{"id":18723,"date":"2016-01-10T01:17:44","date_gmt":"2016-01-10T09:17:44","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.richgibson.com\/blog\/?p=18723"},"modified":"2016-01-10T01:17:44","modified_gmt":"2016-01-10T09:17:44","slug":"rouge-forum-dispatch-restored-to-life-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.richgibson.com\/blog\/rouge-forum-dispatch-restored-to-life-2\/","title":{"rendered":"Rouge Forum Dispatch: Restored to Life!"},"content":{"rendered":"

We Say Fight Back!<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Rolling Sickout Protests Close Detroit Schools<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"http:\/\/media.clickondetroit.com\/photo\/2016\/01\/07\/Renaissance%20school%20closed%20picture_1452171706287_1632157_ver1.0_320_180.jpg\"<\/p>\n

Michigan\u2019s state school superintendent called Friday on Detroit teachers to stop the sickouts that have caused repeated school closures this week and over the past two months…Friday\u2019s closures brought to five the number DPS buildings that were closed at least one day this week because of teacher sickouts, a tactic former Detroit Federation of Teachers president Steve Conn takes credit for<\/a> implementing. www.detroitnews.com\/story\/news\/local\/detroit-city\/2016\/01\/08\/detroit-schools-closed\/78496416\/<\/a><\/p>\n

Congratulations on the publication of:<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

The Emergency Manager who poisoned Flint’s Water is now the EM of Detroit Schools: <\/strong><\/p>\n

An Open Letter to Darnell Earley from 4th Grade DPS Teacher, Pam Namyslowski
\n<\/strong><\/em>I have been a teacher in Detroit Public Schools for 24 years. I feel the need to respond to some of the comments you made during your press conference this week. You described the actions of protesting teachers as \u201cunethical\u201d. I\u2019m curious, then, how you would characterize the learning conditions of the children of Detroit Public Schools that have existed for years. These deplorable learning conditions happen to also be the teachers’ working conditions. We deal with unsafe environments – both in the neighborhoods surrounding our schools and often within the schools themselves. Unlike you, students and teachers do not have a driver and security guards. Students who travel to and from school pass numerous abandoned, dangerous buildings and have been robbed, assaulted, and raped. Teachers have been victims of violent crimes and have had their vehicles and personal property damaged and\/or stolen, sometimes repeatedly. They suffer verbal abuse and some have been assaulted by angry students or parents. Many schools have numerous plumbing problems in the lavatories, drinking fountains, and sinks. Many outdated school buildings are crumbling – roofs, floors, windows, doors, and locks that are broken or in desperate need of repair. Far too many classrooms are overcrowded, creating conditions that are not even safe, let alone conducive to learning. I’m wondering where the concern and outrage over that is?\u00a0https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/notes\/save-michigans-public-schools\/an-open-letter-to-darnell-earley-from-4th-grade-dps-teacher-pam-namyslowski\/980843988663838<\/p>\n

\"https:\/\/i.vimeocdn.com\/video\/534495123.jpg?mw=1920&mh=1080&q=70\"<\/p>\n

The Mind: the most revolutionary weapon–interview with Nelson Peery <\/strong>Marx and Engels were clear about this: The most revolutionary weapon in the world is the human mind. If you don\u2019t win that, you\u2019re not going to win anything.platypus1917.org\/2015\/11\/29\/revolutionary-weapon-interview-nelson-peery\/<\/a><\/p>\n

Only pressure on South Africa\u2019s elites can ease university fee\u00a0stress <\/strong><\/h1>\n

There is a new student movement sweeping South Africa\u2019s universities. Its enemies? Excessive fee increases and underpaid workers.<\/p>\n

The next step in this fight could be taken beyond university campuses. The final battle will be fought at South Africa\u2019s National Treasury and Reserve Bank for four simple reasons:<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. There needs to be more state funding for higher education. Finance Minister Nhlanhla Nene could make this happen when he delivers his medium-term budget policy statement on October 21 \u2013 but he won\u2019t;<\/li>\n
  2. The South African state has the ability to raise such funding from financial markets, corporations and rich people;<\/li>\n
  3. The social spending component of the fiscus has been far too low; and<\/li>\n
  4. Interest rates should be decreased. This would allow for more state borrowing and reduce South Africans\u2019 extreme debt load, including that of recent graduates whose repayment rates are miserable<\/a>…\u00a0 If students continue to ally with underpaid university workers and link class and race as well as they have so far, the challenge ahead is crystal clear: target the men who control the finances…..theconversation.com\/only-pressure-on-south-africas-elites-can-ease-university-fee-stress-49376<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    \"Clinton<\/a><\/p>\n

    The Little Red Schoolhouse<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

    \"Detroit<\/a>Above, Rouger Bill Boyer in a Detroit school<\/p>\n

    DPS debt payments mount to unsustainable levels<\/h1>\n

    The debt payments of Detroit Public Schools \u2014 already the highest of any school district in Michigan \u2014 are set to balloon in February to an amount nearly equal to the school district\u2019s payroll and benefits as the city school system teeters on the edge of insolvency.<\/p>\n

    Detroit Public Schools has to begin making monthly $26 million payments starting in less than a month to chip away at the $121 million borrowed this school year for cash flow purposes and $139.8 million for operating debts incurred in prior years. The city school system\u2019s total debt payments are 74 percent higher from last school year.<\/p>\n

    The debt costs continue to mount while Gov. Rick Snyder and the Legislature remain at odds over how to rescue Michigan\u2019s largest school district. A bankruptcy of the district could leave state taxpayers on the hook for at least $1.5 billion in DPS debt.<\/p>\n

    The school district\u2019s payroll and health care benefits are projected to cost $26.8 million in February \u2014 meaning the debt payments will be 97 percent of payroll. General fund operating debt payments that exceed 10 percent of payroll are \u201ca major warning flag,\u201d municipal bond analyst Matt Fabian said.<\/p>\n

    \u201cThat\u2019s extremely high,\u201d said Fabian, managing director of Municipal Market Advisors in Concord, Massachusetts, who also followed the city of Detroit\u2019s bankruptcy case. \u201cThat\u2019s no longer, really, a normal school district. The school district has turned into a debt-servicing entity. It\u2019s making its own mission impossible.\u201d<\/p>\n

    As a result, the Detroit district won\u2019t have enough cash to pay any bills in four months.\u00a0 \/http:\/\/www.detroitnews.com\/story\/news\/education\/2016\/01\/04\/detroit-schools-debt-payments\/78240726<\/p>\n

    \n
    \n
    \n

    \"carol-banks<\/p>\n

    \n
    \u00a0DPS terminates ombudswoman after investigation<\/strong><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

    Detroit Public Schools has terminated its first ombudswoman following an internal investigation into allegations of misconduct.<\/p>\n

    Carol Banks, a former member of the Detroit Board of Education, was terminated Dec. 4 \u201cas a result of the district\u2019s investigation,\u201d said Michelle Zdrodowski, a spokeswoman for Detroit Public Schools, in an email to The Detroit News.<\/p>\n

    Banks had been on unpaid administrative leave since September during the investigation. She was appointed to the $60,000-a-year post last year.<\/p>\n

    Separately, Banks is a paid employee at City Hall, working as chief of staff to District 3 City Councilman Scott Benson.<\/p>\n

    The district has said the investigation was spurred by a Fox 2 News report that questioned how many hours Banks was truly putting in between her part-time work in Benson\u2019s office and full-time role with the school district.\u00a0 www.detroitnews.com\/story\/news\/local\/detroit-city\/2015\/12\/22\/detroit-public-schools-ombudswoman-terminated\/77758302\/<\/a><\/p>\n