Arizona voucher bill defeated by SOS coalition. A great red-state win for teachers.

Gov. Doug Ducey and his Koch brothers network of "dark money" bazillionaires have set their sights on saving Arizona’s expanded voucher law – the one that a grassroots group and 100,000 Arizona voters put on hold last year via referendum. -- Citizen Times

Arizona voters Tuesday, overwhelming rejected, 65%-35%, a massive expansion of the state's private school voucher program which drained millions from public schools and give it to rich parents to fund their kids' private school tuition. A vote for the measure would have removed all preconditions for students to get vouchers. 

Vouchers were first approved in 2011 to provide alternatives for students with special physical or emotional needs that their parents said could not be met at either traditional public or charter schools.

Proposition 305 was placed on Tuesday's ballot through the efforts of grassroots organizers in Save Our Schools Arizona and the more than 100,000 people who signed petitions to block the 2017 expansion championed by Republican Gov. Doug Ducey, Betsy DeVos and the Koch Bros.  Their goal was nothing less than the total elimination of the state's public school system as we know it. 

According to Tucson.com:

All that energized those who contend that vouchers effectively siphon money from public schools, with private schools free to take — or reject — who they want. Organized as “Save Our Schools,” it took advantage of a provision of the Arizona Constitution that holds up enactment of any new law if foes can get 75,321 valid signatures within 90 days after the end of the session, giving voters a chance to ratify or reject the legislative action.

They actually got far more and weathered a legal challenge by voucher supporters who tried to keep the measure off the ballot.

Now we need to do the same thing here in Illinois. 

WEEKEND QUOTABLES

Nobody's talking arming teachers any more. 

Lynne McKernan, seventh-grade AZ writing teacher 

Said Arizona lawmakers walked out of the Capitol on Friday without speaking to teachers. "In the middle of a crisis, they chose to adjourn rather than sit down with our representatives who have asked to speak with them for weeks."

"Other schools have the roof caving in," McKernan said. "We used to catch mice at our school. It was like a hobby: 'How many mice did you catch in your classroom today?'"    -- LA Times

Lydia Coffey, former KY teacher, now running for a state House seat

“I think women are just tired of feeling like we’re second class. We’re tired of white men in power telling all of us what to do.” -- Huffington

Mike Elk is a member of the DC-Baltimore NewsGuild

The teachers’ strikes have brought into sharp focus forces that have been reshaping the landscape for workers in America. Nissan, the union-backed Fight for $15 campaign for minimum wage workers and now the teachers have shown that after years of attack from anti-union powers, organized labor can still make a difference. -- Guardian

Michelle Wolf at WHCD 

“Trump is also an idea guy. He's got loads of ideas. You've got to love him for that," she said. "He wants to give teachers guns. And I support that because then they can sell them for things they need - like supplies." 

More Wolf...

"It is kind of crazy the Trump campaign was in contact with Russia when the Hillary campaign wasn't even in contact with Michigan. It's a direct flight. It's so close." -- The Hill

 Trump Lawyer, Michael Cohen

“Boss, I miss you so much." -- WSJ

R.I.P. Jean Gump

 A young, fully armed soldier who descended from an armored vehicle to arrest the trio had cowered as she reached into her purse. “Shoot if you must, sonny,” Ms. Gump said defiantly, “but I’ve got to blow my nose.” -- N.Y. Times

WEEKEND QUOTABLES

Saying "no" to school vouchers on Friday's Hitting Left radio were parent activists Wendy Katten and Cassie Creswell along with a group of Chicago high school youth organizers. Listen in here. 

32nd Ward Ald. Scott Waguespack

 "No self-respecting Democrat should accept this brazen Rauner-Trump-DeVos tactic to decimate public schools, rob our children's classrooms of resources and weaken teachers' unions." -- DNAInfo

State Rep. Will Guzzardi

 "Giving rich people a tax loophole for driving students out of public schools and into private schools goes against many of my core beliefs." -- DNAInfo

State Sen. Daniel Biss

 “The private school voucher program doesn’t help create a more equitable education system—it’s a false choice, and just the latest example of Rauner putting millionaires over the middle class." -- Capitol Fax 

47th Ald. Ameya Pawar

 “It is dead wrong to give vouchers and tax credits to private or parochial schools. Using taxpayer money to fund private schools benefits the children of wealthy families at the expense of the rest of the state.” -- Capitol Fax

Rex Tillerson

 'The president speaks for himself'. -- Guardian

Editorial Observer Elizabeth Williamson

Mr. Trump’s staff can’t control him, so they coddle him. They make sure he starts his day with a packet of good news about himself, compiled by Republicans who get up early to search for positive stories, headlines, tweets or, failing those, flattering photos. “Maybe it’s good for the country that the president is in a good mood in the morning,” one of the Republicans said. -- NYT Sunday Review

I am pleased to inform you that I have just granted a full Pardon to 85 year old American patriot Sheriff Joe Arpaio. He kept Arizona safe!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) August 26, 2017

I will be voting against any school funding bill that contains a tax break for private scholarship donations. #twill

— Will Guzzardi 🖇 (@WillGuzzardi) August 25, 2017

Thursday Questions

What is Eva Moskowitz afraid parents, media and visitors will see inside of her Success Academies?

CPS teacher asks: Why is it wrong for Chicago teachers to shut it down on April 1st to demand school funding, but OK for Rahm/Claypool to use furlough day to close schools?

How did Sac's school privatization mayor, Kevin Johnson (husband of Michelle Rhee), ever get away with this?

Was Trump's speech at AIPAC really worse than Hillary Clinton's?

How did Arizona get away with calling this an "election"?

Pres. Obama says Ted Cruz' plan to "secure" Muslim neighborhoods is downright un-American. I agree. But then how does he explain this on his watch?

WEEKEND QUOTABLES

Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio

"I think people from Mexico are now going to feel, 'Hey come on in and we'll get by with it.' But it won't happen in this county. They will still be arrested." -- After arresting 6-year-old suspected illegal immigrant. 

 Diane Ravitch

Isn’t it strange that you never see a group like “Education Reform Now” or “Democrats for Education Reform” or “ConnCAN” or “50StateCANN” advocating for smaller classes or more librarians or a reversal of budget cuts. -- "Big Money Joins Chicago Fight" 

Gary Orfield

"If you have choice without civil rights policies, it stratifies the systems. People who have the most power and information get the best choices." -- New York Times

Experience matters

“Teaching is no different than any other profession — experience matters. Researchers have found that teachers reach peak effectiveness with about seven years of experience. But 80 percent of the teachers hired by D.C. this year will be gone before they get there.” -- Tom Carroll, president of the National Commission on Teaching and America’s Future

WEEKEND QUOTABLES

Joshua Lott for The New York Times

Matt de la Peña’s novel has been banned at Tucson High for containing “critical race theory.”

John Huppenthal, AZ state supt.

“When we encountered this situation, we did what Hannibal did to the Romans. This is the eternal battle, the eternal battle of all time, the forces of collectivism against the forces of individuality.” -- Racial Lens Used to Cull Curriculum in Arizona

 Santorum in Puerto Rico -- "Speak English..."

"Like any other state, there has to be compliance with this and any other federal law," Santorum said. "And that is that English has to be the principal language." --Reuters

Times Columnist, Joe Nocera

...the kind of amoral, eat-what-you-kill capitalism that Goldman represents is one that most Americans instinctively find repugnant. It confirms the suspicions many people have that Wall Street has become a place where sleazy practices are the norm, and where generating profits in ways that are detrimental to society is the ticket to a successful career and a multimillion-dollar bonus. -- The good, bad and ugly of capitalism

Sun-Times Columnist, Mark Brown

 When I placed a call to Misty Gillian of Auburn, Ind., confused as to why she donated $1,500 to Tabares, I got a call back from her husband, Kevin, who explained that his company, TFC Canopy, made all those shiny aluminum wall panels cladding UNO’s new Soccer Academy. That explained it. -- Lozano Jr. vs. Tabares campaign one to watch on Southwest Side

WEEKEND QUOTABLES

Parent Trigger fails in Florida Senate vote.

Rita Solnet

“This was a victory for true parent empowerment. By working together with my colleagues in PAA and other grassroots parent groups, including Save Duval Schools, 50th No More, the Florida state PTA, Fund Education Now, and Testing is Not Teaching, we managed to beat the richly-funded corporate reformers.” -- Parents Across America hails defeat of Florida’s Parent Trigger bill

Arthenia Joyner, Tampa Democrat

"With every fiber of my being, I will fight to see that my schools will not be taken over by private enterprise." -- Huffington 

Andy Ford, FEA President

"Gov. (Rick) Scott and the Florida Legislature have done more to unify the Florida labor movement in the state of Florida than anybody else could have ever done.''  -- Bradenton Herald

Julia Preston, N.Y. Times

In a bright hall next door to the law enforcement conclave, dozens of technology vendors were offering the latest military-style tools to make the border even more secure. Contractors large and small displayed radar devices that can see through walls, thermal imaging cameras mounted on mobile masts that retract in seconds and unmanned droneboats to scout rivers too perilous for human navigation. -- "Immigration Decreases, but Tensions Remain High"

Read more here: http://www.bradenton.com/2012/03/08/3925623/unions-unite-in-tallahassee-power.html#storylink=cpy

SB1467, American Taliban's latest assault on teachers

If SB1467 becomes law in Arizona, the state's public school teachers could be fired for engaging in “speech or conduct that would violate the standards adopted by the federal communications commission concerning obscenity, indecency and profanity if that speech or conduct were broadcast on television or radio.”

Because the language in the bill doesn’t distinguish between public speech or conduct and just plain old speech or conduct, the law could even require schools to fire teachers who use profanity and have sex in their private lives away from school.

WEEKEND QUOTABLES

Jesse Jackson

Keep your finger in your pocket," Gov. Brewer. -- Sun-Times

Richard Rothstein

Education “reformers” have a common playbook. First, assert without evidence that regular public schools are “failing” and that large numbers of regular (unionized) public school teachers are incompetent. --‘Reformers’ playbook on failing schools fails a fact check

Warren Buffet

"If this is a war, my side has had the nuclear bomb," Buffett told ABC News. "We've got K Street and lobbyists. We've got money on our side in terms of contributions." -- Huffington

Paul Krugman

Half a century ago, any economist — or for that matter any undergraduate who had read Paul Samuelson’s textbook “Economics” — could have told you that austerity in the face of depression was a very bad idea." -- New York Times

Eric Shieh

"I remember the moment I stopped resenting the deduction in my paychecks that went to my union. It took me three years, and happened suddenly." -- Hechinger Report

Tucson students walk out over banning of ethnic cultural studies

Pres. Obama wrestled verbally over immigration policy with racist Ariz. Gov. Jan Brewer, after hundreds of Tucson students walked out of their schools in a coordinated protest against the banishment of the district’s acclaimed Mexican American Studies program.

Cholla High School student Ahtziri Iñiguez noted that she was following the march in the footsteps of her brother, a graduate of the Mexican American Studies Program.

“I think it’s very unfair that people here don’t let us learn about our own culture,” she said. “My brother took (Mexican American Studies) classes his junior year and he would go home and discuss with my Mom and interested me in education, so I knew I wanted to take these classes.” -- Common Dreams

Without federal intervention, the program appears doomed.

WEEKEND QUOTABLES

Arizona's law banning ethnic studies

"...Mr. Horne goes way overboard in trying keep high school students from studying works like Paulo Freire’s “Pedagogy of the Oppressed,” a classic educational text, or any effort to deepen students’ understanding of history, and their place in the world. Tucson school officials say that far from stoking teenage resentment, the program has helped students keep their grades up and stay in school."--New York Times editorial

New Orleans 5 years after Katrina

"Louisiana has a 63 percent high school graduation rate,” Mr. Turner said. “It has roughly a 60 percent adult literacy rate. We know that wealthy white people Uptown can read, right? But no one really cares if the public school system works because rich people’s kids are going to private schools.” -- Teacher Nat Turner

Michelle Rhee's testing madness

Many baby boomers will be retiring soon. Who will take our places? If teacher pay and evaluations rest entirely on test scores, the corruption of our school system will be complete. Perhaps we teachers and parents need a grassroots movement of our own!-- Anthony Cody, Edweek.

WEEKEND QUOTABLES

Ethnic studies illegal in Arizona

“There’s a fierce anti-Latino sentiment in this state. These courses are about justice and equity, and what is happening is that the Legislature is trying to narrow the reality of those things. Who are the true Americans here — those embracing our inalienable rights or those trying to diminish them?”-- Augustine F. Romero, New York Times

No room at the reform table for educators

"A big part of the problem is that the conversation has been hijacked by corporate leaders who think they know best how to improve our schools." -- Greg Michie, author of Holler if you hear me, at The Answer Sheet.

U.S. ignores education funding at own peril

"Over the long term, the only way we're going to raise wages, grow the economy and improve American competitiveness is by investing in our people - especially their educations." --Robert Reich, S.F. Chronicle.

On Arizona shootings 

"We have nothing whatsoever to do with this," --Palin aide Rebecca Mansour, CBS News

Arizona--today's Mississippi

Duncan rewards Arizona

Arne Duncan has claimed sole discretion when it comes to awarding Race To The Top funding to states. "I look them in the eye to see if they are sincere," says the Ed Sec. He must have seen something in the eyes of Arizona's Gov. Brewer and Sen. McCain to push Arizona up from 40th to a finalist's position in the competition for a piece of the ever-shrinking federal funding pie.

Maybe it was the state's commitment to driving out Mexican immigrants from state schools under SB1070, that caught Duncan's eye. Or maybe it was their ban on minority studies.

Ann-Eve Pedersen of the Arizona Education Network says she can think of just one reason the economically depressed state was a surprise finalist in the second round of the $4 billion Race to the Top competition, after finishing 40th out of 41 competitors in the first round in March.“Maybe the federal government has taken pity on the state of education funding here." (Edweek)

WEEKEND QUOTABLES

Is there any question?

It's "a legitimate concern to question whether BP's interests in being fully forthcoming about the extent of the damage is aligned with the public interest," he said, adding: "We have to verify whatever it is they say about the damage." (Pres.Obama)

L.A. high schools students hold a "walk-in" to protest cuts

“It does sound tempting to really relax and take the day off, but I can’t take a day off knowing it’s going to affect my future,” said Kahn, 16. “We’re protesting the fact that it’s gotten to the point that we have to be cutting back on our education. The priorities of spending in California are very wrong.” (L.A. Times)

Hedge-fund school "reformers" Tilson, Buffett cleaning up on the oil spill

"In a cash-constrained world of chaos and panic, we are finding tremendous bargains," says Tilson (Tech Ticker)

Tlison's fund owns Warren Buffett's holding company. Buffett is partners with Bill Gates in the Gates Foundation (which owns more than 4 million shares of BP Oil). Buffet and Tilson also bought NALCO, the company that makes the toxic oil dispersant they are dumping into the Gulf. May be a bigger pollutant than the oil itself. They are also among the biggest backers of privately-managed charter schools. Tilson heads up Democrats for Education Reform (DFER), 

Visiting an Ethnic Studies class in Tucson

Have you heard...?

1960 Woolworth sit-ins

...We're in the "post-racial" era

Except that in Kentucky, the Limbaugh Party just picked a T-Party senate candidate who would like to roll back the Civil Rights Act of 1964. Yes, Rand (named after Ayn?) Paul thinks the law impinges on the freedom of businesses to refuse service to African-Americans, gays, disabled, if they so choose. Paul is also (no coincidence) a big voucher/charter proponent. He obviously feels that through privatization, schools will no longer have to admit ELL and special-needs students, if they so choose.

Already being done, Rand.Thanks anyway.

Then there's my new favorite wingy think-tanker, AEI flack Rick Hess, leaping to defend Supt. Horne's ban on ethnic studies in Arizona. Hess, it seems, favors and enforcement of  white "unum" in the curriculum. Hess has now earned his own SmallTalk tag (below) along with Finn, Petrilli and a tiny handful of other wing-nut ed experts. But I still can't understand how this paid flack for AEI gets his own blog at Edweek.

Both Hess & Horne should make common bond and unum with the Texas school board as they move to rewrite the state's curriculum standards to (among other things) replace mentions of "slavery" with the words, "triangle trade."

Ironically it's former Bush Sec. of Ed and Houston Supt. Rod Paige, of Texas miracle fame, who is now quoted as being critical of the board's rewrite. I say, ironically, because it was Paige who paved the way for all this, when as the nation's schools chief, he tried to force his own Christian fundamentalist religious beliefs on the nation's schools.

WEEKEND QUOTABLES

Honor student's arrest will test Arizona law

 

I never thought that I’d be caught up in this messed-up system,” Ms. Colotl said Friday at a news conference after being released on $2,500 bail. “I was treated like a criminal, like a threat to the nation.” (NYT)

Kellogg Foundation V.P. on nation's racial wounds

 The demographic mandate is clear, Christopher noted, because “by 2015, most of the children in America will be children of color,” who will continue to experience higher rates of interaction with the child welfare and juvenile justice systems, not because of some genetic flaw, but because of a system of rooted privilege and the policies that undergird it. (New American Media)

Former president of Columbia Teachers College, Arthur Levine

"In the past, minorities have tended to provide leadership for the minority protests. Now they've moved to center stage. They're leading the protests." ("Minority student activists protest education cuts"--USA Today)

The education of Diane Ravitch

“Never before,” she writes of the Gates Foundation, was there an entity “that gave grants to almost every major think tank and advocacy group in the field of education, leaving no one willing to criticize its vast power and unchecked influence.”(N.Y. Times review)

Racist Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio.

"I should be a hero. They should be thanking me." (AZ.com)

Horne vs. Dyson

Good thing I'm not teaching in Arizona. State Supt. Horne wants to ban Freire's Pedagogy of the Oppressed. I just assigned chap. 2,  "The banking concept of education."  Horne ought to read it. It's really not about "smash the gringos."

AERA Boycotts Arizona

The 25,000-member American Educational Research Assoc. has joined the growing list of organizations vowing to boycott Arizona in protest of its new immigration law.

"As education researchers, we need to be concerned about the effects this new law may have on fostering an environment of fear with consequences for students' learning, educational achievement, and attachment to and belief in the social institutions of society," said Kris Gutierrez, the group's president-elect and a researcher from the University of Colorado at Boulder. (Debra Viadero, Edweek)

"Fascists"

I've read Fred Hess' report from AERA twice and still can't figure out who he's calling, "fascists in flip-flops." Can you? The researcher from the far-right American Enterprise Institute is upset because AERA's  membership appears to be so "one-sided" in their opposition to Arizona's law.

Ella Baker Award

I didn't go to AERA this year, but I'm told, one of the highlights of the Denver meeting was the presentation of the Ella Baker Award to Grace Lee Boggs. Presenters included Vincent Harding, Barbara Ransby and Charlie Cobb.