{"id":7278,"date":"2012-06-28T22:13:14","date_gmt":"2012-06-29T06:13:14","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.richgibson.com\/blog\/?p=7278"},"modified":"2012-06-29T19:05:10","modified_gmt":"2012-06-30T03:05:10","slug":"rouge-forum-dispatch-its-right-to-a-revolution-week-in-usa","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.richgibson.com\/blog\/rouge-forum-dispatch-its-right-to-a-revolution-week-in-usa\/","title":{"rendered":"Rouge Forum Dispatch: It’s “Right to a Revolution!” Week in USA."},"content":{"rendered":"

We Say Fightback!<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

… whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness. …<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

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Oaxaca Teachers are on strike again. Find that in the for profit US press…..<\/p>\n

Chicago Prepares after Massive Strike Support <\/strong>Chicago Teachers Union members outmaneuvered the mayor, school officials and anti-union education groups by overwhelmingly approving a measure that allows teachers to strike if contract negotiations fall flat.
\nAbout 90 percent of CTU’s membership \u2014 nearly 24,000 workers \u2014 voted this month to support a strike if one is called. \u00a0 www.npr.org\/2012\/06\/20\/155283669\/a-new-union-battle-as-chicago-teachers-mayor-clash#commentBlock<\/a><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>Congratulations to Tim Sheard on the Publication of another Radical Mystery!<\/p>\n

Gangster Seiu Kneecaps Chicago Teacher Union and Upcoming Strike <\/strong> The new contract between Chicago Public Schools and its second-largest union will give 5,500 custodians, special education assistants, school bus aides and security officers a 6 percent raise over three years.
\nCPS has now reached agreement on two of seven union contracts. The district said it couldn’t say how much the contract with Local 73 of the Service Employees International Union will cost.
\nThe district is facing a budget shortfall of $600 million to $700 million and remains in protracted talks with the Chicago Teachers Union, whose members have voted to authorize a strike if a deal cannot be reached. An arbitration panel is considering the issues between the sides and is expected to issue a report in mid-July. \u00a0http:\/\/www.chicagotribune.com\/news\/education\/ct-met-cps-seiu-contract-2-20120615,0,490978.story<\/p>\n

Oakland Lakeview Sitin Continues (dinner is on for Sunday) <\/strong> Supporters of a sit-in at Lakeview elementary school and others protesting cuts from the Oakland Board of Education protested at the board\u2019s meeting June 27 and held a \u201cPeople\u2019s Board of Education Meeting\u201d discussing their vision for Oakland schools.
\nMuch of the protest focused on cuts to the district\u2019s budget for special education students. The cuts came as the school board faces statewide cuts to public education, the end of a bout of federal stimulus money, and a last-minute budget shortfall.
\nAfter passionate public comment, the board reversed their their previous decision to approve $1.7 million in special ed staffing cuts.
\nThe cuts would have eliminated some Program Specialist positions. $2 million in cuts in transportation for special ed students still stand.
\nThis comes weeks after special ed teachers and parents were surprised to learn of proposed cuts to special ed to make up for a budget an accounting error that the board discovered just weeks before the budget deadline. www.sfbg.com\/politics\/2012\/06\/28\/lakeview-sit-supporters-protest-school-board-meeting<\/a><\/p>\n

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National Opt Out Note to Sold Out NEA <\/strong>We issue this challenge with the optimism that the NEA is still an organization that cares more about the unique needs of students than back-room partnerships. And should Mr. Van Roekel fail to live up to his responsibility and make such a statement, we encourage each and every representative attending the NEA Representative Assembly to stand up and insist that these issues be brought forward, discussed, and voted on by the entire assembly. We remind every representative that they, too, have a mission, a voice, and a right to be heard. Please, this week, put integrity and the needs of students first. Bring a resolution denouncing high stakes testing and common core to the floor of the assembly. Do it now, for next year may be too late.
\nShould the NEA, its members, leadership, and President choose to remain silent on these issues, we will be forced to advocate for the erosion of support for the NEA and its mission, ultimately leading to its unfortunate, yet deserved, dissolution. Thus, the NEA\u2019s eventual eradication as a legitimate organization in support of public education will be met with a bittersweet jubilation. Make no mistake: we do not negotiate with children\u2019s lives. We hope you don\u2019t either.<\/em><\/p>\n

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

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Exxon Mobil Loves America’s Teachers (and why not?) <\/strong> <\/strong>Training elementary teachers through
\nthe Mickelson ExxonMobil Teachers Academy We\u2019re in partnership with Phil and Amy Mickelson to train grade school teachers in innovative, hands-on math and science methods. \u00a0http:\/\/www.exxonmobil.com\/Corporate\/community_math.aspx<\/p>\n

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above, locations of Exxon Teacher programs<\/p>\n

www.youtube.com\/watch?v=XAgti_2uziA<\/a><\/p>\n

Susan O on the Common Core <\/strong>But NCTE, IRA, and NCTM are too busy churning out their own books and teacher training videos on how to use the Common Core. Yes, the complicity of our professional organizations plus the complicity of the unions has made Common Core a done deal. But if you believe in heaven and hell, you know where the Standardistos who rob children of imagination and dreams will end up.
\nWhen a population becomes bullied or intimidated out of exercising rights offered on paper, those rights effectively cease to exist. This includes teachers. There are no excuses left. Either you join the revolt against corporate power or you lose your profession. \u00a0 \u00a0http:\/\/nepc.colorado.edu\/blog\/business-week-revealed-why-common-core-disdains-fiction-2000<\/p>\n

Common Core on the March in Big Districts <\/strong>Leaders of urban school systems, including New York City, Chicago and Washington, D.C., announced a campaign Thursday to press for books and other educational materials that are aligned with the Common Core academic standards that have been adopted by all but four states.
\nJosh Thomases, deputy chief academic officer in New York, said the urban districts would try to “shift the conversation… www.newsday.com\/news\/region-state\/big-school-districts-press-for-common-core-texts-1.3811657<\/a><\/p>\n

Another Shocker! Capitalist Universities embrace Capitalism <\/strong>The governing boards of colleges and universities are increasingly demanding that their presidents perform more like corporate chief executives, much to the chagrin of academics who say treating colleges as businesses doesn’t fit the mission of higher education. Experts say the recent moves largely have been spurred by federal and state funding cuts.
\nIn Charlottesville, Va., the Board of Visitors ousted U.Va. President Teresa Sullivan earlier this month because some members thought she was moving too slowly to address shrinking government funding, develop more online courses and position U.Va.’s hospital to better compete with private health care providers. \u00a0 www.detroitnews.com\/article\/20120627\/SCHOOLS\/206270376\/1026\/College-boards-turn-business-style-approaches<\/a><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>above, not long ago–a Detroit School<\/p>\n

Who Lost the Detroit Public Schools (hint, the DFT) <\/strong>Detroit Public Schools officials presented a proposed budget Wednesday for the coming academic year that calls for cutting nearly 1,900 jobs, closing schools and turning others over to an educational authority.
\nEmergency Manager Roy Roberts, who has been tasked with righting the district, and other leaders say the measures are needed to cope with the millions in lost state revenue because of the loss of 15,000 students. But some parents and teachers wonder if the changes will affect how students learn.
\n“You’re creating an instability,” Christal Bonner told Roberts and other DPS officials during a public hearing on the budget.
\nIn the new $784 million budget, which begins July 1, DPS is dropping $150.8 million by shedding 1,889 workers, closing nine schools and turning another 15 schools over to the Education Achievement Authority. Union officials estimate 700 of the positions being cut are teachers. \u00a0 www.detroitnews.com\/article\/20120628\/SCHOOLS\/206280398\/1026\/schools\/DPS-parents-raise-concerns-over-budget<\/a><\/p>\n

El Paso School Boss Heads to Jail–Test Cheat and Thief <\/strong>Former Superintendent Lorenzo Garc\u00eda pleaded guilty this month to conspiring with six unnamed people to artificially bolster student test scores in an effort to make the city’s largest school district appear as if it was meeting federal academic standards.
\nGarc\u00eda is now awaiting a prison sentence of nearly four years for cheating on state standardized tests and for steering a $450,000 no-bid contract to his mistress. He also faces the potential loss of his educator certificate, which would prevent him from working in Texas public schools again. \u00a0http:\/\/www.elpasotimes.com\/news\/ci_20926039\/episd-ratings-jeopardy-inquiry-may-affect-status-2-schools?source=most_viewed<\/p>\n

Boston Goon Principal On his Way out after Demolishing what was left of a Capitalist School <\/strong> \u201cMy teachers were my second parents. They were the ones who always helped me, no matter what I needed,\u201d Hussain said. \u201cMs. Pred-Sosa, Ms. Drew, Mr. McShane, Ms. Silas, Mr. Hogu, Ms. Rodriguez, Ms. Follenweider, Mr. Beyer. I will never forget what you did for me.\u201d
\nJust two years later, seven of the eight teachers Hussain praised are gone, most of them casualties of a radical transformation under a little-tested, 30-something headmaster recruited by Boston school Superintendent Carol R. Johnson to turn around one of the most troubled high schools in the state.
\nAn extraordinary three-quarters of English High\u2019s teachers and administrators have quit or been let go during the past three years, school records show, as headmaster Sito Narcisse pushed through one controversial initiative after another \u2014 from school uniforms to single-sex classrooms to eliminating the grade \u201cD,\u201d forcing students to earn a \u201cC\u201d or fail. Teachers who did not go along with Narcisse\u2019s approach were \u201cnot the right fit,\u201d in his words, and he sent 38 of them packing, while dozens of others retired or resigned.
\nNow, Narcisse himself is leaving for a new job amid questions about the wisdom of letting someone so inexperienced carry out drastic changes. Standardized test scores rose slightly under Narcisse, but so did the dropout rate, the course failure rate, and the absentee rate \u2014 while the experience level and morale of his teachers plummeted. \u00a0http:\/\/www.boston.com\/news\/local\/massachusetts\/articles\/2012\/06\/24\/troubled_english_high_school_showing_little_improvement_after_three_tumultuous_years_under_untested_headmaster_sito_narcisse\/<\/p>\n