terrified's blog

http://www.nwlaborpress.org/2008/7-4-08SEIU.html
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This is a good article about what has happened with school reform in Chicago. It might just be where Portland is heading. Please check it out.
http://www.susanohanian.org/show_outrages.html?id=5407

I found this post on the Christina District web site. If you substitute Portland for Christina and Oregon for Delaware, it sure sounds like a mirror image of our district. I would just say that Portland, however, is not screwed up YET! but is well on the way with the influence of all the Foundations running our district...and that includes the Portland Schools Foundation influence, along with Gates, Broad and all the others who are basically fabricating a hostile takeover of Portland Public Schools. -----------------------------------------------------------------------------
By the People For the People
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Here is the address for the christina district blog. I cannot figure out how to create a link, sorry. But you can copy and paste this, then go to this site. Very interesting to read what is happening there. http://webx.delawareonline.com/cgi-bin/WebX?8@240.XaiUakPMoGa.1@.ee7d7bb

I found this article on Susan Ohanian's web site. Is this where we are heading? Broad and Gates are here! We should be scared! Do a search on Ohanian's site for Broad Foundation and you find lots more reasons to be frightened.

Pervasive Privatizing Forces

by Craig Gordon

We need to define more clearly what we mean by "privatization." When many of us talk about a privatization agenda, I don't think we necessarily mean that all public schools will disappear from the landscape in the near or even long range. At least, I don't. Instead, we could see the public school system shrink and transform into something very different. It will be still be nominally public, but the inequality will grow even greater, or at least, will become easier to justify in the name of "choice" and "competition."
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There are very scary similiarities between what is happening in Oakland and Portland. If you go to Susan Ohanian's site there are several articles about Randy Ward and the sell off the the schools there.

I would argue with Dr. Mincberg that "the people have spoken." Perhaps we need to get a signature gathering campaign in place and submit the names of all those who have not "spoken" on the issue of K-8 reconfiguration. And as far as class size goes, the new allocation of FTE under the proposed K-8 model will actually increase class size, since the district is mandating that two "specials" such as art, P.E., music, etc. be part of the school's program. No new staff positions will be given for this, so other positions (classroom teachers if you are down to bare bones staff like many schools), will have to be eliminated.
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