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What’s the Matter With Corporate Education Reform?

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Last week I reviewed Thomas Frank’s Listen Liberal: What Ever Happened to the Party of the People? in which he lambastes professional-class Democrats for thinking that there is “no social or political problem that cannot be solved with more education and job training.” This makes perfect sense because, as a class, professionals are “defined by educational attainment, and every time they tell the country that what it needs is more schooling, they are saying: Inequality is not a failure of the system; it is a failure of you.”

But, Frank contends, the only problem with education, for the professional crew, is that it is “not meritocratic enough.” Thus, all that needs to be done is bust the teachers’ unions (whose sin is their outdated belief in solidarity), open charter schools, test our kids to death, and give tax breaks to “innovators.”

Nothing is more illustrative of this aspect of Frank’s critique than the way so many Democrats lined up to support the Vergara decision in 2014 even against the interests of a key Democratic constituency and key Democratic electeds.   [Read more…]

Rancho Santa Fe School District Threatens to Expel Children of Teachers as Negotiations Drag On

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By A Concerned Teacher

What began a decade ago as an effective collaboration between a school board and its teachers has become a divisive tool enabling the Rancho Santa Fe superintendent to use the threat of expelling the children of teachers in their district if they will not agree to settle their contract.

By using a sunset clause in current contract language, Rancho Santa Fe administration simply stalls negotiations to run out the clock and stipulates that if there is no settlement, Board policy 4111 will be void and teachers will be forced to remove their children from the Rancho Santa Fe School District.   [Read more…]

‘Always Fly Away’ : Teaching Children to Be Smart, Strong and Safe

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Milena (Sellers) Phillips’ book “Always Fly Away” is not the work of someone who has made a career of writing books for children. This brightly illustrated book written for elementary school children is a reflection of how the author herself has come to understand the world as much as it is a children’s story.

“Always Fly Away” acknowledges the necessary transition that takes place when young children want to start exploring the world with an ever growing degree of independence. It also helps to develop the critical judgement that young children need to recognize when a situation doesn’t feel right and what to do when this happens.

Phillips spins a story that retains the joy and mystery of a child’s explorations while providing ways to assure that the exploration is as safe as possible. It is a remarkable story because she personally experienced the devastating death of her nine year old son Jonathan Sellers.   [Read more…]

Keeping The Dream Alive: Biliteracy Scholarship Fundraiser in Memory of Beatrice Gonzales

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By Rosalia Salinas

Beatrice Gonzales’ dream of quality education for bilingual students inspired several generations of teachers. First as a second grade teacher in South Bay, then as district bilingual coordinator and later as Director of the Bilingual Teacher Training Program at the San Diego County Office of Education (SDCOE) Bea’s work benefited, supported, and inspired thousands of educators in the area and throughout the state.

She was motivated by a profound dissatisfaction with the status quo. As a teacher she knew that if the quality of teaching was good, then students were better served if they had access to two languages.   [Read more…]

Creating a Space for Seniors for Life at SDSU

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Combating the invisibility of Senior aged students

By Lee Taylor

Walking onto the San Diego State University campus for the very first time I paused for a few moments, purely for speculation. I stood smack in the middle of the everything simply observing the many students strolling around me — most of whom were in their 20s, gabbing and texting as they walked by — and realized I could’ve been a fixed statue, for no one really noticed me.

So many skateboards buzzed quickly down the walkways as well, even though technically they weren’t really allowed. I couldn’t help but think there was an accident in the making. It was then that I thought, “Where are the Seniors, the Senior Aged Students?”   [Read more…]

Assault on Public Employee Unions Fizzles at the Supreme Court

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Friedrichs v. California Teachers Association Gets Split Decision 

Rebecca Friedrichs, the elementary school teacher honored with a ‘Torch of Freedom Award’ at the San Diego County Republican Party’s annual Lincoln-Reagan dinner last weekend, won’t be celebrating this weekend.

This morning, in a single-sentence order, the Supreme Court announced that the judgment of a lower court rejecting an effort to defund public sector unions “is affirmed by an equally divided court.”. A four-decade-old opinion protecting public sector unions will live to see another day.

Friederichs and nine other teachers served as plaintiffs in a lawsuit brought by the conservative Center for Individual Rights (CIR) and the National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation. The claim being made was that the free speech rights of non-union members entitled them to contribute nothing to the costs of representation, even if they’d already opted out of fees supporting unions’ political activities.   [Read more…]

On Government Abuse, Democracy and Poverty, California Has Work to Do

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ACLU of California-sponsored bills will advance

By Becca Cramer / ACLU San Diego

Every year, the ACLU of California sponsors several bills in the California Legislature. What does it mean to sponsor a bill? In most cases, it means we have collaborated with other advocacy groups and the legislative author in drafting the bill, providing our input on the text. We also may lobby legislators, testify in support of the bill, seek support from other groups, work with opposition to address their concerns, draft fact sheets and sample support letters, and provide communications and media support.

Here are the 10 bills we are sponsoring this year:   [Read more…]

Wee Lives Matter

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“Black Lives Matter”
is heard
from a chorus of voices
in a protest in the street.
“All Lives Matter”
someone screams
from a car rolling by
on the street,
in denial
that Black Lives Matter
wouldn’t have come to be
if All Lives Matter
had ever been a reality   [Read more…]

Roger and Norma Cazares: Four Decades of Chicano Activism

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Norma and Roger Cazares are known for their political activism which began while they were both young. They first met each other on a picket line during the Grape Boycott. Chicano politics brought them together and love soon followed.

Last month’s introduction to the activist lives of Norma and Roger provides insight into how they have changed the civic landscape of San Diego. This concluding article fills in more of the details of their commitment to their community and each other.   [Read more…]

Lorena Gonzalez Supports Bill to Nix Daylight Savings…

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… SUHSD Apologizes To Parents, and 4,400 Homes May Be Built Next To U.S.-Mexico Truck Crossing

Assemblywoman for the 80th Assembly District, Lorena Gonzalez, posted on her Facebook page that she will support AB2496 that proposes to establish a “United States Standard Pacific Time” within the state for the entire year.

The Assemblywoman wrote on her Facebook page on Saturday, March 12th: “Tonight, we will lose an hour of sleep. As a result, there will be an increase in traffic accidents and workplace injuries. Parents will struggle to get their kids out of bed, and students will be less alert. Time change is outdated, and needs to be changed. I’m happy to be co-authoring a bill with Assemblyman Kansen Chu to look at doing just that.”   [Read more…]

Brother, Can You Spare a Dime for Corporate Welfare?

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Political consultant Jason Roe is making the rounds of local media, hemming and hawing over whether there will be a campaign opposing San Diego’s long-delayed opportunity to vote on a modest increase in minimum wage.

KPBS and Voice of San Diego have provided platforms for this passive-aggressive approach to class warfare and you can be sure the original thinkers at the local broadcast media won’t be far behind.

In between crying the blues about probable lack of funding for a defense of corporate welfare (minimum wage jobs require government assistance for employees to survive), Roe’s letting loose with the usual misinformation designed to confuse voters.   [Read more…]

Dolores Huerta Joins Educators to Appeal Meritless Vergara Ruling

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By Steve Smith / Labor’s Edge

This morning (Thursday, February 25th) in Los Angeles, civil rights icon Dolores Huerta joined teachers and parents to appeal the flawed ruling in the Vergara case that would undercut public education to the detriment of the state’s 6 million students.

Stating that Judge Treu’s decision striking down five California Education Code provisions “is without support in law or fact,” the speakers predicted that Treu’s numerous errors will be clearly visible to the appeals court, and the earlier Superior Court judgment will be overturned. Treu’s decision was stayed pending appeal. But if upheld it would cause great harm to public education.

Huerta, renowned civil rights leader, founder of the Dolores Huerta Foundation and co-founder of the National Farm Workers Association, talked about the importance of teachers’ having a strong voice for students and described how the backers of the Vergara case, a group deceptively named Students Matter, misrepresented details of the case in an attempt to get her support.   [Read more…]

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