year with the fewest number of teachers available in a decade, while the demand for teachers has grown steadily since the great recession, according to the California-based Learning Policy Institute.

Florida in particular faces teacher shortages in the areas of special education, reading, physics, earth and space science and general middle school science. According to the U.S. Department of Education, Florida also has a need for instructors for children who are hearing impaired.

FIU’s School of Education and Human Development is working to address teacher shortages by developing teaching academies in local high schools where students can explore a career in education. The first such teaching academy launched at Ronald Reagan/Doral Senior High School in 2015.

Our secondary education programs also offer students who are majoring in the sciences and humanities the opportunity to become certified teachers and to learn more about teaching through classes and internships.

In addition, the school is inviting school districts throughout Florida and the rest of the United States to Don’t give up on teaching, union president urges:

Why I am running for Congress by Jonathan Pelto, Green Party Candidate, 2nd CD - Wait What?

Why I am running for Congress by Jonathan Pelto, Green Party Candidate, 2nd CD - Wait What?:

Why I am running for Congress by Jonathan Pelto, Green Party Candidate, 2nd CD

Why I am running for Congress by Jonathan Pelto, Green Party Candidate, 2^nd CD

As a public education advocate, investigative journalist, small business owner, parent and former Connecticut state representative, I understand how government works.

But more importantly, I understand how our government and our elected officials are failing to provide the leadership that is needed to put this state and country back on track.

Throughout American history, each generation has worked to fulfill their fundamental obligation to leave their communities, our nation and the world a better place to live, work and raise a family.

But we are failing in the task.

Economic inequities, poverty, hunger, violence, climate change and a lack of access to an education and good jobs have created an environment in which we risk being the first generation to leave our children and future generations with less hope and opportunity.

This is not the United States or the State of Connecticut that our children and future generations deserve.

I am running for Congress because we can and must do better for our nation and its children.

I’m running for Congress because I recognize that this year’s election is critical for sustaining the future of our democracy and the nation.

Uncontested and under-contested elections reinforce apathy, and this year, perhaps more than any other in recent memory, we need every voter to understand what is at stake and learn about the issues, vote and hold those elected accountable.

I recognize that in these dark times, change will not come easily, but without joining together and raising our voices, real change will never come.

On the issues

1. Fair and equitable tax system

My platform is to push the debate forward on behalf of the adoption of a fair and equitable tax system that requires large corporations and the wealthy to pay their fair share, so that we can pay for the vital services that our citizens need, while reducing our national debt.

2. Fiscal Responsibility

The United States has become the greatest debtor nation on Earth and we must face our responsibility of paying down our debt or we’ll leave our children and grandchildren with such crushing bills to pay that our country will never achieve financial success. I will push for balanced budgets that include a debt repayment component so that we can begin to dig undo the fiscally irresponsible actions that both parties have engaged in over the past 35 years.

3. A government for, by, and of the people (getting money out of politics)

I will vigorously advocate for a more open and honest government that allows our citizens with access to the actions of our federal government to ensure greater accountability. I will speak up in support of legislation to overturn Citizens United which has allowed wealthy individuals to buy elections and unduly influence political decisions.

4. Environmental Stewardship and Energy Independence

Perhaps the greatest threat to our country and the world is the threat of climate change. Climate change has already brought rising seas and more extreme weather patterns, putting human lives at risk, and crippling our economy. Without immediate action, the impacts of climate change will only worsen. I will work to combat climate change by prioritizing an energy policy that supports the development of renewable energy to greatly reduce our reliance on fossil fuels, and will dedicate resources to mitigate the impacts of climate change.

5. A stronger, more diverse economy in Eastern CT

Eastern Connecticut’s economy is still very weak, and was one of the nation’s hardest hit by the recession. Our overreliance on only a handful of large employers concentrated within a few industries continues to make us economically vulnerable.  I will work to support the Second Congressional District’s economic development efforts by proposing actionable plans to convert our defense industry to provide our highly skilled manufacturing sector to diversify and develop products for commercial markets rather than be dependent on maintaining the military industrial complex.

6. High quality, affordable public education

I have devoted a great deal of my political and professional career to support efforts to provide our young people and adults with high quality, affordable public education. Providing our children with knowledge, skills and opportunities is the greatest duty of any government or generation.  This campaign allows me to continue to articulate an agenda that puts an end to the corrupt and ineffective privatization of public education. These damaging policies embraced by both Republican and Democratic politicians are turning our children and our schools into profit centers for private business and have done nothing to enhance the quality of our public schools.

I will also propose real solutions to solve the student debt crisis, which has made it nearly impossible for many middle and low income children from obtaining a college education or other job training.

No one person or politician can make the fundamental changes needed to increase opportunities for all of our citizens, but together we can do those things. It is my hope that this campaign will empower people to engage in our democracy and raise their voices to address the challenges we face each as we work to build a brighter and healthier future for our children and the generations to come.

On Election Day 2016 – Help create a better future and vote!Why I am running for Congress by Jonathan Pelto, Green Party Candidate, 2nd CD - Wait What?:

 

2016 Election Coverage: Brush Up on Clinton, Trump, and K-12 One More Time - Politics K-12 - Education Week

2016 Election Coverage: Brush Up on Clinton, Trump, and K-12 One More Time - Politics K-12 - Education Week:

2016 Election Coverage: Brush Up on Clinton, Trump, and K-12 One More Time

Election Day is here. At the start of the year, we wrote that public school policy was mostly getting ignored in the race for the White House—and sadly for many of you education wonks, not much has changed. But here we are, on the big voting day, and there are some big differences between Clinton, Trump, and the other candidates on the few education issues they've addressed.

You can follow us Tuesday evening for what the results mean for education. And if you can't wait until then, here's a short-and-sweet refresher for you. 

You can catch all of our 2016 election coverage here. You'll find stories about unions backing Clinton, a potentially groundbreaking candidate in Montana, and the testy politics of education in Indiana. And if you want more detailed and color-coded information about not just the presidential candidates, but state chiefs, ballot measures, and other K-12 items on the ballot, then check out our voter's guide.

To catch the Politics K-12 team talking about where Clinton and Trump stand on school choice, unions, and other key education issues, check out our video explainer below:  

And the Andrew half of of Politics K-12 also appeared on PBS Newshour to discuss Trump's opposition to the Common Core State Standards, education's place in the race, and other related matters here:

Internet video not really your thing? Then check out our interactive graphic showing where Clinton and Trump stand on various education issues like teacher quality, school safety, and education spending. And for where Green Party candidate Jill Stein and Libertarian Party hopeful Gary Johnson stand, among others, click here.

Remember the Democratic National Convention and the Republican National Conventions? We couldn't blame you if you tried to forget. But to remind yourself what Hillary Clinton said about education-related maters during her DNC speech, click here. And for Donald Trump's remarks about schools during the RNC, go here. 

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Follow us on Twitter at @PoliticsK12.

2016 Election Coverage: Brush Up on Clinton, Trump, and K-12 One More Time - Politics K-12 - Education Week:

Bloomberg’s 2016 tally: $65 million and counting - POLITICO

Bloomberg’s 2016 tally: $65 million and counting - POLITICO:

Bloomberg’s 2016 tally: $65 million and counting
With little fanfare, the former New York mayor has emerged as one of the election’s top donors.

Mike Bloomberg is quietly finishing as one of the biggest spenders of the 2016 cycle.

The former New York City mayor, who’s adamant about his political independence and gives to Republicans and Democrats who align with positions he wants, comes into Election Day having donated more than $65 million — overwhelmingly to issue campaigns for local gun control and soda tax measures, but also to 18 individual candidates.

That’s all happened with very little public presence — and doesn’t include a single dollar toward the presidential race — putting Bloomberg just behind Tom Steyer in total federal contributions and well ahead of what GOP megadonor Sheldon Adelson has put into White House, Senate and House races this year.

Steyer’s giving is all focused on the environment. Adelson’s goes across the Republican spectrum, but with a special tilt toward fellow right-wingers on Israel policy. The Koch Brothers have built a massive network with almost $1 billion in spending this cycle that often comes in to reshape key races in pursuit of Republican wins for conservative, libertarian-leaning causes.

Bloomberg backs a mix of Republican and Democrats, has become more focused on referenda and his operation is contained to a small team of advisers who’ve stayed in his orbit from his days in City Hall.

“No one in the country operates this way,” said Howard Wolfson, who runs the effort along with longtime political guru Kevin Sheekey.

Bloomberg consciously made his Donald Trump-slicing speech at the Democratic convention in July his final statement in the White House campaign, opting against giving money to already well-funded super PACs or television appearances to reinforce the message.

Aides point out that other than the short speech Bloomberg made as the host mayor during the 2004 GOP convention and his endorsement of Barack Obama via op-ed in 2012 — and, of course, taking yet another look at running for president himself this year — he has mostly avoided getting directly involved in campaigning.

“This is the most aggressive he has ever been for any presidential candidate — he felt that strongly about this election,” Wolfson said. “When you speak rarely, it carries more power, and that applied here. The convention speech was most effective standing on its own.”

Bloomberg backed six Senate candidates and six House candidates, including Bloomberg’s 2016 tally: $65 million and counting - POLITICO:

Mike Klonsky's SmallTalk Blog: 'Millennial' voters not just white

Mike Klonsky's SmallTalk Blog: 'Millennial' voters not just white:

 'Millennial' voters not just white

"Show the younger generation what standing up looks like," Chance the Rapper at yesterday's free concert.

Please, no more hand-wringing about under-voting, so-called "millennials". I say, so-called, because I don't really think there's one such thing as millennials. Of course I know there are young people who came of age by the year 2000. The problem is, the way the term is used in media and even by academics, it's come to mean young white people/voters/consumers. Don't believe me? Close your eyes and imagine a millennial. Who do you see?

The corporate world is smart enough to see black millennials as a vast potential profit centerand for their role as "culture creators". But as you can imagine, they fail to mention the stark racial disparities in the population of incarcerated youth. Among the estimated 717,800 men ages 18 to 29 who were incarcerated at midyear 2010, 37% (290,100) were black and 23% (180,400) were Hispanic.

Here's a survey done by Harvard University’s Institute of Politics which made me cringe:

Asked about the nation's future, 51 percent of those ages 18 to 29 said they feel "fearful," while just 20 percent picked "hopeful." In responding to the question, which hadn't been asked in previous polls, every demographic group felt more fearful than hopeful, the institute said, with white women exhibiting the most anxiety, at 60 percent fearful. 

I can't help but wonder which millennials are even accessible to Harvard researchers? How about Spanish-speaking immigrant youth or young African-American men in what's left of urban public housing? Or in prison.

While there is some cultural overlap, black, Latino, urban poor men, women don't occupy the same space as middle-class or wealthy white youth when it comes to education, consumption, or voting. Averaging them all together is misleading.

For example, millennial 3rd-party voting has been limited almost exclusively to white people. While Clinton holds a 36-point advantage over Trump in most polls, there's no sense even Mike Klonsky's SmallTalk Blog: 'Millennial' voters not just white:

Teaching Geometry at Mountain View High School*: Technology Integration | Larry Cuban on School Reform and Classroom Practice

Teaching Geometry at Mountain View High School*: Technology Integration | Larry Cuban on School Reform and Classroom Practice:

Teaching Geometry at Mountain View High School*: Technology Integration

 It is 8:00 AM and a few 9th grade students slowly enter the classroom. Music is playing, ballads and songs from an earlier decade—I recognized “Hotel California.” Brendan Dilloughery , working on his laptop at his desk, welcomes each student by name and they sit in their pod of desks, some slowly unpacking their notebook and laptop or tablet (this is a Bring-Your- Own-Device district**) from their backpacks. Other students put in earbuds to listen to their favorite music or program, and a few   just stare into space.

A veteran teacher of nearly a decade in international schools in Ecuador, Switzerland, and other places, Dilloughery is in his second year at Mountain View. He teaches geometry and computer science. Tall, energetic—constantly on the move even before the buzzer sounds for the geometry 1 class to begin—the teacher has the agenda for the lesson on the white board. Trimmed beard, mustache, and goatee, the teacher is wearing a maroon long sleeved shirt and dark slacks. He gazes around the room seeing pods of 3-4 desks scattered across the medium sized classroom slowly filling with students.

The buzzer sounds at 8:10 (the period will end at 8:55) and Dilloughery gets the 19 students’ attention. He asks them to take out their homework—three students sitting near me tear out a written page from their notebook —and tells the class that he will come around and stamp their homework (the stamp is a large checkmark). Dilloughery walks around as students place their homework next to their laptop or tablet which they open and go to Google Classroom where they access the homework assignments and geometry proofs for the day (all students have a textbook at home from which the teacher assigns homework).

The “agenda” for the day is on the whiteboard:

–Warm-up

–Blue Angels tomorrow at lunch

–Review homework

–Proofs -big picture

–IXL-C 8

After stamping homework, the teacher asks students to close their lids at a 45 degree angle (after all, it is geometry, I think to myself). Students do. At the front whiteboard, Dilloughery then proceeds to go over step-by-step a problem that Teaching Geometry at Mountain View High School*: Technology Integration | Larry Cuban on School Reform and Classroom Practice:

Without Recruits, Even Lobbying Cannot Save Teach for America | deutsch29

Without Recruits, Even Lobbying Cannot Save Teach for America | deutsch29:

Without Recruits, Even Lobbying Cannot Save Teach for America

In July 2016, the teacher temp agency, Teach for America (TFA) filed its latest tax form, technically for 2014, but actually spanning June 01, 2014 to May 31, 2015.

Here is TFA’s stated mission:

OUR MISSION IS TO ENLIST, DEVELOP, MOBILIZE AS MANY AS POSSIBLE OF OUR NATION’S MOST PROMISING FUTURE LEADERS TO GROW AND STRENGTHEN THE MOVEMENT FOR EDUCATIONAL EQUITY AND EXCELLENCE.

TFA’s total end-of-year assets for 2014-15 were $445 million, down from $494 million at the beginning of the tax year. In both 2014-15 and 2013-14, TFA’s expenses exceeded its revenue (by $26 million in 2013-14 and $75 million in 2014-15).

According to TFA’s 2014 tax form, it spent $1 million on “direct contact with legislators, their staffs, government officials, or a legislative body.” Of course, that million was spent in TFA’s lobbying for itself.

Here is the detailed description by TFA about exactly how that $1 million was spent:

ON A STATE LEVEL, LOCAL ADVISORY BOARD MEMBERS, PAID STAFF OR MANAGEMENT HAD DIRECT CONTACT WITH STATE LEGISLATORS,THEIR STAFF AND MEMBERS OF STATE EXECUTIVE BRANCH AGENCIES IN SUPPORT OF STATE APPROPRIATIONS FOR TEACH FOR AMERICA’S IN-STATE OPERATIONS THROUGH REGULAR STATE BUDGET PROCESSES.

IN ADDITION, REGIONAL STAFF ALSO WORKED FOR THE PASSAGE OF VARIOUS PIECES OF LEGISLATION WHICH WOULD IMPACT TEACH FOR AMERICA’S ABILITY TO OPERATE IN A GIVEN COMMUNITY INCLUDING THE PASSAGE OF ALTERNATIVE CERTIFICATION LEGISLATION AND LEGISLATION PERMITTING TEACH FOR AMERICA TO BE RECOGNIZED BY THE STATE AS AN ALTERNATIVE PATHWAY TO TEACH LICENSURE.

TEACH FOR AMERICA HAS USED CONSULTANTS AT THE STATE LEVEL TO PROVIDE LOBBYING SERVICES, SUCH AS BILL AND REGULATION TRACKING ON MATTERS, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO, TEACHER CERTIFICATION AND STATE FUNDING AT THE FEDERAL LEVEL.

TEACH FOR AMERICA STAFF INTERFACED WITH MEMBERS OF CONGRESS, THEIR PERSONAL AND COMMITTEE STAFF, AND KEY MEMBERS OF THE PRESIDENT’S ADMINISTRATION AND FEDERAL AGENCIES, TO ADVOCATE FOR LEGISLATION AND REGULATIONS THAT WOULD SUPPORT TEACH FOR AMERICA AND THE CONSTITUENCIES WE SERVE.

As a 501c3, TFA can spend a max of $1 million on lobbying because its exempt-purpose expenditures exceed $17 million. However, TFA also has an associated lobbying nonprofit (a 501c4), Leadership for Educational Equity (LEE), to which it donated $9.5 million in 2014-15, for the general purpose of providing “charitable and educational programs to strengthen individual and collective leadership of TFA alumni.”

TFA wants its alumni to assume positions of political and education administrative Without Recruits, Even Lobbying Cannot Save Teach for America | deutsch29

Reflections on Teaching » On the upcoming election of the first woman president…

Reflections on Teaching » Blog Archive » On the upcoming election of the first woman president…:

On the upcoming election of the first woman president…

In many ways this has been a disheartening election. To see people make excuses for a candidate bragging about sexual assault (which was followed up by victims saying, “Yes he did.”) well, that’s almost sadder than the assault in the first instance. And all the racism, and xenophobia that preceded it was just as ugly.

I’ve never been a big fan of Hillary Rodham Clinton, and I have my concerns and doubts even to this day, but the misogyny she’s face in this election has been truly appalling. Still, I really didn’t have a moment of awe at the fact that we’ve managed to get a female at the top of a major political party ticket, but I’m starting to feel it now, and it’s about more than Hillary (although that is part of it). It’s about us, all of us, saying “HELL NO” to Trump, and those saying “HECK YEAH” to Hillary..

Someone added me to the Pantsuit Nation page of Facebook. At first I wasn’t sure about it, was it from the campaign or more organic> The stories were good, and I’ve enjoyed reading them. Seeing how excited other women are, some of whom are the only Democrat on their block/neighborhood/etc. Some of whom have always voted GOP, but coming slowly to the realization of a larger truth.

But, at the end, it’s about more than voting for Hillary. Another post that got me was written by a Facebook friend and ed tech guru shortly after the release of the Access Hollywood tape. The woman who wrote it is a true blue Republican, so much  so that she named two of kids after the 37th and 40th Presidents. We share the same first name and used to joke at ed tech events that I was liberal Alice, and she was Republican Alice. She put up a post talking personally about how uncomfortable it feels to have unwanted words or actions forced on us as women. At the end she said the following:

When someone in a position of power says something or touches you, no one wants to believe it and it is laughed off by others. This is a dirty thing our society does and we should stop tolerating it.

I have no idea if she is crossing lines and voting for Hillary, but I think there is something more important here. It’s about what we share as and experience of being women in this time and place, and something that we both think needs to change, whatever we feel about trade policy, tax policy, or student loans.

I’ll leave with a quote another friend and fellow teacher posted on Facebook:

This election is about people. But it’s not about *those two* people. It’s about me, my family, my children, my friends, my colleagues, my students, my students’ parents… It’s about miners, farm workers, teachers, house painters, accountants, librarians, landscapers, mechanics, sales clerks, veterinarians and veterans. It’s about Americans.

Stronger Together. Let’s make it more than a campaign slogan. It’s up to us.Reflections on Teaching » Blog Archive » On the upcoming election of the first woman president…:

SKrashen: Announcement of my interest in becoming US Secretary of Education

SKrashen: Announcement of my interest in becoming US Secretary of Education:

Announcement of my interest in becoming US Secretary of Education

Stephen Krashen  November 7, 2016.

According to the BAT organization's poll, I was one of those mentioned as a possible candidate for the position of Secretary of Education. If appointed, here is some of my platform. Most of the ideas are not my own, and I will supply full documentation if my candidacy develops. 

Focus on poverty

By far the most consistent and powerful predictor of school achievement is poverty.  In fact, when researchers control for the effect of poverty, American students rank near the top of the world on international tests. 

The current view of the US Department of Education is that improving education will reduce the rate of poverty, but there is strong evidence that the causality goes in the opposite direction, supporting Martin Luther King’s position: "We are likely to find that the problems of housing and education, instead of preceding the elimination of poverty, will themselves be affected if poverty is first abolished”(Martin Luther King, 1967, Final Words of Advice).

Until we achieve full employment at a living wage, the real cure for poverty, the Department of Education can improve the situation immediately by protecting children from at least some of the effects of poverty. Children of poverty suffer from food deprivation, lack of proper health care, and have very limited access to reading material. This means we must immediately act to improve school food programs, improve access to school nurses, and support school libraries and librarians.

More flexible expectations

The Department of Education can also improve matters immediately by encouraging more flexible expectations for school completion: Announcing high school graduation rates based only those who graduate "on time" (in four years) sends the message that there is something wrong with taking longer.  Education expert Susan Ohanian tells us that during the depression, her father went to high school every other year, working to help support the family when he wasn't in school.  Taking longer than the usual four years is often an indication of persistence and determination, not laziness. Using today's measures, he would be classified as a dropout.

Help students find their paths

The Department of Education should not promote specific careers based on (often inaccurate) current perceptions of national needs. Rather, school should provide an environment in which students discover their individual interests and talents, and help them develop these interests and talents.

This requires a re-analysis of the need for college. The official position of the US government is that on finishing high-school students should be “college or career ready,” but in practice the focus is clearly on college. This is reflected not only in statements from the Department of Education, but also in the content of the Common Core, clearly a college prep program.

College is right for many many students. But it is not right for everybody. College is not better, it is different.  Many young people have talents and interests that are not well-served by college, and they deserve the chance to develop in different ways.  Both young people and society profit when we respect diversity, and both suffer when we do not:  John Gardner, Former Secretary of SKrashen: Announcement of my interest in becoming US Secretary of Education:

 

November 8th, 2016 – Your Students are Watching You | Daniel Katz, Ph.D.

November 8th, 2016 – Your Students are Watching You | Daniel Katz, Ph.D.:

November 8th, 2016 – Your Students are Watching You

I can hardly blame any teachers who hesitate to vote for the Democratic nominee this year.  One obvious reason is that many teachers are themselves Republicans and hesitate to vote for any Democratic nominee.  Another is that many teachers, with cause, are wary of many Democratic politicians who have embraced the agenda of school privatization with a vigor that was hardly conceivable twenty years ago.  In the era of No Child Left Behind and Race to the Top, Democrats such as Andrew Cuomo of New York and Rahm Emanuel of Chicago have been passionate architects of school closings, have embraced blame-the-teachers-first evaluation and retention policies, and have promoted school privatization that undermines truly public schools.  While I have argued that Secretary Hillary Clinton has signaled willingness to pivot from these policies in her administration, I cannot blame teachers who hesitate in the wake of a pair of two term Presidents, one Republican and one Democratic, both of whom embraced awful education policies.

But I address this blog to teachers who are contemplating what I find unthinkable – casting a ballot for Donald Trump.  I call it unthinkable because I am starting from a premise that teachers care about their students and want what is best for them.  For every single one of your students, regardless of who they are and who their families are, there is something horrible at the core of what Donald Trump’s continued domination of the national landscape would mean.  While I find his policies – such as they are – harmful and nearly farcical, what is even more disturbing to me as an educator would be giving him four years in the most visible and influential office in the nation where he would have a guaranteed national audience for the unending sexism and bigotry that has become the lingua franca of his campaign.  As a teacher, you should be able to look all of your students in the eye and say that your vote has helped them.  I do not believe you can do that if you vote for Donald Trump.

Half of your students are girls and young women.  What could you possibly say to them that justifies a vote for Donald Trump?  That it does not matter if the President of the United States of America is a man with a decades long record of belittling women in public mostly because of how they look?  That it does not matter if the President of the United States is a man who routinely barged in on partially dressed teen aged beauty pageant contestants?  That it does not matter if the President of the United States has a record of making sexually suggestive comments to under-aged women?   That it does not matter if the President of the United States is a man who routinely relates to women only in terms of their sexual desirability?  That it does not matter if the President of the United States is a man who bragged about his ability to get away with sexual assault and then tried to brush it off as “locker room talk”?

I challenge any teacher looking a classroom full of girls and young women who deserve to be seen as complete human beings and to be evaluated on the basis of their accomplishments – and to explain how the President of the United States can be a man who speaks and acts like this.  For that matter, I challenge any teacher to look a the boys and young men in their classrooms who deserve to be November 8th, 2016 – Your Students are Watching You | Daniel Katz, Ph.D.:

Charter School Movement: ‘Insidious Plan’ to Take Over Public Education

Charter School Movement: ‘Insidious Plan’ to Take Over Public Education:

Charter School Movement: ‘Insidious Plan’ to Take Over Public Education

GUEST COMMENTARY--David Leonhardt says: “Charter schools -- public schools that operate outside the normal system -- have become a quarrelsome subject, alternately hailed as saviors and criticized as an overrated fad.” There is no such thing as public charter school. Period. And, they are certainly no “fad,” but rather, a ploy to end our public school system. 

It is propaganda about “public” charter schools that confuses the public. Our citizens are unaware of the plan and the ploy by the Educational Industrial Complex to end public schools by starving their budgets, using bogus tests to label them failing and then hand them over to those who want to do so much more than just make a fortune. 

I read and admire the writing of David Leonhardt, but it is outrageous, that once again, the New York Times perpetuates the absolute false notion that there are Public Charter Schools.  

Giving taxpayer’s money to charter schools that lack transparency and regulations does NOT make them PUBLIC SCHOOLS, and yet, this ploy is on the ballots in Massachusetts, Georgia, Pennsylvania and many states. 

Do not pretend that your paper is printing all the “news that is fit to print,” when you consistently promote the end of public education instead of printing the stories that could make our schools strong again. Make America great again by bringing back our schools so an ignoramus like Trump will face a nation of educated, skilled, working people who love democracy! 

 I have been an educator for four decades and I now write at Oped News and on the Diane Ravitch blog about the takeover of the institutionof Public Education.  

Dr. Ravitch wrote, “How Not to Fix Our Public Schools-Reign of Error: The Hoax of the Privatization Movement and the Danger to America’s Public Schools,” and you [LA Times] have  published her editorial, but you have learned nothing about the plan to takeover our democracy by  doing what every  dictator (and even the Saudi’s know)  get the children when they are young -- because they are not kids for long; soon they will be citizens who vote. 

The insidious plan is to let people like these guys rewrite history. “Get ’em young”… as they are doing in North Carolina, where the Koch Bros want to write social studies curricula.  

Read the Ravitch blog: “Civics Lessons Financed by the Koch Brothers” | Diane Ravitch’s blog and you will see the end of public education.  

They also know that Democracy depends on shared knowledge, and they know how to end real knowledge by simply taking over the 15,880 school systems, and make sure the newspapers and media spit out lies.   

Fifty-two states and almost sixteen thousand separate school systems make it so easy for the puppet-masters who own all the media in this nation to hide this assault on American democracy, and the only road to income equality. 

We saw how privatizing heath care affected our people while enriching the corporate big pharma! 

There is a ton of money to be made when the salaries and benefits of experienced professionals are removed from the budget. Take the experienced professional out of a hospital and watch it fail, too. 

Yes, the hedge funds love charter $chools. Look at what the California Billionaires are doing to privatize education and be aware that this is a worldwide takeover of education by the oligarchs who know that taking over the education system wins the battle to take over any nation. This article by Justin Miller in the American Prospect seeks to demystify the strange confluence between hedge fund managers and the charter school movement. 

This is a great discussion, in which Amy Goodman of “Democracy Now”interviews Juan Gonzalez of the NY Daily News about the big money pushing charter schools. The discussion is based on this article.  

Look at the scam of “virtual” charter schools. Ariana Prothero writes in Education Week about the “Outsized Influence” of lobbyists for the virtual charter industry. 

Or, go to my series on privatization, using information that Diane Ravitch provides about the state legislatures which are taking over the local schools, with nary an educator on board, and giving them to charters, with not a shred of oversight! Here is a link to Diane’s posts on charter school corruption.  

(Susan Lee Schwartz has been an award winning public school teacher for decades. She is currently a freelance travel writer and photographer, but I also write widely, about real education reform in order to change the national conversation to where it needs to be. This was originally published as a letter to the Los Angeles Times.) Edited for CityWatch by Linda Abrams.Charter School Movement: ‘Insidious Plan’ to Take Over Public Education: