Troy LaRaviere is one brave man. He is the principal of Blaine Elementary School in Chicago. Blaine is one of only three schools in the city singled out for praise for meeting standards set by the Mayor himself, Rahm Emanuel.
Yet LaRaviere, despite his successful leadership, has been given a warning by the board of the Chicago Public Schools. This warning may be a prelude to termination.
Read LaRivere’s response to this warning here.
He was warned first of all because he supported parents who wanted to opt their children out of the state tests. His school had an 80% opt out rate. The board said he was disobeying by refusing its orders to force the children to take the tests until the child herself refused, not the parent. He says that if parents should have choice about where to send their child to school, why not honor their request to refuse the tests?
He was warned because he asked a question at a meeting where no questions were allowed.
As he writes:
The second thing I was cited for was insubordination when I violated a “no questions” policy at a district principals budget meeting. I sat there at the meeting listening to CPS officials blame Springfield and teacher pensions for the budget woes, while they completely ignored their own well documented corrupt and reckless spending (e.g., $20 Million Supes Contract, $340 Million Aramark Contract, $10 million central office furniture purchase, etc. etc.). So I stood up and asked the question anyway, citing several questionable expenses. Then CEO, Jesse Ruiz, stood up and told me that I was being disruptive. It is a profound moment of truth and clarity when a CPS official gets up and makes it clear that he considers asking relevant questions “disruptive.” I have already written extensively about the details of this encounter in a post entitled, “Adding Insult to Injury: A Look Inside a CPS Principals Budget Meeting.” In the resolution, the board cites me for insubordination, in part, because Ruiz asked me why I worked for CPS if I were so unhappy with its leadership, and I responded, “To save it from people like you.” It is important to note that Ruiz asked me to come into the hallway where he called me a “loud-mouthed principal” and asked me that question. In essence, the board is attempting to discipline me for answering his question. If he didn’t want an honest answer, he should not have asked the question.
Another disturbing thing about this resolution is the way I was informed about it. I received an email on Monday telling me I could come in on Tuesday at 1pm to respond to the allegations on a resolution that the board would be voting on the next day. The board clearly knew that I was scheduled to speak at the City Club of Chicago’s panel on CPS Bankruptcy at that time since one of their own—Jesse Ruiz—was also on the panel. I chose to keep my appointment on the panel and thereby miss my opportunity to respond to this absurd resolution.
The CPS board accuses him of trying to “raise his profile.” LaRaviere is just trying to do what is right for the children and parents he serves.
He writes:
Yesterday, I drove by Washington Park to see if there was any organized activity at the scene of the Dyett School hunger strike. There didn’t seem to be, so I pulled away and headed toward 43rd and Vernon, about a block east of Martin Luther King Drive. The entire part of the block facing 43rd street is an empty lot on which once stood a fire-damaged slum I lived in as a child; where my brothers and I slept on floors and cots for months until the owner of Moore’s Furniture and Piano Mover’s donated a bunk bed to my mother. I go back there often to remind myself of the road I have traveled, and of the awesome responsibility I have been given. I came here from nothing. By any reasonable odds, I was not supposed to be here. And yet, here I am. I am not an overtly religious man but circumstances leave me no choice but to believe that whatever power put me on this earth—and in this position—did so for a reason. While I am here, I have a responsibility and a duty to use this position to advocate as strongly as humanly possible for the betterment of our city and its schools. That includes advocacy for sound evidence-based education policy and prudent fiscal management of district resources—the advocacy that led to the current warning resolution.
I will continue to support all of my PTAs efforts on behalf of the children and families of Blaine and I will continue to call out CPS on its reckless fiscal operational and educational mismanagement of our district at every opportunity they give me. Unfortunately, for our teachers and the students they serve, those opportunities abound.
Where does a man like Troy LaRaviere come from? Where does his courage come from? Why is he able to stand tall and be fearless when so many others quake in the face of power? Why are there not hundreds and thousands of principals and superintendents like Troy LaRaviere?
He is already on the blog’s honor roll. All I can say is “Thank you for your courage. Thank you for your integrity. Thank you for your inspiration.”
He is a true warrior for public education, it’s children and schools. This type person, writ large for our schools.
Hero.
While I am here, I have a responsibility and a duty to use this position to advocate as strongly as humanly possible for the betterment of our city and its schools. That includes advocacy for sound evidence-based education policy and prudent fiscal management of district resources—the advocacy that led to the current warning resolution.
Said so eloquently. Some of the main reasons I ran for the Denver Public School Board ten years ago. Thank you for your bravery and honesty, Mr. LaRaviere.
I hope he remains standing tall and employed as a principal through all of this. The insubordination clauses in contracts are designed to silence employees: Comply or else. The clauses enable massive fraud.
Principals should be “empowered” to run their schools, except, apparently, this principal.
Just more of the wacky contradictions of the ed reform “movement”. They know nothing they say aligns with what they do, right?
Seems like the way Donald Trump treated Jorge Ramos from Univision. There are factions in this country that want us to shut up and just listen and do as they say. I guess they really do want to get rid of our democracy on all levels.
And if the Board terminates his contract what will be our response? Who is going to hire him? How do we keep his voice in the game? I don’t want to see his name on some honorary list for his bravery like a soldier who gave his life for his country. I want him active and vocal for years to come. I want him to continue to speak from a place of influence.
It’s quite possible he will lose his job. Of course, that doesn’t mean he will stop speaking out. After you get fired, you have even less to lose.
Someplace, somewhere, will take him in, though I worry he might have to move to another district…
I think his positive record will help him find another position, although he may have to work in the suburbs away from Emanuel’s tyranny. It would be a pity if he has to leave urban education as he is exactly what is needed.
Insubordination is a favorite one that ends civil rights.
All of us teachers faced that one… ironically from principals who could ‘document’ how we did not do this or that, subjective evaluations placed inner folders, with no way to fight, as hearings were the same as what Troy experienced.
http://www.perdaily.com/2011/01/lausd-et-al-a-national-scandal-of-enormous-proportions-by-susan-lee-schwartz-part-1.html
Brave words and actions; may his courage be contagious.
And an observation related to Ruiz’s preposterous claim that Mr. La Riviere was being disruptive at the meeting: you know you’ve reached eleven on the hypocrisy dial when so-called reformers, who faithfully regurgitate cliches about how they are “disrupting” public education, use that sacred term to try and shut down critics?
Michael Fiorillo: you and Chiara [see above re “empowerment”] are especially eagle-eyed today!
And riffing off the remarks by the two of you, what Troy LaRaviere did was literally what activists of the real civil rights movement did: empower themselves and others by being creatively disruptive.
Once again giving the lie to the rheephormster claim of leading the “new civil rights movement of our time.”
Thanks to you both.
😎
Don’t disrupt my disruption.
Don’t corrupt my corruption.
Don’t hold my accountability accountable.
Good Lord, Sir, you have no rights to the civil rights I claim to be fighting for.
Akademos, did you write that. WonderfuL if not who did, and what is YOUr real name…if I quote that I want to be sure .
I wrote it. You can have it. Just riffing on Michael Fiorillo’s comment above.
Can I use this to make a poster?
Betsy,I suspect that Troy would love it if you made a poster
Go right ahead. Often I get the feeling I’m only amusing myself.
If this principal knows of any federal money being misused, I hope he reports it. He might be able to get some Whistleblower money.
Courageous and True. Troy, we love you.
The charges contrived against him by CPS are minor and insignificant at best, having nothing to do with his job performance as principle or they way Blaine school is functioning overall. He did not lead or promote the Opt Outs at Blaine, he merely followed parents directives on how to treat their children. In all likelihood, the accusations against him came out of a back room meeting whose sole purpose was to find some way, no matter how absurd, to manufacture a fairy tale in order to tarnish his reputation and remove him as an advocate for the students of Chicago’s public schools and the taxpayers as well.
I love my cousin dearly and support him 100%. My grandfather would be so proud of him. He raised all of us to be strong and fight for what’s right.
In the military when one individual earns the same award more than once—for instance, a Purple Heart—it’s called a Purple Heart with an oak leaf cluster for a soldier who was wounded more than once.
The same goes for the Bronze Star, the Silver Star and the Medal of Honor, etc. For instance, there are nineteen Medal of Honor recipients who earned that medal more than once–The Medal of Honor with an oak leaf cluster.
Troy LaRaviere, then, is on your Blog’s honor roll with an oak leaf cluster.
“Why are there not hundreds and thousands of principals and superintendents like Troy LaRaviere?”
Because they need their job; don’t want to go through the witch hunt and proving themselves innocent; don’t want to go through the headache and heartache each time CPS writes a reprimand.
Troy has been trying to make people see the great ills of the ‘Great PoohBah’ Mayor and his minions. The media doesn’t pick up on it until ‘oh, you’re in trouble’ blasts all over the air waves. But then, here in Chicago, all the media is in the back pocket of the GPB.
Guess where Ruiz’s children are enrolled……Troy is my hero!
He is man worth knowing.
A man of consequence and conscience.
THANK YOU Troy for standing up for what is right. People like you, in general, are far too few. Our communities, our schools, our world have lost sight of integrity and honor. It makes my heart hurt.
He is a brave man demonstrating integrity (which is a characteristic we should expect from all public figures).
Here’s a long post, where former Chicago CPS CEO Jesse Ruiz—now back to being a CPS Board member who’s now out to fire Troy LaRiviere— makes the incredible comment that he (Ruiz) is so glad there’s no elected school board in Chicago, because then he’d have to actually take into account what the public desires—and all that stress of an angry public— instead of carrying out the marching orders of his corporate privatization masters.
Yeah, he really said that.
Immediately following this—in the latter part of the post—is LaRiviere’s first-hand the confrontation he had with LaRiviere with Ruiz at a principals’ training that was full of privatization propaganda.
Here’s the post:
——————–
HOW PUBLIC SCHOOL GOVERNANCE WORKS IN CHICAGO:
Jesse Ruiz, a current appointee to Chicago’s unelected School Board, appeared at a forum held at the City Club of Chicago last February 2, 2015. It was a discussion about whether Chicago should keep its appointed (by the mayor) school board, or return to the old system of having citizens elect a board. The return to an elected board was overwhelmingly endorsed by Chicago’s citizens in a non-binding vote last spring.
In defending the unelected Chicago School Board upon which he sits, Jesse opened his mouth and made some “WTF-did-he-just-say?!” statements that were, thankfully, captured for posterity on video.
NOTE: Earlier this summer, Jesse was also briefly the interim Chicago Schools CEO (not Superintendent… schools are a business in Chi-town) when the then-CEO Barbara Byrd-Bennett had to resign after prosecutors announced an investigation of her conflict-of-interests in spearheading a multi-million-dollar contract to a principals’ training organization that she had ties to… but that’s another story.
Anyway, back to Jesse Ruiz, who, years ago, was also appointed to the Illinois’ State Board of Ed, where he served for several years. At Ruiz’ aforementioned appearance at a City Club of Chicago forum, Jesse started talking about how hundreds of school districts in Illinois had elected boards, and while serving on the Illinois board, he got along well with the members of those elected boards—he calls them his “colleagues”.
However, Ruiz nevertheless argues that Chicago must not have an elected school board, and made the following justification: (here’s the video.. go to about 06:58 – 07:35)
(06:59 – 07:35)
JESSE RUIZ, Chicago Board of Ed.: “But for our city, I honestly do believe that it would be best left as it is, as an appointed school board, because it’s an incredibly complicated and diverse district. There are very difficult decisions to be made, and sometimes they’re not very popular decisions, and I would have to—I WOULD HATE to have to worry about my next election when making a vote.
“I NEVER worry about that. I’ve NEVER HAD TO worry about that, or worry about WHO, WHO… uhhh… I am pleasing, or un-pleasing with my vote. All I worry about is what’s best for the students in the city of Chicago. And so therefore, that’s the system that I prefer.”
—————————
I don’t know about you, but Jesse’s really “un-pleasing” me with his justification for the 20-years-and-counting cancellation of popular democracy in the governance of Chicago’s public schools, and where the corporate reformers and profiteers that bankrolled Rahm Emanuel’s election now drive the policy… and not Chicago’s citizens.
How about you? Are you as “un-pleased” with then-CEO and
But seriously, istn’t that how democracy works?
When some policy implementation is unpopular and “un-pleasing” with the citizen-taxpayers—no matter how much Board Member Ruiz, or any elected official is desirous of such implementation—that fear of being removed from office in an upcoming election is a necessary check-and-balance, one that reins in Ruiz and his fellow Board members from doing something that the voters—his ultimate “bosses” in a democracy—do not want to happen. The will of the people will prevail in this scenario… theoretically, at least.
This was particularly relevant when Ruiz and his un-elected Board closed 50 traditional public schools—with them replaced by privately-run charters—despite overwhelming polling saying that the tax-paying citizens of Chicago would be very “un-pleased” by this. (I know, I’m beating the “un-pleased” joke to death… that was the last one.)
At the very least, these schools being closed had elected Local Schoolsite Councils (LSC’s) made up of parents and community members, with albeit minimal decision-making power. The privately-managed charters that are currently in the process of replacing them, however, have no such LSC’s, and thus, the parents have ZERO input. Parents are barred from the meetings of that board, which are held in secret, and chaired by businessmen who have ZERO experience as teachers and/or administrators.
MORE ON…”Board Member Ruiz” in my next post.
This Hispanic Jimmy Fallon-look-alike Jesse Ruiz is not the pleasant, engaging, and mild mannered politico that he presents himself as in the ABOVE video. Again, here’s the link:
To contrast this, see how Ruiz behaves when the cameras are off, according an account of activist principal Troy LaRiviere in the Chicago Public Schools (CPS).
LaRiviere is a proponent of having and elected school board, and who backed Chuy Garcia, Emanuel’s opponent and Ruiz’ boss in the recent election.
BELOW is LaRiviere’s first-hand account. In the story that follows, LaRiviere put his job on the line, and boldly confronted Ruiz at principals’ budget meeting, days before Ruiz was replaced as Interim CEO of CPS. LaRiviere took Ruiz to task about how Ruiz and his unelected board diverted $2 billion dollars of school funds to organizations who had backed Mayor Rahm Emanuel’s successful re-election bid.
(NOTE: Years ago, Mayor Emanuel had appointed Ruiz to the Board, and also appointed Ruize to briefly lead the board as its interim CEO earlier this summer.)
In a real mano-a-mano confrontation, Ruiz clumsily attempted to refute LaRiviere’s contentions, but eventually became flustered and gave up, calling Ruiz a “loud-mouthed principal.”
All very entertaining stuff… read on…
This is an enlightening look into how zero free speech and non-democracy reigns with an unelected school board.
http://troylaraviere.net/2015/07/16/adding-insult-to-injury-a-look-inside-a-cps-principals-budget-meeting/
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————————————————–
Outspoken Principal Troy LaRaviere goes at Chicago Public Schools
CEO Jesse Ruiz one-on-one: (days before Ruiz was replaced)
Just before this excerpt begins, LaRiviere has been asking to have to floor, and speak at the principals’ budget meeting, when…
———-
TROY LARIVIERE:
At that point, interim CEO Jesse Ruiz stood up, projected his voice, and with a somewhat stern and agitated tone stated, “You can get your question addressed outside in the hall with me.”
Once again, a CPS official was, in effect, stating to the audience of principals, “Everyone will hear US (CPS administration), but NO ONE will hear YOU (people not in CPS adminstration, be that the public or principals or whoever), and NO ONE will hear OUR response to YOU.”
(Ruiz’) standing up was a bold move, seemingly intended to either intimidate me, or to make other principals think twice about seconding my question.
“My question needs to be addressed right here with the principals in this room,” I replied.
“YOU are disrupting this meeting,” Ruiz said.
“And YOU are insulting the intelligence of everyone in this meeting,” I countered.
At that point, my network chief asked that I accept the CEO’s offer to step outside the meeting; so I did. As I left I told principals, “If anyone else is interested in his answer to the question, we’ll be right outside the door.”
TROY LARIVIERE: (continued)
No principal took me up on my offer. When we got into the hallway, we began to engage in what I can only describe as a testosterone-driven, back-and-forth aimed at little else except besting the other’s last comment.
I’m sure there is quite a bit I’ve left out due to the limitations of my own memory, but here is—to the best of that memory—how it went once we left the auditorium.
LARIVIERE: “That political propaganda had no place in a principal’s budget meeting.”
RUIZ: “If you’re so unhappy with CPS, why do YOU stay in it?”
LARIVIERE: “To save it from people like YOU.”
RUIZ: [I can’t remember his exact words, but it had something to do with the budget]
LARIVIERE: “Your mayor has diverted over $2 billion tax payer dollars to his campaign contributors.”
RUIZ: “He’s YOUR mayor, too.”
At this point Ruiz launched into an extended critique of my involvement in the Chuy Garcia campaign.
(NOTE: Garcia was Mayor Emanuel’s opponent, who made history by being the first non-machine candidate to force the machine incumbent into a run-off. Garcia backs keeping traditional public schools—not closing them and replacing them with charters, and also backs going back to an elected school board. JACK)
LARIVIERE: “Please. Don’t lecture me on the ethics of principals being involved in election campaigns, when you work for a mayor who repeatedly pulled CPS principals out of their buildings during work hours to stand on stage with him at his campaign events. Let’s get back to the point. Your mayor diverted $2 billion taxpayer dollars to his campaign contributors (both Daley and Emanuel).”
RUIZ: “And what is your source for that?”
LARIVIERE: “Forbes Magazine.”
RUIZ: “Well, I’m sure they didn’t cite any evidence.”
LARIVIERE: “They cited about a decade of receipts from City Hall’s vendor checkbook.”
RUIZ: “You’re nothing but a loud-mouthed principal!”
“Did the CEO of CPS just resort to name-calling?” I thought. The exchange had already sunk low enough. I wasn’t about to sink to name-calling—especially with my boss. I will tell my boss a truth he doesn’t want to hear, and raise questions he doesn’t want to answer, but I’m not calling him names.
It was after the “loud-mouthed principal” comment that I decided to end the exchange.
LARIVIERE: “It’s obvious I’m not going to get my question answered here so I’m going back in to listen to rest of this nonsense propaganda.”
RUIZ: “If you think it’s nonsense, why would you sit through it? I would not sit through nonsense.”
LARIVIERE: “That’s because you’re too busy dishing it out.”
[I walked away and returned to the auditorium]
We had left the auditorium because Ruiz invited me into the hallway with the understanding that he would address a question I posed about CPS’s reckless spending. However, the exchange we had outside that room quickly degenerated into a chest pounding stand-off, much of which had nothing to do with my question about CPS spending.
I had allowed him to lure me into a verbal cockfight. The CEO of Chicago Pubic Schools and one of its most successful principals were going toe-to-toe like two overstimulated teenaged jocks—in public. It was certainly not my proudest moment, and I doubt it made Ruiz’s top ten list.
Thanks for the posted info.
The City Club of Chicago had a forum to debate whether they should keep the unelected school board it currently has, or return to an elected school board. On the panel were the then-CEO of Chicago Public Schools Jesse Ruiz—who favors privatizing schools and keeping the board appointed, and not elected—and future hunger striker Jitu Brown, a community activist who favors an elected school board, and is against turning over schools to privately-run charters.
Brown references the long-standing fight over the future of Dyett High School, and how during the mayoral campaign—and on that very day, earlier that morning—Mayor Emanuel made a campaign appearance at LIttle Black Pearl’s headquarters, one of the private charter groups who put in a plan to privately run a school in the former Dyett building, with the former Dyett students.
At one point in this forum, Ruiz claims that keeping the board appointed also keeps forces from “inserting more politics” into Board operations, and prevents union-backed candidates from having influence on contracts. Jesse insists, “I don’t have to raise a dime from anybody. I don’t have to worry about my next campaign…” to get elected or re-elected.
Jitu Brown, a community activist, and proponent of having an elected school board, counters this, referencing the cushy no-bid contracts, where school buildings / annual school budgets are turned over to the Charter Management Organizations like the “Academy for Urban School Leadership” (AUSL), while former/future AUSL officials are serving on the board.
Can you say “conflict of interest”?
Jitu also references the community’s grassroots fight to keep open Dyett High School, the only remaining traditional (non-charter) public high school (“open-enrollment”) in the Bronzeville neighborhood.
( 30:24 – 31:42 )
( 30:24 – 31:42 )
JITI BROWN: “I got a question for you, though, Jesse.”
JESSE RUIZ: “Yes?”
JITI BROWN: “How could it be any more ‘POLITICAL’ than it is RIGHT NOW?? I mean HONESTLY! You have the Chief Operations Officer for Chicago Public Schools who’s the former CEO of ‘The Academy of Urban School Leadership.’ (AUSL charter chain)
“You have the Board President of the Chicago Board of Education, who is the former Board President of ‘The Academy of Urban School Leadership’ . They (AUSL) get schools (turned over to them) with no-bid contracts. They (AUSL) just—and despite the fact that they (AUSL) have (failed initially and) had to turn around THEIR OWN turn-arounds at two high schools TWICE! They (AUSL) have had to restart Phillips (High School) TWICE! They (AUSL) have had to restart Orr (High School) TWICE! How could it be more… (political)’?
“Right now, right now, the mayor of Chicago… was… this morning was at (Charter School organization) LITTLE BLACK PEARL, which is a politically-connected arts organization when we (i.e. the grassroots community) have been fighting like wet cats for (to save) Dyett High School (as a traditional non-charter school), in Bronzeville, saying that we don’t want to loser our last open-enrollment neighborhood high school, and the mayor is getting a political endorsement at (from) an (privately-run charter) organization that is submitting an application for (taking over) Dyett (High School)???!!!
“Do you ACTUALLY THINK that we that this is FAIR??!!
“How could it possibly be MORE ‘political’?
“You just had a (CPS) board member (Deborah Quazzo, was later forced to resign over this) who was caught taking profits, her company taking profits. So how can it be more ‘POLITICAL’ than it is right now???!! I mean, HONESTLY!!”
One more thing… Ruiz’s reply to future hunger striker Jitu Brown defies belief. He promulgates the whole idea that, with an appointed school board, you can save money—i.e. money incurred from the expenses that go with having elections.
(Notice how Jesse doesn’t address a single one of the facts or points that Brown makes… presumably conceding them.)
Instead, Jesse then counters Brown by saying that he doesn’t want Chiago’s CPS to be like (Los Angeles’) LAUSD, where it is expensive to run a board that manages lots of schools, and has a messy, expensive election process, with money outside the city coming in from New York billionaires. (Hey, I don’t like that either, but the fact remains that the pro-public education forces still beat the privatizers, despite all their spending… Mike Bloomberg alone wrote Steve Zimmer’s opponent a $1 million check.)
(31:42 – )
(31:42 – )
JESSE RUIZ: “If we want to be like Los Angeles (i.e. have an elected school board… Ruiz cites the negatives of money impacting elections)…I’d rather not see that happen for my city and our schools.”
(Jesse, a messy democracy is better than no democracy, which is what you have in Chicago. When the people in Los Angeles had a choice, the corporate privatization candidates lost, even though they outspent to pro-traditional schools candidates 3-to-1, or 5-to-1, or in one case 42-to-1.
Brief recap of LAUSD elections:
In 2011, 30-year teacher Bennett Kayser won, despite being outspent 5-to-1 by the corporate privatizers.
In 2013, 17-year teacher Steve Zimmer won, despite being outspent 5-to-1 by the corporate privatizers.
In 2013, 13-year teacher Monica Ratliff won, despite being outspent 42-to-1 by the corporate privatizers.
In 2014, teacher & principal George McKenna won, despite being outspent 5-to-1 by the corporate privatizers.
In 2015, teacher & principal Scott Schmerelson won, despite being outspent 5-to-1 by the corporate privatizers.
Jesse knows that, just as they did in Los Angeles, that his side—the corporate privaters’ backed by money-motivated, predatory billionaires—would lose at the polls if the public had the opportunity to choose a school board.
SIDE NOTE: undaunted at all his candidates losing, Billionaire Eli Broad others announced that he was pumping $1 billion dollars into charter expansion in Los Angeles… even though the voters have vehemently rejected this:
https://dianeravitch.net/2015/08/09/los-angeles-broad-walton-plan-major-expansion-of-privatization/
Just like in Chicago, the arrogant attitude of Broad, Gates, the Waltons, etc. is…
“Elections schm-elections… school boards, schm-ool boards…
“We don’t give a sh#% what the citizens, the parents, and the taxpayers want. If we can’t buy control of the the board via the election process, we’re still gonna shove money-motivated privatization and charterization down the public’s throats whether they want it or not.
“So those unwashed masses should just shut up and accept it!”)
Back to Jesse Ruiz….
Corporate stooge Jesse Ruiz makes the laughable argument that an electoral system “costs millions” of dollars that “could be used to educate kids.” You could say the same exact thing about the U.S. Senate, the U.S. House of Reps, State Senates, State Assemblies… and multi-million-dollar elections for who would serve on them:
“Hey, think of the money that we could save if the President / Governor appointed the members of the Senate, or appointed the House of Reps, or the State Senate, or the State Assemblies. We could then use that money saved to go towards public works that benefit citizens.”
Asinine!!! Boy that argument really “un-pleases” me!!! (O.K., that was the last “un-pleases” joke)
Brown, no-dummy-he, fires back a Ruiz.
While noting the messiness of democracy, with unions and special interests participating, Brown cites LAUSD’s accomplishments:
(32:20 – 32-45)
(32:20 – 32-45)
JITU BROWN: “But what you CAN say is that Los Angeles (LAUSD’s school board) has passed some of the most progressive (school board) legislation in this country. Their ‘A-thru-G’ legislation that says that where that child goes to school, they have to have curriculum that prepares them for college…. They (LAUSD officials) have it, and are addressing it (college requirements). But (in Chicago), we (instead) are addressing it by closing schools, and by displacing families.”
The impact of the venture philanthropy, Joyce Foundation, on Illinois public education, is significant.
Reporter Steve Horin, at Mint Press News, July 9, 2013, describes the organization and identifies $135 million in spending, on education deform, by 2012.
Margot Rogers, a Joyce Director and on the Review Board for Broad prizes, was deputy Director of Education at the Gates Foundation, then, Chief of Staff for Duncan and, not surprisingly, is now an executive, specializing in education at the Parthenon Group.