Education Secretary Arne Duncan, AFT President Randi Weingarten and Head of School Administrators Association Dan Domenech Candidly Discuss the Promise and Cynicism Around Historic Collaboration Conference
Organizers of unprecedented labor-management gathering answer tough questions...
Well folks, I called it in 2008. I wrote more than one article on economics and the REAL agenda behind "No Child Left Behind." I called it a foreseeable depression or deflationary spiral when then president "W" said there was no recession. A few days ago, Fontana USD pinked every single Counselor in order to save it's Football and Baseball Programs. For Now! This after telling the enraged public at the previous meeting that they wouldn't dismantle either. This week Moreno Valley USD pinked approximately 318 teachers, counselors and administrators. We still haven't hit bottom. We are enjoying the short lived occurrence known in financial cycle theories as a "Dead Cat Bounce." It simply means more downside to come.
The news out of Washington DC and Wisconsin is not only evidence of the last death throes of American Public Education (Free, Fair and Adequate) as we know it. Moreover, we are probably witness to a turning of the tide for collective bargaining, the idea that unions leveled the field between Workers and the Wealthy Modern Bosses - or corporate board members of today. Lastly the increasing erosion of that which made America the en vie of all the world - our working middle class. You watch what competition does. Education doe NOT manufacture a product. However, that is current measure of it's success. Education by the standards of Dewey, Whitehead, and other philosophical leaders of the time measured education for the experience, the socialization (equalization) and the opportunity to become equal participants in our American experiment called democracy. No one listened in 2009 and it seems no one cares in 2011. Narcissism, entitlement and self centered apathy rule the day. Today BAM Radio Network, the education station, released a pre-event interview with U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan, Randi Weingarten, president of the American Federation of Teachers, and Dan Domenech, executive director of the American Association of School Administrators, on the upcoming labor-management collaboration conference, Feb 15-16 in Denver, Colo. The aim of the conference is to find new ways to work together on behalf of students. In the segment, three of the conference organizers talk with RAW Education News Radio host Errol St. Clair Smith about their positive expectations for the unprecedented and potentially historic event. The three conference collaborators also addressed tough questions about community cynicism and fatigue with failed education reform initiatives. The program is available on demand at http://www.bamradionetwork.com or directly athttp://www.bamradionetwork.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=category&layout=blog&id=73&Itemid=190
The news out of Washington DC and Wisconsin is not only evidence of the last death throes of American Public Education (Free, Fair and Adequate) as we know it. Moreover, we are probably witness to a turning of the tide for collective bargaining, the idea that unions leveled the field between Workers and the Wealthy Modern Bosses - or corporate board members of today. Lastly the increasing erosion of that which made America the en vie of all the world - our working middle class. You watch what competition does. Education doe NOT manufacture a product. However, that is current measure of it's success. Education by the standards of Dewey, Whitehead, and other philosophical leaders of the time measured education for the experience, the socialization (equalization) and the opportunity to become equal participants in our American experiment called democracy. No one listened in 2009 and it seems no one cares in 2011. Narcissism, entitlement and self centered apathy rule the day. Today BAM Radio Network, the education station, released a pre-event interview with U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan, Randi Weingarten, president of the American Federation of Teachers, and Dan Domenech, executive director of the American Association of School Administrators, on the upcoming labor-management collaboration conference, Feb 15-16 in Denver, Colo. The aim of the conference is to find new ways to work together on behalf of students. In the segment, three of the conference organizers talk with RAW Education News Radio host Errol St. Clair Smith about their positive expectations for the unprecedented and potentially historic event. The three conference collaborators also addressed tough questions about community cynicism and fatigue with failed education reform initiatives. The program is available on demand at http://www.bamradionetwork.com or directly athttp://www.bamradionetwork.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=category&layout=blog&id=73&Itemid=190
The program can also be downloaded from iTunes at
http://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/k-12-greatest-hits-the-best/id334633370
http://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/k-12-greatest-hits-the-best/id334633370
"This can be a turning point, literally for public education in this country," said, Education Secretary Arne Duncan. "If we can create the time and the space for folks to talk and listen, the examples are there…. For those who think we can't do it, the fact of the matter is it's being done today around the country. This is not some hope in the unseen or some imaginary vision. We have concrete examples, district after district, of remarkable breakthroughs," said Duncan.
The event is sponsored by the U.S. Department of Education in partnership with the American Federation of Teachers, National Education Association, National School Boards Association, American Association of School Administrators, Council of the Great City Schools, and the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service. Funding to support the conference is being provided by the Ford Foundation.
When asked about the people who have become weary of failed education reform initiatives and have grown cynical, Randi Weingarten replied," You have to respect the cynics because they been through a lot…every three and a half nanoseconds we're trying something new and different that we pretend is going to work and then it doesn't. That's why they're cynical. But the bottom line is this, every teacher I know, every administrator I know, when you start focusing in what works for kids and you create a respectful, trusting, collaborative environment… then you see real motion on behalf of kids."
I, Praetorian
About RAW Education News Radio
About RAW Education News Radio
RAW Education News delivers C-SPAN-like education news coverage for a new generation. The program aims to update the public affairs programming model by repackaging government affairs content into a format more suited for a growing generation of educators, advocates, journalists and education leaders with limited time and limited attention. The program is called "RAW" because, like the CSPAN model, the programming emphasizes content over glossy production values. Unlike C-SPAN, however, RAW Radio seeks to deliver more of what listeners want, in less time. The program is distributed across the BAM Radio Network.
The prospects for healthcare reform may be chillier than DC weather, but Democrats in the House and Senate are turning their attention to another warmer but still significant national issue: the increasing number of runaway and throwaway youth who are being forced into prostitution. In response to the growing concerns that desperate, runaway teens will be forced into prostitution in a sluggish economy, Congress is pushing several bills to improve how runaway kids are tracked by the police, fund crucial social services, and prevent teens from being caught in sex trafficking. Here's the gist of what the new legislation is trying to accomplish:
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