Tag Archives: education reform

Michigan… come for the great lakes, stay for the corporate oligarchy

By Mark | May 7, 2013

According to the Detroit News, our Governor’s secret education privatization task force, nicknamed the Skunk Works, was just the tip of the iceberg. Apparently, in spite of Snyder’s pledge to bring unprecedented transparency to Lansing, a great deal of the legislation coming out of the Capital these days seems to be the product of corporate [...]

Bill Ayers: “The road to the massive cheating scandal in Atlanta runs right through the White House”

By Mark | April 3, 2013

Continuing our recent conversation on the misguided work of education reform advocate Michelle “we can test our way to better schools” Rhee, I thought that I’d share this comment, which was sent out yesterday by our friend Bill Ayers in response to news that 27 former educators in the Atlanta public school system had reported [...]

Posted in Education, Uncategorized | Also tagged abortion, abstinence-only sex education, Arne Duncan, Atlanta, Beverly L. Hall, Bill Ayers, Bush, cheating, Chicago, Chicago Laboratory Schools, condoms, Department of Education, dismantling of public education, EOS, FairTest, Finland, Michelle Rhee, National Center for Fair & Open Testing, no child left behind, Obama, Planned Parenthood, public education, Race to the Top, Rahm Emanuel, teach to the test, testing | 41 Comments

Michigan’s first for-profit charter school goes union in Detroit… Will others follow?

By Mark | February 12, 2013

A few days ago, something positive happened on the Michigan education landscape. The teachers of the Cesar Chavez Academy, a charter school in southwest Detroit, voted to unionize. What follows is my admittedly too short interview with Daniel Kukuk, one of the American Federation of Teachers organizers who helped make it happen. MARK: So, what [...]

Posted in Detroit, Education, Michigan | Also tagged American Federation of Teachers, Arts Academy in the Woods, Cesar Chavez Academy, charter schools, Daniel Kukuk, Detroit, Education Achievement Authority, for-profit charter schools, Fraser, Michigan Alliance of Charter Teachers and Staff, National Labor Relations Board, right-to-work, Southwest Detroit, teachers unions, The Leona Group, union organizing, unions | 13 Comments

Exploring Michelle Rhee’s destructive influence over Michigan education reform

By Mark | January 10, 2013

I’m spending my evening getting acquainted with Michelle Rhee, the controversial former chancellor of the Washington, D.C. public schools, who’s gone on to a lucrative career as a hired gun in the fight to destroy teachers unions and privatize American public education. While I’d heard about her in the past, and I’d known that she’d [...]

Posted in Education, Michigan, Politics | Also tagged Catherine Ferguson Academy, charter schools, collective bargaining, D.C., David Tepper, dismantling of public education, District of Columbia, for-profit charter schools, Jeff Clark, Kevin Johnson, Michelle Rhee, Michigan Education Association, no child left behind, Norm Donohoe, Oregon, PACs, Paul Scott, Philip Anschutz, privatization, Proposition 2, public education, Rupert Murdoch, StudentsFirst, tenure, threats to public education, Tim King, Waiting for Superman | 31 Comments

Ypsi/Arbor Exit Interview: Zach Pollock

By Mark | December 28, 2012

A few days ago, I posted an interview I did with an author by the name of Ted McClelland, who has written extensively about the emmigration of young professionals from Michigan to Chicago. To sum up our conversation in one sentence, McClelland believes that we have little hope of keeping bright, young people here in [...]