tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-147077302024-03-17T02:52:11.616-04:00Schools MatterJames Hornhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04462754705431590571noreply@blogger.comBlogger7910125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14707730.post-9440823722683607922024-03-14T11:52:00.000-04:002024-03-14T11:52:32.946-04:00No Excuses for IDEA Charter Schools Theft of Public Funds? <p><span style="font-family: arial;">Based on the No Excuses KIPP Model for chain gang schooling of brown and black children, IDEA Public</span><span style="font-family: arial;"> [sic] Schools was founded in 2000 by two former Teach for America recruits, Tom Torkelson and JoAnn Gama. The new corporate charter chain saw explosive growth, becoming the largest charter chain in Texas, with 36 schools and 19,000 students by 2015. By the end of 2024, IDEA plans to have 143 schools and 80,000 students in Texas, Louisiana, Florida and Ohio.<br /></span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">Early in 2019 the U. S. Department of Education handed IDEA Charter Schools, Inc. <a href="https://www.chalkbeat.org/2019/4/18/21107967/charter-networks-kipp-and-idea-win-big-federal-grants-to-fund-ambitious-growth-plans/">a five-year grant for $116 million</a>, ostensibly to open new charter schools. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">By December of the same year, IDEA's corporate board under the direction of IDEA's CEO, Tom Torkelson, had voted unanimously to lease an eight-passenger private jet for $15 million to, well, jet around. When the story came to light, <a href="https://www.houstonchronicle.com/news/education/article/IDEA-charter-school-s-newest-expense-a-private-14910483.php">thanks to the <i>Houston Chronicle</i></a>, the plan was canceled. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">Ah, well, that didn't stop the <a href="https://sanantonioreport.org/why-did-idea-public-schools-top-leaders-get-fired/">high rollers at IDEA from spending $400,000 a year</a> for sky boxes to watch the San Antonio Spurs or for other luxuries that were brought to light by <a href="https://www.dallasnews.com/news/education/2021/05/25/texas-charter-network-fires-leaders-after-investigation-reveals-misuse-of-school-funds-as-state-authorities-step-in/">a forensic review in 2021</a>.<br /></span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">Co-founder TomTorkelson took his money ($900,000 in severance) and ran in 2020, <a href="https://sanantonioreport.org/why-did-idea-public-schools-top-leaders-get-fired/">followed a year later by the firing of the other co-founder, JoAnn Gama</a>, and a number of other corporate welfare queens and kings. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">Even so, the corruption persisted. Which led to further investigation by the Texas Education Agency (TEA). That investigation wrapped up in late January, and the <a href="https://sanantonioreport.org/tea-investigation-idea-public-schools-ends-appointed-conservators/"><i>San Antonio Report</i> reported on March 6 </a>that TEA has appointed two conservators to oversee operations. No indictments, no slaps on the wrist, no criminal referrals. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">As a condition, I suppose, of no one at IDEA getting an orange jumpsuit, IDEA has agreed to pay back $28.7 million in federal funds. Why, you ask. No explanation by TEA, which remains a cheerleader for IDEA, so much so that IDEA, specializing as it does in cultural sterilization of brown and black children, has <a href="https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/idea-charter-school-launches-massive-expansion-days-after-tea-put-conservators-in-charge/ar-BB1jSdzU">announced a building boom moving forward.</a></span><br /></p><p><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://i0.wp.com/sanantonioreport.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/scottball_ideapublicschoolluncheondavidrobinson-26.jpg?fit=900%2C600&ssl=1" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="533" data-original-width="800" height="213" src="https://i0.wp.com/sanantonioreport.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/scottball_ideapublicschoolluncheondavidrobinson-26.jpg?fit=900%2C600&ssl=1" width="320" /></a></div><br /><p></p>James Hornhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04462754705431590571noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14707730.post-57206549011594922252024-03-11T15:55:00.008-04:002024-03-12T10:23:15.931-04:00What Did KIPP Leaders Know, and When Did They Know It?<ul style="text-align: left;"><li><span style="font-family: arial;">Are
there former students and/or teachers who are willing to share their
stories (anonymously if you so choose) about Charlie Randall or his
protege and <a href="https://nypost.com/2023/09/12/ex-nyc-middle-school-music-teacher-jesus-concepcion-admits-to-sexually-abusing-five-students-prosecutors/">now-convicted child sexual abuser, Jesus Concepcion</a>? If you would like to share your story, please contact me via email: </span><span style="font-size: medium;">ontogenyx@gmail.com</span></li></ul><p><span style="font-family: arial;">Straight out of undergraduate school and fresh from two year stints with <a href="http://www.schoolsmatter.info/2016/09/understanding-kipp-model-charter_20.html">Teach for America </a>(TFA), Mike Feinberg and David Levin found themselves in 1994 running their own school program in an elementary school in Houston, TX. They called their new program KIPP (Knowledge is Power Program), and with the help of the rich white elites who were bankrolling TFA,
Levin and Feinberg quickly became media darlings and the next great
white hopes for solving the urban <a href="http://www.schoolsmatter.info/2016/07/understanding-kipp-model-charter.html">"Negro problem" that white
America had fretted about since Emancipation</a>.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">The next year KIPP Houston became a separate school under the direction of Mike Feinberg, while David Levin was handed his own school program in New York City, where the white,
privileged, and fresh-faced Yale graduate found himself face-to-face with Bronx indigenous cultures entirely foreign to Levin and the other
white teachers who were hired to build the first KIPP franchise beyond
Houston.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">Hoping to garner public attention to KIPP's program, Levin and the NYC Board of Education brought in the <a href="https://orlandosentinel.newspapers.com/article/newsday-teacher-is-an-instrument-to-succ/137166420/">renowned school orchestra director</a>, Charlie Randall, <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/1992/04/25/nyregion/a-teacher-uses-music-s-boundaries-to-keep-out-urban-chaos.html">who gained fame</a> from his work at a neighboring school in the Bronx, I.S.166. <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/1992/04/25/nyregion/a-teacher-uses-music-s-boundaries-to-keep-out-urban-chaos.html">Randall, who had been a music teacher</a> since the early 70s and the founding director of the I.S.166 orchestra since 1980, brought Levin a skill set that he would desperately need in order to make it in the Bronx. Randall brought PR skills, charisma, street savvy, and local knowledge that Levin did not have and that he came to depend upon in his new position of leadership. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">Charlie Randall also brought with him an attraction to middle school girls, as well as a bad drinking problem. According to allegations from an anonymous source interviewed by Gary Rubenstein, Randall openly engaged in lascivious behavior among KIPP students, behavior that would have gotten him fired and reported to authorities under normal circumstances. Instead, KIPP eventually promoted Randall and put him in charge of starting orchestra programs at other KIPP schools around the country. <a href="https://garyrubinstein.wordpress.com/2024/02/27/more-allegations-of-sexual-abuse-from-the-early-days-of-kipp-nyc/">According to Rubenstein</a>, </span></p><blockquote><span style="font-family: arial;">[t]he source, claiming to have firsthand knowledge, alleges that multiple
witnesses, including numerous KIPP teachers and leaders, observed
Charles Randall’s misconduct but did not report the egregious behavior
exhibited by both Randall and Jesus Concepcion.<br /><br />One account from
the source states, “Randall would frequently arrive at school
intoxicated. He kept a bottle of Johnnie Walker Black in the orchestra
room and even offered us shots.” Additionally, the source mentioned, “He
would often make sexually suggestive remarks about our bodies,
accompanied by licking his lips, and the teachers witnessed this
behavior but never intervened. It seemed as though no one cared until he
began harassing the teachers. It was only then that he was eventually
removed from KIPP Academy and reassigned to a national position.”</span></blockquote><p><span style="font-family: arial;">So I have questions:</span></p><ul style="text-align: left;"><li><span style="font-family: arial;">In 2018, the <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2018/02/22/us/kipp-sexual-misconduct-michael-feinberg.html">KIPP Foundation was eager to fire Mike Feinberg</a> for alleged sexual misconduct and other inappropriate behaviors. Will KIPP fire the other founder this time around in 2024 for his alleged complicity?</span></li><li><span style="font-family: arial;">Who was aware of Randall's misconduct while at KIPP, either in New York or at the other KIPP schools?</span></li><li><span style="font-family: arial;">Are there former students and/or teachers who are willing to share their stories (anonymously if you so choose) about Charlie Randall or his protege and <a href="https://nypost.com/2023/09/12/ex-nyc-middle-school-music-teacher-jesus-concepcion-admits-to-sexually-abusing-five-students-prosecutors/">now-convicted child sexual abuser, Jesus Concepcion</a>? If you would like to share your story, please contact me via email: </span></li></ul><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-large;">ontogenyx@gmail.com</span></div><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p> </p><p> <br /></p><p><br /></p><p> </p><p><br /></p><p> </p><p> </p>James Hornhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04462754705431590571noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14707730.post-80989031271050378672024-03-06T14:07:00.003-05:002024-03-06T14:07:30.829-05:00Beaufort, SC Offers the Nation a Lesson on Dealing with Moms for Liberty<p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p><iframe frameborder="0" height="270" src="https://youtube.com/embed/JNaw_ZPsg7E?si=wkb9gNqDVN4dyKTe" width="480"></iframe></p>James Hornhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04462754705431590571noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14707730.post-80296052963032350022024-03-06T12:25:00.004-05:002024-03-06T12:27:23.577-05:00The Headline of the Day <p style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2024/03/donald-trump-super-tuesday-results-nikki-haley/"> <span style="font-size: x-large;">Florida Man Facing 91 Criminal Counts Dominates Super Tuesday Primaries</span></a></p><h3 class="hed">Rachel Maddow offered a great primer on Monday night for all of us who are intent upon doing whatever is necessary to preserve our constitutional republic. Take a few minutes, and take a few notes: </h3><h3 class="hed" style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TV51sWQ9s3A">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TV51sWQ9s3A</a></h3><h3 class="hed"><br /></h3><h3 class="hed"><br /></h3><h3 class="hed"><br /></h3><p></p>James Hornhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04462754705431590571noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14707730.post-73127076402256197352024-03-05T12:10:00.004-05:002024-03-05T13:03:51.346-05:00TN School Voucher Bill Will Cost Taxpayers Billions, Part 2<p>As with most school privatization plans, Tennessee legislators can count on a stable of <a href="https://www.newschannel5.com/news/newschannel-5-investigates/revealed/revealed-secret-recording-shows-school-voucher-proponent-talking-of-public-hangings-of-lawmakers">bare-knuckled billionaires and millionaires </a>to provide the cash to drive the current school voucher scheme that appears destined to become law--unless citizens who support public education raise enough hell to stop it.</p><p><a href="https://www.tennessean.com/story/news/politics/2023/11/27/tennessee-school-vouchers-choice-gov-bill-lee-to-propose-statewide-plan/71714549007/">The legislation (HB1183/SB0503) will provide</a>, during the 2024-25 school year, just over $7,000 in state funding for 20,000 of Tennessee's just over one million K-12 students (including private school students). In Year 2 (2025-26), any or all of the parents of Tennessee's one million+ students may sign up. <br /></p><p class="gnt_ar_b_p"></p><blockquote><p class="gnt_ar_b_p">Of the 20,000, half will be made available to
students whose families’ income are below 300% of the federal poverty
level, students with disabilities, and those who meet eligibility
requirements for the existing ESA pilot program. The remaining 10,000
will be made available to any student currently entitled to attend a
public school. </p><p class="gnt_ar_b_p">Beginning in the 2025-26 school
year, eligibility for the program would be opened to all Tennessee
students, regardless of income or previous school enrollment. If demand
exceeds available funding, previously enrolled program participants,
low-income students, and students enrolled in public schools would be
prioritized. </p></blockquote><p>Based on conservative estimates of the Tennessee General Assembly Fiscal Review Committee, the costs will be staggering:</p><p>The total amount of scholarships awarded will result in an increase in state expenditures<br />estimated to be:<br /></p><blockquote>o $141,500,000 (20,000 x $7,075) in FY24-25;<br />o $343,147,000 (47,000 x $7,301) in FY25-26; and<br />o Exceeding $343,147,000 in FY26-27 and subsequent years.</blockquote><p class="gnt_ar_b_p">If the voucher scheme led to 10 percent of Tennessee students in private schools by 2027 and moving forward, that would mean an additional $700,000,000+ every year for a state that is ranked 44th among states for K-12 funding.</p><p class="gnt_ar_b_p"><b>How Will Local Education Agencies (LEAs) Be Affected?</b></p><p class="gnt_ar_b_p">Because the Republican voucher scheme does not include a hold-harmless provision, local school systems will be required to absorb the loss of state funding for their students who move to private schools.<b> </b>The information below is from the<b> </b><a href="https://www.capitol.tn.gov//Bills/113/Fiscal/FM1733.pdf">Tennessee General Assembly Fiscal Review Committee's Fiscal Memorandum, dated February 26, 2024:</a><br /></p><p class="gnt_ar_b_p"></p><blockquote><p class="gnt_ar_b_p">The proposed legislation does not contain a hold-harmless provision for LEAs that<br />experience a decrease in local revenue due to students leaving the LEA to attend private<br />schools . . . .</p><p class="gnt_ar_b_p">Based on school voucher data from other states, the scholarships available to students<br />who are not subject to household income restrictions will be awarded to 60 percent of<br />students from private schools and to 40 percent of students from public schools . . . .</p><p class="gnt_ar_b_p">The total local decrease in revenue and decrease in state expenditures is estimated as<br />follows:</p><blockquote><p class="gnt_ar_b_p">$101,525,200 ($89,905,200 + $11,620,000) in FY25-26; and</p><p class="gnt_ar_b_p">Exceeding $140,710,480 ($124,598,880+ $16,111,600) in FY26-27 and<br />subsequent years.</p></blockquote><p class="gnt_ar_b_p">A loss in TISA funding would not necessarily be offset by avoiding the cost of educating<br />the student. Any offset or decrease in local expenditures would depend upon whether<br />certain cost-savings could be realized through staff reductions or service and resource<br />reductions.</p><p class="gnt_ar_b_p">However, it is assumed that LEAs will maintain spending levels despite a decrease in<br />student enrollment (pp. 3-5). </p></blockquote><p class="gnt_ar_b_p"></p><p class="gnt_ar_b_p">In short, school systems who lose 10-15 percent of their students still must maintain physical plants, transportation systems, maintenance programs, and instructional programs for 85-90 percent of remaining students. For a largely rural state, these costs could be devastating to budgets that are already bare bones.</p><p class="gnt_ar_b_p"><b> Do Vouchers Offer Improved Test Scores?</b><br /></p><p class="gnt_ar_b_p">This new voucher scheme will be layered on top of <a href="https://www.tennessean.com/story/news/education/2022/07/15/what-tennessee-students-eligible-receive-school-voucher/10057935002/">the previous one that was implemented</a> during the 2022-23 school year. <a href="https://wpln.org/post/report-39-of-tn-school-districts-receive-less-in-per-student-funding-than-students-using-proposed-private-school-vouchers/">The data from Spring 2023 state tests </a>demonstrate that the current push for school privatization is not driven by a desire for academic improvement:<br /></p><p class="gnt_ar_b_p"></p><blockquote>In 2023, only 11.3% of program participants scored proficient on the
math section of TCAP, compared to 33.7% of public school students.
Similarly in English language arts, 22.8% of ESA recipients scored
proficient, while 38% of public school students hit the benchmark. </blockquote><br /><p></p><p class="gnt_ar_b_p"></p><blockquote><br /></blockquote><p> </p><blockquote><p class="gnt_ar_b_p"><br /></p></blockquote><p class="gnt_ar_b_p"><br /></p><p></p>James Hornhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04462754705431590571noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14707730.post-9113025894880631772024-03-04T16:58:00.004-05:002024-03-04T18:21:30.375-05:00TN School Voucher Bill Will Cost Taxpayers Billions<p><span style="font-family: verdana;">When it comes to state funding for public schools, <a href="https://edlawcenter.org/assets/MTG-2023/Making-the-Grade-23-Report.pdf">Tennessee consistently ranks among states around 44th</a>. In 2023, Tennessee earned an F in funding level, an F in funding effort, and a C in funding distribution. </span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiIfE977v-gvSgjP1CsOWTyHXkhoJYoEd7RbtkVnVq3gHEM-WHU_cBTdA93cy2a2YADjJkhxBTxUF6-Jjyy29mdwqTQIYco2oUvgxVXZMiTQEAOJTupXKODU28REC5A2Y1ziu7Hx6KFXhbHeZzvqo-ER8Riu3Lm165EUzRxtKtYuF5Q7C7LCQtc/s1904/TN%20Ed%20Funding%202023.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1904" data-original-width="1822" height="492" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiIfE977v-gvSgjP1CsOWTyHXkhoJYoEd7RbtkVnVq3gHEM-WHU_cBTdA93cy2a2YADjJkhxBTxUF6-Jjyy29mdwqTQIYco2oUvgxVXZMiTQEAOJTupXKODU28REC5A2Y1ziu7Hx6KFXhbHeZzvqo-ER8Riu3Lm165EUzRxtKtYuF5Q7C7LCQtc/w470-h492/TN%20Ed%20Funding%202023.png" width="470" /></a></div><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">When it comes to state support for school vouchers, however, Tennessee is pushing to be among national leaders. And if the current school voucher legislation passes that is <a href="https://www.tennessean.com/story/news/politics/2024/02/27/tennessee-school-voucher-education-sweeping-overhaul-passes-first-house-hurdle/72763858007/">now being crammed through the legislative process</a>, Tennessee funding for public schools will take another huge hit. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">How big a hit? Conservatively, the Republican voucher program, which they call Education Freedom Scholarships (EFS), will result in <b>annual state expenditure increases of over $340,000,000</b>. So every three years Tennessee taxpayers will pay over a billion dollars for 2-5% of Tennessee's K-12 students to attend private schools, either secular or sectarian.<br /></span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">The information below is from <a href="https://www.capitol.tn.gov//Bills/113/Fiscal/FM1733.pdf">a memo dated February 26, 2024 by the Tennessee General Assembly Fiscal Review Committee</a>.</span></p><p></p><blockquote>• Due to the universal nature of the program, it is assumed that students already attending<br />private school will seek the additional funding through the EFS Program.<br />• Based on school voucher program data from other states and the large pool of private<br />school students that would be eligible for the EFS, it is estimated that 47,000<br />scholarships will be awarded in the 2025-26 school year.<br />• The EFS Program is projected to grow in subsequent years following the 2025-26 school<br />year. However, due to the lack of multi-year data from other school voucher programs<br />across the country and different factors amongst those programs, a precise growth<br />estimate cannot reasonably be determined.<br />• The total amount of scholarships awarded will result in an increase in state expenditures<br />estimated to be:<br /><blockquote>o $141,500,000 (20,000 x $7,075) in FY24-25;<br />o $343,147,000 (47,000 x $7,301) in FY25-26; and<br />o Exceeding $343,147,000 in FY26-27 and subsequent years.</blockquote>• The estimated annual growth in the program is conservative due to a limited amount of<br />data from other states with similar programs and the inability to establish participation<br />trends in those programs.<br />• Without a limitation on the number of participants beyond year one of the program, the<br />fiscal liability to the state created by the proposed legislation is significant.<br />• Should all 105,503 private school students receive a scholarship in FY25-26 (year two<br />of the program), the fiscal impact for FY25-26 would be an additional increase in state<br />expenditures of $572,506,018 [(105,503 x $7,406) - (47,000 x .60 x $7,406)] (p. 3).</blockquote><br /><p></p>James Hornhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04462754705431590571noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14707730.post-27700643092855487952024-02-29T18:38:00.001-05:002024-02-29T18:38:44.718-05:00Charter School Funding and that Giant Sucking Sound<p> <span style="font-size: medium;">Nice piece of <a href="https://coloradonewsline.com/2024/01/03/colorado-charter-schools-accountability/">commentary here</a>:</span></p><p></p><blockquote><p>. . . . Charter schools have two primary funding sources: one from the
taxpayers and the other from investments often executed with little
public knowledge of intent or interest. Specifically, investments from
billionaires, private foundations, and hedge fund managers <a data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.huffpost.com/entry/why-hedge-funds-love-char_b_5357486&source=gmail&ust=1704299146440000&usg=AOvVaw3c68kWyDOcjzzOj03--lNN" href="https://www.huffpost.com/entry/why-hedge-funds-love-char_b_5357486" target="_blank">reap tax advantages</a>
when they donate large sums of money to charter schools. After tax
codes were changed in the early 2000s, “banks and equity funds that
invest(ed) in charter schools in underserved areas took advantage of a
very generous tax credit,” HuffPost reported. “According to one analyst,
the credit allows them to double the money they invested in seven
years.”</p>
<a href="https://coloradonewsline.com/subscribe" style="text-decoration: none;">
</a>
<p>The <a data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://jacobin.com/2021/07/charter-schools-for-profit-nonprofit-taxpayer-public-money-oversight-education-salaries-real-estate-burris-interview&source=gmail&ust=1704299146440000&usg=AOvVaw3pYY3Enbzslty9cO_dXNn3" href="https://jacobin.com/2021/07/charter-schools-for-profit-nonprofit-taxpayer-public-money-oversight-education-salaries-real-estate-burris-interview" target="_blank">real estate industry</a> also stands to benefit by <a data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://buckscountybeacon.com/2023/01/the-role-of-real-estate-in-the-for-profit-charter-school-grift/&source=gmail&ust=1704299146440000&usg=AOvVaw0HrgNUAMeBYSdquQS9lOku" href="https://buckscountybeacon.com/2023/01/the-role-of-real-estate-in-the-for-profit-charter-school-grift/" target="_blank">promoting charter schools</a> and helping them buy up property, or rent, in inner city communities.</p>
<p>As one example indicates, the Rocky Mountain Prep charter school chain in Denver received <a data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://denvergazette.com/news/business/rocky-mountain-prep-charter-school-receives-surprise-4-5-million-philanthropic-gift/article_aeba5256-5167-11ed-8fea-fbace5173648.html&source=gmail&ust=1704299146440000&usg=AOvVaw0UBlqJv8eCmxQSB8lIpY6v" href="https://denvergazette.com/news/business/rocky-mountain-prep-charter-school-receives-surprise-4-5-million-philanthropic-gift/article_aeba5256-5167-11ed-8fea-fbace5173648.html" target="_blank">$4.5 million from billionaire MacKenzie Scott</a>, ex-wife of Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, in October 2022. Two months later, the KIPP charter school chain received <a data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.cbsnews.com/colorado/news/a-surprise-6-million-dollar-gift-for-kipp-colorado-public-schools/&source=gmail&ust=1704299146440000&usg=AOvVaw0v7rXYoEQavwknN6L0h2eZ" href="https://www.cbsnews.com/colorado/news/a-surprise-6-million-dollar-gift-for-kipp-colorado-public-schools/" target="_blank">$6 million from the same billionaire</a>. These investments were in addition to the per pupil allocation these schools received from taxpayers in Denver.</p>
<p>When a child enrolls in a charter school, funds move from the public
school to the charter school. Taxpayers may not be aware that their
dollars are funding a structure that helps a private company or group of
investors reap rewards or gain tax incentives. Moreover, the taxpayer
may start to see their local neighborhood school struggling because the
funds are flowing into the charter school.</p>
<p>Researchers have demonstrated that charter schools operate
differently than their public-school counterparts. In their exhaustive
study of charter schools<u>,</u> Kevin Welner and Wagma Mommandi describe 13 <a data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/abs/10.1086/720538&source=gmail&ust=1704299146440000&usg=AOvVaw2Gut1samzJHsJw94mImTxm" href="https://www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/abs/10.1086/720538" target="_blank">practices that many charter schools use to control their enrolment</a>. These practices are not always regulated by state laws, and “<a data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.washingtonpost.com/education/2021/12/01/how-charter-schools-restrict-enrollment/&source=gmail&ust=1704299146440000&usg=AOvVaw3V3gPE_KSPO9Rl1RKFG0of" href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/education/2021/12/01/how-charter-schools-restrict-enrollment/" target="_blank">when charter school enrollment is ‘biased’, it severely undermines our ability to compare funding, growth, or achievement</a>.” . . . .</p></blockquote><p><br /></p><p></p>James Hornhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04462754705431590571noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14707730.post-78474936593499418102024-02-24T11:01:00.002-05:002024-02-24T11:14:01.625-05:00Trump's GOP Turns "Christian" to Re-ignite Base<p>The life of Jesus and the message he preached became codified as the moral bedrock of the Christian Church: love, humility, patience, forgiveness, self-control, compassion, charity, modesty, egalitarianism, inclusion. <br /></p><p>Now when you compare these qualities to those of the old Adderall-snorting sagging bull that showed up at the Opryland Hotel <a href="https://www.tennessean.com/story/news/politics/elections/2024/02/22/donald-trump-nashville-visit-vows-support-christians-national-religious-broadcasters-conference/72662111007/?utm_source=tennessean-dailybriefing-strada&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=dailybriefing-greeting&utm_term=Content%20List%20-%20Stacking%20-%20optimized&utm_content=pnas-nashville-nletter65">two nights ago to whine his sermon before the Christian Broadcasters Convention</a>, it's quite easy to see Trump quite literally as the anti-Christ: hateful, narcissistic, impulsive, vengeful, irrational, uncaring, greedy, boastful, exclusionary. But Demonic Donald's qualities were lost on the red-hatted hoodwinkers of the "Christian" airwaves, who see Trump as their free ticket to greater affluence and influence, wealth and power.</p><p>So, of course, when the blasphemous former President, now indicted on over 90 federal charges, declared with outstretched arms, as if on the cross, “I take all these arrows for you and I’m so proud to take them. . . I’m being indicted for you,” the fundamentally-fascist audience went wild.<br /></p>James Hornhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04462754705431590571noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14707730.post-850683268270146972024-02-20T18:22:00.008-05:002024-02-20T18:22:56.815-05:00High School Diversity Program in VA Safe For Now<p><span style="font-size: medium;"> From the National Coalition on School Diversity:</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: black; font-family: Aptos, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 16.866667px; margin: 0in 0in 8pt; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.4px;"></span></p><blockquote><p class="MsoNormal" style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: black; font-family: Aptos, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 16.866667px; margin: 0in 0in 8pt; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.4px;">FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE</span></p><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; break-after: avoid; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: black; font-family: Aptos, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 16.866667px; margin: 0in 0in 4pt; orphans: auto; text-align: center; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="color: #0f4761; font-family: "Aptos Display", sans-serif; font-size: 16pt; line-height: 24.533335px;">NCSD and REEL Policy Clinic Issue Statement on SCOTUS Order in TJ Case</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: black; font-family: Aptos, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 16.866667px; margin: 0in 0in 8pt; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.4px;"></span><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.4px;">Washington, D.C. – February 20, 2024 – Today, the U.S. Supreme Court released an<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span><a href="https://www.supremecourt.gov/orders/courtorders/022024zor_7647.pdf"><span style="color: #1155cc;">order</span></a><span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>denying a petition to take up the<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span><i>Coalition for TJ v. Fairfax County School Board</i><span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>specialized school admissions case. The decision comes after multiple deliberations following a petition for writ of certiorari filed by the Pacific Legal Foundation on behalf of the parent group challenging Virginia’s top-ranked public high school’s recently-adopted process for student placement. </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: black; font-family: Aptos, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 16.866667px; margin: 0in 0in 8pt; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.4px;">The National Coalition on School Diversity (NCSD) and Georgetown Law’s Racial Equity in Education Law and Policy Clinic (REEL Policy Clinic) commend the Supreme Court’s order given its implications for educational access, diversity, and equity. This decision to deny certiorari comes the same year<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span><i>Brown v. Board of Education</i><span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>turns 70, which at its core recognized that K-12 public education is about ensuring equitable access to high-quality education for all students. </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: black; font-family: Aptos, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 16.866667px; margin: 0in 0in 8pt; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.4px;">“Diversity in our nation’s schools is vital if we are to function as a multiracial democracy,” said Janel George, associate professor of law and director of the REEL Policy Clinic. “TJ has taken action to provide more children with access to its high-quality program, which is aligned with the goal of public education and with magnet schools historically.” </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: black; font-family: Aptos, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 16.866667px; margin: 0in 0in 8pt; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.4px;">Last May, the Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span><a href="https://www.ca4.uscourts.gov/opinions/221280.P.pdf"><span style="color: #1155cc;">ruled</span></a><span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>to uphold the admissions policy for the selective-enrollment high school, finding that it had not discriminated against Asian American students as the plaintiffs alleged. One month later, the Supreme Court struck down affirmative action at Harvard University and University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, ruling that such admissions policies violate the Equal Protection Clause of the 14th Amendment. </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: black; font-family: Aptos, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 16.866667px; margin: 0in 0in 8pt; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.4px;">In crafting its colorblind rationale for the college admissions decision, the Supreme Court majority ignored the well-documented continuing impacts of systemic inequality and racial segregation in our nation’s public schools. Not only do schools remain deeply segregated by race and class, but students of color are more likely to attend underfunded and high-poverty schools with less effective instruction and reduced access to advanced coursework, extracurricular activities, and standardized testing preparation.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: black; font-family: Aptos, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 16.866667px; margin: 0in 0in 8pt; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.4px;">Within two months of the Supreme Court’s decision, the writ of certiorari was filed, asking the Court to declare that TJ’s pro-diversity admissions policy – which is explicitly race-neutral – violates the Equal Protection Clause. The changes to TJ’s process for student placement included 1) elimination of a standardized test, 2) establishment of new eligibility criteria (the top 1.5% of students at each public middle school who meet minimum standards); and 3) incorporation of a “holistic review of…students whose applications demonstrate enhanced merit.”</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: black; font-family: Aptos, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 16.866667px; margin: 0in 0in 8pt; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.4px;">These changes aimed to acknowledge and help address the diminished educational opportunities, often correlated with a student’s race and socioeconomic background, due to long-standing and persistent systemic inequality. Following the murder of George Floyd and racial reckoning of 2020, the changes to TJ’s admissions policy can be seen as an attempt to provide a fairer chance for all students to access what is consistently ranked among the top ten best public high schools in the nation, according to U.S. News & World Report. </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: black; font-family: Aptos, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 16.866667px; margin: 0in 0in 8pt; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.4px;">While the plaintiffs alleged that the 2020 changes to TJ’s process for student placement were designed to reduce the proportion of Asian American students at the school, Asian American students still made up the majority of students admitted under the new policy. Of the students who received offers to attend TJ, 54.36% were Asian, 22.36% white, 11.27% Latino, and 7.9% Black. The first freshmen class included more low-income students, Black and Latino students, English-language learners, and girls than prior classes. Moreover, for the first time in over a decade, all 28 middle schools in Fairfax County sent students to TJ.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: black; font-family: Aptos, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 16.866667px; margin: 0in 0in 8pt; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.4px;">Although no formal explanation for the denial is given, Justice Alito wrote a dissenting opinion, joined by Justice Thomas, which focuses mostly on challenging the Fourth Circuit’s reasoning that there was insufficient “disparate impact” to violate the Equal Protection Clause.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: black; font-family: Aptos, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 16.866667px; margin: 0in 0in 8pt; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.4px;">“The fact that only two justices dissented from the denial of Cert is a good sign,” said Philip Tegeler, a legal advisor with NCSD. “It means that, at least for now, a significant majority of the court is unwilling to overturn the 2007 precedent that local school districts have the power, and the tools, to promote school diversity without selecting students on the basis of their race.” </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: black; font-family: Aptos, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 16.866667px; margin: 0in 0in 8pt; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.4px;">Given this reality, NCSD and the REEL Policy Clinic express appreciation for the Supreme Court’s denial of the appeal. We will continue to fight and strengthen our collective efforts to promote equal educational opportunity in our nation’s public schools and help ensure every young person has a fair shot at achieving their full potential. </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: black; font-family: Aptos, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 16.866667px; margin: 0in 0in 8pt; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.4px;">For media inquiries, please contact: Jenna Tomasello (<a href="mailto:jtomasello@prrac.org"><span style="color: blue;">jtomasello@prrac.org</span></a>)</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: black; font-family: Aptos, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 16.866667px; margin: 0in 0in 8pt; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;"><i><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.4px;">Founded in 2009, the<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span><a href="https://www.school-diversity.org/"><span style="color: blue;">National Coalition on School Diversity</span></a><span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>(NCSD) is a cross-sector network of 50+ national civil rights organizations, university-based research centers, and state and local coalitions working to expand support for school integration. NCSD supports its members in designing, enacting, implementing, and uplifting PK-12 public school integration policies and practices so we may build cross-race/class relationships, share power and resources, and co-create new realities.</span></i><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.4px;"></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: black; font-family: Aptos, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 16.866667px; margin: 0in 0in 8pt; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;"><i><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.4px;">The<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span><a href="https://www.law.georgetown.edu/experiential-learning/clinics/our-clinics/racial-equity-in-education-law-and-policy-clinic/"><span style="color: blue;">Racial Equity in Education Law and Policy Clinic</span></a><span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>(REEL Policy Clinic) centers its work on the intersections of education law, racial equity, and legislative advocacy. Student attorneys explore the origins of racial inequities in education and the role of law in entrenching or eliminating them. This work includes addressing issues that disproportionately impact the educational experiences and outcomes of students of color, including discriminatory school discipline practices, school segregation, resource inequities, and more.</span></i></p></blockquote><p class="MsoNormal" style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: black; font-family: Aptos, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 16.866667px; margin: 0in 0in 8pt; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;"><i><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.4px;"></span></i></p><p></p>James Hornhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04462754705431590571noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14707730.post-37730304853903433502024-02-11T10:48:00.004-05:002024-02-11T13:54:59.785-05:00Biden 'very clear and very focused'<p><iframe frameborder="0" height="270" src="https://youtube.com/embed/2egfg4ZynQY?si=QQ8YfjGBkVeaYVQx" width="480"></iframe> </p><p>If you prefer another take by a reporter who's been interviewing Biden for the past 35 years, <a href="https://open.substack.com/pub/oldgoats/p/surviving-bidens-brain-freezes?utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=email">check this out</a>.</p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p>James Hornhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04462754705431590571noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14707730.post-59845715863273782082024-02-11T10:37:00.001-05:002024-02-11T10:37:22.514-05:00Thirty Lies in a Single Speech<p> T____ held a rally in Harrisburg, PA on February 9. Here is a compilation of his lies that he uttered during that single "speech." These were posted by the Dems at Xitter.<br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0uvj1sKWSElu2F2YJa-_nawCY11p-UL5IOxbxRctegIvM-5qyRaNQE9feXjoF8F-ql3vZCj6ci23Mj0KGSvGdS0EzdoWwtg9WLRXnehEbMdvayynuVQxeHs-0wk47T_G2yQL1niLjsWBfM-ffHXrrEu-c8DJ5SBpiPOr8VyronvwxtJzQkcLJ/s1350/gf8sg0gwqaagpia.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1350" data-original-width="1080" height="613" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0uvj1sKWSElu2F2YJa-_nawCY11p-UL5IOxbxRctegIvM-5qyRaNQE9feXjoF8F-ql3vZCj6ci23Mj0KGSvGdS0EzdoWwtg9WLRXnehEbMdvayynuVQxeHs-0wk47T_G2yQL1niLjsWBfM-ffHXrrEu-c8DJ5SBpiPOr8VyronvwxtJzQkcLJ/w491-h613/gf8sg0gwqaagpia.jpg" width="491" /></a></div><p></p><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjW7K2p-rkCqrOoXHYLs7AZCpY50llw0vuQK_qzxBqOaRScbdQsseW_TslajxR_pKgiqUXWZg6q7EeB_FhAbtk3tKYtLHUj9Jc0fnRY5GAhPZdydOpYlTwmapkoDuLuJ5XrJk5MnngiyT64jyY-xCXaakIGn3EQ58A8zs-yYCuhy_iXl9XZ7Axc/s1350/gf8q4hfweaa2dqy.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1350" data-original-width="1080" height="575" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjW7K2p-rkCqrOoXHYLs7AZCpY50llw0vuQK_qzxBqOaRScbdQsseW_TslajxR_pKgiqUXWZg6q7EeB_FhAbtk3tKYtLHUj9Jc0fnRY5GAhPZdydOpYlTwmapkoDuLuJ5XrJk5MnngiyT64jyY-xCXaakIGn3EQ58A8zs-yYCuhy_iXl9XZ7Axc/w460-h575/gf8q4hfweaa2dqy.jpg" width="460" /></a></div><br />James Hornhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04462754705431590571noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14707730.post-56398452270714858302024-02-09T13:01:00.002-05:002024-02-09T13:18:15.369-05:00When Biden Gets a Headline, It's for T____'s Benefit<p><span style="font-family: verdana;">For a month or so after Biden's swearing in 2021, media coverage sort of resembled something we might have called normal back before the Psychotic Age, which was ushered in by the smelly, treasonous scab that the corporate media is now growing and grooming for his return to finish the democracy demolition he started, and damn near completed between 2016 and 2021. But soon Biden World real news and the old normal saw ratings drop, as people stopped hovering over their TVs and newspapers as they had done during the previous four years to see if the Republic would survive another day. People started to go outside again to get some fresh air.<br /></span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">But on cue, the Insane Clown and his team of interdisciplinary fascists swung into action to give media ratings a boost, producing new conspiracies, new lies, new abominations, to restore the ratings and and to reclaim the headlines for the T____ cancer.<br /></span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">And so the media coverage is starting to look a whole lot like early 1980, when another fascist was marshaling the dark forces of neo-Nazis, John Birchers, Klansmen, fascist fundamentalists, and racists everywhere in America to steam toward the November election of that year. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">And so <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2024/02/09/us/politics/biden-memory-age-democrats.html">Biden coverage</a> is looking a lot like Carter coverage, with reporters scurrying to breathlessly document any embarrassment, any gaff, any sign of humility or decency that can be presented as weakness. And T____ coverage echoes the spin that reporters gave to Reagan, as they chose to ignored then the autocratic and racist undergirdings and implications of the New Right of that era--which look progressive in comparison to the full flowering of a malevolent political madness that has efficiently replaced the Republicans with the T____ Party. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">Too, media ownership then seems labor friendly compared to today's takeover of media by billionaires intent to become trillionaires and to show their rockets are bigger, all the while not giving a rat's ass about the preservation of a democratic republic. </span></p><p><span style="font-size: large;">For real facts to be shared, for sound opinion grounded in reason and democratic values to be heard, and for the threat to the country and the world to be understood, then citizens, bloggers, social media influencers, educators, all freedom lovers everywhere must join together to convey one unalterable truth: Joe Biden is a preferable choice to the deadly alternative, regardless of whatever handicap or deficiency that may be imagined, reported on, and trumpeted by all of the media moguls' hired hands that can be assembled.</span><br /></p>James Hornhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04462754705431590571noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14707730.post-23212460186897247122024-01-27T10:45:00.000-05:002024-01-27T10:45:11.067-05:00To MSNBC and Other News Media: How to Cover T____<p>MSNBC is not alone, of course, in treating the seditionist ringleader
ex-President as media outlets might treat regular ex-Presidents,
you know, those who are not intent upon getting back into office in
order to avoid prison. </p><p>Here's a prime example of how not to cover T_____ from this morning's online Washington Amazon Post. This (below) is what appears as the lead story just under the masthead, with a captioned photo of "President Trump" behind the Resolute right there in the Oval. </p><p>Notice the T____ rumor news from the diseased cranial cavity where T____ policy is hatched is presented as much more important than the current <b>real</b> President doing <b>real </b>Presidential stuff like as dealing with <b>real</b> immigration problems (see "More Coverage" below the unreal lead story in the much-reduced font).<br /></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZxMvJ9g9tZhrRKMrB63fhxRgM1frNpfM9N1Xh3v0w4uxkDqnz2yCaCHXHo_8nVO00hClkjkds5t4LFqECg5QbeP_C8rTxX5HI9EhR6dEIeVLKjizmxRkxHRXSgbDKYRLj2X49uGExKCr5iPHCgZE6VkNH_eXvoeWhmrt5PqnwMWups4uWKDLg/s801/wapo%20trump.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="387" data-original-width="801" height="294" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZxMvJ9g9tZhrRKMrB63fhxRgM1frNpfM9N1Xh3v0w4uxkDqnz2yCaCHXHo_8nVO00hClkjkds5t4LFqECg5QbeP_C8rTxX5HI9EhR6dEIeVLKjizmxRkxHRXSgbDKYRLj2X49uGExKCr5iPHCgZE6VkNH_eXvoeWhmrt5PqnwMWups4uWKDLg/w609-h294/wapo%20trump.png" width="609" /></a></div><br /> <p></p><p>Instead of offering readers news of what is happening in the world today, the Amazon Post chose to go with a story about what's going on among T____'s thought disorders related to his fantasy of being President again.</p><p> </p><p>Two nights ago Lawrence O'Donnell admitted what no other news host or outlet will admit: he doesn't know how to cover Donald T___. This is just one reason I love Lawrence ODonnell. Lawrence points out that in an era when constant monstrous lies are told daily by a presidential candidate who was elected with fewer votes than his opponent in 2016, who lost his reelection bid by 7 million votes, and is now running again on a "Make Me Dictator platform," the result has led to a situation now characterized by the "<a href="https://www.forkingpaths.co/p/the-case-for-amplifying-trumps-insanity">banality of crazy</a>."</p><p>So here are a couple of rules to get started for covering pathological former Presidents who happen to be uncontrolled sociopaths:</p><p>1. Never lead with a story that T____ or his team is responsible for. The WaPo story above a clear example of this kind of story, one created by the T____ gang to get headlines just like the one they got, this time by promising international chaos if T____ is re-elected.</p><p>2. Never normalize the abnormal. The captioned photo above is a clear example of this: a dangerous malignant narcissist presented in an image that captures him as the respected President of the most powerful nation on planet earth. Rather than making the abnormal appear normal, mass media must "<a href="https://www.forkingpaths.co/p/the-case-for-amplifying-trumps-insanity">amplify the crazy</a>" so that readers are never led to believe T____ is anything other than a demented gangster who cares for nothing beyond his own orange hide.<br /></p><p><br /></p>James Hornhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04462754705431590571noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14707730.post-72167437896555226412024-01-20T11:20:00.004-05:002024-01-20T11:55:39.621-05:00The True Awfulness of MSNBC Political Coverage<p>When the <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Insane-Clown-President-Dispatches-Circus/dp/0399592466">Insane Clown</a> lost the 2020 election to Joe Biden by 7 million popular votes, that segment of the American electorate still preferring democracy over fascism thought we could take a deep breath and begin to treat the MAGA-inspired PTSD that peaked in January 2021 during and following the seditionist insurrection led by the bloated Orange Psychopath (OP).<br /></p><p>Following Biden's inauguration, there were even signs of other news beginning to emerge from the rutted news cycle, like tendrils of green pushing through the path beat down by the jack-booted army of conspiracy-mongering cultists. Even humor poked through occasionally, and we saw democratic normalcy begin to appear through features and news of the Biden Administration plans and initiatives. </p><p>It didn't take long, however, for OP to rise to the top of the news cesspool once more. When the indictments began fly left and right, mostly right, the world's most garrulous liar took center stage once more on every MSNBC news set other than Maddow, where he remains to this day. Even Rachel has been dragged in recently, as T____'s team of nazi enablers gin up lies and insults that would make Hitler and Goebbels blush.</p><p>After all, the MSNBC excuse goes, don't the American people have to warned about what's coming if OP is elected to a second term? And doesn't the Dem base need some new injections of fear and loathing to gin up the polls? And so the unreasoned reasoning goes.</p><p>Meanwhile, when MSNBC evening anchors do mention Joe Biden in passing, it is to talk about his low poll numbers, how old he is, how he is not publicizing his accomplishments, or to cover his latest warning speech about the resurrected OJ. It's as if the producers and writers and reporters at MSNBC are helpless to change the narrative.</p><p>So here's an idea. Begin to cover what the President does, says, proposes, enables, promotes, and celebrates. Tell us what is going on politically in the political world beyond the river of sewage that emanates from the OP camp. I would even guess that the Biden Team might begin to be more forthcoming and promotional with their accomplishments and plans if they can count on some cameras being there to cover it and some prime time news readers to report it. <br /></p><p>I might even return to watch an hour or two of the nightly news line-up, rather than spending all my time on the BBC or CBC or Andy Griffith. If MSNBC were to give Team OJ the coverage it deserves, there would be hours remaining to fill with real news that just might inspire all those mainstream Dems and Republicans and Progressives to look forward to the future, rather than to hovering in fear of it.<br /></p><p><br /></p>James Hornhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04462754705431590571noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14707730.post-54934322295866626592024-01-16T18:41:00.003-05:002024-01-16T18:41:27.845-05:00My Final Day at Cambridge College<p>When I came to Cambridge College in 2008, it was to teach in a unique educational leadership doctoral program that was started in 2006 to prepare school leaders with an unambiguous and historically-informed social justice agenda. As a full-time tenured faculty member, I was a rare bird, for the College at that time had fewer than 30 full-time "core" faculty members, which carried the same benefits and responsibilities as tenured faculty. The rest of the faculty was comprised of adjuncts and part-time professors, and they numbered in the low hundreds. </p><p>Due to administrative incompetence and penurious policies, the Ed Leadership EdD program was dead by 2014. I stayed on, continuing to teach in the Masters program and continuing to create new courses focused on antiracism, historical accountability, and social justice. <br /></p><p>There have been exactly three new core faculty hires after me. One moved into administration and the two others, I found out today, had their positions discontinued several days ago, resulting in curt, unceremonious Zoom layoffs that are, doubtless, planned to be permanent. Today I became the third. </p><p>If my math is correct, <b>that leaves a total of five full-time core faculty members</b>, as others in that 20-something number of 2008 have retired or are now deceased. And even though Covid, mismanagement, rumors of administrative improprieties, and managerial churn have taken their toll on enrollment, organizational continuity, and the number of recruits in the College's adjunct army, Cambridge College continues, nonetheless, to move forward with grandiose plans for Cambridge College Global, which we might see advertised on matchbooks worldwide.<br /></p><p>And so I am offered 6.75 months of severance pay, per the AFT negotiated contract which expires this year, and no health or life insurance coverage beyond January 31. That's what Cambridge College is offering its core faculty for 15 years of service. That's not nearly enough, as the College knows now and will continue to learn anew as their crass plans unfold. </p><p>In a final bit of sadly comic irony, the cheap clock that the College sent me just a few weeks back to mark my 15 years of teaching service stopped working after a few days. I lasted 15 years, and as Cambridge College will come to know, I am still ticking strong.<br /></p>James Hornhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04462754705431590571noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14707730.post-3615975953116190482024-01-14T10:21:00.001-05:002024-01-14T10:21:40.226-05:00MA Wildcatters Earn Big Dividends After 3 Day Strike<p> From <a href="https://jacobin.com/2024/01/andover-massachusetts-teachers-wildcat-strike">Jacobin</a>:</p><p></p><blockquote><p>A wildly successful, illegal three-day strike by the Andover Education
Association (AEA) in November has reverberated statewide for educators
in Massachusetts.
</p><p>The lowest-paid instructional assistants got a 60 percent wage jump
immediately. Classroom aides on the higher end of the scale got a 37
percent increase.</p>
<p>Members won paid family medical leave, an extra personal day, fewer
staff meetings, and the extension of lunch and recess times for
elementary students.</p>
<p>Andover is twenty miles north of Boston, and the strike involved ten schools.</p>
<p>For ten months and twenty-seven bargaining sessions, the Andover
School Committee had insisted that none of these demands were possible.
But by the end of the first day of the strike, they had ceded many
items. By day three, they agreed to almost all of the union’s demands.</p>
<p>Public-school workers can’t legally strike in Massachusetts — but
Andover’s is just one of a series of school unions that have struck over
the last four years, defying the ban, and in some cases paying heavy
fines as a result.</p>
<p>The Massachusetts Teachers Association is pushing for legislation
that would legalize public sector strikes after six months of
bargaining. . . .</p></blockquote><p><br /></p>James Hornhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04462754705431590571noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14707730.post-44346200561542968752023-12-22T08:55:00.001-05:002023-12-22T08:55:19.845-05:00Colorado Kicks Trump Off Primary Ballot | Clarence Thomas’ Greed | Trump...<p>HAPPY HOLIDAYS!!</p><p><iframe frameborder="0" height="270" src="https://youtube.com/embed/urCXgrQZPnA?si=NWoWa20yacWN4dm2" width="480"></iframe></p>James Hornhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04462754705431590571noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14707730.post-1465151688279215792023-12-04T09:34:00.004-05:002023-12-04T09:34:40.638-05:00My Sentiment Exactly<p><span style="font-size: medium;">From <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/further/good-fucking-riddance-kissinger-finally-kicks-his-bucket-of-blood">Common Dreams</a>:</span></p><h2 class="widget__headline h2">
<a aria-label="Good Fucking Riddance: HK Finally Kicks His Bucket of Blood" class="widget__headline-text custom-post-headline rm-stats-tracked" data-type="text" href="https://www.commondreams.org/further/good-fucking-riddance-kissinger-finally-kicks-his-bucket-of-blood">
Good Fucking Riddance: HK Finally Kicks His Bucket of Blood
</a>
</h2>
<p>
In gratitude, we mark the
death of Henry Kissinger, America's peerless war criminal. As U.S
officials laud an "elder statesman" and "erudite strategist," the rest
of us, and surely millions of brown-skinned people, celebrate the end of
an "iconic napalm rights advocate" whose lies, hubris, towering
inhumanity and many blood-soaked foreign policy follies left a legacy -
in Vietnam, Chile, Cambodia, Argentina - of an "enormous pile of
corpses" that may number four million. The consensus: "Burn hot, Henry."
</p><p> </p>James Hornhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04462754705431590571noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14707730.post-81764918626070834602023-11-30T13:03:00.005-05:002023-11-30T13:03:59.024-05:00"Non-profit" Hospitals (see Ascension) Shift Mission from Community Service to $erving Corporate $elf. <p>There's an interesting <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2023/11/30/opinion/hospitals-nonprofit-community.html">op-ed in the NYTimes today</a> on the failure of non-profit hospitals to live up to their mission required by the IRS in order to maintain their non-profit status. </p><p>My own experience with the non-profit Ascension St. Thomas Hospital in Nashville has convinced me that their mission is focused on building a corporate empire that pays massive salaries to execs, while providing the Church with funds, perhaps, to, um, settle lawsuits?<br /></p><p>I spent the better part of a year trying to talk with someone in billing about inflated bills that my insurance company assured me and Ascension that I did not owe. Every time I found a different number to call in hopes of getting my billing questions answered, I ended up talking to poor underpaid English language learner employee in the Phillippines. I found out after repeated attempts that Ascension St. Thomas has entirely dismantled their billing department in the Nashville area since becoming part of the Ascension corporate chain of hospitals.<br /></p><p>After writing numerous letters threatening legal action to stop the fake statements, the bills finally stopped. Will they begin again? Who knows. </p><p>I do know that I have had my voluminous medical records moved to another medical provider with different doctors. I regret leaving some of my old docs, but what can a person do who is trying to preserve his sanity?<br /></p>James Hornhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04462754705431590571noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14707730.post-37670915533946787172023-11-29T10:14:00.000-05:002023-11-29T10:14:09.675-05:00Part 2: TN Voucher "Plan" Features Big Government with No Fiscal or Program Accountability<p>As promised in Part 1 yesterday, Gov. Bill Lee announced his latest planned school voucher scam in Nashville. Alongside him was fellow unholy-rolling governor, Sarah H. Sanders of Arkansas infamy. </p><p>Today I would like to present some research findings that clearly show the negative effects of school voucher programs on student achievement and student well-being. We know that Bill Lee and his Tennessee Taliban legislative supermajority don't, or can't, read research, but I am hoping that someone will translate the findings into something they might understand: <i>Them voucher thangs ain't workin'.</i></p><p>Some clips are below from <a href="https://www.brookings.edu/articles/research-on-school-vouchers-suggests-concerns-ahead-for-education-savings-accounts/">Brookings</a>, which includes links to the research studies, themselves:<br /></p><p></p><blockquote>Part of the push for ESA vouchers comes from the <a href="https://hechingerreport.org/school-choice-had-a-big-moment-in-the-pandemic-but-is-it-what-parents-want-for-the-long-run/" target="_blank">lingering frustration</a> over the pandemic-era school closures and concern over learning loss as measured by standardized tests. But <a href="https://ceep.indiana.edu/education-policy/policy-briefs/2022/evolving-evidence-on-school-voucher-effects.pdf" target="_blank">on that question</a>,
the last decade of research on traditional vouchers strongly suggests
they actually lower academic achievement. In Louisiana, for example, two
separate research teams found negative academic impacts as high as -0.4
standard deviations—extremely large by education policy standards—with
declines that persisted for years. Those results were published across
top journals for empirical <a href="https://www.aeaweb.org/articles?id=10.1257/app.20160634" target="_blank">public</a> and <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.3102/0162373717693108" target="_blank">education</a> <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/19345747.2021.1938311" target="_blank">policy</a><i>. </i><a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1002/pam.22086" target="_blank">Similar</a> <a href="https://direct.mit.edu/edfp/article/13/2/227/10292/School-Choice-in-Indianapolis-Effects-of-Charter" target="_blank">results</a>
in Indiana found impacts closer to -0.15 standard deviations. To put
these negative impacts in perspective: Current estimates of COVID-19’s
impact on academic trajectories hover <a href="https://www.brookings.edu/articles/the-pandemic-has-had-devastating-impacts-on-learning-what-will-it-take-to-help-students-catch-up/">around</a> -0.25 standard deviations.</blockquote><p></p><p><a href="https://www.brookings.edu/wp-content/uploads/2017/07/ccf_20170713_mdynarski_evidence_speaks1.pdf "> Another link</a>, with Executive Summary below:</p><blockquote>Executive Summary<br />Vouchers to pay for students to attend private schools continue to command public attention. The current administration has proposed vouchers in its budget, and more than half of states are operating or have proposed voucher programs. Four recent rigorous studies—in the District of Columbia, Louisiana, Indiana, and Ohio—used different research designs and reached the same result: on average, students that use vouchers to attend private schools do less well on tests than similar students that do not attend private schools. The Louisiana and Indiana studies offer some hints that negative effects may diminish over time. Whether effects ever will become positive is unclear. Test scores are not the only education outcome and some observers have downplayed them, citing older evidence that voucher programs increase high school graduation and college-going. We lack evidence that the current generation of voucher programs will yield these longer-term outcomes. We also lack evidence of how public schools and private schools differ in their instructional and teaching strategies that would explain negative effects on test scores. Both questions should be high on the research agenda.</blockquote><p></p><p>From <i><a href="https://time.com/6272666/school-voucher-programs-hurt-students/">Time Magazine</a></i>, with a clip below:</p><p></p><blockquote><p>And it’s not just the academic results that call into question any rhetoric around <a href="https://www.edchoice.org/school-choice/types-of-school-choice/what-are-school-vouchers-2/" target="_blank">opportunities</a> created by vouchers. Private schools can decline to admit children for any reason. One example of that is tied to the latest <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2023/03/24/house-gop-seizes-school-culture-wars-with-parents-bill-rights/" target="_blank">culture wars</a> around LGBTQ youth, and strengthened in current voucher <a href="https://capitol.texas.gov/tlodocs/88R/billtext/html/SB00008I.htm" target="_blank">legislation</a>. In Florida, a voucher-funded school made national news last summer when it <a href="https://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/education/os-ne-voucher-schools-anti-gay-trans-policy-20220825-nb3rvfabenbk7njfb5xsjvqroq-story.html" target="_blank">banned</a> LGBTQ children. In Indiana, pre-pandemic estimates showed that more than <a href="https://www.chalkbeat.org/2017/8/10/21107318/choice-for-most-in-nation-s-largest-voucher-program-16-million-went-to-schools-with-anti-lgbt-polici" target="_blank">$16 million</a> in taxpayer funding had already gone to voucher schools with explicit anti-LGBTQ admissions rules.</p> <p>Voucher schools also <a href="https://archive.jsonline.com/news/education/feds-quietly-close-long-running-probe-of-milwaukee-voucher-program-b99644914z1-364068331.html/" target="_blank">rarely enroll</a>
children with special academic needs. Special education children tend
to need more resources than vouchers provide, which can be a problem in
public schools too. But public schools are at least obliged <a href="https://sites.ed.gov/idea/" target="_blank">under federal law</a> to enroll and assist special needs children—something private schools can and do avoid.</p> <p>When
we look at all the challenges to accessing education with these
programs it’s clear that actually winning admission to a particular
private school is not about parental school choice. It’s the school’s
choice.</p></blockquote><p></p><p></p><p><br /></p><p> </p><p><br /></p>James Hornhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04462754705431590571noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14707730.post-77005617045949556092023-11-28T11:18:00.003-05:002023-11-28T14:20:38.600-05:00TN Voucher "Plan" Features Big Government with No Fiscal or Program Accountability<p>Each of ruby red states in the new Old Confederacy has its own niche attraction for Westerners and Northerners looking to move to a fascist-friendly community where narrowness of thought is highly valued if it happens to run in the same rut as the white male protestant power structure. While all of the red states offer haven for white nationalists, anti-intellectuals, and conspiracy theorists, Florida is particularly attractive to those angry anti-vaxxers and anti-wokesters, while states like Tennessee and Arkansas draw thousands of Christian nationalist transplants each year who would be happy to jettison Constitutional guarantees against the establishment of a state religion. And as long anti-social media remains unhindered from expanding financial empires based the perpetuation of ignorance, divisiveness, and toxic myth, then the state of the Union will continue to suffer, even as disunion grows like cancer.</p><p>As Tennessee's governor, Bill Lee, seeks to further promote immigration of white Christians, a top governmental priority is the provision of state funds for parents to enroll their children in religious schools or other private schools at public expense. And so today, Lee will announce a proposed new program that will offer 20,000 parents next year a school voucher worth about $7,000 for tuition, books, uniforms, etc. In 2025-26, Lee plans to include all of 1 million students in Tennessee who are now eligible for free public schools, "<a href="https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/other/tennessee-gov-bill-lee-s-statewide-school-voucher-pitch-here-s-what-to-know/ar-AA1kEVId">regardless of income or previous school enrollment</a>." </p><p>Now when we do a little back of the envelope math, you can see that the cost during the first year is going to run the State $140,000,000 on top of the normal allocation for public schools, including transportation, lunches, construction, maintenance, libraries, salaries, etc. </p><p>Let's assume, after Year One, that 10 percent of the State's school-age parents decide to choose vouchers over public schools, where their kids now have athletic teams, theater, music, special ed, technical education--most of which will go bye-bye when their children enroll in the old Pizza Hut at the strip mall that has been turned into the Bill Lee Christian Nationalist Elementary School of Lee (Robert E.) County. <br /></p><p>It's easy to see that the cost would be over the moon--$700,000,000 every year for 10 percent of TN's school children. That would be almost 15 percent of TN's contribution to the annual K-12 budget. All the while, the State must continue to fund the public schools that are not going away just because they lose 10 percent of the student body. And it will lose most of the federal funding for the 100,000 students who end up in private schools.<br /></p><p>What new taxes will be imposed on Tennesseans to pay for this fantasy thought disorder? </p><p>And what about curriculum and standards? </p><p>What about teacher qualifications?</p><p>Is Bill Lee prepared to put a resource officer in each of the Christian madrassas that he plans to open, just like in the public schools? </p><p>Does Bill Lee have a plan to make sure children gain the necessary academic, social, and life skills to succeed at work and/or to go to college? </p><p>Where's the accountability? Where is Bill Lee's and the Republican Supermajority's accountability?</p><p>It is way past time for the teacher unions, parents, grandparents, and other concerned citizens to fight, fight, fight the further erosion of another of our cherished institutions: public schools. Let me know if you are engaged in an organized effort or would like to get involved: </p><p>james.horn@cambridgecollege.edu</p><p> <br /></p><p> </p><p><br /></p>James Hornhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04462754705431590571noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14707730.post-68493105547912488002023-11-27T13:54:00.004-05:002023-11-27T13:54:22.007-05:00Portland Settles Teacher Strike with Big Gains<p>After 3 weeks of walking picket lines with parents and children, Portland's public school teachers have reached a tentative agreement that brings them much needed resources. A clip <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/education/2023/nov/27/portland-teacher-strike-ends-oregon">below from The Guardian</a>: </p><p class="dcr-1kas69x"></p><blockquote><p class="dcr-1kas69x">“This contract is a
watershed moment for Portland students, families and educators,” said
Angela Bonilla, the president of the Portland Teachers Association.
“Educators have secured improvements on all our key issues … Educators
walked picket lines alongside families, students and allies – and
because of that, our schools are getting the added investment they
need.”</p><p class="dcr-1kas69x">The deal would provide educators with a
13.8% cumulative cost-of-living increase over the next three years and
about half of all educators would earn an extra 10.6% from yearly step
increases, PPS said. The agreement would also add classroom time for
elementary and middle grades starting next year and increase teacher
planning time by 90 minutes each week for elementary and middle-aged
classrooms.</p><div class="ad-slot-container ad-slot-container-2 offset-right ad-slot--offset-right ad-slot-container--offset-right"><div aria-hidden="true" class="js-ad-slot ad-slot ad-slot--inline ad-slot--inline2" data-link-name="ad slot inline2" data-name="inline2" id="dfp-ad--inline2"></div></div><p class="dcr-1kas69x">The district would also triple the number of team members dedicated to supporting students’ mental and emotional health.</p></blockquote><p class="dcr-1kas69x"></p><p></p>James Hornhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04462754705431590571noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14707730.post-67338214290977124282023-10-23T13:42:00.003-04:002023-10-23T13:42:24.060-04:00New Mainstream Research on Racist, Classist ACT and SAT<p><span style="font-family: verdana;"><a href="https://opportunityinsights.org/paper/collegeadmissions/">New research</a> shows us what the <a href="http://www.schoolsmatter.info/2009/09/new-census-data-confirms-rich-getting.html">old research </a>has been saying for decades: wealth is its own qualification for getting the best education, just as poverty is its own disqualification. Text c<a href="https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2023/10/23/upshot/sat-inequality.html">lip and chart</a> below from <i>New York Times</i>:</span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7FnhMjByIi8upN8FK6aVVARI7V9d7RokTHpMmPBQiPlFdlJBHgFFF43iSBYjmCVHWU-T3SxMF9s_S6jdaTeB0t0SQSWvpS2X1GJYjJnDdfdzPU3Rtpr5mr92paros-6GTB-4hgBhMOWNDgB6RIiWtXcMJ9pfZCuPcZzef_vi4FZFXY0lwp2io/s727/SAT%20and%20Family%20income%202023.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="618" data-original-width="727" height="410" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7FnhMjByIi8upN8FK6aVVARI7V9d7RokTHpMmPBQiPlFdlJBHgFFF43iSBYjmCVHWU-T3SxMF9s_S6jdaTeB0t0SQSWvpS2X1GJYjJnDdfdzPU3Rtpr5mr92paros-6GTB-4hgBhMOWNDgB6RIiWtXcMJ9pfZCuPcZzef_vi4FZFXY0lwp2io/w484-h410/SAT%20and%20Family%20income%202023.png" width="484" /></a></div><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">From the Times:</span></p><p class="g-text svelte-c010qu"></p><blockquote><p class="g-text svelte-c010qu"><span style="font-family: verdana;">New data shows, for the first time at
this level of detail, how much students’ standardized test scores rise
with their parents’ incomes — and how disparities start years before
students sit for tests.</span></p><p class="g-text svelte-c010qu"><span style="font-family: verdana;">One-third of
the children of the very richest families scored a 1300 or higher on the
SAT, while less than 5 percent of middle-class students did, according
to the data, from economists at Opportunity Insights, based at Harvard.
Relatively few children in the poorest families scored that high; just
one in five took the test at all.</span></p><p class="g-text svelte-c010qu"><span style="font-family: verdana;">The
researchers matched all students’ SAT and ACT scores for 2011, 2013 and
2015 with their parents’ federal income tax records for the prior six
years. Their <a href="https://opportunityinsights.org/paper/collegeadmissions/">analysis</a>,
which also included admissions and attendance records, found that
children from very rich families are overrepresented at elite colleges
for many reasons, including that <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2023/07/24/upshot/ivy-league-elite-college-admissions.html">admissions offices give them preference</a>.
But the test score data highlights a more fundamental reason: When it
comes to the types of achievement colleges assess, the children of the
rich are simply better prepared.</span></p><p class="g-text svelte-c010qu"><span style="font-family: verdana;">The
disparity highlights the inequality at the heart of American education:
Starting very early, children from rich and poor families receive vastly
different educations, <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2015/12/18/upshot/rich-children-and-poor-ones-are-raised-very-differently.html">in and out of school</a>,
driven by differences in the amount of money and time their parents are
able to invest. And in the last five decades, as the country has become
more unequal by income, the gap in children’s academic achievement, as
measured by test scores throughout schooling, has widened.</span></p><p class="g-text svelte-c010qu"><span style="font-family: verdana;">“Kids
in disadvantaged neighborhoods end up behind the starting line even
when they get to kindergarten,” said Sean Reardon, the professor of
poverty and inequality in education at the Stanford Graduate School of
Education.</span></p><p class="g-text svelte-c010qu"><span style="font-family: verdana;">“On average,” he added, “our schools aren’t very good at undoing that damage.”</span></p><p class="g-text svelte-c010qu"><span style="font-family: verdana;">In the wake of the Supreme Court decision ending race-based affirmative action, there has been revived <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2023/07/27/us/politics/biden-legacy-admissions-harvard.html">political momentum</a>
to address the ways in which many colleges favor the children of rich
and white families, such as legacy admissions, preferences for private
school students, athletic recruitment in <a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2019/10/harvard-university-and-scandal-sports-recruitment/599248/">certain sports</a> and standardized tests.</span></p><p class="g-text svelte-c010qu"><span style="font-family: verdana;">Yet
these things reflect the difference in children’s opportunities long
before they apply for college, Professor Reardon said. To address the
deeper inequality in education, he said, “it’s 18 years too late.” . . . .</span><br /></p></blockquote><p class="g-text svelte-c010qu"></p><p></p>James Hornhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04462754705431590571noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14707730.post-53850003294769237852023-10-22T18:59:00.000-04:002023-10-22T18:59:06.345-04:00At Liberty to Lie, But Is It Worth $43 Million?<p><span style="font-family: verdana;">Liberty University is the subject of a report by the U.S. Department of Education that finds Liberty U. in gross violation of a federal law requiring colleges and universities to report campus crime. Here's a clip <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/education/2023/10/03/liberty-university-clery-act/">from WaPo</a>:<br /></span></p><div class="teaser-content grid-center"><div class="article-body" data-qa="article-body"><p class="wpds-c-cYdRxM wpds-c-cYdRxM-iPJLV-css overrideStyles font-copy" data-el="text" data-testid="drop-cap-letter" dir="null"></p></div></div><blockquote><div class="teaser-content grid-center"><div class="article-body" data-qa="article-body"><p class="wpds-c-cYdRxM wpds-c-cYdRxM-iPJLV-css overrideStyles font-copy" data-el="text" data-testid="drop-cap-letter" dir="null"><span style="font-family: verdana;">Liberty
University has failed for years to keep its campus safe and repeatedly
violated the federal law that specifies how it should do so, according
to preliminary confidential findings from an Education Department
inquiry.</span></p></div><div class="article-body" data-qa="article-body"><p class="wpds-c-cYdRxM wpds-c-cYdRxM-iPJLV-css overrideStyles font-copy" data-el="text" data-testid="drop-cap-letter" dir="null"><span style="font-family: verdana;">The
initial report on the school’s Clery Act compliance — which the
university can respond to and dispute before the department makes a
final determination — paints a picture of a university that discouraged
people from reporting crimes, underreported the claims it received and,
meanwhile, marketed its Virginia campus as one of the safest in the
country.</span></p></div></div><div class="article-body" data-qa="article-body"><p class="wpds-c-cYdRxM wpds-c-cYdRxM-iPJLV-css overrideStyles font-copy" data-el="text" data-testid="drop-cap-letter" dir="null"><span style="font-family: verdana;">Liberty
failed to warn the campus community about gas leaks, bomb threats and
people credibly accused of repeated acts of sexual violence — including a
senior administrator and an athlete — according to the report, a copy
of which was obtained by The Washington Post.<b> </b>Two people familiar
with the conclusions, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because
of the confidential nature of the document, confirmed the findings.</span></p></div><div class="article-body" data-qa="article-body"><div class="cb dn db-ns" data-qa="article-body-ad" data-testid="article-body-ad-desktop"><div aria-hidden="true" class="hide-for-print relative flex justify-center content-box items-center b bh mb-md mt-none pt-lg pb-lg" style="min-height: 250px;"><div class="relative flex flex-column justify-center w-100" style="min-height: 250px; min-width: 300px;"><p class="wpds-c-cYdRxM wpds-c-cYdRxM-iPJLV-css overrideStyles font-copy" data-el="text" data-testid="drop-cap-letter" dir="null"><span style="font-family: verdana;">The draft also contends officials at Liberty destroyed evidence after a government inquiry began.“This
is the single most blistering Clery report I have ever read. Ever,”
said S. Daniel Carter, a campus safety consultant who reviewed a copy of
the initial report obtained by The Post. Earlier in his career, Carter
filed Clery Act complaints against multiple universities, including
Liberty, as a victims advocate. “I cannot think of a single other
comparable case in the entire 32-year history of the Clery Act.”</span></p></div></div></div></div></blockquote><div class="article-body" data-qa="article-body"><div class="cb dn db-ns" data-qa="article-body-ad" data-testid="article-body-ad-desktop"><div aria-hidden="true" class="hide-for-print relative flex justify-center content-box items-center b bh mb-md mt-none pt-lg pb-lg" style="min-height: 250px;"><div class="relative flex flex-column justify-center w-100" style="min-height: 250px; min-width: 300px;"><p class="wpds-c-cYdRxM wpds-c-cYdRxM-iPJLV-css overrideStyles font-copy" data-el="text" data-testid="drop-cap-letter" dir="null"></p></div></div></div></div><p></p>James Hornhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04462754705431590571noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14707730.post-20381722682239253182023-09-27T09:29:00.002-04:002023-09-27T09:40:33.338-04:00What Tenure-Track Professors at UF May Expect<p><a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2023/09/07/magazine/ben-sasse-university-florida.html">The NYTimes</a> has an extensive piece on Ron DeSantis's choice for
president of Florida's flagship public university, and there's lots to
consider, particularly if you are teaching in a tenured or
tenure-earning position. Here's a taste: </p><p></p><blockquote>Sasse’s words sometimes tumble out in a kind of techno-futurist patois
that can be hard to follow. In response to a question about his
perceived invisibility on campus, he veered off into something about the
future of pedagogy. “And that requires us to unbundle cohorting,
community and synchronicity from co-localities,” he said. Later, he
added, “What will today’s generic term ‘professor’ mean when you
disaggregate syllabus designer, sage-on-the-stage lecturer, seminar
leader, instructional technologist, grader, assessor, etc.?”</blockquote><p></p><p>When
you cut through Sasse's murky McKenzie-inspired malarkey,
what remains is a clear aspiration to apply a fragmentation grenade to
the professoriate, so that what remains are exploded pieces to be swept
up by gig workers doing epistemological piecework. This 21st Century
Taylorism is the stock and trade of the philosophical eunuchs at
McKinsey, who have a $4.7 million contract with Sasse to develop and
impose a strategic plan that uses 21st Century tech talk to impose 19th
Century business practices and cultural values upon an institutions once
devoted to unencumbered human learning and inquiry.</p><p>While fixated
on the glories of STEM education, Sasse has not forgotten that part of
his assignment is to transform the teaching of history at UF. It took
Sasse only three months to turn over space on campus to
create what appears to be <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2023/09/07/magazine/ben-sasse-university-florida.html">the foundations for an alternative history department</a>. </p><p></p><blockquote><p> <b class="css-8qgvsz ebyp5n10">About three months</b> after Sasse took over, the Republican-controlled Legislature allotted $10 million in recurring annual funds for the <a class="css-yywogo" href="https://www.chronicle.com/article/how-a-center-for-civic-education-became-a-political-provocation" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank" title="">recently established Hamilton Center for Classical and Civic Education</a>
and an additional $20 million to renovate its building on the U.F.
campus, a former infirmary. The entire budget for the school’s history
department is about $4 million. No one at the university had requested
the funds or even suggested the creation of the center. The idea came
from a little-known organization called the Council on Public University
Reform. The name attached to the “local funding initiative request” was
Josh Holdenried, who has worked in Washington for the conservative
Heritage Foundation and for Napa Legal, which assists faith-based
nonprofits. He appears to have no links to the university or the state
of Florida. (Holdenried could not be reached for comment.)</p><p>A
proposal sent to U.F. administrators by the group’s lobbyist, Adrian
Lukis, a former DeSantis chief of staff, made it clear that the center
was not intended as a complement to what already exists at the
university. Instead, the center is to “provide <i class="css-2fg4z9 e1gzwzxm0">choice</i>
for Florida’s students and their parents dissatisfied with the present
offerings.” (The proposal was originally obtained by The Chronicle of
Higher Education.) According to the center’s website, there’s an
additional mission, too: to participate in the implementation of the
K-12 civics curriculum in Florida’s public schools. The curriculum is to
include Portraits in Patriotism, featuring the stories of Floridians who fled leftist regimes in Cuba and Venezuela.</p></blockquote><p></p><p>As
other <a href="https://www.alligator.org/article/2022/10/ben-sasse-at-midland">news outlets have documented</a>, Sasse has a record of turning his
<a href="https://www.universityworldnews.com/post.php?story=20221207142905806">faculty-smashing aspirations</a> into reality. At Midland University, where
Sasse served as President from 2009 to 2014, Sasse went to work
immediately to blow up faculty tenure at the school. Sasse put together
buyout contracts for tenured faculty, with the clear intent to replace
them with part-time or adjunct faculty.<br /></p>Sasse was up-front with them [tenured faculty members]: They could take the buyout or continue
at the university with an uncertain future after he got rid of tenure.
<p><a href="https://www.alligator.org/article/2022/10/ben-sasse-at-midland"></a></p><blockquote><p><a href="https://www.alligator.org/article/2022/10/ben-sasse-at-midland">Bracker remembers</a> groups of five or six faculty members at a time
would lose their tenure, she said. She was one of the last to finally
lose it.</p>
<p>“You can usurp power, and then you can do certain things because you
usurp power,” Scott told Mother Jones. “But there might have been a
kinder, gentler way to do that than to say, ‘These are the new rules;
this is what we’re gonna do.'” </p><p>
Longtime, established faculty members who took the buyouts were
replaced with low-cost, part-time adjunct professors in a cost-saving
move, some former faculty members said. </p></blockquote><p></p><p>If you are a tenure track assistant professor hoping for tenure a few years down the road, you should know that that track is sure to be bristling with mines that were not there prior to the arrival of Sasse. You may expect, too, that an invisible ideological gauntlet is being constructed that could require your syllabi, your research, and your truth to be compromised if tenure is to be granted. </p><p>One thing is for sure: tenure is no longer the arduous journey that it once was but, rather, the arduous journey with the addition of professorial judges who must answer to a university administration approved by Florida's most prominent fascist politician.<br /></p><p></p><div class="css-s99gbd StoryBodyCompanionColumn"><div><div class="css-79elbk" data-testid="photoviewer-wrapper"><div class="css-17rf5ti e11si9ry2" data-testid="placeholder" height="630.2999877929688px" width="945px"><div class="css-tux0zj e11si9ry3" data-testid="photoviewer-overlay"><div class="css-13xhlbj e11si9ry1" data-testid="photoviewer-captionblock" height="400px" width="200px"></div><div class="css-cvn7ec e11si9ry4" height="630.2999877929688px" width="945px"><div style="transition: visibility 0s ease 0.5s; visibility: hidden;"><div class="css-1pq3dr9" data-testid="lazy-image"><div data-testid="lazyimage-container" style="height: auto;"><picture class="css-1j5kxti" style="opacity: 1;"><source media="(max-width: 599px) and (min-device-pixel-ratio: 3),(max-width: 599px) and (-webkit-min-device-pixel-ratio: 3),(max-width: 599px) and (min-resolution: 3dppx),(max-width: 599px) and (min-resolution: 288dpi)"></source><source media="(max-width: 599px) and (min-device-pixel-ratio: 2),(max-width: 599px) and (-webkit-min-device-pixel-ratio: 2),(max-width: 599px) and (min-resolution: 2dppx),(max-width: 599px) and (min-resolution: 192dpi)"></source><source media="(max-width: 599px) and (min-device-pixel-ratio: 1),(max-width: 599px) and (-webkit-min-device-pixel-ratio: 1),(max-width: 599px) and (min-resolution: 1dppx),(max-width: 599px) and (min-resolution: 96dpi)"></source><img alt="Sasse has stressed the need for a “data-saturated environment” on campus. McKinsey is getting $4.7 million to provide guidance on “strategic management.”" src="https://static01.nyt.com/images/2023/09/10/magazine/10mag-Sasse-images-02/10mag-Sasse-images-02-articleLarge.jpg?quality=75&auto=webp&disable=upscale" /></picture><p class="css-at9mc1 evys1bk0"></p></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div><br />James Hornhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04462754705431590571noreply@blogger.com0