Category Archives: Links

Two MUST-READ posts from the KUXchange (KU’s local blog)

1. If you’re still not convinced that the threat of retrenchment is real, even at WCU, where President Weisenstein has been telling us for two years now about the sound financial health of the university, you need to read Kevin Mahoney’s post, I Went to Harrisburg, and My Head Exploded.  I’ve known Kevin for a long time now and know that he’s often motivated to fight against this kind of madness but rarely taken by surprise.  Even with all the research KU-APSCUF has done in the last couple of years, it was hard to anticipate what they’ve found.

2.  Contributor mslibrarygoddess says it loud and proud, in Don’t Want to Accept Responsibility? Blame Teachers! A couple of marquis moments.

Responding to the assertion by some politicians that teachers are the greedy ones:

[R]ather than seeing teachers as advocates, the government is making them out to be greedy millionaires who want to line their pockets with your tax dollars.

Hmmmm….if that’s what teachers were doing, wouldn’t they all be politicians? After all, aren’t politicians the people that have taken jobs that were supposed to be civil service positions, things you volunteered for to serve your community and if you were paid it was a modest salary, and made them into career positions that eat up tax dollars?

And:

Teachers are more than teachers. We do the work of educators, counselors, administrators, disciplinarians. We become more than just someone standing up in front of a room lecturing. We become people that are charged with the emotional and physical well being o students in addition to their academic well being.

And we do it all while we are under appreciated, while jobs are being taken away, while class sizes are exploding out of control and the time of the year when we work is dedicated to nothing but work. And we get blamed for everything because we speak out.

Taken together, these two posts underscore the OBLIGATION we have to fight against a radical agenda that doesn’t want an educated citizenry, wants to funnel pubic money into private pockets, and doesn’t much care about what else happens to anybody.

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Filed under Advocacy, APSCUF, Budget, Budget Cuts, Budget Deficit, Collective Bargaining, Communities, Kutztown University, Links, PASSHE, Public education, Retrenchment, Shock Doctrine, Student activism, Tom Corbett, Tuition increase, West Chester University

Teachers getting fired all over the place

Via Jana Nestlerode, two articles about mass teacher firings–

1.  Under Michigan’s new emergency manager law, the city of Detroit’s emergency appointee has sent layoff notices to all unionized teachers in the city.

2.  Providence, RI has simply dismissed all its public school teachers. They will, of course, rehire some.

If your response to this is, “That’s awful but it won’t happen here” or anything like that, I can’t tell you how much I’d love for you to be right.

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Filed under Budget, Budget Cuts, Communities, K-12 Education, Links, Retrenchment

The good news is good BECAUSE of what we’re doing. That means we need to keep doing it.

This article from CBS Philly should sound two chords at once:

1. PASSHE’s position in the Legislature is improving; even some very conservative Republicans, who otherwise don’t support much public anything, seem to be on board with protecting at least most of our budget allocation.

2. The reason the Legislature is coming around to this position is that WE ARE MAKING THEM. It’s our efforts on the streets, in the press, in hallways, and everywhere else that are pushing an otherwise not-often-friendly legislature in the right direction.

The upshot is, as our colleague Cherise Pollard (who pointed me to this link) put it, we have to keep working.  We should take this news as ENCOURAGING, but it’s encouraging us to KEEP PUSHING.

Tired of getting yelled at in ALL CAPS?  Show us what you’re doing to protect our schools and we won’t have to :).

 

 

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Filed under Advocacy, APSCUF, Budget, Links, PASSHE, Penn State University, Student activism, Tom Corbett, Tuition increase, University of Pittsburgh, West Chester University

Coverage of Rallies, Links to Budget News

Folks: I’ve been a little slow getting this list of links out; fortunately, our colleague Kevin Mahoney at the KUXchange put them all together so I don’t have to.  Nothing I can say about these that he hasn’t already… 

–Seth

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Filed under APSCUF, Budget, Kutztown University, Links, Lock Haven University, PASSHE, Rally, Student activism, Tom Corbett, Tuition increase, West Chester University

Information on Monday’s Protest in H’burg

A couple of links, and then info on joining the WCU contingent–

From the State APSCUF blog, announcing the rally and the line-up of speakers

One of the coolest actions I’ve seen anybody undertake yet as part of this campaign: members of Lock Haven’t track team are running to the rally.  From Lock Haven.  To Harrisburg.

I know I’m cajoling you, but for goodness sakes, people.  If 30 track team members from Lock Haven can put together a 100-mile relay run, we can find 20 people to ride a bus to Harrisburg.

Go!  If you want to be on the bus, be in the parking lot behind Swope @ 8:15 Monday morning.  You’ll be back in town by 5 pm at the latest.  Lunch provided, no expense.  Go join fellow students from across PA to let the Legislature know they can’t do this!

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Filed under Advocacy, APSCUF, Budget, Links, Lock Haven University, PASSHE, Rally, Student activism, Tom Corbett, West Chester University

Links for 3/18

A light day in terms of quantity, but important stuff.  The second article should make us fight harder, not rest on our laurels.  Our efforts, as new as they are, are already starting to make a dent–but they won’t finish the job unless we KEEP PUSHING.

 

Gov. Corbett’s Education Cuts 10 Times Higher in Poor Districts Than Wealthy Ones

I know some of you are less inclined to use a term like “class warfare” than I am, but the data and analysis in this piece make pretty clear that Gov. Corbett has no interest in serving the poor and working classes of this state (if you had any doubts).

If you have kids or family members in school districts that aren’t upper-middle class or higher, you should read this too–see what’s coming down the pike.

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Corbett May Have Lost Some Budget Support

Aside from the assumption that he EVER had support for the kind of drastic proposals he’s made, the most interesting feature of this article is the way it exposes how out of touch Corbett is with his own state.  The usual “I don’t govern by polls” stance rings even more anti-democratic when the numbers are so overwhelmingly in support of the exact institutions (K-12, higher ed) he’s attacking, and in favor of taxing the very wealthy to pay for those institutions.

What’s hard about this, Governor?

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Filed under Budget, K-12 Education, Links, Poll numbers

Links for 3/17

Links for today! And perhaps a bit more editorializing than usual :).

Poll: Most in PA Oppose Corbett Education Cuts

Thanks to Bill Lalicker for bringing this to my attention; for PASSHE faculty member and APSCUF leader Terry Madonna reports on the results of a poll indicating that huge majorities of Pennsylvanians, including most members of the Assembly, do NOT support Corbett’s proposal.

That, however, does NOT alleviate the need to keep pushing and fighting.  Until our budget is protected, we must keep after it.

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Via Jana Nestlerode:

Tom Corbett’s Proposed Higher Education Cuts Draw Protests

Good coverage including student responses from Penn State and Pitt.  By the way, PASSHE students, this ups the stakes for you.  Gotta get the same kind of press, right?

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Corbett Defends Higher Education Cuts

The Governor points to Penn State’s tuition increases as the explanation for his draconian budget cuts.  It doesn’t seem to occur to him that PASSHE and Penn State are different.  And this guy has the guts to talk about anybody, ever, making an informed decision about anything?

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Budget Proposal Targets the Wrong Special Interests

Editorial from The Mercury (Potttown/Tri-County) does a nice job laying out the social class issues involved in the Governor’s proposal.

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Filed under Budget, Links, PASSHE, Penn State University, Poll numbers, Tom Corbett, University of Pittsburgh

Links for Tues 3/15

Links for Tues 3/15 (and overnight):

Penn State University’s President Responds to Budget Cut Proposal

Pennsylvania’s Corbett Expands Conservative War on the Middle Class

Assault on Collective Bargaining Illegal, Says International Labor Rights Group

Corbett’s Unreal Budget for Higher Education

Just as a reminder, if you want links posted, send them to Seth.  It’s helpful if you can include the headline or Title Bar for the page.

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Filed under Budget, Collective Bargaining, Links, Tom Corbett, Tuition increase, Uncategorized