David Long reports on the eruption of protest in Jefferson County, Colo., in response to a conservative school board’s attempt to censor the U.S. history curriculum.
Read the report: The Jeffco rebels | SocialistWorker.org.
Education
New Study: Charter Schools Hurt Poor Kids
Adopting a “school reform” agenda that encourages privatization actually makes the problems worse, according to a new study.
“In pushing these efforts, politicians, rightwing think tanks, chambers of commerce, and, most of all, the American Legislative Exchange Council are actually creating the very problem of failure in the school system they claim their privatization plans will help address.”
Read about it: Scathing Report Finds School Privatization Hurts Poor Kids – In These Times.
Understanding Education “Reform”
Deborah Meier writes at Talking Union about the greed behind the “new reform” movement in Education.
“Having failed time after time with vouchers—direct public funding of private schools, the new reformers saw a way around it. Their instincts also suggested that history favors reforms that make repeal difficult, almost impossible. So the motto is: move fast and thoroughly.”
Read the full article: Follow the money to understand education reform | Talking Union.
The Charter Scam in Chicago
Kevin Moore and Rachel Cohen hack through the lies being used to promote charter schools in Chicago.
One of the biggest misconceptions about charters is that the funds to run them come from private sources. While charters do receive donations and some private grants, 75 percent of their total funding comes from public resources.
Another lie that charter school opponents are unmasking is the claim that charters perform better than neighborhood schools. In reality, according to researchers on the forum panel, 80 percent of charter students showed no improvement or a worse performance in reading, compared to students in traditional public schools. For math, the figure was 63 percent.
Read More: Unmasking the Chicago charter scam | SocialistWorker.org.
Bill Ayers Interview
Read the interview: Bill Ayers Talks Obama, Nelson Mandela, and Toni Preckwinkle | Chicago magazine.
Ayers is the authentic voice.
Solidarity With The Chicago Teachers
The Chicago Teachers Union is currently on the front lines of a fight to defend public education. You can show your support by making a contribution to their Solidarity Fund. Every dollar helps.
If you care about the future of public education in America, take a few minutes to read The Schools Chicago’s Students Deserve – a new study from the CTU which argues in favor of proven educational reforms to dramatically improve the education of more than 400,000 students in this district of 675 schools.
ALEC’s Attack on Public Education
What You Need To Know About ALEC. [Bridging Differences | Education Week] – Since the 2010 elections, when Republicans took control of many states, there has been an explosion of legislation advancing privatization of public schools and stripping teachers of job protections and collective bargaining rights. Even some Democratic governors, seeing the strong rightward drift of our politics, have jumped on the right-wing bandwagon, seeking to remove any protection for academic freedom from public school teachers. This outburst of anti-public school, anti-teacher legislation is no accident.
Noam Chomsky: Behind the Attack on Public Education
Chomsky: How the Young Are Indoctrinated to Obey. [AlterNet] – Forty years ago there was deep concern that the population was breaking free of apathy and obedience. Since then, many measures have been taken to restore discipline. Read more.
10 Ways to Future-Proof Your Child
10 Ways to Future-Proof Your Child. [GeekDad | Wired.com] – You can’t predict what your children will find of interest as they grow up, but there are things I can do now – today – that may be somewhat beneficial to them in the next 5 to 10 years.