Blog2L2
- Baldessari May 18, 2012 Derek Bridges
- Rewind May 11, 2012 Derek Bridges
- Going in the Opposite Direction May 8, 2012 Derek Bridges
- Rope Man with Cigarette April 25, 2012 Derek Bridges
Sloganza™ 3
Before you go…
Sloganza(TM) 3 from B2 L2 on Vimeo.
Painful
Costas: Are you a pedophile?
First off, who would answer yes on national television when there's a criminal case against him [and now about 10 more victims have come forward, though all are still under investigation].
Continue readingLove This
cross-posted at The G Bitch Spot
This is totally out of character for me but I love this laundry detergent.
For most of my life, I’ve had various forms of rashes, mostly on my face, occasionally on my shoulders or arms. Once I started doing my own laundry and tried different detergents, I realized some made me break out more than others. [I went through the same trial-and-error with soaps. Oy. And don't ask about shampoos, conditioners, deodorants, lotions---a sensitivity that preceded fibromyalgia] Then fragrance- and dye-free detergents came out and I was able to link some breakouts to fragrances and dyes. I read a lot of labels and assumed as long as I was in this modern world, my forehead would continue to be scattered in, if not covered in, little skin-toned bumps.
Then we got a sample of Myndee Corkern’s laundry detergent, that she created because she could not find one that didn’t aggravate her daughter’s eczema.
Oh. My. God. A subtle, clean smell in the clothes and sheets that leaves my forehead smooth. One little scoop [we have a front-loader/high-efficiency]. And… Continue reading
NOLA Public Schools & School Privatization: Coda
Just like New Orleanians need to repeat that it was LEVEES, not Katrina, that devastated New Orleans, we need to keep repeating that the public school system was shattered, not "rebuilt"... 
Finally
crossposted at The G Bitch Spot
State education department asks board to yank Abramson’s charter–nola.com/Times-Pic
In a written recommendation to the state Board of Elementary and Secondary Education, or BESE, acting state Superintendent Ollie Tyler said an investigation launched last month has uncovered evidence that Abramson has failed to comply with state law, board policy and its charter contract.
I doubt if Abramson is the only charter in town not in compliance with state law or policies or contracts.
On WWNO’s local “news” moment, it was claimed that the RSD would “now” be more active in supervising charter schools and the contracts they award. I thought that was what they were supposed to be doing. Why is it news that charter schools will be properly supervised and visited unexpectedly and held accountable to their students, their parents, and the community at large?
And Again
41 signs your school district might be infected by a privatization virus (2 are joke-y so really 39 but still)
Continue readingI’ll Say It Again
Schools have big budgets and get millions of dollars from the federal government and state governments, an amount of money that can tempt the most sincere and well-meaning person. It can seem so easy to cut a teeny corner there and plump this account over here. Or to hand out enormous contracts to 1-month old companies. Just like high-stakes standardized testing linked to punishment [closing a school is a punishment, firing principals is punishment, firing teachers is punishment, tearing down a school is punishment] can lead adults to cheat in any way they think they can get away with.
Continue readingI Survived…I Survived…I Survived…
I am addicted to "I Survived..." on Biography, sneaking in bits and chunks and back-to-back episodes when no one else is home.
Continue readingI Missed It, Too
No caps on education superintendent and college leader salaries in THIS state.
Continue reading“We have yielded…without question.”
"But education, since it deals in the first place with human organisms, and in the second place with individualities, is not analogous to a standardizable manufacturing process. Education must measure its efficiency not in terms of so many promotions per dollar of expenditure, nor even in terms of so many student-hours per dollar of salary; it must measure its efficiency in terms of increased humanism, increased power to do, increased capacity to appreciate."
Continue readingWhat Makes KIPP Work?: Notes and Quotes from the March 2011 Report
Does KIPP have success? Yes. What is the cost, though?
Continue readingWhy
crossposted at The G Bitch Spot
I took down a recent post on efforts by a group of parents and neighbors to create a neighborhood school at the Colton site. An email birdie sent me information, told me to disseminate, then almost immediately corrected the info in 2 pseudonymous comments. When I realized the email birdie was correcting the info s/he gave me, I was so pissed I couldn’t think about it for 4 days.
Then I took it down, here [GBS] and at B2L2 [here].
The birdie couldn’t understand why.
I try my damnedest to not be the usual solipsistic, narcissistic, asinine, loudmouthed blogger who hates everything like a disgruntled 14-year-old boy, who spouts and sprinkles half-truths, not-truths, prejudices, one-liners that sound cute for 10 seconds, and/or who favors petty insults as verbs, nouns, adjectives and adverbs. [I use "fuck" for all that.] Education has become a dangerous and contentious arena, full of barkeaters on left and right and in the center fueled by flawed studies, anecdotal “evidence,” wishful thinking, flawed assumptions, and hate… Continue reading
G Bitch Does Treme Fest
I was an 8 o'clocker, on one of the first few busses over to the Fairgrounds. Impressions essentially in chronological order:
I had a chair. Zulu umbrella. The usual Jazz Fest-y things in the bag I bought at Jazz Fest several years ago. And a big fat book for the waiting.
Continue readingColton: Links, Pics
cross-posted at The G Bitch Spot
Times-Picayune/nola.com, Artist colony at Colton school to disband; Matt Damon to help relocate rooftop garden, June 10, 2009.
T-P/nola.com, KIPP charter school’s tentative hold on Colton school site is challenged, January 18, 2011.
And see the comments on this post, January 19, 2011.
Opinion article from The Lens, How about real choice for neighborhoods close to Colton campus, February 1, 2011.
T-P/nola.com, KIPP, neighborhood group both covet old Colton Middle School building, February 7, 2011
The Lens, Politicians side with parents asking review of plans to put KIPP charter at Colton site, March 15, 2011.
Back of Colton, March 15, 2011.
Notes from 5 Years Later: A Forum on the State of Public Education in NO
- The opening prayer oddly asked God to still or help instill "self-control" and "punctuality" in the students under discussion, and he was not talking about Holy Name or Lusher.
- Asher's teacher-blaming started from her opening words--that the children haven't failed, it's that "adults have failed to teach" them.
- Guttierrez calling the RSD the "ultimate accountability" body was rich considering recent news.
Teachers’ Unions or Teachers’ Unions?: Appendix
cross-posted at The G Bitch Spot
See Teachers’ Unions or Teachers’ Unions? for Canada’s answer to Colbert’s question.
from Ultimate $uperpower: Supersized dollars drive Waiting for Superman agenda
Board of Trustees, HARLEM CHILDREN’S ZONE
Geoffrey Canada, President and CEOStan Druckenmiller, Chairman, is the President, CEO, and Chairman of Duquesne Captial [sic], which he founded in 1981. The fund is reported to have more than $10 billion in assets. With an estimated current net worth of around $3.5 billion, he is ranked by Forbes as the 91st Riches [sic] person in America as the [sic]. He is reported to have made $260 million in 2008. Known for his philanthropy, his donations include $25 million to the Harlem Children’s Zone in 2006.
Mitch Kurz is a former senior management executive at Young and Rubicam, a marketing advertising and communications company, and former board member of Teach for America.
Matthew Blank is chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Showtime Networks, Inc.
Wallis Annenberg is the Chairman of the Board, President and CEO of… Continue reading
Schools + Creativity = ?
Sir Ken Robinson: Do Schools Destroy Creativity?
A fair question as we uproot, upend, redo, repaint, revamp schools in the name of "reform"---what IS it that we are trying to achieve?
Continue readingTeachers’ Unions or Teachers’ Unions?
Geoffrey Canada of the Harlem Children’s Zone on The Colbert Report Jan. 4, 2011:
Stephen Colbert: Who’s to blame? Is it the teachers’ union or the teachers’ union?
Geoffrey Canada: Well, I think you’ve got to really say it’s both in this case.
See the whole interview here.
“…our best students!”
cross-posted at The G Bitch Spot
In every high school I’ve been in this semester, charter or not, the phrase “our best students!” has been used, with enthusiasm and a smile. One student’s name brings smiles to teachers, staff, assistant principal, everyone. This student is being actively, repeatedly encouraged to apply to Harvard to take advantage of their no-tuition-for-low-and-middle-income-households deal. I heard all the highest praise about this student. But this student was quick to lose work, to flub/fake a way through assignments, and make semi-plausible excuses. Then I found this student has a 2.4 GPA. And the adults warning this student not to lose/crinkle/dirty the multiple applications. This student will accept information or materials only from “premier universities” though this student doesn’t have premier grades, a premier GPA or anything close to premier academic habits. I don’t count a glassy look or reddened eyes as “premier” academic habits.
“Our best students!” have not been best or, much of the time, students. I’ve encountered charter school honor roll students who only care about assignments because… Continue reading
Paraphrase: No, Thanks, Don’t Need It
cross-posted at The G Bitch Spot
G Bitch to Sixth District NOPD: I live on the street where the shooting was Sunday and there's a bullet in my neighbor's wall.
Sixth District to G Bitch: Well, the scene has already been processed so we don't need it but if your neighbor needs something, like for insurance or something, she can call and have an officer come out to write a report. All right?
Continue reading“the ‘reform’ narrative”
cross-posted at The G Bitch Spot
Ravitch responds to the outcome of the DC mayoral race, one frequently called a referendum on Michelle Rhee, and the narratives generated about the outcome and the recent charter movement's main narrative. [Which she neatly sums up at the end--read all the way through for the full effect]
Continue readingIn the closing days of the Fenty campaign, [Rhee] went to the districts where Fenty had his strongest support—the largely white districts in the city's Northwest section—to rally voters.
The Peter Feldman Strategem, or The Cracker Vote Strategy Goes National
Exhibit A: Fox News VP: If McCain Worker ‘Mutilation’ Story Is a Hoax His Campaign Is ‘Over’
Earlier today, John Moody, executive vice president at Fox News, commented on his blog there that “this incident could become a watershed event in the 11 days before the election. If Ms. Todd’s allegations are proven accurate, some voters may revisit their support for Senator Obama, not because they are racists (with due respect to Rep. John Murtha), but because they suddenly feel they do not know enough about the Democratic nominee.
“If the incident turns out to be a hoax, Senator McCain’s quest for the presidency is over, forever linked to race-baiting.”
Exhibit B: Race Baiting Attack Story Fabricated By McCain Volunteer–MSNBC Breaking News video [YouTube]
This poor young woman is unbalanced. I feel sorry for her being pulled into this. It seems unintentional on her part. And it is unfortunate for the McCain campaign that she is a volunteer. BUT note the persistent pathology of the Unknown Big Black Assailant of White Women. There… Continue reading