ACLU Video. What to do if ICE is at your door. | ACLU Video. Qué hacer si el ICE está en su puerta. | Fred Klonsky

ACLU Video. What to do if ICE is at your door. | Fred Klonsky:

ACLU Video. What to do if ICE is at your door. ACLU Video. Qué hacer si el ICE está en su puerta. | Fred Klonsky

ACLU Video. What to do if ICE is at your door. | Fred Klonsky:

Catch up with CURMUDGUCATION: The Wealth Gap: Worse Than You Think + Impersonal Personalization

CURMUDGUCATION:

Catch up with CURMUDGUCATION

The Wealth Gap: Worse Than You Think

96by Peter Greene / 1d

How much is whiteness worth? The answer turns out to be "a whole heck of a lot." A new report with the unsexy title " Asset Value of Whiteness " has been released jointly by Demos and the Institute for Assets and Social Policy (Brandeis University), two left-tilted thinky tanks. The researchers used the Survey of Consumer Finances, a tri-annual data crunch sponsored by the Federal Reserve and the

FEB 09

Impersonal Personalization

39by Peter Greene / 1d

Imagine this is your child's classroom. Your child sits at a desk, alone in the room. No teacher ever enters the room. An aide comes into the room periodically to give your child a quiz, or a worksheet. Your child fills out the sheet, the aide scores it. Maybe the aide gives it back to your child to do again, but the aide can't explain anything. All the worksheets and quizzes are written so that t

DeVos Staying The Course

36by Peter Greene / 2d

Betsy DeVos granted her first interview as Secretary of Education, or even Secretary-nominee, to Ingrid Jacques at the Detroit News. Jacques could be counted on to treat DeVos with warm, soft, friendly gloves. The deputy editorial page editor has previously told readers that DeVos is all about children , that the EAA is working , and that DeVos showed grit at her hearing. Jacques was a fine choice

Reformsters Contemplate Race (Part I)

6by Peter Greene / 2d

Last week the American Enterprise Institute hosted an afternoon of reformy navel gazing, featuring an all-start lineup and centered around the general topic of race and the specific issue of whether the Great Reform Coalition was about to fall apart because (I'm paraphrasing) there's an actively racist administration taking power in DC and some reformsters are much more comfortable with that than

FEB 08

DeVosian Threat Inventory

82by Peter Greene / 3d

So now Betsy DeVos has her very first big girl job, and we live in a Trump-DeVos education era. Time to take an inventory of what education issues to watch for. Here's my set of best semi-educated guesses. Common Core Pshaw. Common Core continues to be a zombie policy, existing in various mangled forms both under its old name and its new one. This administration will claim to have gotten rid of it

FEB 07

Uplift Checklist For a Dispiriting Day

200+by Peter Greene / 3d

Honestly, my expectations are always so low that it's hard to really disappoint me, and this day was no exception. Defeating DeVos depended on finding a GOP senator who was willing to separate himself from his senate pack and also piss off a President known for his unreasoning grudgeholding rage in the first days of a new administration whose main goal seems to be sorting the people of the world i

WI: Destroying the Profession

42by Peter Greene / 4d

Wisconsin State Superintendent Tony Evers would like to lower the bar for teachers. Heading up the Leadership Group on School Staffing Challenges, Evers has teamed up with some members of the Wisconsin Association of School District Administrators t o try to solve the mystery that is Wisconsin's shrinking teacher pool-- veterans are quitting, and the pipeline for new teachers is drying up. Their s

The New Friedrichs Anti-Union Lawsuit

35by Peter Greene / 4d

Well, that didn't take long. The Center for Individual Rights has filed a lawsuit against the state of California and the California Teachers Association -- Yohn v. CTA. CIR is the same right-wing group that brought us the Friedrich's lawsuit , and this is basically the same suit with a new teacher used as a prop. They cut their teeth doing anti-affirmative action work, but have more recently join

FEB 06

The DeVos Alarm Clock

100+by Peter Greene / 4d

The Betsy DeVos nomination, in its sturm and drang and distress and noise, is quite different from any nomination we've ever seen. And yet, Betsy DeVos is not that much different from what we've seen before. As a political operative seeking to remake public education in her own preferred image, DeVos is a bush-league Bill Gates. "I'm rich. I've got a tn of money. Why shouldn't I rewrite the educat

FEB 05

Choice and the Un-opened Door

34by Peter Greene / 6d

There are so many criticisms and counter-criticisms that swirl around the issue of choice and charters in the Great Unending Education Debate, but there are some criticisms of choice that have never been answered, because they can't be. It's not all the surprising that Betsy DeVos came up stumped by IDEA at her hearing-- charter-choice systems don't spend a lot of energy, effort or (most important

PA: Another Attack on Unions

17by Peter Greene / 6d

It's an idea that crops up from time to time, unique in that there isn't really any camouflage for it-- it just baldly attempts to make life more difficult for unions. This time it's coming up in Pennsylvania under one of its common names-- "Paycheck Protection." This bill pops up in Pennsylvania roughly as often as Punxsutawney Phil, and the rationale is as simple as it is transparent. Here's the

Chiefs' New Hilarious Practical Joke

12by Peter Greene / 6d

I am about 72% certain that this is a practical joke, right down to this stock photo: "Seriously, dude?" That photo is on the top of a Chiefs for Change news item for the new Student Growth Simulator. A new web-based tool will offer far greater ease and clarity for state and district leaders seeking to set learning goals and measure progress under the sweeping Every Student Succeeds Act. The Chief

Nevada's Voucher Fail

57by Peter Greene / 6d

Back in 2015, Nevada decided to go all-in on vouchers, establishing the voucheriest of voucher programs-- the education savings account. With ESA's the state just hands every parent a check or a debit card (in Nevada's case, $5,700 for poor families and $5,100 for not-so-poor families) and families can spend that money on private school tuition, tutors, homeschool supplies, a case of Lisa Frank tr

ICYMI: Some Game Today Edition (2/5)

15by Peter Greene / 6d

Is there some sort of sporting event going on today? I've heard rumors, and I may find it in me later to care. But in the meantime, here's some readings for the day. And remember-- there's still time to bother your senator about the upcoming DeVos vote. American Schools are Still Segregated. These Parents Are Making It Worse. There are some complicated issues here. This piece takes a fairly balanc

DeVos on SNL

87by Peter Greene / 6d

So Melissa McCarthy did a Spicer press briefing last night, and it included an appearance by Betsy DeVos. It was pretty hilarious, and I present it to you here (just in case you've missed it) but I have mixed feelings. On the one hand, when was the last time that an education issue garnered enough widespread 

CURMUDGUCATION:

CURMUDGUCATION: The Hard Right's Planning Document for Education

CURMUDGUCATION: The Hard Right's Planning Document for Education:

The Hard Right's Planning Document for Education

Well, this is kind of scary. We're going to do this two parts. First we're going to look at the Center for National Policy's documented proposed plans for education. Then, because you probably don't know who this poorly named group represents, I'll show you why their desire to create a conservative theocratic system is worth taking seriously. I laughed at this plan, right up until the point I saw whose plan it was. This is going to take a little while, and if you are prone to conspiracy theory-based paranoia, you may want to sit down. But stay with me to the end.

The Proposal

The Education Reform Report is a pdf hosted on CNP's own site. It's only five pages long, including a cover letter from CNP executive director Bob McEwen. That letter does not get off to an auspicious start with its reference to "Mrs. Becky DeVos, Secretary-designate," but it corrects itself one paragraph later. It's an odd mistake, given that Betsy's father was president of this organization for two multi-year spans. But let's move on.

The Four Assumptions

The report starts by asking the question of whose worldview should be represented in the soul of a culture and hints that the answer is "not the government's." Then it lays out the four assumptions and a pledge for the rest of the report:

1. All knowledge and facts have a source, a Creator; they are not self-existent.
2. Religious neutrality is a myth perpetrated by secularists who destroy their own claim the CURMUDGUCATION: The Hard Right's Planning Document for Education:

Jersey Jazzman: Jersey Jazzman Spring 2017 Tour

Jersey Jazzman: Jersey Jazzman Spring 2017 Tour:

Jersey Jazzman Spring 2017 Tour

Turns out I'm doing a lot of speaking and panels over the next few months. Not all events are open to the public, but I thought it would still be useful to give a schedule. Scroll down for details on each event. If you attend any of these, make sure to come up and say, "Hi!"

- Panel: Franklin C.A.R.E.S.

Wednesday, February 22 at 7 PM - 9 PM

Open to the public
Franklin High School; FHS Cafeteria
500 Elizabeth Ave, Somerset, New Jersey 08873

- Panel: Pride in Public Schools Listening Tour

Thursday, February 23, 2017, 5:00 PM—7:00 PM

Open to the public
Trenton Board of Education in Ellis Auditorium
108 North Clinton Avenue Trenton, NJ 08609 

- Keynote: Morris County Council of Education Associations

Friday, February 24, 2017

Private event

- Keynote: Burlington County Education Association Leadership Workshop
March 31, 2017

Private event

- Keynote: Ocean County Education Association

May 5, 2017

Private event

- Conference: Education Reform, Communities, And Social Justice: Exploring The Intersections

Friday, May 19, 2017
Edward J. Bloustein School of Planning and Public Policy

Rutgers University, New Brunswick, NJ

Details on conference registration to follow.

* * *

Event Details:

- Panel: Franklin C.A.R.E.S.

Wednesday, February 22 at 7 PM - 9 PM

Open to the public Franklin High School; FHS Cafeteria
500 Elizabeth Ave, Somerset, New Jersey 08873
Refreshments will be served.

Moderator: John Felix – Co-Founder

Panelists: Dr. John Navally, Nishita Desai, Kim Gordon, Mark Weber (Jersey Jazzman), Darcie Cimarusti (Mother Crusader)

"The Ailanthus Charter School has recently been granted conditional approval to begin operation in 2018. If final approval is given, approximately 7,000 Franklin Township students will be affected by a reduction of services and increase of class sizes due to potential layoffs.

Our community currently has the highest number of charter schools operating within a non-urban district in the state of New Jersey. If we do not stop charter growth now, 20 million of our tax dollars will be allotted to these schools in 5 to 6 years."

- Panel: Pride in Public Schools Listening Tour

Thursday, February 23, 2017, 5:00 PM—7:00 PM

Open to the public
Trenton Board of Education in Ellis Auditorium
108 North Clinton Avenue Trenton, NJ 08609 

Light dinner served at 4 PM

Panelists: Jitu Brown Journey For Justice; Mark Weber (Jersey Jazzman); Paul Perez Partnerships For Trenton

To reserve your seat(s) email: teaoffice@verizon.net or call 609-396-0016
Childcare will be provided for children ages 3 and up. Please let us know in advance if you will need childcare.

"Institutional racism is present in our communities of color in all aspects of life, whether it be in education, criminal justice, employment, housing, healthcare or politics. The evening will begin with a panel discussion. Participants will then take part in a powerful discussion of ways that we can address systemic barriers as we work to advance social justice."

 Jersey Jazzman: Jersey Jazzman Spring 2017 Tour:

With DeVos, We’re Likely To See A Charter School To Prison Pipeline | PopularResistance.Org

With DeVos, We’re Likely To See A Charter School To Prison Pipeline | PopularResistance.Org:

With DeVos, We’re Likely To See A Charter School To Prison Pipeline

We need to get cops out of schools and invest in an accountable public education system, IPS’ Karen Dolan told the Real News Network.

“This is a terrible harbinger for what is facing our children,” Karen Dolan told the Real News regarding the confirmation of Betsy DeVos as Secretary of Education. DeVos is a proponent of public school privatization.

Dolan said what we’re likely to see is a charter school to prison pipeline. “Children in charter schools – Black, brown, Latino, LGBTQ, and children with disabilities – are over-disciplined in rates even significantly higher than they are in public schools,” Dolan explained.

She said that children of color, even pre-schoolers, are between four and six times more likely to be expelled than white children for the same behavioral offenses – from scribbling on desks, to wearing distracting jewelry.

Expulsions increase children’s chances of coming into contact with the juvenile justice system. And those who have contact with the justice system in their youth have “very high – up to 70% higher” chances of reoffending, Dolan said.

While there is some bipartisan support for private education, charter schools, however well-With DeVos, We’re Likely To See A Charter School To Prison Pipeline | PopularResistance.Org: