If you live in one of the battleground states, I urge you to vote to re-elect President Obama.
Though many of us oppose his Race to the Top, please vote for him for other reasons.
We can’t allow a reactionary, backward-looking Republican Party to take charge of this nation’s future. We can’t allow a rightwing administration to shape the Supreme Court.
I urge you to vote for President Obama. Once he is re-elected, we will continue to pressure him to strengthen our nation’s essential public education system. He might hear us. Romney won’t.
If you live in Washington State, vote NO on 1240 and show the billionaires that you won’t let them start the process of privatization.
If you live in Georgia, vote against the ALEC initiative and preserve local control.
If you live in Bridgeport, Connecticut, vote against the Mayor’s attempt to take away your right to elect the school board.
If you live in Los Angeles, vote for Robert Skeels for LAUSD school board.
If you live in Ohio, vote for Maureen Reedy for the legislature.
If you live in Minneapolis, vote for Patty Wycoff for school board.
If you live in Idaho, vote NO on Props 1, 2, 3: Repeal the Luna laws.
If you live in New Jersey, vote for Marie Corfield.
If you are in Perth Amboy, NJ, vote the “New Visions” slate: Nina Perkins Nieves, Benny Salerno, Jeanette Gonzalez and Maria Garcia for Board of Education.
If you live in Pennsylvania, vote for Richard Flarend.
If you live in California, vote yes on 30 to support public education and no on 32, meant to hobble unions.
Wherever you are, support the candidates who believe in democratically controlled public schools.
Wherever you live, oppose privatization and diversion of public funds to private hands.
Strengthen our democracy by supporting public education.
Support the schools whose doors are open to all.
Support the candidates who will fight for equality of educational opportunity.
Diane Ravitch's blog 
“We can’t allow a rightwing administration to shape the Supreme Court.” Another electoral myth debunked just as the “Nader votes gave the 2000 presidential race to Bush the Least” has been debunked. See: http://www.counterpunch.org/2012/11/05/dont-worry-about-a-romney-appointed-court/ .
And to see what Romney really believes in see: http://www.counterpunch.org/2012/11/02/how-mormon-doctrine-shapes-romneys-world-view/ .
Vote third party!
A rant on counterpunch doesn’t qualify as a “debunking” of an “electoral myth.” If you think there’s no difference between Alito and Sotomayor; or that their differences weren’t clear when they were nominated; or that they weren’t nominated precisely because of those differences — then you’re not looking closely enough. The real myth is the notion that there’s no way to predict what kind of SCOTUS appointments a President will make. This myth is probably 90% based on Souter. But Bork was the one Reagan wanted. And it wasn’t a coincidence that Bush followed up with Clarence Thomas.
To be clear, Bork and Thomas are different from Ginsberg, Stevens, Sotomayor, and Kagan in ways that matter, and no Democrat presidential candidate from 1984 or 1988 would have nominated Bork or Thomas for SCOTUS.
I agree. Just read their decisions/dissenting opinions.
Good luck getting Obama to listen after he’s elected.
If you live in Illinois, vote no on the constitutional amendment.
Please Vote “NO” on the Proposed Amendment 5.1 to Article XIII of the Illinois Constitution!
On the November Ballot, Illinois voters will be asked if they believe the Illinois Constitution should be amended to require a three-fifths majority vote in order to increase a benefit under any public pension or retirement system. Please vote NO on the proposed Constitutional Amendment (HJRCA 49). This Constitutional Amendment would also require that any local collectively-bargained agreement be approved by a three-fifths majority if those agreements had incentives or additional compensation increases beyond salary.
Reasons to VOTE NO:
It is mostly the legislators’ fault that the pension systems were poorly funded throughout the decades. That diverted pension money was used for other state services and legislators’ “pet” projects instead;
The constitutional amendment will make public employees’ ability to fight for fair contracts much harder (Illinois Education Association, IEA);
This constitutional amendment will limit the bargaining power of employers and employees (IEA);
There is the possibility of disagreement on what constitutes a benefit increase” (Jesse White, Secretary of State). The COLA and other “earned” benefits will most likely be reinterpreted in this regard;
This constitutional amendment would make it nearly impossible to remedy the Social Security issues with the passage of Senate Bill 1946 in April, 2010 (IEA). This is unfair to any new teachers hired after January 1, 2011;
This constitutional amendment will make it harder to attract the best possible college candidates for the teaching profession (IEA);
This constitutional amendment “does not reduce the state’s pension systems’ current $83 billion unfunded liability” (caused primarily by the state’s legislators); “it fails to address the real fiscal issue caused by the state’s outsized pension debt—how to amortize the $83 billion debt owed to the pension systems” (Center for Tax and Budget Accountability);
Most significantly, as stated by the State Universities Annuitants Association (SUAA), this constitutional amendment “would grant unprecedented powers to government that will undermine protections contained in the pension protection clause [Article XIII, Section 5] and eliminate the uniform laws that now exist for [all] state employee benefits and obligations in the Illinois Pension Code” (Letter from SUAA, April 25, 2012);
Note: if you do not vote at all, your absent vote will make it easier for a majority “Yes” vote.
The question on the November ballot will ask, “…If you believe the Illinois Constitution should not be amended to require a three-fifths majority vote in order to increase a benefit under any public pension or retirement system, you should vote NO… on the question. Three-fifths of those voting on the question or a majority of those voting in the election must vote “Yes” in order for the amendment to become effective on January 9, 2013.” Please join us in voting NO against the proposed constitutional amendment on the November ballot. This synopsis was prepared by Dave Madsen and Glen Brown
The “undercards” will have a more far reaching impact on schools than the presidential election. This blog post describes several issues in NH that have been under the radar of many national writers, issues that I believe are on other state ballots as well:
If you live in Chicago, there are TWO Referendum items regarding teachers’ pensions which folks should vote NO on: the Constitutional Amendment mentioned by others above, as well as one just for Chicago, which is Rahm’s attempt to undermine Chicago teachers’ pensions and is worded so that it leads people to believe that pension money would be “invested in the classroom.” Right. Which classroom is that, I wonder…
And if you live in ID, vote NO on Props 1,2,3 and send the “Luna laws” back down to the gutter!
If you live in Indiana vote for Glenda Ritz for Superintendent of Public Instruction. Glenda is a National Board Certified Teacher and is running against the “poster-boy” of school reform, Tony Bennett!
Definitely vote “No” on the pension-killing measure in Illinois.
If you live in Minneapolis, vote for Patty Wycoff for school board.
Hi Diane,
I always appreciate your views. Would you mind weighing in on why you don’t support a third party candidate, such as Jill Stein? It seems that her views on education match much more closely with your own. Thoughts?
My education views are same as Jill Stein.
But the election is between two men, one of whom will choose the next Supreme Court.
One will continue to harm public education.
The other will make war on it without apology or regret.
I loved Jill Stein’s views about education too, she actually knew what was important to teachers and for education. But sadly I know she would not have gotten the votes needed…
I think the key is, “If you live in one of the battleground states, I urge you to vote to re-elect President Obama.”
I live in the fundamentally blue state which Obama comes from, so he will take my state. Therefore, I felt confident voting my conscience for Jill Stein, in order to send the message that, unlike so many of our neo-liberal leaders who I disagree with regarding education AND economics, I am the highly educated working poor who stands behind the 99% in this stratified society and I cannot be bought. (Consequently, I donated what little disposable income I have to Congressional and School Board campaigns for Progressive candidates across the country.)
If I had lived in FL or OH, however, I definitely would have voted for Obama, because with all the reports of Greedy Old Party sponsored voter suppression, I fear we may be looking at a repeat of the 2000 election and another stealing of the presidency.
Great minds think alike–I used the same reasoning to vote for my heart and conscience this year, knowing that my true blue, winner-takes-all state would still send all of their electoral votes to Obama. Maybe Jill will be encouraged by our votes and run for Congress!
I can’t speak for Diane, but while I’d wholeheartedly support Stein if her candidacy were viable (universal healthcare, abolition of NCLB, military reduction), right now, she’s not, which means voting for anyone other than Obama strengthens Romney’s candidacy, which is decidedly worse than Obama’s on every measure (including education). That’s why I voted for Obama in spite of his edudeform policies.
Vote YES on Bond B and Bond C!!!!
Oops, jumped the gun too quickly, For NEW MEXICO Ballots!!!
Sent from my MOTOROLA ATRIX™ HD on AT&T