Friday, May 04, 2012

Mitt reaches for a new low, and the charter hustle

I am trying to remember if there was ever a slimier and more contemptible poli-trickster who ran for the highest office in the land than Flipper. Honestly, the guy might be worse than Dick Nixon.

He actually thought that it was necessary to try to exploit the situation with that blind dissident in China to score political points.

Just a couple of days ago Flipper said the following:

"If these reports are true, this is a dark day for freedom and it's a day of shame for the Obama administration.... We are a place of freedom, here and around the world, and we should stand up and defend freedom wherever it is under attack." [Source]

Flipper said this while the United States was feverishly trying to negotiate an agreement with the Chinese for the man's exit to the West. Now, as it turns out, all might be well that ends well.  

By running off at the mouth, Flipper and his friends might have caused this man and his family their lives. But the life of some poor blind guy in China who likes to call out his own government is worth nothing to these people. The only thing that matters is power and money, and they will do whatever it takes to get it.

I bet that even poor Chen Guangcheng could see that.

Finally, more evidence that republicans care more about dollars than the lives of the citizens they are supposed to be looking out for. (h/t to Jose Vilson for reminding me to blog about this story)

Here in Pistolvania we are having an educational crisis thanks to the charter school system that has been bought and paid for by special interest groups in Harrisburg. And, in case you were wondering, I am not letting his Oness  and his peeps off the hook, either. Because, they too, seem to be somewhat complicit in this charter school scam that is being perpetrated on the citizens of my state.  

The for profit private charter schools that our governor has been promoting to educate our children have been...wait for it....wait for it... no different, and in some cases, worse than the public schools that they are supposed to be replacing. Having these schools have had a devastating effect on poorer school districts, and because of all the money and influence involved there is no end in sight.

But here is the elephant in the room, and the dirty little secret that no one will talk about: Until we address the real problem with failing schools, which is not the teachers and the school house, but the homes and environment that these little rugrats are coming from; nothing will really change.

I suspect that these hustlers promoting charter schools know this, but sadly, to them, this is just another way to make a dollar. Let's call it the charter hustle.

  



   





 



35 comments:

Wesley R said...

Republicans always throw out the name Ronald Reagan, but the true wingnut movement started with Tricky Dicky. Look at his staff and you see a bunch of Bushies.

Anonymous said...

"But here is the elephant in the room, and the dirty little secret that no one will talk about: Until we address the real problem with failing schools, which is not the teachers and the school house, but the homes and environment that these little rugrats are coming from; nothing will really change."

Field, even though there is a problem with terrible neglectful parenting in the homes, these rugrats will just have to get an education on their own 'despite' their ignorant parents. THAT is the only answer. And they can do it even though it will be quite difficult. No excuses.

Hence, there should be TV promotions that blitz the air waves, letting children know this. This is a great solution to an intractable problem.

Arvin said...

Charter schools work great for White and Asian students.

Are you giving up on Black students by consigning them forever to the government schools?

Harley said...

Obama seems more like Nixon to me, with his White House enemies list and his disdain for the Constitution.

Or is that dissing Nixon too much?

352 E. said...

Charter schools work great for all students when properly administered, Arvin.
You know...level playing field!?

Dr. Nuwang said...

Great post Field!

Wesley R said...

You might want to check with some students on this field because the ones that I've dealt with through the years said that all they got from charter schools was a bunch of paper work (home work) every day. Once they got pass that school was the same as public shool.

alicia banks said...

mitt could never be slimier than that cia snake hobama

and no one could clone nixon better than hobama

ditto for hobama cloning his hero raygun

ask africom/ndaa/kony/solyndra/sopa etc

http://aliciabanks.xanga.com/758055237/happy-2012/

fyi

alicia banks said...

hobama is WAY more than "somewhat" complicit!

ask al sharpton and arnie duncan

ask chi teachers who sued hobama and won!!!

fyi

http://www.blackagendareport.com/?q=content/obama-and-charter-school-sugar-daddies

http://aliciabanks.xanga.com/732481441/the-impending-doom-of-the-nation---the-deliberate-death-of-public-education/

http://aliciabanks.xanga.com/746037791/the-presidential-selling-of-the-soul-of-al-sharpton/

alicia banks said...

hobama is the new nixon!!!

ask his endless global wars for oil and opium!!!



http://video.nytimes.com/video/2011/10/21/opinion/100000001128405/bloggingheads-obamas-nixon-moment.html


http://www.thefiscaltimes.com/Columns/2011/07/22/Barack-Obama-The-Democrats-Richard-Nixon.aspx


http://www.huffingtonpost.com/david-helvarg/obama-nixon-and-noaa_b_1222768.html


http://online.wsj.com/article/SB121547299393533965.html


http://www.infowars.com/obamas-nixon-moment/


http://politicmo.com/2012/01/25/obama-nixon-push-similar-themes-in-major-speeches/

alicia banks said...

that flipper bankster/racist global warlord hobama

makes nixon and gwb BOTH look like afrocentric pacifist slackers...combined!!!

shame!!!

http://aliciabanks.xanga.com/755316183/cbc--cursing-blacks-comically---hobama-commands-all-black-mongrels-to-stfu/

http://aliciabanks.xanga.com/733047926/hobamas-africom--afri-con---the-african-american-mask-upon-the-new-world-order-inside-africa/

http://aliciabanks.xanga.com/758055237/happy-2012/

Coolio said...

Wesley R said...
You might want to check with some students on this field because the ones that I've dealt with through the years said that all they got from charter schools was a bunch of paper work (home work) every day. Once they got pass that school was the same as public shool.
-------------

Well, we can't be having any home work pushed on our kids. They wouldn't do it anyway.

Good thing we have those gubmint schools that are doing such a great job educating generation after generation of black scholars. The secret must be the lack of home work.

God bless the NEA, the Democrat Party, and President Obama.

Look for the Union Lable said...

@ Coolio:

Obama knows the value of public education, that's why he sends his kids to Sidwell Friends.

Bob said...

Charter schools are an attempt by corporations to dismantle the public school system, break the teachers unions, & control both educational content & pedagogy. They love standardized testing.They appeal to ethnic groups to start charter schools so taxpayers can pick up the tab for all cultural studies. These cultural studies may have been paid for privately & included religion instruction, but it's simple enough to detach the religion. Charter schools like this already exist in New Jersey. In a parallel development, my school board skims the highest performing students into "academies" & then uses test scores from those schools to compare this urban district with suburban districts.

BTW, Secret Service strongly recommended the Obamas send their daughters to a private school as a security matter. Frankly, if I had kids & was sufficiently affluent, my kids would go to a private school, too.

Palli said...

“One of the most subversive institutions in the United States is the public library..”
― bell hooks, Rock My Soul: Black People and Self-Esteem
Palli

Nan said...

Arvin's wrong about charter schools working great for white and Asian students. Numerous studies done in multiple states have shown that on average charter schools perform less well than traditional public schools. A few charters have been remarkably successful, but they're exceptions. Most are failing the students, all students, regardless of race.

field negro said...

Nan, there you go with facts. Wingnuts are allergic to facts.

Anonymous said...

field negro said...
Nan, there you go with facts. Wingnuts are allergic to facts.

There you go being liberal. I didn't see any facts I saw a statement. Liberal statements aren't facts even though liberals think they are.

First and foremost Charter schools greatly reduce the bad element of public schools. If mom won't school em, they kick em out so other kids can learn. You are to hung up with a permanent job source for "some" while others are thinking about a real education without having to put up with those who have no interest in learning.

"But statewide, charter school students are pulling ahead, according to an April report by the Florida Department of Education. The report, using 2010-11 FCAT data, determined that students who attend charter schools tend to outscore their traditional public school peers in almost every subject."

http://www.naplesnews.com/news/2012/apr/22/fcat-charter-public-schools-performance-compare/

Anonymous said...

"Nan, there you go with facts. Wingnuts are allergic to facts."

facts are impermanent and a matter of interpretation. That's why information born out of research has two sides to it.

Sorry Field. That's why people see things differently regardless of any study or research. For instance, do you believe the 'facts' of the Bell Curve? Probably not. But there are many who do. One believes in the facts and the other says it's not factual. So who's right?

It's a never ending battle...world without end.

Kingnut said...

Vouchers are the key to educational reform. Give parents a chance to move their kids out of a failing school system. This will force the public schools to become more accountable and to compete to keep students.

The current government monopoly is failing badly in many cities.

field negro said...

OK Kingmut, this is the 20% I told u about. I am actually in favor of vouchers.

Anonymous said...

Charter Skools, Cyber Skools, Vouchers and kkkhristian Skools are simply methods to send funds to political entities and to remove funding from the public schools.

As a positive note, those who attend the voucher-cyber-charter-kkkhristian skools will be well prepared to be underpaid flunkies in the new Gilded Age.
And the parents will have someone who will always be 'lesser'.

Wingnuts fantasize that somehow, sometime, eventually...they will miraculously manage to have a deux ex machina and change their lowly socioeconomic status.
Charter-cyber-voucher-kkkhristian skools are just one of their miracle wishful thinkerations.


Mold

Jose Vilson said...

Amazing. Field, first, thanks for taking up the cause on charters. I don't have a problem with charters as being a part of the solution, but not the solution. Many of your commenters are right: charters actually don't work any better than public schools. Many of them do worse. We can say what we want about facts, but I haven't heard a good argument against the fact that only 2/5ths of them perform better than good public schools.

Having said that, the original idea for charters proposed by Al Shanker called for a different format to schooling to help our most underprivileged students get the services and attention they needed. This progressive vision of charters was usurped by corporatists who saw this as an opportunity to disband the (limited) powers of unions and profit off one of the few institutions that hadn't been at least partially privatized.

Now, what's happening in Philly is downright Shock Doctrine. Speaking of which, New Orleans' charter school system isn't working too well. Blame whoever or whatever you want, but the whole situation is a mess.

field negro said...

Jose thanks for your input. If anyone would know about this stuff it would be someone like you who is on the frontlines of this battle.

PilotX said...

"The current government monopoly is failing badly in many cities."

Not really, there are many public schools that are successful. Of course most exist in wealthy neighborhoods but there are examples not in such prosperous hoods. It all depends on the students and curricula. Whitney Young, Payton, Lane Tech and Lindblom are examples here in Chicago.

PilotX said...

"There’s no good-faith argument here—per usual, the right is merely criticizing Obama for whatever he does, even when they do it themselves.

But as you watch the two ads above, it becomes clear that it’s not only Obama acting like a celebrity that has the GOP’s nose out of joint. He’s also “acting black”--in fact, he’s rubbing their faces in it, just like he did when he sympathized with Harvard professor Henry Louis Gates Jr. for getting arrested in his own home. And that gleams like troll gold to Republican strategists."

From alternet to Field's point.

Anonymous said...

PilotX said...
"There’s no good-faith argument here—per usual, the right is merely criticizing Obama for whatever he does, even when they do it themselves.

But as you watch the two ads above, it becomes clear that it’s not only Obama acting like a celebrity that has the GOP’s nose out of joint. He’s also “acting black”--in fact, he’s rubbing their faces in it, just like he did when he sympathized with Harvard professor Henry Louis Gates Jr. for getting arrested in his own home. And that gleams like troll gold to Republican strategists."

From alternet to Field's point.

Gates, Acting Black. Angry, nasty, complete lack of respect, refuse to show ID, curse a cops mother. Yes he was acting Black. Another person would have said thanks for checking officer to make sure someone isn't robbing my home, here is my ID I live here...but not the angry can't see common sense Black Man,

Yet I guarantee he would be the first to cry racism if the cops left his house alone and it was burglarized by a Black Man Statistics have this being a likelihood.

We have to do something about this rampant criminal racist element and those who cause the majority of crime in our country.

In Atlanta, African-Americans are 54 percent of the population, but are responsible for 100 percent of homicide, 95 percent of rape, 94 percent of robbery, 84 percent of aggravated assault, and 93 percent of burglary.

In New York City, African-Americans are 25.5 percent of the population, but are responsible for 55.5 percent of homicide, 45.5 percent of rape, 63.5 percent of robbery, and 52.8 percent of aggravated assault.

field negro said...

Anon.you seem to be a walking stat machine. Tell me,is your stat counter color blind? Somehow I doubt it.

Kingnut said...

PilotX said...
"In the real world, the rate of violent crime in the US is at the lowest point since 1968 – in fact, it is somewhat of a mystery that the violent crime rate has continued to decline even in the midst of the Great Recession"
-------------

The country is getting older, median age is now around 38. Violent crime is mostly an activity of the young.

Also, we have gotten much tougher on crime. There are over two million people in jail.

You are right that most violence is within a given race. However, when violent attacks do involve different races, it is overwhelmingly black on white. In some categories the numbers are absolutely stunningly one-sided.

Drudge and othe right-leaning sites are a counter to the proclivity of the mainstream media to bury reporting of black on white crime.

It's no big deal to you that last summer's fad of large groups of young blacks attacking and beating random white people got so popular. I'll bet if there was even one such occurence where it was large group of white kids going around beating blacks you'd be more concerned. It would get a lot more press, too.

field negro said...

"I'll bet if there was even one such occurence where it was large group of white kids going around beating blacks you'd be more concerned..."

Actually, they were adults, and they didn't just beat them; those (black)people didn't live to report the crimes against them.

Oh, and there was much more than one.

Kingnut said...

I was focusing on the present, or at minimum in our lifetimes, Field.

Anonymous said...

But here is the elephant in the room, and the dirty little secret that no one will talk about: Until we address the real problem with failing schools, which is not the teachers and the school house, but the homes and environment that these little rugrats are coming from; nothing will really change.

In the late 50's and early 60's, people really tried to at least seem up scale, "respectable," etc. 25% of the brides were pregnant, but people sucked it up for the kids sake. Or girls would go visit grandma or the cousins, before showing. Remember when people used to put on clean clothes, that had been mended and ironed. People tried to fake being better off, more educated, more everything, if they couldn't do it for real.

I wouldn't want to go back to those days of hiding, faking and shame. Letting it all hand out, with no observable standards does not seem to have worked all that well either.

I would love to see young women put off childbearing and to give up unintended babies altogether. I know of not one but two young women who were really quite intelligent, but their background says have babies get married. I saw one in the park last year working on her third baby, she is not quite 22. Married, living with her aunt, not enough money to do anything much and no idea of what to do to improve the situation. Does it require firelight to study at home after work? Again, can you study at home to really improve yourself?

If we could get women to put off child bearing even just for a couple of years. Give them a chance to grow up.

PilotX said...

"It's no big deal to you that last summer's fad of large groups of young blacks attacking and beating random white people got so popular."


Was that the whole 15 you or someone like you mentioned?

PilotX said...

"I was focusing on the present, or at minimum in our lifetimes, Field."

So was he, I guess a group of white teens running a blah man over and killing him isn't exactly on your radar screen but we already knew that.

Ha! One of the secret words was larche..........

BARBBF said...

DOES ANYONE REMEMBER LARRY SINCLAIR?

A judge threw out the libel case against Larry Sinclair brought by Daniel Parisi over his book about him having sex & drugs with Obama in 1999!

Axelrod supposedly paid $750,000 to rig a polygraph Sinclair was to take with Daniel Parisi. Parisi asked Sinclair to take the polygraph and he would pay him $10,000 but IF he passed it...$100,000. Sinclair took the polygraph and failed. Later, Parisi ended up paying Sinclair $20,000. When Sinclair s book came out, Parisi sued Sinclair for libel.

NOW a judge has thrown the case out because Parisi did not give enough evidence that Sinclair lied in his book. Parisi could not PROVE malice or that any untruths were written in the Sinclair book.

Vindication for Sinclair? What for Obama????????