The Billionaire Boys: Reinvesting A Small Percent of the Spoils of Capitalism | janresseger

The Billionaire Boys: Reinvesting A Small Percent of the Spoils of Capitalism | janresseger:

The Billionaire Boys: Reinvesting A Small Percent of the Spoils of Capitalism

Posted on July 21, 2014 by janresseger

The political philosopher Benjamin Barber may be a little theoretical for the general reader, but he really gets what’s happening these days:   “We can be glad Carnegie built libraries, glad that the Gateses are battling AIDS, but inequality will not end because billionaires give back some of the spoils of monopoly.” (Consumed, p. 77) “Philanthropy is a form of private capital aimed at achieving public outcomes, but it cannot substitute for public resources and public will in confronting public calamities… Rescuing victims through individual philanthropy cannot be a substitute for helping citizens avoid victimization through effective public governance in which citizens share real power.” (Consumed, p. 131)

In his blog this week, the Rev. John Thomas, former General Minister and President of the United Church of Christ and now a professor and administrator at Chicago Theological Seminary, examines the role of mega-philanthropy and the power of the people the education historian Diane Ravitch has dubbed “the Billionaire Boys Club.”

Rev. Thomas names the ethical contradiction embedded in today’s venture philanthropy: “First, the concentration of philanthropic capacity in the hands of a relatively few white men is fueled, in significant measure, by tax policies that favor the already wealthy at the expense of public coffers, policies that are enacted by politicians beholden to the gifts of those same wealthy few… In addition, these policies are frequently fronts for an anti-government and anti-union bias which dismisses the role of public initiatives… in favor of a benevolent paternalism.”  One reason the Billionaire Boys have so much to invest through their mega-foundations is that tax cuts at the federal and state level have been tilted to favor the The Billionaire Boys: Reinvesting A Small Percent of the Spoils of Capitalism | janresseger:

Audit finds missing, misused funds at LA charter network | 89.3 KPCC

Audit finds missing, misused funds at LA charter network | 89.3 KPCC:



Audit finds missing, misused funds at LA charter network

The Los Angeles Unified school district is investigating a network of eight charter schools for misuse of public school funds.

An audit showed Magnolia Public Schools used classroom cash to help six non-employees with immigration costs. The schools had trouble justifying another $3 million expense.

"These are taxpayer dollars, and we want to make sure they are spent correctly," said José Cole-Gutiérrez, director of L.A. Unified's charter school division.

A June audit, which the district is calling a "forensic review," revealed $2.8 million flowed from schools sites to the network’s management organization in the form of sloppy loans  - much of which were never paid back.  The management organization was then found to be operating on a $1.7 million deficit, meeting the IRS's definition of insolvent.

Magnolia did not return calls for comment.

Charter schools get taxpayer dollars just like traditional public schools, though opponents complain the financial independence and lax oversight of charters makes it easy to embezzle funds. Charter school supporters point out fewer than two percent of charter schools statewide close for fiscal reasons.

Ken Bramlett, L.A. Unified’s inspector general, said there is evidence some members of Magnolia Public schools had ties to a Turkish group under investigation in other states for questionable use of the U.S. visa program as well as misspending public funds.

According to the New York Times, Gulen followers, named after the Turkish preacher Fethullah Gulen, set-up several charter schools around the country, bringing in staff from Turkey and supporting Turkish vendors with lucrative contracts, from construction to school lunches and uniforms.

For years, the Magnolia’s books and bank account didn't match.

An audit in 2012 based on a sampling of transactions found $43,600 missing from accounts: school records showed double payments made to vendors with duplicate Audit finds missing, misused funds at LA charter network | 89.3 KPCC:

NYC Educator: The Deformer Formula for "De-Motivating" Kids

NYC Educator: The Deformer Formula for "De-Motivating" Kids:

The Deformer Formula for "De-Motivating" Kids

In all the discussion of higher standards, I doubt the "reformers" have given much consideration to the complexities of motivation.

Some "reformers" seem to think that students who fail will seize the day.  They will harness their inner grit, work harder than ever and power their way to success.  Some may.  Most will not.  Many will wonder what is the purpose of trying.  Many will grow resentful.  Some will shut down their young minds.  These tests and the people who make them do a disservice to humanity.

I learned my first year on the job that a classroom test which fails nearly everybody represents a failure on the part of the teacher who created the test.  Teachers must deal in realities, meet students where they are and try to raise them up.  It is no good to aim far over students' heads to try to smugly prove one's own "smarts."  When NY State sets cut scores to fail 70% of its 2013 Common-Core test takers, the State turned a blind eye to reality and, itself, failed.

Some reformers seem to think that everything meaningful must be measured under NYC Educator: The Deformer Formula for "De-Motivating" Kids:

Mike Klonsky's SmallTalk Blog: WEEKEND QUOTABLES

Mike Klonsky's SmallTalk Blog: WEEKEND QUOTABLES:

WEEKEND QUOTABLES

Natasha Korecki

A new progressive movement that’s swept through New York; Bridgeport, Connecticut; Jersey City, New Jersey; Oregon; and Seattle has arrived in Chicago. -- Sun-Times

Amisha Patel, executive director of Grassroots Illinois Action

“We’re building ward committees with everyday people who are wanting to take back their city from elected officials who don’t care about them. The city election coming up is an opportunity to really bring the kind of change you saw in New York City. That same kind of frustration is really high here in Chicago.” -- Sun-Times

Incoming NEA Pres. Lily Eskelsen García 

“We must measure what matters and put students’ needs at the center of the system once again. We can no longer allow politicians who have never stepped into a classroom define what it means to teach 

Mike Klonsky's SmallTalk Blog: WEEKEND QUOTABLES:

7-20-14 Jersey Jazzman

Jersey Jazzman:

Civil Conversations Are Honest Conversations

Via Peter Greene, I see that Andy Smarick, formerly of the New Jersey Department of Education, is quite vexed at the idea that someone's feelings may get hurt when discussing the expansion of charter schools:I have two concerns with the way these things are trending. The first is that our field needs someone who consistently makes earnest, objective, sturdy philosophical arguments against charteri

by Duke / 2h 

7-19-14 Jersey Jazzman NJ Ed News Round-up Jammin' All Week

Jersey Jazzman:Jersey Jazzman Jammin' All Week@GovChristie's Executive Order Lays Bare the Fundamental Problems with AchieveNJYesterday, Chris Christie tried to play the "reasonable" reformer with his executive order on testing:First, he announced an executive order creating a new state task force -- entirely appointed by Christie – to study the effectiveness of state testing as a whole,

by mike simpson / 22min 

7-20-14 Wait What? - Jonathan Pelto: Gubernatorial Candidate and A Really Nice Guy

Wait What?:

Wait What? 

And from the Wall Street Journal – Spoiler Fears on Left in Connecticut Governor Race

In a story entitled, Spoiler Fears on Left in Connecticut Governor Race – Jonathan Pelto’s Campaign Poses Risks for Gov. Dannel Malloy, the Wall Street Journal’s Jospeh De Avila writes, Some Republicans argue a conservative third-party candidate cost GOP nominee Tom Foley the governorship of Connecticut in the 2010 election. This year, a liberal third-party […] The post And from the Wall Street Jo

by jonpelto / 1h 

7-19-14 Wait What? - Jonathan Pelto: Gubernatorial Candidate and A Really Nice Guy

Wait What?:  Wait What? All Week“Dr.” Terrence Carter – Lexington University:  Order Now, Graduate TodayThe individual known as “Dr.” Terrence Carter – who, thanks for Malloy’s Commissioner of Education, Stefan Pryor and Special Master Steven Adamowski is scheduled to be hired by the New London Board of Education on Monday told the Hartford Courant that he received his doctorate from “Lexington Un

by mike simpson / 37min 

Coleman Corps | WagTheDog

Coleman Corps | WagTheDog:

Coleman Corps

 In the beginner’s mind there are many possibilities,

but in the expert’s there are few 

~ Shunryu Suzuki

Hard to imagine an applicant for a teaching job explaining to the panel of educators interviewing him/her that he really doesn’t give a shit what his students or their parents think or feel and admitting to the panel that she really isn’t qualified to teach the position she is applying for.

Yet the chief architect of the Common Core which was initially adopted and implemented by 45 states explained at a teacher conference in 2011, “forgive me for saying this so bluntly, is, as you grow up in this world you realize people really don’t give a shit about what Coleman Corps | WagTheDog:

Teachers: Don’t waste your votes? Waste? | Reclaim Reform

Teachers: Don’t waste your votes? Waste? | Reclaim Reform:

Teachers: Don’t waste your votes? Waste?

Posted on July 20, 2014by Ken Previti

“Portion of people living in Illinois who say they would move elsewhere if they could: 1/2″

- Harper’s Index in the Harper’s Magazine, August 2014 issue

Who believes all the lies about the greedy, lazy, incompetent teachers who are bankrupting the state and failing their students?

When a fear-filled lie, propaganda, is repeated often enough by corporate media outlets, fear wins out and social sanity collapses. Selecting a minority group to be an “other” as a scapegoat is a common propaganda procedure. “Stinkin’ teachers!”

Illinois, Florida, Connecticut, New Jersey, California, and YOUR state use teachers as scapegoats for the financial woes created by their own legislators who annually give hundreds of millions of dollars away to each of their corporate, multimillionaire and billionaire campaign contributors. No money for schools, teachers, pensions or anything except giveaways to cronies.

(By the way, states by definition cannot go broke; states are independent taxing entities.)

This “Illinois Is Broke” Campaign was carried on state government’s own State of Illinois sites (Yes, paid for with tax money.), on TV ads, radio and newspaper ads, and even the billboards that greeted visitors driving to and from the airport. AstroTurf organizations, Teachers: Don’t waste your votes? Waste? | Reclaim Reform:

Tuning in to Teachers | Randi Weingarten

Tuning in to Teachers | Randi Weingarten:

Tuning in to Teachers

 Why would 3,500 people go to sun- and fun-filled Los Angeles and opt to spend the bulk of their time inside a cavernous convention hall? To be heard. This was the case last week at the American Federation of Teachers biennial convention, where educators spoke up forcefully and passionately about economic and social justice, education and professional issues on which they are often denied a voice.

These days, the wisdom and experience of educators are often ignored and, worse, dismissed by policymakers who favor approaches emanating far from the classroom. Yet no one is better able to weigh in on what will help children succeed academically than educators, who have incomparable firsthand knowledge. That's exactly what AFT delegates did--setting union policies for how to reclaim the promise of public education--for our kids, families and communities. 
AFT's new policy revamping accountability is perhaps the most important because it confronts the destructive obsession with standardized testing.

Educators didn't simply rail against the harmful effects of "test-and-punish" accountability systems driven by No Child Left Behind and Race to the Top; they gave near-unanimous approval to a new approach aimed at ensuring kids have meaningful learning outcomes--based on a systemic support-and-improve model that holds to account all who have responsibility for education.

The most intense debate concerned the Common Core State Standards. Teachers have been told that these are an essential building block to help all students be ready for Tuning in to Teachers | Randi Weingarten:

Texas Hangin’ its Hat on its New VAM System |:

Texas Hangin’ its Hat on its New VAM System

 A fellow blogger, James Hamric and author of Hammy’s Education Reform Blog, emailed a few weeks ago connecting me with a recent post he wrote about teacher evaluations in Texas, titling them and his blog post “The good, the bad and the ridiculous.”

It seems that the Texas Education Agency (TEA), which serves a similar role in Texas as a state department of education elsewhere, recently posted details about the state’s new Teacher Evaluation and Support System (TESS) that the state submitted to the U.S. Department of Education to satisfy the condition’s of its No Child Left Behind (NCLB) waiver, excusing Texas from not meeting NCLB’s prior goal that all students in the state (and all other states) would be 100% proficient in mathematics and reading/language arts by 2014.

While “80% of TESS will be rubric based evaluations consisting of formal observations, self assessment and professional development across six domains…The remaining 20% of TESS ‘will be reflected in a student growth measure at the individual teacher level that will include a value-add score based on student growth as measured by state Texas Hangin’ its Hat on its New VAM System |:

7-20-14 Seattle Schools Community Forum Week

Seattle Schools Community Forum:

Seattle Schools' Pre-K "Mission Study" - Day-by-Day Timeline

I will do my best to get this in a linear order but the e-mails were not always provided in that manner.To note, the trip was March 3-6th so clearly, getting started in early Feb was difficult on staff.  I wonder how the City thought the district had so much travel money to try to send 5+ people to three cities.   Key staffers involved:Cashel Toner - head of SPS Early Learning, seemingly the lead

by Melissa Westbrook / 8min 

Seattle Schools' Pre-K "Mission Study"

This will be Part One of a thread about the Pre-K "mission trip" that several Seattle schools' employees took as well as one Board director. Part One will be the Narrative of what happened.  Part Two will be the day-by-day planning for this trip.  Mirmac1 got e-mails via public disclosure and they paint a very damning picture.  Because of my concerns over this troubling incident, I wrote

by Melissa Westbrook / 10min 

Stand for Children's Petition - Don't Sign It

Stand has this "education" petition going around. Consider not signing it.First, note the source.  That should tell you all you need to know right there.  (What's funny is they want one word changed and claim it will "free" Washington from NCLB.  There's no way they can know that for sure.  Next, it is a GOOD thing that Washington State stood up to the feds on No Child Left Beh

by Melissa Westbrook / 0min 

7-19-14 Seattle Schools Community Forum Week

Seattle Schools Community Forum:Seattle Schools Community ForumSeattle School Board Appoints Larry Nyland as Interim SuperThe Board seems in agreement of the appointment of Dr. Larry Nyland, former superintendent in Marysville (and a former Superintendent of the Year) to be the interim superintendent. More to come.  Board seems enthused.Updates:- Carr and Martin-Morris were out-of-town but were on

by mike simpson / 39min 

7-20-14 Ed Notes Online

Ed Notes Online:

My Video of Randi Press Conf at #AFT14

Some interesting insights from Randi on Vergara, Duncan and other issues. But not enough of a rigorous defense of tenure - rather a sense of - we are willing to help get rid of teachers. Left hanging are those teachers who have been chopped due to political persecution. Lenny Isenberg from LA asks Randi a question as do I. A few days later there was a press conference with Mary Catherine Ricker de

by ed notes online / 43min 

7-19-14 Ed Notes Online Week

Ed Notes Online: Ed Notes OnlineI Defend Tenure in the IndypendentThanks to John Tarleton for a great editing job. Making me look literate ain't easy.Teacher Bashing Knows No Summer Vacation By Norm ScottJuly 16, 2014Issue # 198  In a closely watched case, a California judge ruled on June 10 that the state’s teacher tenure laws infringed on the civil rights of students in schools in poor communiti

by mike simpson / 41min 

7-20-14 Curmudgucation Week

CURMUDGUCATION:

Joe Klein's Non-comprehension

There are lots of things doesn't get, and many of them are related to education. In the process of railing last week about a de Blasio "giveback" of 150 minutes of special student tutoring time in New York schools, Klein managed to trot out a whole raft of misconceptions and complaints. Here he gets himself all lathered up.He said that the program had been “inflexible” and “one size fits

by Peter Greene / 13min 

Zephyr Teachout Is for Real

When the Washington Post ran an essay by Zephyr Teachout, they prefaced it by observing that she is "to say the least, not the kind of person you'd expect to run for office."That seems fair. Teachout is a Vermont-born law professor. In profiles of her by those who know her, she comes across as humble. In her own writing and speaking, she comes across as supremely capable. And she is shak

1 by Peter Greene / 11min 

7-19-14 Curmudgucation Week

CURMUDGUCATION:Curmudgucation WeekAFT Spanks Duncan (Sort Of)I know this is old news, but I've been out of town. On Sunday, July 13, I was in the air flying toward the very city where the AFT was kind of taking a stand.The NEA had taken similar steps earlier by calling for the ouster of Arne Duncan, though outbound president Dennis Van Roekel immediately chalked it up to members just being, you kn

by mike simpson / 25min 

7-20-14 Fred Klonsky | Daily posts from a retired public school teacher

Fred Klonsky | Daily posts from a retired public school teacher who is just looking at the data.:

Happy birthday Karen Jennings Lewis!

The lies of Hinsdale’s board. And why you should care.

The Hinsdale High School Teachers Association exposes the lies that their board is spreading. I’ve been focusing on Hinsdale, a Chicago suburban high school district because it is the perfect example of where a small group of ALEC and Tea Party activists have taken over a local school board for their own ideological purposes. They are not representative of the town of Hinsdale. They act in secret

by Fred Klonsky / 16min 

Twice.

For some people, having a really good person run for mayor – someone I can work for and vote for without reservation - only happens once in their lifetime. That I get the chance to do it twice? A blessing.

by Fred Klonsky / 5min 

The “Two million site visits” contest is now closed. All the August dates have been taken.

Since I am closing in on 2 million site visits, I decided to sponsor a contest. What date will my blog make it to two million? I opened the contest two days ago and by yesterday all August dates had been taken. To those of you who took days in September and December. Really? The winner get a custom fredklonsky.com t-shirt in a color of their choice.  

1 by Fred Klonsky / 8min 

Sunday reads.

Happy birthday Karen Jennings Lewis! Charles Schwab — A core member of the ‘charter cabal’. The Joe Berrios crime family. In case you forgot, Joe is Chairman of the Chicago Democratic Party. Teacher disciplined because her students’ scores are too high. Mom: My kindergartner was ‘work-sheeted to death’ Child migrants have been coming to America alone since Ellis Island. Massacre in Gaza: At least

3 by Fred Klonsky / 19min 

7-19-14 Fred All Week Klonsky | Daily posts from a retired public school teacher

Fred Klonsky | Daily posts from a retired public school teacher who is just looking at the data.: Fred All Week Klonsky | Daily posts from a retired public school teacherSaturday morning. The 2 million hits squares are filling up.Wow. The squares are fling up quickly. What date wil this blog hit 2 million site visits. Pick the correct date and win this beautiful customized t-shirt in the color of

by mike simpson / 43min