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The Mystery of Donald Trump’s Missing Tax Returns

By dianeravitch
May 12, 2016 //
9

Donald Trump says he can’t release his tax returns because he is being audited. He says he will release them after the elections. If he maintains his position, it would be the first time in 40 years that a major party presidential candidate did not divulge his tax returns.

 

Bill Moyers’ daily briefing reports that the IRS says it has no problem with a candidate’s decision to release tax returns while an audit is ongoing. What about Trump’s tax returns from previous years? Why can’t he release 2010-2014? Are they still being audited?

 
“Republican candidate’s tax whiplash –> In an interview published yesterday, Donald Trump said he would very likely not release his tax returns before the November election. He then “clarified” on Fox News that he would love to release his tax returns, but is being audited and cannot. The IRS then clarified that, “Nothing prevents individuals from sharing their own tax information,” even during an audit. Hanna Trudo writes for Politico that the candidate insists there is nothing interesting to see.

 

“So, to summarize: Obama has to release his birth certificate and college transcripts but Trump’s tax returns are, meh,” tweeted The Huffington Post’s Sam Stein.”

Categories Politics

Oklahoma: Educators Running for Office to Stop Budget Cuts

By dianeravitch
April 25, 2016 //
2

I love this story.

 

In Oklahoma, an unusual number of educators have filed to run for elective office to stop budget cuts.

 

Some got tired of being ignored by their representatives and decided it was time for an educator to run against them. They refuse to meet the needs of schools and children, so educators are stepping forward.

 

That’s action!

Categories Budget Cuts, Education Reform, Oklahoma, Politics

Another Victory for the Opt Out Parents of Long Island: Kaminsky Likely Election Winner on Long Island

By dianeravitch
April 20, 2016 //
9

In a hotly contested election for the State Senate seat of convicted Dean Skelos, Todd Kaminsky appears to be the winner by a slim margin. The absentee ballots are not yet counted, but if Kaminsky’s lead holds up, he will be a member of the State Senate. StudentsFirst poured nearly $1.5 million into defeating him and trying to elect the candidate from the Republican machine. This election should make clear that StudentsFirst can be beaten and that they are a front for the Republican Party.

 

Kaminsky’s victory is a victory for the leaders of the Long Island opt out movement, who strongly supported his candidacy and the legislation he proposed as a member of the Assembly. Kaminsky wants to decouple test scores from teacher evaluation, which would reduce the absurd pressure to raise test scores and the time lost by the arts and other subjects. Parents want their children to have a well-rounded education, not a test-prep curriculum.

 

The parents of Long Island have become a political force to be reckoned with, and a shining example for parents across the nation. Parents united can never be defeated. Not even by big money.

 

 

Categories New York, Opt Out, Parents, Politics, Testing

Lighten Up! Go to a Clinton Fundraiser with Terry Castle

By dianeravitch
April 17, 2016 //
19

Time to laugh!

 

Terry Castle is an accomplished writer and Walter A. Haas Professor in the Humanities at Stanford University. She and her partner were invited to a fundraising party for Hillary Clinton at a swanky Palo Alto abode. She has written a hilarious account of their attendance at the party.

 

I can’t reproduce any samples because part of its impact and humor come from her use of typefaces and wordplay. I think you will laugh.

 

Categories Humor, Politics

Ken Bernstein: Hillary is Poorly Informed about Education Issues, But I Will Vote for Her

By dianeravitch
April 13, 2016 //
66

Ken Bernstein is a social studies teacher in the D.C. area who has received numerous awards for his dedicated service. He writes extensively and blogs regularly for The Daily Kos. He is a deeply thoughtful and intelligent person who is passionate about teaching and public service. In this post, he analyzes Hillary Clinton’s views on education and acknowledges that she is woefully out of touch. Although Chelsea Clinton attended public schools in Arkansas, she enrolled in Sidwell Friends when her father became president. That was a full decade before the advent of high-stakes testing introduced by No Child Left Behind. Thus, Clinton has no idea how testing has spun out of control and become the master of education, a giant tail wagging the dog.

 

Not only her remarks on testing ill-informed, but so are her remarks about Common Core. Clearly she has no idea why opposition to Common Core is bipartisan and why so many parents and teachers oppose it. It would not be hard to find out why, but her education advisors don’t seem to know or haven’t shared what they know. I wish I could sit down with her for half an hour, but I don’t know how to make that happen.

 

Most puzzling is her insistence that she would have her children or grandchildren take the tests. She must know that she is saying this on an interview on Long Island, where more than 50% of parents opted out. Did she think she would win hearts and minds by belittling the parents who refuse to subject their children to meaningless tests? They are meaningless for reasons I stated in a post a few days ago; they have no instructional value as teachers learn nothing about what children know and don’t know. All they get is a score and a ranking for each child. That is not diagnostic. What is the point of learning that your child “failed” to meet the standard, but no one knows why? Also, some savvy parents have been informed that the passing mark was set so high that 70% of the children are supposed to fail. What parent would find that acceptable?

 

Her affection for charters is as ill-informed as her affection for testing and accountability. How could she take the endorsement of the nation’s two largest teachers’ unions and at the same time praise non-union charters (more than 90% of charters are non-union)? The biggest funders of charters fund them because they are non-union. Will she, as president, continue to pour hundreds of millions of dollars into the expansion of non-union charters? Someone should ask these questions.

 

Ken writes:

 

If by now you have grasped that I am not happy with this part of the interview with Newsday, you are correct. Were education the only issue on which I decided who to support for the Presidency, I might have real reservations — provided there was a candidate who showed a deeper understanding. In fact this cycle there is not, in either party, of ANY of those who were ever in the race.

 

Further, on almost all of the other issues important to me, Hillary Clinton’s experience, understanding of government and international issues, makes her far superior to anyone else who sought the Presidency this cycle.

 

I knew I would not be completely happy with her approach to education at the time I decided to support her….

 

I hope that when she becomes President, as I believe she will, Hillary Clinton will make sure that she includes the voices of teachers in (a) who she picks for Secretary of Education, (b) how her administration shapes it educational policy.

 

I know from others how good a listener Hillary Clinton can be.

 

I hope very much that she will apply that skill set and listen to different voices on education, because what I read in this interview with the editorial board was disappointing.

 

 

 

 

Categories Accountability, Charter Schools, Common Core, Education Reform, Politics, Testing

Teachers Divided Between Sanders and Clinton

By dianeravitch
April 10, 2016 //
174

Politico reports what readers of this blog know very well: teachers are divided between Bernie Sanders and Hillary Clinton, even though the two national teachers’ unions were among the first to endorse Clinton.

 

The plus side of Sanders: He speaks to the anger and outrage that many teachers feel as a result of unrelenting attacks on the teaching profession and on public education. He can be expected to fight privatization and inequality.

 

The downside of Sanders: He has not been a member of the Democratic Party until now and if elected, would have few supporters in Congress to enact anything he proposes. While he has high poll numbers now, the Republican attack machine has thus far ignored him. They will drive his numbers down by calling him a communist and pulling every dirty trick in their arsenal. On education, he has been a member of the Senate committee that deals with education and voted for an amendment that would have preserved NCLB-style accountability under the control of the US Department of Education. His statement that Hillary is “not qualified” to be President was dreadful and petulant. Would he prefer Trump or Cruz?

 

The plus side of Clinton: She has broad experience in domestic and foreign affairs. She is ready to be President.

 

The downside of Clinton: She is closely associated with the neoliberals at the Center for American Progress who have been pushing Race to the Top, high-stakes testing, VAM, Common Core, and charters (school choice). Her campaign manager, John Podesta, is or was the leader of the CAP. She has not spoken out against any of these policies nor disassociated herself from the Bush-Obama test-and-punish regime. She might reappoint John King as Secretary of Education. She has been clear on every issue except education. Does she really think charter schools are public schools?

 

Since neither Clinton nor Sanders has given a major speech addressing K-12 education, we can’t be sure what they intend to do. Let’s hope they speak out soon and let us know where they stand on high-stakes testing, charters, vouchers, for-profit schools, privatization, teacher professionalism, tenure, and other issues that concern parents and teachers.

 

The bottom line: We cannot afford to permit an extremist like Ted Cruz (who despises public education and appeals to the Evangelical vote with his views on social issues) or a crude narcissist like Donald Trump (who evidently knows nothing foreign or domestic policy issues) to become President.

 

So, whether you vote for Sanders or for Clinton, be prepared to unite for the Democratic nominee if you care about the future of public education in America and maintaining the promise of American life for all our children.

Categories Education Reform, Politics

New York: A Chance to Elect a State Senator Who Cares about People: Todd Kaminsky

By dianeravitch
April 9, 2016 //
5

If you live in the district on Long Island where there is an election for the vacated State Senate of Dean Skelos, who was convicted of corruption last year, I urge you to vote for Todd Kaminsky.

 

Kaminsky’s opponent in the race is receiving massive contributions from StudentsFirstNY and other supporters of charters and vouchers.

 

Kaminsky is a great friend of public schools and teachers. He has been endorsed by NYSAPE, the state’s leading opt out organization of parents and educators. As a member of the Assembly, he offered four bills to give permanent relief to students and teachers by decoupling test scores from teacher evaluations, by repealing the law that forces struggling schools into “receivership” (state takeover), shortening the time required for testing, and by creating career paths for students to get a diploma without passing five Regents exams.

 

Kaminsky was endorsed by the New York Times. This is what the Times said about this race:

 

In Mr. Skelos’s former district in Nassau County, the Democratic candidate is Todd Kaminsky, an assemblyman who, as a former federal prosecutor, seems miraculously well-suited for this moment. He understands Albany’s sick culture, having helped to convict many of the state’s most corrupt legislators before entering politics. One notable target was Pedro Espada Jr., the former senator, now in prison for stealing from a nonprofit organization in the Bronx. Mr. Kaminsky, who has also built a strong record advocating for Hurricane Sandy victims in Long Beach, his hometown, vows to be a full-time lawmaker with a keen focus on ethics.

 

Pretty much all you need to know about Mr. Kaminsky’s opponent, Christopher McGrath, is that he was handpicked for this race by Joseph Mondello, boss of the Nassau Republican Party, the tainted machine that spawned Mr. Skelos. Mr. McGrath, a genial lawyer who has never run for office before, talks about ethics reform, but it is impossible to take him seriously, given the team he is playing for. He opposes, for example, strictly limiting outside income, so that lawmakers would focus on serving the public interest, not their own. This should be a red flag to voters who remember that lucrative side careers were how both Mr. Skelos and Mr. Silver so easily abused their power and enriched themselves.

 

My endorsement is personal, from me, not the Network for Public Education, which does not endorse candidates in New York state.

 

I urge you to vote for Todd Kaminsky, and to encourage your friends to come out and vote.

 

 

Categories New York, Politics

Daniel Denvir: It is Time for Bernie Sanders to Speak Out on Education

By dianeravitch
April 8, 2016 //
14

Daniel Denvir in Salon writes that it is time for candidate Bernie Sanders to wade into the education issues.

 

Sanders is speaking in Philadelphia, a city whose public schools have been ravaged by failed reforms for more than a decade under state control.

 

Denvir interviews a variety of experts about why neither Sanders nor Clinton has taken on education.

 

He points out that Sanders did call for an end to relying on property tax as a basic funding mechanism, since it is inherently inequitable.

 

But Denvir hopes that Sanders will attack the segregation that is at the root of so many urban problems today.

 

He writes:

 

 

The best case to make for ending housing and school segregation is in reality a populist one: segregation will continue to harm and destabilize communities nationwide because as long as poor people of color are forced to live in a small number of municipalities most communities risk being upended by demographic change. Sanders, who prioritized affordable housing as mayor of Burlington, likely understands this. Clinton, who lives in the might-as-well-be-gated community of Westchester, which has been subject to a fierce desegregation campaign, likely does not.

 

Americans have a lot in common when it comes to getting fleeced by the billionaire ruling class, which only a populist multi-racial movement can overthrow. But inequality also has a geography, and that grim map is chiseled into America’s separate and unequal neighborhoods and schools. Sanders would do well to make note of that in Philly.

Categories Funding, Politics, Segregation

Students in Bronx Charter School Protest Visit by Ted Cruz

By dianeravitch
April 7, 2016 //
16

Students at the Bronx Lighthouse College Preparatory Academy wrote a letter objecting to a visit by Republican Presidential candidate Ted Cruz, and the school canceled his visit.

 

Cruz, no doubt, hoped to use the charter school as a photo-op for his New York campaign.

 

The students, however, had other ideas.

 

They wrote:

 

 

A group of students will be leaving during 4th period, as act of civil disobedience in regards to the arrival of Ted Cruz to BLCPA. We have all considered the consequences of our actions and are willing to accept them. We respect you and all the staff at BLCPA as well as the expected guests. But we want you to understand that as passionate students, we have ideas and principles that should be heard and respected. This walk out isn’t a reflection of our discontent with BLCPA but our opportunity to stand up for our community and future. This walk out is taking place because we as students all share a common idea.

 

The presence of Ted Cruz and the ideas he stands for are offensive. His views are against ours and are actively working to harm us, our community, and the people we love. He is misogynistic, homophobic, and racist. He has used vulgar language, gestures, and profanity directed at a scholar and staff members, along with harassing and posing threats to staff and scholars according to the Disciplinary Referral slip. This is not to be taken kiddingly or as a joke. We are students who feel the need and right to not be passive to such disrespect.

 

One commenter said the students were censoring Cruz; others congratulated them. Civil disobedience is an honorable tradition. Cruz has many other opportunities to speak. Bravo to the students for not letting themselves be used to prop up the Cruz campaign. He needs to learn about what he disparagingly called “New York values.”

 

Last December, something similar happened to Rahm Emanuel, when he tried to use Urban Academy charter school as a prop to burnish his reputation after the bad publicity associated with the shooting of Laquan McDonald. Students interrupted him by repeatedly shouting “Sixteen shots.”

Categories New York, Politics, Resistance

Checker Finn: Why Donald Trump Might Set Back Education “Reform”

By dianeravitch
April 6, 2016 //
21

Checker Finn of the Thomas B. Fordham Institute fears that the election of Donald Trump would be a disaster for education reforms like charters, vouchers, higher standards, harder tests, and test-based evaluations. Republicans might lose control of either or both houses of Congress. They might see governors and legislatures retaken by Democrats.

This is the best argument–maybe the only argument–I have heard for Trump. Can you imaginary the social reactionaries that Cruz might sweep in? We would go backwards a century.

Categories Charter Schools, Common Core, Corporate Reform, Politics
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