Iris Kirsch

Attention Baltimore teachers, students, parents, and all those concerned about public ed in this town: City Schools teachers and staff will, next Thursday, be called upon to sign a new version of our merit pay contract. WE MUST VOTE NO! The negotiations have been completely opaque. The merit pay system is hurting students and driving good teachers out. Let's take our time to find the right solution, and not be forced to jump up in one week and sign a contract we were only made privy to today. Please contact me if you'd like to help spread the word.
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Teachers Union Launching Massive Campaign Against Education Reform Movement
Posted: 12/05/2013 5:03 pm EST  |  Updated: 12/05/2013 6:37 pm EST

  The American Federation of Teachers union is unveiling a seven-figure advertisement campaign ahead of Dec. 9, a day that the group has billed as a "national day of action" against the education reform movement and push alternative solutions.

“Public education is under attack and underfunded throughout our country," the advertisements read, according to materials AFT, the nation's second-largest teachers union, provided to The Huffington Post. "Now, communities are coming together for our schools and our children to champion great public schools as the heart of our neighborhoods. … Together, we can make sure our schools are places where all kids can thrive and the voices of those closest to the classroom are heard.”

In an interview, AFT President Randi Weingarten said the AFT is spending about $1.2 million on the push. The radio, online and print advertisements, including a full-page ad in USA Today, are running through Dec. 9 in 30 cities, including New York, Chicago, Washington and Philadelphia. The messaging is framed around the idea of "reclaiming the promise" of public education, according to AFT materials.

Weingarten said various protests are expected to take place in at least 60 cities on Dec. 9. For the day of action, AFT has collaborated with the National Education Association, America's biggest teachers union, groups like the Schott Foundation, and community organizations like the Chicago-based Journey for Justice Alliance. The groups are circulating a document, "the principles that unite us," to outline their cause: making sure public schools "are public institutions"; fostering the creation of community schools; fighting so-called privateers; respect for teachers; and schools that are "welcoming and respectful places for all" and fully funded. The document says the groups do not entirely oppose charter schools, but that those schools must be regulated and accountable to the public.

The unions are calling the movement a groundswell of organic support against the usurping of public schools by "corporate interests" that want to make a "market-based system of schooling" involving high-stakes testing and attacks on collective bargaining. An AFT one-pager obtained by HuffPost lists the day's purpose as "to begin to create a national echo chamber for our vision and narrative." The memo calls on groups to "mobilize large numbers of parents, students, community residents and union members" to "tell stories of the impact of the corporate agenda on students," and, in some cases, "target an agent of the corporate agenda."

Weingarten said the idea behind the campaign came from a human rights conference in Los Angeles and through town halls AFT held in different cities. "We want to fight austerity, but we also want to come up with a proactive way of trying to change public education," she said. "You see a grassroots movement that says no -- not just no we have enough, no we're critical -- but these are the kind of reforms we need to help kids succeed in life, college and career. We thought it was important to have one day to mark that."

In Illinois, the Chicago Teachers Union is expecting 500 teachers, students and residents to hold a press conference near City Hall and march to the State of Illinois building to deliver a wish list to the governor.

Friday, in advance of the Day of Action, activists in Austin, Texas, are slated to march from the Capitol South Steps to the Federal Building to rally with unions and advocate for their agenda. In Boise, Idaho, teachers and unions plan to advocate outside the Capitol for more funding.

Weingarten acknowledged that the effort is a sort of rehash of previous campaigns. "People have been engaged in this effort for awhile. This is bringing people together like we have never done before in a thoughtful and deliberative process that is also about action," she said. "It's the growing of a movement."

Others took a different view. "The kinds of things that they have been against -- more options for families in low-performing schools, higher standards for students and stronger accountability for results -- those are all things that the public is strongly in favor of," argued Tim Daly, who oversees TNTP, an alternative teacher certification group. "Instead of being against things that the public is in favor of, there have been efforts to shift attention to red herring issues like privatization."



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Please sign this but as important look at the goals of this group.  These are people passionate about public education and know that today's education reform is not the right direction.  Shout out in your city and town that the people will have control of their public schools and its resources!


Sign The Education Declaration to Rebuild America For too long, our policymakers have engaged the nation’s schoolchildren in a grand experiment, with frequent testing, incentive programs and top-down mandates that promised much but delivered little.

Today, leading academics, policymakers and educators come together to demand an education spring embodied in An Education Declaration to Rebuild America.

Those who’ve signed the Declaration include prominent progressives, such as Robert Reich; public officials, such as Florida State Senator Nan Rich; education experts Diane Ravitch and Linda Darling-Hammond; union leaders Randi Weingarten and Dennis Van Roekel; parent activists, such as Rita Solnet; authors Jonathan Kozol and Dave Eggers – and more than 40 other prominent leaders. See them here.

We invite you to add your name and forward this to friends so that we can grow this movement for real education reform based on what America needs and our children deserve.

Add your name

An Education Declaration to Rebuild America Americans have long looked to our public schools to provide opportunities for individual advancement, promote social mobility and share democratic values. We have built great universities, helped bring children out of factories and into classrooms, held open the college door for returning veterans, fought racial segregation and struggled to support and empower students with special needs. We believe good schools are essential to democracy and prosperity — and that it is our collective responsibility to educate all children, not just a fortunate few.

Over the past three decades, however, we have witnessed a betrayal of those ideals. Following the 1983 report A Nation at Risk, policymakers on all sides have pursued an education agenda that imposes top-down standards and punitive high-stakes testing while ignoring the supports students need to thrive and achieve. This approach – along with years of drastic financial cutbacks — are turning public schools into uncreative, joyless institutions. Educators are being stripped of their dignity and autonomy, leading many to leave the profession. Neighborhood schools are being closed for arbitrary reasons. Parent and community voices are being shut out of the debate. And children, most importantly, are being systemically deprived of opportunities to learn.

As a nation we have failed to rectify glaring inequities in access to educational opportunities and resources. By focusing solely on the achievement gap, we have neglected the opportunity gap that creates it, and have allowed the resegregation of our schools and communities by class and race. The inevitable result, highlighted in the Federal Equity and Excellence Commission’s recent report, For Each and Every Child, is an inequitable system that hits disadvantaged students, families, and communities the hardest.

A new approach is needed to improve our nation’s economic trajectory, strengthen our democracy, and avoid an even more stratified and segregated society. To rebuild America, we need a vision for 21st-century education based on seven principles:

• All students have a right to learn. Opportunities to learn should not depend on zip code or a parent’s abilities to work the system. Our education system must address the needs of all children, regardless of how badly they are damaged by poverty and neglect in their early years. We must invest in research-proven interventions and supports that start before kindergarten and support every child’s aspirations for college or career.
• Public education is a public good. Public education should never be undermined by private control, deregulation and profiteering. Keeping our schools public is the only way we can ensure that each and every student receives a quality education. School systems must function as democratic institutions responsive to students, teachers, parents and communities.
• Investments in education must be equitable and sufficient. Funding is necessary for all the things associated with an excellent education: safe buildings, quality teachers, reasonable class sizes, and early learning opportunities. Yet, as we’ve “raised the bar” for achievement, we’ve cut the resources children and schools need to reach it. We must reverse this trend and spend more money on education and distribute those funds more equitably.
• Learning must be engaging and relevant. Learning should be a dynamic experience through connections to real world problems and to students’ own life experiences and cultural backgrounds. High-stakes testing narrows the curriculum and hinders creativity.
• Teachers are professionals. The working conditions of teachers are the learning conditions of students. When we judge teachers solely on a barrage of high-stakes standardized tests, we limit their ability to reach and connect with their students. We must elevate educators’ autonomy and support their efforts to reach every student.
• Discipline policies should keep students in schools. Students need to be in school in order to learn. We must cease ineffective and discriminatory discipline practices that push children down the school-to-prison pipeline. Schools must use fair discipline policies that keep classrooms safe and all students learning.
• National responsibility should complement local control. Education is largely the domain of states and school districts, but in far too many states there are gross inequities in how funding is distributed to schools that serve low-income and minority students. In these cases, the federal government has a responsibility to ensure there is equitable funding and enforce the civil right to a quality education for all students.

Principles are only as good as the policies that put them into action. The current policy agenda dominated by standards-based, test-driven reform is clearly insufficient. What’s needed is a supports-based reform agenda that provides every student with the opportunities and resources needed to achieve high standards and succeed, focused on these seven areas:

1. Early Education and Grade Level Reading: Guaranteed access to high quality early education for all, including full-day kindergarten and universal access to pre-K services, to help ensure students can read at grade level.
2. Equitable Funding and Resources: Fair and sufficient school funding freed from over-reliance on locally targeted property taxes, so those who face the toughest hurdles receive the greatest resources. Investments are also needed in out-of-school factors affecting students, such as supports for nutrition and health services, public libraries, after school and summer programs, and adult remedial education — along with better data systems and technology.
3. Student-Centered Supports: Personalized plans or approaches that provide students with the academic, social, and health supports they need for expanded and deeper learning time.
4. Teaching Quality: Recruitment, training, and retention of well-prepared, well-resourced, and effective educators and school leaders, who can provide extended learning time and deeper learning approaches, and are empowered to collaborate with and learn from their colleagues.
5. Better Assessments: High-quality diagnostic assessments that go beyond test-driven mandates and help teachers strengthen the classroom experience for each student.
6. Effective Discipline: An end to ineffective and discriminatory discipline practices, including inappropriate out-of-school suspensions, replaced with policies and supports that keep all students in quality educational settings.
7. Meaningful Engagement: Parent and community engagement in determining the policies of schools and the delivery of education services to students.

As a nation, we’re failing to provide the basics our children need for an opportunity to learn. Instead, we have substituted a punitive high-stakes testing regime that seeks to force progress on the cheap. But there is no shortcut to success. We must change course before we further undermine schools and drive away the teachers our children need.

All who envision a more just, progressive and fair society cannot ignore the battle for our nation’s educational future. Principals fighting for better schools, teachers fighting for better classrooms, students fighting for greater opportunities, parents fighting for a future worthy of their child’s promise: their fight is our fight. We must all join in.

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Baltimore City Public Schools 21st-Century Buildings Design Expo

Saturday, November 2 from 8:30 AM to 3:30 PM
Morgan State University Student Center, 1700 East Cold Spring Lane
Don't miss this exciting one-day conference where students, families, parents, teachers, and community members will learn how 21st-century school buildings can support innovative teaching and learning in their schools. Presentations include interactive workshops, breakout sessions, and exhibits. Come find out about the process for designing your renovated or new school building, your role in helping develop that design, and school designs elsewhere and the possibilities they represent for your school community. For more information, please visit www.baltimorecityschools.org.
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PURE is the Chicago public schools advocacy group fighting against education privatization.  Please GO TO THE WEBSITE and take a look at this survey and ask----WHY DOES BALTIMORE NOW HAVE ANY VOICE FOR COMMUNITIES AND PARENTS?!

We need this kind of group in Baltimore fighting for public education!


PURE News To Me Today
at 11:31 AM
From RYH:

Attention CPS Parents! Raise Your Hand for Illinois Public Education needs your feedback on what is happening at your child's school and what you think are the main priorities for improving public education in Chicago. Although we highly value all voices, we ask that only parents/guardians of CURRENT student(s) complete this survey. All responses will be kept completely confidential. Only aggregate findings (for example, X% of parents surveyed believe ...) may be made public. Thank you.

https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/RYHFALL2013

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Tuesday Nov 5, 7PM : Red Emma's and 2640 Present: John Burdick and Marisela Gomez - Organizing Against the Academic Industrial Complex

We are thrilled to welcome Marisela Gomez and John Burdick to 2640!



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Dear Maryland Education Coalition Members,

  It’s fall again and we are gearing up for our Annual Meeting on November 14th, 2013 from 6:00pm-8:00pm. As the 2014 Legislative Session approaches, education will be a key focus. Please save the date and join us in a lively discussion about the state of education in Maryland. More details to follow. Dinner will be provided.

  Click here to register.
Please let me know if you have any questions. We look forward to seeing you!

  David S. Beard Education Policy Director Advocates for Children & Youth
8 Market Place, 5th Floor  Baltimore, MD 21202  410-547-9200 x3018 
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Do any Maryland residents know that this important process is happening regarding education? Who will be the one's that comment?

CODE OF MARYLAND REGULATIONS
TITLE 13A
STATE BOARD OF EDUCATION
OPPORTUNITY FOR PUBLIC COMMENT

In accordance with State Government Article, §§10-130—10-139, Annotated Code of Maryland, the Maryland State Department of Education is currently reviewing and evaluating the follow chapters of COMAR Title 13A:

Subtitle 01 STATE SCHOOL ADMINISTRATION 13A.01.01 State Board of Education 13A.01.02 State Superintendent of Schools 13A.01.03 State Department of Education 13A.01.04 Public School Standards 13A.01.05 Appeals to the State Board of Education
Subtitle 02 LOCAL SCHOOL ADMINISTRATION 13A.02.01 Local Boards of Education 13A.02.03 Local Administrative and Supervisory Staff 13A.02.04 Tobacco-Free School Environment 13A.02.05 Maintenance of Effort 13A.02.06 General Financial Aid to Local School Systems 13A.02.07 Annual Audits of Financial Statements and Federal Awards 13A.02.08 Recognition of Employee Organizations 13A.02.09 Closing of Schools
Subtitle 03 GENERAL INSTRUCTIONAL PROGRAMS 13A.03.01 Standards for Kindergarten Programs 13A.03.02 Graduation Requirements for Public High Schools in Maryland 13A.03.04 Test Administration and Data-Reporting Policies and Procedures 13A.03.05 Administration of Home and Hospital Teaching for Students
Subtitle 04 SPECIFIC SUBJECTS 13A.04.01 Programs in Technology Education 13A.04.02 Secondary School Career and Technology Education 13A.04.03 Driver Education Programs 13A.04.04 Religious Education 13A.04.05 Education That is Multicultural 13A.04.08 Program in Social Studies 13A.04.09 Program in Science 13A.04.10 Program of Instruction in the World of Work Competencies 13A.04.12 Program in Mathematics 13A.04.13 Program in Physical Education 13A.04.14 Program in English Language Arts 13A.04.16 Programs in Fine Arts
13A.04.19
Program in Cosmetology 13A.04.20 Program for Barbers
Subtitle 05 SPECIAL INSTRUCTIONAL PROGRAMS 13A.05.01 Provision of a Free Appropriate Public Education 13A.05.02 Administration of Services for Students with Disabilities 13A.05.03 Programs of Adult Education 13A.05.04 Programs for Library Media Services 13A.05.05 Programs of Pupil Services 13A.05.06 Programs for Migrant Education 13A.05.07 Programs for Non-English and Limited-English Proficient Students 13A.05.08 Approved Paid Work-Based Learning Programs 13A.05.09 Programs for Homeless Children 13A.05.10 Automated External Defibrillator Program in High Schools
Subtitle 06 SUPPORTING PROGRAMS 13A.06.01 Programs for Food and Nutrition 13A.06.02 Prekindergarten Programs 13A.06.05 School Supplies and Equipment 13A.06.06 Safety Equipment 13A.06.07 Student Transportation
Pursuant to the Maryland State Department of Education (MSDE) Work Plan submitted to and approved by the Joint Committee on Administrative, Executive, and Legislative Review, MSDE will evaluate the need to retain, amend, or repeal any provisions of these regulations based on whether they:
• Continue to be necessary for the public interest?
• Continue to be supported by statutory authority and judicial opinion?
• Are obsolete or other appropriate for amendment or repeal?
• Are effective in accomplishing their intended purpose?

The Maryland State Department of Education would like to provide interested parties with an opportunity to participate in the review and evaluation process by submitting comments on these regulations. The comments may address any concerns about the regulations. If the comments include suggested changes to the regulations, please be as specific as possible and provide language for the suggested changes.

Comments should be directed to Anthony L. South, Executive Director, Office of the State Board of Education, 200 West Baltimore Street, Baltimore, Maryland 21201-2595, by fax to 410-333-6033, or by e-mail to StateBoard@msde.state.md.us. Comments must be received by January 31, 2014.
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Tuesday Nov 5, 7PM :

Red Emma's and 2640 Present: John Burdick and Marisela Gomez - Organizing Against the Academic Industrial Complex

We are thrilled to welcome Marisela Gomez and John Burdick to 2640!

John Burdick will tell the story of his involvement in a grassroots neighborhood organization that has struggled to maintain independence from Syracuse University, in the context of a University-driven process of gentrification. While the University claims that it wishes to "engage" with the community, it only does so when residents act in support of its development goals. John will also comment on his own work with students at SU to try to move beyond "service learning", to a new model of students dedicating time and skills in solidarity with existing struggles.

Marisela Gomez will discuss the historical and current ways Johns Hopkins has used corporate greed and government power to expand through exploitation of people and dispossession of land and roots of people. She will discuss the role of organizing as a way of challenging these forces - particularly in the face of Hopkins' public image as a benefactor of good to distract its role as a capitalist corporation. Marisela will also cover the use of foundations to protect its image and its presence on their boards.

Their presenations will be followed by a discussion about the role of community organizing to fight back against these practices.

John Burdick is Professor of Anthropology at Syracuse University. He is author of Legacies of Liberation: The Progressive Catholic Church in Brazil at the Start of a New Millennium, Blessed Anastacia: Women, Race and Popular Christianity in Brazil, and Looking for God in Brazil: The Progressive Catholic Church in Urban Brazil's Religious Arena.

Marisela B. Gomez is a community activist, author, public health professional, and physician scientist. She received a BS and MS from the University of New Mexico in Albuquerque, a PHD, MD, and MPH from the Johns Hopkins University. She spent 17 years as an activist/researcher or participant/observer in East Baltimore during and after training at the Johns Hopkins Schools of Medicine and Public Health. Past and current writings address social determinants and health, social capital and urban health, disparities in mental health care in incarcerated populations, disparities in substance use treatment, mental health care in the primary health care setting, community organizing and development, and mindfulness practices in organizing. She spends her time between the city and counties of Baltimore, Maryland. She is the author of Race, Class, Power, and Organizing in East Baltimore: Rebuilding Abandoned Communities in America.




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PSAT for 4-30-13, Part 1:

Stop shopping at Walmart!!! Why would anyone who cares about public schools shop at Walmart?

Really, folks. It’s your money. And when you shop at WalMart, your money goes to support:

• more charter schools: $3.8 million in Chicago alone  including $230,000 for UNO charter schools.
• more school closings: $500,000 to pay for Chicago’s sham “public engagement” school closing hearings.
• more astroturf “parent” groups like Stand for Children (millions) and Parent Revolution ($6.3 million) to push the parent trigger and other corporate reforms.
• more high-stakes standardized testing: Walton supports teacher bonuses linked to raising test scores.
• more vouchers for private and religious schools.
• more Michelle Rhee: despite the recent scandals involving Rhee, WalMart just upped their giving to $8 million.

According to Diane Ravitch, “they commit about $160 million each year for charters, vouchers, Teach for America, think tanks, and media. Everything they do has the singular goal of dismantling public education and opening the schools to untrained, uncertified teachers.”

Maybe if every parent, every teacher, and every student in Chicago stopped shopping at WalMart, we wouldn’t all have to be out in the streets time and time again, like the three-day demonstration planned for May 18-19-20. 

Why boycott?

I had a plan to raise a boycott issue once a month, taking a cue from the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King’s strategy – “our agenda calls for withdrawing economic support from (businesses).”

I’ve also pointed out that, even without an admittedly unlikely crippling nationwide boycott of WalMart, Microsoft, Hyatt Hotels, etc., we can effectively put pressure where it really hurts: that is, in the corporate image of these companies.

I haven’t stuck with that plan, with so many other actions to take over the past months, but I remain convinced that we have the power to stop these corporate school raiders. WE JUST HAVE TO USE IT.

So. I guess I’m going to be harping on boycotts and attacking the corporate image of these corporate reformers once a month again for a while. I hope you’ll help spread the word.



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THIS IS THE ISSUE.....HOW CAN YOU ASSESS AN EMPLOYEE WITH EVALUATIONS THAT HAVE NOT BEEN EVEN MARGINALLY TESTED AND EVALUATED THEMSELVES?  YOU CANNOT!!!!

Dear Cindy,

This morning I addressed a group called the Association for a Better New York and spoke about the Common Core State Standards for math and English language arts that have been adopted by 45 states and the District of Columbia. I predicted these standards will result in one of two outcomes: They will lead to a revolution in teaching and learning, or end up in the dustbin of abandoned reforms. Educators want these standards to succeed—we know; we’ve asked them. But, in order for that to happen, we must have a chance to implement them before someone starts assessing how they’re working. 

So today I called for a moratorium on the consequences of high-stakes testing associated with the Common Core standards until states and districts have worked with educators to properly implement them. Stand with me.

We are committed to the success of getting the transition to Common Core right. To do that, we must help teachers and students master this new approach and not waste time punishing people for not doing something they haven’t yet been equipped to do. Can you imagine doctors being expected to perform a new medical procedure without being trained or provided the necessary instruments? That’s what is happening right now with the Common Core.

We have the ability to transform the very DNA of teaching and learning, to move away from rote memorization and endless test taking, and toward problem solving, critical thinking and teamwork—things I know we have been advocating for years. It’s kind of amazing that we have to call on states and districts to implement the Common Core State Standards before making the new assessments count. But that’s what we’re doing.

Send a message to Secretary of Education Arne Duncan and your state education commissioner: When states and districts get the alignment right—which will require moving from standards to curriculum to field testing to revising—success will follow. But, until then, a moratorium on the stakes is the only sensible course.

Making changes without anything close to adequate preparation is a failure of leadership, a sign of a broken accountability system and, worse, an abdication of our moral responsibility to the kids we serve. The Common Core standards have the potential to be a once-in-a-generation revolution in education, but there must be a tangible commitment from leadership that says very clearly, “We support you, and the Common Core, and these are the concrete steps we are going to take to help you and them succeed.”

Stand with me, because if we are able to put our foot on the accelerator of high-quality implementation, and put the brakes on the stakes, we can take advantage of this opportunity and guarantee that stronger standards lead to higher achievement for all children. Help me send that message.

In unity,
Randi Weingarten
AFT President


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I ENCOURAGE ALL TO ATTEND THESE SESSIONS AS WE WANT TO KNOW WHAT IS EXPECTED OF THE TEACHERS AND IF THESE EVALUATIONS REALLY PROVIDE VALUE!!!
 
-Information sessions on the new teacher evaluation process will be held on the following dates: February 5 from 4 p.m. – 5:30 p.m. at Patterson High School, 100 Kane Street, Baltimore, MD 21224; February 12 from 4 p.m. – 5:30 p.m. at Edmondson-Westide High School, 501 N. Athol Ave. Baltimore, MD 21229; February 19 from 4 p.m. – 5:30 p.m. at Heritage High School, 2801 St. Lo Drive, Baltimore, MD 21213; February 26 from 4 p.m. – 5:30 p.m. at BTU Headquarters, 5800 Metro Drive, Baltimore, MD 21215. If you have any questions, please contact educatorfieldtest@bcps.k12.md.us.  I encourage all of you to attend one of these sessions and express your concerns and ask your questions.
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CITY COUNCIL IS PLANNING AN INFORMATION GATHERING ON CHARTER SCHOOLS SO BE READY TO ATTEND AND/OR SEND IN YOUR VOTE ON HOW AND WHEN TO CLOSE THESE CHARTER SCHOOLS AND RETURN THEM TO PUBLIC SCHOOLS!

  Informational Hearing - Baltimore City Public Charter Schools FOR the purpose of calling on representatives of the Baltimore City Public School  System, public charter school operators, and other stakeholders to report to the City  Council on the current status of the City’s public charter schools, and to discuss  their accomplishments and their challenges, particularly in regards to the per-pupil  funding formula and addressing the on-going capital needs of those public charter  schools housed in privately-owned buildings.
12-0072R Sponsors: Bill Henry, Carl Stokes, Nick Mosby, President Young, Helen L. Holton,  Brandon M. Scott, Sharon Green Middleton, William "Pete" Welch and  Mary Pat Clarke
RESOLUTION EDUCATION AND YOUTH COMMITTEE


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Washington Peace Center -------march this Thursday in DC for ALL PUBLIC EDUCATION IN AMERICA!

Solidarity March with Montreal Students Friday June 1st, 6-10pm
McPherson Square
15th & K st NW

For the last 100 days, students all across Quebec have been on strike against the government’s attempt to raise tuition and increase student debt. In response, OccupyDC is organizing a solidarity march with the students who are fighting against life-long endebtedness and for education as a human right. Bring pots & pans!



Activist Alert

5.30.12

Dear Cindy,

Heroic students in Québec have been on strike for over 100 days. Standing their ground on the belief that higher education is a right, not a privilege, these students have built the foundation for what’s becoming a global movement.

Across the US and beyond, the corporatization of the education industry has sent prices jettisoning through the roof for the past few decades. Although from a US perspective what these students are fighting for might seem minimal—they’re looking to challenge a $325 per year tuition increase over the next five years—their fight is grounded in an ideology that austerity measures of all kinds can’t be our societies’ response to budget shortfalls.

All over the country—and the world—young people are standing up against injustices. Student debt in the US, Canada and beyond has become a major fight. In an economy with an eroding middle class, a bachelor’s degree or more is seen as an entrée into economic stability. When that investment becomes more about money than time and work, when that investment in stability is enormously destabilizing, there’s a problem.

And although higher education in Quebec is cheaper than anywhere else in the US & Canada, the Quebecois students are fighting to maintain that. And the State is responding. Enacting repressive temporary laws targeted specifically at these protesters, it’s clear they see this battle as the people vs. the oligarchy. And others do too. Hundreds of thousands of people are marching regularly in solidarity with the student protesters. And all this has taken work: the students unions, as this week’s featured article explains, “have been working for two years to get here.”

This is a great example of calculated organizing with an eye to the future. Let’s stand up in solidarity! Join the solidarity march with the Quebecois students in DC on Thursday, and join the struggle for social justice by participating in any of the other activities we feature in this week’s alert.

In Solidarity,

Sonia, Dany, Ricky & Lucia


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MEETINGS ON SCHOOL CONSTRUCTION AND RENOVATION......IF YOU DON'T TALK THE MARYLAND EDUCATION AND BALTIMORE EDUCATION COALITION WILL...CHARTER SCHOOLS PREVAIL!  REMEMBER...THESE CHARTERS WILL BE BUILT WITH PUBLIC MONEY AND THEN GO PRIVATE.

Revised Sections of the Administrative Procedures Guide

• The Interagency Committee on School Construction (IAC) approved seven revised sections and four appendices of the Public School Construction Program Administrative Procedures Guide (the APG). The pages can be found by clicking the link to the left titled Administrative Procedures Guide or clicking here.

Upcoming Events

• IAC Committee Meeting: February 23, 2012 - 9:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m.
• IAC Committee Meeting: April 18, 2012 - 9:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m.
• IAC Committee Meeting: June 14, 2012 - 9:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m.
• IAC Committee Meeting: September 20, 2012 - 9:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m.
• IAC Committee Meeting: November 8, 2012 - 9:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m.
• IAC Committee Meeting: December 4, 2012 - 8:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.

Reports & Documents ~
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California's world-class education is now a mess.  Since Third Way drive towards profit over people, all we see is a widening gap in who/how citizens are educated.  We see this two-tiered system starting with the slow drop in charter funding in Maryland.  It fails to meet equal opportunity laws that are being ignored, as with enforcement in general.

California considers approving two-tier tuition
 Santa Monica City College‘s plan to charge higher prices for high-demand English and math classes was abandoned in the face of protests — and the state community college chancellor’s warning that the idea probably was illegal. But now a bill in the California Legislature would legalize tw0-tier pricing for courses that cost more to deliver, reports Inside Higher Ed.

State Sen. Roderick D. Wright has introduced legislation that would let community college boards charge more for high-cost technical education or job training classes, making those classes self-supporting.

“This bill would allow community college districts to charge students for the actual costs of the courses,” according to the legislation, including the cost of instruction, equipment and supplies, student services and instructional support.

Wright hopes to expand community colleges’ capacity so they can compete for students with for-profit colleges,  said Stan DiOrio, Wright’s legislative director.  A Democrat, Wright represents a low-income and working-class area in south Los Angeles  where for-profit colleges are recruiting minority students, often for certificate programs to train security guards, chefs and bookkeepers.

California has rejecting pricing differentials before, but this time the pressure is much greater, notes Inside Higher Ed.

The state’s 112 community colleges have been walloped by deep budget cuts, which have forced them to turn away hundreds of thousands of students — an estimated 200,000 this year alone. And an additional $300 million cut looms if the state’s voters don’t pass a tax hike this fall.

Tuition levels at the colleges, which serve 2.6 million students, will rise to $46 from $36 this summer. But even after the increase, California’s community colleges will charge less than half the national average in tuition and fees.

That’s a source of pride in a state with a deep commitment to cheap, open-access public higher education.

But it means that students pay in time wasted when they can’t get into critical classes to complete a degree or transfer.  And many decide it’s cheaper to earn a for-profit certificate or degree quickly, even though the cost is much higher.

Still, differential tuition is very, very controversial in the state. Very.
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My letter to the ACLU-MD and then forwarded to the members of Baltimore Education Coalition (BEC) and the Baltimore City School Board.  The meetings of the BEC are closed and the school board has a mission.

I won't belabor this, but I need to be sure you understand the goal of this reform, as it doesn't match your mission statement on education on your website.  You are a member of Baltimore Education Coalition and from what I see the members are almost all charter school groups.  It is odd that a member of the community cannot attend the meetings of this coalition and the meeting place is not announced publically...since they are discussing public education.

I am a national academic who has been working particularly with health, education , and financial markets these few years so I'm quite knowlegeable on policy.  The conversion of K-college started at the college/university level and is now moving to the K-12 public schools.  Our government has become replete with spin, so that a charter school that is given legal protections from public school requirements and hidden agreements between state and business owner, can still be called a 'public' charter.  That is a civil liberties issue right there.  In Baltimore, as I watch and listen to the City School Board complete with Teach for America, Basu and his economic development group, and charter school advocates all new with the coming of New York's Alonzo.  Underserved parents and students pleading for their schools as the school board closes them as requested by city development corporations, clearly gentrification in high gear.  I visit and speak with families living near East Side Development charter schools......they say 'this public school is now for high achieving students, that public schools is now for students with disabilities, this public school requires a school uniform that no one in the neighborhood can afford.  I have to take my child 17 blocks to a school......where is the choice?'  The choice is clearly get out and stay out.  Even The Maryland Daily Record and Baltimore Sun, traditionally conservative business-friendly types, offer open editorials as to the ethnic cleansing of this charter program driven by Johns Hopkins Development organizations at Homewood and East Baltimore.  It is startling to watch as the 21st century looks very much like the mid-1960s.

I talked with the ABAG and Maryland Non-Profits who are basically organizing the public school to private charter transition complete with funding from corporations and foundations with personal interest.  The move to allow private funding of these charters is in the legislature and I'm hearing that the law requiring union teachers in these charters is about to be revoked.  'Morgan State University has been pushed out' one family told me as the partnership in this development meant to shelter Johns Hopkins from the 'ethnic cleaning' charges leaves the scene.

The question is why is the ACLU-MD still there and why are you not prosecuting all these civil liberties violations?  Why are you on these Maryland State/Baltimore City Coalitions on Education Reform giving this process a sense of constitutional legitamacy that isn't there?  That is exctly why the ACLU has a presence in all these education mechanations.

I know this may be my final chance to communicate with your organization as I move to others for advocacy, but I wanted to be sure you understand that this is not only a method to move the underserved out of these communities....there is the intent to make private charters the norm for middle-class communities as well.  The upper class already have their private schools.  You are advocating for the end of public education in America.....that's pretty heady stuff!

Cindy Walsh

Citizens Oversight Maryland 



NOW THAT THE PUBLIC REFERENDUM PROVIDING FOR A SCHOOL BUILDING FUND PASSED THE CITY COUNCIL, WE NEED TO SEE THAT THE FUNDS ARE DISTRIBUTED EQUITABLY TO ALL OF BALTIMORE AND NOT ONLY TO THE ENTERPRISE ZONES.  hISTORY SHOWS IT WILL BE GOING THERE!

 City of Baltimore

Legislative File Number 12-0032 (version 0)


CITY OF BALTIMORE

COUNCIL BILL

Introduced by: The Council President

At the request of: The Administration (Office of the Mayor)

A BILL ENTITLED

AN ORDINANCE concerning

..title

Special Fund for Quality Schools - Reinvesting in Our Youth

FOR the purpose of establishing the Public School Construction and Renovation Special Fund;

making the Special Fund continuing and nonlapsing; specifying its purposes, sources of revenue, and

uses; and generally relating to the establishment and operation of this Special Fund to provide

increased support for the Baltimore City Public School System.

..body




ATTEND THESE BEC MEETINGS AND LET THEM KNOW THAT QUALITY EDUCATION STARTS WITH MAKING PUBLIC SCHOOLS STRONG.  WE DO NOT WANT CHARTERS AND VOUCHERS TO UNDERMINE THAT STRENGTH!  THEY ARE THE EXCEPTION AND NOT THE RULE.

The Baltimore Education Coalition thanks you for your continued efforts and commitment to improve education for students in Baltimore City. Through our work together over the past three years, we have prohibited over $75 million in education funding cuts. We want to continue our collaborative efforts of success!

This year, the Baltimore Education Coalition (BEC) wants to work with you to preserve Baltimore City’s education funding and ensure that our students and communities have the school facilities they deserve


*Going forward BEC Meetings will be held on the 3rd Monday of every month beginning with Monday October 17th 4:00 pm - 5:30 pm. Location TBD

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IF YOU WANT PUBLIC EDUCATION TO STAY STRONG, YOU WANT TO WORK AGAINST THIS ORGANIZATION AND ITS GOALS.  LETTING PEOPLE DONATE MONEY TO SPECIFIC SCHOOLS FOR TAX DEDUCTIONS IS AGAINST DEMOCRATIC/EQUAL OPPORTUNITY EDUCATION.  This is a charter school group initiative.  Does this sound like simply education giving student choice?  No, it's about funding choice.  It is a Baltimore Education Coalition (BEC) goal.

Maryland Education Credit P.O. Box 1987, Annapolis, MD 21404-1987 · email: info@EducationMaryland.org · phone: 443-510-4502 ~
Maryland Education Credit..... Maryland legislators have introduced new legislation to provide additional education resources to K-12 students and families. The Partnership for Student Education and Community Investment bill (SB 844 / HB 1216) will provide a tax credit to business that donate to nonprofit organizations that support K-12 public and private school students
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