Category Archives: ALEC

Let the Intimidation begin…

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Another good blog from Diane Ravitch on the bullying in schools…

….not by the kids, mind you, but a teacher under pressure to conform and teach to the test and the principal who, as a commenter put it, has “lost their way”.

As was said–pit the parents and teachers against one another, and *voila*, you have dysfunction….leading to failing schools that can be closed and handed over to the profiteers….

From the blog:

My daughter, who is in the 11th grade, was victimized by her principal and teacher today because she submitted an opt out letter. She was made to feel wrong and unsupportive of her school because she wasn’t going to take the test.

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This is what I was talking about in my previous blog–it can be intimidating even for a parent to speak out–let alone a student who is vulnerable to the teacher’s grades and attitude.

Uppity people who ask questions or protest something they perceive as detrimental are to be dealt with—can’t have that because before you know it, there will be others who will also start asking questions….

 

 

Ripping the Band Aid Off

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Diane Ravitch has a blog up on the new standard, Common Core for the public schools in NYC.

From The Economist comments section:

the new testing regime encourages a wider opening of the class gulf by giving teachers an incentive to compete for students with strong skills, excellent home support, and private resources to purchase any necessary tutoring to get Junior up to snuff. Who will stand up for the child of a poor single parent who can’t afford Khan Academy tutoring, doesn’t know enough algebra to help, and doesn’t have time to walk her/his child through the mountains of test preparation homework dispensed in the months leading up to this?

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Word.  The poor kids with no one at home who can help them and no money for tutoring and coming to school hungry because single Mom can’t afford breakfast…depressing….

An incident popped into my head when reading the comments on the link she provides to The Economist (strange that a story on education would end up there, eh?)  Anyway, being 34, the college I wanted to attend had required I take entrance exams a second time (the first time was the SAT’s in h.s.).  Algebra and Trigonometry were part of the exam.  I didn’t take the college prep courses in high school because I didn’t think I’d ever get to go to college (even though I wanted to)….so you could have knocked me over with a feather when the admissions counselor told me that I passed the Math test and could opt out of the pre-Math courses.  I think I actually laughed that I passed them without taking classes….which goes to show that exams shouldn’t have as much weight as they do.  I mean, I got decent grades in Math (B’s)…but did not know the material before taking the class—it would have been a disaster for me to opt-out.  Maybe, just maybe, I had a few Algebra and Trig problems while in h.s., because, if I recall correctly, textbooks at that time had problems for the next grade level at the back of the book, in order to prepare the students for the next year.  This might explain at least some of it.

Additionally, when I was in college, the ADD was bad and even though I studied my butt off for several hours and knew my subject matter, I still only got B’s and sometimes C’s because of poor test taking.  My mind would be all over the place.  This is another reason that testing shouldn’t be given the weight that it does–I knew the material, but you wouldn’t know it by the test.

Also, the university I began at had a much better support system with excellent tutors available to help unravel the Math mysteries.  The university I went to after the initial classes–the one I graduated from–deliberately made Math very difficult.  I think this was to “weed out” the students…after all, most of the professions that pay well involve Math.  If you have a lot of folks who can do Math, well then, you don’t have exclusivity, do you?  Harder to justify higher salaries when there are more folks who can do those jobs.

Lastly, testing aside, parents DO need to take an active role in supplementing their child’s teacher’s efforts.  AND even question their teachers when appropriate.  I had to do this twice –once when my middle child was having difficulty learning to read.  Her 1st Grade teacher was frustrated and going to label her as “stupid”…I could see the handwriting on the wall. I went to the precious gift of the library and checked out books on teaching kids to read, since I didn’t know how to help her—she was getting stuck on the words “a” , “and” and “the”….I luckily (or guided 🙂 found a book on Dyslexia.  I discovered that she was dyslexic.  And I discovered that I was, too.   Dyslexics have a hard time with a, and, the—because they learn to read by visualizing a picture in their head–b-a-l-l is a round thing they can bounce….they can’t picture a, and,the—because they don’t represent any *one* thing.  I checked out a Phonics book and began sitting down with her every night and eventually she *got it*.  She graduated from the same university many years later 😉

The second time I had to question my child’s teachers was when they were going to “Whole Language” — a stupid program that didn’t teach Phonics.  I wouldn’t have it and protested it.  I got a bunch of flack for it, but I went ahead and checked out the Phonics book a second time to help my third child  to read, too.  Incidentally, I also protested a change in class organization, when they were going to make the 2nd graders switch classes….like they were in middle school…to have two different teachers during the day.  I protested that because I believe the younger kids need to have one teacher for consistency…little ones need that security.  I was sent a condescending note that “they were sorry that I wouldn’t be joining them…”  As if everyone else didn’t have a problem with it, so why did I?

Thatcher

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Protests at her funeral here.

On the Mirror site, someone commented that they should put her in a black bag and put her out with the rest of the trash.  Okay, that’s a little harsh.  But spending  10 million is too, too much, especially for someone who promoted austerity.

Funny how people who advocate austerity measures never include themselves as recipients.

Teachers in D.C.

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…protesting the corporate take over of public schools.  Good for them.

A tweeter has a link up to The Nation’s take on it.

From the article:

The growing movement against corporate-style education reform has its work cut out for it. It is, after all, challenging an insidiously well-messaged behemoth funded by billionaires and sanctioned by both major political parties.

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Word.

How does one fight against something that both parties are for?  How does one fight against politicians who have not taught in a classroom, but seem to believe they know better than educators what our kids need?  And how does one fight against willful ignorance on their part when it is soooo obvious that No Child Left Behind is a colossal failure?

My prior posts on education here. And here. And here–profit factor. And here – about the kids who were most impacted by NCLB not graduating on time and dropping out.

No Child Left Behind is not about giving kids a well-rounded education with math, reading, art and music, and physical exercise, but going through the motions of educating kids with tests that don’t come close to evaluating what  a child’s potential truly is….

…worse than that, it pigeonholes kids, who are still developing, into boxes.  It takes away their uniqueness as human beings.  It does not recognize the potential because that is impossible to “test” for–their potential is the unexplored parts of themselves that they —and the world—have yet to discover.

I’m fifty years old and still have not reached my potential. 🙂

Thatcher

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The comments here are priceless on Margaret Thatcher’s passing.  Gah, I used to think so well of this woman in my repub daze.  Arrgh.

And even if I had the money, I would not have seen Meryl Streep’s version of her.  I was afraid that the worst would not come out, and from the comments on the movie, my guess was accurate.  Trying to make her into someone to admire?  Wow, Streep has gone so far away from Silkwood. 

The comments on feminists praising Thatcher as being a woman that “made it” is spot on.  One doesn’t have to look any farther than Hillary Clinton to see that.

I mean, really, Clinton makes a big deal about being asked about her clothes, and there are feminists who applaud that thinking she’s being assertive. Pfft.  Men are asked about the suits they wear.  I wouldn’t know what an Armani suit was if not for that.  And a man could not walk into a courtroom, to use the above example, in jeans and flannel shirt and expect to be given the same consideration from a judge that he would if he were wearing a suit.  Men notice other men’s suits, but they’re not as obvious about it.  It may come out as “hey, nice suit” and left at that.

Should a person be judged by appearance?  Absolutely not.

In my personal observation, we are becoming worse about judging folks by the outside instead of the inside.  Our cultural programming, from watching shows like Survivor, among other things,  buys into the notion that others are superior.  Some see clothes as an indicator of superiority.  I remember that it wasn’t so much so before we moved away from an agricultural (family farm) culture.  I remember when Levi’s became the preferred jean and you were “uncool” if you didn’t have those jeans.  Uncool = lesser person.  This also coincides with “poor person”,  btw….

Somehow our culture became twisted along the way and “rich people” became associated with “good people”.  Being poor, one comes to assess folks not on their bank accounts, but on their actions.  What do they do with their funds?  Do they help others or spend their time degrading others and, like the Kochs, do their best to make sure that they have it all?

 

Anyway, Margaret Thatcher and Ronnie Reagan were the architects of what we’re dealing with today–the culture of greed.  “I’ve got mine, screw you.”   or “I’ve got mine, and I want yours, too.”

Mea Culpa

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In my post here, I made a sarcastic comment on Mitch Daniels’ inability to comprehend a more complicated school “grading” system.

Thinking about that comment, I have to apologize for it.  That is not in keeping with  “Do Unto Others…”  I would not want someone to attack me personally, even if they didn’t agree with my politics.  This is the “old” me and I don’t wish to return to that.

Mea Culpa.

New resource from PR Watch

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PR Watch has this press release:

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: April 4, 2013
CONTACT: Nikolina Lazic, nikolina@prwatch.org, (608) 260-9713

A REPORTERS’ GUIDE TO THE “STATE POLICY NETWORK:” THE RIGHT-WING THINK TANKS SPINNING DISINFORMATION AND PUSHING THE ALEC AGENDA IN STATES
New Resource Details “Think Tanks” Tanking Americans’ Rights

MADISON, WI — The Center for Media and Democracy (CMD), the publisher of the award-winning ALECexposed.org investigation, is releasing a new web resource, http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Portal:State_Policy_Network for reporters and citizens about the activities of Tracie Sharp’s State Policy Network (SPN) and its state “think tank” members. Although the funding of the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) is approximately $7 million a year, funding for SPN, its 59 state operations and the controversial Heartland Institute — an SPN ally like ALEC that tries to change both state and federal law — has topped $80 million in recent years. And these SPN operations often function like an echo chamber of the corporate-funded ALEC agenda.

CMD’s three-month investigation, http://www.prwatch.org/news/2013/04/11909/reporters%E2%80%99-guide-%E2%80%9Cstate-policy-network%E2%80%9D-right-wing-think-tanks-spinning-disinform uncloaks some of the major funders of SPN’s expanding operations in the states and raises major concerns over whose agenda these groups are advancing in the state:

1. Mystery Funds. This investigation identifies hundreds of thousands of dollars, and perhaps much more than that, which Sharp distributes to these organizations but that is not disclosed to the IRS as passing through SPN’s books. It is possible that Sharp is distributing or designating funds made available via the Koch-connected “DonorsTrust” and “Donors Capital Fund” or some other stream of cash for the state operations she helps grow. However, some of the big bucks at her disposal did not show up in SPN’s 990 form in the same year it was distributed to an SPN group. See the SourceWatch article on SPN Funding for more.

2. Even More Koch Money Than Previously Known. This guide also flags that substantial funding for some SPN state operations has come from Koch Industries itself and not only the Koch family foundations. That is, hundreds of thousands of dollars, at least, hav been spent by the privately held energy conglomerate controlled by two of the richest billionaires in the world, Charles and David Koch. The total amount is secret because it is not passing through the Koch foundations, which are required to disclose their disbursements. The total amount of Koch money spent on SPN-related efforts to change state laws and spin the news is understated by analysis of their foundation spending alone. See the SourceWatch article on SPN Funding for more.

3. Trying to Change the Law, but Reporting Little or No Lobbying. Like ALEC, SPN and its affiliates seek to change state laws, but report little or no lobbying. That means that corporations and individuals (like Koch Industries and others) that fund their operations can get a tax write-off for funding SPN efforts. See the SourceWatch article on the SPN Agenda for more.

4. SPN Funders Help Some Interests Get Multiple Votes on ALEC Bills. The relationship between SPN affiliates and ALEC is strong and is funded by some of the same donors. That means that some corporate interests like the Kochs get, in effect, multiple votes to change the law on ALEC task forces, where corporate lobbyists and special interest groups like SPN operations vote as equals with elected officials behind closed doors. A particular ALEC task force may have multiple Koch-funded operations — including a lobbyist from Koch Companies Public Sector, a special interest representative from an SPN operation like the Goldwater Institute, and reps from national Koch-controlled or fueled groups like David Koch’s Americans for Prosperity (AFP) and the Charles Koch-founded Cato Institute, along with the Heritage Foundation, a long-time ally of the Koch agenda. Through ALEC, SPN helps write templates to change state laws; then ALEC members vote in secret for those bills; and then SPN supports the introduction or adoption of those bills as law, sometimes with help from David Koch’s AFP echo chamber in a state.

5. SPN Funders Have Included Some of the Richest and Most Ideological Families in the Country. Fueling SPN-related efforts is a bevy of right-wing billionaires and foundations beyond the Koch brothers and including the Bradley Foundation, DonorsTrust and Donors Capital Fund (large donor-directed funds), the Olin Foundation, the Richard and Helen DeVos Foundation (the Amway fortune), the Coors-related Castle Rock Foundation and the Adolph Coors Foundation, the McCamish Foundation, the JM Foundation, and the Smith Richardson Foundation. SPN-related activities are also funded by the Roe Foundation, the charitable arm that is part of the legacy of Thomas Roe, the man who helped launch SPN over two decades ago, after telling one of his allies, “I’m going to capture the states,” just like Ronald Reagan was going to capture the U.S.S.R.

6. SPN’s Legislative Agenda Is Frequently Buttressed by Its Forays as “Press” and the Echoes of Its Allies in the Growing Right-Wing State “Press” Corps. As CMD was one of the first to document, SPN groups like the Goldwater Institute are hiring people to act as reporters, and the legislative agenda of SPN is increasingly echoed by the growing right-wing infrastructure of groups that pose as press. Some even get their stories or “reports” picked up as news and delivered to state newspapers as a “wire” service like the Associated Press, as with the Franklin Center’s Watchdog.org groups and the Ryun brothers-allied “American Majority” and “Media Trackers” operations.

This Reporters’ Guide details how SPN works, who funds it, what the network’s groups do, and looks at some of their legislative goals, including undermining workers’ rights and weakening unions as well as undoing renewable energy laws and expanding ways in which tax dollars are redirected to the private sector, for example through funding so-called “virtual schools.”

Key resources include:

1. PRwatch Special Report with Key Findings: http://www.prwatch.org/news/2013/04/11909/reporters%E2%80%99-guide-%E2%80%9Cstate-policy-network%E2%80%9D-right-wing-think-tanks-spinning-disinform

2. State Policy Network Main Portal: http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Portal:State_Policy_Network

3. SPN Funding: http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/SPN_Funding

4. SPN Ties to ALEC: http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/SPN_Ties_to_ALEC

5. SPN Members: http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/SPN_Members

6. SPN Agenda; http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/SPN_Agenda

7. SPN_Founders,_History,_and_Staff: http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/

Cutting Social Security

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President Obama is going to cave to the repubs, who hate Social Security and would like to dissolve it altogether…. (hat tip to common dreams).

…wave good-bye whatever security you felt you had when you turned 65….

Bring on the dog food and slums….and be sure to bail out some more banks–

—while Wall St and others profit…

 

PR Watch

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…has posted these:

Perdue chicken “cage free” and “humane” treatment. Like I’ve said before, these animals give us life…they deserve to be treated with respect.

Hinckley is still contaminated.  Erin Brockovich helped fight the case against Goliath, and won….but the end isn’t what we wish for—everything isn’t okay…

(I’m not able to read the rest of these–getting kicked off the computer by another user, so I’m just posting them.)

Detroit’s emergency manager.

Steubenville case.

Exxon interfering with coverage of the Arkansas spill

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Exxon is interfering with our right to know and the First Amendment–the right of the news crews to fly over the spill to document it. And my guess that the reason I haven’t heard of it on the news is becoming obvious–trying to shut down the news of it so that the Canadian XL pipeline can go through without protest… (note again the Hillary Clinton connection to XL…)

…and as I said, the real reason they don’t want *outsiders* taking the ducks and other wildlife to rescue centers is to thwart attempts to document the damage with photos of the dead and suffering wildlife….

(I say outsiders with just a little sarcasm…as if the American public were outsiders in their own country….but increasingly made to feel that way, eh? )