Wisconsin is the New Egypt

[Sparky speaks]

It could be the difference between Connecticut and Iowa (where local districts still have more autonomy that most other states), but I think -- nationwide -- it's harder to get rid of bad teachers than you want to believe.

 

I would guess that the teachers unions in CT and the Northeast are probably the most powerful in the nation. But at the same time, the state requirements to become a teacher and to remain a teacher are pretty stringent as well. I've seen teachers removed also. It is not pretty but what tough things are? I would guess in many places in the country, especially down south, the unions are not that powerful and removing teachers is that much easier. I may be wrong and someone can correct me on that. I can only speak from my experience. As LouieB has stated, unions don't protect or prevent incompetent teachers from being removed. They are there to guarantee the process is done legally and correctly which we call "due process". It is a right all workers should have. The effort to remove it should upset all of us, even those who don't currently enjoy the benefits of that right. It it doesn't exist somewhere in the work place, there will be no precedent set for others to strive and fight for.

 

Then we'll all be experiencing the conditions discussed earlier in those posts about sweatshops in Latin America and Asia. Remember, that is their goal.

[Beltmann]

For example, I work with a 7th grade English teacher who hasn't assigned a writing assignment more than 1-2 paragraphs in the 17 years I've worked with her because she doesn't want to take the time to grade them, so it's grammar worksheets students can grade in class.

The irony, of course, is that Walker's bill is going to force all teachers to make that same choice simply to survive. Right now I work an average of 65-70 hours a week. (And that's real hours with no breaks, not merely time spent at the office checking out message boards, playing Solitaire, or reading the newspaper. I even work right through my 25-minute lunch, because I simply don't have time to spare.) If the bill passes, my school is going to dramatically increase class sizes and make teachers teach an extra class. I simply cannot take on that kind of extra workload without taking severe steps to make it manageable. Right now I take pride in devising challenging writing assignments, and take pride in spending the time to grade them carefully and offer comments for improvement. But I can't work 90 hours a week. Given the reality of my new workload, I will have no choice but to assign less writing, and virtually stop providing comments. I'll have to resort to a checklist rubric. I'll have to resort to frequent "seat work" (work that kids can do quietly at their desk while I plan and grade during class), which I rarely do now. I'll feel terrible about it and the kids won't get the educational experience that they deserve. And somehow, teachers will get blamed for that, too.

[lamradio]

Now all Wisconsin needs is some sand, a few camels, maybe a couple of pyramids, and it will be the New Egypt!

[Sparky speaks]

If you think what’s happening in Egypt won’t happen within the United States, you’ve been watching too much TV. The statistics speak for themselves.

 

In previous Revolution Roundups, before we were knocked offline, we featured mass protests by the people of Ireland, Italy, Britain, Austria, Greece, France and Portugal, as the Global Insurrection contagion spread throughout Europe. And now, as we have seen over the past month, North African and Middle Eastern nations have joined the movement as the people of Egypt, Tunisia, Jordan, Morocco, Gabon, Mauritania, Yemen, Bahrain, Libya, Palestine, Iraq, Sudan and Algeria have taken to the streets en masse.

 

The connection between this latest round of uprisings and the prior protests throughout Europe is one the mainstream media is not making. We are witnessing a decentralized global rebellion against Neo-Liberal economic imperialism. While each national uprising has its own internal characteristics, each one, at its core, is about the rising costs of living and lack of financial opportunity and security. Throughout the world the situation is the same: increasing levels of unemployment and poverty, as price inflation on food and basic necessities is soaring.

 

Whether national populations realize it or not, these uprisings are against systemic global economic policies that are strategically designed to exploit the working class, reduce living standards, increase personal debt and create severe inequalities of wealth. These global uprising, which have only just begun, are the first wave of the inevitable reaction to the implementation of a centralized worldwide Neo-Feudal economic order.

 

The global banking cartel, centered at the IMF, World Bank and Federal Reserve, have paid off politicians and dictators the world over — from Washington to Greece to Egypt. In country after country, they have looted national economies at the expense of local populations, consolidating wealth in unprecedented fashion – the top economic one-tenth of one percent is currently holding over $40 trillion in investible wealth, not counting an equally significant amount of wealth hidden in offshore accounts.

 

IMF imperial operations designed to extract wealth and suppress populations have been ongoing for decades. As anyone researching economic imperialism will know, a centrally planned Neo-Liberal aristocracy controls the global economy.

 

Read more:

My link

 

Police support protesters...

 

 

 

Media Blackout: CNN Fox News and MSNBC Ignore 100,000 WI Protesters

 

Over 100,000 people in Madison, Wisconsin were joined by thousands of other Americans around the country in protest of Gov. Scott Walker’s attempt to strip collective bargaining rights from the state’s unionized workers, but you would not have known any of this if you watched cable news on Saturday as the coverage of the protests ranged from disappointing (MSNBC) to scant (CNN) to non-existent (Fox News).

 

AFL-CIO spokesman Eddie Vale estimated that the crowd was over 100,000 people before the rally began at 3 PM. According to the Wisconsin State Journal, police estimated the crowd size at around 70,000 three hours before the rally began, “Madison police spokesman Joel DeSpain said the number of protesters around the Capitol is on the scale of last Saturday’s peak crowd of an estimated 68,000 and could swell even more for a 3 p.m. rally.”

 

Hundreds of thousands of Americans around the country march on their governments in an event that would be a perfect fit for the 24 hour cable news cycle. Even better, the protests were occurring during the news cycle dead zone of Saturday afternoon. The coverage should have been everywhere in the media, but if you turned on your television in hopes of watching the rally from Wisconsin live, you were disappointed.

 

As the official state run television of the Republican Party, Fox News has been openly and loudly supporting Gov. Walker. It is no surprise that the right wing network would ignore the events in Madison and around the country today. A propaganda outlet never spends much time relaying information that is detrimental to their message.

 

 

My link

[uncool2pillow]

The irony, of course, is that Walker's bill is going to force all teachers to make that same choice simply to survive. Right now I work an average of 65-70 hours a week. (And that's real hours with no breaks, not merely time spent at the office checking out message boards, playing Solitaire, or reading the newspaper. I even work right through my 25-minute lunch, because I simply don't have time to spare.) If the bill passes, my school is going to dramatically increase class sizes and make teachers teach an extra class. I simply cannot take on that kind of extra workload without taking severe steps to make it manageable. Right now I take pride in devising challenging writing assignments, and take pride in spending the time to grade them carefully and offer comments for improvement. But I can't work 90 hours a week. Given the reality of my new workload, I will have no choice but to assign less writing, and virtually stop providing comments. I'll have to resort to a checklist rubric. I'll have to resort to frequent "seat work" (work that kids can do quietly at their desk while I plan and grade during class), which I rarely do now. I'll feel terrible about it and the kids won't get the educational experience that they deserve. And somehow, teachers will get blamed for that, too.

 

That stinks. Beltmann, your posts have really made clear how the leaders of Wisconsin are pissing away the state. I am lucky enough to not have had these horrible compromised forced upon me. I brought some on myself when my twins were born, but that's another story.

 

Rest assured, the colleague I reference is making these choices out of sheer laziness and ambivalence. She (nearly all of the teachers in my building) teach 5 sections of around 25 students each. The other English teachers do an incredible amount of rich writing instruction.

[KevinG]

Media Blackout: CNN Fox News and MSNBC Ignore 100,000 WI Protesters

 

Over 100,000 people in Madison, Wisconsin were joined by thousands of other Americans around the country in protest of Gov. Scott Walker’s attempt to strip collective bargaining rights from the state’s unionized workers, but you would not have known any of this if you watched cable news on Saturday as the coverage of the protests ranged from disappointing (MSNBC) to scant (CNN) to non-existent (Fox News).

 

AFL-CIO spokesman Eddie Vale estimated that the crowd was over 100,000 people before the rally began at 3 PM. According to the Wisconsin State Journal, police estimated the crowd size at around 70,000 three hours before the rally began, “Madison police spokesman Joel DeSpain said the number of protesters around the Capitol is on the scale of last Saturday’s peak crowd of an estimated 68,000 and could swell even more for a 3 p.m. rally.”

 

Hundreds of thousands of Americans around the country march on their governments in an event that would be a perfect fit for the 24 hour cable news cycle. Even better, the protests were occurring during the news cycle dead zone of Saturday afternoon. The coverage should have been everywhere in the media, but if you turned on your television in hopes of watching the rally from Wisconsin live, you were disappointed.

 

As the official state run television of the Republican Party, Fox News has been openly and loudly supporting Gov. Walker. It is no surprise that the right wing network would ignore the events in Madison and around the country today. A propaganda outlet never spends much time relaying information that is detrimental to their message.

 

 

My link

 

You know to be fair the Oscars are tonight and Charlie Sheen is bat shit crazy.

[PopTodd]

Just heard INDIANA gov. Mitch Daniels on NPR this morning talking about the issues in his state and his thought processes behind it all. And, I have to say, the guy makes sense. I don't agree with a lot of what he said, but at least he comes off as sane and knowledgeable about the issues. This is a guy that I would listen to. This appears to be a guy that seems to be open to reasonable debate. Whether he is or not, is another matter. But I can see this guy making a serious run at the presidency in '12. And, as a lifelong Democrat (and child of the labor unions), I am willing to hear him out. There are actual ideas there.

[cryptique]

Just heard INDIANA gov. Mitch Daniels on NPR this morning talking about the issues in his state and his thought processes behind it all. And, I have to say, the guy makes sense. I don't agree with a lot of what he said, but at least he comes off as sane and knowledgeable about the issues. This is a guy that I would listen to. This appears to be a guy that seems to be open to reasonable debate. Whether he is or not, is another matter. But I can see this guy making a serious run at the presidency in '12. And, as a lifelong Democrat (and child of the labor unions), I am willing to hear him out. There are actual ideas there.

I had the exact opposite reaction. That son of a bitch sat there and lied about the Bush tax cuts, and was furiously spinning the recession to make himself look like some kind of hero.

[PopTodd]

I had the exact opposite reaction. That son of a bitch sat there and lied about the Bush tax cuts, and was furiously spinning the recession to make himself look like some kind of hero.

So then, you're saying that I fell for it?

Guess you're right -- initially. But I usually dig deeper, and this was an initial, first reaction. Just saying that he is good at fooling my bullshit detector.

 

And, who says that NPR is a strictly "Liberal" media outlet?

[LouieB]

The NY Times had an intersting article on Indiana this Sunday.

 

LouieB

[cryptique]

And, who says that NPR is a strictly "Liberal" media outlet?

They haven't been for quite a while now. Ever since the Republicans started threatening to de-fund the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, NPR has been kissing GOP ass every chance they get.

 

Not that it's working ... that threat is in full force again.

[Sparky speaks]

From March 2010...

 

Why Teachers Unions Matter

by Shamus Cooke

 

Nowadays a newspaper cannot be opened — or a TV turned on — without one being subjected to anti-teacher misinformation. The anti-teacher hysteria looks diverse on the surface, but underneath, this public controversy seeks to dislodge teachers unions: the right-wing trashes teachers’ unions outright, while the “liberal” media takes a more subtle, sophisticated approach, blaming the state of public education on “bad teachers” who must be fired and replaced. Both styles are the same in essence.

 

The bi-partisan goal is to undermine and dismember public education, so that public funds may be instead channeled into paying debts racked up by multiple wars and corporate bailouts. Also, as public education is gutted, rich investors parasitically benefit from it by opening for-profit “charter schools,” curriculum corporations, or the bevy of new companies that "certify" teachers for a fraction of the cost or time of universities, ready to serve at the new corporate McEducation institutes.

 

Obama’s Race to the Top campaign enshrines these odious goals into governmental policy, picking up where Bush’s anti-teacher union policies left off, and racing frantically in the same direction, to the bottom.

 

The schools that Bush’s No Child Left Behind labeled as “failures” are to be shut down under Obama’s Race to the Top. These schools are almost entirely in poor neighborhoods, where the social disease of poverty is an easy predictor of a child’s poor test scores.

 

But Obama ignores this obvious fact and blames poor grades and test scores on the teachers, exclusively.

 

Thus, Obama cheered when every teacher at a Rhode Island “failing” high school was fired. He praised the past closures of dozens of public schools in both Chicago and New Orleans as examples for others to follow. Indeed, Detroit and Kansas City each have plans to close dozens of schools, while California is set to fire thousands of teachers. Under Obama’s plan, federal money is awarded to states that fire the most "bad" teachers and close the most “failing” public schools.

 

Charter schools are to fill the void, where the rich will have access to all the amenities offered at public schools, while the poor will be warehoused in a drab environment lacking resources - without sports and other extracurricular activities, no art or music, no counseling or psychological services, etc. The two-party system envisions education “reform” to mirror free market ideology, where services once deemed “essential” are now to be sold as commodities to those who can afford them.

 

The right-wing has made it clear — for years — that teachers’ unions are the biggest “obstacle” to this education “reform,” and they are right. Consequently, the very existence of teachers’ unions are in jeopardy with Obama’s Race to the Top.

 

If teachers’ unions cannot keep schools open, or teachers from being fired, their power is undermined. If any teacher can be fired when they are labeled “bad,” then one of the fundamental concepts of unionism, seniority, is crushed. If teachers cannot be protected by seniority, then pro-union teachers will be targeted and fired, and the union will evolve into a paper tiger. And if union-protected teachers can suddenly be fired arbitrarily, then union-protected workers in other fields will soon find their seniority destroyed, and with it their unions. The struggle of the teachers is thus the struggle of all union workers. But unions benefit more than just union workers.

 

Anyone involved in politics — from the rank and file “activist” to those working for liberal-minded causes — understands that unions are the ONLY source of consistent resources for progressive campaigns, from money donations, TV advertisement, to door knockers and phone bankers, etc.

 

For example, the two recent progressive tax measures passed inOregon — that increase taxes on the rich and corporations — would have been impossible were it not for the support of the teachers’ unions. Unions are the only social force capable of combating the constant anti-worker measures pushed by business groups all over the country, state by state. They are the only real check to the power of the wealthy and corporations.

 

Additionally, U.S. unions are strongest in the public sector, making them a special target of the organized corporate elite. Amongst public sector workers, teachers are the best organized and most cohesive. The corporate cross-hairs are thus steadily aimed at the head of the teachers’ unions, with Obama’s Race to the Top acting as a high-caliber rifle.

 

The economic crisis acted as the trigger to Obama’s assault on education: the financial woes of every state were seized by Obama as a tremendous opportunity to “reform” education; thus, Race to the Top forces money-hungry states to compete for a measly $4 billion of federal money. The winners are those states that inflict the most self-harm by firing “bad” teachers and closing “failing” schools. Obama is accomplishing more in one campaign than the anti-public education right-wing has accomplished in decades.

 

This anti-education carpet-bombing was going unchallenged until recently. On March 4th, demonstrations across the country were organized to defend public education. It’s no coincidence that the biggest demonstrations were organized in San Francisco. There, unions took the lead in organizing a downtown rally, using their resources to turn out 15,000 people. The non-union led protests elsewhere paled in comparison, showcasing again the extreme political relevance of unions.

 

A central demand in the San Francisco protest was “tax the rich and corporations.” This demand is crucially important, for it not only insures that public education will be adequately funded, but applies to the sufficient funding of the entire public sector — social services, transportation, etc.

 

Taxing the rich and corporations must be the rallying call for the entire public sector workforce, which remains the bedrock of American labor. If this demand were to be promoted by the biggest public employee unions, the vast majority of the community would support it, as happened in Oregon. The progressive tax victory in Oregon proved that the corporate media lies about “cuts” being the only solution to the economic crisis. The corporations and wealthy must pay for the crisis they sparked.

 

My link

[LouieB]

In all this talk about K-12 teachers giving up their tenure; no one seems to saying public university profs need to get up THEIR tenure and most of them have about the softest jobs on earth. Meanwhile you average K-12 teachers works his or her ass off for months on end with little support and lots of bullshit (including testing the kids out of existence.) Its amazing how much flak K-12 teachers get. You would think they are the only public employees there are.

 

How about asking the armed services to take pay cuts including officers?? Oh yea, they are protecting our liberties, I forgot.

 

LouieB

[Guest Speed Racer]

no one seems to saying public university profs need to get up THEIR tenure and most of them have about the softest jobs on earth.

 

1) This thread is about a bill in Wisconsin regarding public school teachers, no?

 

2) I think this might be the largest and most uninformed assumption in this thread.

[u2roolz]

I have a question to ask. It sounds a bit foolish, but it has crossed my mind and I'm now going to ask it.

 

Does it make sense to have janitors/custodians work during non-school hours? Isn't that a huge waste of electricity just for one or sometimes 2 people? I realize that it's tough to do this type of work during school hours, but do these people really need to come in right after school finishes? Or worst from midnight until 6 or 7a.m.? {yes, I'm aware of motion sensor lights in schools but still....}

 

I understand that this probably isn't that big of a deal, but it seems like it would be one quick way to cut costs by having a janitor come in when school starts and have them leave a couple of hours after school lets out.

 

Louie & Sparky, is this something that gets brought up in meetings? I'm assuming it has to be brought up a few times when cost cutting gets mentioned. I know that when I volunteer for a few local public access shows that tape at the local high school at night, I notice that there's always only 1 janitor and the whole place is lit up like Charlie Sheen at a hotel. It seems like a huge waste and I guess comes off like a poor man's security guard. Meaning that kids (or whoever) won't break into the high school because there's always one person in the building. Although, most high schools are like mazes, so who knows if someone can hear someone breaking in at the other end of the building.

[ih8music]

In all this talk about K-12 teachers giving up their tenure; no one seems to saying public university profs need to get up THEIR tenure and most of them have about the softest jobs on earth.

my wife teaches in the Cal State University system... I can assure you that you are mis-informed.

[Guest Speed Racer]

Any "slacking off" - not that you can call it that - they do in teaching they make up for in applied/theoretical research and publishing.

[jff]

Any "slacking off" - not that you can call it that - they do in teaching they make up for in applied/theoretical research and publishing.

 

And "office hours" in which PARENTS feel they have the right to hassle you because little Johnny got a D on his mid-term.

 

Shudder.

[Guest Speed Racer]

And that public university jobs are somehow more sought after or something, like jobs are ridiculously easy to come by in academia.

[OOO]

We're having school related protests here too - no class for a while.

 

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2011/02/28/AR2011022802937.html

[LouieB]

Right....university professors are super hard working folks and k-12 teachers are slugs......you are right and as usual I am wrong. But of course the K-12 teachers (like Beltman) have these super easy jobs with lots of perks that university teachers don't have and way more job security. Right!!!

 

LouieB

[Guest Jules]

Lou's reading a different thread, again.

[moxiebean]

Lou's reading a different thread, again.

[ih8music]

Right....university professors are super hard working folks and k-12 teachers are slugs......you are right and as usual I am wrong. But of course the K-12 teachers (like Beltman) have these super easy jobs with lots of perks that university teachers don't have and way more job security. Right!!!

 

LouieB

Why is it either/or for you? Did anyone say K-12 teachers are slugs?

 

Like I said, my wife is a professor at a cal state university. Her base workload is 4/4 (4 classes, plus office hrs, each semester). She's also expected to conduct research and publish 2x/yr. She's also expected to participate in various university and community service groups, as well as attend at least 3 conferences per year. Her typical day starts at 8 am and ends at 11 pm (she teaches in the masters program so most of her classes are in the evenings), with extra time on the weekends when she can fit it in. Her summers "off" and often more intense, as that's the only time she has to catch up on her research and writing. and all that for a whopping ~60k/yr.

 

But me saying that has nothing to do with Beltman or any other K-12 teacher -- I know how hard they work -- I (and others) were reacting to you saying that public university professors have "the softest jobs on earth." That is simply, utterly, untrue.

[Guest Speed Racer]

lots of bullshit

 

Missed this. Most of my mom's side of the family works in higher ed, and I assure you that public universities have more than enough bullshit to go around.