The sell-out disease

SEEMS TO BE A LOT OF THIS GOING AROUND LATELY.

Maybe SEIU #73 leaders somehow spread the sell-out disease to New Jersey.

Booker & Christie

The New Jersey Education Association (NJEA) is now backing former Newark Mayor Corey Booker, one of its own worst enemies, for senator. Look, they even give him a full page on their website to prattle on about his love for school vouchers. On several occasions, Booker has let it be known that he wanted to make Newark N.J. the capitol of privately-run charter schools. He's also in bed (figuratively speaking, of course), with hated N.J. State Supt. Cami Anderson and her boss Chris Christie.

N.J. Blogger Bob Braun tries to make some sense of it all here.

SAVING AND TRANSFORMING PUBLIC SCHOOLS

I just got this week's special Saving Public Schools issue of The Nation and it's a good one. But the title is somewhat misleading. It's not just about saving public schools, but transforming them and changing the entire system of public education in the process.

The lead editorial, "Our Public Education System Needs Transformation, Not ‘Reform. I would argue, it needs transformation and reform. The great lineup of ed-activist writers includes: Dana Goldstein, Kenzo Shibata, Diane Ravitch, Lee Fang, Pedro Noguera, Gordon Lafer, Daniel Denvir, Michelle Fine, and Michael Fabricant. Don't miss.

The editors write:

A truly progressive vision for public education shouldn’t focus on stories of how a few kids competed their way out of blighted neighborhoods. Instead, it should focus on taking back that stream of money going to charter chains and corporate tax cuts and redirecting it toward schools anchored in strong communities and using proven methods for teaching kids—the very methods deployed in schools where the rich send their children. Indeed, the most disadvantaged kids should get even more support for their schools than their privileged suburban counterparts.

WAR!... Rahm has declared war on the city's retirees and has found some allies in the 7th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals which has given the mayor the green light for his three-year phase-out of the city’s 55% city subsidy for retiree health care. This will be upwards of a 50% increase in medical costs for retired city workers, many of who live on a fixed income.

But if its war he wants, it's war he'll get. As Brother Fred points out:

Bad news for the employees. But bad news for Rahm as well. These employees are voters. 28,000 retiree voters.