http://www.democraticunderground.com http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss Tue, 21 May 2013 09:50:14 Tue, 21 May 2013 09:50:14 If you can read this statement by Florida's Senate President Don Gaetz and not be alarmed, then the anti-public school propagandists have done their job too well.

It looks like the state will pass the new law that is far more charter school friendly, and thus public schools will be deprived of e... http://journals.democraticunderground.com/madfloridian/8548 Fri, 22 Feb 2013 18:46:20 This was in Harper's in 2004. It is still in Information Clearing House. Considering the privatization of everything now, including education, it makes so much sense.

[link:http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article6930.htm|Baghdad Year Zero]

Klein said they wanted to see how givin... http://journals.democraticunderground.com/madfloridian/8547 Tue, 19 Feb 2013 00:14:27 I am so thankful that Rachel Maddow is going have the special, Hubris, next week.

Those of us here at DU in 2002 were in shock what our country was doing. I posted this article years ago. [b]I have wondered how in the world they could have been any kind of threat to us after all those years of s... http://journals.democraticunderground.com/madfloridian/8546 Sun, 17 Feb 2013 02:21:38 [link:http://www.newschannel5.com/story/21129693/email-directs-teachers-to-delete-bad-grades|Email Directs Teachers To Delete Bad Grades]

There is a video at the link as well.

[blockquote]At the center of the controversy is the Tennessee Virtual Academy -- a for-profit, online public school t... http://journals.democraticunderground.com/madfloridian/8545 Tue, 12 Feb 2013 13:15:57 and others.

Chris Hayes says we face "stark choice between the war we are now fighting" and the law.

He recommends choosing the law "which we all at least pretend is the bedrock of our republic."

He was speaking of the targeted killings. He believes they need to be brought out from behind ... http://journals.democraticunderground.com/madfloridian/8544 Tue, 12 Feb 2013 01:03:47 I have been unable to find the link to the original Newsday article, but I had saved the complete column.

It speaks to what happens when a nation like ours invades another country of no threat based on lies. It eats away at the soul of our morality.

I don't post a lot about Howard Dean any... http://journals.democraticunderground.com/madfloridian/8543 Sun, 10 Feb 2013 00:38:26 Don't know who is holding the transvaginal ultrasound instrument. He looks pretty serious about it. Just goes to show you the lack of respect these men have for women's rights.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v86/slc987/ultrasound_zpse85ffcfb.jpg

[link:http://tpmdc.talkingpointsmemo.com/20... http://journals.democraticunderground.com/madfloridian/8542 Thu, 07 Feb 2013 21:02:43 Edushyster does herself proud with the story of the whistleblower about the DC testing scandal. And a few words from Jersey Jazzman as well.

Today Michelle Rhee's book comes out, so the article is well-timed.

[link:http://edushyster.com/?p=1952|Let Them Eat Cake]

[blockquote]In case you’ve... http://journals.democraticunderground.com/madfloridian/8541 Tue, 05 Feb 2013 15:07:30 because they did not perform well on the tests.

There are so many truths in this piece of satire. From [link:http://studentslast.blogspot.com/2013/02/giving-new-meaning-to-class-action.html|Students Last]

It begins with a shouting match between teacher and parents. The teacher says she deser... http://journals.democraticunderground.com/madfloridian/8540 Sun, 03 Feb 2013 01:04:23 From the You Tube link for Democracy Now:

[div class="excerpt"]Published on Jan 29, 2013

DemocracyNow.org - Earlier this month, teachers at Garfield High School in Seattle, Washington, voted unanimously to stop administering a widely used standardized test, calling them wasteful and un... http://journals.democraticunderground.com/madfloridian/8539 Tue, 29 Jan 2013 18:27:23 The same thing happened last year, but the amount given charter schools was then $55 million. Zero for public schools.

[link:journals.democraticunderground.com/madfloridian/7909| Florida charter schools get $55 million for upkeep. Traditional schools get nothing.]

[blockquote]The charter sch... http://journals.democraticunderground.com/madfloridian/8538 Tue, 29 Jan 2013 00:36:53 [link:http://www.timesunion.com/local/article/Charter-school-theft-alleged-4225008.php#ixzz2JFBfRL8c|Brighter Choice finance officer, with felony history, charged with embezzlement]

Can you imagine a school management company hiring a financial officer with a recent history of bank theft?

Mayb... http://journals.democraticunderground.com/madfloridian/8537 Mon, 28 Jan 2013 01:02:28 I do not think it is a good idea to present choice that way. Many believe the charter schools and voucher programs are working toward resegregation of schools. I have never heard anyone say it so openly. It's about 1:35 into the video.

This also featured the use of the two of the most obvious... http://journals.democraticunderground.com/madfloridian/8536 Sun, 27 Jan 2013 10:38:03 They are standing up for the right of students to be tested on what they are taught in the classroom. The MAP test (Measure of Academic Progress) is not based on their curriculum. Teachers have no idea what is on it until test time.

First Chicago, now Seattle...teachers are making their voices... http://journals.democraticunderground.com/madfloridian/8535 Thu, 24 Jan 2013 14:30:46 Some charter schools admit sending students back to public schools. How they "counsel out" kids.

They get public money for their students. Therefore they should be required to keep the students who are low-performing or have problems....and provide for them. Public schools do that.

It's ... http://journals.democraticunderground.com/madfloridian/8534 Wed, 23 Jan 2013 01:20:02 New York is going "to share confidential NYC student and teacher data" with the [link:http://slcedu.org/|Shared Learning Collaborative, funded by the Gates Foundation.]

I don't understand how they can do this without notifying the parents. We had to let parents know about anything we did conce... http://journals.democraticunderground.com/madfloridian/8533 Sun, 20 Jan 2013 02:28:03 One of my objections to charter schools is that they get public taxpayer money, but they do not have to undergo close scrutiny like public schools do.

Another objection is that they make claims to be private when it suits their purpose, like preventing unions from forming. They make claims to b... http://journals.democraticunderground.com/madfloridian/8532 Thu, 17 Jan 2013 00:46:32 He made $1.4 million dollars, much of which was public taxpayer money. He did not pay taxes he owed.

[blockquote]A sticky-fingered founder of three Brooklyn charter schools pleaded guilty Friday to cheating the state out of taxes for six years, while pulling in a half-million dollar salary.

... http://journals.democraticunderground.com/madfloridian/8531 Tue, 15 Jan 2013 23:57:59 This is a parent who got fed up with the way reformers are taking over New Jersey public education.

[link:http://mothercrusader.blogspot.com/2013/01/a-foot-soldier-in-rhees-army-giving.html|A Foot Soldier In Rhee's Army Giving Orders To New Jersey]

She speaks of the "sheer hubris and arrogan... http://journals.democraticunderground.com/madfloridian/8530 Sun, 13 Jan 2013 00:56:23 This is a pathetic editorial. The editorial board seems unaware of all the controversies surrounding Rhee and her fellow education "reformers". Many who write about this rush to "reform" are now calling it privatization...reform is too mild a word.

This kind of puff piece is why Michelle Rhee ... http://journals.democraticunderground.com/madfloridian/8529 Sat, 12 Jan 2013 18:32:55 That's seems to be what's happening in Texas right now. That's what Eleanor Fairchild was doing in October when she was arrested on her own property for protesting TransCanada’s construction of its Gulf Coast tar-sands pipeline.

But she had been fighting this intrusion on her property for a whi... http://journals.democraticunderground.com/madfloridian/8528 Thu, 10 Jan 2013 00:31:33 The education reform efforts of Michelle Rhee are finally getting attention in some media, and it is not always the glowing praise she is used to receiving.

And Frontline tonight. Hope they are fair and honest.

[link:http://www.esquire.com/blogs/politics/michelle-rhee-corporate-public-school... http://journals.democraticunderground.com/madfloridian/8527 Tue, 08 Jan 2013 21:10:30 [link:http://www.schoolsmatter.info/2013/01/broad-disciple-with-checkered-past.html|Broad Disciple with Checkered Past Becomes New MA Ed Chief]

[blockquote]Teachers scoring a 2.77 out of 5.0 on the new evaluation schemes proliferating across the U.S. would face some extra "professional developme... http://journals.democraticunderground.com/madfloridian/8526 Sun, 06 Jan 2013 16:42:01 [link:www.baltimoresun.com/entertainment/tv/z-on-tv-blog/bal-al-jazeera-current-gore-good-thing-20130103,0,6761063.story| Why Al Jazeera buying Current TV is a good thing.]

A few quotes from the article.

[blockquote]The lack of access to Al Jazeera English on cable TV makes me wonder what kin... http://journals.democraticunderground.com/madfloridian/8525 Sun, 06 Jan 2013 01:57:03 I just read this thoughtful article from The Hollywood Reporter. The picture of Keith Olbermann caught my eye.

[link:http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/bastard-machine/how-al-gore-lost-current-408705|How Al Gore Lost Current From the Start (Analysis)]

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v86/slc9... http://journals.democraticunderground.com/madfloridian/8524 Sat, 05 Jan 2013 00:13:48