Subverting Big Money's Attacks on Public Education

Debbie Meier

Sixty years ago, I was active in the Congress of Racial Equality (CORE) as well as the democratic socialist movement, and I subbed in Chicago public K-8 schools two days a week. Spending those days in the schools raised some doubts in my mind about both the civil rights and socialist agenda. It was clear that the average urban student was being trained to be “dumb,” thoughtless (in the literal sense) and accepting of what couldn’t be changed. Could we achieve the kind of democracy we dreamed of with such a “dumbed-down” public?

Teaching kindergarten restored my faith. Working in a mostly all-black school was the most exciting experience of my life—intellectually, socially, and emotionally. The kids did have fine vocabularies, were constantly making sense of the world, had profound questions, and were quick learners when engaged. They weren’t “dumb,” but they had good reason to follow their parents’ advice to be obedient and keep quiet in school. With the impetus of the civil rights movement and movements for school change, though, it seemed as if schools could encourage that liveliness of heart and mind and tenacious imagination that I witnessed during the next decade. 

Worse than Texas : Chicano History Ignored in California State Textbooks

But, you can do something about that this week !

Mañana is now !
See prior post.  "You cannot oppress a people who are not afraid anymore."

We need your letters insisting on the expansion of Mexican American history in the California State textbooks.   
The closing date is May 1, 2015.  Mañana is now. 

We have a unique opportunity to change the history books in California  K-12 to include Chicano/Mexican American history- but we must act now. This is the time to get that letter written and e mailed  asking that Mexican American history be included in the re write of the History/Social Science Framework for California Schools.

Mexican American/ Chicano history is currently substantially absent from public school textbooks and curriculum in California- and it has been since 1986.  See the prior post below.  A guide to writing such a letter is here. https://sites.google.com/site/democracyandeducationorg/Home/latino-students-and-civic-engagement/project-plan---mexican-american-history.

The following letter from historian Dr. Lorena Marquez describes  some of the important Chicano history that is not covered in the framework and not covered in California history textbooks.  It should be. 

To the History/Social Science Framework Committee

Dear History Social Science Framework Committee,

I strongly urge you to revise the current draft of the History/Social Science Framework to include a more adequate recording of the history of California and the nation by including the significant contributions of ethnic Mexicans. Exclusion and omission of this history is a great disservice to the generations of Chicanas/os who have worked tirelessly to build this country. Latinos comprise nearly 39% of the state population and now constitute over 52% of the students in our schools. By hearing their histories in the larger rubric of United States history, they will feel validated, but most importantly, they will be empowered to make positive change in their communities.

 I recommend extension of the description of the Chicano movement to more adequately address this issue.  Recommended additions: Line 1959.  Page 348.

You cannot oppress people who are not afraid anymore

  "Once social change begins, it cannot be reversed.  You can not un-educate the person who has learned to read.. You cannot oppress the people who are not afraid anymore.
Cesar Chávez. November 9, 1984.

We have a unique opportunity to change the history books in California  K-12 to include Chicano/Mexican American history- but we must act now. Time is passing. 

Mexican American/ Chicano history is currently substantially absent from public school textbooks and curriculum in California- and it has been since 1986.  Latino student political non participation and alienation from school is significantly caused by Latino absence from the K-12 textbooks and curriculum. 

On behalf of the Mexican American Digital History project, we  ask that you  write a letter to the review committee for the revision of the History/Social Science framework.  Now is a good time to get this done (a guide to writing such a letter is here )https://sites.google.com/site/democracyandeducationorg/Home/latino-students-and-civic-engagement/project-plan---mexican-american-history

We ask you to 

1.     Look over the draft History/Social Science Framework for California Schools.  

(or take our  suggestions and guides to specific pages)

2.    Write a letter  to the Framework Committee encouraging the inclusion of  Mexican American/Latino history in the revised framework.  It is most effective to make specific recommendations of material to include- see samples. To be effective your letter should arrive by May 1, 2015.

3.   Send your letter to  hssframework@cde.ca.gov

4.  Send a copy to the Mexican American Digital History project at campd22702@gmail.com

5.     Links to documents and  background information is available at the site above.

Working Class Under Siege

SACRAMENTO PROGRESSIVE ALLIANCE: CampusProgressive AllianceThe Progressive Forum Pr...: Campus Progressive Alliance The Progressive Forum Presents The Working Class Under Seige Labor & Students Fight For a Better...

Working Class Under Siege- Progressive Forum

Working Class Under Siege:

Organized labor and students fight for a brighter future.

Forum:  April 16, 2015.   3 PM.

Speakers, video, dialogue.  Free - Join us.

Fabrizio Sasso; Executive Director of Sacramento Central Labor Council.

Kevin Wehr, President, California Faculty Association. Paul Burke, Sociology, Ian Lee- the Fight for $15, Robert Longer (CWA)  Citizens Trade Campaign TPP,  SQE Zobeida Menez, Erica Zamora, Andee Suderland. DSA Student Debt Campaign

Leisa Falkner- exploitation of adjunct faculty.

 3 PM. Hinde Auditorium, CSU –Sacramento , Free

Sponsored by Sacramento Progressive Alliance, DSA, California Faculty Assoc. , Students for Quality Education,  Campus Progressive Alliance.

6 PM. Film.  Wisconsin Rising.

antiracismdsa: American Exceptionalism v Teaching History of Mino...

antiracismdsa: American Exceptionalism v Teaching History of Mino...: Ed. Below, the writer makes a good argument about history.  This is the background from which readers should insist that California revise the California History/Social Science Framework.

Letters on the inclusion of Mexican American History in the History/Social Science Framework

Cesar Chavez and Duane Campbell 1972

History /Social Science Framework Committee   (Sample letter)

Re: Inclusion of  Mexican American/ Latino history in draft Framework

I am a professor (emeritus) of  Education at CSU Sacramento.  For thirty-five years I prepared new teachers for California schools.  One of my particular emphasis was preparing future teachers to teach history and social studies.  You can find a record of this in my most recent book, Choosing Democracy: a practical guide to multicultural education. Allyn and Bacon  (4^th edit. 2010)

Based upon this experience I strongly urge you to revise the current draft of the History Framework to include a more adequate recording of the history of California and the nation by including the significant contributions of Mexicans and Mexican Americans to this history.  You really can’t have a fair and balanced history without extending more information on this topic.  Latinos comprise nearly 39% of the state population, and descendants of Mexican Americans and Latinos now constitute over 52% of the students in our schools.

As I have argued in my writings, and in testimony to the drafting committee during the 2009 attempt to revise the framework, children and young adults need to see themselves in the curriculum.  Students, particularly students of color, have low levels of attachment to California and U.S.  civics messages in significant part because the government institution they encounter the most- the schools-  too often ignore the students own history, cultures and experiences.

A fundamental way to engage students in civic culture is to engage them in their own schools and communities.  That is where the students most encounter civic opportunities.

Teachers- ( and allies) We need your letters on inclusion of Mexican American History

Cesar and friends at Sac State. 1972.

  "Once social change begins, it cannot be reversed.  You can not un-educate the person who has learned to read.. You cannot oppress the people who are not afraid anymore.
Cesar Chávez. November 9, 1984.

We have a unique opportunity to change the history books in California  K-12 to include Chicano/Mexican American history- but we must act now. Time is passing. 

Mexican American/ Chicano history is currently substantially absent from public school textbooks and curriculum in California- and it has been since 1986.  Latino student political non participation and alienation from school is significantly caused by Latino absence from the K-12 textbooks and curriculum.

Update: October 2015.  The Mexican American Digital History Project and a broad group of allies have been working for over a year to add Chicano history to the California History/Social Science Framework, the document that determines what goes into textbooks in California.

 We are pleased to inform you that the Quality Instructional Materials Commission of the California State Board of Education have posted their proposed revised framework and it includes most of what we wanted. 

It is here.  http://www.cde.ca.gov/be/cc/cd/hsssmcmtgagenda102015b.asp

On behalf of the Mexican American Digital History project, we  ask that you  write a letter to the review committee for the revision of the History/Social Science framework.  Now is a good time to get this done (a guide to writing such a letter is here https://sites.google.com/site/democracyandeducationorg/Home/latino-students-and-civic-engagement/project-plan---mexican-american-history

We ask you to

1.     Look over the draft History/Social Science Framework for California Schools. 

(or take our  suggestions and guides to specific pages)

2.    Write a letter  to the Framework Committee encouraging the inclusion of  Mexican American/Latino history in the revised framework.  It is most effective to make specific recommendations of material to include- see samples. To be effective your letter should arrive by May 1, 2015.

3.   Send your letter to  hssframework@cde.ca.gov

4.  Send a copy to the Mexican American Digital History project at campd22702@gmail.com

5.     Links to documents and  background information is available at the site above.

Teachers Cheating on Tests - Atlanta

Taking the Fall in Atlanta

Posted April 3, 2015 at 11:10 am by RICHARD ROTHSTEIN  

Eleven Atlanta educators, convicted and imprisoned, have taken the fall for systematic cheating on standardized tests in American education. Such cheating is widespread, as is similar corruption in any institution—whether health care, criminal justice, the Veterans Administration, or others—where top policymakers try to manage their institutions with simple quantitative measures that distort the institution’s goals. This corruption is especially inevitable when out-of-touch policymakers set impossible-to-achieve goals and expect that success will nonetheless follow if only underlings are held accountable for measurable results.

There was little doubt, even before the jury’s decision, that Atlanta teachers and administrators had changed answers on student test booklets to increase scores. There was also little doubt that Atlanta’s late superintendent, Beverly Hall, was partly responsible because she had, as a state investigation revealed, “created a culture of fear, intimidation and retaliation” that had permitted “cheating—at all levels—to go unchecked for years.”

What the trial did not explore was whether Dr. Hall herself was reacting to a culture of fear, intimidation, and retaliation that her board, state education officials, and the Bush and Obama administrations had created. Just as her principals’ jobs were in jeopardy if test scores didn’t rise, her tenure, too, was dependent on ever rising test scores.

California School Funding Gap is Reduces

Proposition 30 Has Increased  California School Funding - and we passed it !

A valuable way of comparing states’ investment in schools is to look at  K-12 spending as a share of each state’s overall economy. Unlike       other commonly used measures, such as K-12 spending per student, this approach accounts for the personal income received by residents in each state, thus providing a more meaningful comparison that better reflects the financial resources available to support schools and other public systems and services.

 A new Budget Center fact sheet examines California’s K-12 spending as a share of the state’s economy. This analysis shows that while California’s investment in K-12 schools lags that in the rest of the n ation, the gap between California and the rest of the US has narrowed since 2012-13, partly as a result of voters approving Proposition 30’s tax increases in November 2012. Read the fact sheet.

From the California Budget and Policy Center