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Tuesday, April 26, 2011

Big Education Ape: 4-26-11 PM Some days it's not worth reading - anything Edition

Big Education Ape: Ed News Now

Big Education Ape: Ed News Now


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edvox.org - Close to one hundred high school students from the Urban Youth Collaborative (UYC), New York City’s largest student-led group, gathered on the steps of the Department of Education headquarters toda...

leoniehaimson
bigeducationape.blogspot.com - A Funny Thing Happened At Work Today | Mr. Teachbad's Blog of Teacher DisgruntlementA Funny Thing Happened At Work Todayby mrteachbadI liked my job.This was highly unlikely because it was the first...

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freep.com - Gov. Rick Snyder will propose Wednesday financial rewards to individual schools that show exceptional academic progress.The money could be divided among the teachers or used in other ways they choo...

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baltimoresun.com - Barbara Gaskins says she took her 15-year-old son to his bus stop every morning at 7:30, well in time for his 9 a.m. homeroom bell at Patterson Park High School. She obtained as many medical excuse...

leoniehaimson
nytimes.com - I find myself haunted by a 13-year-old boy named Saquan Townsend. It’s been more than two weeks since he was featured in The New York Times Magazine, yet I can’t get him out of my mind. ...

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coopmike48 Agitated Education Aggregator Daily is out! http://bit.ly/hLm3Z1 ▸ Top stories today via @makeitplain @dailyabcs9 minutes ago · reply · retweet · favorite

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coopmike48 President called for personal sacrifice http://bit.ly/goy1A2 #Edu3 minutes ago · reply · retweet · favorite

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coopmike48 Big Education Ape: Ed News Now is out! http://bit.ly/eSded2 ▸ Top stories today via @tbfurman @delvalle4mayor3 minutes ago · reply · retweet · favorite

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coopmike48 Big Education Ape: THE PERIMETER PRIMATE: Oakland charter schools to date - http://goo.gl/9i9iK46 minutes ago · reply · retweet · favorite

#edu Read this paper44 MORE ARTICLES
bigeducationape.blogspot.com - Battling the Zuckerberg blowback: Newark's mayor and Facebook's billionaire have explaining to doBattling the Zuckerberg blowback: Newark's mayor and Facebook's billionaire have explaining to doBY ...

coopmike48
bigeducationape.blogspot.com - Students Protest UW-Madison Spinoff Plan At Bascom Hall | Defend WisconsinStudents Protest UW-Madison Spinoff Plan At Bascom Hall– APRIL 26, 2011POSTED IN: MASS MEDIA, PRESSUniversity of Wisconsin-...

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bigeducationape.blogspot.com - Dave WebbDAVE WEBBSEARCH ABOUT SUBSCRIBE ARCHIVE RANDOM On Tuesday, April 26—the 25th anniversary of the Chernobyl disaster—one image of the Rancho Seco nuclear power plant will be posted here e...

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Media14

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Education155 MORE ARTICLES
schooltechconnect.com - Pauline Lipman, professor of educational policy at UIC, offers some advice to the incoming superintendent of Chicago Public Schools, and it sounds like Rahm is doubling down on his choice. Lipman m...

tbfurman
forbes.com - Falmouth, Maine, is a picturesque waterfront town 110 miles north of Boston with moderate housing costs (median price: $351,550), per-student public-school spending just a touch above the state ave...

mikeklonsky
delvalleformayor.com - Dear friends, There is a buzz in Chicago among people striving for a city that works together. Inspired by Wisconsin and our immigrant youth, Chicagoans are reaching new levels of organizing to mak...

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Living11 MORE ARTICLES
hispanicallyspeakingnews.com - Published at 6:21 pm, April 26, 2011 Photo Credits: Record Number of Hispanic Voters A new study out by the Pew Hispanic Center shows that a record 6.6 million Latinos voted in last year’s mid-term...

coopmike48
rosemont.patch.com - Your name [["validates_presence_of",{"message":"Please enter your name."}],["validates_length_of",{"too_long":"Your name must be shorter than 100 characters.","maximum":100,"allow_nil":true}]]Email...

coopmike48
democurmudgeon.blogspot.com - Here's the next "big whopper" from the Republican Party of Wisconsin: The Democrat Party of Wisconsin is using a fraudulent tactic to harass and intimidate constituents … targeted for harassment pe...

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Business7 MORE ARTICLES
blogs.forbes.com - Wall StreetApr. 26 2011 - 1:52 pm | 1 views | 0 recommendations |By BRUCE UPBIN Manhattan Beach, Calif. Image via WikipediaWhere will your housing dollar go the furthest in getting your kids a grea...

mikeklonsky
my.firedoglake.com - hawk by kfwk_lobo, on Flick After seeing yesterday’s opinion piece at CNN from David Frum (See this blog post), I wasn’t quite as surprised to see another opinion piece today on the lack of jobs. O...

coopmike48
robertreich.org - This week’s biggest economic show occurs tomorrow (Wednesday) when Fed chair Ben Bernanke steps in front of the cameras for the Fed’s first-ever news conference. The question on everyone’s mind: Wi...

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Stories7 MORE ARTICLES
wepartypatriots.com - What defines a pizza?Is it the shape? Is it the texture? Is it the way that it cooks?No, it can’t be any of those. Pizza has so many things in common with so many other foods — cookies, FOR EXAMPLE...

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mediaite.com - Mediaite is looking for editorial interns for Summer 2011! Every few months, we select a chosen few current college students to join us in our offices in SoHo. We ask them to scour the web, the air...

coopmike48
sacbee.com - Sutter Middle School teacher Jody Cooperman will learn this morning whether she is a finalist for "Live With Regis & Kelly" Top Teacher Search.Cooperman was named one of 12 semifinalists Friday, wh...

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Environment3 MORE ARTICLES
bloomberg.com - A handout photograph shows disaster relief workers holding a meeting at Tokyo Electric Power Co.'s Fukushima Dai-Ichi nuclear power plant in Fukushima prefecture, Japan, on April 1, 2011. Source: T...

mikeklonsky
firedoglake.com - "SOLARTOPIA! Our Green-Powered Earth" by Harvey Wasserman “There is no safe dose of radiation.” So begins today’s guest, Harvey Wasserman, in a recent piece, “’Safe’ Radiation is a Lethal Three Mil...

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whitehouse.gov - The White House Office of the Press Secretary For Immediate Release April 26, 2011 April 26, 2011The Honorable John Boehner The Honorable Harry Reid Speaker of the ...

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defendwisconsin.org - – April 26, 2011Posted in: Announcements Immigrant rights groups, along with supporters from the labor community, will be rallying on Sunday, May 1 in both Milwaukee and Madison. Richard Trumka, th...

coopmike48
bbc.co.uk - 26 April 2011 Last updated at 12:30 ET A US federal court has ordered a new sentencing hearing for an ex-Black Panther activist on death row for the 1981 killing of a white policeman. A Philadelphi...

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President called for personal sacrifice

Yes, and we must prepare, all of us prepare, to make the sacrifices that the emergency -- almost as serious as war itself -- demands. Whatever stands in the way of speed and efficiency in defense, in defense preparations of any kind, must give way to the national need.

A free nation has the right to expect full cooperation from all groups. A free nation has the right to look to the leaders of business, of labor, and of agriculture to take the lead in stimulating effort, not among other groups but within their own group.

The best way of dealing with the few slackers or trouble-makers in our midst is, first, to shame them by patriotic example, and if that fails, to use the sovereignty of government to save government.

As men do not live by bread alone, they do not fight by armaments alone. Those who man our defenses and those behind them who build our defenses must have the stamina and the courage which come from unshakable belief in the manner of life which they are defending. The mighty action that we are calling for cannot be based on a disregard of all the things worth fighting for.

The nation takes great satisfaction and much strength from the things which have been done to make its people conscious of their individual stake in the preservation of democratic life in America.  Those things have toughened the fiber of our people, have renewed their faith and strengthened their devotion to the institutions we make ready to protect.

Certainly this is no time for any of us to stop thinking about the social and economic problems which are the root cause of the social revolution which is today a supreme factor in the world. For there is nothing mysterious about the foundations of a healthy and strong democracy.

The basic things expected by our people of their political and economic systems are simple. They are:

Equality of opportunity for youth and for others.

Jobs for those who can work.

Security for those who need it.

The ending of special privilege for the few.

The preservation of civil liberties for all.

The enjoyment -- The enjoyment of the fruits of scientific progress in a wider and constantly rising standard of living.

These are the simple, the basic things that must never be lost sight of in the turmoil and unbelievable complexity of our modern world. The inner and abiding strength of our economic and political systems is dependent upon the degree to which they fulfill these expectations.

Many subjects connected with our social economy call for immediate improvement. As examples:

We should bring more citizens under the coverage of old-age pensions and unemployment insurance.

We should widen the opportunities for adequate medical care.

We should plan a better system by which persons deserving or needing gainful employment may obtain it.

I have called for personal sacrifice, and I am assured of the willingness of almost all Americans to respond to that call. A part of the sacrifice means the payment of more money in taxes. In my budget message I will recommend that a greater portion of this great defense program be paid for from taxation than we are paying for today. No person should try, or be allowed to get rich out of the program, and the principle of tax payments in accordance with ability to pay should be constantly before our eyes to guide our legislation.

If the Congress maintains these principles the voters, putting patriotism ahead pocketbooks, will give you their applause.

In the future days, which we seek to make secure, we look forward to a world founded upon four essential human freedoms.

The first is freedom of speech and expression -- everywhere in the world.

The second is freedom of every person to worship God in his own way -- everywhere in the world.

The third is freedom from want, which, translated into world terms, means economic understandings which will secure to every nation a healthy peacetime life for its inhabitants -- everywhere in the world.

The fourth is freedom from fear, which, translated into world terms, means a world-wide reduction of armaments to such a point and in such a thorough fashion that no nation will be in a position to commit an act of physical aggression against any neighbor -- anywhere in the world.

Franklin Delano Roosevelt  6 January, 1941
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Students Protest UW-Madison Spinoff Plan At Bascom Hall | Defend Wisconsin

Students Protest UW-Madison Spinoff Plan At Bascom Hall | Defend Wisconsin

Students Protest UW-Madison Spinoff Plan At Bascom Hall

– APRIL 26, 2011POSTED IN: MASS MEDIA, PRESS

University of Wisconsin-Madison students and campus community members have begun an occupation of Bascom Hall following a rally Tuesday afternoon at the chancellor’s office protesting tuition increases and the chancellor’s New Badger Partnership proposal.

Chancellor Biddy Martin has been pushing her plan for the New Badger Partnership, which would spin off UW-Madison from the rest of the UW System.

Gov. Scott Walker included the split in his budget proposal. Under his proposal, UW-Madison would have its own board of trustees and have more leeway on purchasing, construction, money management and tuition.

The Student Labor Action Coalition organized the protest. The student protesters said they view the New

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Rita M. Solnet: A Telling Town Hall

Rita M. Solnet: A Telling Town Hall

Rita M. Solnet: A Telling Town Hall

by Rita M. Solnet
If the audience had their way Thursday evening, I think the Don Estridge High Tech Middle School janitors might have found dumpsters filled with FCATs in a show of solidarity the morning after a testy Town Hall Meeting was held!

U.S. Congressman Ted Deutch hosted an Education Town Hall in his hometown of Boca Raton, Fla. in anticipation of returning to session to debate and decide upon reforming and reauthorizing the federal No Child Left Behind (NCLB) law. The purpose of this critical meeting was to open up a candid dialogue on public education in the community -- to inform the public and to be informed. It's safe to say Rep. Deutch met that goal and then some!

To set the stage and provide an historical and global perspective of NCLB and education reforms, Rep. Deutch invited Dr. Diane Ravitch, former Assistant Secretary of Education and best selling author of a book recently named "the most important education book of the decade," (The Death and Life of the Great American School System) to share an historian's perspective.

This author turned tireless public education advocat
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A Funny Thing Happened At Work Today | Mr. Teachbad's Blog of Teacher Disgruntlement

A Funny Thing Happened At Work Today | Mr. Teachbad's Blog of Teacher Disgruntlement

A Funny Thing Happened At Work Today

by mrteachbad

I liked my job.

This was highly unlikely because it was the first day after spring break. I have had a pit of bitter anxiety about this day. It had been growing in my stomach, honestly, since before spring break even started. I would think to myself it will be so awesome to be on spring break; no kids. administrators, lesson plans, etc. for 11 days.

But then, before that thought had really had a chance to develop and come into its own; and I had really had a chance to revel in it: Goddamn…it’s going to suck to come back. Everybody will be crazy. The dicks will be bigger dicks. The lazy will be more lazy. The absent will simply disappear. It’s just so bad to be there that the longer I am away the more painful will be the reentry. I feel like a space shuttle with obviously damaged heat tiles. I can’t bear it….

I walk into the school this morning…slowly. And immediately it became biblical. I walked into the building, knowing there was a meeting somewhere I should be at in about 10 minutes. So I run into a friend at about 7:52. Asking about the meeting I say, “So, what’s going on?”

“Crying, wailing, and gnashing of teeth,” says he.

I already knew that. But where is

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School Tech Connect: Pauline Lipman: Advice to the New Superintendent

School Tech Connect: Pauline Lipman: Advice to the New Superintendent
School Tech Connect

Pauline Lipman: Advice to the New Superintendent

by effacethefacade@yahoo.com (Tim)
Pauline Lipman, professor of educational policy at UIC, offers some advice to the incoming superintendent of Chicago Public Schools, and it sounds like Rahm is doubling down on his choice.
Lipman makes a number of excellent points here, all of which will be totally ignored by the incoming superintendent, because we all know the only thing that matters is teacher behavior. The regulation of teacher behavior absolves policymakers of the responsibility to address the decimation of our neighborhoods.



Sorry about the camera work.
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Students Protest DOE’s Secret Decisions about Struggling Schools « EdVox

Students Protest DOE’s Secret Decisions about Struggling Schools « EdVox

Students Protest DOE’s Secret Decisions about Struggling Schools

by edvoxny

Close to one hundred high school students from the Urban Youth Collaborative (UYC), New York City’s largest student-led group, gathered on the steps of the Department of Education headquarters today to protest the City’s secretive selection process for choosing which schools get precious transformation funds from the federal government, likely to determine which schools close and which flourish.

UYC students are concerned that lack of public input and oversight will lead to more federal money left on the table, as last year the DOE foolishly failed to apply for more than $10 million that could have saved up to half-a-dozen high schools citywide—many of which were closed instead.

Thirty-four struggling New York City high schools qualified as federal School Improvement Grant (SIG) schools last year—eligible for up to $2 million a year apiece for up to three years. The City is allowed to apply for up to

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This Week In Education: Best Blogs: Reacting To Walker's Voucher Expansion Proposal

This Week In Education: Best Blogs: Reacting To Walker's Voucher Expansion Proposal

Best Blogs: Reacting To Walker's Voucher Expansion Proposal

by Alexander Russo

Memes-illustration-631Public Money Without Public Accountability Yglesias: The dispute over exactly who gets their hands on the accountability-free funding stream is ultimately not that important. (ALSO: The Voucher Revival)... When Will Testing Company Employees Get Laid Off? GOOD: Maybe all the laid off teachers will go work for the testing companies. Given their growth, they're sure to be hiring...Teacher teams lead turnarounds Joanne Jacobs: T3 teachers say they applied for leadership opportunities and the chance to be part of a strong team. They also receive a $6,000 bonus... A Portrait of School Improvement Grantees EdSector: Eighteen percent are rural, 17% suburban, and the grantee list includes dozens of charters and many more magnet schools... Great brains tackle teacher evaluation, and lose Class Struggle: I have nothing but the highest respect for the authors of a remarkable new report just released by the Brown Center on Education Policy at the Brookings Institution... Can You Identify Good Teachers Just By Watching Them? EdNext: Most teacher evaluation systems that are currently in use rovide little information about which teachers are effective and which are ineffective... The Law Lottery Daily Dish: Many law schools all but explicitly promise that, within a few months of graduation, practically all their graduates will obtain jobs as lawyers, by trumpeting employment figures of 95 percent, 97 percent, and even 99.8 percent. The truth is that less than half will... Teenage Boy Told to Leave Class for Wearing High Heels Gakwer: Here's another story of high school gender confusion, this one coming from America's great pulsating phallus, Florida. It seems a Tampa-area teen wore high heels to school, causing an uproar. The uproar? This teen was a boy.

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‘The Limits of School Reform’ | DeFENSE

‘The Limits of School Reform’ | DeFENSE

‘The Limits of School Reform’

by analyst

On Monday, The New York Times published a column about the dangers of thinking teachers can cure the disease of poverty in our public schools. The basic thesis of the piece is this: Good teaching alone can’t overcome the many obstacles a student faces when he is not in school and when his family is struggling economically.

While the idea that teachers cannot overcome all the issues in a student’s life makes sense to the majority of thinking people, it seems to be a fact forgotten by the education reform crowd, most of who seem to believe that “good teachers” can overcome any and all out-of-school issues faced by their students.

Going back to the famous Coleman report in the 1960s, social scientists have contended — and unquestionably proved — that students’ socioeconomic backgrounds vastly outweigh what goes on in the school as factors in determining how much they learn. Richard Rothstein of the Economic Policy Institute lists dozens of reasons why this is so, from the more frequent illness and stress

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$60 million venture fund for 50 charter schools in Chicago. « Fred Klonsky's blog

$60 million venture fund for 50 charter schools in Chicago. « Fred Klonsky's blog

$60 million venture fund for 50 charter schools in Chicago.

by Fred Klonsky

Was I reading the business section?

Nope. Education. But these days it is hard to tell the difference.

Today’s Trib reports on a major investment in corporate charters.

Big money.

Under the initial $50 million fund, Renaissance gave up to $750,000 each to 70 schools. They include 58 charters, six magnet schools and six contract schools, which have CPS oversight. The fund helped start 13 charter networks, including funding eight campuses for Chicago International Charter Schools, seven United Neighborhood Organization schools and nine Noble Street charter high schools. With the new fund, charters will get $1 million to $5 million apiece over two to five years. This time, though, the money will be doled out as charters reach specific academic, financial and growth milestones.

With the additional money, fund executives hope to attract outside charters like

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THE PERIMETER PRIMATE: Oakland charter schools to date

THE PERIMETER PRIMATE: Oakland charter schools to date

Oakland charter schools to date

by The Perimeter Primate
Please add any corrections in the comments section. -- Thanks.


OAKLAND CHARTER SCHOOLS TO DATE

  • Number of charter schools approved to open (by OUSD, county, or state) = 50
  • Number of revoked or abandoned charter schools =
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Battling the Zuckerberg blowback: Newark's mayor and Facebook's billionaire have explaining to do

Battling the Zuckerberg blowback: Newark's mayor and Facebook's billionaire have explaining to do

Battling the Zuckerberg blowback: Newark's mayor and Facebook's billionaire have explaining to do

BY RICHARD WHITMIRE

Tuesday, April 26th 2011, 9:40 AM

One of the nation's most compelling education experiments - a $100 million-plus infusion aimed both at saving Newark school children and building a national school reform model - appears at risk of early derailment.

Six months ago, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg announced a $100 million donation to help turn around Newark schools, to be matched by another $100 million raised by Newark Mayor Cory Booker, who is currently at the $44 million mark.

Sounds promising, but what looked like a win-win project quickly slammed into public hostility from local teacher union officials and some politicians.

Booker plans to use the money in part to close failing schools, welcome in high-performing charter schools, lengthen the school day and weaken tenure protections for teachers and principals.

Even with $200 million in new money attached, that kind of agenda is running into profound opposition.

At one recent hearing, a Newark city council member compared the proposed changes to the Tuskegee experiment, where black men were unknowingly enrolled in a medical trial



Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/opinions/2011/04/26/2011-04-26_battling_the_zuckerberg_blowback_newarks_mayor_and_facebooks_billionaire_have_ex.html#ixzz1KelsMejk
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The Michelle Rhee-Jeb Bush-Rick Scott and a Tea Party-Chris Christie-Joel Klein school of reform

The Michelle Rhee-Jeb Bush-Rick Scott and a Tea Party-Chris Christie-Joel Klein school of reform

The Michelle Rhee-Jeb Bush-Rick Scott and a Tea Party-Chris Christie-Joel Klein school of reform

by admin

The Michelle Rhee/Jeb Bush/Rick Scott and a Tea Party /Chris Christie/Joel Klein school of reform are showing their true colors. As they have formed a united front, the choices faced by parents and the Obama Administration are more clear. These “reformers” still go through the motions of proclaiming “children first.” But

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Ensuring that Indiana’s New Voucher Program Lives up to Budgetary Expectations | Cato @ Liberty

Ensuring that Indiana’s New Voucher Program Lives up to Budgetary Expectations | Cato @ Liberty

Ensuring that Indiana’s New Voucher Program Lives up to Budgetary Expectations

Posted by Adam Schaeffer

A new voucher program in Indiana looks likely to be signed by Gov. Daniels soon, but without a slight modification it may not have the benign budgetary impact that is expected.

As written, the program could have a significant negative impact on state finances if families claim both the vouchers and funds from the state’s existing education tax credits.

There is nothing that precludes children who receive a voucher from also topping off that amount with private funds from the existing education tax credit program. That means a voucher student could accept, for example, $4,500 in government funds and then apply for a tax credit scholarship that reduces state revenue by, say, $2,000. The voucher student would cost the state $6,500, not the $4,500 that would be counted on the books. If state funding is 100 percent sensitive to enrollment, the state would save $5,000 on that student switching, and the net impact on state finances would be a $1,500 loss. In other words, the program could have a negative net impact on state finances due to double-dipping.

From a fiscal standpoint, the state would show an apparent “savings” based on the $4,500 voucher, but this would fail to take into account the reduced revenue due to the credit. And the law requires these on-paper-only savings to be passed out to public schools districts. The result? The state government could be out $7,000 on the student in this example, not the

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Reich Connects the Economic Dots.mov


Robert Reich, former Sect'y of Labor, connects the economic dots from attacks on public employees and unions to growing concentration of wealth in America.
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