May 24, 2014

Too much name-calling because someone does not toe the party line.

May I clarify right up front that I am not a "lover" or "hater" of any political figure. I am a person who thinks for herself, and I speak out loudly against injustices by any party. My particular thing right now (in case you hadn't noticed) is posting about the hostile takeover of public schools by a Democratic administration. Need to clarify I voted for and campaigned for Obama both times.

Something else bugs me.

Using the term libertarian as an insult against a blogger and whistle blower.

There's a lot of that around lately. Frankly there are views of libertarians that I despise, such as the idea that the government has no role in the care of its people. That's just wrong, I agree.

But when those of any political mind criticize the massive mind-blowing attacks on personal privacy by government agencies like the NSA...I tend to agree.

I feel that the deliberate use of that term against a blogger who is simply not affiliated or loyal to any party at all....is wrong.

In a defense of himself on this issue Glenn Greenwald posted his views and stances, and he said people should decide for themselves what to call him....if anything.

From Daily Kos:

Glenn Greenwald Responds to Widespread Lies About Him (on Cato, Iraq War, and more)

Be sure to look at the right hand side of the page to see the vast number of recommends this post got. Sounds like an open-minded group there.

Greenwald presents a list of his views on various topics, and then he asked readers to decide for themselves.

here are views I've publicly advocated. Decide for yourself if the "libertarian" label applies:

* opposing all cuts to Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid (here and here);

* repeatedly calling for the prosecution of Wall Street (here, here and here);

* advocating for robust public financing to eliminate the domination by the rich in political campaigns, writing: "corporate influence over our political process is easily one of the top sicknesses afflicting our political culture" (here and here);

* condemning income and wealth inequality as the by-product of corruption (here and here);

* attacking oligarchs - led by the Koch Brothers - for self-pitying complaints about the government and criticizing policies that favor the rich at the expense of ordinary Americans (here);

* arguing in favor of a public option for health care reform (repeatedly);

* criticizing the appointment of too many Goldman Sachs and other Wall Street officials to positions of power (here, here and here);

* repeatedly condemning the influence of corporate factions in public policy making (here and here);

* using my blog to raise substantial money for the campaigns of Russ Feingold and left-wing/anti-war Democrats Normon Solomon, Franke Wilmer and Cecil Bothwell, and defending Dennis Kucinich from Democratic Party attacks;

* co-founding a new group along with Daniel Ellsberg, Laura Poitras, John Cusack, Xeni Jardim [sic], JP Barlow and others to protect press freedom and independent journalism (see the New York Times report on this here);

* co-founding and working extensively on a PAC to work with labor unions and liberal advocacy groups to recruit progressive primary challengers to conservative Democratic incumbents (see the New York Times report on this here);

I am not an "Obama Hater", and I despise the term "haters gonna hate." I am not a Glenn Greenwald "lover", but I do respect his work as a whistle blower. I learned a valuable lesson in 2003-2004 when my late hubby and I worked hard for and spent a lot of money on the Dean Campaign. However I think I went overboard in my zeal, and so did hubby. But it meant so much to hear the truth about the illegal invasion of Iraq.

Still, because I was too adoring of a political figure back then, I can see it clearly in different guise now. It's not healthy.

And neither is hatred for the whistle-blowers who have let us know how badly our privacy has been invaded.

May 22, 2014

Research and links on why public money shouldn't be given to unregulated charter schools.

I am making a list of part of my research and links about how I believe charter schools harm public education. There are good charter schools, the idea itself is a good one. However it's an idea that was hijacked by greedy companies that manage schools for money, formulate standardized tests in secret, and companies that use charter schools to dabble in real estate with public money.

That is basically the gist of my argument....that taxpayer money is being given over to private companies which are NOT regulated and have almost no oversight. That is the reason for charters. The powers that be say that if schools are not burdened with rules they will be better schools.

So ask yourself why then are public schools regulated and have oversight? Why start a system of schools that has none. When you do that the greedy step in and take over, and there is no one willing to speak against them or stop them.

When someone tells me I don't know what I'm talking about or that I am not qualified to talk in a negative way against Arne Duncan's policies...then I can link to these articles. Not all are my posts, and there are valuable links.

And I think 33 years of teaching with new training every few years at a nearby college at least make me more qualified than the billionaire boys' club (to quote Diane Ravitch).

Unregulated charter school finances wasting taxpayer money. Rampant fraud, harm to students.
http://journals.democraticunderground.com/madfloridian/8440

Florida charter schools get 91 million for facilities. Public school funding dwindles.
http://www.democraticunderground.com/10022774952

FL charter schools claim 80,000 on waiting list. Not true.
http://www.democraticunderground.com/10022344727

FBI raids Kenilworth charter school
http://www.democraticunderground.com/1014670340

FL budget: $133 per charter student, $18 per public school student
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2014/04/30/1296034/-FL-budget-133-per-charter-student-18-per-public-school-student

"The Invasion of the Charter Schools"
http://www.schoolsmatter.info/2009/06/invasion-of-charter-schools.html

Charter school leader pushes kids to become her personal lobbyists
http://pando.com/2014/03/06/charter-school-leader-pushes-kids-to-become-her-personal-lobbyists/

"Stand and Deliver" school, Garfield High, sadly is one of 12 public schools available to outside bidders
http://journals.democraticunderground.com/madfloridian/4973

2009 Some Catholic schools in Florida converting to charter schools this fall.
http://journals.democraticunderground.com/madfloridian/5085

Charter school company hired felon on probation. He stole $202, 837.
http://journals.democraticunderground.com/madfloridian/8537

Unregulated charter school finances wasting taxpayer money with rampant fraud.
http://journals.democraticunderground.com/madfloridian/8532

Imagine Charter Schools sells 5 schools for 44 million...will have them leased back to them.
http://journals.democraticunderground.com/madfloridian/5586

Compilation of charter school scandals over the past year.
http://journals.democraticunderground.com/madfloridian/6012

Charter schools are a tip of the hat to deregulation supporters.
http://journals.democraticunderground.com/madfloridian/3753

Two FL charter schools owe half a million to Lee county. Gave wrong number of students.
http://journals.democraticunderground.com/madfloridian/8431

NYT's investigative article about Imagine Charter Schools and Dennis Bakke.
http://journals.democraticunderground.com/madfloridian/6057

Charter school offers to give $100 to each student who recruits someone new.
http://journals.democraticunderground.com/madfloridian/6260

"Parent Revolution"? Not really. Not grassroots. Started by charter school companies.
http://journals.democraticunderground.com/madfloridian/8098

Charter schools in TX receive $19 million from state, red flags raised in audit.
http://journals.democraticunderground.com/madfloridian/4963

Charter school director: When "test day came, they were like little test-taking machines.”
http://journals.democraticunderground.com/madfloridian/6707

Metro Nashville Public Schools lose $3.4 million funding for rejecting charter school. Power play.
http://journals.democraticunderground.com/madfloridian/8481

More charter school problems in FL. Where's the oversight of taxpayer money?
http://www.democraticunderground.com/10024282410

Four states, 4 examples of charter schools fraud. Oversight needed badly.
http://www.democraticunderground.com/10024106466

Labor board decides Chicago charter school is really private, subject to private sector laws.
http://www.democraticunderground.com/10022121286

This is how they are declaring schools "failing" so they can be turned into charter schools.
http://www.democraticunderground.com/10024966712

Forcing brain damaged students to take the same test as everyone else and counting their scores with the others.
http://www.democraticunderground.com/10024956116

Turkish charter schools, Harmony, finalist for 30 million from Race to the Top federal money.
http://www.democraticunderground.com/10022131852

States are being forced by Arne to raise the number of charter schools or lose millions in federal money.
http://www.democraticunderground.com/10024939550

When FL charters close money doesn't get back to the public schools.
http://www.democraticunderground.com/10024934579

One testing company put a gag order on teachers to keep them from talking about how sorry the tests are that calls schools failures and turns them over to charters.
http://www.democraticunderground.com/10024882119

Florida's largest charter school under investigation.
http://www.democraticunderground.com/10024854017

The kind of testing that fails public schools so they can be turned into charters run by private companies.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/10024848990

Thank you, Raul Grijalva: Obama’s Market-Based Policies Endanger Public Education.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/10024843639

"we have not spoken earlier, as we are a staff that exists in fear of bullying, retaliation...

http://www.democraticunderground.com/10024832541

White Hat Charter schools got about 1 billion from Ohio, claimed public property as theirs

http://www.democraticunderground.com/10024800260

Arne Duncan complicit as forces of privatization take over public schools.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/10024752043

NY legislature: Charter schools get free space in public schools. Hostile takeover of public arenas?

http://www.democraticunderground.com/10024751666

Build an F-Rated Charter School? WITHOUT Approval? Only in Florida. From Daily Kos today.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/10024694215

Eva Moskowitz moves charter school into another public school's space, boots them from classrooms.

http://journals.democraticunderground.com/madfloridian/6703

FL gave $25 million to pro-profit charter schools for non-attending students in 2006-2007

http://www.democraticunderground.com/10024472708

Online charter school, K12, got 730.8 million from taxpayers in 2013. Teacher speaks out.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/10024291075

That's just a few things. Adding more later on.

May 21, 2014

Newark students staging BOE sit in to defend their public schools.

Raucous school board meeting held in Newark over control of public schools

NEWARK (WABC) --
Students in Newark held a sit-in Tuesday night after being kept out of a school board meeting.

The students, along with some parents and teachers, went to the board with demands for control of their public schools, something they haven't had in years.

..The students took over the Newark Board of Education meeting, demanding the removal of state-appointed schools superintendent Kami Anderson and more local control.

...The board's policy was apparently to starve the students out, refusing to allow food to get to the students they are there to serve.

Food was finally brought in and "the students vowed to stay through the night as their supporters lined the streets outside. "

You can follow them at Twitter:

Newark Student Union

There is also a link to their Facebook page at Twitter.

There are more comments and pictures at the hashtag #OccupyNPS

May 21, 2014

FL's Van Zant stands by his statement about AIR and Common Core tests. Says AIR has LGBT agenda.

Van Zant defends controversial comments about homosexuals

Video at the link.

"It's really sad and disheartening,” Wilcox said. “I feel like Keystone Heights and Clay County is the laughing stock of the world."

But the representative doesn't see it that way.

"I believe that that whole agenda is tearing at the moral fabric of our entire society,” said Van Zant.

AIR is the company hired by Florida to create new tests on Common Core standards.

"The people ought to be concerned about us giving a contract to a company who has a strong LGBT support agenda and says that they're supporting children who are transforming into LGBT, or feel those tendencies for homosexual, LGBT lifestyles, and they're supportive and affirming that,” Van Zant said.

Van Zant would not agree to answer any questions.

Sometimes it's wiser to backtrack rather than stand your ground.

Background on the story.

Van Zant says AIR has LGBT agenda

Background:

Florida Lawmaker: Common Core Will Turn ‘Every One Of Your Children’ Gay. VAN ZANT: “These people, that will now receive $220 million from the state of Florida unless this is stopped, will promote double-mindedness in state education and attract every one of your children to become as homosexual as they possibly can. I’m sorry to report that to you.” (Think Progress, 4/19/14)

May 20, 2014

Obama 2011 "One thing I never want to see happen is schools that are just teaching to the test."

I agreed with him then completely. I also agree with the head of the school which his daughters attend.

To be quite honest as a retired teacher and as a parent I think the school is doing the right thing by NOT linking academic success to the scores on a standardized test. I approve of their stance.

I only wish public schools were not being forced to do such linking. Teachers are being fired because of these test scores. Students are kept from graduating. Art and music teachers are fired because of reading and math test.

What our most famous private school is hiding

So why, with all that fame and success, is Sidwell so reluctant to release any data on how its students are doing? Other private schools, such as Washington International, National Cathedral and Gonzaga, reveal on their Web sites how many students graduate, the number of and passing rates on Advanced Placement and International Baccalaureate exams, and SAT and ACT test score averages.

Sidwell keeps that data secret. The numbers could help parents and potential applicants, but they also could be used to compare Sidwell to other schools. Sidwell and some other local private schools resist being part of any ranked list, including the America’s Most Challenging High Schools survey I do every year for The Washington Post.

“We believe that parents and students are not helped by rating systems which purport to evaluate school quality based on test data,” Sidwell head of school Tom Farquhar told me. Independent Education, the local private school association, encourages all of its members to keep their numbers to themselves.

Farquhar acknowledged that the fear of being compared to other schools is at odds with what many private educators see as their responsibility to their parents and potential applicants, leading some Independent Education members — but not Sidwell — to put the information out anyway. “They are proud of how well their kids are doing and they are comfortable with prospective families taking a look at all the available information as they weigh their decision,” he said.

I so much agree with Farquhar.

And yet, this comment by our president was at Education Week in 2011.

Bridging Differences

If George Orwell were still alive, what would he make of the following quote from President Obama? (Thanks to Valerie Strauss for pointing to a piece written by Anthony Cody for his Education Week Teacher blog, Living in Dialogue.)

"Malia and Sasha, my two daughters, they just recently took a standardized test [at the private Sidwell Friends School in Washington]. But it wasn't a high-stakes test. It wasn't a test where they had to panic. I mean, they didn't even really know that they were going to take it ahead of time. They didn't study for it, they just went ahead and took it. ... It was a tool. ... Too often, what we've been doing is using these tests to punish students or to, in some cases, punish schools. And so what we've said is, let's find a test that everybody agrees makes sense; let's apply it in a less pressure-packed atmosphere; let's figure out whether we have to do it every year, or whether we can do it maybe every several years; and let's make sure that that's not the only way we're judging whether a school is doing well. Because there are other criteria: What's the attendance rate? How are young people performing in terms of basic competency on projects? There are other ways of us measuring whether students are doing well or not."

And, as Cody writes, "Then he said something really radical."

"So...one thing I never want to see happen is schools that are just teaching to the test. Because then you're not learning about the world; you're not learning about different cultures, you're not learning about science. ... All you're learning about is ... the little tricks that you need to do in order to take a test."

This is not an old speech; it's new! So new, in fact, that maybe U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan hasn't been told about it yet?

I agree with President Obama in what he says about testing. I agree with the head of Sidwell Friends. They are right in what they say. Maybe they are not aware of what Arne Duncan is doing? (A little sarcasm there)

And yet here is Arne Duncan's policy, and he is sticking with it.



Oh wait. That's more than a little hypocrisy. It's a whole lot of it.

May 20, 2014

Charlie Crist has 18, 332 small money donors, Rick Scott has 368.

Here is the Naples News Article confirming it, but I am not going to pay to access it.

Instead I got it from the Twitter feed of one of Crist's advisors, Kevin Cate.

Kevin Cate @KevinCate · 12h

ICYMI: @Mdixon55 on @CharlieCrist's "unprecedented" number of small dollar contributions: http://bit.ly/1geEHGf (Crist 18,332 to Scott 368)

May 19, 2014

FL Republican state rep says Common Core turning kids gay. No, not a joke.

From Think Progress:

Rick Scott Must Condemn Rep. Van Zant’s Bigoted, Homophobic Remarks

Today, in response to the bigoted and absurd remarks by Republican Representative Charles Van Zant, Florida Democratic Party Chair Allison Tant released the following statement:

“These bigoted and outrageous remarks should have no place in Florida politics. All of Florida’s children have the right to grow up, go to school, and earn an education without fear of being judged for who they are. Anti-gay bullying has no place in the classroom, let alone in the Florida House.

“Rick Scott has a duty to all of Florida’s children to make it clear that they can go to school without fear of being bullied. Rick Scott and the Republican House leadership must condemn these hateful remarks,” Chairwoman Tant added.

Background:

Florida Lawmaker: Common Core Will Turn ‘Every One Of Your Children’ Gay. VAN ZANT: “These people, that will now receive $220 million from the state of Florida unless this is stopped, will promote double-mindedness in state education and attract every one of your children to become as homosexual as they possibly can. I’m sorry to report that to you.” (Think Progress, 4/19/14)

Here is the AIR website.

Not at all sure what section to which he refers.

May 18, 2014

Australia's #MarchinMay protests...awesome. Pics. Our battles seem to be theirs. Heartwarming.

I am not sure of all the issues involved there of course, but I notice many similar gripes from the marchers and their signs. One of the main ones concerns the cuts being made because of the deficit, especially cuts to the elderly and those in need.

I found these pictures mostly under the #marchinmay hashtag at Twitter, and few by that name at google. There are also pictures at Twitter under the #bustthebudget hashtag.

Here is one article about the rallies:

March in May rallies: Thousands gather to protest against federal budget

The pictures show many more than thousands.

Protesters angered by the announced budget cuts to Government services - including health and education - gathered in Adelaide, Brisbane, Melbourne, Sydney, Perth and Hobart on Sunday, as part of the nationwide March in May rallies.

In Sydney, the crowd was estimated at up to 10,000 people.

Protesters gathered in Sydney's CBD carrying placards with messages such as "hands off health, education and welfare".

"Why are 6,000 South Australians raising their voices in Adelaide today? They understand that this is about making sure when they are sick, there is a hospital bed for them," he said at a joint news conference with other state leaders in Sydney.

"When their children have a learning difficulty, there is the extra teaching support to allow their child to be a success – that's what's at stake, that's what's motivating them, and we are speaking for those Australians as we stand here today together.

Here are some of the pictures I found:









20,000 estimated in Melbourne.




Here is the link to the MarchinMay pictures at Twitter

Here is an article and some pictures from News.com.au

Along these lines I found a piece at the Tasmanian Times about the alarm over the budget.

A colder, meaner, narrower place ...

There are no paragraphs to go by, just sentences. Here are a few.

This is just the beginning, turning Australia into a place most of us won’t recognise — a colder, meaner, narrower place.

Losing our sense of fairness and our sense of community.

I believe in a different Australia.

An Australia where your destiny is not predetermined by your parents’ wealth or your postcode.

A fair and prosperous nation populated by a creative and productive people.

But this is not the Australia we saw reflected in the Budget on Tuesday night.

On Tuesday night we saw the outlines of Tony Abbott’s Australia — an Australia divided into two societies.

This was a ‘tax it or cut it’ Budget.

Millions of Australians now know what Abbott’s Australia will look like:

If you need to see a doctor, you will pay more.

If you need to buy medicine, you will pay more.

May 17, 2014

"I'm so sorry that you've been taught your educational worth is based on one flawed test."

Those are some of the words of a Florida teacher who wrote a letter to the editor of the Tampa Bay Times the end of April.

She apologized to her students for something that was not her fault at all. She made it clear how all-consuming high stakes testing has become.

She makes it clear that the FCAT scores were based on one set of standards even though they had been covering the new Common Core standards for which testing begins next year.

Studied and concentrated on one set of standards while being tested on others? That's simply unfair to all.

Spring Hill teacher publicly apologizes for FCAT

I'm sorry that for the six years you've been in school, you've had the FCAT looming over your head. I'm sorry that when you were just 8 years old in third grade, you had your entire year of work summed up by the state on a two-day test.

I'm sorry that you've had the pressure of trying to get a specific score on the test when they change how they grade the test each year.

I'm sorry that you've had to be tested on the Florida Sunshine State Standards this year, even though we've been learning on the new Common Core Standards, because I really have tried to make sure everything was covered.

I'm so sorry that you have been taught that your educational worth is based on one flawed test.

...FCAT may be going away, but testing obsession and overuse isn't. And for that, my dear students, I'm sorry.

I remember the hours we teachers spent making sure our gradebooks accurately reflected the work of our students. I remember the time the students and I spent together keeping student portfolios up to date. I also recall the teacher-made tests for our grade level that encompassed what we had actually studied.

I am glad I am retired now in this time when all that seems to have been thrown out the window, and that one single test on one single day is the ultimate decider.

May 16, 2014

Charlie Crist disinvited by Council of 100 (to appease Scott?) He shows up anyway, calls them out.

I love this. He is not afraid to fight to win. With so many Rick Scott hundreds of millions attacking him everyday plus both parties in general out to get him...he fights the Florida odds.


This was such a stupid move on the part of the Council of 100. He called them out on it.

Charlie Crist basks in Florida Council of 100's ‘galactically stupid’ snub

The reasons for the cancellation are unclear, but people familiar with the decision said the group felt nervous about the political ramifications of upsetting Gov. Rick Scott at its spring general membership meeting.

The Florida Council of 100, a politically astute group of top business leaders, abruptly blocked a speech Thursday by Charlie Crist scheduled shortly after an address by Gov. Rick Scott, the Democrat’s successor and likely opponent in November.

The Republican-leaning group had invited Crist weeks ago to address its spring meeting at the Ritz-Carlton Orlando, and offered 30 minutes of speaking time.

On Tuesday, it withdrew the invitation, but Crist showed up anyway and listened to Scott’s talk. He then called a press conference and basked in the free publicity.

“It’s silly, childish and, frankly, rude,” said Crist. “It’s galactically stupid.”

Good for him.