Obama supports Republic Workers

From the Chicago Sun-Times:

President-elect Barack Obama put himself on the side of the workers at the Republic Windows and Doors factory Sunday:

“When it comes to the situation here in Chicago with the workers who are asking for their benefits and payments they have earned, I think they are absolutely right,” Obama said Sunday at a news conference announcing his new Veterans Affairs director. “What’s happening to them is reflective of what’s happening across this economy.

“When you have a financial system that is shaky, credit contracts. Businesses large and small start cutting back on their plants and equipment and their workforces. That’s why it’s so important for us to maintain a strong financial system. But it’s also important for us to make sure that the plans and programs that we design aren’t just targeted at maintaining the solvency of banks, but they are designed to get money out the doors and to help people on Main Street."

At the rally Saturday afternoon

It was one of those typical Chicago frost-bitten afternoons. But we buttoned up and went over to Republic Windows & Doors this afternoon where a large crowd had gathered to voice support for the workers presently occupying the plant. Actually, it was just as cold inside the plant, but the 250 UE members were determined to stick it out until they get their pay. A rally was held and speakers included fellow unionists from around the city, including someone from the Chicago Teachers Union and Congressman Luis Gutierrez. Here's some of my pictures:

More on the Chicago plant seizure

"I hope the new president will make good decisions..." --Apolinar Cabrena, Republic worker

We’re beginning to see just what the corporate bailout was really all about. The $800 billion we gave to Wall Street was supposed to drive investment and new loans to home owners and manufacturers so as to stave off a more massive global financial collapse. But instead, it seems that the giant banks have taken the money and run. Bank of America's withholding of loans to Chicago’s Republic Windows and Doors led to a plant closing without notice and hundreds of angry workers seizing the plant until they receive the pay that's due them.

"It's tough. It's really tough," said Apolinar Cabrena, 43, who had worked for the company for 17 years. Cabrena's wife is pregnant and expects to deliver around Christmas. He's got a mortgage and two other children to worry about and is owed eight weeks of unused vacation pay and two months of severance. "I know the economy is bad, not just for me but for everybody," Cabrena said after he stepped outside the factory to speak to AFP on Friday evening. "I have a lot of hope that next year, with a new president, he'll make good decisions and invest money in industry so I can get another job as soon as possible."

See more on the Republic plant seizure on brother Fred’s blog, including his pics.

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Now that same Bank of America has been found liable in this $141 million fraud scheme. It seems they keep two sets of books. Doesn't someone check on things like this before we give them billions of our dollars? Shouldn't these guys be worried about bail instead of bailouts?

Chicago workers seize the plant

Merry Christmas workers. 'Thanks for the bailout. Screw you', says B of A

So I just get back in town from working with some high schools in Indiana, when my brother Fred (PREAPrez) calls. He and Anne are down at Republic Windows & Doors on Chicago's north side, trying to lend some support to a couple of hundred mainly Latino workers who have taken over the plant and are demanding that they get paid. Republic shut its doors with little notice, leaving its workers high and dry for Christmas. They have refused to pay the workers their due severance pay and have been sneaking assets and equipment out of the plant for weeks.

Why? Republic president, Rich Gillman claims that the recession has cut the company's business in half and forced them to negotiate a loan from the bank to carry them over through these tough times. But their bank was taken over by the Bank of America, which just got a multi-billion-dollar bailout from...US. But despite its new found billions, the bank refuses to lend and prefers sitting on the bailout money. The company says it can't operate without the loan. So the company shut its doors and stuck it to the workers.

Is this what the bailout is for? What ever happened to a bailout for Main Street?

More on this story here, here, and here.

'Smaller-is-better trend in jeopardy'

From the Washington Post

For more than a decade, billions in federal and state dollars were targeted to whittle classes so that teachers can devote more time and attention to each student, crafting lessons to fit the needs of struggling students, high-achievers and everyone in between. Nationwide, the average number of students in elementary classes dropped from 29 in 1961 to 24 in 1996, according to the National Education Association. In 2004, the average elementary class nationwide had 20 children, the U.S. Education Department says, with about 25 in the average secondary class.

But this smaller-is-better trend is in jeopardy. A survey of more than 800 districts released last month by the American Association of School Administrators found that 36 percent have moved to larger classes in response to the economic downturn. Many are also putting off maintenance, buying fewer textbooks and lowering thermostats.

Palin around

Marshall University prof Joseph Wyatt writes:

…McCain took a skinny dip into the deep end of the hypocrisy pool when he spoke of a fictional "close relationship" between Obama and former 1960s bomber William Ayers. And McCain did so while overlooking his own chummy outings with G. Gordon Liddy, a felon who attempted to undermine the fair election of the president in 1972 when he and others bugged the offices of the Democratic National Committee. McCain has remained conveniently oblivious to Liddy's plot to bomb the Brookings Institution and his sociopathic plan to kill columnist Jack Anderson. The nutty Liddy more than once has instructed his listeners on the proper methods to "off" federal agents. Oddly, Sen. McCain praises Liddy as a fellow who upholds American values.

Golden State offers Obama a “dream team”

A trio of writers at the Contra Costa Times offers up some prominent west coast folks who would make good picks for the Obama team. I like most of them, especially LDH, Van Jones and Jeff Bleich (I worked with him on youth violence issues during Clinton years).

Silencing KGIA

Seth Wessler, writing at Colorlines, updates us on the scene at Khalil Gibran International Academy since founding principal, Debbie Almontaser, was forced from the school's leadership.

Sixth-grade students at the newly opened Khalil Gibran International Academy in Brooklyn were probably surprised last year when they opened their Arabic books to find photographs cut from the pages. “We cut pictures of mosques out of the Arabic books,” said Hassan Omar, an Egyptian man who until last spring taught Arabic and humanities at the academy, the country’s first Arabic-English, dual-language public school. “We are afraid that anything could be taken out of context.”

Read the rest of "Silenced in the Classroom" here.

Brooks and the "reformers"

Conservative NYT columnist David Brooks, as usual, has his head stuck way up his behind. Writing about Obama's pick for ed secretary, Brooks labels Linda Darling-Hammond as the "establishment" choice and Klein/Duncan as "reformers." By reform, Brooks means No Child Left Behind.

Many of the reformist hopes now hang on Obama’s friend, Arne Duncan. In Chicago, he’s a successful reformer who has produced impressive results in a huge and historically troubled system. He has the political skills necessary to build a coalition on behalf of No Child Left Behind reauthorization.

Of course, Brooks also thought Bush/Cheney were reformers. So the question for Duncan (Klein already knows the answer) is why are these right-wingers so desperately praying for your appointment?

CELEBRATE JANE ADDAMS DAY IN CHICAGO

On December 10, 1931, Jane Addams became the first American woman to win the Nobel Peace Prize.The State of Illinois honors her memory with a commemorative holiday to remind us of her lifelong commitment to making the city of Chicago and the world a more just and peaceful place.

Join the Jane Addams Hull-House Museum on Sunday, December 7th for a Family Day Celebration of Jane Addams Day. History, art, music, theater, and tasty holiday treats will be provided FREE OF CHARGE!

Jane Addams Day

Costumed performers from the Chicago Children’s Theater will tell immigrant stories.

A creative coloring contest (for ages 4 and up). Craft and Activism Projects for kids and adults with our Craftivism Art Educators.

Two sets of live music for stompin’ and shakin’ by the legendary JON LANGFORD at 2 & 3PM.

Delicious treats provided by Tara Lane.

All participating families will be given a FREE FAMILY PASS for FOUR to see the next Chicago Children’s Theatre production of THE SELFISH GIANT at The Museum of Science and Industry Little Theater, 5700 S. Lake Shore Dr (Museum admission not included).

Created by Blair Thomas/Fast Fish Puppet Theatre, from the short story by Oscar Wilde, with original music by Michael Smith.

January 18 – March 1, 2009 www.chicagochildrenstheatre.org All activities take place December 7th at the Jane Addams Hull-House Museum, 800 South Halsted, from 12 – 4PM
Call 312. 413.5353 for more information or go to www.hullhousemuseum.org

Stops for the following CTA routes nearby: #7 Harrison Bus, #8 Halsted Bus, #60 Blue Island Bus, UIC/Halsted Blue Line. Paid parking is across the street at Halsted and Polk Family day events are free and open to the public.

The good Bill

The good Bill Gates (not the used car salesman) appeared today in D.C. and gave a pretty good speech--until the part about Michelle Rhee, that is. He called on President-elect Barack Obama and the U.S. Congress to expand support for education and make the federal government “a dynamic agent of school reform,” even as the nation struggles through grim economic times. Gates also urged that any economic stimulus package passed by Congress not only include support for school construction, a priority cited by Obama and congressional leaders, but also provide assistance to states to avoid cuts in higher education. He also applauded recent talk about making "somewhat of a shift away from [defense] spending overseas."

He didn't say who he favored for the position of Secretary of Education. He probably doesn't care that much since most of the short-listed candidates are his grantees.

Three Chicago items

Three items in today's Chicago press caught my attention this morning. The first was about Mayor Daley's ongoing sell-0ff of public space to private corporations. In this case, it's the city's 86,000 parking meters being leased to a private firm for 75 years! In these hard times, that will mean a 400% increase in parking costs for Chicagoans. We have already been shaken down big-time following the privatization of the Skyway, downtown parking garages and Midway Airport.

It's another bailout for Morgan Stanley, who will now own all the city's meters and garages, virtually controlling miles and miles of public land as well. Did I mention that the Mayor's brother Bill works as a lobbyist for Morgan Stanley?

All this leads up to the Mayor's drive to privatize all that is public, including, with the help of his faithful assistant, schools CEO Arne Duncan, the operations of Chicago public schools. A key part of the strategy has been the so-called Renaissance 2010 initiative which is all about closing neighborhood schools and replacing them with charters run by outside charter management companies (CMOs). With a year to go on the plan, there's been lots of Texas-miracle-style hype (just what we don't need over at the new Obama DOE) but no evidence of any significant gains in student learning outcomes. Yet, Duncan is trying to ride that hype all the way to D.C. to become the next secretary of education.

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So my second item is one of the most butt-kissing letters to the editor I have ever read. Its author, Elizabeth Evans, heads up the self-interested Illinois Network of Charter Schools (INCS). INCS has tried (with little success) to make the case that all charter schools are great, just because they are charters. This kind of mindless cheerleading has helped pave the way for the CMO takeover of what was once a vibrant small and charter school movement in the city. Read it and see if you can keep from gagging.

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A hat-tip to Julie at PURE for this third item, which I missed somehow when it was originally published. It's a Tribune correction to a puffy piece about one of those Chicago charters, North Lawndale College Prep. NLCP is a fine small school, mind you. This is more a reaction to the kind of dis-information coming out of groups like INCS which newpapers are all too eager to swallow without first checking their facts.

Soaring costs put university out of reach for most

Today's NYT delivers heartbreaking news for most American families. Your kids probably won't be going to college.

While high school sorting and obsession with standardized testing act as gate keepers on one end, the spiraling cost of post-secondary education does it on the other. Currently, the amount of debt necessary to send a student to the university for four years has made a college degree practically inaccessible to all but the wealthy. And it's not just because of the recession.

The rising cost of college — even before the recession — threatens to put higher education out of reach for most Americans, according to the annual report from the National Center for Public Policy and Higher Education.

The report, “Measuring Up 2008,” is one of the few to compare net college costs — that is, a year’s tuition, fees, room and board, minus financial aid — against median family income. Those findings are stark. Last year, the net cost at a four-year public university amounted to 28 percent of the median family income, while a four-year private university cost 76 percent of the median family income.

Celebrating the life of Studs Terkel

Sunday, December 7th, 2008

The New Press will be hosting a memorial celebration of the life and work of Studs Terkel, who died on October 31st at the age of 96, on Sunday, December 7th at 4:00 pm in The Great Hall of Cooper Union.

Participants will include:

• Jimmy Breslin (Pulitzer Prize-winning Newsday columnist and author)
• Steve Earle and Allison Moorer (musicians);
• Laura Flanders (host of GritTV and RadioNation and New York Times bestselling author)
• Sydney Lewis (long-time friend and collaborator);
• Walter Mosley (best-selling author)
• Victor Navasky (publisher emeritus of The Nation and Director of the George Delacorte Center for Magazine Journalism at Columbia Journalism);
• Andre Schiffrin (founding director of The New Press and Studs' editor and publisher);
• Dan Terkel (son of the late Ida and Studs Terkel);
• Katrina vanden Heuvel (editor and publisher of The Nation);
• Gary Younge (columnist and feature writer for The Guardian);
• Howard Zinn (historian, activist, and prize-winning author of A People's History of the United States)

Co-sponsored by The Nation and The Indypendent.

The event will be open to the public and free of charge.

Location: The Great Hall of Cooper Union, 7 East 7th Street at Third Avenue, New York City (map)
Time: 4:00 pm-6:00 pm

Gates may be nation's biggest used car salesman

The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation may be tightening its belt when it comes to investing in public school improvement, but the current recession hasn’t curbed Gates’ enthusiasm for the used car business. The foundation, which invests 95% of its assets in profit-making ventures, including many in the world’s heaviest polluter-companies, has brought its total holdings in AutoNation (AN) to 20.5 million shares or 11.7% of the outstanding total. He and Sears Holdings (SHLD) Eddie Lampert now hold a combined 57% of the outstanding shares. AutoNation is the world's largest automotive retailer in the U.S., founded by billionaire Wayne Huizenga.