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Yoiver González et al. sitting at a table with a laptop

Billionaires Unite! (Against Public Education and Teachers)

by Patricia ThomasMay 7, 2021

In less than a week two billionaires have joined the anti-teacher “Billionaires Club”: a group of ultra-wealthy individuals hell-bent on destroying public education and teachers’ unions. The newest members of the club are Oprah Winfrey and Facebook founder Mark Zuckerburg.Winfrey

Economics, Politics,

We Need to Pass the Oil Extraction Tax to Fund Education (Prop. 1522)

by Patricia ThomasMay 7, 2021

“Our response to this economic war on the people is to ensure that public education be supported by a stable, rational and democratic system of taxation and we believe a good way to accomplish that is to pass the Oil

history, Legal & Law,

A Curious New York Times Article on Teacher Evaluations

by Patricia ThomasMay 7, 2021

A recent New York Times article, “Curious Grade For Teachers: Nearly All Pass,” finds incredulous the idea that, “In Florida, 97 percent of teachers were deemed effective or highly effective in the most recent evaluations.” The author goes on to

Education, Legal & Law,

Tearing Down the Ivory Tower: a Defense of Vocational Education

by Patricia ThomasMay 7, 2021

In 2012, Diane Ravitch wrote an article for the Wall Street Journal that highlighted the many ways in which the over-emphasis on standardized testing has created a crisis in the education system. According to Ravitch, one of the many problems

A group of people sitting at a table in a room

Education, Legal & Law,

The New York Times Gets an ‘F’ on Education Policy

by Patricia ThomasMay 7, 2021

Ann Robertson and Bill Leumer A recent New York Times editorial took a moment out to lecture mayor-elect of New York City Bill de Blasio on how he should treat teachers and their unions. We hope he doesn’t listen. The

Education, Legal & Law,

What’s At Stake in Privatizing Education

by Patricia ThomasMay 7, 2021

Forms of Privatization in Public Education The idea that government can’t do anything right has been trumpeted by the right wing for decades, particularly by its recently deceased leader Milton Friedman, a former economist at the University of Chicago. He

Arne Duncan, Barack Obama are posing for a picture

Politics,

Arne Duncan Fouls Out on Common Core

by Patricia ThomasMay 7, 2021

Opposition to the Common Core Standards and the tests tied to them is rising, as a recent Wall Street Journal article (May 6) underlined. Approval for Common Core is now languishing at a mere 17 percent while disapproval has shot up to

Legal & Law, Politics,

Socialism: What It Is and What It Is Not

by Patricia ThomasMay 7, 2021

“Socialism!” The mere uttering of the word conjures up the most horrifying nightmare for a small, extremely rich minority who, because it monopolizes the productive forces of society-the factories and businesses that make up our economy – succeed in pursuing unlimited

Legal & Law, Politics,

A Better World is Possible With Socialism

by Patricia ThomasMay 7, 2021

Ann Robertson But socialism is more than being well paid for the work one does. It truly revolutionizes how society operates. The capitalist system, in which a small number of capitalists are allowed to subordinate everyone else’s interests to their

Mikhail Bakunin, Karl Kraepelin are posing for a picture

history,

Marxism and Anarchism: The Philosophical Roots of the Marx-Bakunin Conflict

by Patricia ThomasMay 7, 2021

This article is available as a PDF. Please see the Publications page. This the first part of this article has been translated into Greek and Italian. Introduction Again, I’m not enough of a Marx scholar to pretend to an authoritative judgment. My impression, for