Bob Braun, the top investigative reporter in Néw Jersey, delves into the attack on Professor Julia Sass Rubin and graduate student (veteran teacher and blogger known as Jersey Jazzman) Mark Weber.
He calls it a “war against critics of charter schools” and an effort to silence them.
He writes:
“The NJCSA, which has notoriously failed to police ethical lapses among its own member organizations, invoked state power to silence critics of charter schools while, at the same time, it sought to shame Rubin and Weber by using clueless media outlets to spread the smear against critics whose work is backed by hard, empirical evidence.
“Because charter schools cannot refute the evidence on its merits, they have chosen to try to intimidate those who make the facts available to the public. To ruin their reputations and future job prospects.”
The NJCSA charges, he says, are “utter and complete rot and nonsense.”
Diane Ravitch's blog 
If it wasn’t for the lucrative charter school industry, who else would advocate for “profits before people”?
Je suis jazzman!
Ha! Merci, mon ami!
Krazy TA,
Apologies, seems you were there first;)
Galton: I don’t have a CCSS copyright or anything like that so we’re on equal footing, and besides, as one of those very old and very dead and very Greek guys put it:
“Light is the task where many share the toil.” [Homer]
Let’s stand together without stack ranking and share as equals in the task of pushing for a “better education for all.”
And together for free speech too!
😎
KrazyTA,
Yes.
I like : “the opposite of courage is not cowardice, it is compliance.”
Not a Hightower fan but it works well for my mind and “these times.”
Please continue your fine work!
I hope you have the stamina and resources to take on this blatent attemt to prevent criticism… legitimate criticism. I know you have the savvy and skill to keep on with the inquiries you have undertaken. They charter operaters must be really afraid of the research you are doing. Here a few top of the head questions…
What do New Jersey charter backers say about the need for outside funding to begin and sustain their work, recuit students, and maintain the pretense of caring about the students who enroll?
Am I to understand that is perfectly fine for the Gates Foundation to offer a huge bonus to initiators and operators charter schools in one town in New Jersey? From the Gates database: Date: February 2008 Purpose: to invest in charter school development in Newark, New Jersey Amount: $3,595,070 Term: 47 months
How was this money from the Gates Foundation spent? Who got it? Who else contributed to the Newark Charter School Fund? Why this town?
I hope soon to see a Rutgers response making it clear that Rubin speaks within her rights as a Rutgers employee. I will be watching for this, as a NJ taxpayer who moved to this area in part because of the great enrichment provided by a highly-respected state university. I would be quite frankly ashamed if that august institution, peer to Ivy League colleges, did not stand upon its academic freedom to back its employees against the vicissitudes of state politics!
Julia and Mark, you are my heroes. In my state they are also quite vindictive if you speak out for public education and try to intimidate people who attend Moral Monday marches by posting their photos and and jobs and salaries. Open records email requests and other harassment techniques are used. False accusations are made about motives. Being an outspoken activist is time consuming and uncomfortable, even for those of us with real tenure. I applaud you.
Anyone know who is funding the lawsuit?
My understanding is that, contrary to what most people think (and this includes profs!), even simple freedom of speech for a prof is quite severely limited as soon as some connection to the college can be made. According AAUP, once a college decides that a prof’s actions are hurting the college’s reputation, not much can be done to save the prof. Courts, in general, don’t like to interfere with “inner” businesses of colleges. Most college boards make sure, they can control profs’ freedoms by wording the faculty handbook appropriately.
Below, I am quoting the Tennessee Board of Regents’s relevant policy. This applies to all public colleges in TN. It all starts out nice, enlightened until you get to the last two sentences, especially to the last line.
“As a man or woman of learning and an educational officer,
he/she should remember that the public may judge the
profession and the university/college by the faculty member’s
utterances. Hence, a faculty member should at all times be
accurate, should exercise appropriate restraint, should show
respect for the opinions of others, and should make every effort
to indicate that he/she does not speak for the university/college.”
Here is the full text.
“The faculty member is a citizen, a member of a learned
profession, and an officer of an educational university/college.
Academic freedom includes the freedom to speak or write
without institutional discipline or restraint on matters of public
concern as well as on matters related to professional duties and
on matters involving the academic and administrative
functioning of the university/college. When the faculty
member speaks or writes as a citizen, he/she should be free
from university/college censorship or discipline, but his/her
special position in the community imposes special obligations.
As a man or woman of learning and an educational officer,
he/she should remember that the public may judge the
profession and the university/college by the faculty member’s
utterances. Hence, a faculty member should at all times be
accurate, should exercise appropriate restraint, should show
respect for the opinions of others, and should make every effort
to indicate that he/she does not speak for the university/college.”
The scholarly work of Dr. Rubin and Mr. Weber was accurate, even the complainants admit that. The research was presented respectfully. The reputation of Rutgers would only be harmed if Dr. Rubin and Mr. Weber were stifled. To our Jazzman, you hit all the right notes, the critics are a few beats behind.
This kind of terrorism has been used by the GMO firms(who hired Blackwater) , the fracking companies and now the charter school mafia. My own comments on NJ.com and and Youtube have been erased and blocked stifling my 1st amendment rights to free speech. Enough is enough, people need to take back our democracy from these low life thugs that have ruined this country.