Tag Archives: threats to public education

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 [...]

Making seed bombs with the awesome kids of Ypsi Middle School, and plotting to bring Billy Bragg to our May Day celebration

By Mark | April 29, 2013

I skipped breakfast this morning and headed over with Jeff Clark to make seed bombs with 7th and 8th graders at Ypsi Middle School. It was an incredible experience. The kids were enthusiastic, inquisitive, and just all-around awesome. And, thanks to their hard work, we now have over 500 seed bombs prepared for Wednesday’s big [...]

Posted in Agriculture, Education, Environment, Special Projects, Ypsilanti | Also tagged Billy Bragg, buses, child labor, colony collapse, commons, David Chapman, dismantling of public education, food forests, free skool, Jeff Clark, Jesse Tack, labor history, May Day, Phil Patterson, potluck, public education, seed bombing, Tonia Porterfield, Water Street, West Middle School, Ypsi Middle School, Ypsilanti Free Skool, zines | 10 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, school vouchers, Steve Cook, teachers, top secret, trends in American education, value school | 37 Comments

Ypsilanti man found guilty of human trafficking and enslavement of children

By Mark | March 26, 2013

In early 2011, a University of Michigan janitor by the name of Jean-Claude Toviave was arrested and charged with enslaving four West African children in his Ypsilanti home. The four, it would seem, were forced to cook, clean, iron and shine shoes for the 6-foot-3, 230-pound Toviave, who, when he was unsatisfied with their performance, [...]

Posted in Civil Liberties, Michigan, Uncategorized, Ypsilanti | Also tagged Africa, African slave trade, domestic slavery, genetic testing, human trafficking, Jean-Claude Toviave, Restavèks, sex slaves, sex trafficking, slave trade, Togo, Trafficking Victims Protection Act, University of Michigan, Ypsilanti Public Schools | 22 Comments

As we contemplate a brighter future for Ypsi public schools, an anonymous letter alleges financial impropriety at YPSD under Martin tenure

By Mark | February 24, 2013

As you probably know, Ypsilanti’s new Board of Education will be meeting on Monday evening to decide whether or not our recently-consolidated district can possibly move forward and be successful under the leadership of either Dedrick Martin, the superintendent of the Ypsilanti Public School District, or Laura Lisiscki, the superintendent of the Willow Run School [...]