Category Archives: children

Public Education: The Hunger Games

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Wow.  This old post by School Finance 101 really drives home the utter madness of school “reform” and draws a correlation between the pitting of kids against each other that Race to the Bottom and Common Core demand in order to receive tax dollars and falsely rate students, teachers, and schools…..and The Hunger Games.

I haven’t seen the movie, but I have seen examples of the pitting of people against one another to “increase production”.  Personally, I have always felt that this was just a sick game by dark ones who enjoy seeing people beat each other up or use underhanded tactics to win.  Kind of like the show “Survivor” put on by “devout Christian” Mark Burnett.  Tell me, Burnett, would Jesus approve of pitting people against one another to win??  Didn’t I read that he fed everyone loaves and fishes…not feeding just a few after making them fight for it??

But, I digress…

I have never understood why business models were held up as some sort of panacea.  If the business model is an elaborate pyramid scheme, how can it possibly be sustainable?  It all depends on making a profit–make that bigger profit.  Greed is the goal instead of sustainability. It just doesn’t make sense.

Phrase of the day:  cannibalistic management practices.

As I’m reading this, I’m thinking of that gym teacher that used to punish the group that lost when we played sports games.  It was punitive and counter-productive–I hated gym class because of it.  It certainly didn’t make me want to exercise more or win more games.  Even if one is good at a particular game, if you have folks on your team who are not, you still lose.  His thinking was that you would shame or bully your teammates to perform better, but that was a stupid, thoughtless gesture that created a negative atmosphere.  It did not allow for some folks being more coordinated and therefore better at sports.  It totally missed the point that it was about getting exercise and making that enjoyable instead of competitive.

It is important to note Microsoft’s copying this insanity…with predictable results.

 

 

Bullying Chicago Teachers, via Byrd-Bennett

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Fred Klonsky has this up on the heavy handed Barbara Byrd-Bennett.

We must plan for the event that some teachers will be insubordinate and refuse to administer the test.  If the teacher regularly assigned to the classroom has refused that assignment, another teacher or an administrator should be assigned to administer the test.  The teacher who has refused the assignment should be given the option of going home without pay on all testing days or supervising the students who are not taking the test in silent reading activities.  If there are special concerns about a teacher’s conduct, principals should immediately consult with their Talent Generalist at 773-535-2800.

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This is just unreal.  This reads like a handbook for Nazi Germany and Hitler.  What’s next…the police called in to administer the tests?!

It’s Cloud Illusions I Recall…

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I really don’t know clouds at all…

(from Joni Mitchell’s Both Sides Now)

City Jackdaw inspired this with his post.

You can still see with the imagination…as long as those aren’t chemtrail clouds**, which invariably are shapeless flat expanses… that you really should not be under after sprayed…your health depends on it.

**brought to you buy Bill Gates and his two, count that, two, scientists who have all knowledge of all the universe to control weather and kill us in the meantime….

 

CPS Professional Development

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Yes, folks, this is where your hard earned tax dollars are going to…not to teachers’ salaries or the unions like the education profiteers would like you to think….

Good Grief.  I have no words.

Wait…yes, yes I do…how many people in this room would like to get up and walk out?

How many?

How many?

 

Chicago Teachers Union Strike: A Report

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Jan Resseger has a blog up on the report of the Chicago Teachers Union strike in September 2012.  This, my friends, is what a democratically run union looks like.  Other unions TAKE HEED.

The teacher’s and counselor’s passion is evident in this report.  They care about these kids and what the profiteers are doing to them. Note how the police, fire, parents, and community stepped up and supported them.  Good for them.

 

More on Saucedo background

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Here’s the background on the rally today at Saucedo Elementary in Chicago.

It’s pretty serious when a teacher is threatened with termination if she/he refuses to subject the kids to this form of bullying.

Alert: Chicago Parents and Public Ed Supporters

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Fred Klonsky has this up on a rally for Chicago Teachers Union and parents against the testing, testing, testing mentality of the education profiteers and their toadies.

Rally is at 3:30 p.m. at Saucedo Elementary at 2850 W. 24th Blvd.  Wear red in support!

 

Removing the Dust

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Warrior Publications has this up from John Kane on relearning what our ancestors knew…

Some folks are so far removed from nature that they don’t have even the very basic knowledge of…living.  Living in harmony, that is…

We’ve been fed this false belief that technology is superior to nature…when nothing trumps nature.  Just look at the powerful force of nature during any storm…and how technology takes a hit every time.

Technology has put up a wall between us and nature.  We lose that connection.  We lose the talent of our senses without engaging them daily. (Think of folks walking into water fountains or walking into traffic while talking on cell phones.)

…and when we lose that connection, we lose the ability to value nature–to understand nature.  And as the post says–we lose the ability to know our place within nature and our time here.

Being poor helps with that–washing clothes by scrubbing them on a washboard gave me a sense of accomplishment–I knew that I could do a decent job of it; learning how to manage on so little helps one really learn how to prioritize on what is important–you learn what is fluff and what is substance;  and the biggest re-connect with nature is your own sense of self-worth and pride in that you made it.  You survived.  And nature is better for it because the balance of give-and-take is restored.  You no longer take and take, but realize you must give, too.  Not easy…but ohhh so worth it, in the end.  You gain something so much more valuable.