{"id":19660,"date":"2017-04-26T15:28:03","date_gmt":"2017-04-26T23:28:03","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.richgibson.com\/blog\/?p=19660"},"modified":"2017-04-30T00:14:51","modified_gmt":"2017-04-30T08:14:51","slug":"rouge-forum-dispatch-restored-to-life-vietnam-mayday-special","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.richgibson.com\/blog\/rouge-forum-dispatch-restored-to-life-vietnam-mayday-special\/","title":{"rendered":"Rouge Forum Dispatch: Vietnam + Mayday Special!"},"content":{"rendered":"

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

False Flags Flying: Fake Unions Plan Faux Mayday<\/a><\/p>\n

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The Real Mayday The National Education Association, American Federation of Teachers, and other union bosses are about to sully the celebration of Mayday, an international radical, usually revolutionary, workers\u2019 holiday.<\/a><\/p><\/div>\n\n\n\n
The Rouge Forum is interested in teaching and learning for a democratic society. You are invited to join us.<\/span><\/span><\/b><\/center><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n
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2017 Rouge Forum Conference<\/a>
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Resist.
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June 23-24, 2017
\nSaint Louis University
\nSt. Louis, Missouri<\/h3>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<\/div>\n

www.rougeforum.org\/<\/a><\/p>\n

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

\"\"<\/a>Rethinking Social Studies challenges readers to reconsider conventional thought and practices that sustain the status quo in classrooms, schools, and society by critically engaging with questions and issues such as: neutrality in the classroom; how movement conservatism shapes the social studies curriculum; how corporate\u2010driven education affects schools, teachers, and curriculum; ways in which teachers can creatively disrupt everyday life in the social studies classroom; going beyond language and inclusive content in social justice oriented teaching; making critical pedagogy relevant to everyday life and classroom practice; the invisibility of class in the social studies curriculum and how to make it a central organizing concept; class war, class consciousness and social studies in the age of empire; what are your ideals as a social studies education and how do you keep them and still teach?; and what it means to be a critical social studies educator beyond the classroom.\u00a0 www.infoagepub.com\/products\/Rethinking-Social-Studies<\/a><\/p>\n

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

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Faux May Day and historical revisionism are part of a long tradition of duplicity in AFT… UFT has always censored words the leadership didn’t like…<\/h2>\n

Susan Ohanian – April 24, 2017<\/span><\/p>\n

I have my own small experience with the AFT shunning of information. For several years I wrote book reviews for the New York State United Teachers (NYSUT) monthly publication. The staff sent me free unreadable books along the lines of The History of Concrete<\/i>. So I bought and reviewed books of more interest and importance to the lives of teachers. My reviews were long and contentious–and a whole lot of fun.<\/p>\n

First the editor complained that I was reviewing books he hadn\u2019t sent. Then he complained they were too long. Then he informed me \u201cNo more reviews.\u201d He said book reviews just didn\u2019t meet the needs of teachers.\u00a0 More: www.substancenews.net\/articles.php?page=6744&section=Article<\/a><\/p>\n

STUDENT LOANS<\/a><\/span><\/h3>\n

Panicked Borrowers, and the Education Department\u2019s Unsettling Silence<\/h1>\n

It was bad enough late last month when the Education Department<\/a>, in a legal filing,<\/a> informed the nation\u2019s public servants that they shouldn\u2019t trust its administrator\u2019s word about whether their student loans<\/a> qualify for its debt forgiveness program.<\/p>\n

But the panic among borrowers that the newfound uncertainty unleashed helps illuminate an additional problem with the public service loan forgiveness program: Many people who believe that they qualify \u2014 and entered graduate school, borrowed piles of money and chose employers accordingly \u2014 may not realize that they are not making qualifying payments or that certain loans are not eligible for forgiveness.<\/p>\n

The program, which began in 2007, was enacted with what was supposed to be a clear-cut proposition: People who worked for 10 years in public service jobs and made regular payments would have the remainder of their federal student loans forgiven. A wide variety of jobs were supposed to qualify, from nonprofit work to teaching in a public school or practicing medicine at a public hospital.<\/p>\n

But now, 10 years later, the legal filing has sown all manner of confusion \u2014 which itself comes in the wake of a disheartening amount of misdirection given to borrowers. The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau<\/a> receives plenty of complaints about loan servicers offering incorrect information. And well-meaning employers may also pass along bad advice. www.nytimes.com\/2017\/04\/07\/your-money\/student-loans\/panicked-borrowers-and-the-education-departments-unsettling-silence.html?_r=0<\/a><\/p>\n

A Teachers’ Union Against the Teachers–<\/strong><\/p>\n

Organized Labor and the Crisis at City College of San Francisco<\/h3>\n

In the years after the financial crisis of 2008\u201309, educational institutions across the country were starved of funds<\/a>. From 2007 to 2012, when demand was soaring<\/a>, California\u2019s community colleges faced cuts of $1.5 billion, while an estimated \u201c500,000 students were shut out of the system.\u201d7<\/a> However, CCSF Chancellor Don Griffin did not respond to the budget crisis by reducing class offerings and laying-off employees, as might be expected. Griffin and other college administrators instead sought to limit cuts by drawing on the college\u2019s reserves, deferring facilities maintenance, and not replacing administrators who had recently left. As a result, CCSF\u2019s student population dropped by less than 10 percent from 2008 to 2011\u201312, while other urban districts in the state experienced much steeper declines. In Los Angeles, community college enrollment dropped by 15.5 percent, or over 42,000 students. In San Diego, the figure was almost 20 percent. Until 2012, CCSF\u2019s student population remained comparatively stable<\/strong><\/em>.8<\/a>\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 monthlyreview.org\/2017\/04\/01\/a-teachers-union-against-itself\/<\/a><\/p>\n

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Ex-Chicago schools chief gets 4-\u00bd years in prison for bribery scheme<\/h1>\n

The former chief executive of the cash-strapped Chicago public school system was sentenced on Friday to 4-\u00bd years in prison for her part in a scheme to steer more than $20 million in taxpayer money to a former employer in exchange for hundreds of thousands of dollars in kickbacks.<\/p>\n

The sentencing of Barbara Byrd-Bennett<\/strong> comes more than 17 months after she pleaded guilty<\/a> to conspiring with two executives from an educational consulting company to help them win lucrative contracts with the school system.<\/p>\n

It marks the coda to\u00a0the downfall\u00a0of\u00a0Byrd-Bennett, who started her career as a teacher working in a troubled New York City public school\u00a0and went on to become a prominent figure in urban education. Before her time in Chicago, she served as the head of the Cleveland Metropolitan School District\u00a0and as the chief academic and accountability officer for Detroit Public Schools.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 www.usatoday.com\/story\/news\/2017\/04\/28\/ex-chicago-schools-chief-faces-sentencing-kickback-scheme\/101021272\/<\/a><\/p>\n

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Blast from the Past:<\/strong><\/p>\n

Ex-schools chief Deasy’s next step: build alternative juvenile prisons<\/h1>\n

John Deasy, the controversial former superintendent who led the Los Angeles Unified School District for three-and-a-half turbulent years,\u00a0is embarking on a new venture that could prove just as challenging: keeping juvenile\u00a0offenders from returning to jail.<\/p>\n

Deasy wants to do that by opening alternative juvenile prisons in Los Angeles and Alameda\u00a0counties that could\u00a0include activities such as\u00a0yoga, meditation, art, counseling, athletics and\u00a0education.\u00a0His goal is to reduce recidivism by 50%.<\/p>\n

The vehicle, he said, will be a new nonprofit he is creating called New Day, New Year.\u00a0He plans to begin working on the project full-time in October. He is \u201cjust beginning to think through\u201d the details\u00a0and is working to line up funding, he said.\u00a0 www.latimes.com\/local\/education\/la-me-deasy-juvenile-prison-reform-20160726-snap-story.html<\/a><\/p>\n

The International Hot War of the Rich on the Poor<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

For the anniversary of the US rout in Vietnam, and the temporary victory of the Vietnamese People:<\/em> <\/strong><\/p>\n

www.youtube.com\/watch?v=3nPJgeg6hpA<\/a><\/p>\n

With the April 29\/30th anniversary of the victory of Vietnam over the US in 1975 approaching, the lessons from that war apply today, especially the fact that the US government lied incessantly. This is a brief video, made by a colleague, about the collapse and final rout of the US Military, perfect for classrooms.<\/em><\/p>\n

The link below is a fast review of the history of the wars on Vietnam, with live connections to video, music, etc.<\/p>\n

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The Vietnam Wars 1954-1980 and Beyond<\/a><\/h2>\n<\/div>\n

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www.richgibson.com\/vietnam\/<\/a><\/p>\n

The Winter Soldier video is about 1 1\/2 hours, and worth every minute<\/p>\n

www.youtube.com\/watch?v=qrOBqC1A0sc<\/a><\/p>\n

www.youtube.com\/watch?v=I-eVbJbgUpE<\/a><\/p>\n

…<\/p>\n