Education under attack

60 posts / 0 new

Mon, 2012-06-18 22:26

ikosmos

Grieving Father Struggles to Pay Dead Son's Student Loans.

Quote:
And the loans are maddeningly opaque. Despite the help of a lawyer, Reynoso has not been able to determine exactly how much he owes, or even what company holds his loans. Just as happened with home mortgages in the boom years before the 2008 financial crash, his son's student loans have been sold and resold, and at least one was likely bundled into a complex Wall Street security. But the trail of those transactions ends at a wall of corporate silence from companies that include two household names: banking giant UBS and Xerox, which owns the loan servicer handling the bulk of his loans. Left without answers is a bereaved father.

It's like some monstrous Kafka-esque story of collateralized debt obligations, family style. Ain't capitalism grand?

Fri, 2014-05-23 16:00

#53

epaulo13

Chilean Robin Hood? Artist Known as "Papas Fritas" on Burning $500M Worth of Student Debt

In a Democracy Now! exclusive, we turn now to Chile, where an artist’s act of protest against student debt has gone viral. Francisco Tapia, known as Francisco "Papas Fritas," or "French fries," says he burned $500 million worth of debt papers from the private Universidad del Mar, the University of the Sea. Chilean authorities are in the process of shutting down the university over financial irregularities....

http://www.democracynow.org/2014/5/23/exclusive_chilean_robin_hood_artis...

Wed, 2015-06-10 14:00

#54

ikosmos

Monthly Review wrote:
A key strategic objective of the new testing regime is to use the assessments as a means of teacher evaluation with the object of removing teachers and breaking teacher unions. Educators are themselves the target. Teachers across the country are being threatened not just with being fired but with prison terms if they interfere with Common-Core related tests.

It is in this context that twelve black educators in Atlanta (teachers, principals, and administers) were tried and convicted as a group in April 2015 as co-conspirators under the Racketeering Influenced and Corrupt Organizations law, a local version of the federal super-conspiracy statute, usually seen as applicable only to drug dealers, gangsters, and mafia dons. Refusing to confess they were members of a conspiracy (the two from whom confessions were obtained in the end were given slaps on the wrist), ten of the educators were handed out long prison sentences: for three of the defendants, seven years; and for the rest, one to two years.

Former Martin Luther King, Jr. aide (and former Mayor of Atlanta) Andrew Young spoke on their behalf during the trial. He told the judge that the real problem was the irrationality of the new standardized tests and the dire social consequences of this onerous system. Young quoted King as saying: “When people are placed in darkness, crimes will be committed. The guilty are those who created the darkness”.

[u]Show trial ends with prison for educators who wouldn't confess[/u]

MR Editorial (above)

Thu, 2016-04-14 10:14

#55

Caissa

Meanwhile in NB. http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/new-brunswick/free-tuition-low-income-1.3535261

Thu, 2016-04-14 13:31

#56

ikosmos

MR has another education focussed special issue in their March 2016 publication.

I see there is an article by Henry Giroux. Giroux is, I think, the best expert on the late Paulo Freire in the world.

Mon, 2016-05-23 14:56

#57

ikosmos

Give credit where credit is due: NDP 2017 candidate Jack Trovato (a former school teacher I think) calls out the barbarous Liberal regime's attempts to privatize public education in British Columbia.

While buckets of money go to their rich friends, the BC Liberals try to balance the budget on the back of school children.

The Privatization of Public Education: Are We Headed Towards a Future of Inequality?

Trovato provides a nice list of resources for investigating the issue further.

For more information on this subject, please also see:

Funding public education in BC: Challenges and Solutions http://www.bctf.ca/uploadedFiles/Public/Parents/FeedTheirMindsBrochure.pdf

Education Funding http://vancouversun.com/opinion/letters/monday-april-11-education-funding

Questions and answers about underfunding of BC public schools http://www.bctf.ca/uploadedFiles/Public/Issues/EdFinance/EdFundingQA.pdf

BCTF looking forward to opportunity to have case heard by Supreme Court of Canada http://www.bctf.ca/NewsReleases.aspx?id=38992

VSB budget cuts yet another example of Christy Clark’s education neglect http://bcndpcaucus.ca/news/vsb-budget-cuts-yet-another-example-christy-clarks-education-neglect/

Larger classes and fewer supports show that Christy Clark failed to deliver on her ‘number one priority’ http://bcndpcaucus.ca/news/7571/

Christy Clark gives record funding to private schools, pressures some Vancouver public schools to close http://www.nationalobserver.com/2016/05/06/news/vancouver-gave-province-half-billion-pay-schools-why-shortfall

Private schools getting more taxpayer dollars than ever, as public schools close http://www.news1130.com/2016/04/29/parents-group-two-tiered-education/

School Closures: Don’t close the doors on neighbourhood schools! http://bctf.ca/IssuesInEducation.aspx?id=10396 Vancouver School Board in ‘crisis situation’ over massive budget gap http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/british-columbia/vancouver-school-board-in-crisis-situation-over-massive-budget-gap/article29489840/

Richmond school closures coming in 2017 http://vancouver.24hrs.ca/2016/03/10/richmond-school-closures-coming-in-2017?utm_source=addThis&utm_medium=addthis_button_facebook&utm_campaign=Richmond+school+closures+coming+in+2017+%7C+Vancouver+24+hrs#.VvDacXxrCHQ.facebook

Truly a monstrous and evil regime, making war on the most needy while laughing all the way to the bank.

This is neo-liberalism. Who needs fascists when such people do the same job at half the cost? :rolleyes:

Fri, 2016-09-02 14:05

#58

ikosmos

The Tyee presents "The Future of Education: Beyond the Headlines" in an event on October 5 in Vancouver. The whole thing will be recorded and posted on their site shortly after.

Oct 5 The Future of Public Education

Quote:
An evening exploring what is and what can be for public education in British Columbia.

On October 5, join us for an evening featuring speakers who will explore what is, and what could be, for public education in British Columbia. From innovations to challenges, and from the perspective of teachers, academics,students and parents, we'll delve into the possibilities ahead for our education system.

Featuring:

Dr. Gillian Judson, lecturer, Simon Fraser University, director, Imaginative Education Research Group (IERG), and coordinator, Imaginative Ecological Education (IEE) program

Jennifer Stewart, co-founder, Families Against Cuts to Education

Hana Woldeyes, Youth Advisory Team member, Fresh Voices Initiative

Sajedeh Zaki, Youth Advisory Team member, Fresh Voices Initiative

Other speakers will be announced soon. Full speaker bios on Eventbrite ticket page.

Wed, 2016-09-07 15:59

#59

ikosmos

Crawford Killian with an interesting piece at The Tyee.

Choosing Alternate Futures for Public Education

Interestingly, he compares business shnooks with Marxist-Leninists, praises the Finnish system, and says young people need more freedom in education.

Wed, 2016-09-07 21:13

#60

quizzical

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/nelson-waitlist-lv-rogers...

[quote]They found their way into a school-wide assembly, where Cassin learned from the principal that 50 international students were enrolled at L.V. Rogers that year.

"This is crazy," Cassin remembered thinking, when students in the catchment area are still on a wait-list. "I was angry."

When she got home, she learned the school district gets $12,000 in tuition from each international student, compared to about $7,000 from the ministry for each local student.

"It's just not right the local kids can't go to school, because the school district has to meet their funding deficit by having international students cover the bills." [quote]

Education under attack

Pages