solidaridad

Tuesday, March 07, 2017

How our household voted March 7, 2017

H — yes | Despite the fact that the reactionaries at the billionaire funded United Way of Greater Los Angeles supported it.

Mayor — Frantz Pierre | Some activists suggested Schawartz, but his mailers indicated he was a Clinton-Obama neoliberal. When respected Green Party CD34 Candidate Kenneth Mejia endorsed Pierre, that’s all we needed.

City Attorney — BLANK | Mike Feuer supported the racist Echo Parque gang injunction to help speed gentrification and line developer pockets. We don’t vote for racists.

Controller — BLANK | Ron Galperin could have used his position to expose all of the scandals in the charter school industry that steal money from public school students. He did not.

City Council — Jessica Salans | She’s endorsed by the Green Party, and has seemingly good politics. In 2013 I endorsed, we contributed, and we voted for Mitch O’Farrell, whom we thought leaned left, or at least center. However, O’Farrell supported the racist Echo Parque gang injunction to help speed gentrification and line developer pockets. We don’t vote for racists.

M — BLANK | We don’t smoke weed. Our stance is this is an issue for the stoners to decide for themselves.

N — BLANK | See explanation for M supra.

P— BLANK | We didn’t have sufficient time to formulate a position on this.

S — YES | Highly respected activists in communities most impacted are supporting this, including Damien Goodmon and Ron Gochez. This city is run by insatiably greedy developers, and while S isn’t the solution, it might give us enough time to organize a real response to the “genocide by gentrification” occurring at breakneck speeds. After watching what happened in my zip code, we embrace any resistance, even this imperfect kind, against the onslaught of unchecked development.

CC Trustees — Steven Veres, Dallas Fowler, and Dr. Gabriel Buelna | An activist we trust on these issues provided these picks.

LAUSD D2 — | Toss up between Carl Petersen and Lisa Alva. This was tough because both candidates have their pros and cons. Either Petersen or Alva are exponentially better than right-wing school privatizer Garcia. In the end we went with the candidate endorsed by Associated Administrators of Los Angeles. We can only hope that extremist Garcia and her vile Betsy DeVos agenda is defeated.

Remember that in Congressional District 34 we have a special election on April 4, 2017. Be sure to vote…

Kenneth Mejia for Congress!

Saturday, February 25, 2017

Schools Matter: Yolie Flores Aguilar email colluding with charter school executives

First published on Schools Matter on February 20, 2017

“PLEASE don’t forward this email. simply state it in your own words.”—Yolie Flores Aguilar

This email was addressed to some 60 individuals, including myself, on February 4, 2017. While its authenticity is not absolutely certain, I have researched the email addresses in the email body and they all seem legitimate. The content is consistent with the language that these charter school executives use both in public and internal conversations.

Yolie Flores Aguilar was an employee of the infamous Gates Foundation (of ALEC and Discovery Institute donation fame) while she sat on the LAUSD Board. She brought a resolution to give away new schools built with taxpayer dollars to privately managed charter school corporations.

Here Flores colludes with several well paid charter executives to avoid public mention that her resolution (inappropriately named Public [sic] School Choice) was essentially a real estate bonanza for the lucrative charter school sector. Marco Petruzzi and Ben Austin of Green Dot/Parent Revolution, Judy Burton of Alliance, Mike Piscal of ICEF are the big names in this secret missive. The lot of them have been plagued by scandals, but most of them are still profiting mightily from the charter industry.

Flores is currently running for U.S. Congress. If she's capable of this sort of duplicity and malfeasance while on a school board, imagine her in another position of power to further serve her corporate masters. Arch-reactionary Betsy DeVos would love to have more neoliberal Democrats that support her school privatization agenda of charters-vouchers. DeVos already has corporatists like Corey Booker in her thrall, Yolie Flores would be no different.

The second document should help authenticate this email chain. It's an email from Dr. Danny Weil with Yolie Flores Aguilar's <itsyolie@sbcglobal.net> email address in the to field. I recall she had a blog by the same name (i.e. "itsyolie"), and remember seeing emails from her from that address back in that era.

Yolie Flores Aguilar email colluding with charter school executives by Robert D. Skeels on Scribd

Dr. Danny Weil email with Yolie Flores Aguilar's <itsyolie@sbcglobal.net> email address by Robert D. Skeels on Scribd

Monday, February 20, 2017

ALWAYS PUNCH NAZIS | This Shouldn't Be News

This video is brilliant. If we wait for fascists like Richard Spencer to herd us into concentration camps, then it's too late to punch them. I'm grateful that antifa and black bloc are doing the work to prevent these vile white supremacists and other assorted eugenists from growing.

Sunday, February 19, 2017

A tangible way to fight Betsy DeVos' arch-reactionary EdReform agenda?

A tangible way to fight Betsy DeVos' reactionary #EdReform agenda? Vote @imeldaschools @lausd_zimmer @ChangeTheLAUSD & @EDreport for #LAUSD
— Robert D. Skeels (@rdsathene) February 19, 2017

Saturday, February 18, 2017

Schools Matter: The Monica Garcia - Betsy DeVos connection

First published on Schools Matter on December 13, 2016

“Monica Garcia believes in… choice… She expanded charter schools” — Michael R. Bloomberg and A. Jerrold Perenchio’s Coalition for School Reform

Extremist Betsy DeVos was a long time favorite of neoliberal corporate education reform oriented Liberals and reactionary organizations like Democrats for Education Reform, so it's surprising that there's a little bit of consternation coming from some Democrats over Trump's ED pick. On the other hand, right-wing extremists like Campbell Brown seemingly can't contain their joy over the arch-reactionary appointment. Ultimately DeVos's school privatization policies won't differ substantively from those of the doltish Arne Duncan or John King. She'll just get to our rulers' end goal of eliminating public education quicker than the Bush and Obama Administrations were able to.

Los Angeles has had its own Betsy DeVos for many years in the form of anti-public school politician Monica Garcia. Garcia is running for a third term, and her long record of expanding revenue streams and market share for the lucrative charter school industry is legendary. Here are some of DeVos and Garcia's connections and shared values:

Betsy DeVos financially supports, and was on the board of publisher (The 74) of the dubious "LA School Report", a high-profile blog that has provided non-stop favorable publicity and propaganda for Moníca García since its inception.
DeVos has made sizable contributions to organizations that in turn made campaign contributions to SuperPAC Independent Expenditures supporting García's elections. Follow the money to organization like the now defunct Coalition for School Reform, and Great Public Schools Los Angeles, and also the current CCSA run Parent Teacher Alliance dark money SuperPAC.
DeVos funds the organizations espousing racist "school choice" policies from which García derives many of her policy positions and talking points.
DeVos and García openly support religious, and religious affiliated organizations running charter chains. DeVos with the various Christian Identity and white supremacist organizations she's associated with, and García, whose long time relationship with The Pacifica Institute and the shadowy Gülen network are well documented.

Friday, February 17, 2017

Associated Administrators of Los Angeles LAUSD Endorsements 2017

The LAUSD is an Early Education, K-12 through Adult Education Division District. Resources and services must be provided accordingly. — Associated Administrators of Los Angeles (AALA)

From the February 6, 2017 issue of Update

In January, the PAC Steering Committee invited the thirteen candidates for Board Districts 2, 4, and 6 to interviews. All came, with the exception of three. Candidates received AALA’s core values in advance, which may be accessed HERE. Interviews were 30 minutes in length and with the exception of the two incumbents

Monica Garcia and Steve Zimmer, all candidates were asked the same six questions on the following topics: background information and policies; role of Board Members; AALA’s core values; administrator's roles and workload; political base, fundraising, and campaign; final comments and questions.

The committee believes its recommended candidates are true advocates for public schools, are against privatization, and will ensure that all students are provided access and equity to a quality education. Following lively discussion, the PAC Council voted to endorse the following candidates:

Board District 2—Lisa Alva
Board District 4—Steve Zimmer
Board District 6—Imelda Padilla
L.A. City Council Seat 7—Mónica Ratliff

The Council also voted to donate $1,100 (the maximum allowed by law) to the candidates for the Board of Education and $750 to Mónica Ratliff. These funds come from AALA’s PAC account, which is separate from AALA’s operating budget. AALA members can choose whether to direct a portion of their AALA dues to the PAC.

Schools Matter: I can't think of anyone as profoundly ignorant, or as uniquely unqualified to be appointed Secretary of Education as Betsy…

First published on Schools Matter on February 07, 2017

I can't think of anyone as profoundly ignorant, or as uniquely unqualified to be appointed Secretary of Education as Betsy…

…oh, wait, never-mind.

Let's not forget that neoliberal school privatization is a bipartisan project. Both parties fail education.

A natural progression of neoliberalism

Rod Paige
Margaret Spellings
Arne Duncan
John King
Betsy DeVos

Not opposing the neoliberal corporate education reform agenda when Democrats were in charge is what led to the DeVos disaster. Not unlike how the Hillary Rodham Clinton camp's "Elevating Pied Piper Candidates" led to the Trump fiasco.

Wednesday, January 18, 2017

Student Empowerment through Culture and Language

Student Empowerment through Culture and Language

Tuesday, January 31 at 4 PM - 8 PM

UTLA

3303 Wilshire Blvd Fl 10,

Los Angeles, California 90010

Ethnic Studies, Dual and Mulitilingual Education. With the passage of Prop 58 the Multilingual Education Act and AB2016 Ethnic Studies we have a historic opportunity to advance issues and more. Join the UTLA Raza Ed. and Bilingual Education Commitee as we bring scholars, educators and community together for an engaging discussion. Best of all, this event is FREE!

Professors Solórzano and Krashen: Student Empowerment through Culture and Language by Robert D. Skeels on Scribd

Monday, January 16, 2017

Los Angeles student groups to protest racism and other right-wing hate

A busy week will be upon us. As most of you know, CEJ's campaign-turned-movement for the Schools LA Students Deserve has really grown in the last few years. Many of our chapters (we have 14 now!!) are called Students Deserve and our students, parents and teachers often call us Students Deserve now, although we are still Coalition for Educational Justice as well (CEJ). We have chapters as far west as Venice HS, as far east as Garfield HS, in Hollywood, Koreatown, Silver Lake, North Hollywood and South LA. We're seeing our dream of organizing across our huge city come to life!!

We wanted to share an exciting event that our students have planned on their own with some support from our two new paid Students Deserve organizers, Maricela (full-time student and parent organizer) and Alfredo (part-time, supports the student organizing piece).

We're very excited to announce:

Weds, January 18th: Students United Against Hate, United for the Communities LA Students Deserve  Event- MacArthur Park 4:30pm  (PDF Flyer attached below) We want a safe space for students by students as we challenge Trump, his politics, his followers, the systems of oppression that have allowed him to exist, and the damage that he wants to do to us.

There will be music, art, spoken word and a panel discussion. Our students are AWESOME. Please come to MacArthur Park on Wednesday after school if you are available!! We know that UTLA Chapter Chairs have Area Meetings that afternoon.

We also will be involved on Thursday: January 19th: UTLA/ROS LA Morning Action. You probably know about the action taking place at schools. Students Deserve students want to support whatever this looks like at your campus to show that we won’t let Trump mess with schools and our communities.

Stay involved. Stay strong. Stay united. We will not be bullied by the incoming president and his right-wing cabinet nominees. WE WILL NOT BACK DOWN!

See you on Wednesday standing strong at MacArthur Park and Thursday standing strong at our schools!!

Saturday, January 14, 2017

NPE Action endorses Alva and Petersen for the LAUSD Board of Education

The Network for Public Education Action is proud to endorse two candidates for the Los Angeles Board of Education District 2 primary election—Lisa Alva and Carl Petersen.

Although it is very unusual for us to endorse two for the same position, both are well qualified and are committed to the ideals of NPE Action.

The third candidate in the race, the incumbent Monica Garcia, has clearly demonstrated by her record that she is not aligned with the pro-public education agenda of the Network for Public Education Action.

We therefore urge our supporters to vote for either Lisa or Carl.

Lisa Alva

Lisa has been a classroom teacher, school leader and a voice for teachers for 18 years. She told us that her first priority if elected “would be to redirect funding, resources and personnel to neighborhood public schools so that all children, especially at-risk youth, have enough variety in classes, and small enough classes, to benefit from a complete education that includes electives and vocational-technical training, from pre-K through Adult School. This means beginning and ending every conversation with the question, “How will this benefit students?”

She supports less standardized testing, and smaller class sizes. She also embraces charter school reform and transparency, and a return to democratically controlled schools.

According to Lisa, “Charter schools needlessly drain resources from neighborhood schools, weaken the teaching profession and leave more students behind than they serve.”

Carl Petersen

Carl is the father of five children, all of whom have attended public schools. Two of his daughters are on the autism spectrum so he is especially sensitive to the importance of funding for students with special needs.

Carl’s first priority is to stop Eli Broad’s Great Public Schools Now Initiative “to reach 50 percent charter market share.” According to Carl, “The LAUSD does not currently have the capacity, or the will, to oversee the 250 charters that already operate within the District. Doubling the number of these organizations will create opportunities for financial improprieties like those that have occurred at El Camino Real Charter High School, where public funds were used for expensive dinners, first class airfare and personal expenses. Charters are currently allowed to cherry pick students who are not English learners, do not have special education needs and do not have behavioral issues. The higher costs of serving these students are borne by the LAUSD schools that continue to serve these populations. Increasing the number of charters will shift these costs to an even lower base of students. The bankruptcy of the District is a likely result.”

Carl believes there should be less testing and he is opposed to the Common Core. He believes that there should be more accountability for the Los Angeles Board of Education.

The LAUSD school board election primary will take place on March 7. We ask you to choose between these two fine candidates when you cast your vote.

Thank you,

Carol Burris

Executive Director

You can share these endorsements using the following links:

http://npeaction.org/2017/01/14/npe-action-endorses-carl-petersen-lausd-school-board/

http://npeaction.org/2017/01/14/npe-action-endorses-lisa-alva-lausd-school-board/

Schools Matter: DeVos: a product of bipartisan embrace of failed, racist “school choice” policies

First published on Schools Matter on December 20, 2016

“I stand behind the charter school… movement, because parents do deserve greater choice” — Hillary Rodham Clinton

With both mainstream presidential candidates publicly stating they believed in the white supremacist notion of school choice, it wasn’t hard to see the Trump nomination of someone as extreme as Betsy DeVos as being possible. How these abject, failed policies play out in reality is instructive.

Vice on Detroit: School choice gutted Detroit’s public schools. The rest of the country is next.

Schools Matter: Grit-meister Angela Duckworth headlines Jeb Bush's reactionary ExcelinEd summit

First published on Schools Matter on October 06, 2016

“As a close protege of Dr. Martin Seligman, Angela Duckworth serves as Seligman’s point person in moving his brand of paternalistic corporate psychology and character control into schools that teach the children of the poor.” — Professor James Horn

When modern day eugenicist Angela Duckworth isn't transforming Martin Seligman's torture techniques into "character development" policies for children of the poor, she's headlining events held by the nation's most reactionary, right-wing extremists.

What will the perseverance paramour be preaching to her DeVos, Bradley, Broad, Walton, Fisher, Gates, and Bloomberg partisans? Well, GRIT of course! What else do folks that otherwise engage in victim blaming talk about? You're poor because you don't try hard enough and give up too easily!

Nothing says hard work and perseverance like a handsome inheritance—just ask the Walton fortune heirs, who are both key sponsors of the summit and top ExcelinEd Donors. They're gritty, and so is Duckworth.

Schools Matter: Another defeat in court for right-wing privatizer David F. Welch

First published on Schools Matter on September 23, 2016

“People need to understand that there’s tons of money in nonprofits.” — Brett Bymaster

David F. Welch neoliberal corporate education reform pusher

Gates Foundation rag EdSource and irrepressible education writer Peter Greene recently announced another resounding defeat in court for the anti-public education outfit Students Matter. The trial court ruled against David F. Welch's corporate reform group in Doe vs. Antioch. Welch's other action, the wrongheaded Vergara suit, recently ended with the Supreme Court of California's refusal to hear his group's appeal. I had some observations reproduced here.

Once more right-wing extremist David F. Welch costs the people of California untold sums of money with his reactionary group’s wrongheaded causes of action. One wonders how many school libraries could have been stocked with the resources squandered defending against these bad faith lawsuits brought by his group.

As a Juris Doctor candidate myself, I suppose I can consider Marcellus McRae, Joshua S. Lipshutz, and Theodore Boutrous of corporate firm Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher as somewhat instructive. They have demonstrated repeatedly how NOT to read statutes, how to present evidence that is neither logically nor legally relevant, and how to make bad faith arguments without conscience. I will take their lessons on how not to conduct myself as an attorney to heart.

Seems like they need refreshers in issue spotting and ethics. Having just scored a 124 on the MPRE myself, perhaps I could help them with the latter.

Tuesday, November 29, 2016

Social justice oriented candidate signature gathering for ballot

LAUSD District 2 is still held by one of the staunchest enemies of public education this side of Betsy DeVos.

It’s likely the only way to stop Monica Gülenist Garcia is to run enough candidates to divide up her district.

There is an Asian Pacific American (APA) candidate who taught school alongside one of my law school classmates. She worked with several prominent UTLA activists back in the day, and says she was one of the founding members of Coalition for Educational Justice (CEJ). She went on to become an attorney representing students with disabilities. For the most part, she holds the same values as CEJ and similar minded groups like SLASD.

She needs more help with the signature gathering to get on the ballot. My wife and I gave her several volunteer hours this week, and we made a campaign contribution. We believe she would be an excellent candidate for this district.

Please consider volunteering to help her with the signature gathering process.

Miho Murai for LAUSD School Board 2017

All of her contact information is here

It's unconscionable that the charter sector still places revenue streams over student needs

"…it's unconscionable that the charter sector still places revenue streams over student needs."—rds #EdReform #schoolchoice #lausd pic.twitter.com/YygjAwvfY8
— Robert D. Skeels (@rdsathene) November 29, 2016

Schools Los Angeles Students Deserve (SLASD) December General Assembly

Schools Los Angeles Students Deserve (SLASD) General Assembly

Every month students, parents, and teachers of #StudentsDeserve gather to discuss and plan for the future of educational justice inside and outside our schools in Los Angeles. Considering the political state we are in, now more than ever we know that our grassroots work is important and necessary. For that reason, we invite YOU (students, parents, and teachers) to our General Assembly THIS THURSDAY. Come hear about the work that students and parents are building!

Bring a fellow parent and/or student to our General Assembly to learn about the fight for the Schools Los Angeles Students Deserve. Join us! Details in flyer attached below.

If you have any questions please email us at: lastudentsdeserve@gmail.com

Monday, August 29, 2016

Schools Matter: Does your candidate hold left wing or right wing views on education?

First published on Schools Matter on August 25, 2016

“Hillary Clinton, who, for me, is a neoliberal disaster…” — Professor Cornel West

Is your candidate progressive or reactionary on education issues? One measure is to compare their views to those of the notoriously right-wing JBS. Here we look at some critical issues facing students, families, and our public schools.

K-12 Wire: Thank you John Oliver for exposing how charter schools steal from children

First published on K-12 Wire on August 26, 2016

“Fraud is a feature of deregulation, not a bug. When no one is looking, some people steal. Not everyone steals, but many do. That is why Ohio, Florida, Michigan, and California are scamming taxpayers.” — Professor Diane Ravitch

The vile poverty pimps and privatization pushers of the lucrative charter school industry were infuriated when John Oliver had the temerity to speak truth to their power. Given their fortunes at stake, the charter sector has launched an unprecedented attack on the truth teller. The Network For Public Education has begun a letter writing campaign to counter that of the well funded efforts by the school privatizers to silence Oliver and other public school supporters. Not one to use boilerplate text, I composed my own thank you note, reproduced here.

Dear Mr. Oliver:

I've spent the past two decades of my life researching and writing about the lucrative charter school industry. For many of those early years I, and a few others, were subjected to scorn and abuse for our audacity to speak truth to power.

My motivation has always been to defend those with the most to lose because of the charter project's existence—students with disabilities (SWD), students with disciplinary issues, low-performing students, and so on. All these students are discriminated against because they threaten charter school revenues.

Today our voices are no longer alone, ignored, or silenced. The recent NAACP announcement, and your brilliant segment are testament to that. I understand that the charter industry has been launching vile attacks against you for exposing their insatiable greed. Please know that people of good conscience stand behind you. The neoliberal corporate education reform project backing the charter industry puts profits before pupils, and that's unacceptable.

It's time to end the horrifically failed charter school project, and turn our attentions to public schools.

Thank you for your courage.

Robert D. Skeels
Juris Doctor Candidate

Schools Matter: Perhaps Bill and Melinda Gates need their folly expressed in a more familiar format to understand it?

First published on Schools Matter on August 16, 2016

“Philanthropy is not progressive and never has been.” — Tiffany Lethabo King and Ewuare Osayande

Seems Bill and Melinda Gates have great difficulty learning from their myriad mistakes. Our Professor Stephen Krashen is frequently reminding them and their fellow neoliberal corporate education reformers of what the real problem is. While the convicted predatory monopolist has no degree, Melinda Gates actually attended and graduated college, so one would think the two of them could sort these issues out. Despite this, the Gates Foundation duo are demanding yet more data, as if that doubling down on their poorly-thought-out ideas will work.

Since they're both computer science types, the problem may just be that they need to see their folly expressed in code. To that end, I've written a short program illustrating what the two Gates Foundation plutocrats do.

If I were more cynical, given their behavior in the face of overwhelming evidence discrediting their ideas and ideology, I think that their constant calls for more data are an attempt to rationalize their conduct, rather than actually trying to help anyone.

Monday, August 15, 2016

Schools Matter: Neoliberal Corporate Education Reform… for “other” peoples’ kids

First published on Schools Matter on August 12, 2016

“CCSS assume an American population embodied with a similar history of freedom and cultural ‘neutrality’ or ‘universality’” — Donald H. Smith, Ph.D.

The Atlantic has a surprisingly candid piece entitled “A Public-School Paradox” about the hypocrisy of the establishment elite in Washington not sending their own spawn to public schools. This has been exacerbated by the fact that the most vociferous neoliberal corporate education reform proponents — like Barack Obama, Arne Duncan, and Hillary Rodham Clinton — are all private school parents. Disconnected and disinvested from the public commons, they advocate for horrific, racist, classist “reforms” that only serve to widen the gap between working class families and themselves. Especially disturbing is this trio of Democratic politicians’ full-throated support of the white supremacist Common Core State Standards (CCSS), a curriculum from which their own scion were spared.

My brief comments in reaction to the piece follow.

Sidwell Friends School is the polar opposite of the horrific KIPP dungeons Obama advocates for other POC kids. My editor at Schools Matter — Dr. Jim Horn — has been publishing chapters from his book on KIPP, but I have a paper copy I’ll read once the MPRE is over. It was Horn that coined the phrase “cultural sterilization” to describe the no excuses model inflicted on students. I can’t think of a better way to frame it, nor anything more removed from the experience of establishment elitists that advocate it for “other” peoples’ children.