Shadowy Groups Back Prop 32 in California

8 Comments Post your own or leave a trackback: Trackback URL

1. mike says:

   November 6, 2012 at 9:15 am

   The far-right groups were tied, once again, to the Koch billionaire brothers.

   Something else for you Diane…

   In Rockford, IL, the GreenTek charter continues to try to make its way into town, despite rejections from our school board. However, thanks to a law our governor Quinn signed in July 2011, there’s now a state charter commission (which, by the way, has at least two TFA members visible from the staff biography PDF on the board of education website) that can potentially override rejections from local school boards regarding charter presences. So GreenTek is now appealing to the state charter commission to try to bypass the school board.

   http://www.rrstar.com/updates/x255965738/New-state-panel-gets-appeal-from-GreenTek-charter-organizers

   There’s an article on it by our local conservative paper that supports the charter.

   Click to access appeals-filed-12.pdf

   There’s the PDF of staff biographies of the charter commission.

   http://www.rrstar.com/opinions/whatyouresaying/x1711843961/Letter-What-is-truly-vital-in-education

   And finally, here’s a letter to the editor I had published last month regarding education reform. I’ve got another coming out in the paper in a few weeks.

   Reply
   • dianerav says:

     November 6, 2012 at 10:25 am

     This is an ALEC priority: a commission appointed by the governor to override local objections to charters.
     I’m surprised Governor Quinn fell for this.

     Reply
     • mike says:

       November 6, 2012 at 10:39 am

       I should have known; such a commission is undemocratic by its very nature.

       Quinn has been one long disappointment here in Illinois, sadly. He and the state legislature have been taking a “tough” approach to balance the budget, which has meant cutting mental health services and Medicaid left and right throughout the state. They’ve also been successful in passing pension-weakening measures and continue to raise the tenure-eligibility retirement age for teachers. Of course, the idea of changing Illinois’ tax structure from a flat tax (one of only six or seven in the nation) to a progressive tax to generate income is completely off the table.

       He hasn’t attacked public workers with the fervor of his fellow governors in WI and OH, but he’s definitely moving in the same direction…just more slowly.

2. mike says:

   November 6, 2012 at 9:18 am

   Whoops…missed link above. That was to appeals filed in the last year. You’ll note that all three appeals were withdrawn before the commission made any decisions.

   Here are staff biographies of the charter commission:

   http://www.isbe.net/scsc/pdf/staff_bios.pdf . Note the TFA presence. As noted in an earlier post of yours, the goal isn’t to teach, but to ascend to power.

   Reply
3. Mark Collins says:

   November 6, 2012 at 9:29 am

   If by chance this passses-I can’t wait for the higher courts to rule. I hope it doesn’t come to that.

   Reply
4. moosesnsquirrels says:

   November 6, 2012 at 11:08 am

   A good summary of the history and massive scope of the reform scam:

   http://www.alternet.org/rights-school-choice-scheme?akid=9651.1116377.tN3o7R&rd=1&src=newsletter739726&t=5

   Reply
5. wgersen says:

   November 6, 2012 at 4:27 pm

   Ms. Harris went along with Obama’s mortgage settlement… let’s hope she doesn’t back off of this investigation… it’s hard to follow the money when it’s laundered!

   Reply
   • Duane Swacker says:

     November 6, 2012 at 7:31 pm

     Well then she should call in the heavy weights like William Black who prosecuted the savings and loan scandal way back when. Check out his writings on these things. He can take em apart piece by piece. He has described the process as “control fraud”. Why we don’t utilize those most knowledgeable is beyond me other than the powers that be know they too will be exposed by a master investigator.

     Reply