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Parent Involvement is Smart. Don’t Turn it Into Something Stupid

Jan 17th, 2012
by Lily.
9 comments

I have parents.  I am a parent.  I love parents.  So, don’t get me wrong, but what’s up with the rash of stupid ideas on parent involvement in education?

When I was teaching in Utah, one legislator, one of our friends, one of our champions, someone who had fought beside teachers for class size reduction, school computers and reimbursements for supplies that teachers bought out of their own pockets, this guy I adored and respected developed a idea for a state law that would fine parents $5 for missing a parent-teacher conference.

Say what?

He was surprised at my reaction.  He thought I’d be high-fiving him.  He said, “Well, every time I talk to a teacher, they complain about how few parents show to parent-teacher conferences.  We need to hold parents accountable.  This will give them an incentive to show up and get involved, and we’ll empower teachers if they can fine parents.”

That I know of, this man does not take drugs or drink heavily.  So, let’s assume he’s serious and not delusional.  I did talk him out of having a bill produced, but just barely. (more…)

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Lily On Assignment With CNN’s Sanjay Gupta

Jan 9th, 2012
by Lily.
4 comments

Thousands of schools across the country are in tremendous need of repair, remodeling, or replacement. CNN’s Sanjay Gupta tours a Pennsylvania public school with Lily Eskelsen and learns firsthand how indoor air quality issues affect student success.

Schools like this one fall woefully short in providing a minimum environment for effective teaching and learning. It represents the types of problems America’s public school students face nationwide.

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An International Diane Ravitch Moment?

Dec 15th, 2011
by Lily.
15 comments

There is hope on the horizon, my dears.

For more than ten long, empty, intellectually dry and dishonest years, we’ve lived under the insanity of No Child Left Untested. (Someone told me not to be so negative. Trust me. I’m holding back.) Children, especially poor children, have been subjected to a corporate “reform” mentality of pass/fail by making their quota of test score points on some standardized garbage never designed to gauge anything more delicately complex than a child’s understanding of where the comma goes.

(Ironically, the only ones lately who have been afforded “social promotion” have been the morally corrupt CEOs who were awarded their gold star parachutes whilst bankrupting the global economy, but I digress.) (more…)

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And Now, About Those Mega-Rich Alleged Job Creators…

Dec 6th, 2011
by Lily.
No comments yet

I’m sorry. I’m not normally a violent person. But how can you not want to slap the next clown that routinely and without an pinky fingernail-size of evidence continues to characterize the mega-wealthiest amongst us as “Job Creators”?

A bona-fide mega-wealthy rich guy is Nick Hanauer. He’s got millions and millions and says he wants politicians and pundits bent on protecting his millions and millions to cease and desist calling him a Job Creator. He’s had great ideas. He’s taken big risks. He’s made smart business bets. And God bless him for it. But he says, “I’ve never been a job creator.”

He says if any jobs were created by his ideas and risks and bets, it’s because there were customers for what he was selling. Without customers, there’s no one to buy your product or service. And if customers don’t have jobs and decent pay to go along with those jobs, they can’t buy what you’re selling.

Customers with a paycheck create jobs. And when customers lose their jobs and their paychecks, giving all the tax breaks and tax credits and tax loopholes in the world to the mega-wealthy won’t create a consumer.

In fact, giving the mega-wealthy more may actually mean you’ve given them some loophole that pays them to create jobs… in China.
(more…)

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