Thousands of teachers in Florida are rallying at the state capitol today to demand higher wages and better working conditions. The Republican-dominated legislature has been handing out public monies to charter schools and for voucher programs, but ignoring the public schools that enroll 85% of the state’s students. Several of the key legislators are related to charter operators. Conflicts of interest are not a problem in Florida. The State Commissioner of Education Richard Corcoran–former Speaker of the House–is married to a charter operator.
Bernie Sanders wrote a message of support to the teachers who are speaking out. It appeared in the Sun Sentinel.
Every Democratic candidate should heed Senator Sanders’ advice (except, of course, billionaire Michael Bloomberg, who wants more privatization, merit pay, and larger class sizes).
This week, tens of thousands of teachers from across Florida are rallying outside the state capitol to demand real support for their public schools. They are taking this action despite the outrageous threats from Republican officials to fire them just for standing up for their students. These educators are part of a massive nationwide movement, from Maine to California, that’s fighting back against years of underfunding, privatization, and draconian high-stakes testing. I am proud to stand with them in this struggle.
Florida educators have good reason to be angry. Their pay is among the lowest in the nation and far too many support staff live below the poverty line. Gov. Ron DeSantis and his fellow Republicans have refused to increase pay for veteran teachers, and yet just last year, they gave corporations half a trillion dollars in tax breaks. As a result, large numbers of teachers are leaving the profession and this year, more than 300,000 children entered classrooms without a full-time teacher.
The indignities and stresses of high stakes testing are another reason teachers are quitting in droves. Like in other states, educators are being made to teach to the test and schools are being forced to sacrifice important subjects like arts education. But in Florida, children are required to take their first standardized test within 30 days of beginning kindergarten and Governor DeSantis wants to extend harsh accountability requirements to preschoolers. That’s not only absurd, it’s also pointless given that testing such young children in this way does not yield reliable results.
Florida’s Republican leaders are also forcing children with severe cognitive disabilities to take standardized tests. This is downright abusive. In one case, the state required the teacher of a critically ill boy with cerebral palsy to regularly document his medical condition. They did not stop even when he lay in a coma on his deathbed. Sadly, the list of such horror stories in the state of Florida goes on and on.
Florida is ground zero of a school privatization movement intent on destroying public education. It has the largest private school voucher program in the country, and each year almost $1 billion in state money goes to private instead of public schools. These private schools operate with little to no accountability and in many cases their students’ math and reading skills have declined.
Moreover, almost half of the charter schools in the state are run by for-profit corporations. These schools perform no better than traditional public schools, yet they still benefit from public support. Between 2006 and 2014, more than a third of the Florida charter schools that received federal funding — almost $35 million — have either closed or never opened to begin with.
It is long past time we put an end to these attacks on public education. Under my Thurgood Marshall Plan, taxpayer money will be used to invest in our teachers and students, and not in corporate welfare. We will establish a national minimum salary of $60,000 for educators; triple funding for Title I schools; and strengthen the Individuals with Disabilities in Education Act (IDEA) by ensuring that the federal government provides 50 percent of the support for students with special needs. We will combat privatization by eliminating school voucher programs and placing a moratorium on the expansion of charter schools. And we will put an end to high-stakes testing once and for all.
Betsy DeVos and her billionaire friends in the Walton and Koch families do not want any of this to happen. If it were up to them, we would continue to give corporations trillions of dollars in tax breaks and starve our public education system of the resources it needs to be the best in the world.
Way to go Bernie! It sounds like Bernie has been reading the Diane Ravitch blog. Excellent.
Agree, Joe Jersey. Yes, way to go, Bernie.
Today I had to go to the DMV. As I walked into this small almost deserted shopping area, and saw that Elizabeth Warren has a “Warren for potus” office here. It’s close to where I live. I should drop off some information at this place, including Diane’s books and information about Diane’s blog.
& I read in today’s paper that Bernie’s campaign is talking against Warren & is, supposedly, taking the tack of criticizing her (referring to her %age drop), & that she has responded, “Disappointed,” & more.
If anyone from either camp is, indeed, reading this blog, I say DON’T take this bait. Do NOT allow the msm (certainly, in the case of Bernie, he has been–time & again–ignored or smeared by the likes of MSNBC & NBC {esp. Chris Matthews & Chuck Todd, who both should be off their air for their snarky partisan views}) to “divide & (NOT) conquer.
Please, Elizabeth, do not believe the msm in this case &, Sanders Campaign, take it easy…stay the course.
Trump is trying to generate a feud between Sanders and Warren.
Retiredbutmissthekids –
That story has been debunked. Neither the centrist dems nor the Trumpists seem to want Bernie as the nominee. Expect a lot of disinformation and efforts to create division.
A volunteer on Sanders campaign posted it and it was then taken down:
Here’s what Warren had to say when a reporter tried to goad her into going after Sanders; she has my admiration.
The mainstream media HATE the fact that Sanders and Warren are legitimate friends and don’t bad mouth one another not because they have drawn up some non-aggression pact, but because they truly respect one another.
We are going to see a lot more of this plantimosity (planted animosity) as the Democratic primary goes on because both the DNC and Trump are deathly afraid that either Warren or Sanders will get the nomination.
may he become not only better informed, but truly intrigued by all he could KNOW about the long years of neoliberal attacks
Thank you, Bernie.
And thank you, Diane, for posting this.
&–hallelujah!–Cory Booker has dropped out of the presidential race!
Don’t let the door hit you on the way out, C.B.
YAAAAYYYYYYYY!!!! SLIME.
I’d be more worried about the damage Cory would do to the door.
LMAO!!!!
He’s already done enough damage to people in NJ, esp., Newark public school students.
Does anyone here think a lesson will be learned RE: passing oneself off as a progressive while taking money from Big Pharma, supporting charter schools & talking out of both sides out of one’s mouth?
Naaahhhh!
Floridians have to stop voting for representatives that do not believe in the common good. DeSantis and his team are continuing many of the same bad policies of Scott and Bush. He is trying undermine local control of school budgets so that he and his cronies can dictate policies designed to move as much money as possible out of public schools. While he made a big effort to appear to support a raise for teachers, he has been twisting the original proposal into a merit pay scheme. DeSantis is another Tea Party leader that wants to undermine real public education while hastening mass privatization.
Kudos to Bernie for speaking the truth and for his willingness to speak out against injustice. He knows that Florida has been raiding its public school budgets for years, and the DeSantis’ administration is more of the same biased, anti-democratic policies.
Every Republican that has run for governor in Florida, and possibly even state and federal legislative positions, since Jeb Bush has sought and coveted the endorsement of Jeb Bush. The person who wins Bush’s endorsement wears it as a badge of honor in advertising.
While I still expected Republican policies, I thought that DeSantis would be different. It looked like that initially, but he is no different.
Also, I heard on the “Have You Heard” podcast (pun?) that a big issue is that Republican heavy counties will of course vote for Republicans for state office with all that entails for education policy, but then when it comes to tax referendums for their own school districts, they vote for raising their own taxes.
Is this ignorance, or is this a case of “I want the best for me but not for everyone else?”
FEEL THE BERN!!!!! [I have a ‘Bernie for President 2020’ sticker taped to by car’s back window.]
Only taped?
How optimistic of you😀
Now, now SDP–as one who’s had Bernie posters in her rear window for OVER FOUR YEARS–I know they become yellowed & faded.
Carol just wants to keep her Bern sticker fresh…
SomeDAM Poet: I don’t know how hard these things are to get off. It is almost impossible to reach the back window.
I had a Bernie car magnet on my back bumper during the last election and someone stole it.
If Bernie wins, I don’t figure I”ll need the bumper sticker. If he doesn’t win the nomination, I also figure I’ll not need the sticker. SO, either way, I can remove it.
FEEL THE BERN!!!
FEEL THE BERN!!!
FEEL THE BERN!!! [repeat many times]
What you need is an electronic bumper sticker.
That way you could program it for the candidate of the month (week?). 😀
With an electronic sticker, you could even mix and match your candidates and slogans
From “Feel the Bern” to “Feel the Warren”
On second thought, that may get you into trouble.
Also, thanks for the info., Christine, as to my much earlier post, & for the Warren video (I love her, too). & we all know that’s IQ45’s plan–fomenting plantimosity (love it, SDP!).
However, for all/any of your acquaintances who do get all their news from msm, I guarantee you you’ll have to set them straight. Bears repeating that many MSNBC, NBC & other commentators, news “personalities” (can’t call them journalists) do NOT like
Bernie (or Warren that much), showed this in 2016, & continue to do so now, favoring whoever will be the “chosen” one of the DNC, which is terrified (much like the GOP)
of Bernie (& Elizabeth).
Take exception to Chris Hayes & Lawrence O’Donnell, though…& even Chris Wallace (at times). The msm %age of coverage given to IQ45 as opposed to the little given Bernie in 2016 helped him to be elected, because he was deemed “good for revenue” (Les Moonves, CBS–?)
An excellent disection, just in time for tomorrow: it’s a reality show, not a real debate:
(Teachers wouldn’t allow students to debate in this fashion!)
I am so proud and pleased by this news. Every Florida teacher who protests is a brave hero, especially in the face of ridiculous, cruel, empty threats by Republican officials. Vote for Bernie Sanders, heroes and supporters. He will have our backs.
This came out on The Hill. Is it for real?
………………………
Warren: Sanders said a woman could not win the White House
Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) said in a statement on Monday that fellow presidential hopeful Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) told her in a private meeting in 2018 that a woman could not win the White House.
“Bernie and I met for more than two hours in December 2018 to discuss the 2020 election, our past work together and our shared goals: beating Donald Trump, taking back our government from the wealthy and well-connected, and building an economy that works for everyone,” Warren said in a statement. “Among the topics that came up was what would happen if Democrats nominated a female candidate. I thought a woman could win; he disagreed.”
Depends on your definition of real.
LeftCoastTeacher: I thought Bernie and Warren were not going to slander each other.
The corporate press, the Republicans and Trump’s vile Tweets, will be doing that dirty work.
Maybe, during the debate tonight, the two candidates will have a chance to explain that the actions of a small few of their hundreds of campaign staff members do not always reflect their actual views. We’ll see. Regardless, I do not favor primary candidates taking it easy on each other. A primary campaign is a fight for votes, a proving ground, not a love-fest. May the best candidate (Bernie) win. The media will try to turn this into a Bernie versus Elizabeth moment, and it’s up to Bernie and Elizabeth to overcome, and focus their criticisms on the gaffe-prone, so-called moderate instead. Bernie’s good at that.
Or maybe during and after the debate, Senator Warren would team up with CNN to disrespectfully attack Senator Sanders, making it one of the most depressing events in recent history. So much for presidential diplomacy, huh, Elizabeth. Shaking hands isn’t that hard to do, Liz. It’s like posing for a selfie, but more traditional. Ugh.
I based my hope that the vitriol between Warren and Sanders was coming from the campaign staffs, not the candidates themselves on Bernie’s reaction. This morning, I watched the the horrible post-debate handshake that never was in slow motion a couple times. I was wrong. Elizabeth Warren herself is ruthlessly and childishly attacking Bernie Sanders. Unbelievable. Selfish. Disgusting. Not presidential. Downright Trumpian. Forget Elizabeth, GO BERNIE.
LeftCoastTeacher: This is not the way to proceed. The media is already against both of them. Squabbling will make both loose. What is Warren thinking. Let it go. FEEL THE BERN!
……………………………
The Washington Post
Democracy Dies in Darkness
Politics Alert Jan 15, 9:16 PM
Warren accused Sanders of calling ‘me a liar on national TV’ during tense exchange after Tuesday’s presidential debate
After the debate, Sen. Elizabeth Warren walked over to Sen. Bernie Sanders and declined to shake his hand. “I think you called me a liar on national TV,” she told him twice. Sanders replied, “You know, let’s not do it right now.” He added: “You called me a liar.”
The conversation was captured on the candidates’ debate microphones and released by debate sponsor CNN on Wednesday night.
The two had disagreed during the debate about a 2018 conversation in which Warren said Sanders told her a woman could not defeat President Trump in November. Sanders denies he said that, insisting he laid out what he saw as Trump’s likely strategies.
The Hill has no credibility. Objective media described the columns of John Solomon as giving “false credence to Ukraine conspiracy stories”.
The Hill and Fox are one and the same.
Jonathan Turley, the right wing (who claims he’s liberal) GWU lawyer who thinks polygamy should be legal gets space at The Hill. In the impeachment hearings he said he had no dog in the race while he champions the right wing outside of the hearings.
The unnecessary attacks on Ambassador Yavanovitch have likely been explained. Trump supporter and former GOP congressional candidate, Robert F. Hyde, is the explanation.
He allegedly is behind in child support payments. The record of his statements regarding women is highly damaging to his reputation and suggest motive in the situation of the female ambassador.
Any woman who votes Republican is a fool.
He seems nice.
https://www.courant.com/politics/hc-pol-robert-hyde-child-support-20191219-3dc5k5xuwvhnvodkshu4t273zm-story.html
https://www.thedailybeast.com/who-is-robert-f-hyde-the-trump-donor-who-apparently-tracked-marie-yovanovitch
No question the msm was out to get Bernie tonight.* I was at a Debate Watch Party, & mentioned that, when asked about the “billions” U.S. would have to pay for his health care plan, his answer need only be, “How do the French do it? The British? All the countries
(majority–if not all of–the industrialized countries) do it? Are they broke?”
Now THAT would be a GREAT answer…one that should shut everyone up.
I wish Warren would have said, “Enough w/the accusations. NOBODY cares about your (msm’s) divisiveness,” just as Bernie commented about HRC’s e-mails.
But…noooo…
*& that VERY pointed question (from–ahem!–“an audience member”–?!): “Iowa is an insurance employment town…what would happen to all those Iowa jobs in the health insurance industry?”
Yeah…right…
I wrote a letter-to-the-editor years ago about the worthlessness of having EdisonLearning take over a school. EdisonLearning promised great things which didn’t happen. Gary is in a poor area in NW Indiana.
…………………………………….
State intervention to end at Gary Roosevelt; future of school still uncertain
GARY — The Indiana State Board of Education voted Wednesday to end its intervention at Theodore Roosevelt College and Career Academy.
The 10-0 board vote removes one tier of oversight in a layered relationship between the state-takeover Gary Community School Corp. and for-profit educational services provider EdisonLearning, which manages academics for the Gary Roosevelt school.
The action will take effect after this school year, when an Indiana Department of Education contract with EdisonLearning providing state tuition support ends…
The district has issued requests for proposals to reevaluate expenses needed to bring the historic Roosevelt building back into an operable environment for learning. Past estimates placed the cost in excess of $10 million — a heavy task for the cash-strapped Gary Community School Corp…
Several Gary community members spoke at the Wednesday board meeting about their frustration in feeling unheard by the multiple state and takeover entities involved in oversight of Gary schools.
“On both levels of the takeover … great harm has been done,” said Michaela Spangenburg, speaking on behalf of a newly formalized Gary Education Coalition. “While I applaud the spirit and the idea of giving the control of Roosevelt back to the community, there has to be a way in which this is done responsibly.”…
https://www.nwitimes.com/news/education/state-intervention-to-end-at-gary-roosevelt-future-of-school/article_76357ace-9170-528d-971b-c9ffb5b5c501.html?utm_medium=social&utm_source=email&utm_campaign=user-share
Trump is playing to his base. “Our actions today will protect the constitutional rights of students, teachers and faith-based institutions,” DeVos said. “I proudly share President Trump’s commitment to religious freedom and the First Amendment.”
We MUST get rid of these monsters who have power. Trump’s devotion to religious freedom is a pile of________________.
Next schools can be required to give 5 minutes of prayer at the beginning of the day. I had a first grade teacher who had the class memorize a verse from the bible..”Yea, though I walk through the valley of death, I will fear no evil. Thy rod and they staff they comfort me all the days of my life.” OR, at least that is what I remember. First grade WAS a few years ago. [Here’s to Meridian, Idaho.] Trump and DeVos are working to cut the separation of church and schools.
American Standard Version Yea, thou I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil; for thou art with me; Thy rod and thy staff, they comfort me.
………………….
Trump administration moves to protect prayer in public schools and federal funds for religious organizations
Jan. 16, 2020
The Trump administration is moving to strengthen protections for students who want to pray or worship in public schools and proposing changes that would make it easier for religious groups that provide social services to access federal funds.
Nine federal agencies, including the Education Department, the Department of Health and Human Services and the Justice Department, are proposing rules that would reduce requirements for those religious organizations. The rules would lift an Obama-era executive order that compelled religious organizations to tell the people they serve that they can receive the same service from a secular provider.
The changes and proposed rules were announced on a telephone briefing for reporters Thursday.
The Education Department plans to issue guidance that will require local school districts to certify that they have no rules or regulations that conflict with students’ right to pray at school. It will also require states to notify the Education Department if there are complaints against a school district regarding the right to pray. The department does not have similar reporting requirements for states when a school district is accused of other types of discrimination.
Education Secretary Betsy DeVos said her department plans to remind schools that students and teachers have a constitutional right to pray in public schools, and that student-led religious organizations should get to access to public facilities just as secular ones.
“Our actions today will protect the constitutional rights of students, teachers and faith-based institutions,” DeVos said. “The department’s efforts will level the playing field between religious and nonreligious organizations competing for federal grants, as well as protect First Amendment freedoms on campus and the religious liberty of faith-based institutions. I proudly share President Trump’s commitment to religious freedom and the First Amendment.”…
https://www.washingtonpost.com/education/2020/01/16/trump-administration-moves-protect-prayer-public-schools-federal-funds-religious-organizations/