The Daily Hampshire Gazette and the Greenfield Reporter both ran Nick Grabbe’s report on Saturday’s excellent conference, cosponsored by Citizens or Public Schools and Phenom, the Public Higher Education Network of Massachusetts.

Keynote speaker assails Obama’s education policies

By NICK GRABBE
Staff Writer

Monday, March 29, 2010
AMHERST – President Obama’s education policies amount to an assault on public schools, according to participants in a conference Saturday at the University of Massachusetts.

The connection between teacher evaluations and test scores, the opening of charter schools, and the closing of underperforming schools are policies of Education Secretary Arne Duncan that he implemented in Chicago, said keynote speaker Pauline Lipman.

“These policies are part of a global neoliberal project of the most powerful corporate interests, in alliance with national governments, to restructure global education along the lines of the market,” said Lipman, a professor at the University of Illinois at Chicago.

Saturday’s conference was titled “Saving our Schools: Defending Public Education.”   → Read More

* From Richard Stutman at the Boston Teachers Union: Next Wednesday, 3/24,  the BTU is sponsoring a rally at the School Department, at 5:00, to protest yet another round of budget cuts. Please feel free to stop by. And on April 5, Monday, at 4:00, the BTU is hosting an event with Diane Ravitch. This will be a good event as well, as Diane, the author of the top selling education book  on  Amazon. She’ll be speaking at 4:30 after refreshments, and will be signing her book after the event.

* From the Pioneer Institute (yes, you read that right): Come hear our own Bill Schechter and Linda Nathan of the Boston Arts Academy discuss/debate history standards and assessment with other panelists at a Pioneer Institute event on March 31 (2-4:30 p.m.). It’s open to the public, a rare opportunity to witness an actual history teacher weigh in on academic standards!   → Read More

All are invited to attend a conference, Saving Our Schools: Defending Public Education, on Saturday, March 27, at UMass-Amherst in Thompson Hall, Room 102.

Parents, students, community leaders, educators, activitsts, policy makers and anyone interested in the education and welfare of our children is encouraged to come.

Pauline Lipman, author of High Stakes Education: Inequality, Globalization, and Urban School Reform, will be the keynote speaker.

The event is co-sponsored by Citizens for Public Schools and the Public Higher Education Network of Massachusetts (PHENOM).

Come discuss public education funding, charter schools, high-stakes testing, privatization, education for Democracy, vocationalization and teachers under fire.

To register online, click here. For more information, call 413-687-8150.

Download the Save Our Schools Conference poster here.   → Read More

Citizens for Public Schools’ 28th annual meeting honored a distinguished group of activists for public schools. On Thursday, March 4, CPS presented Activists for Public Schools awards to Rep. Katherine Clark (D-Melrose) (a candidate for the Senate seat currently held by Sen. Richard Tisei), Sen. Patricia Jehlen (D-Somerville, Medford), Judge Luis Perez and Coalition for Authentic Reform in Education (CARE) organizers Lisa Guisbond, Jacqueline King and Larry Ward.

“With our public schools increasingly under attack, CPS presents these awards as part of its decades-long tradition of recognizing those who are willing to stand up for public education,” said CPS Executive Director Marilyn Segal. “Each one of our honorees exemplifies the value of struggling against the forces of privatization and standardization and struggling for equity and quality for all public schoolchildren.”

“Rep. Clark and Sen. Jehlen have been stalwart supporters of adequately funded, strong, vibrant and equitable public schools for all and thoughtful skeptics when it comes to unproven and destructive policy proposals,” said CPS Co-President Barbara Fields.   → Read More