Halbowman

No Place To Raise A Kid

292560 — Sat, 19 May 2012 14:45:00 +0000

In Philadelphia the five year plan is to essentially privatize the entire school district, closing 64 schools (25 percent of the system), move nearly half of the kids into charter schools, cut administrative staff by 20 percent, and divide the rest of the district into privately-operated “achievement networks.” This is being done, apparently, because the district is in “near collapse” according to very serious people, who are attempting to ram this through because URGENT CATASTROPHE DON’T THINK FOLLOW TRUST US WE KNOW WHAT WE’RE DOING IT’S ALL FOR THE CHILDREN AND KEEPING UP WITH THE CHINESE (cap lock typing and fear-mongering word salad intentional). This is what author Naomi Klein calls ” The Shock Doctrine .” Practiced by doctrinaire free-market types who attempt to take advantage of a crisis to step in and implement, wholesale, their brand of “supply side” idealism (other aliases include Reagonomics, trickle down, Friedmanism, Chicago School, laissez fair , and neoliberalism). Again and again during the past 30+ years, we’ve seen these disaster capitalists, casting themselves in the role of white knights, racing to the scene of “crisis,” (e.g., the Falkland Islands, the nations of the old Soviet Union, Iraq, New Orleans after Katrina) where they attempt to use the supposed “clean slate” to impose, while the people are distracted and against popular opinion, their vision of economic Darwinism in which the weak are essentially killed and eaten.

The Troll

292560 — Thu, 17 May 2012 13:26:00 +0000

I expected to have done this before now, walked up to play with our neighborhood troll. When we moved to The Center of the Universe last June, I’d envisioned regular visits with The Troll , but as luck would have it, the Seattle Department of Transportation spent most of this school year working on reinforcing the Aurora Bridge under which he lives, making it not impossible to see him, but awfully noisy and dusty to visit. When I told the kids we were going to walk up there, they all, of course, knew what I was talking about

Follow this link:
The Troll

The Story Of Civilization

292560 — Wed, 16 May 2012 12:52:00 +0000

I urge the families that come to Woodland Park to think of our school as an old fashioned neighborhood, the kind that I know existed because I lived in one: a neighborhood in which children spent their days roaming from yard to yard, gathering up friends and playing with them. In one sense we felt we were alone out their with the other children, as we practiced being human beings together, but we also knew that everywhere we went, there was a mom standing in the window, keeping an eye on us as she washed the dishes or folded the laundry. That was our preschool and so long as there were other kids, we were learning what we needed to know to build civilization.

Read this article:
The Story Of Civilization

The Vertical Life

292560 — Tue, 15 May 2012 13:23:00 +0000

There’s always sadness mixed into this time of year; the melancholy of approaching the end of the school year, knowing that some of these kids, these families, many of whom I’ve known for 3 or more years (in some cases many more) are moving on. I take comfort, of course, in knowing that every year, most of the kids are returning or that younger siblings will guarantee I stay in touch, but there are always a few of them I’ll never see again.

Excerpt from:
The Vertical Life

US ED seeking reviewers for new literacy program

Tue, 15 May 2012 11:02:05 +0000

U.S. Department of Education (ED) INNOVATIVE APPROACHES TO LITERACY PROGRAM CALL FOR PEER REVIEWERS

Update on SASA’s director

Tue, 15 May 2012 10:56:58 +0000

As many of you are aware, Patricia McKee has been serving as the head of SASA in an acting capacity for the past 18 or so months.

Register Now for the 2013 National Title I Conference

Mon, 14 May 2012 21:10:49 +0000

Becky Walker Rocks!

admin — Mon, 14 May 2012 20:09:48 +0000

Stay Tuned!

Becky’s info is coming soon!!

Cindy Landry Rocks!

admin — Mon, 14 May 2012 19:58:55 +0000

Stay Tuned!

Cindy’s info is coming soon!

Cleaning Up After The Volcano

292560 — Mon, 14 May 2012 12:56:00 +0000

Over the course of Wednesday and Thursday last week our 3-5′s class went through two gallons of vinegar and 8 pounds of baking soda in the process of performing free form experiments with the world famous chemical reaction. I’m not counting the two bottles of pink liquid water color they went through as well, mainly because we went through it so fast on the first day that it really wasn’t a part of what we did.

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Cleaning Up After The Volcano