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"Hey listen!" by quinnanya on flickr
The Obama administration has set up a petition site for the general public. This is a good chance to see how seriously they are going to take the results, by asking him to give up a profoundly corrupt and destructive K-12 education policy and put the people who actually know what they are doing in charge.
Text of petition and link to sign:
The current education “reform” movement is driven by real estate, software, education management, and testing corporations who stand to profit from destroying existing public schools and replacing them with for profit charter schools that siphon for private profits that could have gone directly to classrooms.
Instead, listen to the teachers, involved parents, and scholars who do research on education to determine the best way to improve our schools while keeping them entirely public rather than treating our children’s future like a commodity to be speculated on like so many bushels of wheat or pork bellies.
What we can learn from the private sector is the best practices of entirely private schools, like your own children attend, and how to prepare our kids to benefit from them.
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obumble does listen to “professional” educators: michele rhee, arne duncan, and all that are ready to end protection for teachers. he listens to those that want to expand charter schools to get rid of the evil “public schools” that have done well for our students over the years.
I am not sure what you are asking us to do. Do you want us to write something on the blank page that comes up when the link is clicked?
“siphon for private profits that could have gone directly to classrooms.”
Hey, Prof: what percentage goes “directly to classrooms”?
““public schools” that have done well for our students over the years”
ROFLMAO! You know any other good jokes?
Privatization of public education is simply the theft of public funds (tax dollars) to subsidize private business thieves (charter schools, software and testing companies, etc.) — just as in the privatization of our military operations by continuing to fork over blank checks to defense contractors and private security companies.
Stephanie Mencimer of Mother Jones Online, Sept. 23, posted by AlterNet, reports Rupert Murdoch next month will deliver the keynote address in San Francisco at an education summit hosted by Jeb Bush, “who lately has been crisscrossing the country promoting his own version of education reform.”
According to the author: “Murdoch has made it very clear that he views America’s public schools as a potential gold mine.”
‘Nuff said.
The petition is only 15 signatures away from the magic 5,000 number right now.
There is an excellent article on this subject by Diane Ravitch in the most current edition of New York Review of Books.
Ooops, I misunderstood the signature numbers on the site. There are only 15 signatures recorded — 4,985 to go!
Tell the asshole to resign and go back to Chicago.
Professor:
“WH Petition for Obama: listen to educators not billionaires on education reform.” Now substitute “educators” with your favorite issue, like this:
WH Petition for Obama: listen to _________ not billionaires on ________ reform.
“WH Petition for Obama: listen to SCIENTISTS not billionaires on EPA SMOG RULES reform,” or “WH Petition for Obama: listen to Progressives not billionaires on Government reform” or “WH Petition for Obama: listen to the people not billionaires on Wall Street reform” Get it? Well Obama doesn’t. Hate to be so negative, but me thinks you need to get a little more creative in your activism. Cuz he ain’t listening! Good luck with that~
He does listen – to the highest bidder.
Obama Top Fundraiser on Wall Street
By Kristin Jensen and Christine Harper
Bloomberg News
Wednesday, April 18, 2007
Bloomberg
Obama Returns to New York to Raise Money, Dine With Bankers
June 23, 2011, 11:28 PM EDT
By Hans Nichols