Republicans always have lots of money for their tax cuts for their rich buddies and for their wars, but money for the schools? they probably call that socialism!
Steve Kolman
1/18/2012 9:54:37 AM
Ed, thank you for covering this story in the way that you are. Chester Upland has been hit the hardest by Gov. Corbett's cuts. The teachers there are admirable. All urban school districts have been hit just as hard. Special Ed, Tech Support, Paper for classrooms, aides, NTA's, AP coordinators, and other non essentials have been cut from Philadelphia. More cuts are looming though I don't know where they will be. I was told by the Special Ed coordinator that there is no one to speak with to get a translator for a student and parent so they will understand their IEP. They no have a 'hot line' to call. The tech support team which had 3 people to monitor and fix 800 servers throughout the district have bee cut to 1 and he will only be there for 90 more days. We have cut down on printed papers by and for students because there is not enough money to pay for toner and paper. If teachers want to print they will buy those products themselves, not to supplement but to implement. This is education now in America. Educate the rich and wealthy, damn the rest.
By the way, Charter schools are how you get around the Brown v Board of ED Supreme Court decision. Make schools quasi private, they choose who may attend. Then you can effectively get around the Brown decision. Segregation is back!
Linda S Houston
1/18/2012 8:53:12 AM
The charter schools are actually costing MORE money than a regular public school and if you think the kids are getting a better education I've got some swampland in Arizona to sell you. Here we sit in Texas and they are not even investing money in textbooks anymore. They did not even purchase the new Language Arts adoption. What can be more basic than teaching kids grammar and proper usage of the English language??? Maybe math and science are the only other things.
They are insisting that the schools pick a magnet theme to go along with the schools of choice idea. This instead of neighborhood schoools. They are deliberately targeting financially struggling school districts.
Let me tell you what the result of that is. The school I was teaching in cut my ESL job and hired teachers to teach French, Chinese, and German. They decided their theme was going to be international studies over the objections of alot of teachers who preferred something more relevant. I am not kidding. How is that going to help them pass a state standardized test??? I had been there 3 years and those kids desperately needed the extra help learning English. No good deed goes unpunished in education.
I then was moved to one of the neocon charter schools. Disaster. It was being run by a woman who had practically no credentials and less than 5 actual years of teaching experience.
I am happy to say I retired at the end of 2011. I cannot be a part of this anymore or support it in any way because it is damaging kids futures. I now work for a private sector educational company.
Pat, Grand Lake Co
1/18/2012 7:45:33 AM
Pay close attention to this story. It is the future of America if we don't act!!
America is not broke, Pennsylvania is not broke, Colorado is not broke.
I love this blog because most of the people who blog here get it. They can see and understand what's going on and we all know the number one solution:
TAX THE RICH, or soon they will have all the schools and we'll have a shell!
Merle from Michigan
1/18/2012 1:50:41 AM
Ed, you should talk with Diane Ravitz formerly of the Bush Administration on Education and Charter Schools. She was featured on Amy Goodman's Show almost 2 years ago:
All this goes on while we sit idly by waiting for the next shoe to drop. All this has been a 40 year plan to dumb down the country, and they (mainly RepubliCONS but some Dems are at fault here too) doing a great job of it indeed. Meanwhile, their cronies are getting paid by the gov't to "educate" children, paying teachers a pittance of what they're worth and not always using certified teachers. Oh yeah, Unions are NOT allowed, no pension (401K...........yipee), lousy health insurance and fired at-will. What a way to work. The big money is paid at the top. When they go bankrupt, guess where the students get to go? When a student gets expelled, guess where the student gets to go. And.............of course, no money follows the student. The money is paid to the school that gets the kid(s) on count day. Never pro-rated funds returned to any teaching institution, if the student gets expelled, moved, etc. Shameful indeed. Hope you can get her on your show(s) Big 'E'!
Linda S Houston
1/18/2012 12:39:30 AM
I have experience teaching in charter schools. Trust me, they are not the answer. Because they are run independently from the school districts, the administrators think they have carte blanche to be little dictators. They work the teachers to the bone before and after school, not to mention a full work day. Now that so many jobs are being cut, the teachers won't speak up or speak out and defend themselves because they are afraid of losing their jobs. It's just like the private sector only much lower pay.
ron mariposa
1/17/2012 9:23:31 PM
Charter schools are the future school if the gop=tea baggers get in power. They will cut public education and give the money to the charter schools, and if you cant afford to send you kid to the rich charter school then they are to be educated in a second rate run down and not as tech public schools. I am would never knock the teachers who stay and teach the kids in public schools as to me they are the real teachers, and not the one just looking for the big pay check. This to me is like some of the paid fire fighters who work just for the pay check and never volunteer to do it for free to help their neighborhoods. The gop=tea baggers plan to destroy all the middle class is taking shape in Mich with the take over of the city and county governments and placing one of their goons in power and then they cut education, police, fire, and all public workers while giving tax breaks to business and the wealthy.
Also mr.mitty rummie the middle class is the back bone of this country and you and your ilk are leachs and we dont envy your type.
