The Massachusetts Teachers Association rejected the for-profit promotion of Depersonalized Learning! MTA delegates also adopted a resolution calling for full funding of public schools.
Massachusetts is the highest performing state in the nation on NAEP tests, yet the rightwingers on the state board keep trying to shove corporate reform on their successful public schools and teachers.
Thank you, MTA and your valiant leader, Barbara Madeloni.
Madeloni wrote the following to the MTA membership:
“The Annual Meeting of Delegates, which is the highest decision-making body in the MTA, convened on May 19 and 20 to discuss, debate and vote on policy. In this e-mail, I highlight several of the New Business Items that were approved by the delegates. You can read all of those NBIs here in the members’ area of the MTA website. (First-time users will need the number on their MTA membership cards to log in.) The votes of the Annual Meeting delegates reinforce the membership’s commitment to defending public education and building union power to bring about the schools our communities deserve.
“Personalized Learning: The New Threat to Public Education
NBIs #6, #12 and #13 address the threat posed by the state’s promotion of computer-based “personalized learning” strategies, including one through a program called MAPLE/LearnLaunch. This overview is long, but well worth watching. It explains the real dangers of handing over our schools and students to corporate education technology entities.
“Teaching and learning are deeply human activities. We cannot let ed tech companies depersonalize learning or make education a technocratic endeavor. We must assert the centrality of face-to-face relationships – community – and our professional knowledge and autonomy as essential to public education.
“NBI #6 asserts that the MTA opposes DESE’s MAPLE/LearnLaunch partnership and calls for the MTA to create a web page to “share strategies to combat the harmful effects of unvalidated ed tech products on our students, and to defend teachers’ professional judgment and standards against interference by business interests.”
“NBI #12 calls for a web page dedicated to informing members about the threat to public education posed by privatization, including but not limited to personalized learning programs. This connects to our existing page on State Takeovers/Privatization and encompasses the many forms that privatization is taking in preK-12 and higher education. (Important note: The current page includes a link to a form where members in Level 4 and 5 schools are asked to report on their experiences. Please take a few minutes to fill this out if you are in one of those schools.)
“NBI #13 calls for the MTA to update its 2016 report, Threat to Public Education Now Centers on Massachusetts, to include a section on corporate support for personalized learning.
“Hold the Commonwealth Accountable: Fully Fund Our Public Schools
“NBIs #9 and #10 call for the MTA to prepare to file a lawsuit against the governor and Legislature if they fail to address the school funding shortfall identified by the nonpartisan Foundation Budget Review Commission. The commission determined that public schools are underfunded by at least $1 billion a year. NBI #10 says that in the event a lawsuit must be filed, it should seek to end the state’s punitive accountability system until and unless the schools are fully funded. Moved by retiring Springfield Education Association President Tim Collins, these two NBIs represent one way the MTA is responding to the failure of the Commonwealth to abide by its Constitution and “cherish” our public schools.
“On a related note, the City of Brockton recently set aside $100,000 toward funding a similar education lawsuit, and officials in Worcester are also discussing the issue.”
Diane Ravitch's blog 
It is not only rightwingers who are trying to shove the reforms down our throats – it is a bi-partisan attack on public education.
Very true. For those who would like background on what is happening in MA with MAPLE and LearnLaunch there is quite a bit of information here: https://wrenchinthegears.com/2017/01/30/hybrid-learning-cicada-killers-the-next-big-fight/
This is a must read website.
Not exactly my place to say this, but I strongly suspect that the CTU in Chicago welcomes the collaborative competition of the MTA in defending their students from the bogus ideas of the vulture edupreneurs and salutes their victory on is important issue. The MTA rocks!
It does! But we need to keep up the momentum. Only a few weeks until the NEA meets in Boston. I am hoping this will initiate some lively discussions.
Nice , So how does this jive with the article you posted the other day about the NEA and “personalized learning”. Point being, this is a lot more complex than just accusing these National Unions of collusion with the profiteers . For years Unions have been fighting the accusation, the public perception, that they are just self serving organizations who do not care about anyone but themselves . The trend has been to acknowledge the accusations , by increasing productivity and cooperating with management while seeking the most they can get for their members.
Unions have become risk averse . How many out there would be willing to put their Jobs on the line. As NYSTeacher points out they are not up to the task . Few union memberships are up to the task. The membership is not even up to the task of going to the polls. If they were Andrew Cuomo would have said his goodbys on January 1 2015 . Teachout would be governor of NY. There are more NYSUT members in NY than total voters in the primary.,although how many are retirees in Florida I don’t know. In the UFT that adds another layer of complexity the interests of active teachers do not necessarily coincide with that of retirees who also vote on leadership. Not the case in the majority of unions.
As the public perception of the education reform movement has turned negative. .Local and State Unions like MTA or CTA now have powerful public allies , the parents . And strategies are changing.
The issue is that top leadership of both national teachers unions have sold out and joined forces with ed reformers pushing “future ready” digital classrooms. That does not mean that state level unions or local unions affiliates. Most of their members have no idea what is actually happening. The very fact that “right-wingers” are portrayed as the sole enemy in this piece plays into that. This is a bi-partisan attack in which top union leadership are complicit and where the main forces driving the digital conversion are the tech, telecommunications, entertainment and global finance sectors that pull the strings behind the scenes.
Be assured that it takes courage to stand up and protect the teaching profession and children, but there are brave individuals who are doing just that. One by one, joining with one another to do this hard work and move the needle. MTA is proof that teachers are willing to take a firm stand. It is important that other locals continue to do the grassroots organizing work needed to change the business union model. Indeed parents are allies in this work. We all need to stand together to stop the onslaught of blended learning and so-called “personalized” education.
Other than your first line . I agree with everything you said . I am not sure exactly how much they are committed to any particular agenda in the ed reform movement. . But let us assume you are correct. Than the the rest of your statement is spot on. I would say to the critics stop your bitching and organize.
Joel, I encourage you to read Emily Talmage’s post “Anatomy of a Betrayal” which provides background for what I stated in my opening. Her blog is Save Maine Schools. The issue is the AFT and NEA involved in the Education Reimagined initiative. And I’m not sure what you mean by stop bitching and organize, because that it the focus of the post. Mary and a number of us who have been working on this front were commenting on the NEA article AND organizing. In fact, that is how the three “personalized” learning NBIs passed through the MTA. Does more work need to be done? Definitely. And I hope that this news will reach the far corners and make people understand that even a relatively small, stalwart group can effect tremendous change.We just need to multiply this times hundreds.
“stop your bitching and organize”
There are all to many who see their unions as some sought of entity which is supposed to deliver for them . Rather than their organization that is as powerful as they are willing to sacrifice to make it . Obviously activists who are fighting to change a union are not who the remark was aimed at.
I will go out on a limb and say that the post you refereed to is too short on detail to tell me whether you are correct in the assessment.
They signed their name to a document .
I have five letters siting somewhere from Steve Israel former head of the DCCC, in response to my concerns on TPP .He would never vote for a trade deal that was not in the interest of the American people . Gee home free right , not quite . Of course that is the same line that Obama gave .
So the question isn’t what they signed but whether they facilitate the implementation or not. But I am with you sitting in front a monitor is not where I want to see education going.. Facilitating is de -professionalizing teaching with a goal of cost cutting. . Playing ball with plutocrats is not a winning strategy for labor.
Joel-do you know who Gisele Huff is? You need to read her post here: https://medium.com/personalized-learning/the-future-of-learning-is-now-c30470777ea7
Joel-after reading the Huff piece you need to watch Becky Pringle of NEA give the closing keynote to the iNACOL conference in 2015 with Gisele Huff (who was awarded an iNACOL lifetime achievement award right right after). During the keynote they said they were going to “change the world together.” Not sure how much clearer you can get than that. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LR-CNJdlMDY
BTW iNACOL is the International Association for K12 Online Learning.
wrenchinthegears
There is nothing new in the approach that Becky Pringle is taking it is one that has been rampant in the labor movement for decades. Well described in this shot piece.
http://www.tikkun.org/nextgen/unions-facing-the-trump-era
For decades the Oligarchy / Plutocracy/ Corporatocracy ,take your choice , has pushed the myth of meritocracy . Pushed the myth that income inequality is a failure of the individual and the institutions to provide that individual with the skills to succeed in society.
That myth is partnered at the hip with the myth of the robots which basically says don’t look under the covers the robots took your job and are responsible for the income inequality we see . However if we educate our youth and give them the skills required all will be well.
Your problem is a skills shortage all you need do is acquire the skills.
Both myths are pervasive not only has the leadership of the National Teachers unions and our political leadership bought into them . Many on this blog have bought into parts of both myths.
None other than Krugman and Summers dismiss the the first myth ,
Summers stating” that the notion that there are all these jobs and that all we have to do is provide the SKILLS required (educate) and all will be well is whistling past the graveyard ” “We could train a whole lot of people to take the jobs of those that already have jobs .”
Krugman
” And what if we invest in our education to learn these new skills, go deeply in debt only to find that these new jobs have been replaced as well ” ” I do not know if education ever was a factor in solving inequality”
Yet Krugman himself uses the robots myth when it suits him, to defend those neo liberal Democrats who are not Republicans in name only. Many on this blog have as well for political reasons. The economic data on productivity, investment and the the comparison to other countries like Germany and Japan whose investments in robotics far out pace ours, strip this myth bare when it comes to explaining the job loss between 98 and 2007 . But don’t get me wrong the robots are coming and not just to those blue collar industrial jobs but to many of those white collar Professional jobs that we are training our children for.
Educators would like to believe that they can make a difference and many do . I would never trade in the four years I spent getting a degree in social anthropology, even though the closest I came to a dig, was digging a ditch on a construction site. But the trap that the leaders of the National Education Unions are falling into, is believing that their members have the ability to solve the economies problems. That leads to their collusion with the plutocracy. ‘ Our members need more skills or more tools” In the past skills were used as a justification for wage increases. The assault now is that those skills and wages are not needed.
We all like to see ourselves as more significant than we are .
Which brings us back to the first myth. What should the purpose of education be? If we think that we will educate our children (give them the skills) and that will solve our economic problems we are in for many more decades of the economic decline for the vast majority of Americans. Decline that we have witnessed since a Nation at Risk was issued. (Especially when the robots do arrive).. Their Nation (the Corporatocracy ) was not at risk the majority of its people were. . If we believe that the focus of education should be on Democracy, solving those economic problems, than we will solve those problems. A manufacturing worker on an assembly line in Detroit had no more skills than a store clerk at Seven Eleven or a home health aide . So what was the difference ? (rhetorical).
Labor leaders have to stop apologizing for representing their members it is not a winning strategy. On the other hand they have to expand their scope so that they represent far more than their own limited memberships and that means building social justice movements.
How about the labor unions that represent human workers declaring all out war against the robots that have taken more than 80-percent of the jobs in manufacturing. The U.S. had the largest manufacturing sector in the world up to a few years ago when it dropped to 2nd place behind China. And the U.S. is still second place, but “The United States is expected to take over the number one position from China by the end of the decade while Germany holds firm at number three”
https://www2.deloitte.com/in/en/pages/manufacturing/articles/global-manufacturing-competitiveness-index.html
One of the bigger, misleading lies out of Trump’s mouth during the presidential debates was that America doesn’t make anything anymore. How in the hell can a country with the 2nd largest manufacturing sector in the world, one that has increased output annually for decades, not make anything unless you clarify what you mean by making it clear that most of the products are not made by human hands anymore? Why did the media let that serial liar get away with that one? The next day every newspaper in the United States and every TV news show should have revealed the facts. Their silence made Trump’s lie an alternative fact that millions of still ignorant Americans swallowed whole and are still swallowing.
I agree Joel. Are you by any chance familiar with Robert McChesney and Chris Nichol’s book “People Get Ready: The Right Against a Jobless Economy and a Citizenless Democracy?” Interesting background, though I don’t buy the FDR adulation. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JMLESEobnFU
Also Joel, you may enjoy Tim Scott’s research. He writes at Dissident Voice and Truthout on many of these topics. In trying to address Ed Reform 2.0, the big question is what to build next and how to create space for an inclusive discussion of what the future of education means for a nation built on genocide and racism.
http://www.truth-out.org/author/itemlist/user/49973
http://dissidentvoice.org/author/timscott/
https://narrativedisruptions.wordpress.com
Lloyd Lofthouse
If you are saying that those robots took over American factories in the 60’s 70’s and 80’s I am all with you . We had a stable manufacturing sector in terms of employment from the mid 80’s on . That would be roughly 18 million people But our population grew from 235 million to 340 million from that time period. So manufacturing employment was stable but a shrinking part of the economy as a whole.
https://www.google.com/url?sa=i&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=images&cd=&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=0ahUKEwiz59qVs8jUAhWLdz4KHQ-UBDMQjRwIBw&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.brookings.edu%2Fblog%2Fthe-avenue%2F2016%2F03%2F15%2Fvoter-anger-explained-in-one-chart%2F&psig=AFQjCNGOVXwE36MTviwgZGkh_I9UMmYOeg&ust=1497909848607872
It fell off a cliff in between 98 and 2007 with no corresponding increase in productivity or investment in plant and machinery.
I am not here to defend Trump . I think you know that .
The difference you marvel at can be explained by the value of the manufactured goods being sold. One fighter jet or Boeing 777 equals a million polo-shirts made in China (or Pakistan) It translates into far fewer jobs . Almost all of our productivity gains have been in one industry high end computer components. Make what ever equivalence you want to iphones or Toshiba TVs .
http://www.epi.org/publication/robots-or-automation-are-not-the-problem-too-little-worker-power-is/
“But are robots now eroding jobs and replacing human labor at a faster pace that the economy can’t absorb? Again, no. Perhaps surprisingly to some, the data on investments and productivity do not reveal worrisome footprints of accelerated robot activity: in fact, in recent years the growth of labor productivity, capital investment and, particularly, investment in information equipment and software has strongly decelerated in the 2000s. There is no basis for believing that robots or automation are having an unusual transformative effect on the labor market.” EPI
Read it and spare me having to send you a dozen more links from legitimate economic think tanks vs the neo liberal shills on the right .
In terms of per-capita investment in Robotics this nation is at the bottom of the heap . Take United Technology’s for example who moved 1100 jobs to Mexico. If they could have done those jobs for less with Robots they would have. Then the orange haired monster arranged for the sexually repressed puke to give Carrier millions so they could upgrade a factory. Robots will replace half those remaining jobs when the new plant opens . Enabled by public dollars. Or they would not have invested in robotics ,they would have taught another manager Spanish.
Think nothing is made in America? Output has doubled in three decades
Published: Mar 28, 2016 3:50 p.m. ET
http://www.marketwatch.com/story/us-manufacturing-dead-output-has-doubled-in-three-decades-2016-03-28
The National Association of Manufacturers says (not a think tank – click the ABOUT link on their home page), “Over the past 25 years, U.S.-manufactured goods exports have quadrupled. In 1990, for example, U.S. manufacturers exported $329.5 billion in goods. By 2000, that number had more than doubled to $708.0 billion. In 2014, it reached an all-time high, for the fifth consecutive year, of $1.403 trillion, despite slowing global growth. With that said, a number of economic headwinds have dampened export demand since then, with U.S.-manufactured goods exports down 6.1 percent in 2015 to $1.317 trillion. (Source: U.S. Commerce Department) – See more at: http://www.nam.org/Newsroom/Top-20-Facts-About-Manufacturing/#sthash.uTchxqkq.dpuf
U.S. Manufacturing is the World’s Tenth Largest Economy says the Manufacturing Institute.
http://www.themanufacturinginstitute.org/Research/Facts-About-Manufacturing/Economy-and-Jobs/8th-Largest-Economy/8th-Largest-Economy.aspx
You said, “Read it and spare me having to send you a dozen more links from legitimate economic think tanks vs the neo liberal shills on the right”
I can match you with links that are more legitimate than an economic think tank churning out unscientific theories that are only allegations. Economics is not a science. Economics is voodoo BS.
The state MTA is not the same as the national NEA. They may all belong to the same teacher’s unions but the state branch has its own democratically elected president and the members of the teachers’ union in that state elected teachers for the legislative branch of the state MTA.
I think we all must be careful when we attack a teachers’ union to be specific what branch of the tree we are criticizing.
All locals do not agree with the state and national’s leadership and their agendas.
And all states do not agree with the national’s leadership and agenda.
When we do not specifically point out this difference in leadership and agendas, we help feed into the autocrats’ war against all labor unions by providing ammunition to our enemy that is used sow division and divide and conquer.
In almost every Union the National leadership is voted on by the local affiliates, not the members with proportional representation according to membership size . Unless for some reason the Local Union is found in violation of the national charter(ie. corruption) . The day to day business including contracts is conducted on the local level. Rare exception when an employer has a National presence and the actions affect more than a few locals . Thus the machinists at Boeing were pressured (wrongly ) into accepting a contract after the initial vote was invalidated .
So when people here talk about being sold out by over payed Union officials, let us remember that the National union has little to do with their day to day working conditions .
That usually goes for Political endorsements as well . So the National Union endorses candidate A and frequently local and state Unions endorse a different candidate especially for primary elections.
Randi and Hillary and Trump have one thing in common. They derive their power from the old farts like us. . The UFT in NYC allows retired members to vote for leadership. That is a rare exception in the Union movement. . The interests of retirees are not the same as that of active members. So the I got mine and to hell with everybody else generation puts the Randi team over the top in NYC . They in turn control the State and there goes the nation.
But further I reject the notion that Union leaders even at the national level are over paid. Paid more than a teacher perhaps , how do they compare to CEO’s in companies 1 tenth the size of their memberships.
We can say that their decisions can be wrong headed but I do not believe their motives are nefarious .
Take the seven idiots from the construction trades who sat with the Orange monster . Preforming oral sex. Several construction trade unions ignored the invitation . I say that their actions followed a long tradition in the labor movement of betraying other Unions in an effort to secure bennifits to their own members . I say that their actions could jeopardize the future of the Union movement . They would argue that their actions provided work opportunity for their members and they will deal with the future when it comes . At the time Trump would not commit on prevailing wage he still hasn’t . Yet the other day Elaine Chao made a statement that Republicans may have to live with prevailing wage if they expect any support from Democrats on infrastructure. I am sure their members will feel that they are the greatest thing since slice bread. Never realizing they are opening up the door to Private Public partnerships which will destroy the union trades. The inverse can be true as well . Just how much do you think Randi is cooperating with the privateers. My guess less than you think.
Lloyd Lofthouse
Your absolutely correct ,economics is not a hard science. Economists look at data and try to explain and interpret the information one of my favorite economists likes to point out , that a profession that by and large missed the real estate bubble and the coming collapse should hang it up . You should read Dean Baker across the board you might actually like what he has to say .
Many economists didn’t miss it . Of course they were not the Davos crowd so Rubbini became the darling of the media. They also tended not to work for lobbying organizations . As an educator you are well aware how research is purchased . Which makes your assertion that NAM is a legitimate source of unbiased analyses and data laughable .
Wake up Lloyd would you accept anything the Business Round-table
had to say about education. Behind the BR and the National Chamber
NAM is one of the most powerful lobbies in America. Of course all these lobbies have interconnected memberships which magnifies there influence . They are interested in profit for their members and they could care less about the American people . I hope you didn’t buy a house in 2007 on the recommendations of a NAR economist.I can still remember Larry Kudlow and Stephen Moore saying there would not be a collapse. In economics its follow the money.
I am not an economist I turned to a dozen men working under my supervision in 2005 and asked if any of them could afford to buy the house they lived in . The answer was resounding no from a relatively high income group of workers . The same evidence is clear in our manufacturing sector . Look at the graph I sent you in the last post then look at the economic data . That is what these progressive economists from the EPI from the CEPR and many others have done . They are not making predictions, Baker would be the first to tell you that predictions don’t work . It is not science . They are looking at the evidence and the evidence is that the productivity growth and investment number are in conflict with the narrative of the Robots .
Your myth about manufacturing output is dispelled below .
https://www.bloomberg.com/view/articles/2016-10-19/no-u-s-manufacturing-isn-t-really-booming
Spoiled by the edit button / you’re
I think your fingers use Google to find alternative facts that support what you want to think about the manufacturing sector in the United States. I can’t change what you want to think any more than we can change the way Trump’s supporters think.
More Output, Less Employment – reports MIT
“the decades-long decline of U.S. manufacturing employment and the highly automated nature of the sector’s recent revitalization should also be high on the list of explanations. The former is an unmistakable source of the working-class rage that helped get Trump elected. The latter is the main reason Trump won’t be able to “make America great again” by bringing back production job”
“In fact, the total inflation-adjusted output of the U.S. manufacturing sector is now higher than it has ever been. That’s true even as the sector’s employment is growing only slowly, and remains near the lowest it’s been.”
https://www.technologyreview.com/s/602869/manufacturing-jobs-arent-coming-back/
The U.S. is also one of the top 10 steel producing countries in the world (ranked 4th). “Steel Companies in the US produced 78.92 million metric tons of the global production of crude steel in 2015
http://www.worldatlas.com/articles/the-top-10-steel-producing-countries-in-the-world.html
America’s top 10 exports accounted for over two-thirds (68.1%) of the overall value of its global shipments.
The following export product groups represent the highest dollar value in American global shipments during 2016. Also shown is the percentage share each export category represents in terms of overall exports from the United States.
3. Aircraft, spacecraft: $134.6 billion (9.3%)
4. Vehicles : $124.3 billion (8.5%)
5. Mineral fuels including oil: $94.7 billion (6.5%)
6. Optical, technical, medical apparatus: $82.0 billion (5.6%)
7. Plastics, plastic articles: $58.4 billion (4.0%)
8. Gems, precious metals: $57.8 billion (4.0%)
9. Pharmaceuticals: $47.1 billion (3.2%)
10. Organic chemicals: $33.9 billion (2.3%)
Mineral fuels including oil was the fastest-growing among the top 10 export categories for 2016, up in value by 72.4% for the 7-year period starting in 2009. Crude and refined petroleum oils as well as petroleum gases were the leading gainers under this category.
In second place for improving export sales were vehicles which rose 68.8% led by international sales of cars, automotive parts and accessories and trailers.
Exports of American aircraft and spacecraft appreciated by 62.3% over the 7-year period.
http://www.worldstopexports.com/united-states-top-10-exports/
The private sector weapons industry in the United States is part of the manufacturing sector and it is a growth industry number one in the world.
No. 1 – United States
The United-States remains the largest exporter of conventional weapons in the world. The U.S accounts for 33 percent of global arms transfers, up from 29 percent in 2006-2010, according to SIPRI
http://www.upi.com/News_Photos/Features/Worlds-Top-5-arms-exporters/3105/?spt=su
Global Turmoil A Boon to U.S. Defense Industry (I’m sure this industry will love Trump)
https://www.forbes.com/sites/neilhowe/2016/01/29/global-turmoil-a-boon-to-u-s-defense-industry/#559c06ad64e5
Lloyd Lofthouse
We are going to keep going back and forth on this. You of all people should understand that data can be manipulated . To prove what ever we want to by cherry picking that data .
You do understand that that there is a tremendous amount of group think and a corporate noise machine that is deafening, repeating the same mimes over and over as if the the repetition will change the facts on the ground . .
For some reason you seem to be willing to understand this when it comes to issues involving education. Everyday Diane posts to or three articles where this is happening . Where do you want to start PISA scores , Charter success, the value of competition, testing .
Everyday you can turn on the TV pick up the paper read where Americas public schools are failing. Hear the problem is educators .
You can read that teachers do not need to be certified .the bunch of “child molesters” that they are. Holding their students back from true progress. That the future of learning is in front of a monitor and the hall monitor can replace the overpaid teachers.
“You get it when it comes to the assault on your profession” .
Yet you are unwilling to entertain the same dynamics in other occupations.Other parts of the economy. .
You do understand that the neo liberal assault is a by partisan effort . Yet you do not seem to understand that it is simply a right wing effort no matter which party is pushing it . You can stop with the demeaning assault on those workers who have lost their jobs lost their communities in this right wing assault. Your venom against Trump and the republicans has so blinded you that are willing to attack workers simply because they may have voted for him after their lives were destroyed by corporate greed not technology
Diane once called the EPI one of the most reputable think tanks around, . It had better have been it yielded a labor secretary Reich and Biden’s chief economic advisor Jared Bernstein. That’s what you called fake news. .Yet you seem to think that NAM a lobbying organization is more reputable. I suspect they are peddling the fake news. They have motive it is called profit. Those jobs that United tech sent to Mexico did not go their for the robots . They went their because cheap labor is cheaper than the investment in robots back home . The day that changes the robots are coming “bigly”. Many of the factories that closed down were highly efficient including this one in Tenn
” The factory had received numerous awards over the years for excellence, including being named one of North America’s top 10 plants by Industry Week magazine in 2009. ”
http://ibew.org/articles/11daily/1106/110624_PhilipsARAW.htm
A little personal note a may have been a construction supervisor but the IBEW is my National Union .
Every one of the articles I sent you is linked by a common thread the data does not show an increase in productivity to warrant the Robot myth . The data does not show the increase in investment to warrant the Robot myth. Per capita spending on robotics puts us near the bottom of the pack . Yes Germany is number three in manufacturing they are also 1/4 the size . They have spent per capita multiples of what we do on robotics, yet their job losses in manufacturing are a fraction of ours.
1) The Graph in your first link is actually what the last link i sent seeks to explains. A good part of that argument is not in dispute the the Robots came in the 60s-80s and they will come in the future . That does not explain from 98-2007 (before the recession) . A steep cliff on that graph in your link actually it is in mine as well . Notice how stable employment was through the eighties and 90s the robots did not cause loss as they entered those plants they prevented job growth as productivity increase. As investment in new plant and machinery increase,production increased but labor stayed stable.
. The data sets are either from Commerce or BLS neither economist made those graphs.
And the data sets include all those manufactured goods that you copied and pasted.
If you actually again had read the link .
The link you sent on steel ignores the fact that you are talking two different animals .
American production from iron ore is way down . American production in little mom and pop (sarcasm noted) automated re possessing plants is way up . Two different animals, two different uses for the steel . To be cute, one is located next to junk yards and the other used to be the city of Pittsburgh. .
Wow those big numbers are impressive that you copied and pasted what do they mean .
Kind of like our 20 trillion dollar debt is frightening , but what is its ratio to our total GDP
What is the cost to finance that debt. When I was a paper boy if i owed ten dollars at 14 ,I was in debt for life . Those figures are adjusted by BLS , so let me help you. The limited edition car I am treating my self to (never did before) has bells and whistles that I never dreamed of before, it didn’t exist . It dose everything but preform sex (that is coming in next years model). It adds 15,000 to the cost of the base model but does it really matter which printed circuit board is in the car in terms of production costs. in terms of labor. The robot or the worker does not care whether the 1500 or the 150 dollar radio goes into the car and the the worker in china doesn’t care which chip goes into that radio. Thus those manufacturing numbers are a reflection of what I just simplified not a reflection of increased production. I tried to simplify that for you but the link I sent you was not difficult to understand. Almost all productivity growth was in high end electronics and computer components
Fact, we have a 460 billion dollar a year trade deficit with China.
Fact , that is in manufactured goods, not raw materials .
Fact , the overwhelming majority of the increase in that deficit happened from the late 90s on .
Are you asserting that it that deficit did not exist all of those jobs would be done by Robots
But rest assured you will be right someday. because the robots are coming to a classroom near you. . That is what this article we are posting on was all about.
It all depends on what data you want to believe. I prefer to believe the data gathered by data gathering organizations and agencies no under the autocratic heavy thumbs over left or right corporate Alt-News outlets that aren’t news at all but are propaganda in disguise for one extremist group or another all supported by a few autocratic billionaires like Richard Mercer or Eli Broad or Bill Gates or the Koch brothers or the Walton family or…
And for decades all of these groups have blamed China for all the lost jobs and don’t mention that more than 80-percent of these lost jobs never left the country.
Back when I was still teaching near the end of my career, I went to an all day workshop where the presenter, who ran the experimental grade school at UCLA, told us about a bumper factory in Detroit that once employed 500 humans. He said he’d toured that factory where only two humans worked when he visited, but the robots the two humans maintained turned out just as many bumpers as the 500 humans once did. He saw this with his own eyes and then shared it with his audience of teachers. Are you saying that what I was told was all part of a conspiracy theory just like some claim of Sandy Hook?
https://www.ft.com/content/dec677c0-b7e6-11e6-ba85-95d1533d9a62?mhq5j=e2
Yes, we will go back and forth since you refuse to accept actual facts over alternative facts.
to= two their = there and what ever else . get me the 5 minute edit button my birthday is in September
Lloyd Lofthouse
Robert Reich or Baker will be happy to hear that he is now a member of the Alt right along with Joe Stieglitz and dare I add Bernie Sanders … … . . Quite an impressive list of right wing Oligarchs you came up with. My guess most are on your side of this argument.
Before Stephen Moore did his 180 this year, he was the KOCH economist
The chief economist of Heritage, here he is in 2015
http://www.nationalreview.com/article/423141/donald-trump-21st-century-protectionist-herbert-hoover-stephen-moore-larry-kudlow
So if i were you I might take a shower to wash the slime off . You are in bed with Charles and David (LOL)
” Alt-News outlets that aren’t news at all but are propaganda in disguise for one extremist group or another all supported by a few autocratic billionaires like Richard Mercer or Eli Broad or Bill Gates or the Koch brothers or the Walton family or”
So please tell me what I have sent you think came from those sources . In my unfortunate days as a misguided teen I was a member of Y.A.F. (BY 16 teen that ended) The ignorant called me a Commie .
Now that I am a Commie (*really, just an LBJ/ FDR progressive ) you accuse me of being alt right.
I understand how hot it can get on the West Coast in the summer go sit in the shade . Like I said the Data comes from Bureau of Labor Statistics or Commerce department . And I am sure that the list of progressives I sent you articles from, would be happy to know that they have to go further left .
By the way there are 2.44 million workers in American Auto manufacturing. If it only takes two guys to make the bumper what the hell are the other 2million 400 thousand 998 doing.
One automated bumper factory does not represent the entire auto industry. Wow, there are so many workers (NOT) in this mostly automated GM bumper factory. More than two but not 500.
Of course, this film was produced as part of a conspiracy theory.
Nope, no automation here. Just more fake films that were produced to support a conspiracy theory. Where are all the workers?
Oval Automatic Textile with some humans as part of the process.
No one can change your thinking but you.
Where are all the workers?
Lloyd Lofthouse
https://www.brookings.edu/blog/the-avenue/2015/04/29/dont-blame-the-robots-for-lost-manufacturing-jobs/
Reading is fun da mental . Try it some time .
You and Campbell Brown have a lot in common . You take the outlier and extrapolate from there . There are some teachers who are deviants therefore deviant teachers are a significant problem.
So you understand my argument . I will repeat it one more time .
After the shock from Japanese competition American (auto)manufacturing embarked on a major retooling and reorganization from the seventies onward the industry retooled automation was introduced big time .The trend continued into the early 90s American textiles moved from the industrialized North East to the South to brand new modern factories with modern production lines . That process took thirty years. (Then they off-shored in less than five years ). I have no argument that peak auto employment was in 1979 and there were declines from there . Yet the total manufacturing employment was around 18 mil through the 80s and nineties while the population grew by 100 mil recessions do not count. That is why I cite 2007 before the Great Rec. Between 98 and 2007-08. ,we lost 25- 33 percent of our manufacturing jobs. That was not the Robots .
We are in agreement that any jobs that are re shored will go to new factories with robots . I will even buy into the McKinsey report that says we will lose 38 percent of jobs to robots in the future.That’s a lot of White collar professionals out in the street .
Go read
“Between 98 and 2007-08,we lost 25- 33 percent of our manufacturing jobs. That was not the Robots”
So you think. I say that competition with other countries lost more jobs in the U.S. in addition to automation. And yes, automation came about to stay competitive with that competition. That is an admission that millions of American jobs were lost to robots.
In the 1950s, American made Automotive brands sold almost 60 million cars and trucks to a U.S. population that was about 179 million by the end of that decade.
The number of cars and trucks sold by US brands hasn’t changed that much but the population has gone from almost 180 million to 320 million.
In the 1950s, there was no competition with Toyota, Honda, Nisson, Hyundai, VW, BMW, etc. In 2015, GM’s share of sales was 17.5% of 17.47 million cars and trucks sold. Ford’s share was 14.9 percent. Chrysler doesn’t count anymore since they are now owned by Fiat, an Italian company. Did Fiat sell Chrysler yet?
GM’s share was 3.05 million sold
Ford’s share was 2.6 million
That competition reduced sales and this, in addition to automation, reduced the number of workers.
Today, GM currently has 12 factories
Ford has 8
Fiat Chrysler has 5
Tesla has 1
Toyota has 4
Honda has 4
Nisson has 2
Subaru has 1
VW has 1
Hyundai has 1
Kia has 1
BMW has 1
Daimler had 1
How many workers are there?
According to bls.gov, in May of 2017, 943,700 worked in manufacturing with about 2 million working in retail sales. Auto repair and maintenance adds another 913k.
https://www.bls.gov/iag/tgs/iagauto.htm
In 1947, 25.6 million American’s worked in manufacturing. In 2009, that number was 11 million.
Yet the auto industry in the U.S. (including all auto companies) still sells almost the same number of cars annually that it did back in the 1950s.
How many workers did it take to build a car in 1959 vs 2017? If you can find that answer, I can’t, I’m sure that the number is much smaller today than it was in 1959 and that is because of automation.
This is very important. I hope our local teacher’s union in Baltimore County will do the same. The amount of minutes that students spend with various depersonalized learning software each day is tracked by county. How do teachers really feel about this? Some of them seem to totally believe this transformation is wonderful. Whenever our administration acknowledges that something isn’t going quite right with our roll-out of a 1:1 initiative, the implication is that the teachers aren’t implementing it correctly. Seriously? Why is there not more outrage about this? Or more questioning that maybe there are fundamental problems with the technology, the software, the philosophy behind the change? I agree, parents will be allies in fighting depersonalized education, but we can’t do it alone.
Diane, it’s not just the “right wingers” that the MTA is opposing here! The Center for Collaborative Education, whom Deborah Meier once defended vociferously on your blog, has been one of the chief organizations bringing “personalized learning” to Massachusetts. Conservative politicians certainly deserve their fair share of the blame in the undoing of our public schools, but in this case it is the bipartisan public-private partnerships and funders like Nellie Mae that deserve the spotlight
Emily,
Please don’t use their language. Please refer to “depersonalized learning.” It is more accurate than their misleading term
i have reposted Emily’s comments on the online garbage. I did not criticize her. Get over it. Why are you spoiling for a fight? I don’t support CBE, period. Debbie Meier is a dear friend and I won’t criticize her. Her wisdom and experience are impeccable.
Diane, it’s weak for you take it upon yourself to correct Emily’s language. Are you hoping to deflect attention from your own allies who promote “personalized learning”? We can’t pretend they are selling something different. They aren’t.
You have, so far, refused to call out your own “personalized learning” allies like
Randi Weingarten and her “Reimagining Education”,
Salesforce and its Motivis Learning https://motivislearning.com/salesforce-for-education/ ,
Dan French and his Center for Collaborative Education,
and Fairtest with its ESSA innovation zones .
We need to talk about what they are really marketing under that name. Emily’s research was essential to me, in writing and successfully moving NBI #6. You attacked us by name in your national blog, out of the blue, and specifically ordered us both to back off from Dan French, who is spearheading the Learnlaunch – MAPLE drive. You didn’t stop us, as you see.
You can read the full text of all three personalized learning NBIs at the Wrench in the Gears site (I have linked as my URL).
Mary,
I do not support competency-based education. It is not my practice to seek out and criticize every one I know with whom I disagree on one issue. I admire FairTest’s long struggle against the misuse of testing. Do I know every position paper they ever wrote? No.
I don’t know Dan French. I am unfamiliar with CCE.
It is really best not to pick quarrels with people that you mostly agree with when there is a full-fledged effort to monetize and privatize public education.
I am not your enemy.
Is it possible that this Mary Porter is a “divide and conquer” agent working for the corporate fraudsters, those Koch Brothers minions that belong to ALEC, that are out to destroy the community-based, democratic, transparent, non-profit, traditional public education system, the kind of education system that all the highest-ranked countries on the International PISA test have but without the federally mandated cradle to grave, rank-and-punish system that focus only on those same public schools?
These agents look for any possible chink in the armor of the true patriots fighting to save the U.S. Constitution and the republic it defends, an Achilles heal to exploit.
Their goal is to replace democracy with an autocratic, Koch brothers’ brand of autocratic, fascist, racist neo-libertarianism.
Lloyd,
More like unfriendly friendly fire
When you are in combat and someone in your unit shoots you in the back for whatever reason – that’s friendly fire. Maybe the shot was justified. Maybe it wasn’t.
Lloyd,
For some reason, I catch friendly fire. It always puzzles me. Why would your allies shoot you in the back?
Not our allies but American troops in the same unit. The most common reason is to get rid of anyone that weakens a unit’s ability to survive in combat. If a unit has even one person (usually a sergeant or officer in charge) that puts everyone else at risk, that one person often gets killed by his own troops. When I was in Vietnam, it happened in my unit more than once.
One warrant officer had his tent fragged with a grenade when he was out taking a shower. That was a warning to stop being a hard ass, a tough disciplinarian. If he had been a threat to the survival of the unit, there would have been no warning. It worked, the next day his officer-management style turned around 180-degrees, and he was the nicest guy you ever met.
Another sergeant didn’t get the warning but he survived the first attempt on his life by his own men. To save him, the colonel transferred him back to the states early. That sergeant’s own platoon was so angry at him that they raised almost $1,000 dollars and spread the word through the enlisted non-officer grapevine that any Marine back in the states that took this sergeant out would get paid the money. I have no idea what this sergeant did to earn that much hate from his own unit. I wasn’t in the motor-pool platoon (the Marines that drove the trucks). I was in the communication’s platoon, a field radio operator.
This comment was written by Mary Porter aka “wrenchinthegears”
Oh my gosh Lloyd Lofthouse, really? It was Mary’s NBI for crying out loud!!!!
I did not know who she was. My comment was based on what I read her say. I saw no reason to Google her name and see if I could find the real Mary. Do you have a link to more information about her?
Lloyd, Mary has been a vocal critic of blended online learning for years. Here she is quoted in an Edweek article from 2014 about all the issues at her school in Revere, MA. Mary has guest posted on blogs and has commented as ChemTechr. She saw the harm firsthand and has been fighting it ever since at great personal cost. This victory at the MTA meeting is very significant.
“Mary Porter, a veteran chemistry teacher at Revere High School in Massachusetts, says that an iPad-based “flipped classroom” program introduced last year at her school, far from being a boon to teachers, has largely been a source of frustration for them.
Under the program, the teachers are expected to create lessons for their students to complete on their school-provided iPads, while reserving more class time for small-group projects and one-on-one instruction. According to Porter, most teachers in her school received roughly three-and-a-half days of grant-funded professional development from outside consultants on the new instructional model.
But in her view, the training didn’t go nearly far enough to help them adapt to the prescribed changes. Meanwhile, Porter said, the learning-management system and other software applications supporting the program have been glitch-ridden, and are ill-equipped to satisfy students’ need for personal feedback. Teachers have also had a difficult time keeping students on task with their online work, which has further complicated the instructional model.
“I think everyone is frustrated trying to make it work,” Porter said, adding that, in her view, school technology funds could be better spent on specific learning resources selected by teachers.” http://www.edweek.org/tm/articles/2014/06/18/gp-blended.html
Lloyd,
“Wrench in the Gears” is Mary Porter writing in the third person.
She has been an outspoken and effective critic of Gates and other privatizes.
Thank you for teaching me about the Mary Porter that you know, a veteran chemistry teacher at Revere High School in Massachusetts. Before now, to me, she was just another person with a common name that could have been from anywhere in the world.
Out of curiosity, after I read your comment about this specific Mary Porter, I searched Google for “Mary Porter” and the first hit of almost 46-million was from the Vampire Diaries telling me that Mary Porter was a vampire.
The 4th hit was about a Mary Porter that died in 1766.
#6 was a Mary Porter, PhD, who teaches in the College of Biological Sciences at the University of Minnesota.
The last Mary Porter on the first page of that Google search was a RE/MAX real estate agent in Collinsville, IL.
I didn’t see your Mary Porter on the 1st page of that Google search. In the age of the internet, no matter what our name, we are only a Google hit, one among millions.
Even Facebook offers endless Mary Porters to choose from. Without specifics to narrow the search, it would be almost impossible to discover a specific Mary Porter.
https://www.facebook.com/search/str/Mary%2BPorter/keywords_users?see_more_ref=eyJzaWQiOiIiLCJyZWYiOiJzZWVfbW9yZSJ9
Thank you for letting me know who your/our, this Mary Porter is.
Diane, Wrench in the Gears is not Mary Porter. Totally different person. We just hold the same values and work well together.
Wrench,
Why don’t you use your real name? Some of Mary Porter’s comments identify her with your sobriquet.
Diane, I don’t write Wrench in the Gears. Alison does. I wrote guest blogs under the name chemtchr back in the day.
I used the Wrench URL because my NBI is published in that particular column.
Not a plant, or a vampire or real estate agent, but an unwavering voice in the fight to protect students and a diehard advocate for authentic education. See her MTA summer talk from 2014. We need 100s more like her, but I think she’s one of a kind. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KhvjPLLRJ60&feature=youtu.be
Center for Collaborative Education IS the Massachusetts “Personalized” Learning Network. It is also tied to many states that are pursuing digital ed and CBE initiatives like out of school time learning. They are funded by Next Generation Learning Challenges. Fortunately one of the NBIs is focused on pursuing this research, so it will all eventually come out. Meanwhile I have been developing a relationship map for CCE here, that might be of interest: https://littlesis.org/maps/2294-center-for-collaborative-education
And your good friend, Deborah Meier,
is on their board of directors. See why we are so frustrated?
Deborah Meier is a great educator. She is one of the leading progressive voices in the nation. Don’t say anything negative about her in my virtual presence. She is well into her 80s, lost the sight in one eye in a car accident, and still she fights on. Have you ever seen the documentary about her school: “Good Morning, Mission Hill”?
You are young. I hope one day you are as wise as Deborah Meier.
Diane, Ed Reform 2.0 advocates have twisted much of the language used in progressive education circles to promote this so-called “personalized” digital approach. Technology has been changing rapidly since cloud based computing and Internet of Things networks and xAPI systems for capturing “learning” have been developed. There are many who have long served on boards, etc. who may not be aware of the major shifts that are taking place and the global interests involved (defense, finance, tech, telecommunications, higher ed). I believe reformers are strategically using certain people to provide cover for their agenda and give it legitimacy. But it is imperative that everyone WAKE UP and speak up now. If you have not watched the talk in the “overview” link from Barbara’s email, I recommend you do that without delay. In process is a follow up on “smart” cities, digital classrooms, IoT, blockchain, “smart” contracts and what the implications of all of this are for public education and society as a whole. Be sure to watch Institute for the Future’s video “Learning is Earning.” This is no joke. Emily is right to be concerned. We would be much better off if more people had her instincts.
This is more technological gadgets looking for a job. I want program and technology designs to start with my students and their leaning needs to make tools we can really use.
Very proud member of MTA
See this quote from Mary’s comment above “Emily’s research was essential to me, in writing and successfully moving NBI #6.” NBI-6 was HER piece-Mary Porter’s work. Any suggestion that she is somehow on the wrong side of this issue is misguided if not laughable. There has been a small, but vocal group working to expose this agenda and rally opposition, and the progress made by the MTA at its annual meeting confirms what can be accomplished. Imagine if ALL local unions organized this same way. We could turn our backs on digital surveillance education and prioritize learning in relationship once again. There are many who don’t want this to happen. Global finance and out of school time providers and edutainment entrepreneurs are working very hard to cloak their assault in progressive language, but people are now beginning to see through the propaganda. The tide is turning. Mary and Emily were both instrumental in making that happen.
Thanks for your comment, Mary.
Lots of credit to you and Emily Talmadge for keeping this issue front and center.
No need for friendly (or unfriendly ) fire.
I am not your enemy.
How can we all agree on certain truths that will protect our profession? For example:
Foundation of Learning Rule # 1 = ” You really can’t teach anything without human contact. You can Instruct, drill, sure. But not teach.” ~ David Berger
A current Massachusetts Higher Education board member’s bio.- “Former President of Massachusetts Teachers Association 2010-2014. …Served on NEA Committees at the national level…PAHARA ASPEN TEACHER-LEADER FELLOW.” Pahara is funded by Gates. It was created by the founder of New Schools Venture Fund and Bellwether. Pahara’s founder was also a founding team member of TFA.
From the Gates-funded Frontier Set site (introduced in 2017 with the goal to change higher education), “Georgia will implement business models for collaborative course development and delivery.”
Toner, and other Mass. board members should read Tim Scott’s Feb. 17, 2017, “Impact Investing…”, published at Dissident Voice.