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Thursday, September 12, 2013

The Weekly Update: Predatory capitalism, privatization, sequestration and our children, Common Core Standards and opting out | Seattle Education

The Weekly Update: Predatory capitalism, privatization, sequestration and our children, Common Core Standards and opting out | Seattle Education:

The Weekly Update: Predatory capitalism, privatization, sequestration and our children, Common Core Standards and opting out

Everyone is back in school, the privatizers are not letting up but parents, students and teachers are fighting back. Diane Ravitch is coming out with her new book on September 18th, a book that is totally awesome by the way. I will have a review posted on September 17th. We’ve got some great forums and events happening this Fall in Seattle, see the right hand column for information, and I am rested up, revved up and ready to go.
First up, It’s the poverty stupid.
Diane Ravitch in her new book Reign of Error, points out very clearly how poverty is many times a determining factor in the success of a student. It’s common sense, I know, but the corporate reformers choose to ignore that fact.
To follow is a clear example of how poverty erodes at the bright promise of our children’s futures and therefore the future of our nation.
While Congress and President Obama are debating bombing Syria as part of their “bomb everything bad” program and the corporate media continues to focus on nothing more than mindless chatter, the rest of us, particularly our children, are hurting.
Angel Nevins, center, and her friend and classmate Jade Smith, left, wait for their signal to ring their hand bells as children from the Anderson Grove Head Start program in Caledonia, Mississippi, ring their hand bells to accompany several patriotic songs, Tuesday, February 26, 2013, at the Capitol in Jackson, Mississippi.
Angel Nevins, center, and her friend and classmate Jade Smith, left, wait for their signal to ring their hand bells as children from the Anderson Grove