Ron Gochez, maestro de historia en la escuela Santee, esta luchando para defender su trabajo en ese plantel educativo.
The fact that they are trying to do this to one of the best teachers in our district speaks volumes to the dirty political machine that is Los Angeles. PLAS will have an entire angry community to contend with if they try to carry out this travesty. We need a thousand Ron Gochez's in our school district to carry the truth to students long oppressed by deceitful and duplicitous creatures like John Deasy and Yole Flores.
Come meet two of the authors from a new book on capitalism and education, Gillian Russom and Sarah Knopp. The book traces Marxist theories of education under capitalism; outlines the educational experiences of emergent bilingual and African American students historically; recaps the theory and history of teachers’ unions; analyzes the neoliberal attack on public schools under Obama; critically appraises Paolo Freire’s legacy; and makes the link between social revolution and struggles for literacy.
What I love about the SCIC, and why I am proud to have been one of its founding members, is that it never compromises its principles out of political expediency or opportunism. When other so-called "progressive" immigration groups were trailing the Democratic party calling for "comprehensive immigration reform" (read no reform at all), the SCIC was calling for full legalization and amnesty for all undocumented peoples. When other groups said ignore proto-fascist racist groups like the Minutemen and other Klansmen, the SCIC stood up to bigots and white supremacists. When funding stream conscious NPICs said don't target media that glorify the Border Patrol, the SCIC protested in front of places like ABC Studios demanding an end to the vilification of the undocumented. Currently LAPD and Mayor Villaraigosa are waging a war on immigrants by stealing their cars at checkpoints. Which major group protested in front of the Mayor's lavish mansion? You bet — The SCIC!
This is also why I support Ron Gochez for City Council. His background of standing up for workers and immigrant rights is peerless, and he brings the vision that only a leftist has to the debates over issues that effect working class people the most.
Barack Obama has far exceeded George Bush in corporatization of education in the United States. — Glen Ford
Master dialectician Glen Ford's speech "Corporate Assault on Public Education" draws out all of the historical and material conditions that have created the current crop of African Americans who serve the most reactionary sectors of the corporate education cabal. His peerless voice matched with his uncanny ability to narrate compelling facts like Cory Booker's deep ties to the arch-reactionary The Lynde and Harry Bradley Foundation make for a powerful and informative speech. This is required viewing for every social justice advocate engaged in the desperate struggle to keep the remaining public commons out of the clutches of corporate coffers.
In the space of less than 20 years, the public school privatization movement has emerged from the narrow, right wing fringes to dominate both major political parties. From vouchers to school choice to charter schools, the issue has divided even Black Americans, who were once public education's most fervent supporters. Glen Ford explains how this came about by wealthy individuals buying black politicians and promoting their careers, particularly Corey Booker.
Glen Ford is a veteran of more than 40 years in broadcast, print and Internet journalism. A former Washington Bureau Chief and White House, Capitol Hill, and State Department correspondent, he is currently Executive Editor of Black Agenda Report (BlackAgendaReport.com), a weekly magazine of news, commentary and analysis from the Black Left. Along with co-host Nellie Hester Bailey, Ford hosts and produces the weekly, one-hour Black Agenda Radio program on the Progressive Radio Network.
Sponsored by LifeLines and Peace and Justice Task Force of All Souls Church. Event May 9, 2012 Camera, sound Joe Friendly
Several people sent me a video of Glen Ford of the Black Agenda Report skewering Corey Booker, the mayor of Newark, and Howard Fuller of Black Alliance for Educational Options as sell-outs for a rightwing agenda. See it here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JdPACwRgw04
I must say there was nothing in the video that surprised me. Back in the late 1990s, when I was involved in three different conservative organizations, there was a concerted effort to find and promote black advocates for choice. The leaders on the right wanted to promote charters as a boon to minorities and the poor. The pitch was, "We are saving poor kids from failing schools." After all, they couldn't very well go to state capitols and say, "Please pass charter legislation so that we can get government off our backs." Or, "please pass charter legislation because we can't get vouchers."
So the strategists on the right devised a clever campaign that was irresistible to liberals and conservatives alike: Create privately-managed schools to save poor black and Hispanic kids. Republicans would like the privatization aspect and liberals would fall for the "save poor minorities" part.
It worked.
Glen Ford, Bruce Dixon, and all the other contributors to Black Agenda Report have consistently been the most principled and acerbic critics of the corporate education reform agenda. Please donate to their site to keep it going, and share their site far and wide.
Waiting for "Superman" would have audiences believe that free-market competition, standardized tests, destroying teacher unions, and the proliferation of charter schools are just what this country needs to create great public schools. — Grassroots Education Movement
Today Grassroots Education Movement (GEM) announced their landmark picture released last year, "The Inconvenient Truth Behind Waiting For Superman," was now available online. Don't forget to visit the website for a wealth of resources to accompany the film, like a brochure for showings.
This is such an important film. It speaks truth to power on so many levels. Moreover it dismantles the disgusting right-wing charter-voucher propaganda piece by the slick mendacious hipster Davis Guggenheim. His dishonest, despicable and duplicitous film was probably the most pernicious documentary since Birth of a Nation.
I've organized screenings of "The Inconvenient Truth Behind Waiting For Superman" at Union Avenue ES and Micheltorena ES, the former with guest Professor Stephen Krashen. Parents and community members at both showings were transformed watching the film.
I for one realize how much hard work GEM put into the film. They provided a great gift for all of us that still believe in social justice and public education. Please share this film with everyone you know. Discuss it. Create school projects based on it. Write about it. Do everything you can to get the truth, however inconvenient, about corporate reforms and charter-voucher schools into the mainstream dialog.
La lucha para escuelas publicas y liberación para el todos gentes continua. En solidaridad.
Unprecedented attacks call
for unprecedented resistance. Superintendant John Deasy, School Board
President Monica Garcia, and other “leaders” are rolling back the
HUMAN RIGHT to Adult Education, with plans to summarily shut down
programs that serve over 300,000 students—27% of LAUSD’s total
population. They stand to save a meager 2% of the budget with these
cuts, while they spend 12%—$793 million—on unspecified “Other
Operating Expenses”.
On Saturday, students,
teachers and community members will go on the offensive by offering a
vibrant, bustling Community Fair to SAVE ALL OUR SCHOOLS. There will
be a wide array of speakers to share all that Adult Ed means for
millions of people. Special booths will allow attendees to record
their Stories with a folklorist, create arts and crafts, and get
informed and involved with the many facets of Adult Ed. A Family
Literacy Coordinator will conduct Family Story Time for children and
their caretakers. There will be music, and even a mass Zumba! Class,
because healthy minds and healthy bodies go hand-in-hand.
Ataques
sin precedentes llaman a medidas extraordinarias. El Superintendente
John Deasy, presidenta del consejo escolar Mónica García, y otros
“lideres” crean un revés al DERECHO HUMANO a la educación
adulta, con planes de eliminar en forma sumaria programas que prestan
servicios a más de 300,000 alumnos – 27% del total de la población
de LAUSD. Su postura es eliminar con estos recortes una cifra magra
de un 2 % del presupuesto total, mientras gastan un 12 % -793
millones – En “Otros Gastos de Operación” no detallados.
Este
sábado miembros de la comunidad, alumnos y profesores lanzaran una
ofensiva al ofrecer un vibrante y animado evento comunitario para
SALVAR NUESTRAS ESCUELAS. Habrá una amplia gama de oradores
quienes compartirán lo que representa la educación para adultos
para millones de personas. Puestos especiales permitirán a los
presentes grabar sus cuentos con un folklorista, crear artesanías,
informase e involucrase con los distintos aspectos de la educación
adulta. Un coordinador de alfabetización realizara un tiempo de
lectura familiar para niños y sus cuidadores. ¡Habrá música e
incluso una clase masiva de ZUMBA! Porque cuerpos sanos y mente
sanas van de la mano.
