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

“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 Thomas2 months ago

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 Thomas2 months ago

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 Thomas2 months ago

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 Thomas2 months ago

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 Thomas2 months ago

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 Thomas2 months ago

“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 Thomas2 months ago

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 Thomas2 months ago

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

history,

A Short Introduction to Marx’s Das Kapital

by Patricia Thomas2 months ago

Ann Robertson Marx’s analysis of capitalism, unlike bourgeois accounts, is conducted from a historical perspective. In other words, Marx was keenly aware that during the march of history, one economic system, because of internal, irreconcilable contradictions, has been replaced by