Chicago Teachers Union Protest Of TIFs Leads To Arrests

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Sunday March 20, 2011 · 4:53 AM PDT

2011/03/20 · 04:53

Peaceful Anti-TIF Demonstration Ends in Arrest

At a peaceful demonstration protesting the Tax Increment Financing (TIF) program which takes $250 million from Chicago’s public schools each year, CTU Staff Coordinator Jackson Potter and Chicago ADAPT Co-Coordinator Amber Smock were arrested at approximately 1:30 p.m. today at the Grossinger City Autoplex on criminal trespass charges.

“Today parents, students, teachers and members of the labor movement put Chicago’s corporate tax cheats on notice. We will not stand by and let them take money from our schools. We will keep the pressure on,” said CTU Vice President Jesse Sharkey.

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teacherken

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Saturday March 19, 2011 · 9:13 AM PDT

2011/03/19 · 09:13

Teachers can never declare "Missions Accomplished," because they are a bridge, not an endpoint, for all the boys and girls (and men and women) who come into their lives . . . . the teacher's job is to help students build a self, to create the entity that will be constant company for life. That's why the best teachers listen to students and draw out their thinking, but don't try to solve every problem. That's why the best teachers empathize and care deeply about students as individuals, but never lower standards or expectations.

The words above appear on p. 21 of a new book by John Merrow, who is probably best known as the correspondent on education for The PBS News Hour. The full title of the book is The Influence of Teachers: Reflections on Teaching and Leadership. Merrow comes to this book with more than four decades of commitment to and interest in education: when he could not serve in the Peace Corp for physical reasons, he spent two years teaching high school, later taught at a traditional black college in Virginia while teaching evenings in the local penitentiary. Along the way he obtained a doctorate in education from Harvard and has served on the board of Teachers College Columbia, He has covered education for PBS and NPR since 1974.

As a teacher and as one involved in education I found the book well worth the time spent reading and pondering it. I invite you to explore it with me further.

LWelsch for Educating and Learning

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Monday March 07, 2011 · 2:14 AM PST

2011/03/07 · 02:14

Professor Krugman writes today in Degrees and Dollars that "the idea that modern technology eliminates only menial jobs, that well-educated workers are clear winners, may dominate popular discussion, but it’s actually decades out of date."

He is absolutely right and there is the rub. In my diary on New Technology and Education I referred to the New York Times article Armies of Expensive Lawyers, Replaced by Cheaper Software as evidence that software can be used to assist teachers with grading.

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LWelsch for Educating and Learning

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Sunday March 06, 2011 · 12:10 PM PST

2011/03/06 · 12:10

Yeah, I finally did it. I formed a new group. Yes I saw the group Educator Voices and I tried to join as a contributor and failed. I realized I wanted the group to be broader, not limited to educator voices. Hence this group.

The group Educating and Learning not limited to a particular time in a person's life or to a particular time in history. Education begins before conception and ends at death. Evolution and adaptation are forms of education, and yes computers can learn and also be used to help educate.

I invite all to join as contributors. Those who want to may be blogeditors. I expect blogeditors to not just read what in the Queue, but to edit diaries as appropriate.

Thank you

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Chicago Teachers Union Protest Of TIFs Leads To Arrests

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