As readers of New Politics and/or my new book probably know, I’m not bashful about criticizing the politics and policies of the international confederation of teachers unions, the Education International (EI). So what does it mean that the EI has just published my blog about what EI should be doing – but isn’t?
Author: Lois Weiner
LOIS WEINER writes widely about education, labor, and politics, specializing in teacher unionism. Her new book looks at lessons for the Left in capitalism’s alteration of work and education, and how teachers and their unions can resist with support to and of movements for social justice.
Notes on teacher unionism in the UK – same struggle as here
Preamble: Last weekend I spoke at the annual conference of the National Union of Teachers (NUT) in Liverpool, the UK’s largest teachers union. Largest in Europe too, I think. (NUT – correct me if I’m wrong, please.)
Timing of the Chicago School closings?
Rahm Emanuel has timed these school closings to frighten Chicago teachers, to punish them for their successful challenge to the rich and powerful who control Chicago’s schools, to make Chicago teachers doubt their strength — and to sway the upcoming union election.
Teacher Unionism Reborn
In the past five years, we have witnessed a demonization of teachers unions that is close to achieving its goal: destruction of the most stable and potentially powerful defender of mass public education. Teacher unionism’s continued existence is imperiled — if what we define as "existence" is organizations having the legal capacity to bargain over any meaningful economic benefits and defend teachers’ rights to exercise professional judgment about what to teach and how to do it.
Neoliberalism, Teacher Unionism, and the Future of Public Education
With overwhelming support from both Democrats and Republicans, the Bush administration rewrote the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) in 2001, drastically changing public education. One of the key initiatives of the Johnson-era "war on poverty," ESEA has been the main source of federal aid to schools serving children in poverty.
Mar del Plata, Argentina: The (People's) Summit of the Americas
On November 2-5, as two dozen heads of state gathered in Mar del Plata, Argentina for a hemispheric summit to negotiate trade agreements, thousands of global justice activists, I among them, participated in a concurrent "People's Summit" ("cumbre de los pueblos") or "counter-summit" ("contracumbre"). The official summit meetings were moved to Mar del Plata, a seaside resort which is a five-hour bus or train trip from Buenos Aires, to deter mass protests.
All the news that's fit to print?
"All the news that's fit to print" is, of course, the slogan of the New York Times. But who determines what's "fit" and why? We read much liberal hand-wringing about what will become of democracy without daily newspapers and reporters who serve as watchdogs of government. We need an independent press, for sure. But we don't have one. Consider today's post on Doug Ireland's blog, about a young Honduran LGBT activist, Walter Trochez, who was assassinated.
Propaganda or reportage? The New York Times and education reform
The New York Times provides a steady diet of glowing PR about the neoliberal policies implemented throughout the world to defund, privatize, and fragment public control of education.
What happened to the Mexican Electrical Workers Union?
Worth listening to: In this podcast from a Canadian radio program, Dan LaBotz discusses the Calderon government's attack on the Mexican Electrical Workers Union, the government’s seizure of the Light and Power Company, the liquidation of the company, and the firing of more than 40,000 workers. Dan explains the political context and reasons for the assault on the union and its importance. To hear the interview, go to http://www.radio4all.net/index.php/program/37203 and click on the arrow in the red circle. The podcast should load.
Cultural relativism
Are all cultures are equally valid and commendable? asks Peter Tatchell. I just received an email describing speeches Peter Tatchell has delivered on this subject. ( You can follow him with twitter at http://twitter.com/PeterTatchell or Facebook at http://tinyurl.com/cj9y6s ).
The tsunami in education – not an act of nature
A colleague involved in progressive struggles in education since the Civil Rights movement commented to me that changes in education in the past eight years make her feel like she’s standing on the beach at water’s edge and experiencing the sand being sucked out from under her feet. Standardized tests now control the curriculum in schools serving working class and poor kids. Teachers must often follow scripts – or be fired.
Free Kian Tajbakhsh. Rally Sept. 23 for democracy in Iran
My colleague, Niloofar Mina, has been working on a campaign to free Kian Tajbakhsh, a scholar imprisoned in Iran. Kian is an American citizen of Iranian heritage, a secular intellectual, a sociologist and an independent scholar. He is not attached to any political organization or movement, inside and outside the country. Niloofar closely follows events in Iran through Persian language media sources, official and unofficial. She has learned that Kian is in a show trial with a group of defendants associated with Iran’s reformist movement.
On Labor Day in the US: Looking for Women
On this (US) Labor Day, let’s consider the continuing, glaring hole in what’s written about labor, including by socialists, about women and gender. We really need to fix this because changes to work and social relations over the past twenty years caused by neoliberalism make women an ever more critical element of the work force. Writing on “Women, care, and the public good: a dialogue,” Ann Ferguson and Nancy Folbre, (“Not for sale. In defense of public goods,” Westview Press, 2000), started a conversation about what’s happened to and with gender under neoliberalism.
Giving back – or rather, giving up
GIVING BACK – OR RATHER, GIVING UP
The Council of NJ State College Locals, CNJSCL ( http://www.cnjscl.org/ )
Obama's panacea for education: charter schools
The NY Times reported on June 23 that Arne Duncan, Education Secretary, warned that inferior charter schools are ruining the reputation of the entire charter school project, endangering the administration’s initiative to make charter schools the focal point of school reform. Each charter school is essentially its own miniscule school district (a “local education authority,” in educational policy-speak).
Neoliberalism, Teachers, and Teaching: Understanding the Assault
TEACHERS IN EVERY PART OF THE WORLD are in the forefront of the struggle to ensure that children receive an education — whether in U.S. cities, the mountains of Chavez's Venezuela, in civil war-torn Nepal, in Europe's towns and countryside, or in the refugee camps of Sudan. In prosperous nations, identified by global justice activists as the global north, teachers' wages, their voice in policy, and the quality of their working conditions have been reduced.
Top
Please Donate or Subscribe to New Politics!
