AFT making deals with Weingarten’s consent **edited

Mercedes Schneider has another great post up on the deals being made by Randi Weingarten.

I tried to reblog it, but i think with all the comments and permalinks in the box, it crashed.

Anyway, here is the comment I posted in the reblog:

I’ve had this blog up on my queue to read when I got a chance, and something can be said for patience and delay…sometimes the rewards are astounding…as the comments here.

When you start messing with knowledgeable teachers, you better bring your best game…cause you’re messing with the best.

From Allyson:
Allyson permalink

Question: what makes you think you can have access to my children’s data without my consent? My kids’ school does not act for me in this capacity-no permission from me!
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From Dave:

Dave permalink

Hi Dan,
I’m an actual classroom teacher here working in the trenches. Nice to meet you. First, congrats on your business. I’m sure it is going to make you boatloads of money in the years to come, mainly from grants from the Gates Foundation among other. Rupert Murdoch will no doubt want to buy you out at some point, but that could be very profitable for you, too.

As a practicing teacher, I must say on behalf of those who feel as I do (and we are legion), that we have had quite enough of the promise of tech companies reforming education and making our lives and our teaching easier. You don’t. Mostly, we view you and your dime-a-dozen tech companies as leeches who are just hanging on to suck whatever profit you can out of our already stretched too thin school (and state) budgets. We’d really appreciate it if you put your considerable intellectual talents to better use, say, by joining NASA or helping find a cure for cancer. Honestly, we got this. We are going to teach the heck out of our kids every year, and we don’t need any further technology updates to do it.

You are right, however, and parents should realize this: an INCREDIBLE amount of precious learning time is flushed down the toilet because of computers, SMART Boards that don’t function correctly, software that freezes and hard drives that lock up, lost or missing passwords–the list goes on and on. Give me a black board, a piece of chalk, books and paper and I’ll turn ANYONE’s kid into a college-bound student. So will three million other educators … as long as you and other techies stay the heck out of our way. See, it’s our administration that’s the problem. They fall for the snake oil that you peddle, and they keep buying more (my district just sunk a 100 grand into a I-Ready, which now has my fifth graders matching letters to letter sounds like four year olds because of the score they got on the diagnostic. Crimony, what a mess! And now my students’ morale is low.

Just please, Dan, get out of the business and save teachers the headache, and the inevitable battle that we’re going to wage and win against you like we did against inBloom.
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And finally from Lloyd:
Lloyd Lofthouse permalink

Dan Carroll:

Pardon my language, … but it isn’t important if you do or don’t.

Before I went to college on the GI Bill, and then was a public school teacher for thirty years (1975-2005), I served in the U.S. Marines and fought in Vietnam. Before that, I was born to poverty with parents who both dropped out of high school at the age of 14. My dad actually spent time in jail as a teen for breaking and entering, and my older brother about 15 years in prison for a host of crimes.

Growing up in poverty and then ending up teaching children who lived in poverty taught me one thing. It isn’t the material that’s going to teach these kids. It’s the teacher, and a well trained teacher can teach without materiel from someone in the private sector offering material that will make that company a profit and/or pay the CEO a hefty annual salary.

In fact, the worst possible material was always the “crap” that was forced on teachers by administrators who had been convinced by someone working for a corporation that it would make a difference—and none of that junk ever did make a difference. I talk from experience.

So, cut the crap, Mr. Carroll. You aren’t doing teachers a favor by offering them “what you think” is access to materials that will help them do their job while possibly gathering cradle to grave informatory on children to sell to the highest corporate bidder or making a profit for some hi-tech company that sells tablets or laptops or software.

Will you deny that you plan to, or have an agenda, or have goals to gather information on children and sell it? If you answer is no, then please put that in writing and sign it with a promise that you will voluntarily go to prison for ten years or longer if you ever break that pledge. In addition, I want to pick the same prisons my brother served in. No white-collar criminal country club.

A dedicated teacher can teach without material, because they will create their own like I did in my early years in the classroom when there wasn’t enough textbooks to go around, And guess what, with teacher created material, many of the children I worked with soared and continued to do well year after year. And most of the material I used for thirty years was generated by me.In fact, most of the dedicated teachers I know seldom used the “crap” that came from people who thought they knew what teachers needed to do their job.

Why is it that teacher generated material works best? Easy answer: because the teacher who works with these at-risk kids usually knows what works best for their student population— that is, when the teacher can engage the students that often resist learning what’s taught.

Of course, I used the stories in the literature textbooks, but most of the support material in those textbooks wasn’t suitable for the students I worked with. To be frank, I didn’t like most of the “crappy” lesson in those textbooks that others felt would help me do a better job as a teacher.

This is where I want you to really pay attention. This is what teachers NEED most:

FIRST: A national early childhood education program—-that is part of the public schools and not run by a private sector corporation out to make a profit or pay some CEO a six figure, or higher, annual salary—-that’s available to every family and/or child as early as age 2 and specifically for children who live in poverty.

There’s a reason why the country needs a non-corporate, quality early childhood education program, and it is the fact that almost 24% of children in America grow up in poverty [more than any developed country]—-for that reason, teachers don’t need some “ignorant fool” [emphasis mine] to offer them material “that will help them do their job,” because material isn’t going to motivate a child who comes from a dysfunctional home or who is hungry or who lives in a community that’s ravaged by drugs and/or street gang violence similar to the schools where I taught for thirty years.

SECOND: New teachers starting out should be offered the best training possible and that’s a full time, paid, year-long residency with a master teacher in that master teacher’s classroom—this is the program that trained me as a teacher, and it made all the difference—and this program must include at least one full-year of follow up support after those young teachers have a classroom of their own.
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You can read Dan Carroll’s mindless comments at the blog.
I had experience with the *cough* smartboards where you really could not draw on them as you would a chalk board. Besides subjecting the kids to more electro-magnetics, it is a “shiny object” to entertain, with little value in educating children.

Like Dave in the comments,  says– give me chalk and chalkboard. The only electricity required is the electrical current running in the brain. 🙂

**edited to correct “Dave” from Dan. Meh. Must have been a “mercury” day.

Happy Labor Day, Mom

Wow. what a great piece.

When I first saw the title, I thought it was going to be a piece on the unsung workforce of women who take care of the home and children…with nary an acknowledgement by law or wages…but I was pleasantly surprised that even though it was about a mother who works outside the home, it held such a great depth and context.

I disagree with the author’s assertion, however, that the education “reformers” don’t seem to grasp the hard-won battles women have had to fight for the same rights that men enjoyed without resistance….

…the “reformers” know EXACTLY what they are doing.  They know that the teacher’s unions have protected working women with equal pay for the same work performed as men teachers, with protection of being dismissed for asserting the same equal rights enjoyed by men such as being able to be married, have children, have reasonable work hours and good pay.  You have to remember who the “reformers” are and their indifference towards women, or worse, loathing of women.

(By a weird circumstance, I belonged briefly to the American Federation of Teachers and was amazed at their strength, unity, and benefits.    It was like nothing I had seen before. )

 

 

 

A discussion on population…

Gene Logsdon has put up a post on his thoughts on population growth and food availability.

It’s a touchy and uncomfortable subject….to say the least.

It brings up eugenics–there are stories out there of people like Bill Gates and the Rockefellers advocating for population control via eugenics and even through genetically modified food.  There is a video out there of Bill Gates advocating vaccines for this purpose.  I don’t know what to make of the video, so I’m not posting it– you’ll have to go find it yourself.

I think advocating de-population is morally and ethically wrong.  We get into the self-righteous, superiority of those who think they are *more special* than the rest, therefore, they should live while others die.

The comments are as interesting as the blog–with one suggesting that the population growth perhaps was a spiritual one of bringing more light into the world….

…with that, I would disagree.  There is so much negative energy on Earth that I would happily volunteer to go right now if God would take me.   Just give me enough morphine to stop my heart, and I’m good to go…

Speaking of negative energy, I was just thinking last night how much I missed teaching.  I enjoyed it and the kids’ earnest quest for knowledge.  I also liked that I didn’t have to put up with office politics nor office gossip.  When I was teaching, I would stay in the room and eat my lunch so I didn’t have to hear the teachers gossip (yes, they gossiped…mostly about stupid substitutes…).  I went in, did my job, and went home while avoiding all of that negative energy.  I didn’t have to put up with the tired questioning of my single status–there is definitely a prejudice against single people in this country.  The downside, of course, is the pay and the work-on-demand instead of a steady schedule.

And if you try to avoid the gossip and cut people off…as some suggest you do…you’re still screwed because the gossips then turn on you as a target.  I’ve actually had that happen to me.  I ended up leaving a good job because of it.

I suppose the questioning of population growth is related to our bad economy…not enough jobs that pay living wages….while jobs are shipped to other countries for even lower wages…and Burger King and their ilk go to other countries so they don’t have to pay their fair share of taxes….while war hawks push us towards another war again…while not taxing the rich….

Yeah, I’m in a negative mood…how could you tell?  😦

 

The crises in Haiti continues…with the “help” of Bill and Hillary Clinton

...disaster capitalists….(no wonder Hillary Clinton supports Israel’s bombing innocent Gazans…she probably wants a piece of the action, too, to gain financially from the “rebuilding” of Gaza.)

…because you know, the poor are just “useless eaters” (Hillary Clinton supposedly said that although I haven’t been able to confirm it.)

I have a question–why isn’t Bill Clinton in jail for misappropriation of funds?

My other posts on Haiti:

Earthships in Haiti (this would be a big help to the poor)

Where’s the money, Bill and Hillary??   Be sure to click on the mismanagement link–good source of info.

 

 

Gulen Charters, Ohio, Indiana, and politicians lining their pockets

Diane Ravitch has this up on the apparently greased palms of Republican Cliff Rosenberger and how Gulen schools have flourished in Ohio.  The article states that the investigation includes Indiana, as well….

Meanwhile, I’m reading a press release of Governor Mike Pence taking his family to England…on a “jobs creation trip”.  The release I read noted that he is paying for his children’s portion of the trip…but it left off his wife, whom is also going.  They’ll be gone for two weeks.  Unbelievable.  What a snow job–does anybody actually believe this guy is going to create jobs by this trip?  How many hours do you think he’ll devote to schmoozing for jobs?  I’m betting a day.  Half a day.  An hour.  A few minutes on the elevator down to the pool..

This article states that it is funded by the Indiana Economic Development Foundation through private donations.  I want to know who the donors are and what exactly Pence is doing–I don’t trust the tea partier at all.  They are good about saying one thing and doing the exact opposite–such as government being “too big”–and then, as I noticed yesterday in yet another press release, Pence created four more positions in his office for people who are no doubt cronies of his.  So, how does one “shrink government” by creating more useless positions while eliminating important ones, such as child welfare workers?

So, I’m waiting to see the fallout of this investigation and its connection to Indiana.  Pence and his henchmen are trying to wrest away what little control Glenda Ritz, an official elected by the people of Indiana, has on the Dept of Education.

 

 

Teachers, the wage gap, and the nearly homeless

Diane Ravitch has a blog up on one of the teachers involved in the Vergara case.  Ms. McLaughlin had replied to the “witch hunt” charges that she was a bad teacher…made by a student who also said there were five bad teachers and only one during her education–the one that wanted revenge apparently for being let go.

As I read the comments, the one by Chi-Town Res made me cry:

Yeah, and just wait until he hits retirement age and realizes that teachers with no union protections like me are exploited terribly. We are very low paid (and often hourly workers), don’t make enough money to get by on, let alone to save, have no pensions and are expected to live on about $900 per month from Social Security when we retire.

I could go live in a ghetto, since I will officially retire next month, because I can’t afford to continue living where I’ve been (renting) for the past 15 years, but I have no money to move. (Yes, homeownership was never an option for me.) Anyway, that’s the kind of income that even poor people in the ghettos can’t survive on in my area.

The reality is that I’m in arrears on my rent due to a further decline in my already low income and a high increase in my rent. I have applied to many places but I’ve been unable to find additional work. SS won’t actually start paying me until mid-September, my job put limits on our income and wouldn’t give me work for July, and I don’t qualify for unemployment compensation. I won’t get paid my measly wage again until the end of August. My landlord will not wait to be paid, and anyway I won’t get paid enough money then to cover back rent. I’ve been fighting becoming homeless for about three years now but, at this point, I have no more resources or anyone to turn to for help, and absolutely no one cares. So I’ve resigned myself to the fact that I will lose everything I own and be put out on the street and homeless before the fall. The only thing that could save my life now would be winning the lottery, but that is an intolerable hope.

The truth is that I could never afford to really stop working either, but SS has a limit on the amount of income I can earn. Talk about being stuck between a rock and a hard place. No one fully appreciates the “I’m living on a fixed income” cries, because the elderly are not revered in our society. No wonder the suicide rate for seniors is high.

As problematic as unions can be, not valuing the protections that unions provide workers is extremely short sighted.

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Also noted in the comments was that one of the plaintiff’s lawyers was Ted Olson, who ended the vote recount and handed George W. Bush the presidency, against the American public’s wishes.  Blood is on his hands, as well, for the wars and the economic mess Bush left us in.

Be sure to click on the link for Diane’s original post on Ms. McLaughlin.  Really stunning to see how she is “witch-hunted” by those with their own agendas.  She seems to be an outstanding person with true caring about her students, as a good teacher needs to be.

From the link:

“Indeed, this whole Vergara trial was like something out of Mao’s “Cultural Revolution” in China during the 1960′s. For those not acquainted with this, here’s primer: zealous students, under party leaders’ directions, would persecute their teachers. Kids would get their jollies as they put their teachers on a stage, put dunce caps on them, then screamed at them while forcing their teachers to bow their heads, kneel down, and confess their “crimes” and on and on…

These kids—appointed and empowered as “Red Guards” by Mao’s henchmen— would parade their former teachers through the streets…

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Diane has also put up a link to a short film clip on the red army of children that illustrates the terrible time.

(A side note~I got this weird message that Diane Ravitch’s site was “untrusted”.  Say what??  It’s on a wordpress platform…why would I get that message?  Is someone trying to interfere with the traffic to her site??)

 

The Onion: Charter Schools Lottery

(hat tip Diane Ravitch)

The Onion has their usual satirical take on the Charter Schools lottery “system”.

“Between small class sizes, longer school days, individualized instruction, and superior college admission rates, charters provide amazing opportunities for students who don’t enter a convulsive state, fall into a coma, stop breathing, and cease all bodily functions during the admissions process.”

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bwahahahahahahaha.

Spot on.

It’s really sad that the article hits Charter snobbery at its heart….and the kids suffer most of all.

Alert

Just wanted to give you a head’s up on something the mercury group has posted~

Vitamin Research Products (vrp.com) is no longer stocking DMSA, one of the chelators of mercury and lead.  They just suddenly stopped stocking it and have even removed the page from their website.

This is not good news.  They were the main supplier of DMSA.  Theories are abound that Big Pharma is behind this–buying out the competition.  And if they can buy out natural cures, they can force sick people to buy their side-effect-laden crap.

There are also allegations that Obamacare is limiting natural methods of healing, such as chelation supplements, making it harder for folks to get well. I don’t know this for fact, but it is one of the reasons I have not signed up for the health care.  Another reason is the link to the insurance industry instead of single-payer, which would have been more palatable, being like Medicare for All.

I can tell you that many of us on the group lost jobs as a result of mercury–therefore, we had lost the ability to pay for medical insurance and the ability to pay for supplements that insurance didn’t cover.   But at least the supplements were available…and cheap.  I would have not gotten well without that.  So once again, the poor take a hit for the uber wealthy to make even more profits….

I suspected that Big Pharma would try to grab this part of the market again, because they had in the past and continually try to get some twerp in Congress to do their bidding with making supplements illegal.

With billions of dollars and high-priced lawyers, they have gotten away with trying to take credit for natural healing herbs and methods, such as those used in India.  These were used for thousands of years…and Big Pharma comes along and tries to claim a patent.  Utterly mindboggling.  More here on Big Pharma’s battle to get a share of the market in India. An even better explanation of it here.

Big Pharma tries to claim that compulsory licenses aren’t available for cancer drugs – a lie; or that they are only available for national emergencies – another lie; or that India is establishing a general exception to patents for pharmaceuticals – an even bigger lie.  Sovereigns retain the right under TRIPS to issue compulsory licenses or to allow public, non-commercial use of patented products or processes.  As long as the correct procedures are followed and adequate remuneration is paid, the patent holder has nothing legitimate to complain about – unless, of course, it is a U.S. multinational who doesn’t want an emerging country like India to get in its way.

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…or for a group of U.S. citizens who want natural methods to heal their bodies to get their way….

And unfortunately, that’s not all that the greedy are trying to patent.

Lastly, here is a good segment on DN! with Vandana and Mira Shiva–two “uppity” women I admire for fighting the good fight~~

Vandana brings up the point of liability.  It would seem that none of the chemical companies — be it Dow/Union Carbide or any Big Pharma — want to take responsibility for the harm that they cause.  All the profits. None of the guilt.

She also highlights the attitudes towards the poor–they don’t matter so let’s poison them or use them as guinea pigs.

It was great to hear of them speak of their strong mother in the end~~no junk food in the house.  My father, too, did not allow junk food in the house when I was growing up–a parent who cares is not going to feed their child junk.  I heard the other day of parents of my children’s generation feeding their kids nothing but junk…and they don’t see anything wrong with that.  Very unsettling.  Regretfully, I didn’t appreciate my Dad’s wisdom until recently.  I always felt deprived because other kids got to have a “treat” of junk food on Friday night.  Just before the divorce, my sister would make Chef Boy-ar-dee pizzas on Friday night.  I felt happy at getting that “treat”.  Pfft.  The “treat” that kills.

Food is medicine.  Weeds are medicine.  When will we learn to value that which is not valuable by profit-making and make that available to all, not just those with cash in hand??

 

 

Mom pays off Every student’s lunch bill after son denied lunch

What kind of cruel person would throw a student’s lunch in the trash because they didn’t have the money to pay?

Does anyone believe Mark Daniel, the superintendent, that there are “policies in place to avoid instances such as these…”?  Me, neither.  Somebody has given permission to that minimum wage cafeteria worker that it is perfectly okay to waste good food to punish a child for the parents’ mistakes.  I don’t know if you can even call it a mistake when this parent is a single Mom working two jobs to take care of her family.  What is missing from this picture, besides compassion…?  The father, who is probably paying very little in support or nothing at all.  My ex only paid one-fifth of his $100k income to support three children.  And he begrudged even that little amount…

There is more to this story, folks, than is being written about here.

And God Bless the mother for her compassion and generosity.  God Bless the son for he learned something through his pain of humiliation.

Leaving children behind…by ignorance…

(hat tip to Diane Ravitch and Mercedes Schneider)

This puts a light on the mindset of No Child Left  a Mind…only a politician would say such stupid things like they “don’t want to leave any child behind…” while ignoring the fact that it is child abuse to expect ALL children to be at 100%.  It shows how little they know about education, about children’s individual development, and about humanity in general.

We are not machines.

We are not here to make profits for them.

There is more to education (and life) than remembering facts and spewing them out.  A rich culture and thriving democracy require people with all kinds of creative expression–whether that be through intellect, arts, music, sewing, other crafts.   The marketplace of ideas is a concept for the media, but is true of democracy, as well.  If we all learn the same way with the same information spewed out–we gain very little when in contact with others…we don’t enrich ourselves nor they enrich themselves when we are not encouraged to express ourselves in positive creative ways without constraint.

For politicians to look at No Child Left a Mind as some sort of feather in their cap…shortsighted and delusional is how I would characterize that…

They are closing public schools in poor and minority neighborhoods…just the opposite of what these politicians say they want.  Children are stressed out and crying about testing that requires them to know things that are above their intellectual growth.

…not to mention the $$$ profiteering of Gates, Michael Milken, and the hedge fund managers involved in the scheme of trying to profit off our children.