American Federation of Teachers

Jun 26

usatoday:
““It is so ordered,” Justice Kennedy said closing his opinion.
”

usatoday:

“It is so ordered,” Justice Kennedy said closing his opinion. 

think-progress:
“Marriage equality timeline! #equality
”

think-progress:

Marriage equality timeline! #equality  

Jun 25

yougotschooled2016:
“Bobby Jindal entered the 2016 race yesterday afternoon at a rally just outside of New Orleans. Welcome to the race, Bobby! With your background on vouchers, charters and the world famous Recovery School District that has yet to...

yougotschooled2016:

Bobby Jindal entered the 2016 race yesterday afternoon at a rally just outside of New Orleans. Welcome to the race, Bobby! With your background on vouchers, charters and the world famous Recovery School District that has yet to recover from your damage, we are pretty excited to start schooling you.

Let’s start here with this #ThrowBackThursday from our friends at Mother Jones who put together this awesome list of the craziest things being taught to children from real text books thanks to Bobby Jindal’s voucher programs, considered the most sweeping in the country. Our favorites include: humans and dinosaurs walked the earth together; dragons are real; and the Red Scare is still a threat. #TBT

14 Wacky “Facts” Kids Will Learn in Louisiana’s Voucher Schools

via Mother Jones

  1. Dinosaurs and humans probably hung out
  2. Dragons were totally real 
  3. “God used the Trail of Tears to bring many Indians to Christ.”
  4. Africa needs religion
  5. Slave masters were nice guys
  6. The KKK was A-OK
  7. The Great Depression wasn’t as bad as the liberals made it sound
  8. SCOTUS enslaved fetuses
  9. The Red Scare isn’t over yet
  10. Mark Twain and Emily Dickinson were a couple of hacks
  11. Abstract algebra is too dang complicated
  12. Gay people “have no more claims to special rights than child molesters or rapists.”
  13. “Global environmentalists have said and written enough to leave no doubt that their goal is to destroy the prosperous economies of the world’s richest nations.”
  14. Globalization is a precursor to rapture

See the full list here.

Jun 23

“No society that regulates firearms suffers from the absence of any liberty at all, save the liberty of lunatics to murder their neighbors as they choose.” — Adam Gopnik, “Charleston, and the Next Time” (via newyorker)

(Source: nyr.kr, via newyorker)

Jeb’s Greatest Education Hits - The Remix

yougotschooled2016:

Jeb Bush had quite the op-ed in the New York Post this morning. It didn’t make today’s cover, or the homepage, but we’ve pasted it for you below. Jeb makes more than a few claims about his expertise in education, but clearly this needed some #Fact checking. Jeb’s greatest education hits just got remixed.

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But, is Success Academy all that great?

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#Facts



Let’s keep going.

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How do kids get to attend these magical schools?

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#Facts



Back to Jeb…

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Wait, the voucher systems in Florida were a disaster. Take the McKay voucher for example:

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#Facts



Were the vouchers even constitutional?

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#Facts



What’s next, Jeb?

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Let’s see how special needs students actually did in these charter schools:

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#Facts



If they’re admitted at all…

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#MoreFacts



But, back to Jeb on New York.

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And by “unused public-school facilities,” you mean kicking the public school out of their space:

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#Facts

Wait, how does Gov. Cuomo fit into all of this?

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#Facts



Don’t worry, we’re almost done. Here comes the campaign pitch.

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Last time we checked, your priorities are over testing and privatization.

Would you send your kid to a Jeb Bush school? 

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#Facts

First, the good news. The ratio of CEO pay to that of a typical worker has fallen below its astronomical high of 376-to-1 from 2000. But the current ratio is still more than 300-to-1. The figure was 20-to-1 in 1965, and even as recently as 1978, it...

First, the good news. The ratio of CEO pay to that of a typical worker has fallen below its astronomical high of 376-to-1 from 2000. But the current ratio is still more than 300-to-1. The figure was 20-to-1 in 1965, and even as recently as 1978, it was less than 30-to-1. Over the past decade, however, as a report from the Economic Policy Institute shows, the wages of most workers have stagnated or even declined as chief executives have enjoyed extraordinary pay increases.

[video]

Jun 22

whitehouse:
““I urge Congress to finally do the right thing and give America a raise.” —President Obama applauding Rhode Island for raising its minimum wage, and calling on Congress to do the same
”

whitehouse:

“I urge Congress to finally do the right thing and give America a raise.” —President Obama applauding Rhode Island for raising its minimum wage, and calling on Congress to do the same

(Source: obamawhitehouse)

[video]

Jun 19

yougotschooled2016:
“Badgers Bucked By Bogus Budget
Scott Walker has proposed forking over $250 million in taxpayer money to help construct a new arena for the NBA’s Milwaukee Bucks, a team owned by billionaire hedge fund managers Marc Lasry and...

yougotschooled2016:

Badgers Bucked By Bogus Budget

Scott Walker has proposed forking over $250 million in taxpayer money to help construct a new arena for the NBA’s Milwaukee Bucks, a team owned by billionaire hedge fund managers Marc Lasry and Wesley Edens. While supporting the home team usually sounds like a great idea, Walker’s extremely controversial (even with Republicans) allocation to the team doesn’t look so good when the state is facing a $283 million dollar deficit.

So, where will Walker get the money to throw at a new stadium for the Bucks, who haven’t won a league title since 1971? He’ll just cut it from higher education—no brainer. The University of Wisconsin system, one of the best research institutions in the world, is also funded by tax-payer dollars. But thanks to Walker’s stellar math, instead of funding the additional $95 million the university asked from the state legislature, which is absolutely critical for maintaining the system at a bare minimum, he has decided to go with a $250 million cut. #Facts

And, this isn’t the first time. In his first term, Walker cut a total of $400 million from the UW and state technical colleges, reduced financial aid for eligible students, and imposed a double-digit tuition hike that cost students over $200 million over four years. #Facts

 But surely a new stadium is a good long-term investment, right? Economists disagree. A host of academic reports over the years have found that using public financing for professional sports venues is a bad investment that rarely lives up to the lofty numbers brandished by the projects’ boosters and often incurs sizable cost overruns. You know what is a good long-term investment and key to state prosperity? An educated workforce.

Also, the Badgers are way better at basketball.