I did consider calling this thread "striking teachers", but thought better of it.
First national teaching strike in 20 years. Your thoughts on this industrial (in)action.
― Grandpont Genie, Tuesday, 22 April 2008 14:29 (5 years ago) Permalink
I remember the last one. My school got off quite lightly. Relatively few members of NUT which iirc was on strike, as far more of our teachers were members of the NASUWT.
Naturally as we were 15 at the time we envied our peers down the road at another school with a much higher NUT contingent.
― Grandpont Genie, Tuesday, 22 April 2008 14:31 (5 years ago) Permalink
NUT? Really?
I think perhaps we need a 'most amusing acronyms' thread.
― Oilyrags, Tuesday, 22 April 2008 14:35 (5 years ago) Permalink
Good/Unfortunate Acronyms
― Ed, Tuesday, 22 April 2008 14:37 (5 years ago) Permalink
my mother always used to have a good laff about that.
I remember my father pointing to an NUT sticker in the back of a car which read "If you can read this, thank a teacher" and muttering "If your child can't read this, thank a striking teacher".
― Grandpont Genie, Tuesday, 22 April 2008 14:40 (5 years ago) Permalink
Strange week. This is when we file back slowly and set up our classrooms for next week. But our contract expires Sept. 1, and the government is in emergency session to a) freeze wages for two years, and b) make it illegal to strike during that period. Everything feels very much up in the air right now.
― clemenza, Monday, 27 August 2012 13:18 (8 months ago) Permalink
God, that sucks. Where do you live?
― how's life, Monday, 27 August 2012 13:23 (8 months ago) Permalink
Toronto--it's a province-wide thing.
― clemenza, Monday, 27 August 2012 13:32 (8 months ago) Permalink
I am sitting in the superintendsnt's opening address texting, and it is uh-maz-ing how much rhetoric is being used to avoid mentioning the strike.
― cherry (soda), Monday, 27 August 2012 13:44 (8 months ago) Permalink
Rick Perlstein on Rahm Emanuel, abuser of teachers:
http://www.salon.com/2012/09/11/stand_against_rahm/
― kizz my hairy irish azz (Dr Morbius), Tuesday, 11 September 2012 18:16 (8 months ago) Permalink
Ontario government passes legislation today: wage freeze, no strikes, takebacks on accumulated sick days. We're taking them to court.
― clemenza, Tuesday, 11 September 2012 18:18 (8 months ago) Permalink
xp'd from chi thread
― DX Dx DX (dan m), Tuesday, 11 September 2012 18:19 (8 months ago) Permalink
it doesn't fucking matter if your kid learns algebra today, next month, next year or in college
― the late great, Tuesday, 11 September 2012 18:20 (8 months ago) Permalink
Rahm Emanuel, Arne Duncan and Barack Obama are a coven of idiots on the subject of anything education. I'd love for the NFT to pull their support from O, frankly.
― cherry (soda), Tuesday, 11 September 2012 20:21 (8 months ago) Permalink
^^ sadly otmi think obama believes what the other two say, and they are idiots
― these albatrosses have no fear of man (La Lechera), Tuesday, 11 September 2012 20:25 (8 months ago) Permalink
how long is the school day in chicago currently?
― pandemic, Wednesday, 12 September 2012 10:53 (8 months ago) Permalink
Five hours and 45 minutes, one of the shortest school days in the country.
― Josh in Chicago, Wednesday, 12 September 2012 14:09 (8 months ago) Permalink
20% increase in pay for 20% increase in workweek seems kind of like an unrealistic demand (that's not generally how these things work unless you're an hourly wage employee) but I can see it as a negotiation starting point I guess.
― look at this quarterstaff (Hurting 2), Wednesday, 12 September 2012 14:20 (8 months ago) Permalink
God only knows what the starting point was, then, because I think they've been negotiating for 10 months!
― Josh in Chicago, Wednesday, 12 September 2012 14:21 (8 months ago) Permalink
Apparently wages are a very minor point of contention. They've more or less agreed to a 16% average raise spread over the next few years: 2% one year, 3% the next, etc.
― Josh in Chicago, Wednesday, 12 September 2012 14:22 (8 months ago) Permalink
Good Reuters analysis:
http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/09/10/us-usa-chicago-schools-analysis-idUSBRE8890VS20120910
And Ezra Klein crunches the numbers on salaries:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/ezra-klein/wp/2012/09/11/how-much-do-chicago-teachers-make/
― a regina spektor is haunting europe (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Wednesday, 12 September 2012 14:28 (8 months ago) Permalink
The school I went to in England ran 08.30-14.15, so sounds the same as Chicago. 20 min lunch and for 3 of the 5 years I was there no after school activities ie sport, drama etc. I think the schedule arose from a teacher's strike.
― pandemic, Wednesday, 12 September 2012 15:30 (8 months ago) Permalink
Klein analysis interesting, but again, this is apparently not really about money. I'm really curious about what kind of middle ground the two sides can find, because there really doesn't seem to be any. Teachers want the right to rehire laid off teachers, presumably a power they want before a rumored 100 further schools are closed. But those schools are apparently at 50% enrollment, due to socio-economic factors beyond the control of both the city and teachers. Should empty schools be kept open? Dunno. Arguably the best option is that you roll those leftover students into other schools, including some charter schools. What other option is there besides opening more schools, which seems counter-intuitive? Or I guess significantly expanding existing, full schools and hiring more teachers, which is probably close in terms of the dollars spent to the same thing. Obviously education is vital, and investment in education essential. Yet all along the high school graduation rate here is hovering around 60% (a significant improvement!) and graduates subsequently completing college in five years or less something pitiful, like 6%. That's not the fault of teachers, or the city. It's the fallout from broader problems that have been left unattended for decades, problems that no strike can solve. It's a mess.
― Josh in Chicago, Wednesday, 12 September 2012 15:59 (8 months ago) Permalink
Obviously education is vital, and investment in education essential.
IMO not as obvious as all that
― the late great, Wednesday, 12 September 2012 16:02 (8 months ago) Permalink
arne is the fucking biggest tool ever
Should say, basic high school readin', writin', 'rithmatic is vital. Or at least should be. But if kids can't be arsed to learn that stuff, then they should just forego high school and do what they were planning to do when they didn't graduate, anyway.
― Josh in Chicago, Wednesday, 12 September 2012 16:07 (8 months ago) Permalink
Join ILX?
― a regina spektor is haunting europe (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Wednesday, 12 September 2012 16:09 (8 months ago) Permalink
walked through the protests yesterday, they were using occupy strategies for crowd communication
also saw a few signs that said The Revolution Will Not Be Standardized, which i thought was rather cleverl
not nearly as many people as that photo upthread but still had a few blocks cut off. good to see.
― J0rdan S., Wednesday, 12 September 2012 16:11 (8 months ago) Permalink
from what i've gathered, as josh says, the salaries are almost moot at this point.
i think the two big things are giving ex-CPS teachers first priority on new teaching jobs and reducing the weight of standardized test scores for evaluating teachers as outlined in the city's proposal. my sense in being there for a minute yesterday was that the latter point is a pretty serious issue.
there's also some minor stuff, like making sure every school has air conditioning (2012!) and making sure that the city doesn't gut support staff at the schools (guidance counselors, therapists etc)
― J0rdan S., Wednesday, 12 September 2012 16:14 (8 months ago) Permalink
My kids - do any of you have school-aged kids? - go to school in Oak Park, a nice innter-burb with good schools, and virtually none of the elementary school classrooms, at least, have A/C. Kids and teachers deal. Though for all I know everyone will change their mind and go on strike next week.
― Josh in Chicago, Wednesday, 12 September 2012 16:17 (8 months ago) Permalink
"support staff" is often code for cushy patronage positions. I will defend teachers to the death, but guidance counsellors are largely scum. And every one of these superfluous counsellors, assistants, "out of classroom" teachers, etc. = one less teacher = larger class sizes.
― look at this quarterstaff (Hurting 2), Wednesday, 12 September 2012 16:21 (8 months ago) Permalink
My understanding is that they want the support staff and more teachers and smaller class size. With a lot of that determined by the power to make hiring/firing decisions, which is asking for a lot, as an entire package. Plus other comfort stuff, like A/C and more money. Which maybe they deserve and maybe they can get, but I don't see it.
Heard a reporter suggest this is a chickens coming home to roost scenario, since by and large Daley gave the teachers whatever they wanted to forestall exactly what's going on now.
― Josh in Chicago, Wednesday, 12 September 2012 16:25 (8 months ago) Permalink
Sounds like they might be asking for too much, but tbf so are "reformers" who think we can improve the system and slash funding at the same time.
― look at this quarterstaff (Hurting 2), Wednesday, 12 September 2012 16:27 (8 months ago) Permalink
I think they see slashing funding (ie closing schools) as an improvement.
― Josh in Chicago, Wednesday, 12 September 2012 16:29 (8 months ago) Permalink
http://inthesetimes.com/working/entry/13824/director_of_private_school_where_rahm_sends_his_kids_disagrees_on_standardi/
Unlike occasional teacher union opponent Secretary of Education Arne Duncan, Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel does not send his kids to public schools. Instead, Emanuel's children attend one of the most elite prep schools in Chicago, the University of Chicago Lab School, where the annual tuition is more than $20,000. (Emanuel has repeatedly refused to answer questions about why he eschews public schools for his children, telling reporters that it is a private family decision.)The conditions at the University of Chicago Lab Schools are dramatically different than those at Chicago Public Schools, which are currently closed with teachers engaged in a high-profile strike. The Lab School has seven full-time art teachers to serve a student population of 1,700. By contrast, only 25% of Chicago’s “neighborhood elementary schools” have both a full-time art and music instructor. The Lab School has three different libraries, while 160 Chicago public elementary schools do not have a library.“Physical education, world languages, libraries and the arts are not frills. They are an essential piece of a well-rounded education,” wrote University of Chicago Lab School Director David Magill on the school's website in February 2009.
The conditions at the University of Chicago Lab Schools are dramatically different than those at Chicago Public Schools, which are currently closed with teachers engaged in a high-profile strike. The Lab School has seven full-time art teachers to serve a student population of 1,700. By contrast, only 25% of Chicago’s “neighborhood elementary schools” have both a full-time art and music instructor. The Lab School has three different libraries, while 160 Chicago public elementary schools do not have a library.
“Physical education, world languages, libraries and the arts are not frills. They are an essential piece of a well-rounded education,” wrote University of Chicago Lab School Director David Magill on the school's website in February 2009.
i love how everyone gets to have an opinion about what teachers do and don't need, and feels the right to be super vocal about it.
― these albatrosses have no fear of man (La Lechera), Wednesday, 12 September 2012 16:31 (8 months ago) Permalink
― look at this quarterstaff (Hurting 2), Wednesday, September 12, 2012 12:21 PM (8 minutes ago) Bookmark
yeah, idk. you're also talking about social workers, psychologists
― J0rdan S., Wednesday, 12 September 2012 16:31 (8 months ago) Permalink
I am married to a public school teacher, so yeah, I have an opinion about it.
― look at this quarterstaff (Hurting 2), Wednesday, 12 September 2012 16:32 (8 months ago) Permalink
I know. I'm not talking about anyone itt -- I'm just generally talking about the national attention this is getting. Ezra Klein looking at salaries, etc. Just an observation. Not being a dick.
― these albatrosses have no fear of man (La Lechera), Wednesday, 12 September 2012 16:33 (8 months ago) Permalink
Is there any question that private schools are better than public schools, at least in terms of amenities and staff and extracurriculars and whatnot? Like, duh, $20,000 a year per student buys you a lot more than piddling property taxes pay for. I bet Rahm drives a better car than most, too. Besides, politicians - like celebrities and other public figures - rarely (if ever?) send their kids to public schools for obvious reasons.
― Josh in Chicago, Wednesday, 12 September 2012 16:45 (8 months ago) Permalink
If the reasons are so obvious, why do people continue to give them a hard time about it, I wonder? Honestly I feel bad for any mayor's kids in any city because they are forced to answer questions that most kids don't really even think about answering, yet people continue to ask the same questions.
The only reason I posted that is because the director of the school is disagreeing philosophically (partic in terms of evaluation) with one of the school's most prominent supporters, which should give at least some weight to the striking teachers' concerns beyond salaries and stuff that people seem to stick on.
― these albatrosses have no fear of man (La Lechera), Wednesday, 12 September 2012 16:51 (8 months ago) Permalink
Amy Carter went to public schools.
― kizz my hairy irish azz (Dr Morbius), Wednesday, 12 September 2012 16:55 (8 months ago) Permalink
Good memory!
― Josh in Chicago, Wednesday, 12 September 2012 16:55 (8 months ago) Permalink
Is there any question that private schools are better than public schools, at least in terms of amenities and staff and extracurriculars and whatnot?
I think this is entirely dependent upon where you live; for example, my old public high school has a fully-functioning machine shop, a cable-access television studio, a 400-seat amphitheater, an Olympic-sized pool, a gymnasium that holds 4 full-sized basketball courts, an agriculture building and an Olympic-sized track. This facility is now the middle school and we have a new high school sitting on 100 acres of land that has multiple pools, an Olympic-sized indoor track that surrounds (iirc) 6 basketball courts, touchscreen electronic dry erase boards in every classroom, multiple computer labs, etc etc etc, I mean there is actually a BRIDGE inside the school connecting the front entrance to the classroom area that crosses over the cafeteria area. The whole thing is just nuts.
― DARING PRINCESS (DJP), Wednesday, 12 September 2012 16:56 (8 months ago) Permalink
It's a nicer facility than some 4-year colleges I've seen.
― DARING PRINCESS (DJP), Wednesday, 12 September 2012 16:57 (8 months ago) Permalink
what the hell
― J0rdan S., Wednesday, 12 September 2012 16:58 (8 months ago) Permalink
one thing i was struck by when i started living in the midwest is how fucking massive high school campuses are
my HS school in del mar was like that too
hurting 2 otm
― the late great, Wednesday, 12 September 2012 16:58 (8 months ago) Permalink
some support staff, particularly the special ed ones, are crucial to the school
but a lot of support staff jobs - like counselors and data analysts - are kinda parasitical to the school
and district staff are the worst
― the late great, Wednesday, 12 September 2012 16:59 (8 months ago) Permalink
i mean i'm sure they're not actually "scum" or bad people, but they suck up $$$ out of proportion to what they give back
― the late great, Wednesday, 12 September 2012 17:00 (8 months ago) Permalink
100% parity between private schools (and wealthier public schools) and public schools in poor areas may not be achievable, but the debate is really about what the baseline should be. We have a lot of doubletalk about certain areas of education being "inessential" (for your kids) and "essential" (for my kids) going on, is the point of that excerpt, I think.
― look at this quarterstaff (Hurting 2), Wednesday, 12 September 2012 17:01 (8 months ago) Permalink
Some asshole.
― Josh in Chicago, Friday, 14 September 2012 13:37 (8 months ago) Permalink
Striking teachers sleeping in on Fridays, I guess. Disappointed because I couldn't give my usual honk and raised fist during my morning commute.
― heated debate over derpy hooves (jon /via/ chi 2.0), Friday, 14 September 2012 13:38 (8 months ago) Permalink
xp Probably not an individual one, though. Whether it's part of a wider anti-union campaign or whether it's funded by businesses that have a specific interest in education would be interesting to know. I'd kind of assume the former because it's obviously NAGL for any company that needs to have an ongoing relationship with teachers.
― Temporarily Famous In The Czech Republic (ShariVari), Friday, 14 September 2012 13:43 (8 months ago) Permalink
If I had to totally hypothesize, I'd guess that some anti-teacher animosity stems from the fact that teachers are paid from budgets bolstered by property taxes. Any home owner is very aware of how much a year they're paying in property taxes, so my guess is some of the frustration is a feeling of powerlessness when folks paid out of those taxes ask for - or even are perceived as asking for - more. One of the more fascinating stats about where I live is that apparently only 20% of the population of Oak Park comprises households with K-12 aged kids, which means that the vast majority of homes are paying for services they do not use. Fortunately, the sense of community here is such that when a school referendum was put up for a vote last year, the referendum passed and more money went to our (very good but not necessarily exceptional) schools, but I know there was some loud push-back from not just the conservative faction (which is a minority in a place that votes 85% democratic) but from lots of different corners. It seems that anti-union, anti-teacher stuff is both directly and indirectly tied into anti-tax stuff, which becomes magnified, perhaps, when property values are down or stagnant yet property taxes go up every year. And maybe especially in a city like Chicago, where the results of tax revenue may not be as apparent in the schools as they are elsewhere, which is of course a facet of a larger vicious cycle.
― Josh in Chicago, Friday, 14 September 2012 13:45 (8 months ago) Permalink
I also think a lot of it just boils down to people who are pissed off to be struggling financially, and since they are stuck working in non-union situations, they project their frustration and jealousy on a large, visible group that can use a strike to their benefit.
― heated debate over derpy hooves (jon /via/ chi 2.0), Friday, 14 September 2012 13:51 (8 months ago) Permalink
That's absolutely true, I'm sure. Most people don't have half the benefits or pay that teachers do, but of course, that's partly because they don't belong to a union, let alone a strong union, in turn in part because unions have been systematically beat down for the past several decades.
― Josh in Chicago, Friday, 14 September 2012 13:53 (8 months ago) Permalink
And so many places, Target and Wal-Mart come to mind, bend over backwards to make their employees feel that unions are THE WORST THING EVER.
― heated debate over derpy hooves (jon /via/ chi 2.0), Friday, 14 September 2012 13:55 (8 months ago) Permalink
My wife showed me an open letter/FAQ that a teacher friend of her's wrote, and in it her friend ... well, here:
Q: Teachers make $76,000 a year. That seems like a reasonable salary. Why fight for more?A: This amount, which the media has repeated directly from the CPS Board, includes thousands of retired teachers and is inaccurate. The CTU found the median (middle) salary of an active teacher to be $56,000 and the average to be $69,000. While that amount seems decent (after all, it is about $20,000 more than the average Chicago salary), it is well below the average state-wide salary for people holding similar degrees. That includes all the lower-paying regions of Illinois outside the Chicago area. Many teachers have multiple Bachelors and Masters degrees and student loans, yet according to media outlets, our salaries should be closer to those of rural employees without college degrees. According to the Sun Times, a family must make $150,000 per year to live a middle class lifestyle in the city of Chicago, where we are required to reside. It is disturbing that so many people are offended by teachers making less than half of what it takes to be a middle-class Chicagoan.
A: This amount, which the media has repeated directly from the CPS Board, includes thousands of retired teachers and is inaccurate. The CTU found the median (middle) salary of an active teacher to be $56,000 and the average to be $69,000. While that amount seems decent (after all, it is about $20,000 more than the average Chicago salary), it is well below the average state-wide salary for people holding similar degrees. That includes all the lower-paying regions of Illinois outside the Chicago area. Many teachers have multiple Bachelors and Masters degrees and student loans, yet according to media outlets, our salaries should be closer to those of rural employees without college degrees. According to the Sun Times, a family must make $150,000 per year to live a middle class lifestyle in the city of Chicago, where we are required to reside. It is disturbing that so many people are offended by teachers making less than half of what it takes to be a middle-class Chicagoan.
The amount Chicago teachers get paid is, per Ezra Klein, closer to the $76K number than the lower number, but whether that number is high or low, overpaid or underpaid, is irrelevant, because this strike was not really about pay. When this person goes on to cite a $150,000 income as the number needed to live a middle class lifestyle in Chicago, my sympathy drifts. $56K, let alone $76K, is several factors above what most people make in Chicago. To downgrade that number as less than the $150K needed to live a "middle class" lifestyle in Chicago I thought was unseemly, though I admit the system seems a tad rigged when you require teachers to reside in Chicago, which in some ways is tantamount to a cost of living driven salary cut.
― Josh in Chicago, Friday, 14 September 2012 14:01 (8 months ago) Permalink
Josh OTM. I kinda feel like people don't really understand what a "middle class lifestyle" means when they start throwing around figures like that $150,000 number.
― heated debate over derpy hooves (jon /via/ chi 2.0), Friday, 14 September 2012 14:03 (8 months ago) Permalink
I think a lot of people have mixed views on teachers unions which seems to be a healthy position in a debate like this where there's not a clear 'right answer'
― iatee, Friday, 14 September 2012 14:09 (8 months ago) Permalink
That's super true, but I'm talking more about the people who jump immediately to, "all unions are bad, eliminate them all", which isn't the answer.
― heated debate over derpy hooves (jon /via/ chi 2.0), Friday, 14 September 2012 14:11 (8 months ago) Permalink
In Wisconsin, if memory serves, a huge number of union members voted against the Scott Walker recall. I don't get it when people vote against their interests, but it does imply something deeper or at least more nuanced at work.
― Josh in Chicago, Friday, 14 September 2012 14:16 (8 months ago) Permalink
Union members in Wisconsin have a tendency to be socially conservative, Reagan Democrats.
And a lot of people in this state thought the recall was a massive waste of public resources in the service of a small portion of the population.
― Josiah Alan, Friday, 14 September 2012 14:25 (8 months ago) Permalink
Public sector unions are not well loved here, even in liberal strongholds like Madison and the city of Milwaukee.
Even my friends who belonged to public unions hated them, and these are 20 something Democratic leaning voters.
― Josiah Alan, Friday, 14 September 2012 14:27 (8 months ago) Permalink
Yeah, ime people I know or knew consider it kind of shameful to have to belong to a union b/c of their profession, like it's asking for trouble or a handout they don't want.
― purveyor of generations (in orbit), Friday, 14 September 2012 14:36 (8 months ago) Permalink
Plus I'd guess that there are schools in states without strong teachers’ unions where there are kids doing as lousy on tests as those in union states. Mississippi for example
― curmudgeon, Friday, 14 September 2012 14:52 (8 months ago) Permalink
You would have thought, though, after it got to that point, with all the money spent already, that they could have just swallowed some pride and voted against Walker.
― Josh in Chicago, Friday, 14 September 2012 14:53 (8 months ago) Permalink
Yeah, ime people I know or knew consider it kind of shameful to have to belong to a union b/c of their profession
This has not been my experience with the teachers I know, can't speak for other professions.
― Guayaquil (eephus!), Friday, 14 September 2012 14:58 (8 months ago) Permalink
I don't know any union members who are ashamed of being union.
― Fig On A Plate Cart (Alex in SF), Friday, 14 September 2012 15:02 (8 months ago) Permalink
In Wisconsin, if memory serves, a huge number of union members voted against the Scott Walker recall.
I guess it depends what you mean by "huge." Per this coverage
http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-503544_162-57447980-503544/how-scott-walker-won-the-wisconsin-recall-election/
union members went for Barrett over Walker 71-29, which is a pretty serious walloping. Wisconsin is about half Democratic and half Republican, and you'd be hard pressed to find a group of voters more solidly Democratic than 71-29. If I remember correctly, that's about the same as the vote breakdown for the city of Madison, and I would not describe Madison as a place with a huge number of Republicans.
― Guayaquil (eephus!), Friday, 14 September 2012 15:04 (8 months ago) Permalink
So the Republican union members were possibly split?
― Josh in Chicago, Friday, 14 September 2012 15:05 (8 months ago) Permalink
One of the more fascinating stats about where I live is that apparently only 20% of the population of Oak Park comprises households with K-12 aged kids, which means that the vast majority of homes are paying for services they do not use.
LOL that's how i feel about the fucking FIRE DEPARTMENT
― the late great, Friday, 14 September 2012 18:09 (8 months ago) Permalink
Ha. To be fair, a large role of the fire department is preventative.
― Josh in Chicago, Friday, 14 September 2012 18:12 (8 months ago) Permalink
so is education, if you think about it
― the late great, Friday, 14 September 2012 18:17 (8 months ago) Permalink
on the civic level they should just rebrand education 'society insurance'
― iatee, Friday, 14 September 2012 18:25 (8 months ago) Permalink
then there'd just be fuckers goin around all, i don't neeeeed insurance, i take care of my mind just fine, and other fuckers that would be all, i'll just go on the internet if i suddenly need to know somethin!
― j., Friday, 14 September 2012 18:27 (8 months ago) Permalink
― iatee, Friday, September 14, 2012 1:25 PM (56 minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink
i like this. don't know if school boards in texas would go for it.
― flesh, the devil, and a wolf (wolf) (amateurist), Friday, 14 September 2012 19:30 (8 months ago) Permalink
in case of nuclear war, we're going to put all the national merit scholars in a bunker
― the late great, Friday, 14 September 2012 19:31 (8 months ago) Permalink
woo-hoo!
wait, where's the bunker
― wtf where's my chapbook (DJP), Friday, 14 September 2012 19:32 (8 months ago) Permalink
In between the sofa cushions...IN HELL.
― purveyor of generations (in orbit), Friday, 14 September 2012 19:34 (8 months ago) Permalink
Would be interesting to know who's funding that campaign.
― Temporarily Famous In The Czech Republic (ShariVari), Friday, September 14, 2012 8:32 AM (5 hours ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink
― Josh in Chicago, Friday, September 14, 2012 8:37 AM (5 hours ago)
Very much so - it's the Center for Union Facts, one of a number of front groups run by Richard Berman (father of the Silver Jews' David). See http://www.bermanco.com/advertising/print/
― boxall, Friday, 14 September 2012 19:34 (8 months ago) Permalink
it's in north dakota dan, in the basement of NORAD
― the late great, Friday, 14 September 2012 19:36 (8 months ago) Permalink
I just couldn't resist making a Buffy joke, it is actually in North Dakota...IN HELL.
― purveyor of generations (in orbit), Friday, 14 September 2012 19:46 (8 months ago) Permalink
bad news for some ppl: I was a Natl Merit Scholar
― kizz my hairy irish azz (Dr Morbius), Friday, 14 September 2012 19:48 (8 months ago) Permalink
good news for everyone who likes watching ppl bicker tho
― wtf where's my chapbook (DJP), Friday, 14 September 2012 19:55 (8 months ago) Permalink
specially selected corps of deaf navy seals
― the late great, Friday, 14 September 2012 20:49 (8 months ago) Permalink
― purveyor of generations (in orbit), Friday, 14 September 2012 20:52 (8 months ago) Permalink
is that fella listening for nuclear subs
― j., Friday, 14 September 2012 21:01 (8 months ago) Permalink
"Preventing conflicts is the work of politics; establishing peace is the work of education" - maria montessori
― the late great, Friday, 14 September 2012 21:23 (8 months ago) Permalink
hippie
― flesh, the devil, and a wolf (wolf) (amateurist), Friday, 14 September 2012 23:27 (8 months ago) Permalink
that's me
― the late great, Friday, 14 September 2012 23:38 (8 months ago) Permalink
sigh
http://www.salon.com/2012/09/27/the_corporate_education_agenda_behind_wont_back_down/
I also met an entrepreneur who tried to convince me that the future of education was 3-D. He was in the conference vending hall repping his firm, Elixir XES 3D, which specializes in glassless 3-D video monitors. “With this technology we can bring dinosaurs or presidents or whatever to life!” he said. “Learning can be fun, just like a video game or a 3-D IMAX movie.” He then handed me a paper titled “3-D: The Technology Brought a Pot of Gold to the Motion Picture Box Office. It Has the Potential to Bring ‘Golden’ Learning Back to Our Schools, at Warp Speed.” The paper, which seemed simultaneously geared toward investors, advertisers and school board officials, explained that his super-exciting XES 3D technology is currently in 10 school districts and counting, bringing benefits to both students and advertisers.
― j., Thursday, 27 September 2012 13:16 (7 months ago) Permalink
what's next, this fool's TED talk? smdh
― these albatrosses have no fear of man (La Lechera), Thursday, 27 September 2012 19:14 (7 months ago) Permalink
industry rule #4080, textbook people are shady, same as it ever was, these bloodsuckers have been around since the day textbook companies and promethean boards were invented
― the late great, Thursday, 27 September 2012 19:52 (7 months ago) Permalink
teaching is already in 3D iirc
― The Most Typical and Popular Girl Rider (Crabbits), Thursday, 27 September 2012 23:45 (7 months ago) Permalink
It has real potential for music class
*3-D trombone slides you*
― look at this quarterstaff (Hurting 2), Thursday, 27 September 2012 23:46 (7 months ago) Permalink
We start one-day rotating strikes this week across the province. We'll probably be legislated back if a second day for any one board is imminent.
― clemenza, Monday, 10 December 2012 00:42 (5 months ago) Permalink
Waiting around for a decision from the Ontario Labour Relations Board tonight on whether our one-day walkout tomorrow is a) a political protest, b) an illegal strike, or c) neither, because they rule against us and we cancel. If it's the second, the Premier says fines or jail time are options. If I go in for some hard time, please, tell the world my story.
― clemenza, Friday, 11 January 2013 00:52 (4 months ago) Permalink
We're all still in limbo. Ontario high school teachers have been advised by their union to resume extra-curricular in exchange for...no one's sure, so I was glad to hear today that many of them will continue to boycott. If they buckle, we (elementary panel) surely will in short order.
― clemenza, Monday, 25 February 2013 22:22 (3 months ago) Permalink
Good job.
― clemenza, Friday, 1 March 2013 00:34 (2 months ago) Permalink