Category Archives: Education

Education Reformers Need To Lighten Up

Posted on by Kiersten Marek

Reblogged from assailedteacher:

Michelle Rhee has a perpetual scowl. Michael Bloomberg wears a long face. Bill Gates is always berating kids to grow up. I know money doesn’t buy happiness, but you would think it could at least provide the down payment. Even after their recent victory here in New York City, where they can now publicize each teacher’s “value added” data, it is a sure bet that they will stick to their curmudgeonly ways. Teachers here now can look forward to the same public relations bludgeoning that teachers in Los …

Not sure I agree with everything in here, but it helps to keep in mind that all the dead seriousness and crisis manufacturing of the education reformers may not be good for our health.

Malloy’s Office Tells Rick Green – Oh, Yeah, About that Anti-union rally – He can’t make it.

Posted on by Kiersten Marek

Reblogged from Wait, What?:

Moments ago Rick Green posted the following to his blog; http://courantblogs.com/rick-green/gov-malloy-the-norwalk-stiff-arm-and-michelle-rhee/ “Gov. Malloy will not appear at a March education rally being organized by a coalition of parent groups. The parents hope to have Michelle Rhee, the former Washington D.C. Schools chancellor who enrages teacher unions with her reform ideas, at the event. Although the Connecticut Parents Union announced that Malloy had committed to the event, the governor’s office …

To alienate the ed reformers or to not alienate the ed reformers, that is the question…

The INCONVENIENT TRUTH behind WAITING FOR SUPERMAN

Posted on by ninjanurse

“The Inconvenient Truth Behind Waiting For “Superman”” highlights the real-life experiences of public school parents, students and educators to show how these so-called reforms are actually hurting public education. The film discusses the kinds of real reform – inside schools and in our society as a whole – that we urgently need to genuinely transform education in this country.

See the INCONVENIENT TRUTH behind WAITING FOR SUPERMAN
Sunday, February 5, 1pm
at the Media Center at the Met
325 Public St., Providence
For information, call 401-400-0373
or email coalitiontodefendpubliced@gmail.com
RSVP on Facebook

Join the Coalition to Defend Public Education for this film showing–and stick around for a discussion featuring special guest Brian Jones, co-narrator of the film! (via Skype)

Suggested donation: $5. Proceeds will be donated to the Grassroots Education Movement, the group that produced the film.

What No Child Left Behind Actually Leaves Behind (via COLORLINES)

Posted on by Kiersten Marek

Reblogged from Teacher Under Construction:

Click to visit the original post

source: http://colorlines.com/archives/2012/01/10_years_later_no_child_left_behind_ignores_plenty.html

This is an interesting way to view things, for the sake of experimentation. I would like to see how corporate education reformers would respond to this.

Book Sale in East Greenwich for St. Cecilia Choir

Posted on by Kiersten Marek

There will be a book sale on February 3rd from 9 am to 3 pm at St. Luke’s Episcopal Church in East Greenwich. Proceeds from the sale will go to support the St. Cecilia’s children’s choir, of which my daughter is a proud member. While the rest of the world is obsessing over what snacks to serve for the Superbowl, you can be in East Greenwich browsing a great selection of books and scoring some deals. Hope to see you there!

Kmareka Supporting Blackout Tomorrow to Protest SOPA and PIPA

Posted on by Kiersten Marek

To support Blackout Wednesday and in congruence with WordPress.com, Kmareka will be unavailable tomorrow for regular viewing. The settings will be turned to private so that it can’t be viewed. We will return on Thursday. To learn more about SOPA and PIPA and the threats they pose to internet communication and free speech, please see this article.

Reading My Tea Leaves About Achievement First

Posted on by Kiersten Marek

If I had to call it, my call at this point would be that the Board of Regents will vote to approve one, and only one, Achievement First School to start up in Providence.  I have followed this issue closely for the past year, though I am by no means an insider to the process.  I am merely a concerned parent and a somewhat obsessive follower of the corporate-influenced education reform movement and its critics, of which I am one.

But it appears, with the Providence Mayor, the (Providence-Mayor-appointed) School Board, and many Providence legislators on board, this Achievement First thing is headed for a ram-through.  It’s not going to be a big ram-through, and for this I am grateful.  It’s just going to be the first foot onto the slippery slope of the corporate-influenced divvying up of the education money pie.  There will still be one foot on firm ground, so if we want to pull back and cancel this whole thing in a few years with only one Achievement First school opened and closed, that will still be possible.

In the meantime, if you still want to try to influence the vote on this matter by beseeching our Governor to intercede (not sure he could actually do that, other than by trying to influence individual Board of Regents members), you can sign the petition at Change.org.  

Letter to Treasurer Raimondo

Posted on by Kiersten Marek

A group of civil rights and advocacy organizations in Rhode Island is calling Treasurer Raimondo’s attention to some of the extreme political positions taken by The Manhattan Institute and demanding that she return the award she recently received:

January 11, 2011
Hon. Gina Raimondo, General Treasurer State House, Room 102 Providence, RI 02903

Dear Treasurer Raimondo,

On behalf of a broad range of civil rights and community organizations, we respectfully write to you regarding your recent affiliation with the Manhattan Institute – an extremist right wing group that promotes offensive, ignorant and hurtful positions towards the LGBTQI community, women, minorities and our environment.

Last week you traveled to New York to stand with and be publicly recognized by The Manhattan Institute, where you accepted their “Urban Innovator Award” for your work to alter Rhode Island’s pension system. Your work regarding the pension system has certainly been the subject of significant debate, and our purpose today is not to reexamine the merits of those legislative efforts. Rather, we seek to call your attention to a series of troubling articles and position papers that we sincerely hope do not reflect your own personal or political positions.
· In “Gay Marriage vs American Marriage”, the Manhattan Institute comes alarmingly close to some of the more common anti-equality rants espoused by the so-called National Organization for Marriage (NOM) and the Family Research Council, by claiming that marriage equality (same-gender marriage) is not the same as “American Marriage”. Furthermore, in “Redefining Marriage Away”, the Manhattan Institute claims that the reason to fear marriage equality is that gay and lesbian couples do not value fidelity, that their asserted lack of monogamy is immoral and dangerous. As if these articles aren’t offensive enough, they publish and reference anti-equality articles and books written by former NOM president Maggie Gallagher including “Why Marriage is Good For You”.
· Ms. Hymowitz writes about how “Women Prefer the Mommy Track,” widespread rape on college campuses is a myth, and claims that feminism as a whole is “not so much dead as obsolete.”
· The Manhattan Institute called claims of racial profiling by police “ACLU misinformation,” “promoting racial paranoia,” and “ivory-tower posturing” and compared being charged with racism to being charged as a witch: to be without any conceivable defense.
· The Manhattan Institute rails against President Obama’s green jobs initiative, stands in opposition to wind power, and sees fracking as an alternative energy solution.

Madame Treasurer, the aforementioned articles are just a sample of what is readily available on the Manhattan Institute’s website. We must ask if you or anyone in your office were aware that this organization published such venomous, racially-charged, anti-gay, anti-environment and anti-women positions before you agreed to be honored by them in New York. We are willing to accept that you were not, but that acceptance must accompany a proactive effort by you. Return the Manhattan Institute’s Urban Innovator Award and publicly condemn these harmful writings at your earliest convenience, preferably within the next 48 hours.

We recognize that the purpose of your visit to the Manhattan Institute was to receive an accolade for your pension work and not to discuss the important issues we have brought to your attention. It is simply unacceptable to us as a coalition, or your constituents as a whole, for you to stand with or accept an award from a narrow-minded and hurtful organization. To do so would be seen as nothing less than an implicit condoning of their bigotry.

Thank you for your time and thoughtful consideration, we look forward to hearing from you as soon as possible.

Sincerely, Clean Water Action Rhode Island
Environmental Justice League of Rhode Island
Hope United
Marriage Equality Rhode Island
National Association of Social Workers Rhode Island Chapter
Ocean State Action
Sierra Club Rhode Island Chapter

Amend the Constitution Now, Before Elections Get Even More Distorted by Corporate Money

Posted on by Kiersten Marek

Senator Whitehouse and others have introduced legislation to amend the constitution so that corporations can not qualify as people who can give unlimited cash to campaigns. From Whitehouse’s press release:

In 2010, the Supreme Court concluded in a highly contentious 5-4 ruling that corporations deserve the same free speech protections as individual Americans, enabling them to spend freely from their corporate treasuries on campaign advertising.

“The flawed Citizens United decision allows corporations, including international corporations, to use their vast wealth to drown out the voices of the American people, and it allows them to do so anonymously from behind shell organizations,” said Whitehouse. “We must ensure that government works for the American people, not powerful corporations. The constitutional amendment we are introducing today will undo the Citizens United decision, putting people in charge as the Founders of our country intended.”

Given the shocking amounts of money flowing into elections now, including school board elections such as the recent Denver School Board elections in which the winners were mostly cash coffer candidates for oil companies and other powerful corporate interests, it is becoming glaringly apparent just how much damage the recent Supreme Court ruling has done to our election process. We are being inundated with corporate pressure to change our educational systems in ways that make everything “data-driven” and, in my opinion, strip much of the humanity out of education.

If you want to think about what might be done to improve education, I recommend reading Aaron Regunberg’s post that gives attention to the evolving “Student Bill of Rights” — a student-driven movement to define what students want and need to succeed educationally. Interestingly, there is nothing in their bill about needing more data-driven analysis and standards that declare whole systems (usually systems in poor urban areas) to be failures. The students come back to the basics: that they need good food, access to health care, and access to the full range of educational (including the arts and humanities) in order to benefit fully from their education.