If you don’t start building a new organizational program from the ground up but impose it from the top down, you are going to lose control when the program has to be implemented by people with no real commitment to it, no feeling of ownership of it. We’re seeing that right now with implementation of…
We live in a very Republican subdivision in a very Republican county. Prominent in the local political folklore is the fact that, in 1964, in the midst of the Johnson landslide, ours was the only Ohio county that went for Goldwater by a double-digit margin. (I assume it is a fact, but I have never…
Guest blogger Barbara Madeloni of the UMass Amherst School of Education chose to boycott the Teacher Performance Assessment field test via Pearson. As a result, her contract was not renewed. There is a movement for her reinstatement through a petition that can be signed here. The incursion of for profit companies into higher education occurs with willing collaborators. Whether misguided,…
Joel Shatzky is Professor Emeritus at SUNY-Cortland, where he taught from 1968-2005. He presently teaches at Kingsborough Community College. The influence of big-time collegiate sports on the culture and priorities of universities has been a subject of considerable concern over the last few years. According to a recent Knight Foundation report: Presidents of universities with…
By Héctor R. Reyes, Associate Professor of Physical Science, Assistant Chapter Chair of AFT Local 1600, Harold Washington College
Here’s a list of ideas I have for improving the AAUP that don’t require radical changes in the organization or massive amounts of funding. I think they’re feasible (albeit not always easy) ideas for a more active and effective AAUP.
Just after the New Year, Hostess Brands, the largest producer of baked goods in the United States, filed for bankruptcy. Formerly called Interstate Bakeries Corporation, the company had previously filed for bankruptcy protection in 2004. It emerged from what became the most protracted bankruptcy process in history in 2009 and renamed itself Hostess Brands. The…
Education ‘reformers,’ whether the business model of higher education is failing or not, have their eyes turned toward American colleges and universities. There’s money to be made there, too, an attraction that the ‘reformers’ and their corporate backers cannot resist. That the profits come at the expense of education itself hasn’t bothered them in their…
Washington—Statement of AFT President Randi Weingarten in support of striking Chicago Teachers Union members. “For the first time in 25 years, the members of the Chicago Teachers Union are on strike. No one wants to strike, and no one strikes without cause. In this instance, it comes on the heels of numerous steps that left…
From The New York Times yesterday: Business is booming at ConServe, a debt collection agency in suburban Rochester. The company recently expanded into a neighboring building. The payroll of 420 is expected to double in three years. “There is great opportunity,” said Mark E. Davitt, the company’s president and founder. What’s the opportunity? Collection on Federally…