WEEKEND QUOTABLES

Thousands at 'Justice or Else' Rally in D.C. on 20th anniversary of Million Man March

David Nakamura and Hamil R. Harris

The peaceful rally was a reminder that seven years after the election of the nation’s first black president, enormous frustration remains among segments of the African American community about progress on civil rights. -- Washington Post

Charles Pierce

"And when the history of the Obama Administration is written, its willingness to go along with charter-school grifters at the behest of Arne Duncan is going to be a very big debit on the ledger."  -- New York Magazine

Duncan's charter scandal. 

Jeff Bryant

 Why would a secretary so often accused of leading an unprecedented overreach of federal intrusion in state education policy suddenly become so nonchalant about oversight of charter schools?  -- The ugly charter school scandal Arne Duncan is leaving behind (Salon)

Carol Marin

In Chicago, the mayor runs the schools. Always has. But not ultimately responsible? C’mon. Own it, mayor. Own it. -- Sun-Times

 Schiff Hardin Attorney Ron Safer

“We view it as semi-pro bono work. This is not a unique case". -- CPS approves more legal spending for Byrd-Bennett aides

When I was younger I could remember anything, whether it happened or not.

— Mark Twain (@TheMarkTwain) October 12, 2015

WEEKEND QUOTABLES

Arne Duncan

“There’s been a lot of turnover and we just need stability. I’m sure the mayor will make a good choice and the mayor will figure out what the right thing to do is here...” -- Sun-Times

Rand Paul

Our government is not comprised of angels, and we must have rules in place that acknowledge that, and protect our rights while protecting our national security. -- TIME

Gov. Rauner

 "Now, we're going to have a rough summer." -- Tribune

John Kass

Dennis Hastert is a Republican boss of the infamous Illinois Combine that has run this politically corrupt state. As such, Hastert even tried to influence the selection of federal prosecutors and prevent politically independent outsiders from wielding federal subpoena power. -- Tribune

And with that, the #byrd-bennett era is done. This guarantees CPS'...6th CEO since 2010? And @RahmEmanuel's next will be his 4th since 2011.

— Lauren FitzPatrick (@bylaurenfitz) June 1, 2015

WEEKEND QUOTABLES

BIG WIN -- Philly schools activist Helen Gym elected to City Council.

Philadelphia Inquirer

Education activist Helen Gym's victory in particular promises to bring energy and independence to an often monolithic and backward body. -- Editorial

Jal Mehta, Salon

Across this history, we see some recurring themes. The first is the outsized faith that Americans have placed in the tools of scientific management as a mechanism for improving schools. -- Education reformers have it all wrong

Chicago teacher

The working conditions I experienced at Urban Prep were the worst of my career, which has been spent entirely in the inner city. -- Edushyster

Chicago Tribune 

 The people hired to take on corporate salvation projects have to have "Mussolini-like powers to execute and implement," turnaround expert Bill Brandt of Development Specialists Inc. tells us. -- Editorial: Why Chicago schools need a turnaround expert at the top

Howard Zinn (1976)

 Memorial Day should be a day for putting flowers on graves and planting trees. Also, for destroying the weapons of death that endanger us more than they protect us, that waste our resources and threaten our children and grandchildren… The Becoming Radical

Chicago or #Chirac? The #Democratic Machine has ruled here for most of a century. Corruption, stupidity, violence http://t.co/hQRM72AQoj

— John Kass (@John_Kass) May 24, 2015

WEEKEND QUOTABLES

Team Englewood at LTAB

Team Englewood Spoken Word Team

"Hide Your Schools, Hide Your Homes, Hide Your Children, 'Cause [Rahm's] wrecking it all." -- Louder Than A Bomb

 Fran Spielman, Sun-Times reporter

"What is the one thing that trumps money? Movement." -- Rahm’s re-election and GOP gov race

Fox Business commentator Todd Wilemon

"If You’re Poor, Stop Being Poor." -- TruthDig

The Reader's Political Editor, Mick Dumke

 When asked why the unions want Toni Preckwinkle to run for mayor: 

"Well she's not Rahm Emanuel, for starters. She hasn't declared war on the teachers union and launched into school 'reform'. She's a former school teacher. And it's not just the teachers union. Other unions are upset with him for pension reform and other matters." -- Rahm’s re-election and GOP gov race

WEEKEND QUOTABLES

Amiri Baraka's son Ras, delivers his eulogy (Video).

Ras Baraka 

"Every nurse that would come in the room he said, 'Hey, my son is running for mayor. He came to the hospital with a bag of (political) literature." -- NJ.com

Michael Eric Dyson 

We’ve deliberately dismembered him [Dr. Martin Luther King] through manipulation of his memory. And those of us who have failed to see his radical challenge, in deference to a vision of King that is one of a universalist, that everybody can attach to — which was true, of course — but that wasn’t the full story. -- Salon, How we get Dr. King Wrong

Obama's NSA Speech

Meanwhile, totalitarian states like East Germany offered a cautionary tale of what could happen when vast, unchecked surveillance turned citizens into informers, and persecuted people for what they said in the privacy of their own homes. In fact, even the United States proved not to be immune to the abuse of surveillance. And in the 1960s, government spied on civil rights leaders and critics of the Vietnam War. -- NY Times 

Rev. James Meeks

Meeks said he’d never heard of Rauner before Eden Martin, President of the Civic Committee, called on Rauner’s behalf about five years ago to request a meeting. So he Googled the name. “When I saw how much money he was worth, I said, ‘Sure, let the guy come on,’” laughed Meeks. -- Sun-Times

Joanne Barkan's latest 

...it’s both perverse and predictable that Philanthropy magazine titled its spring 2013 cover story “They Shall Overcome...” Philanthro-ed-reformers have been chanting the mantra “Education is the civil rights issue of our time” for years, and they’ve appointed themselves leaders of the reform movement. The largest stakeholders in public education—students, educators, and parents—have no role to play except as recipients of donor-designed reforms. When they question the charitable largesse, they become part of the opposition that the philanthropists shall overcome. They shall overcome, not we. Solidarity doesn’t figure in. -- We They Shall Overcome

WEEKEND QUOTABLES

CAROL MARIN

I asked each to name their political heroes.Will Guzzardi said, among others, the late Minnesota Sen. Paul Wellstone and Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren. Toni Berrios answered, “My dad.” -- Sun-Times

DANNY SCHECHTER

The super spyboys have had a good run, but now the real world is bursting their bubble with pushback and ridicule. Something’s gotta give and it will. -- The News Dissector

Anna Louise Strong

JOHN NICHOLS

The latter state [Washington] was a hotbed of radicalism, especially in Seattle, where in 1916 activist Anna Louise Strong was elected to the school board. A militant supporter of left-wing causes and campaigns, she aligned with labor unions during the city’s general strike and famously declared:  

“They say the Pharaohs built the pyramids. Do you think one Pharaoh dropped one bead of sweat? We built the pyramids for the Pharaohs and we’re building for them yet.” -- The Nation

CHRYSTIA FREELAND

Bill Gates is the leading philanthrocapitalist, and he has many emulators — nowadays, having your own policy-oriented think tank is a far more effective status symbol among the super-rich than the mere conspicuous consumption of yachts or private jets. -- NYT, "Plutocrats vs. Populists"

WEEKEND QUOTABLES

From left are Gap Chairman Bob Fisher, investor Charles Schwab and philanthropist Eli Broad. A state investigation found that the three were among secret  donors to right-wing, anti-public school, anti-union group,  Americans for Job Security.   (Times Wire Services)

Anthony York

San Francisco investor Schwab gave more than $6.2 million to the same group [Americans for Job Security]. Broad gave $1 million despite his stated support for higher taxes on the wealthy. -- L.A. Times

L.A. Teacher, Geronimo

 “Although there probably has never been a more self-aggrandizing, yet endlessly self-pitying superintendent than John Deasy, we will now have the spectacle of observing who is going to beg this prima donna to stay." -- Diane Ravitch Blog

GLN Co-founder Andy Thayer

“Because Speaker Madigan is so powerful, controlling access to jobs and contracts, most organizations are afraid to take him on and bluntly place blame where it’s due... Madigan controls the House as surely as Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel controls the City Council." -- Capital Fax 

Kevin Welner

“Let’s challenge all students instead of tracking by ability” -- Seattle Times

 Kashmir Hill 

“He was talking very loudly and using words like ‘rendition’ and ‘black sites,’” entrepreneur and former MoveOn director Tom Mattzie told New York Magazine. “My ears perked up.” -- Forbes