Wednesday, March 2, 2011

Unions, students rally against state budget cuts to higher education - Sacramento News - Local and Breaking Sacramento News | Sacramento Bee

Unions, students rally against state budget cuts to higher education

By Laurel Rosenhall
lrosenhall@sacbee.com

Published: Wednesday, Mar. 2, 2011 - 12:00 am

Public employee unions and student activists around California are organizing protests today at college campuses statewide. They say they're rallying to "defend public education" and protest Gov. Jerry Brown's proposal to cut $1.4 billion from public colleges and universities next year.

Demonstrators will gather at 11 a.m. at Sacramento State to illustrate how budget cuts are affecting students in the California State University system, which Brown has proposed cutting by $500 million. Other protests are planned at Cal State campuses in Fresno, Fullerton, San Francisco, Sonoma, Northridge and Los Angeles.

The University of California would also face a $500 million cut under Brown's budget proposal. Protests are planned today at UC Berkeley, UC Santa Cruz, UCLA and UC Riverside.

Ed Schultz: Gov. Walker Target of AFSCME Legal Complaint for Violating Labor Laws | www.kochwatch.org

The Young Turks: Corporate Tax Cuts Screwing States WATCH ON YOUTUBE:

Buzzflash: The American Civil War Redux: A Middle Class Divided *February 28, 2011- *The thing about an epiphany is that it shouldn't come as a surprise. It happens when we finally feel . . . a deep-in-our-marrow feel . . . what we know to be true. It is a collision of heart and mind. Both my wife and I are ...

Ed Schultz: Gov. Walker Target of AFSCME Legal Complaint for Violating Labor Laws WATCH ON YOUTUBE:

The Answer Sheet - Obama's mistimed Miami school visit -- with Jeb Bush

Obama's mistimed Miami school visit -- with Jeb Bush

By Valerie Strauss

At a time when Wisconsin teachers are protesting to keep their collective bargaining rights, President Obama is traveling to Florida to share a stage with former governor Jeb Bush, the king of corporate-driven, standardized test-obsessed school reform that devalues teachers and their unions.

What a tag team.

Obama is scheduled to speak to the students and faculty of Miami Central Senior High about the importance of out-educating the competition to secure America’s future. (That’s highly unlikely, with

March 2 National Day of Action to Defend Education « Student Activism

March 2 National Day of Action to Defend Education

by Angus Johnston

So it’s here — the kickoff to 2011′s Month of Action. I’ve started a Google Map to track what goes on today and throughout the month, and I’ll be updating it over the course of the day. The United States Student Associationhas actions listed in eleven states, most of which I haven’t had the chance to add yet, while the good folks atDefend Public Education have a lot of info on what’s going on in California.

If you know of something I haven’t put up, post a comment, and be sure to follow #March2 on Twitter for all the latest from around the country.

View Larger Map

NYC Educator: UFT--Time to Take a Stand!

UFT--Time to Take a Stand!

by NYC Educator

I went to Albany yesterday with the UFT. We sat for about an hour in a hotel ballroom. Then we listened to a bunch of strong speeches. Some were great. Afterward, a bunch of waiters passed out some rubber chicken. After traveling three or four hours, with a choice of rubber chicken or rubber chicken, you tend not to complain.

We waited an hour to get into the Senate building. We had a 1:30 appointment to meet a legislator, but didn't actually get into the building until about 2:30. An intern took us into an office, and interviewed us for a while, when the legislator suddenly came back, for some reason or other. He told us the bill to end reverse-seniority layoffs was dead in the water, or at least in

How To Explain the Michelle Rhee Syndrome: The Big Picture | Larry Cuban on School Reform and Classroom Practice

How To Explain the Michelle Rhee Syndrome: The Big Picture

by larrycuban

Image via Wikipedia

Last week, I got a request from a producer of a radio interview show in which a Hollywood celebrity talks to leaders, in this case, Michelle Rhee. He didn’t want to know my opinion of her brief tenure in Washington, D.C. He wanted to see where she fit into the big picture of school reform in the U.S. Here is what I told the producer.

1. Historically, when the nation has a cold, schools sneeze. Examples are legion.

When the Soviet Union launched the satellite Sputnik in 1957, President Eisenhower signed the National

Tuesday, March 1, 2011

Steve Conn, suspended Detroit teacher activist, seeks our support: let’s give it | Dailycensored.com

Steve Conn, suspended Detroit teacher activist, seeks our support: let’s give it

Written by Danny WeilEducationMar 1, 2011

0digg

Picture of Steve Conn in the middle

from a Baltimore AFT teacher:

Hi all from Alan Rebar.

Let’s stand up for Steve Conn and the Defend Public Education/Save Our Students (DPESOS) caucus of the Detroit Federation of Teachers.

Steve Conn and three of his colleagues have been suspended from the Detroit Federation of Teachers. I present here the case for Conn, but don’t take my word for it. I attach also links to a relatively neutral news article, and statement against Conn from front page of official DFT website dated 2-28-11. Steve Conn will also gladly talk to you, email, or text. His phone number is 313 645 9340; his email is sjconn@msn.com. I think it is our duty to fight for our union, by standing up for immediate reinstatement for Conn and the other suspended members.

Conn and DPE/SOS have led fights for students, teachers, and real unionism in Detroit. They overwhelmingly won an appeal for a re-vote of the recent DFT election – which they “lost” by fewer votes than those that weren’t counted.

The current DFT leadership has gone along with a wave

MALDEF Members Named to Newly Formed Education Board - Hispanically Speaking News

MALDEF Members Named to Newly Formed Education Board

United States Secretary of Education, Arne Duncan, has just appointed Mexican-American Legal Defense and Educational Fund (MALDEF) MALDEF President and General Counsel, Thomas A. Saenz, and MALDEF board member, Jesse Ruiz, among twenty-eight members of the Department of Education’s newly created Equity and Excellence Commission.

Composed of education advocates, civil rights leaders, scholars, corporate leaders and lawyers, the commission is tasked with developing ways to close achievement gaps in America’s schools. The body will make recommendations about how federal policies can reduce disparities in educational opportunities and examine ways to restructure school finance systems such that educational resources are distributed equally.

Saenz said, “Equal educational opportunity is essential to our nation’s future economic prosperity and continued world leadership. The Equity and Excellence Commission presents a wonderful opportunity to take a significant

Modern School: March 2nd National Day of Actions for Public Education

March 2nd National Day of Actions for Public Education

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Modern School’s Partial List of Links for March 2^nd Events

Academic Workers for a Democratic Union (UCLA)

BAMN

California state-wide Actions

Defend Public Education

March 1st Social Media Status day to Defend Public Education
March 2nd National Day of Action to Defend Public Education
March 31st National Day of Student Walkouts and Strikes

SEIU Local 73 (Illinois and Indiana)

Stand Together

UC Berkeley

UCLA Fights Back

United States Student Association

Washington State

Washington, D.C.

Religious leaders oppose Walker's 'budget repair bill' #WEAC #StateSOS #WIunion #SolidarityWI

WEACvideo | Mar 1, 2011 | 0 likes, 0 dislikes

Wisconsin religious leaders speak out against provisions of Wisconsin Governor Walker's 'budget repair bill' and stand in solidarity with educators and all public employees.

The Whole Child Blog « Whole Child Education

THE WHOLE CHILD BLOG

Giveaway: Win a Free Copy of The Well-Balanced Teacher

March 1st, 2011 by ASCD Whole Child Bloggers

What was one thing you wished you’d known when you started teaching? Share your comments below and we’ll pick three responders at random to receive a free copy of Mike Anderson’s book The Well-Balanced Teacher: How to Work Smarter and Stay Sane Inside the Classroom and Out.Winners will be announced Wednesday, March 2, at 5 p.m. ET!

Read the author’s ideas on healthy behavior patterns for teachers about to start the school year and listen to the Whole Child Podcast in which he shares how teachers can care for themselves so that they are happier, healthier, and more effective.

Robert Reich (How Democrats Can Become Relevant Again (And Rescue the Nation While They're At It) #StateSOS #WIunion #SolidarityWI

Robert Reich (How Democrats Can Become Relevant Again (And Rescue the Nation While They're At It))

How Democrats Can Become Relevant Again (And Rescue the Nation While They're At It)

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Republicans offered Democrats two more weeks before the doomsday shut-down. Democrats countered with four. Republicans held their ground. Democrats agreed to two.

This is what passes for compromise in our nation’s capital.

Democrats have become irrelevant. If they want to be relevant again they have to connect the dots: The explosion of income and wealth among America’s super-rich, the dramatic drop in their tax rates, the consequential devastating budget squeezes in Washington and in state capitals, and the slashing of public services for the middle class and the poor.

It is not a complicated story. Begin with what’s happened to the typical American, whose wages have been stagnant for thirty years. Today’s typical 30-year-old male (if he has a job) is earning the same as a 30-year-old male earned three decades ago, adjusted for for inflation. (Although women are doing better than they did 30

The Walker Plan to Privatize Wisconsin Public Schools #StateSOS #WIunion #SolidarityWI

The Walker Plan to Privatize Wisconsin Public Schools

The Rest of the Walker Plan

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Wednesday, March 2, 2011