Wisdom from my buddy Mike regarding Decency

Investing in war and divesting in education, health care, and human
needs

Billions of public money to private corporations to support war
profiteering and record oil profits

War on terror is an ideological construction that obscures the real
reasons for the war

720 Million a day on war = 12,478 elementary teachers, 1yr for
95,364 Head Start placements, 1yr Healthcare for 423,529 children

NYS testing – Significant disruption to instruction, not sufficiently
funded – burden to taxpayers, doesn’t recognize or allow for varying
abilities,

High Stakes testing administered in January and March therefore student
achievement for a full year is evaluated on five months of School
District

Affordable health care coverage is tied to work that unions built over
five decades is being eroded same as pensions.  Moral values party

Social Security – established in 1935 FDR, Americans of modest means
contribute throughout career and trust the government to protect the
elderly.  Privatization breaches this contract.  Social security
provides monthly income to retired, disabled, and surviving spouses and
dependents.  Federal government borrowed money from the Social Security
trust fund for many years and the trillions of dollars have not been
paid back to the fund.  The debt of borrowed money owed by the federal
government creates an unnecessary impression that money will be depleted
causing confusion and concern.  No person in Congress or administration
has proposed that the money borrowed will be paid back.

I only ask one question for my readers, "when will Mike's reality be
our reality?"

Check out the Phil Donahue Video at the bottom of the Home Page

God I miss Phil Donahue. Check out this gem I found on Youtube at the bottom of the page.

Soviet Amerika

Check out the Media Watch Site this week for a disturbing article on the 60 minutes blackout in Alabama. Very disturbing.

New Grants Posted This Week.

A Nation of Fear

The topic of Fear and 9/11 has come up a lot at book discussions. It is a dangerous part of the American Reality. I touched upon this in my book and hope that as people read the book and explore the website, they begin to realize the importance of overcoming insecurities created by our post 9/11 society.

Critical Thinking Skills - NCLB

Having a week off from school has many benefits. I consider this time for renewal. Thinking back on some of the previous book signings, teachers and parents have said, "Are there schools out there that excel at challenging students anymore to critically think." I often give the school I am an administrator as an example. I sometimes believe they need evidence. For this reason, I created a blog for people to explore the rich diversity of learning that is still going on during our national crisis of NCLB. I hope other students and teachers will give examples from their school.

Please Support Oneida Autism Conference

A Time For Us Event Details

Start Date: March 1, 2008 - End Date: March 1, 2008

Time: 2 to 5 pm

Location: Dibbles Inn Vernon

Organization: Oneida Autism/Special Needs Support Group

Event Description

This conference is for parents
of children with or with out disabilities
and professionals wanting to make a difference!

Special Guest:
The Carey Family who’s 13 year old son with autism died in the care of a state-run residential facility and recently worked with legislators to pass Jonathan’s Law in honor of their son.

RSVP 315-361-1090 (not mandatory but as a courtesy)
Sponsored by St. Johns Church of Oneida NY

Other Speakers include:
John Salka: Parent of a young boy that has had several restraints used on him. Currently the family is home schooling their son. John is the Madison County Brookfield Town Supervisor and sits on the county committee of Public Health, and is the vice-chair of the Committee on Mental Health; he hopes to increase awareness on a county wide level.

Lenny Giardino: Teacher and Author of “The Quest for Human Decency; Realities versus Perception” will discuss his book and the rights of the parent to pursue an education for their children. His book covers question and perceptions of NCLB and the social justice issues in state mandated curriculum's.

Thank You MCLA

I was fortunate enough to visit MCLA this past weekend. I was excited to see that future teachers and administrators have passion in their heart. The theme of our discussion was the book I wrote and we seemed to discuss the idea of fear governing our nation's policies. I will always have a place for MCLA that is near and dear to me. Many administrators from NY have traveled to the Berkshires to earn their certificate from this very special place. For those unaware of MCLA's Leadership Academy, MCLA emphasizes Social Justice as a primary focus for future leaders in education. The Leadership Academy is a beacon of light in the dark world of NCLB.

Hillary v. Obama - This May Help

This was forwarded to me from a friend. Interesting....
The Senate voted today to preserve retroactive immunity from lawsuits for telecommunications companies that cooperated with a government eavesdropping program, decisively rejecting an amendment that would have stripped the provision from a bill to modernize an electronic surveillance law.
A yes vote means that these people wanted to hold GW accountable for spying on people's telephone lines. The no supports GW and gives immunity to the phone companies and all those involved with taking away our constitutional rights. Those Dems who voted no, should all be voted out of office. Notice that Barrack voted yes and Hillary cowardly did not vote.
Chris

Party	Yes	No	Not Voting
Democratic	Daniel Akaka, Max Baucus, Joseph Biden, Jeff Bingaman, Barbara Boxer, Sherrod Brown, Robert Byrd, Maria Cantwell, Ben Cardin, Bob Casey, Christopher Dodd, Byron Dorgan, Dick Durbin, Russell Feingold, Tom Harkin, Edward Kennedy, John Kerry, Amy Klobuchar, Frank Lautenberg, Patrick Leahy, Carl Levin, Robert Menéndez, Patty Murray, Barack Obama, Jack Reed, Harry Reid, Chuck Schumer, Jon Tester, Sheldon Whitehouse, Ron Wyden	Evan Bayh, Thomas Carper, Kent Conrad, Dianne Feinstein, Daniel Inouye, Tim Johnson, Herb Kohl, Mary Landrieu, Blanche Lincoln, Claire McCaskill, Barbara Mikulski, Ben Nelson, Bill Nelson, Mark Pryor, Jay Rockefeller, Kenneth Salazar, Debbie Stabenow, Jim Webb	Hillary Clinton

Bank of Walmart

Walmart wants to be your local banker. The Federal Government so far has rejected the idea, at least for now. One of the more disturbing ideas under the media's radar. Please visit the Walmart links on Research for Decency blog to read about the facts behind this very radical idea.

The Regents 64

In my book, I briefly discuss how grading can be a weapon of revenge for a teacher. Recently, I bumped into a student from my summer school class from five years ago. She is working locally and we laughed a bit in the store. Her most memorable experience from High School? Cheer leading. Least favorable? Global Studies Regents grade of 64.
That summer, I had many seniors and underclassman that went to summer school to retake the Regents. The high school regents for Social Studies is subjective at best. A 64 is not a concrete grade. Neither is a 63. Yet thousands of students across the state are subjected to this grading torture. Equity is the key. I am positive that teachers who know a student find the extra point. It is an unspoken rule. Yet, if the kid is unknown or disliked by the graders, then too bad.
It is this kind of inequity that needs to be questioned by parents and students across the state. Hopefully, alerting as many as we can about the pitfalls of high school will help change the Regents scoring grid. Until than, watch out for the Regents 64

Upcoming Book Talks - Website Update

I will be taking the show on the road for a bit. North Adams, Mass Feb 17th, Arsenal House, Rome on the 29th of Feb., and Mar 1st at Dibbles Inn. The website had the most hits this week in my 4 months of existence. Interest in the book and website have increased significantly. Thank you for your support.