The latest from Teacher’s Letters to Bill Gates. Queen Melinda seeks to rule education high atop her perch in her gated castle.
I’m glad that someone else has noticed the disturbing similarities between the Puritan witch hunts of Salem and what is happening to teachers.
Again, I say that it has been happening in the private sector for awhile now, but unrecognized by others. As I read this disturbing piece, from the above link, the “good enough” mother espoused by Phyllis Chesler** popped into my head. Teachers will never be perfect. None of us will ever be perfect, even though some of us might try to reach for it. Again, there are disturbing similarities between the demands for teacher perfection and motherhood perfection. The demands against mothers has largely gone unreported and unnoticed by the mainstream media…except to pile on the negative. Mothers and teachers both have been pilloried by the media.
**A side note~ Wilson mentions in her article that uppity women and lesbian/bisexuals are likely to lose custody. One doesn’t even have to be a lesbian in order to lose custody–all the ex has to do is allege she is lesbian in order to lose custody. A woman who does not have a gentleman friend can be alleged to be a lesbian….and on the flip side, if she is a party girl and has dated frequently, she will also lose custody. In other words, if she isn’t screwing around, there’s something wrong with her. If she is screwing around, there’s something wrong with her. She can’t win.
Also mentioned in the Teacher’s Letters articles are the tent cities. They’ve been on my mind, lately, especially with all the happy, happy news that the economy has turned a corner and the jobs are flowing again….yeah, I’m not seeing it, either…
They fail to go into more depth about all the factors leading to the economic collapse, which is so important because those factors–deregulation of the banking/insurance industry, NAFTA, ignoring antitrust laws, not taxing corporations nor the rich, 40% of the budget going towards the defense department, and stagnant wages–have not been dealt with and the economy will not become robust again without correcting them.
Jan Ressenger has this disturbing link to a Philly.com article on investors buying school building cheaply. She also has this link to a Valerie Strauss report in the Washington Post.
Strauss reprinted a report by Helen Gym:
For more than 10 months, Parents United for Public Education and our lawyers at the Public Interest Law Center of Philadelphia have been fighting to make public the Boston Consulting Group’s list of 60 schools recommended for closure and the criteria it used for developing the list. In 2012, BCG contracted with the William Penn Foundation to provide “contract deliverables,” one of which was identifying 60 public schools for closure. William Penn Foundation solicited donations for this contract, including some from real estate developers and those promoting charter expansion. The “BCG list” was referred to by former Chief Recovery Officer Thomas Knudsen in public statements. But District officials refused to release the list, saying that it was an internal document and therefore protected from public review.
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Does anybody else smell ALEC involvement? I mean, the playbook of hiding what should be public information is sooo ALEC.
Gym makes the point that these records, although termed “internal” are shared with philanthropic organizations and stakeholders. I would like a definition of stakeholder—because from where I sit, the public IS a stakeholder.
And she is right on with the query: is Right to Know now Pay to Know?
**edited to correct attribution. Oops.
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Diane Ravitch has a link up to this excellent article by DSWright. Notice how Duncan ignores the racist remark and patronizes people once again by dismissing it as just awkward delivery of the message. He again lies about how our kids are doing in schools–they are not failing, No Child Left a Mind and Race to the Bottom are failing!! Common Core is an outrageous legalized plan of child abuse that requires kids to answer questions that are above their psychological development.
Duncan also slips into the conversation how “partnering” with corporations is being promoted. The lines are being blurred between public and private sectors.
Nowhere in Duncan’s speech does he talk of better educated kids for well-rounded citizens to sustain a democracy. The promotion of the corporate octopus into public education will use schools as their personal training centers (more than they already are)—NOT for democracy. Well educated people ask too many questions. They know too much to take whatever is dished out.
I went looking for the latest figures on CEO to worker pay gap and found this piece. The speech given by Mary Jo White is good, too. Although, I think she protests a little too much on the power of the SEC and its ability to stay unbiased in an increasingly biased world. It just seems to me that Bush, Cheney & Co., did everything they could to diminish any agency that could thwart them and their banker, oil, and defense contractor friends.
This from Canada Broadcasting–the Swiss and Europeans are enacting a law capping executive pay at twelve times the lowest worker’s salary. Boy, you’ll start seeing those poverty level wages start to go up pretty fast, eh?
Businesses such as Glencore Xstrata and Roche, which are headquartered in Switzerland, say they may consider leaving the country if the rule is passed.
The fear is that they will not be able to attract top talent if pay is capped.
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Remember when Phil Gramm said people losing their homes were a bunch of whiners? And now that they want to enact laws closing the enormous pay gap….the business pooh-bahs are the ones saying they’re going to take their marbles and go home? Who’s whining now…?
They fear not being able to attract “top talent” if pay is capped? Seriously? Um, yeah, I’m pretty sure if all exec pay was capped, they would have no choice but to accept the pay offered. And that statement leads one to believe that the talent is actually worth all that moolah. As we saw in the previous piece with Ron Johnson at JCPenney…um, yeah, not worth the ungodly sum they paid him. Oh, and Penneys, you might want to consider not using sweatshops for your clothing lines….
Because young, hopeful, eager teachers need any spare change you can give…. (hat tip to Diane Ravitch).
I wish I could say this is just happening to the teaching profession, but alas…it’s been going on in the private sector, as well, for, oh, at least seven years. It was just understood that you didn’t take breaks. What? You need a lunch? Well, okay, but be quick about it. What? You need a bathroom break? Well, okay, but you’ll have to clean it, too, while you’re in there….
Yep. It’s the dirty little secret nobody talks about. (The above was reference to a store owned by people professing to be progressive Dems, too. Um-hmm..)
Yes, the teaching profession was insulated from this for awhile, but alas, it too, has been sucked into the black hole that was once this magnificent country….bankrupted by bankers who produce nothing and corporate CEO’s who actually think they’re worth the millions paid to them.
I was trying to think of a profession this hasn’t hit–the medical profession and the lawyers, the bankers, and, of course, Congress, who never seem to have to pay their dues with the rest of us; are the only ones I could think of.
Bank tellers, however, have been impacted, along with others.
So…I went looking again for stuff made in the United States of America…in fear that perhaps nothing is made here anymore…only slightly cynical…
I found this very cool fabric manufacturer. I soooo want to buy that fabric!
And this. (Note the theme of organically grown crop)
I was watching People’s Court with Judge Marilyn Milian this afternoon.
There are times when I don’t agree with her conclusions–sometimes she seems to make too quick a judgment without allowing the plaintiff and/or defendant to put their stories out there.
But nothing has been so outrageous as what I witnessed today–the plaintiff was a woman whom had pawned jewelry at a pawn shop and when she went to pick up the jewelry before the date due, she was told it was stolen. The owner told her that she was SOL because of the robbery. What she didn’t come out and say was that it was an employee who robbed the shop.
The judge asks the plaintiff how much she pawned the jewelry for? $150. What was the original value of the jewelry? $5,000.
The judge was incredulous. She says there is nothing that would make her pawn her engagement ring and other jewelry….she then waited for the plaintiff to give her an answer. All she would say was that she needed the money.
The judge wasn’t satisfied with that, however, and kept coming back to why she had pawned it–badgering the plaintiff why she would pawn the jewelry for such a low amount?? The woman had stated before that she had four kids. After being badgered by the judge, she stated that her husband was out of work.
The judge continued and asked if it was for food or what? The insinuation was that this woman was using the money for…..wait for it….cigarettes, booze, or drugs…because, you know, that’s all poor people do—drink and smoke and do drugs./snark
The woman was not disheveled. She was dressed nicely, and well-groomed (which isn’t easy, by the way, when you’re poor). But the judge just wouldn’t let it go.
She was the victim here on so many levels, and the judge was badgering her and stating that NOTHING would ever make her sell her engagement ring, no matter how bad the circumstances. She was blaming the victim for being robbed….and the undercurrent of being poor.
The judge obviously has never been desperate. The woman had four kids to feed. She probably needed basics like school supplies, toilet paper, soap, shampoo, trash bags, detergent, and on…that the wealthy never worry about. Food stamps does not cover everything a family needs to eat in a month’s time…even less now that the extra has been taken away. It certainly doesn’t cover the necessities. The woman stated that she absolutely needed it for necessities or would not have pawned it. The judge was asking if her husband knew about it, and she said it needed to be done. The judge was clearly not “getting it” that people ARE THAT DESPERATE in these times!
The judge should have been giving the pawn shop owner the third degree about why she paid so little for such valuable jewelry….why she was allowed to take such an advantage over the poor?
The pawn shop also had a policy of not paying for the merchandise in case of fire, robbery, and a list of about everything that could go wrong. In addition, they stated they would never pay for more than double the amount of the pawn….in this case, $300.
The poor woman was robbed twice–she was robbed of her jewelry, and the pawn shop robbed her of not paying for the value of the jewelry.
Usually, the judge is all over people who don’t have their ducks in a row–this woman had receipts showing the value of the jewelry, she had come to the pawn shop in time to redeem her jewelry before it went to the floor, so I’m at a loss to explain the judge’s treatment of her….other than the contempt of the poor runs deep. I never really realized how much contempt this country has for the poor until I was one.
Think the NSA is bad? How about the Gates Foundation?? Sends chills down your spine how this non-government corporation has so much free access to personal data. The next question is: for what purpose? Sheila Resseger posted this letter to Secretary Duncan. Thank YOU, Senator Markey, for asking these important questions. Tim Furman posted this link for a gathering in Chicago on student privacy.
Rupert Murdoch, who owns the Wall Street Journal, along with other *cough* news rags, allegedly stole private information via cell phones to use against the owner. Keep in mind that Coulson was directly linked to the British Prime Minister. And the Gates Foundation is sponsoring “news” stories running in The Guardian.
Diane has a link up to this excellent post that just hits the nail on the head—how does one stack the deck so there is as little opposition as possible….? One holds meetings at times that almost guarantee low attendance by those involved–teachers, parents who work and parents with little ones ( they won’t bring little ones to the meetings and single parents will have difficulty getting sitters,too.)
The post features this video (under immature link):
Really eye-opening, eh? Is it fair to characterize Deasy as a bully and an idiot? From this episode, he seems to be a control freak running amok whom is more interested in feeding his ego than actual concern for the children. He claims she is being disrespectful to the kids, while he is showing disrespect for their teacher. Blessings to you, Patrena Shankling. Nobody should have to be treated in such an abusive manner—and what you experienced was classic verbal abuse where it doesn’t matter what you say, the abuser will escalate his tirade.
Speaking of abuse, Diane posted this on a child psychotherapist’s assessment of the testing, testing, testing of our children and how demoralizing it is to them. Six years old!
And JCGrim posts a comment on how the abuse gets worse—Good God:
School leaders say La Vergne High has a split lunch period, half academic intervention to help students who may be struggling in a subject and half lunch.
“They are not segregating them in the traditional sense. If the kids’ scores are low in certain areas, they are getting help in that area. If you want to label that segregation, then that’s not the correct way to label it,” said Rutherford County Schools spokesman James Evans.
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Well, you know, they say the road to Hell is paved with good intentions. Whether the segregation is intentional or not, it is still segregation. And what is wrong with you that you can’t even give the kids a break from learning for a half-hour? The brain needs a break, for crying out loud! Let the kids be kids and socialize without being overshadowed!
Diane posts here on Mark Naison. He describes how and why he became an activist. **edited to add link. Oops.
From his post:
Teachers everywhere were being driven out of their jobs and stripped of their autonomy and creativity. Children everywhere were being deluged with tests, and subjected to a one size fits all curriculum that, in all too many instances, smothered their unique talents and aptitudes.
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(sorry for the large text) — as I’m reading this, I’m reminded of something a nun said at a parents’ meeting once: we all have gifts to bring to the world–we have the jocks and beauty queens, but we need the nerds, the clowns, the creative, the stoic, etc. — those that are not necessarily celebrated in popular media, but whose gifts would surely be missed had they not graced the world. Even those who are mentally challenged bring something to the world.
Naison is understandably upset with the Administration for the education policies. However, I have seen a change in President Obama in the past, oh, year or year-and-a-half, in that he seems to be breaking away from the Clinton -thinking. My hope is that the more President Obama sees the damage that is happening to the children and public education as a whole, he will rethink the policies and replace Arne Duncan. We can hope….
Diane also posts the links to the Daily Show appearance. When she stated that Jon was upset about Common Core and how his staff was personally experiencing what we’ve been blasting about, I was upset that he doesn’t talk about it on air! Arrrgh! A missed opportunity to help the public understand why we are so upset and how our children are being psychologically abused!
(A side note~ I admire Jon for adopting the pit bull, but still would not recommend them. They have been bred to be fighters, and as such, their powerful jaws make it impossible to separate them from anything they’ve sunk their teeth into—there are stories of pit bulls who would not release even when someone was beating on them to get them off of another dog/human being. )
Diane has a link to Mercedes Schneider’s debunking the Louisiana “miracle”. This is why one needs to ask how statistics were compiled and what methodology they used. The lies will be exposed when these questions are answered.
Diane and Michelle Rhee will debate Feb. 6. Rhee made increasing demands which seem to speak of the lack of substance to her arguments.
Finally, in my own little corner of the world– a quiz on Indiana politics and ruining public education by devious means.
Note in the comments that charter school proponents are now trying to market charter schools as “community schools” to make destroying public schools more palatable.
This comment just makes me want to cry because it’s so true:
We are ‘leaders’ in many areas…eighth most polluted air in the nation, broken infrastructure, roads with cracks and potholes, 47th in the nation for adults with college degrees, most polluted rivers in the U.S., underfunding of public schools [so more money can go to charter schools], eighth most overweight population in the nation and our recent achievement in outstanding ‘education reform’ is an increased number of vouchers and charter school expansion!
Add to this list of achievements the desire of our GOP controlled Congress and Tea Partier Governor Pence to dilute Superintendent Glitz’s responsibilities simply because she understands the needs of children and teachers.
Diane Ravitch has this up on an open letter to the Los Angeles School Board. A report here on Deasy and the electronics fiasco.
You might recall that the Smartboard in the classroom made me ill with a headache and nausea and causing adrenal distress, making me extremely tired. I had to shut it and the “wand” used with it off and felt better within about 30 minutes. I wonder how many kids in the classroom were affected and not know enough to speak up? (or worse–when they complain of nausea and want to see the nurse are thought to be making excuses?)
A commenter on the Deasy article posted this link on the electro-magnetic (radiation) exposure to the teachers and the kids in the classroom.
I was watching the South Bend news station last night where they were proudly promoting a woman whom had donated money to the school system to purchase smartboards for those classrooms that did not have one, I believe it was kindergarten through second grade. For someone who hasn’t see them–these things are huge monstrosities that cover probably six feet across (guessing).
The news video showed a child at the smartboard pointing to a picture and the word that goes with it. A teacher spoke and said it was a great way to see how well the child was learning. While the story was running, I was thinking that a child could just as easily go to a chalkboard and demonstrate what they have learned.
And then there’s the waste of electricity plus exposure to electronic pollution. When there is a smartboard in a classroom, there is little or no space for writing on the blackboard. So I am left with the option of using the smartboard, which I won’t do anymore after the experience I had, or speaking in front of the class to get an idea across, which sometimes is not the best option, especially for someone who is dyslexic and needs the visual cues of writing on a chalkboard.
Finally, I don’t see where the smartboard actually helps a child to learn better. Somebody made some major bucks on foisting yet another useless tool onto the cash-strapped public schools.
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In other, more sobering news:
The New York principals write a letter outlining why Common Core is failing the kids. Reading of the effect on children who react with physical symptoms is heartwrenching. Those poor kids will hate learning, when it’s their natural instinct to learn and explore. Way to go, Common Core! /snark
Additionally, the letter states that children whom have never been labeled as learning deficient are now being so labeled and missing out on music and art classes that would most definitely help them to learn.
As I read about the students feeling like failures, my heart sinks. I know how they feel–my dyslexia (undiagnosed) would have surely put me in the “dumb” category when that wasn’t the case. I already felt dumb, however, and through my own will learned to adapt. If a child is labeled as dumb by testing that does not allow for differences in learning, that child will never realize their true brain power. They will not seek to move beyond the label placed upon them.
And this comment from Neanderthal really strikes to the heart of this debate:
neanderthal100
October 29, 2013 at 7:33 am
I paid a young man $1000 plus just the other day for a maintenance job for my house…Graduated around 2007..
He said to me…”You know, I never could do fractions when I was in school because they wanted us to use the calculator and it made no sense to me..I could get the right answer on the calculator but I never understood what I was doing.
I took so many tests that my guessing was really good.and I passed.
My father was shocked to find there were no vocational classes that I could take so he taught me the skills I need to know .
Now that I have to measure for my job and get paid for what I do….I learned the fractions and they are so easy.
I remember the math that I did was always for test questions…
My nephew is having a hard time because it is even worse now with this new math..
His teacher tells him everyday that he has to know this or that for a test and he gets ill on every test day.
Why don;t they have classes for construction workers? That would have made so much more sense as I do not like the math with the y’s and x’s
I am very glad I am out of school and if and when I have children. I will teach them myself”
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Pretty telling, isn’t it, when a child doesn’t learn the skills needed for a paying job. This is just insanity.
Susie Madrak has this up on the continued republican war against the poor. To say it is demoralizing would be an understatement.
Shall we play the six degrees to Clinton game? He pushed for “workfare” , which required welfare recipients to work for free–truly a corporation’s dream of forcing people to work and not pay any wages or benefits! Slave labor rocks!! /snark
When I asked for assistance after first moving to FW, I was required to do community service for two and a half days. The money I requested? $25. Yes, you read that right— $25, It was a humiliating experience when having to ask in the first place and then being put down by the social worker for having moved to FW without a job. I was, um, hoping to get a job….
The Brits who are conservative are also playing the “we want to help you help yourself” game–
There is no reason to think, however, that the criticisms levelled at workfare won’t also apply to the new scheme. Is, for example, a person spending 30 hours a week picking up litter more or less likely to find a paying job? Research which looked at similar schemes in the US, Canada and Australia found that:
“There is little evidence that workfare increases the likelihood of finding work. It can even reduce employment chances by limiting the time available for job search and by failing to provide the skills and experience valued by employers. Subsidised (‘transitional’) job schemes that pay a wage can be more effective in raising employment levels than ‘work for benefit’ programmes. Workfare is least effective in getting people into jobs in weak labour markets where unemployment is high.”
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Truly disgusting how punitive these people are towards the poor. Why not just have a public hanging and be done with it, already?
Lastly, here is the video someone suggested on crooks and liars:
Teacher under Construction has this up on a documentary by a student asking the same questions that conscientious parents, teachers, and the public who care about education are asking.
“Why do people tell me to think outside the box when they barely ever let me out of it….??”
Eagle 