Teachers (and Friends): So who's running for Congress this year that "gets it"?

[Smarmie Doofus]

Meaning... understands what's wrong w. Obama's ed policy, Arne Duncan, $$$elling-off of public education, busting unions, Gates, RttP, Murdoch and the culture of greed, appalling ignorance and contemptible irresponsibility and dishonesty that underlies all of the aforementioned phenomena.

I know to whom I will send money locally ( NYC): the folks who signed on to the pledge to turn down corporate "reformers" $$$ ( see thread below; in another era these donations would be called what they in fact ARE: "BRIBES".) but those races are not 'til next year.
http://www.democraticunderground.com/11243213

I've been waiting for a sign from the president or the national party that there will be a different approach in term #2, but none has been forthcoming.

So be it. I'll send my $$$ where it will do the most good. Education eclipses everything else this year --- for me, anyway. I've seen too many people destroyed by this shit.

So ... who's running that deserves my cash?

I just went on Grayson's site --- he's otherwise a perennial favorite of mine--- but found .... to my disappointment...nothing but cliches and gibberish devoted to the topic. Sorry Alan, not this time. The issue is more important than you seem to realize. ( BTW, check out what ed "reform" has done to your once august Bronx alma mater, dude.)
http://nymag.com/news/features/bronx-high-school-of-science-2011-12/

[LWolf]

1. I don't have any $$$ to give at this point,

but I'll be watching this thread with interest for future reference.

I don't know that there are any deserving national candidates. I'd start with state and local people; look at those who are beginning to take stands against high stakes testing.

http://www.fairtest.org/resistance-high-stakes-testing-spreads

[Smarmie Doofus]

2. Superb link and great site:

>>>Why, then, do so many public officials continue to advocate high-stakes testing? The major problem is a disconnect between the views of voters and educators on the one hand, and politicians and their high-dollar supporters—particularly the Broad, Gates and Walton foundations—on the other. Public opinion polls consistently show support for cutting back on high-stakes testing. But policy makers and their close supporters continue to defend the status quo, even though the evidence reveals that it has not succeeded.

This past summer and this fall, the assessment reform groups who initiated the National Resolution are using the election campaign season to close that gap. The groups plan to press all candidates for Congress, local offices and even as high as the president to take public positions against test misuse and overuse.>>>>.

New to me .... so give me some time to absorb it.

But *YES*.... conceptually speaking... this is what I'm trying to get at.

School fraud.... eeehhhrrmmm... I mean "reform" ..... takes many forms. High-stakes testing is probably the THE most potent tool in their bag of tricks and and is probably the most integral: i.e. a lot of other abuses ( bogus teacher evals, school closings, privatization, test-prep merchandi$ing, etc..... ) tend to hinge on hi-stakes testing.

But NOT ALL. I worked in Special Ed... our district was exempt from standardized testing.... yet the wheels of Korporate reform are crushing the life out of it. Point: they can perpetrate the school reform hoax w/o resorting to hi-stakes testing.

That said, this is not a bad issue around which to form a coalition.

[rjlobo422]

3. Mark Takano

Check out Mark Takano in California's new 41st district. The 41st covers much of western Riverside County in Southern California. Mark is an active teacher in Rialto. He has served on the board of Riverside Community College. He has always been endorsed by the local NEA chapters. This area has been redistricted and we can pick up a House seat here if we push a bit. Takano is up 4 in the polls: a fact that has not gone unnoticed by the Koch boys, so any extra funds will be appreciated. One caveat Mark would be one of the brave gay pioneers in Congress if elected.

[Smarmie Doofus]

5. Can you clarify what he's saying about RTTP?

>>>>The progressive audience was very pleased to hear that, perhaps even more so than the historical fact that Takano would be the first openly gay person of color elected to Congress. They grilled him – and Polis – on education, with one woman declaring that she saw no difference between President Bush’s No Child Left Behind and President Obama’s Race to the Top. The long exchange essentially boiled down to points that Bush’s law is punitive while Obama’s funding effort lead to a core of common standards.

But Takano drilled deeper, explaining that as a teacher on the frontline of education for 23 years, “I understand the public hunger for accountability.” He thinks of the “bigger picture,” saying he teaches Jane Austin’s Pride and Prejudice to his 90% Latino students at their own pace, making it “rich and worth it” so students – especially the girls – learn the range of choices they have and how to think on their own.>>>>>

http://lgbtpov.frontiersla.com/2012/04/10/takano-promises-to-be-progressive-if-elected-to-congress/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+lgbtpov%2FhMHW+(LGBT+POV)


I'm not sure how excited I can get about someone who's going to rationalize this hideous Obama Administration "reform" ... which is actually exponentially *worse* than NCLB alone.

That said... he sounds decidedly preferable to the opposition and the "teacher" and lgbt background is a decided plus.

Help me out though: what about RTTP?

And welcome to DU.

[HiPointDem]

4. not congress but there's an *amazing* state-level candidate in WA's 5th district: David Spring

http://springforhouse.org/meet-david

Running in a republican district in the greater seattle area against a minion of Bill Gates.

Nearly won last time he tried despite being outspent 60-1.

Supports a state bank (like n. dakota's)

http://wapublicbankproject.org/

former teacher (community college), super on education + understands the *why* -- why education is being defunded in our state (tax avoidance & special tax breaks by folks like gates) & isn't shy about naming names.

http://springforhouse.org/restore-school-funding

Hard core issues guy, lots of public experience

I sure hope he wins, though i can't vote for him (not my district).

So I'm posting this here just for the visibility (apologies, but maybe good to mention state-level candidates that 'get it' too).

[Smarmie Doofus]

6. I agree. But it's a little scary that we can point to so few.....

>>>.So I'm posting this here just for the visibility (apologies, but maybe good to mention state-level candidates that 'get it' too). >>>>

.... elected DEMs ( or even candidates) at the federal level who are willing to break publicly w. the narrative of the corporate wing of the party on this issue.

It's also puzzling. A lot of local NYC DEMs get it. That is, understand the threat posed to the general welfare by corporate school reform.

[Smarmie Doofus]

7. Rep. Peter DeFazio, Dem. - Oregon

He's against RTTP. For the right reasons. Talked to his office today. He's consistently progressive. I'm sending him $$$.