http://www.stickwithanose.com On the Poverty of Social Discourse Wed, 10 Mar 2010 17:07:08 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en [youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WcU4t6zRAKg&feature=player_embedded[/youtube] http://www.stickwithanose.com/2010/03/10/environmental-logic/ Former Assistant Secretary of Education under George H. Bush and Bill Clinton and noted think tank scholar Diane Ravitch has undergone a conversion of sorts from being a strong proponent of charter schools to a fierce opponent. The impetus for her conversion is the mounting evidence that, despite their popularity ... http://www.stickwithanose.com/2010/03/05/diane-ravitch-turns-against-charters/ http://www.stickwithanose.com/2010/03/02/not-too-big-to-fail-too-big-to-exist/ [youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VGX25nRwl9k[/youtube] http://www.stickwithanose.com/2010/03/01/rafe-esquith-on-testing/ The idea that a social structure built around the ideal of "I'm gonna get mine, screw everybody else" is somehow just or even stable over the long-run boggles that mind. However, the evidence that we're further fragmenting along racial, class and cultural line continues to mount, and the results of ... http://www.stickwithanose.com/2010/02/28/fragmentation/ We've long had to endure the hollow narrative of the "Liberal Media" from the noise machine, and it was always a load of manure. However, it is a narrative that has burrowed deeply into the republican psyche with little evidence that it might go away any time soon. So, here's ... http://www.stickwithanose.com/2010/02/23/manufactured-consent/ Diane Ravitch has reached the same conclusion as I in regard to where current trends in education reform are leading us. The "free marketeers"  driving the education policies of BOTH political parties are not interested in capitalism and market competition; they seek to create and dominate politicized educational markets. Their ... http://www.stickwithanose.com/2010/02/18/the-future-of-public-schooling/ As I've noted repeatedly, corporate charter school organizations are using their "public" mandates as investment tools that real estate speculators gobble up for obvious reasons. Inland Public Properties Development Inc, a subsidiary of Inland American Real Estate Investment Trust Inc., has purchased seven charter schools for $61 million. The sales-leaseback deal ... http://www.stickwithanose.com/2010/02/17/charters-real-estate-speculation/ [youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gdlF3Jbmf4o[/youtube] http://www.stickwithanose.com/2010/02/15/cognitive-dissonance-2/ Schools Matter has the lowdown on Rylie Family Faith Inc.'s charter school mills that have been draining public coffers in Texas for the benefit of owners Don and Karen Belknap and their family. All of the elements are there: accounting fraud, nepotism, imaginary billing, etc. It's quite a read... Welcome ... http://www.stickwithanose.com/2010/02/14/charter-school-corruption-texas-style/