Lets Roll

Fall is on the horizon. New books will be published, and the website is due for an overhaul. Many exiciting projects are coming. Stay tuned for more details.

Interesting take on Poverty

Check out this article online: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/baron-davis/breaking-the-cycle-of-inn_b_196785.html. It is great to understand the perspective of those who live in inner cities. Baron Davis is a hero in the fight towards decency. Please check out the post.

How do we Measure Poverty?

Check out this interesting link regarding the rising tide of homeless students. http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/29356160/from/ET/ How can we accurately measure NCLB when more and more children are becoming transient. Is it fair to measure equity in the classroom, when our economic climate is inequitable? Should one school district, that has a policy of fairness and equity towards the homeless population be graded any less successful than a district that discourages people from joining their census. How do we measure rural poverty? How do we measure corridors of poverty? Corridors of poverty exist when a region is so poor, families move district to district within one year. Tough questions, for tough economic times.

Class Warfare?

Check out this fascinating statistic:

What would you do with an extra $18,000 in your pocket?

That's the amount of extra cash each and every Burger King employee in America would have received last year if Goldman Sachs (one of the fast-food chain's largest owners) had shared its bailout billions with rank-and-file workers. Instead, Goldman Sachs squandered 6.5 billion of our taxpayer dollars on bonuses for their financial staff. These were some of the highest bonuses on Wall Street! Meanwhile, Burger King workers earn wages averaging just $14,000 a year -- well below the federal poverty line for a family of three.

Class Warfare is closer than we think.

Media Watch - Stimulus Package

Most people have ignored the injustices of the bailout of corporations. The stimulus package is a tool for the upper middle class more than the poor. For this reason, I am posting links to media articles that fail to capture the attention of main stream media outlets. Please check out the Media Watch page for current and future articles regarding our nation's quest for equity and fairness, or lack of.

The ebbs and flow of Change

President Obama made some courageous decisions over the past few weeks. However, he is afraid to tackle class warfare issues. He caved in on the bailout. See the link below for details. http://www.nytimes.com/2009/02/10/business/economy/10bailout.html?_r=2&hp
Similar to France in the late 1700's, this administration needs to come to terms with the fact that one percent of the population has deeply impacted the living conditions of the other 99%. The inequities of the past 8 years cost us dearly. It is time for our government to help those they hurt by past policies.

Reflections regarding Martin Luther King

In order to understand Martin Luther King, we need to think about his message. We get too comfortable thinking that the dream has been realized. It has not. Even with an African American President, we should not be comfortable. Too many groups are not fully involved in the process of democracy. The prison population reflects the injustices of our times. And with our economy, will the new President work towards social justice? Or will he work for economic justice.
Time will tell. If the emphasis is bailing out corporations instead of people, the dream will not be realized. If the emphasis is on spending billions to kill a terrorist, the dream is not realized. These are tough times. I see poverty increase daily in school. People are making difficult choices regarding paying this bill or gettng groceries this week.
The time for social justice is now. To demand it like Dr. King did does not mean a person is negative. It is positive to be critical, and demand change. A change that lifts people out of poverty. A change that is democratic, inclusive, and equitable. This is what Dr. King would want. This is what I want for my children.

Parents and Educational Professionals - Many Updates Regarding Multi-Age Websites

I have updated the link for multi-age websites. Please check out the many new suggestions from readers of the book and the website. Enjoy. Great for Home Schooled children.

UNEMPLOYMENT REPORT: Rate Jumps To 7.2%, 524,000 Jobs Axed

We are seeing the impact of this story in schools all across our country.

New York Unemployment System Overwhelmed and CRASHES!!!

Reality of Greed is starting to be felt.

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
1:03 PM EST, January 6, 2009

New York's unemployment claims systems have crashed, overwhelmed by tens of thousands of jobless New Yorkers trying to call or log in at once ahead of this week's filing deadline.

State labor department officials say the problem started Monday and caused the phone banks at the state's toll-free claims center to shut down, followed by the online filing system. Leo Rosales, an agency spokesman, says as many as 10,000 people per hour were trying to log into the system.

Technicians are trying to bring the systems back online Tuesday afternoon but officials couldn't say when they'll be back up and available.

Rosales says the system failure shouldn't delay newly unemployed workers from getting benefits because they have until the weekend to file claims.

Great Article on Pirates in Somalia

My book explores both sides to conventional wisdom regarding who is being decent. There was an excellent article on the Huffington Post today regarding the recent upsurge in Pirates on the high seas. The link is: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/johann-hari/you-are-being-lied-to-abo_b_155147.html and I will have a direct link on my media watch page. What this article demonstrates to me is that "evil doers" are not always in the wrong. It is our actions that create the "evil doers" which ultimately demonstrates how disconnected we are to the reality that we behave unjustly in the world we live in.