Notes from the Field

Submitted by Frank Murphy, March 24, 2011

We live in a time where good public policy is seemingly being usurped by the ideological agendas of extremists.  In these times of financial crisis, bad ideas that would gain little traction during normal circumstances are increasingly being turned into awful government policies and legislation.

We can see this happening in Wisconsin where Governor Scott Walker under the pretext of closing a budget gap, has worked to strip unions of their collective bargaining rights.

New Jersey Governor Chris Christi has similarly exploited the state’s budget crisis in order to decrease school funding, promote school vouchers, and launch an attack on the pension benefits of state employees.

In his 2011 budget proposal, Governor Corbett of Pennsylvania has earmarked drastic cuts to education funds throughout the state.

Budget crises, whether real or fabricated have been used recently as an excuse to launch all out attacks on teachers and other government sector employees in many locals across our nation.  The anti-democratic nature of many of these efforts to eliminate the rights and jobs of public service sector workers is becoming an alarming trend.

Such attacks are becoming real crises themselves as in the case of Michigan’s  Governor Rick Snyder, who is using his state’s budget deficit to take the privatization of the public sector to an entirely different level.

Here is an interesting account of his efforts to suspend the rights of the citizen’s of his state.

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Notes from the Field

Submitted by Frank Murphy, March 22, 2011

Can you create a sense of solidarity with a group of people who mainly identify themselves as anonymous when commenting on a blog post?  When you stand together at a protest demonstration with hundreds of other like-minded people, is it possible to have a meaningful and substantial dialogue with them?  The answer to both of these questions would be “No”!  That is, according to the organizers of TAG’S community budget forum.

In order to physically bring together and mobilize this virtual community, TAG has organized a town hall meeting on Wednesday, March 23, 2010.  The meeting will be held at Calvary Church in West Philadelphia from 6:00 to 8:00 p.m.  This forum will provide another opportunity for concerned citizens and educational activists to voice their concerns regarding the direction of educational reforms in our city.  It will also create an opportunity for individuals who generally engage in on-line discussion to be able to meet in person. Read the rest of this entry »

Notes from the Field

Submitted by Frank Murphy, March 10, 2011

The general public should carefully consider the data recently released by the school district regarding the academic performance of the students at Audenried High School.  This information was not presented at the time that the decision was made to turn this school into a charter school.  It appears to be a hastily constructed response to the criticism that has been directed at the school district administration regarding their decision to turn this school over to an outside manager.

This reaction is almost identical to the one received by the Meade School community when it was placed on the Renaissance alert list in the spring of 2010.   It was a shocking announcement.  For several years prior to being labeled as a failing school, Meade had achieved Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP) on the Pennsylvania State System of Assessment  (PSSA).  Meade had succeeded over the course of this time to positively transform its school climate and to make considerable instructional progress. The staff at the school was upset and confused by this determination. Read the rest of this entry »