.@lafund uses dairy for #LAUSD #BIC that has been fined by the EPA for nitric acid violations yosemite.epa.gov/opa/admpress.n… twitter.com/rdsathene/stat…
— Robert D. Skeels (@rdsathene) May 2, 2013
Tuesday, May 14, 2013
LA Fund uses a dairy for LAUSD BIC that has been fined by the EPA for nitric acid violations
Corporations have even found a way to co-opt words like urban "gentrification"
Corporations have even found a way to co-opt words like urban "gentrification" to deflect attention from what they do twitter.com/rdsathene/stat…
— Robert D. Skeels (@rdsathene) May 14, 2013
More evidence corroborating Professor Krashen and exposing the contrived skills and STEM crises
First published on Schools Matter on December 26, 2012.
"...the impending shortage of scientists and engineers is one of the longest running hoaxes in the country" — Gerald W. Bracey
Schools Matter's Professor Stephen Krashen has been a long time critic of the media promulgated mythology that there's a shortage of qualified workers, particularly those in the Science Technology Engineering Math (STEM) fields. A quick survey of his posts here reveal his ongoing work to counter the skills/STEM propaganda that is most often used to justify some of the most pernicious corporate education reforms.
Whenever I see more evidence proving these skills/STEM myths wrong, I'm quick to forward them to Dr. Krashen for him to add to his burgeoning catalog of documentation. NPR's recent Are There Too Many Ph.D.s And Not Enough Jobs? is an example of the evidence contradicting all the outrageous lies by Bill Gates, Mark Zuckerberg, David Welch, Reed Hastings, Arne Duncan, et al. The NPR piece, which cites The Atlantic, contains gems such as:
"numbers released by the National Science Foundation show that people with doctoral degrees in those technical fields are struggling to find work in their industries."
and
"Worse yet, as of 2011, approximately one-third of people graduating with a doctoral degree in science, technology, math or engineering had no job or post-doctoral offer of any kind."
Krashen posted the above piece on his facebook page, and several of us commented. Still exhausted from the LAUSD election, I had forgotten what I wrote until I saw myself quoted by Peggy Robertson and Patsy Bain Wolf. Looking at the quote, I'm sure glad they preserved it, since it gets to the heart of the matter:
The manufactured STEM crisis. Robert D. Skeels states "The manufactured STEM 'crises' has from the onset been a means to drive down the salaries of those professionals who often don't see themselves as being working class. Starting with Bill Gates' drive to grant more H1B visas to certain workers under the guise of "not enough qualified candidates." What this really means is not enough candidates willing to work on the cheap. Ultimately the same market forces that allow the owners of the means of production drive wages down are at work. Sadly, since many professionals aren't class conscious, the only things that could reverse this trend — working class push-back and unionization — aren't being discussed."
Another recent article by In These Times entitled Study Demolishes the Myth That U.S. Workers Lack Skills further puts the lie to the notion that U.S. workers are lacking in the education or skills department. The piece, which discusses a paper by University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee's Professor Marc Levine, contains powerful quotes like: "There are still three unemployed people for every possible job opening."
The article proper enumerates the points of Levine’s report, only the headings of which are reproduced here.
- False: The skills of the workforce somehow dropped sharply between 2007 and 2009.
- False: There is a vast pool of high-skilled jobs waiting to be filled.
- False: Employers are trying in vain to attract skilled workers.
- False: Understaffed employers must make do with the skilled workers they have.
- False: New high-skill jobs have been created.
- False: Workers with advanced degrees are more highly sought-after.
- False: The American job market will increasingly demand higher-skilled workers.
Globalization has allowed the ownership class to increasingly pit workers against each other in ways the Robber Barons could have only dreamed of. When workers compete, their boses win! A major part of the impetus behind corporate education reform is the same momentum that's created a job market were workers are increasingly expected to work harder and harder for less and less, while being required to have ever more education and training (at their own expense, of course). Nearly all of Silicon Valley's plutocratic elites' whining about a skills shortage is part and parcel a cry to drive down wages and squeeze ever more profit out of workers who are expected to "lean in."
This race to the bottom for workers is accelerated by those same forces turning teaching into an act of Taylorism as well. Race to the Top and Common Core State Standards are part of a corporate consensus intended to create compliant workers ready to accept ever more abject working conditions. The daily experience in schools today is a grim reminder of what student's adult life will most likely look like. Brian Jones' recent commentary looks at this in depth and provides inescapable analysis. The byline, which couldn't be more apropos, reads 'When Karl Marx described the despotism of the modern workplace, he could have been describing schools in the era of education "reform."' Jones' essay is replete with insights like:
"The bourgeoisie," Marx noted, "cannot exist without constantly revolutionizing the instruments of production, and thereby the relations of production, and with them the whole relations of society."
In those words, Marx put his finger on precisely what's happening in education--the relationship between teacher and student is being revolutionized. The student is, increasingly, evaluated not by the human being he or she speaks to every day, but by a harried, low-wage test scorer (sometimes hundreds of miles away) paid per test or worse, by a machine that scans the student's bubble sheet.
It's no small irony that the selfsame students whose tests are being graded by "harried, low-wage test scorer[s]" are being prepared for such futures as well.
The neoliberal project encroaches from every side and can only be defeated by collective resistance. My heart goes out to all those at the Occupy the Department of Education 2.0: The Battle for Public Schools event right now. I am there with you in spirit. We must continue organizing against these seemingly unstoppable forces, in hopes that eventually we can get our fellows in struggle to realize the meaning of Rosa Luxemburg's famous passage "those who do not move, do not notice their chains."
Wednesday, April 17, 2013
United Adult Students (UAS) to rally against Governor Brown's plan
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
United Adult Students (UAS) to rally against Governor Brown's plan
Los Angeles, California - April 16, 2013 - United Adult Students (UAS) have announced that they will hold a student rally and present petitions containing thousands of signatures opposed to Governor Brown's plan to move adult education to the Community College system.
The details for the event are as follows:
Wednesday, April 17, 2013
7:00AM
Evans Community Adult School
717 N Figueroa Street
Los Angeles, CA 90012
UAS released the following statement.
"We are against Governor Brown’s plan to transfer the Adult Education program of LAUSD to the Community College system. We want our Adult Schools to remain open and accessible in our communities, and with dedicated funding streams.
Estamos en contra del plan del Gobernador Brown de trasladar la Educación de Adultos del Distrito Escolar (LAUSD) a los Colegios Comunitarios. Queremos que nuestras Escuelas para Adultos se mantegan abiertas y acesibles en nuestras comunidades, y con fondos dedicados."
The petitions and ten reasons provided by UAS for signing it can be found on their website at http://www.unitedadultstudents.org/petition_against_governor_brown_s_plan
Founded by students in response to Mónica García and John Deasy's threatened elimination of LAUSD Adult Education in 2012, United Adult Students (UAS) successfully defended much of the program. Through organizing, activism, and lobbying, UAS has proven the collective power of adult students. UAS is the voice of adult education.
Contact:
United Adult Students (UAS)
http://www.unitedadultstudents.org
(213) 986-2492
Tuesday, April 02, 2013
2ND ANNUAL CEJ/PEAC Social Justice Schools Conference
Attacks on our schools continue, but the fight is stronger than ever as exemplified by the Schools L.A. Students Deserve Campaign. Parents, students, teachers, community organizations have come together to not only build a vision for schools but to think about a strategy to win.
2ND ANNUAL CEJ/PEAC Social Justice Schools Conference by Robert D. Skeels
Program: 2ND ANNUAL CEJ/PEAC Social Justice Schools Conference by Robert D. Skeels
Saturday, March 30, 2013
Monica Ratliff for LAUSD at Empress Pavilion Fundraiser + Some Thoughts on the District 6 Election
Monica Ratliff for LAUSD School Board
The Empress Pavilion
Thursday, April 18, 2013 from 5:30—7:30PM
988 N. Hill St.
Los Angeles, CA 90012
Hosted by Ed Burke, Mario Cano, Hon. Bennett Kayser, Hon. Julie Korenstein, Connie Moreno, with special guests Hon. Jackie Goldberg and David Tokofsky
Hello Friend,
I am happy to let you know about a marvelous young candidate, a teacher, for LA School Board in a run-off in the area I served for 8 years in the East San Fernando Valley. She grew up with a single mom who went back to school to help her daughter go to College at Columbia University. Well her daughter, Monica Ratliff, won a National Hispanic Scholarship to Columbia and then went on to Columbia Law School. After law school she went to work both at the NAACP and Neighborhood Legal Services in the SF Valley. She then decided and has now taught for 11 years at a downtown garment district poverty elementary school earning honors for her commitment to students. She won the LA Times and the LA Daily News Endorsement. I would very much like you to support her as her opponent received 1.2 million dollars to her 14,000 dollars. I hope you will join us or send your support for her campaign.
Thanks always,
David Tokofsky
Monica Ratliff for LAUSD at Empress Pavilion Fundraiser by Robert D. Skeels
Some Thoughts on the District 6 Election
One other thing about Ms. Ratliff that Mr. Tokofsky failed to mention above: she's NOT supported by Rupert Murdoch, Eli Broad, Philip Anschutz, and Michelle Rhee like some other District 6 candidates are.
When United Teachers Los Angeles (UTLA) House of Representatives (HOR) was voting on endorsements, I was with a group of Adult Education Students supporting my candidacy (when you work with the community, you get community support) passing out our literature to voting HOR members. I was standing next to a young man who I assumed was an intern or working on another candidate's campaign. I introduced myself as a District 2 candidate and he said his name was Antonio Sanchez, a candidate for District 6. I asked him my stock question that I ask all political candidates, "what is your stance on school privatization." I was taken aback by his response, especially given we were in an union hall. He said "I don't like that word, we need to get away from using that word." Next morning I read in the LA Times that he came out of the Villaraigosa camp. That made sense in light of his political affiliations. Sanchez didn't want to talk about school privatization at the UTLA building because he's in favor of school privatization. At the Stonewall Democratic Club endorsement meeting I had the temerity to bring up Antonio Sanchez's connections with the arch-reactionary Coalition for School Reform (CSR), including Philip Anschutz, who was a major player in the passage of Prop 8. That truth made for a close vote, but afterwards I was told I was being unfair for "tarring Sanchez with the brush on an IE" (independent expenditure).
Let's be clear. Had I ever been endorsed by or learned that a Coalition for School Reform IE had been established on my behalf by fringe-right reactionaries including: Rupert Murdoch, Philip Anschutz, Eli Broad, Reed Hastings, Jamie Alter-Lynton, Michelle Rhee, Joel Klein, Michael Bloomberg, and others, I would have immediately held a press conference denouncing their politics and disassociating myself from both them and their vile ideologies. Of course, that's because I believe in public education and oppose privatization and neoliberalism.
Photos from 1010 Wilshire Fundraiser Hosted by Suzie & Sean Abajian and Reynaldo Rivera on March 15, 2013
Tuesday, March 19, 2013
Parent Trigger - False Promises, Divided Communities and Disrupted Young Lives
Thank you for this thoughtful and informative video exposing The Heartland Institute, Parent Revolution, and ALEC's corporate charter trigger law. We're hopeful that videos like this will counter the lies the trigger proponents promulgate, and that communities will resist when these outsiders come to steal our schools. — rdsathene
The video tells the story of Adelanto, California where a well-funded, outside group "Parent Revolution" came to town and instead of working to improve the schools tricked parents with false promises, bitterly divided the community, and disrupted the education of young children.
"The video makes clear that that parent trigger laws, pending in 14 states, are not a magic wand that improves education -- there is no magic wand," said Roger Hickey of the Education Opportunity Network. "Schools need better resources, engaged parents, good teachers and a supportive community. What schools do not need is divisive campaigns that mislead parents and disappoints parents," he said.
The Education Opportunity Network is part of a new movement that is building in America aimed at assuring that all children and youth have the opportunity to learn. The Education Opportunity Network is a project of the Institute for America's Future, in partnership with the Opportunity to Learn Campaign.
"We need to work together for student success. Let's give our teachers and students the tools and resources they need to succeed," said Jeff Bryant -- education writer and editor of the Education Opportunity Network. "We also need to invest in the priorities that build the foundation for student learning: small classes, early childhood education, up-to-date textbooks and computers, and classes like history, art, PE and music," he said.
Parent Trigger laws are about pitting parents against each other instead of everyone in the community working together on real solutions for educating all children," said Bryant.
Monday, March 18, 2013
Stand up for Special Needs Students against the lucrative charter industry
An activist parent of a special needs child who is a long-time advocate for equitable special education, who has been especially critical of the lucrative charter industry for its outright discrimination, sent the following:
Help me spread the word, Robert: LAUSD families of students with disabilities: Speak truth to power! These annual hearings are an opportunity to give public testimony to the Independent Monitor of our Modified Consent Decree regarding special education services. If you are not being well-served at your local school site and personnel do not respond to your concerns, here's where you need to go...or write a letter if you cannot attend in person. Unless we tell otherwise, the district will assume everyone is just peachy. Please download and share flyers at your schools. Thanks!
Public Hearing on LAUSD's Compliance with Special Education Laws:
Parents of children with IEPs and all other members of the LAUSD community are invited to provide comments to Mr. Frederick Weintraub, the court appointed Independent Monitor, during two hearings scheduled for Thursday, April 11, 2013 (9-11:00am and 5-7:00pm). The hearings will be held at LAUSD Board Room located at 333 S. Beaudry Avenue."
- Link to flyer in Eng & Sp: http://www.oimla.com/pdf/20130201/engspan.pdf
- Link in Eng & Korean: http://www.oimla.com/pdf/20130201/kor.pdf
- Link in Eng & Russian: http://www.oimla.com/pdf/20130201/rus.pdf
- Link in Eng & Chinese: http://www.oimla.com/pdf/20130201/chin.pdf
- Link in Eng & Vietnamese: http://www.oimla.com/pdf/20130201/viet.pdf
- Link in Eng & Armenian: http://www.oimla.com/pdf/20130201/armenian.pdf
This memo outlines school requirements for special education services. If more school site families were aware of what was required, there might be better compliance regarding students with disabilities. This District Validation Review (DVR) is supposed to be done every four years. If your school isn't on the list, use this to determine if they're following proper procedure and the law until it's your turn:
"SCHOOL SELF REVIEW CHECKLIST, STUDENTS WITH DISABILITIES: 2012-2013
The purpose of this Reference Guide is to inform site administrators: (1) of the requirement to complete the “School Self Review Checklist, Students with Disabilities: 2012-2013” within 30 days of the new school year, and (2) that the Local Educational Service Center Superintendent, Charter Schools Division Executive Director, or their designee(s) will periodically conduct site level visits during the school year to determine the status of concerns identified by the checklist as mandated by the Modified Consent Decree."
http://sped.lausd.net/sepg2s/pdf/referenceguides/REF-2624.7.pdf
note Attachment B was added finally to ensure that charters were not discriminating...problem is - many schools "cheat" the forms as parental input is usually not required unless it's an official review - then they only call on families who have had "positive" experiences....
Teaching Beyond the Bubble: Take a Stand for Meaningful Teaching and Learning in LAUSD!
Teaching Beyond the Bubble: Take a Stand for Meaningful Teaching and Learning in LAUSD!
Thursday, March 21, 2013, 4:00—6:00 PM
LAUSD Headquarters
333 S. Beaudry Ave.
Los Angeles, CA 90017
Teaching Beyond the Bubble: Take a Stand for Meaningful Teaching and Learning in LAUSD! by Robert D. Skeels
Our students are sick of mindless worksheets, decontextualized readings, and multiple-choice tests. They deserve access to a robust and meaningful curriculum that challenges them to think outside of the box, not just fill in bubbles! John Deasy's unilateral directive to use student test scores for 30% of a teacher's evaluation will further intensify the destructive testing culture in our schools. Come out to rally for the schools L.A. students deserve!
This fun action will include music performances, theater, and a Scantron art contest as well as student, parent, and teacher speakers. Bring signs that show how the testing mania is affecting YOUR school!
Sponsored by Progressive Educators for ACtion (PEAC). For more information, contact Jess at 213-572-8499 or j.kochick@gmail.com, or check out www.progressiveeducatorsforaction.com!
Friday, March 01, 2013
Wednesday, February 27, 2013
Despicable: Mónica García accuses fellow candidates of "standing up for predators"
Update: Scott Folsom did a wonderful piece on this travesty entitled "NO SHAME: Until this moment, Mónica García, I think I never really gauged your cruelty or your recklessness. You have done enough. Have you no sense of decency?" Near the end of the post he lists "all [what] happened on Monica’s watch as School Board President." No wonder she's so busy trying to distract voters, the evidence against her is pretty damning.
This flyer, at the behest of the candidate, LAUSD Board President Mónica García, explicitly states "Her opponents stand up for predators..."
Categorically untrue, this deplorable accusation should be widely condemned by everyone. Some of García's opponents are parents whose children attended LAUSD schools, highlighting all the more how depraved is García to make such libelous and slanderous statements.
Despicable: Mónica García accuses fellow candidates of "standing up for predators" by Robert D. Skeels
Friday, February 22, 2013
Common Core State Standards Primer
Disclaimer: The publishers of this document, Truth in American Education, have some very disconcerting right-wing membership and advisors. I mean really right wing, like Heritage, Koret, the Teabaggers, and other assorted birthers and Birchers. However, this Common Core State Standards Primer document appears on the Hoosiers Against Common Core site that Professor Ravitch mentions in her recent Two Determined Moms in Indiana Take On Common Core post. Like the old adage: "even a broken clock is right twice a day," this flyer provides factual information on the Corporate, er... I mean Common Core State Standards. While I have major ideological differences with their organization, I find their assessment of CCSS to be pretty much spot on.
Common Core State Standards Primer by Shane Vander Hart
Thursday, February 21, 2013
MBC Korean News Features LAUSD Board Candidate Robert D. Skeels and Adult Ed Students
MBC Korean News segment on our press conference in front of the Korean American Education Foundation, one of the several sites that the incumbent callously shut down. We were honored to be interviewed by MBC News' Reporter Shirley Aeree Kim 김애리 and Director of Photography Simon Park
Right-wing Republican 'New Majority California PAC' makes maximum donation to my School Board opponent Mónica García
Form 497 with contribution to MONICA GARCIA FOR SCHOOL BOARD 2013 ID 1346436Right-wing republican 'New Majority California PAC' makes maximum donation to my School Board opponent. #LAUSD ethics.lacity.org//PDF/Election/…
— RDSkeels4Schoolboard (@RDSkeels4LAUSD) February 21, 2013
From New Majority California's site:
New Majority California promotes a fiscally responsible philosophy in government... it seeks to inform its membership and contribute resources to Republican and other philosophically aligned candidates and issues that share its mission.
- Advocate state Budget Reform, including Pension Reform and a Spending Cap
- Recruit and elect fiscally responsible, business-friendly state legislators
- Create and implement an effective Latino/Ethnic inclusion program
- Protect the 1/3 Republican margin in the state legislature
- Elect a Republican to the White House
- Retain the GOP majority in the House of Representatives
- Regain the GOP majority in the U.S. Senate
- Monitor and oppose legislation and initiatives that will raise taxes
- Oppose and defend against the election of anti-business candidates
New Majority California PAC's generous maximum contribution to Los Angeles Unified School District Board of Education President Mónica García puts her in the company of the other New Majority California endorsed politicians and legislation.
New Majority California Endorsements
Presidential Race
Mitt Romney & Paul RyanStatewide Propositions
YES on 31, 32, and 40
NO on 30, 33, 37, 38, and 39
Mónica García, Mitt Romney, and Paul Ryan all considered "philosophically aligned candidates" by New Majority California.
Wednesday, February 20, 2013
Sunday, February 17, 2013
The 99% School Board Candidate versus the 1%'s Mayor
Supporter sent this perfect juxtaposition of the 1%'s Mayor with a 99% #LAUSD School Board Candidate! twitter.com/rdsathene/stat…
— Robert D. Skeels (@rdsathene) February 18, 2013
Friday, February 15, 2013
Monday, February 04, 2013
Precinct Walking February 9
Remember Robert D. Skeels had Garfield High School's back five years ago when the incumbent and her then VP were trying furiously to give the school away to the privately managed Green Dot Corporation. See Garfield HS Parents, Students, and Community Confront LAUSD VP Flores-Aguilar for details.
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