Even when people recognize how hard corporations are working to take over public education, they still wonder – is there really that much money to be made in education? Maybe the hedge funders are really doing all this just to help children. It’s a natural question given the fact that teachers are modestly paid and schools are mostly underfunded, hardly one’s idea of a lucrative investment opportunity. Well, the private equity investor drool is on full display in this “Master … →
As first appeared in Education Week, Politics K-12 Blog, January 1, 2013. Reprinted with permission from Editorial Projects in Education. By Alyson Klein on January 1, 2013 3:02 PM UPDATED Education programs will be spared the prospect of the largest across-the-board cuts in history, but only temporarily, under a bill to avert much of the so-called “fiscal cliff,” overwhelmingly approved by Congress on Tuesday. The measure, which passed the U.S. Senate 89-8 early Tuesday morning and the U.S. House 257-167 … →
Please Join Us as We Work to Send Parents and Students To Testify! Attend the Save Our Schools Webinar and Fundraiser - Journey For Justice 2 Education Organizers Jitu Brown, Karran Harper Royal, and Zakiyah Ansari On the birthdate of the honorable Civil Rights Leader, Doctor Martin Luther King Tuesday, January 15, 2013 8:30 PM Eastern Time [ET] REGISTER HERE The time is now! If we are to stop school closings nationwide, we must acknowledge that our demands too often … →
It was only a couple of months ago that Walgreen’s CEO Greg Wasson stood with Mayor Rahm at our old neighborhood school, Field Elementary, to announce the giveaway of $25 Walgreen’s gift cards to parents for picking up their children’s report cards. “This is a way, in my view, of incentivizing responsible parenting,” the Mayor said that day. At the time, I sent this letter to Mayor Emanuel and CEO Wasson, suggesting that there are far better ways to … →
The Weekly Update: For the news and views you might have missed First up, more Facebook pages are popping up on the subject of education: Our Village Our Schools Public Education Crusaders Long Island Chapter Save Our Schools March 350 This one is related to the climate crisis and I post it on this blog because it does affect our children. Next up, a petition to be sent to President Obama. Maybe one of these days he’ll start to listen … →
Michigan public school supporters have just come out of a bruising lame duck session of the state legislature that promises even greater battles to come next year. I think our experience may be helpful to other states because of the common ideological framework behind all these attacks on public education. You may have heard about some of the damaging, and in come cases bizarre, bills that became law in the last days of the session. Among those which impact education: … →
The Weekly Update for the news and views you might have missed. This week has been a slower news week than usual for obvious reasons but the internet is burning up with announcements of new Facebook pages sprouting up started by an array of parents and teachers from around the country standing with their teachers and students and against the privatization of their schools. Just this morning I was invited to like four Facebook pages related to education. They are: … →
We just e-mailed this letter to Senators-elect Chris Murphy (D-CT), Tammy Baldwin (D-WI) and Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), who will be new members of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions committee. We will send similar letters to other new members as well as any new members of the House Education and the Workforce committee, as we learn of their appointments. December 20, 2012 Dear Senator-elect: Congratulations on your election! There are so many challenges ahead and we wish you the … →
Parents Across America grieves with the community of Newtown, Connecticut over the loss of their precious children and educators. The following letter, sent yesterday to President Obama from the founder of Parents Across America-CT, expresses some aspects of what many of our members are feeling at this difficult time. Hon. President Barack Obama The White House 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW Washington, DC 20500 Dear President Obama: As a public school parent of three in Stamford, Connecticut, I wanted to thank … →
We share this San Francisco Chronicle story about how teacher Steve Rubenstein, the husband of PAA founding member Caroline Grannan, talked to his students about the Sandy Hook school tragedy: Back at Buena Vista Horace Mann in San Francisco’s Mission District, another teacher, Steve Rubenstein, learned of the tragedy by phone as he and his sixth-graders trooped back to class after seeing a play. A former newspaper reporter, Rubenstein felt it was important for the students to know. He teed it … →
