Tag Archives: for-profit charter schools

5th grade charter school teacher Mika Yamamoto, fired from Michigan’s Renaissance Public School Academy, where she was the only teacher of color, claims she was told by her principal, “The community is not ready for your voice.”

By Mark | February 12, 2017

Since this past November, when I interviewed the mother of Josie Ramon, the 12 year old Royal Oak Middle School student who taped classmates chanting “Build the wall” at her and other Hispanic students, I occasionally get notes from people, asking that I help get the word out about similar things taking place within Michigan’s […]

Posted in Education, Michigan | Also tagged accusations of racism, Beloved, Betsy DeVos, Central Michigan University, Charter School Partners, charter schools, Children’s Protective Services, dismantling of public education, domestic violence, Donald Trump, Elie Wiesel, First Amendment, getting fired, horror, insider dealing, John Engler, John Engler Center for Charter Schools, lawsuits, Los Angeles, Mary Kay Shields, Mika Yamamoto, Mt. Pleasant, oppression, public education, racism, Renaissance Public School Academy, safety, Southern Poverty Law Center, Teaching Tolerance, threats to public education, Toni Morrison | 149 Comments

Maybe now would be a good time for us to surround a local school, join hands, and let it be known that we intend to fight to preserve public education

By Mark | February 7, 2017

We got beat today. We just needed one vote to keep Betsy DeVos away from the Department of Education, and we couldn’t manage it. We waged one hell of an assault… occupying the offices of our Senators, jamming their phone lines, going after them with unprecedented enthusiasm them on social media… but it just didn’t […]

Posted in Education, Uncategorized | Also tagged Al Franken, Betsy DeVos, buying influence, buying politicians, Department of Education, education reform, guns in schools, Holmes Elementary, public education, Secretary of Education, Senate, threats to public education, YCS, Ypsilanti Community Schools | 27 Comments

This is the galvanizing moment we’ve been waiting for… Democratic Senators are filibustering, teachers are outside the Capital protesting, and we’re effectively shutting down the offices of those who haven’t yet come out against Betsy DeVos

By Mark | February 6, 2017

[above: Photo by Evan Sutton from today’s protest in D.C. against embattled Secretary of Education nominee Betsy DeVos.] The Senate vote on Betsy DeVos, the pyramid scheme billionaire turned anti-public education crusader who’s attempting to buy her way into Trump’s Cabinet, was supposed to happen today. And, the way things looked this morning, she was […]

Posted in Civil Liberties, Politics, Uncategorized | Also tagged Betsy DeVos, buying influence, buying politicians, charter schools, confirmation hearings, Dean Heller, Deb Fischer, Debbie Stabenow, Department of Education, dismantling of public education, education reform, filibustering, get the money out of Washington, John Hoeven, Pat Toomey, Patty Murray, protests, public education, Secretary of Education, Senate, threats to public education | 20 Comments

This Monday, Betsy DeVos is likely to be handed the Department of Education by those Republican Senators that she’s admitted to having bought off

By Mark | February 4, 2017

I can’t say for certain whether or not the dollar amounts indicated on this chart, which was floating around the internet today, are absolutely accurate, but, from what I know about DeVos, and what she herself has said about spending money in order to get politicians to do what she wants, I don’t have much […]

Posted in Education, Politics, Uncategorized | Also tagged Betsy DeVos, buying influence, buying politicians, charter schools, confirmation hearings, Department of Education, Dick DeVos, dismantling of public education, get the money out of Washington, money as free speech, money in politics, schools of choice, threats to Democracy, threats to public education, virtual charters | 24 Comments

The fight over the future of public education in America moves to the full Senate, as Betsy DeVos’s nomination for Secretary of Education passes out of committee

By Mark | February 1, 2017

The above photo was taken by my friend Al Hoff today outside an elementary school in Pittsburg. While I imagine it’s possible that someone could have hung the flag upside down by mistake, I suspect it probably has something to do with what’s happening right now in Washington relative to public education. [The upside down […]