Peter Green reviews a study of the political views of teachers.
You may be surprised to learn how many support Trump. A surprising number have a favorable opinion of Betsy DeVos.
He suggests that you might want to talk more to the teacher in the next room.
The historic Democratic sweep in Virginia last month claimed one more victory today.
In a recount of the election, Shelly Simonds won her race for Delegate in the lower chamber of the Legislature by one vote! The final count in the District was 11,608 to 11,607. On Election Day, the incumbent led by ten votes. The recount ended in a one-vote victory for the challenger. One more close election is still contested, where the margin of victory for the Republican was 82 votes, but 147 people received the wrong ballots. As the New York Times Reports, “A lawsuit requesting a new election is in the courts.”
“The Democratic wave that rose on Election Day in Virginia last month delivered a final crash on the sand Tuesday when a Democratic challenger defeated a Republican incumbent by a single vote, leaving the Virginia House of Delegates evenly split between the two parties.
“The victory by Shelly Simonds, a school board member in Newport News, was a civics lesson in every-vote-counts as she won 11,608 to 11,607 in a recount conducted by local election officials.
Ms. Simonds’s win means a 50-50 split in the State House, where Republicans had clung to a one-seat majority after losing 15 seats last month in a night of Democratic victories up and down the ballot, which were widely seen as a rebuke to President Trump. Republicans have controlled the House for 17 years.”
She was one of my endorsements because of her support for public schools. A school board member in Newport News, Virginia, she made education and support for public schools a major issue in her campaign.
Please remember next November: Every vote counts! Every single one.
This is a very informative article about Senator John Kennedy, a Louisiana Republican (who used to be a Democrat), who brought down Trump’s three Worst Judicial nominees in the last week. If you haven’t seen the five-minute video of him questioning Matthew Spencer Petersen, please watch. You will be astonished that someone so ignorant of legal procedures was nominated for a lifetime federal judgeship.
You might also be interested to see the cozy relationships of other nominees as well as the abhorrent records of some who were confirmed. Are there no Republican lawyers who might be considered for this prestigious position who are not racists, homophobes, or ignorant of the law?
Packing the courts with ignorant judges may be Trump’s longest lasting legacy. He is choosing youngish white men who will be on the bench for many decades.
John Richard Schrock is Professor of Biology Emeritus at Emporia State University in Kansas. He is currently in China. While China is growing its universities, the U.S. is retreating from its historic commitment to make higher education accessible to all qualified students.
China’s University Expansion
In 1992, I looked down from a window in an old high-rise classroom building at East China Normal University in Shanghai. It was noon and rivers of students were streaming into the “canteen” with their water thermoses in one hand and eating utensils in the other. Food would be a limited selection of rice or noodles with vegetables. These were the elite of China’s academic elite, the very top students who scored A+ on the Chinese high school graduation exam. They had earned the privilege to attend university free.
But facilities were old and worn. They would hurry to their classes in unpainted classrooms because the last students to arrive might have to stand because the seats were filled. Students lived 8-to-10 in a dormitory room that held nothing more than bunk beds. Professor pay was equal to a factory worker’s.
But the elderly administrators soon retired. There was no supply of experienced junior administrators due to a Cultural Revolution that had closed many universities for a decade. That left China’s Ministry of Education with an opportunity to completely re-build its university system nationwide.
So by 1998, the situation was different. Weak universities were closed or merged with strong institutions. China doubled its university capacity, then doubled it again in the early 2000s, and doubled it again by 2010. The cities of Xi’an and Guangzhou built “university cities” with 10 new universities each. Chongqing built their “university city” with 17 different universities totaling 300,000 faculty, students and staff. –An area equivalent to the size of Wichita! -But all just universities. This was the greatest expansion of higher education in human history.
Now, the majority of their students who passed the gao kao high school leaving exam could now attend college. But students would now pay full tuition. And that greatly improved the faculty salaries and living conditions. Classrooms and labs soon became state-of-the-art.
In 1995, China selected over a hundred universities for its “211 Project,” feeding federal money toward building modern universities. By 2000, China’s “985 Project” had designated nearly 40 universities for even greater national support. All other universities were left to the provinces to fund, similar to American public universities being state-funded (barely). The net effect was to triple the number of universities by 2017 and quadruple their student capacity, compared to the 1990s.
And as of two months ago, China began its Double World-Class Project. Their Ministry selected 42 universities to move to world-class status by 2050. 36 are Category A and 6 are Category B with a focus on applied research. It also has over 400 “key disciplines” spread across these and another 50 provincial universities that will receive additional generous governmental support.
Their National Natural Science Foundation announced a dramatic increase in grant funding two years ago. With a decade of substantial cash incentives for publishing in high ranked English journals, Chinese researchers have rapidly risen in authorship of research papers in the top science journals Science and Nature, second only to the U.S. in authorships. If this trend continues, China will be the top producer of research in a few more years.
So today, I am looking down from my 6-story office window in a Double World-Class university onto a state-of-the art campus. Well-dressed students busily walk, or ride electric motorbikes, between classes. Dormitories have only 4-6 students per room. They eat in a variety of canteens with a food selection that exceeds any American campus. Hot water thermoses are the only holdover from earlier times.
For nearly four decades, China has invested in roads, railways, and other infrastructure. But the most important of these investments was education. Roads and rails move people around. Education moves people ahead. And it has paid off in raising the productivity of China’s population beyond expectations. The affluence of their institutions and the majority of their students reflect that payback. China understands that education is not just for filling those jobs needed today.
The dramatic improvement in the quality of life across China is due primarily to China’s investment in education. The better life of the students I see below my window is due to the advanced economy prior graduates have created. These students will continue that progress. China’s prosperity proves that it is mass education and not capitalism driven by the top one percent that “raises all boats.”
From the Economic Policy Institute, the one think tank in D.C. not indebted to Big Money:
“Republicans in Washington think they’re on the verge of passing their tax scam. But the vote in the Senate is expected to be very close. If we can sway just three Republicans to stand with Democrats and oppose the tax plan, we can defeat this bill just like we defeated Trumpcare.
“A few of the truly disgusting aspects of the Trump tax scam are what it does for Donald Trump and his family, and multinational corporations that ship jobs overseas. If passed, the tax plan would:
“Weaken the estate tax, which only impacts the richest 0.2% of Americans―including Trump’s family;
“Lower tax rates on so-called “pass-throughs,” including hedge funds, private equity firms, and real estate LLCs―like Trump’s;
“And, reward corporations that have, for years, been dodging taxes―allowing them to repatriate offshore profits at lower rates, encouraging multinational corporations to continue shipping jobs and profits overseas.
“This bill will not create jobs or higher wages for working people as Republicans claim. It is nothing more than a massive handout to the wealthy and corporations on the backs of working families.
“Call your Senators right now and tell them to reject Donald Trump and Republican leaders’ tax plan that provides a huge Christmas giveaway to Donald Trump and his family, but a lump of coal for the rest of us.
“Here’s a suggested call script:
Call: 888-516-5820
“My name is _______. I live in TOWN, STATE and I’m a constituent of the Senator’s.
“I want Senator [NAME] to OPPOSE the Senate tax plan that delivers huge tax cuts to America’s wealthiest families and corporations. Instead of tax breaks for hedge funds and private equity firms―that just increase income and wealth inequality―we need a tax plan that invests in critical programs for working families.
“We will not stand by as Republicans in Congress attempt to pass a tax plan that provides trillions in tax breaks for the wealthiest Americans―paid for by cutting critical services for working families, including $25 billion in cuts to Medicare in 2018 alone.
“Call your senators today and urge them to reject a tax plan that does nothing to boost the wages of working people.”
Thank you,
Josh Bivens
Director of Research, EPI Policy Center
Did you ever imagine that someone would run for President to make money?
Eugene Robinson of the Washington Post describes a few of the ways that the Trump family is cashing in.
He writes:
“The presidency was never meant to be a profit center for a nepotistic, money-grubbing family. But that was before the Trumps moved in. This scandal is lying in plain sight, overlooked because of the constant stream of missteps, outrages and distractions that come and go at an exhausting pace.
“While everyone watches his Twitter feed, President Trump is using the White House like a marketing agency for his family brand. This is not normal or acceptable — and it surely isn’t what laid-off factory workers and coal miners had in mind when they jumped on the “populist” Trump train.
“Last week, Ivanka Trump opened a retail store inside Trump Tower, her father’s New York skyscraper, to sell her eponymous foreign-made handbags and other items. We can now finally dispense with the notion that she is an “unpaid” adviser to the president.
“It’s not a very big store — more of a glorified kiosk, really — but the conflict of interest is obvious. She and her husband, Jared Kushner, are in positions where they can influence U.S. policy toward the countries where her products are made, such as China, Indonesia, Vietnam, India and Bangladesh. The store is located where it can siphon money from Trump-supporting tourists who make pilgrimages to Trump Tower while visiting the sights of Manhattan.
“This is just the latest example of how the Trump family is seeking to monetize the presidency. We haven’t seen anything like it since 1977, when Jimmy Carter’s brother started hawking Billy Beer. (President Carter, at least, had the decency to be embarrassed.)
“As is the case with other family members, including the president, Ivanka Trump has refused to divest herself of her business interests. Instead, the Trumps and Kushner have put them into trusts — but in a way that provides not even a fig leaf of probity.
“ That’s because the businesses — including the Trump Organization, the president’s umbrella enterprise — are still operating and are being run by family members whose aims are pecuniary, not patriotic. Do you believe for a moment that Trump pays no attention to how his sons, Donald Jr. and Eric, are handling his company? Or that Ivanka Trump and Kushner are unaware of what his siblings are doing with the troubled Kushner family real estate empire and Ivanka’s fashion line? I don’t.
“ Consider this sequence of events: Trump is elected president in November 2016. The membership initiation fee at his Palm Beach club, Mar-a-Lago, doubles to $200,000 in January 2017. Following his inauguration, Trump spends 34 days thus far — fully one-tenth of his presidency — at Mar-a-Lago, mixing freely with members in a setting hidden from the prying eyes of the news media.
“If you had a corporate or private cause to plead with the president of the United States, and you had ample resources, might you consider a $200,000 Mar-a-Lago membership a promising investment? I think you might.
“The Trump International Hotel in Washington, just down Pennsylvania Avenue from the White House, has become what The Post called “a kind of political clubhouse” for Trump associates and organizations, such as political action committees, that support the Trump agenda.
“Last month, for example, the Trump 2020 campaign held a “VIP reception” there that cost $30,000, according to The Post, and featured deviled eggs and lobster BLTs. Plenty of other nearby hotels could have hosted such an event — the W, the Willard, the J.W. Marriott. The campaign just happened to choose one whose profits accrue to the president’s bottom line.
“Likewise, for some reason, the Trump International has become a popular place for foreign delegations to stay while visiting Washington. Many legal scholars believe this line of business violates the emoluments clause of the Constitution prohibiting federal officials from receiving gifts or profits from foreign governments. At least three lawsuits have been filed seeking clarification from the courts.”
We are witnessing the death of Shame.
Here is the Washington Post summary of how the tax bill will affect education. Apparently, the Republican majority wants to defund K-12 public schools. Let them hear from you.
Remember next November!
Please buy and read Deborah Meier’s new book, THESE SCHOOLS BELONG TO YOU AND ME, written with Emily Gasoi.
Debbie has accomplished many things in her life. You can read about her on Wikipedia. I often say that debating her for five years at Education Week was one of the reasons I changed my views about education. Not the only reason, but an important one.
Merry Christmas, Happy Chanukah, happy 2018 to the great Deborah Meier!
In a step towards common sense, Australia has determined to prohibit computer scoring of national tests.
Now the next step towards common sense would be to get rid of the national tests.
One great piece of news for Australia is that the Finnish education expert Pasi Sahlberg has taken a position at the Gonski Institute of Education at UNSW in Sydney.
GERM and NAPLAN won’t survive Pasi’s onslaught of brilliance and direct talk for long.
An audit of a charter school in Chico, California, found possible financial fraud. California has a weak charter law and one of the worst records in the nation for holding charter schools accountable and monitoring fraud.
A former Blue Oak Charter School administrator is alleged to have used school credit cards to purchase weapons, movies and clothing, according to an audit conducted by the Fiscal Crisis Management Assistance Team.
The Fiscal Crisis Management Assistance Team, a state agency tasked with providing financial guidance and reviews to California school districts, audited Blue Oak this year in response to concerns brought forth by the school and the Butte County Office of Education.
The team analyzed financial documents from 2014-2015, 2015-2016 and 2016-2017, and found that fraudulent activity may have occurred in that period, according to the Extraordinary Audit report released on Nov. 16. The school’s executive director during that time was Nathan Rose.
The 380-student Waldorf school experienced significant financial challenges in recent years and was over budget for several years and struggling with cash flow, Executive Director Susan Domenighini said.
The board became concerned that something “wasn’t right,” and approached Chico Unified School District, the agency tasked with overseeing the school, for additional support and eventually asked the Butte County Office of Education request that FCMAT conduct an Extraordinary Audit.
The findings of that audit, released earlier this month, indicate there may have been misuse of school funds on the part of the former school executive director and noted that “deficiencies and exceptions” and the school’s internal control environment increased “the probability of fraud, mismanagement and/or misappropriation of funds.”
The report states that the school’s then executive director and other administrators routinely used school credit cards for travel expenses and meals, and that the executive director charged meals, snacks and beverages to school credit cards without an identifiable business purpose.
Although no administrators were named in the report, Nathan Rose served as Blue Oak’s executive director from June 2012-June 2016. After leaving Blue Oak, he went on to serve as the superintendent/principal for Pine Ridge Elementary School District, a position he held for several months.
One section of the report states the former executive director “extensively” used credit cards established as school accounts and issued in his name for food, fuel and other purchases that may have been of personal benefit. Some of those purchases include weapons, tactical gear and military radios; a Birchbox monthly beauty product subscription service; iTunes, Amazon On Demand and IndieFlix downloads; numerous fast food purchases; clothing and accessories; Disney Resort transactions; liquor store transactions and more than $3,990 in unsubstantiated expenditures to Costco, among other expenses.
School staff could not account for several items purchased with school credit cards, some of which were shipped to the then executive director’s residence, including an Epson home cinema, a Fuji underwater camera and folding knives.
