To my critics: Teachers deserve rights - CNN.com #wisolidarity #wiunion #weac

To my critics: Teachers deserve rights - CNN.com

To my critics: Teachers deserve rights

By Diane Ravitch, Special to CNN

February 22, 2011 5:03 p.m. EST

STORY HIGHLIGHTS

• Diane Ravitch's column supporting Wisconsin teachers got huge, emotional response
• Many agree teachers demonized, she says, but others think they deserve it
• Wisconsin public sector unions agreed to all the governor's financial demands, she says
• Aim is busting unions, she writes, to leave no barrier to more cuts in pay, benefits

Editor's note: Diane Ravitch is a historian of education and the author of the best seller "The Death and Life of the Great American School System."

(CNN) -- A few days ago, I wrote an opinion piece for CNN.com explaining why teachers in Wisconsin -- and throughout the nation -- are angry, and it isn't just because Gov. Scott Walker asked them to pay more for their pensions and health-care benefits. They are angry because of the unwarranted public vilification that has been heaped on them for the past two years.

The response was unlike anything I have ever seen before, and I've been writing about education for 40 years. The column received more than 8,000 comments and more than 37,000 Facebook shares. I personally received scores of emails. The overwhelming

Labor's Edge Blog : In Wisconsin, Shades of the Thirties #wisolidarity #wiunion #weac

Labor's Edge Blog : In Wisconsin, Shades of the Thirties

In Wisconsin, Shades of the Thirties

By Dick Meister

By now, there's can be no doubting it: What's happening in Wisconsin is one of the most important labor developments in decades. It's of major importance to unions and their members, of major importance to working people generally ­ of major importance to us all.

In many ways, it's the 1930s again. Just as then, workers and their political allies and other supporters are demonstrating, picketing, marching, striking and otherwise forcefully demanding the basic civil right of collective bargaining ­ the unfettered right for workers' representatives to negotiate with employers on setting their wages, hours and working conditions.

Eventually, workers and their millions of supporters won the 1930s struggle.

Congress, acting closely with President Franklin D. Roosevelt, granted the legal right of collective bargaining to most workers. Farm workers, domestics and a few other groups were excluded from the law, but all others finally had that vital right.

The 1930s struggle arose primarily because of the economic pressures of the Great Depression that led to massive protests, just as today's struggle can be traced to the pressures of the Great Recession that also have led to massive

A Look at Public Worker Rallies Around the Country Education Votes

Education Votes

A Look at Public Worker Rallies Around the Country

by treed [editor] | Discuss 0

Tags: activism, activist, CA, California, ID, Idaho, IN, Indiana, OH, Ohio, rally, teachers, Tennessee, TN, Union, WI,Wisconsin, Your Voice

Wisconsin

In Wisconsin, WEAC has stood firm for collective bargaining, while agreeing to the changes proposed by Governor Walker and offering to meet with him. Demonstrations are continuing throughout the week. For recent articles on the crisis in Wisconsin, visit the

Draconian DPS plan exposes societal intent to leave almost all children behind | MLive.com#wisolidarity #wiunion #weac

Draconian DPS plan exposes societal intent to leave almost all children behind | MLive.com

Draconian DPS plan exposes societal intent to leave almost all children behind

Published: Tuesday, February 22, 2011, 9:25 AM Updated: Tuesday, February 22, 2011, 10:36 AM

By Jeff T. Wattrick | MLive.com
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News that state education officials will implement Robert Bobb’s “draconian” plan for the Detroit Public Schools sent the region into a tailspin of appropriate outrage and concern.

While there’s nothing particularly redeeming about a slash-and-burn system that crams 60 kids into a classroom, say this for the DPS nuclear option: It’s an honest reflection of our societal commitment to universal education.

Once upon a time, public education was created so all Americans could blossom into full citizens of a free society. A person capable of reading, writing, and performing basic mathematics could be sovereign over his own affairs. Universal instruction in history, literature, and the arts provided the perspective necessary to make informed and enlightened decisions about self-governance.

Today, the education system exists for the purposes of administering annual standardized tests.

If a student demonstrates proficiency completing a decade’s worth of Scantron slips, and is so

Schools Matter: Wisconsin's Hosni Walker Jamming Websites Inside Capitol? #wisolidarity #wiunion #weac

Schools Matter: Wisconsin's Hosni Walker Jamming Websites Inside Capitol?

Wisconsin's Hosni Walker Jamming Websites Inside Capitol?

by Jim Horn

From Think Progress:

According to pro-labor protesters in Wisconsin, Gov. Scott Walker (R) may be taking a page from former Egyptian Dictator Hosni Mubarak and cutting off internet access to key protest organizers within the state Capitol building.


If you are in the Capitol attempting to access the internet from a free wifi connection labeled “guest,” you cannot access the site defendwisconsin.org. The site has been used to provide updates on what is happening, where you can volunteer, and where supplies and goods are needed to support protesters. Administrators of the website were notified on Monday that the page is being

Unbelievable Outpouring of Solidarity #wisolidarity #wiunion #weac

aflcio.org - America's Union Movement

When Matthew Wisniewski created an incredible video about what’s been taking place in Wisconsin over the past few days, he said, “Please pass on this video if you like it. It needs more publicity. People need to see why we’re protesting.” I’m not sure having the AFL-CIO send this video out to our entire e-mail list is quite what Matthew had in mind—but our staff loved this video, and we think you will, too. Matthew’s video shows the unbelievable people-powered energy behind what’s happening in Wisconsin. Watch the amazing video—it’s a few minutes, but worth every second. Then, sign our statement of solidarity. Crowds in Wisconsin have swelled to more than 70,000, with more expected today. What the protesters are doing in Wisconsin is working. Workers who are under attack—and the communities that know and respect them—have created such a powerful show of solidarity that all 14 Democratic members of the Wisconsin state Senate left the Senate chambers in protest, indefinitely delaying a vote on Gov. Scott Walker’s anti-worker bill. And Republicans are starting to waver. This is the kind of strength it takes to win. We need to make our voices heard whenever and wherever attacks occur, in Wisconsin and in our own states. Watch the amazing video. Then, sign our statement of solidarity. The electricity and energy and solidarity we’re seeing with Wisconsin workers is truly unprecedented. But it is only the beginning. Now, as one supporter said to us on Twitter, “We must keep the momentum going & growing. Now is the time & we cannot give in or up.” That’s true in Wisconsin, and it’s just as true in all our communities. In Solidarity, Manny Herrmann Online Mobilization Coordinator, AFL-CIO P.S. Here are more things you can do to show your support: Join our “We Are One” Facebook page to discuss what’s happening and write messages of solidarity. Join the conversation on Twitter: Start by signing our act.ly petition. Then, use the hashtags #StateSOS for all states facing attacks on workers, and #WIunion #SolidarityWI and #NotMyWI for Wisconsin. Visit the AFL-CIONow Blog for constant updates and things you can do. Share Matthew’s video with your friends on Facebook. Watch Part 2 of Matthew’s video—also amazing. Sign up for our text messaging program. Pull out your cell phone and text UNITE to AFLCIO (235246). Message and data rates may apply.

To find out more about the AFL-CIO, please visit our website at www.aflcio.org.

Del Valle for Mayor | For All Chicago For Every Neighborhood: Not If, Chicago -- When. I Belong in the Runoff.

Del Valle for Mayor | For All Chicago For Every Neighborhood: Not If, Chicago -- When. I Belong in the Runoff.

Not If, Chicago -- When. I Belong in the Runoff.

FEBRUARY 22, 2011

From Huffington Post, 2.22.11
by Miguel del Valle

During this campaign, I have brought up the issues most important to the people of Chicago.

The costly parking meter contract. Excessive use ofred light cameras. An oppressive property tax system for small business owners. Pay-to-influence like we have never seen it before.

My opponents, because of their clout and connections, cannot raise these issues. They certainly cannot solve them.

We as a city haven't had any opportunities in recent history to elect a mayor on the basis of principle and

THE PERIMETER PRIMATE: Federal investigation into the Gulen Movement’s charter schools #wisolidarity #wiunion #weac

THE PERIMETER PRIMATE: Federal investigation into the Gulen Movement’s charter schools

Federal investigation into the Gulen Movement’s charter schools

An article exposing a federal investigation into the Gulen Movement's involvement in charter schools (> 30,000 students) has just been published in Il Sole 24 Ore (considered to be The Wall Street Journal of Italian newspapers).

http://www.ilsole24ore.com/art/notizie/2011-02-20/imam-conquista-081338.shtml?uuid=Aa1o8x9C

Yet still, the U.S. public remains quite uninformed about this whole situation because the

Pro-union website blocked in Wisconsin state Capitol - CNN.com #wisolidarity #wiunion #weac

Pro-union website blocked in Wisconsin state Capitol - CNN.com

Pro-union website blocked in Wisconsin state Capitol

By the CNN Wire Staff

February 22, 2011 2:08 p.m. EST

Wisconsin Dems lose Web access?

STORY HIGHLIGHTS

• Democrats blame Republicans for blocking pro-union website in the state Capitol
• A government spokesman said, "No one here ... decided to block it or took action to do so"
• Defendwisconsin.org could not be accessed in the Capitol on Monday, early Tuesday
• The site could be accessed elsewhere

RELATED TOPICS

• Scott Walker
• Wisconsin
• Politics

Madison, Wisconsin (CNN) -- A left-leaning website that union supporters used to rally protesters in Wisconsin was partially blocked as demonstrators gathered in the state Capitol over a controversial budget bill.

The website, defendwisconsin.org, could not be accessed on Monday and into Tuesday morning in the Capitol building, where crowds assembled over proposed legislation that would increase the costs of benefits to public employees and curb their collective-bargaining rights.

Wisconsin Democratic Party press secretary Graeme Zielinski blamed Gov. Scott Walker and Republican lawmakers -- who returned to work Tuesday -- for causing the outage.

"In a direct assault on the First Amendment, Scott Walker's