Private Equity and Charter Schools

truthout has recently published an investigative article by Yves Smith that explains why private equity firms have been investing heavily in corporate charter schools. Drawing on articles published by the Philadelphia Inquirer, the article provides an extended explanation of how these multi-layered scams have been implemented by some of that city’s charter school operators. But,…

The Ugly Charter School Scandal Arne Duncan Is Leaving Behind

This post was written by Jeff Bryant for the blog of the Campaign for America’s Future [http://ourfuture.org/] which has become a driving force behind the New Populist Movement. The group’s report, Organizing to Take Back America: The New Populist Movement, is available at: http://y.ourfuture.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/New-Populist-Movement-Organizing.pdf. Prepared by Roger Hickey, the co-director of the Campaign for America’s Future, the…

The Truth About Charter Schools

Alan Singer is a professor of Teaching, Literacy and Leadership and the program director of graduate programs in Social Studies Education at Hofstra University. Dr. Singer is a former New York City high school social studies teacher and is editor of Social Science Docket, a joint publication of the New York and New Jersey Councils…

Why Freedom of Expression Isn't a Dangerous Mistake

At Minding the Campus, National Association of Scholars president Peter Wood calls the adoption by other colleges of the University of Chicago statement on freedom of expression “a dangerous mistake.” It is always dangerous when extremists imagine that freedom of expression must not be applied to their enemies, and that’s exactly what Wood does. Wood…

Putting the Compensation of the Leaders of National Unions in a Meaningful Context

  The Taxable Compensation of the Presidents of the Largest Unions in the U.S.:   In February 2014, the National Review published an article by Jim Geraghty titled “America’s Richest 2%: Union Presidents.” That article included the following paragraphs, heavily slanted to make the salaries sound outrageously disproportionate to what anyone in such leadership positions…

Shared Governance at Risk at the University of Wisconsin-Madison

We are now beginning to see the effects of the recently passed budget bill in Wisconsin that eliminated the protections of tenure and shared governance from state statute for the University of Wisconsin. The bill specifically called for deleting a provision in law “specifying that the faculty of each institution be vested with responsibility for…

National Moment of Silence for Umpqua Community College

The following came from the Faculty Association for California Community Colleges (FACCC): Dear Colleagues, Please join us this Thursday, October 8, at 11:00 a.m. for a moment of silence in solidarity with Umpqua Community College. The Faculty Association of California Community Colleges stands together with community colleges across the country in this important effort. Encourage your colleagues, students,…

Self-Promotion Indistinguishable from Stupidity

Bobby Jindal, the governor of Louisiana, is desperate to attract any acknowledgement of, never mind genuine interest in, his presidential ambitions. So, it is hardly a surprise that he would insert himself into the debate over gun access following the mass murder at Umpqua Community College in Oregon. Never mind that Jindal’s own state has…

LSU Senate Replies to Administration

Late yesterday I posted news that the Louisiana State University at Baton Rouge Faculty Senate had voted by an overwhelming 39-5 margin to censure LSU Chancellor-President F. King Alexander and two other top administrators for their roles in the dismissal of tenured professor Teresa Buchanan.  The LSU administration responded with the following press release, issued…