Posted by AzBlueMeanie: In the closest election, or just the slowest counted election in the country, Rep. Ron Barber was finally declared the winner by the AP on Saturday and his opponent Martha McSally conceded the race. Arizona now has a Democratic 5-4 majority its congressional delegation. Barber claims CD2 seat with 50.15% of vote: … Read more
by David Safier
No question, our traditional public schools suffer from racial, ethnic and economic segregation, too often creating separate-but-unequal schools. It's a huge problem. But charter schools promise to make the problem far worse. That's the dirty little secret about the push for charters. The unstated mission of the conservative "education reform"/"school choice" movement is to create publicly funded, good-to-great schools for students coming from middle class to affluent homes while the rest of the student population attends educational holding tanks which teach them basic skills and little else.
The poster children for the new charter-segregation movement are two Arizona chains: BASIS, which began in Tucson, and Great Hearts, which began in the Phoenix area. Both offer education which is on par with many private schools, and both situate themselves in mainly white, mainly affluent enclaves. Both are beginning to expand across the country, duplicating the same demographic patterns.
Let's take a look at the demographics of Arizona's BASIS and Great Hearts charters.
Because some of the BASIS schools are new, I haven't been able to find stats on their student makeup. But the original BASIS Tucson is 55% White, 21% Hispanic, 19% Asian, 4% Black and 2% Native American. The second school BASIS created, BASIS Scottsdale, is 64% white, 33% Asian and 3% Hispanic. Though I don't have a demographic breakdown of the newer schools in the Tucson area, I'm confident the BASIS school in Oro Valley and the most recently opened BASIS Tucson North at River Road and Craycroft do not reflect the ethnic diversity of the Tucson area.
Great Hearts has five schools in the general Phoenix area. Four of them are between 85% and 91% White and Asian. The fifth is 68% Black, 16% Hispanic and 12% White. The four predominantly White and Asian schools have state rankings of "A." Teleos Prep, the predominantly Black and Hispanic school, has a "C" rating.
Posted by Bob Lord
Shadegg and his stooges called me Big Labor Bob four years ago. It may have won him some votes, but it never bothered me. I spent many hours meeting with union members, some of that time selling myself, but a lot of it listening to them. I listened to hotel workers who hadn't seen a raise in eight years. I listened to flight attendants who earned a whopping $13,000 per year. I listened to stories about management tactics to thwart efforts to organize. Calling me Big Labor Bob was meant as ridicule, a way of suggesting I was in labor's pocket. But I wasn't. I just totally believed in their cause.
And I still do. Now more than ever. Organized labor is on the ropes right now. If they lose, we lose. In the long run, even the filthy rich plutocrats and their Republican puppets who seek to destroy organized labor would lose, although they're too short-sighted to understand that.
Two developments today reveal the desperate situation for workers in America. Although they don't appear to be connected, they absolutely are.
First, Hostess announced today that it would be closing its doors, thereby eliminating 18,000 jobs. Hostess, in Chapter 11 bankruptct proceedings, blamed the closing on striking workers from the Bakers and Confectioners Union. The media largely has regurgitated the company's line, although there was some coverage by the San Francisco Chronicle that mentions poor management decisions. But the media spin has been consistently "striking workers caused shutdown."
by David Safier
I try to be an honest broker. So though I have problems with lots of charter schools, the way they've proliferated and the unwarranted hype about their overall success, when I see a good charter school story, I'll report it. In this case, I have two.
The first story is about K12 Inc.'s Arizona online school, Arizona Virtual Academy (AZVA). Readers of BfA know I've heaped many, many words of scorn on this operation, but now it's time for a small dose of praise. AZVA has partnered with One-n-Ten, a non-profit that works with gay and lesbian students, to form Q High, short for Queer High. Students whose sexual orientation makes them the target of scorn and bullying at their local high schools can go to classes at One-n-Ten's Phoenix headquarters working in partnership with AZVA, which furnishes much of the education and issues the diploma. It's a small program, but it's one of a few of its kind in the country.
One-n-Ten’s headquarters has been converted into a high school with bell schedules, study periods, lunch breaks and group activities to provide structure the students would not get taking online courses.
They take classes together in the computer lab under the supervision of a Virtual Academy teaching aide who answers questions about coursework.
The Virtual Academy offers free tuition, academic counselors, textbooks, bus passes and supplies to the students. One-n-Ten supplements the school program with tutors, counseling, medical care, meals and extracurricular activities such as field trips and yoga.
The online-charter school has worked with at-risk youths at YMCA centers, but Q High is its first partnership with a non-profit serving gay youths, said Megan Henry, head of the Virtual Academy.
Congrats to AZVA for helping to create this partnership.
The second story is about Star Charter School, close to the Navajo reservation about 30 miles from Flagstaff. It uses only renewable energy, a first for any school in the country.
by David Safier Bill Risner emailed me about a robocall in Spanish he received November 5, the evening before the election. He says Ted Downing received the same call a few minutes earlier. Risner says he wasn't able to record the call but made notes while he listened. The purpose of the call was clearly … Read more