Mark Maynard | school vouchers

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 […]

Posted in Michigan, Uncategorized | Also tagged corporatocracy, cyber school, education reform, Michigan is doomed, Oxford Foundation, privatization, Rick Snyder, Royal Oak, secrecy, shadow government, Sidney Kardon, skunk works, threats to Democracy, threats to public education, transparency | 25 Comments

Governor Snyder’s office and corporate interests conspire in “secret work group” to bring voucher system to Michigan K-12 education

By Mark | April 20, 2013

In November, I told you about an attempt on the part of the Michigan Republicans to create a parallel, for-profit education system, right alongside the Michigan public school system, unanswerable to anyone, save for an appointee of the Governor. Well, according to a report in yesterday’s Detroit News, things are progressing quickly thanks to the […]

Posted in Education, Michigan, Politics, Uncategorized | Also tagged Bay Mills Community College, Bhushan Kulkarni, charter schools, David Behen, dismantling of public education, distance education, EduCard, edutainment, keeping the poor from education, Mackinac Center for Public Policy, MEA, Michigan Education Association, Michigan Education Card, Mike Huckabee, Oxford Foundation, public education, public school teachers, Rick Snyder, Steve Cook, teachers, threats to public education, top secret, trends in American education, value school | 37 Comments

Public Education Finance Act of 2013… a bold gambit to dismantle public education in Michigan once and for all

By Mark | November 29, 2012

Saying “I’ve never considered myself a conspiracy theorist—until now,” Rob Glass, the Superintendent of the Bloomfield Hills School District, sent a letter out to parents in his district yesterday, outlining the education reform plans unveiled last week by Michigan Governor Rick Snyder. “This package of bills,” said Glass, “is the latest in a yearlong barrage […]

Posted in Education, Michigan, Politics, Uncategorized | Also tagged Bloomfield Hills, charter schools, dismantling of public education, Education Achievement Authority of Michigan, education reform, expanding the school year, failing schools, for profit schools, for-profit charter schools, Gretchen Whitmer, John Engler, Mackinac Center for Public Policy, Michigan 2020, Michigan Public Education Finance Act of 2013, Michigan State House Bill 5923, Michigan State House Bill 6004, Michigan State Senate Bill 1358, Michigan State Senate Bill 620, Mike Huckabee, Oxford Foundation, Parent Trigger, public education, Richard McLellan, Rick Snyder, Rob Glass, school, School Aid Act, taking back our schools, Vickie L. Markavitch, ] | 44 Comments

WISD Superintendent Scott Menzel on the proposed merger of the Ypsilanti and Willow Run school districts

By Mark | July 15, 2012

A few days ago, I posted something here about the proposed merger of the Ypsilanti and Willow Run school districts. Well, what I’d written was apparently brought to the attention of Scott Menzel, the superintendent of the Washtenaw Intermediate School District. Scott asked for an opportunity to clarify a few things concerning the proposed merger, […]

Posted in Education, Michigan, Sustainability | Also tagged Ann Arbor Area Community Foundation, budget cuts, Chapelle, charter schools, civic involvement of students, community gardens, consolidation, curriculum, discipline, dismantling of public education, EAA, Early College Alliance, Eastern Leaders Group, Eastern Michigan University, education reform, Educational Achievement Authority, Emergency Financial Manager Act, Emergency Financial Manger, Emergency Manager, Great Start Readiness Program, Head Start, Houghton Mifflin, Lead and Learn, Maria Cotera, mentorship, Muskegon Heights, New Tech HIgh School, persistently low achieving, PLA, privatization, public education, School Aid Act, school budget, school calendar, Scott Menzel, social justice, STEMTech, student court, United Way of Washtenaw County, urban agriculture, Washtenaw Intermediate School District, Willow Run Community Schools, WIllow Run high school, WISD, Ypsilanti Area Community Fund, Ypsilanti Public School Alliance, Ypsilanti Public Schools | 10 Comments

The war against critical thinking

By Mark | July 1, 2012

For as much as we talk here about the anti-intellectualism of the right, I don’t think I’ve ever shared this piece of George Carlin video with you. (See below.) It’s only three minutes long, but it gets right to the heart of things. In it, Carlin says bluntly that public education in America will never […]