The politics of fear. The path of least resistance.

On my fridge today.

The politics of fear sweep Ventura Cty schools. Takes me back to '50s duck-and-cover days when they made us practice hiding under our desks in case the Russians nuked us. Definitely a downward press on test scores. Don't you think?

Good news for Chicago's elite. You can send your kindergartner to a new, IB-accredited school with an "an entrepreneurial focus" for only $32,000/year (a fifth-grader at the school opening in fall 2014 would pay $37,000). The GEMS World Academy plans to go K-12 and offers a good view of the lake shore, plus your kindy won't have to be near those kids, if you get my drift. You listening, Rahm? Better than Lab?

As Rahm continues to slash school budgets and shutter schools and public health facilities, he's shifting all responsibility for Chicago's debacle onto Springfield. Bombing the pension fund is his Plan A and Plan B. You cannot tax your way out of this," the mayor says, giving a wink to his corporate Civic Committee pals. Better to put it on the backs of retired teachers.

A little over a year ago in Chicago, in the midst of the teachers strike, I was surprised to see polls showing Windy City residents, including affected parents overwhelming supporting the union and blaming Rahm for the week-long stoppage of school.  I'm no longer surprised by similar polls in Philly. A Pew poll, released yesterday, found that 31% of residents blame Gov. Corbett and the Republican-controlled state legislature for the school funding crisis, 31% blame Mayor Nutter and City Council, and 21% blame school administrators and the state-controlled School Reform Commission (SRC). Just 11% blame unions representing teachers and other workers.

MIXING METAPHORS

“It’s one thing to be, quite frankly, in the gallery, and it’s another thing to be on the dance floor,” Bill Daley said at a news conference he called on Tuesday to explain why he was dropping out of the race.

Here's mine: It's one thing to eat spaghetti with marinara sauce, and it's another to be losing in the polls to Quinn and being ignored by big Democratic Party funders.


Don't forget to pick up a copy of Diane Ravitch's new book, Reign of Error:The Hoax of the Privatization Movement and the Danger to America's Public Schools.