tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6534665086749553287.post6028581533969869058..comments2024-03-28T11:57:21.902-04:00Comments on CURMUDGUCATION: KS: The Legislature's CoupPeter Greenehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16511193640285760299noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6534665086749553287.post-44881396885848770452016-03-20T21:40:44.142-04:002016-03-20T21:40:44.142-04:00Bill Maher did a great piece on Kansans and Brownb...Bill Maher did a great piece on Kansans and Brownback a couple years ago. In his re-election bid, Brownback was losing to his Democratic challenger, with even prominent Republicans breaking with their party and endorsing the challenger --- due to the extremist actions of Koch-puppet Brownback & Co. described above.<br /><br />Well, the Republicans "Borked" the Democrat running for governor or, if you will, "Swift-boated" him over a decades-old visit to a strip club... and here's Maher to tell the story:<br /><br />https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hqDBz4M9JkgAnonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07280841123120011747noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6534665086749553287.post-10599514251239849752016-03-20T20:46:56.251-04:002016-03-20T20:46:56.251-04:00On the topic of de-professionalizing teaching, and...On the topic of de-professionalizing teaching, and watering down, or downright eliminating any and all requirements to teach, check out the latest in "Sin City" Las Vegas.<br /><br />At the end of an editorial from the right-wing Las<br />Vegas Review-Journal, it says that when it comes to<br />being qualified to teacher, a credential is "a<br />requirement of dubious need," and must be eliminated. <br />I presume a Bachelor's Degree would also fall into that<br />category, based on the same logic.<br /><br />It's also a requirement that slows union-busting, charter and<br />voucher school expansion ... that the new owners<br />of the paper are tied into... more on that after the<br />Editorial)<br /><br />http://www.reviewjournal.com/opinion/editorials/editorial-new-policy-smartly-addresses-teacher-shortage-should-go-further<br /><br />LAS VEGAS REVIEW-JOURNAL Editorial Board:<br /><br />"It's hardly a revelation that Nevada has a shortage of K-12 teachers. The problem dates back to the valley's boom years. It affects plenty of other states as well.<br /><br /> " .. " <br /><br />(then talks about the latest move to allow teachers with out-of-state credentials to teach on an emergency basis, while they obtain a Nevada credential --- a process that takes about 2-4 months before that out-of-state teacher could teach... but here's the kicker)<br /><br />"This is a good step on the state's path to education reform. It recognizes that the licensing bureaucracy absolutely shares the blame — and has for more than a decade — for Nevada's inability to hire teachers. <br /><br />(not the horrible salaries, benefits job conditions, Jack ... or the fact that a credentialing requirement leads to higher salaries for teachers, and a removal of that requirement would lead to lower taxes for businesses ... even though this would also produce and uneducated, unproductive workforce in Nevada... blah-blah-blah ...)<br /><br />"But the new regulations, while much needed, don't go nearly far enough. If it's OK for a teacher to work for one year without having one particular college credit fulfilled, and that instructor performs competently, then why not a two-year window or a four-year window?<br /><br />"Or how about this: If that teacher proves completely competent in all aspects of the job, save for a requirement of dubious need, why not waive that requirement completely?<br /><br />"Granted, teachers can't just be pulled off the street. There has to be some level of training and vigorous background checks. But the state's existing licensing structure is only in place to protect current teachers against competition from an influx of perfectly capable educators.<br /><br />"It's protectionism, pure and simple."<br /><br />"Gov. Sandoval has done well with this measure, and Clark County will immediately be the largest beneficiary, as the change is already in effect.<br /><br />"But the governor and the Nevada Education Department should push it further. It's time to take a really comprehensive look at teacher licensing and implement more drastic simplifications across the board."<br /><br />---------------<br /><br />Who wrote this crap?<br /><br />Well, the New Yorker has the answer to that:<br /><br />http://www.newyorker.com/business/currency/how-the-las-vegas-review-journal-unmasked-its-ownersAnonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07280841123120011747noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6534665086749553287.post-12819249929125612422016-03-20T20:37:30.733-04:002016-03-20T20:37:30.733-04:00Wow, what a depressing read.
It's interesting...Wow, what a depressing read.<br /><br />It's interesting how corporate reformers have a situational view of the value of courts, and how powerful they should be relative to the two other branches of government.<br /><br />In California, shredding teachers' job protections was tried as a referendum by Governor Schwarzenegger in November 2005.<br /><br />NO, said the people to this blatant power grab by the Executive branch.<br /><br />To capitalize on aftermath of a notorious child abuse scandal at one Los Angeles school, corporate reform-controlled legislators tried to ram through legislation that would have had the same impact as Vergara --- turning all public school teachers into "at-will employees." This was back in late June 2012, where then-UTLA teachers union president Warren Fletcher went head-to-head with corporate reform LAUSD Superintendent John Deasy in a committee hearing, with dueling testimonies and Q & A from the relevant state assembly members.<br /><br />The will of the people --- through their legislators --- voted NO, and the bill died in an assembly committee (though that vote cost one of them their jobs). Deasy made Fletcher a marked man after that, and after another clash with Fletcher, ceased all communication with him. (but that's another story.)<br /><br />Review:<br /><br />The Executive Branch tried and failed.<br /><br />The Legislative Branch tried and failed.<br /><br />Why, what's left? Why, the courts, of course.<br /><br />Hence, you have "Vergara," where some idiot judge ruled that teachers should have the same job protections as the fry cook at McDonald's---none.<br /><br />Later on, two candidates were running for California State Superintendent of Instruction. Torlakson was the incumbent and was part of a state lawsuit to reverse Vergara. Tuck was the challenger, and he vowed to drop the appeal that Torlakson initiated... at which point Vergara would go into immediate effect.<br /><br />This was the basic issue of that campaign, with the question put to the public: "Do you think that public school teachers should lose all their job protections?"<br /><br />Well, the people voted once again. NO, they said, teachers deserve those protections.<br /><br />Now, it's a different world in Kansas. The corporate reformers own the Executive and the Legislative branches, but it's that darn Judicial branch that won't bend to their will.<br /><br />Here's a solution, we'll pass blatantly un-Constitutional legislation that destroys the independence and power of the the Judicial branch, effectively wiping out a third of the government, and the overall system of checks-and-balances in Kansas. <br /><br />When corporate education reformers need the courts to execute union-busting and school privatization, then it's just jim dandy that they have power. <br /><br />However, when the courts are getting in the way of union-busting and school privatization, then they must be crushed<br />through dubious legislation.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07280841123120011747noreply@blogger.com