Update on SFC phone blitz
We were using the phone last night sometime after 7 pm when our SFC call came in. The voice mail message that “Jackie” left for us said she was sorry she missed us but that she was with Stand for Children and that if we, like them, want better education for children, we should look [...]
Education’s 1% – how vulture philanthropists dictate school policy
A day or so ago, I re-read Joanne Barkan’s excellent article, “Got Dough? How Billionaires Rule Our Schools.” about the Bill Gates-Eli Broad-Walton family oligarchy that is dictating much of public school policy these days, and I was struck by her final paragraph, which hadn’t jumped out the first time I read it (before Occupy [...]
Trouble in Arizona’s charter school paradise?
Arizona has more charter schools than any other state in the nation, and has no charter cap. If Arne Duncan is to be believed, Arizona – with so much charter school “innovation” and “courage” – ought to be the best possible place for your child to get an education. Let’s see how that looks in [...]
$tand for Children calling 50,000 Chicagoans tonight
This is the kind of thing a group can do when it’s getting big bucks from Bill Gates, WalMart and other folks who are working to destroy public education. Saying that they just want to hear from parents, and “help” them, the astroturf group Stand for Children has paid for a radio ad blitz supporting [...]
Eva Helwing: a true educator
In all the storm and stress about schools these days, it helps to be reminded what a real educator can do. The life of Eva Helwing, who died last week, provides just such an illustration. Mrs. Helwing was the first principal of Inter-American Magnet School, which pioneered dual language education in Chicago. IAMS was also [...]
PSAT for 1-17-12: Time to put pressure where it really hurts
For the past few years I’ve been trying pretty much single-handedly to goad people into a boycott of Microsoft, WalMart, and other corporations behind the attack on public education. Three years ago, I publicly vowed to stop using the Microsoft operating system, and I did. The bottom point under Take Action on the right hand [...]
PSAT for 1-17-12: Time to put pressure where it hurts
For the past few years I’ve been trying pretty much single-handedly to goad people into a boycott of Microsoft, WalMart, and other corporations behind the attack on public education. Three years ago, I publicly vowed to stop using the Microsoft operating system, and I did. The bottom point under Take Action on the right hand [...]
For MLK Day – “Put pressure where it really hurts”
Last year on the observance of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s birthday, I offered this quote from Dr. King’s famous last message, the “Mountaintop” speech: We don’t have to argue with anybody. We don’t have to curse and go around acting bad with our words. We don’t need any bricks and bottles. We [...]
Robin rocks
FOX Chicago’s Robin Robinson has been taking a no-nonsense approach to public education in Chicago for a while (disclaimer – I’ve been on her schools segment a couple of times). She actually asks the questions WE would ask – the ones that we usually end up shouting at the TV during these interviews. Last night [...]
PSAT for 1-10-12: Do this, read this, watch this
There’s so much going on in public education right now (thanks to everyone who has been active and activist, fighting the war against our public schools) that I have had a hard time keeping up – so, for Public Schools Action Tuesday today, here’s a quick round up for you, to help you stay in [...]
“Fire Chris Koch”: ISBE chief hid real costs of testing company junkets
The Pearson junket scandal broke — i.e. was actually reported – a few months ago in New York, and the NY state attorney general is now investigating local education officials, but Chicago media seems uninterested in the fact that Illinois State Superintendent Chris Koch also took advantage of free trips around the world courtesy of [...]
