Latest News and Comment from Education

Saturday, June 21, 2014

6-21-14 With A Brooklyn Accent: Love Letters to the BATS



With A Brooklyn Accent:







Public School Failure- “The Big Lie” on Which Current Education Policy Rests
As someone who has worked in the Bronx for the last 45 years, it drives me crazy to hear business leaders and politicians denounce public schools as the one failed institution in an otherwise thriving society. Hello! During the 1970′s, when factories in the Bronx closed, business districts shuttered, banks refused to make loans and landlords abandoned and burned buildings that once held nearly hal

JUN 19

Protest Targeting of Holyoke ( Mass) Teacher Union Leader Gus Morales
For Immediate ReleaseJune 19, 2014HOLYOKE TEACHERS, PARENTS, AND COMMUNITY MEMBERS PROTEST TARGETING OF UNION PRESIDENT-ELECT AND PRO-STUDENT ACTIVISTHolyoke, MA – Holyoke teachers, parents, and community members are protesting the School Department’s decision to not renew the teaching contract of Gus Morales, president-elect of the teacher’s union and a leading activist speaking out for students

JUN 17

If the Problem Is Child Poverty- Union Busting and Common Core Aligned Tests are the Wrong Response
As someone who has spent the last 45 years working with Bronx schools and community organizations, it utterly astonishes me that Hedge fund managers, Silicon Valley entrepreneurs, and Hollywood celebrities seem to think that undermining teachers unions, funding charter schools and deluging schools with Common Core aligned tests are the answer to rising child poverty:Especially since I have yet to

JUN 16

For those who say Strong Unions are A Problem for the Nation
In the mid 1950's:35 percent of the US Labor Force was unionizedThe top 1 percent of earners made 9 percent of the incomeThe US was the most equal advanced nation in the world in terms of income distributionMillions of American families were moving out of crowded apartments intoprivate homesIn 201411 percent of the US Labor force is unionizedThe top 1 percent of earners makes 23 percent of the inc

JUN 14

Are Teachers and Teachers Unions Really to Blame for the Shrinking of the Middle Class?
If the American Dream of upward mobility seems to be fading away, if in fact more people are falling out of the middle class than moving into it- is the explanation for this really "a failing public school system, filled  with incompetent teachers" which is what Billionaires and the media would have you believe.Not a,government protected, too big to fail, banking system that creates mega