Category Archives: StudentsFirst

Our ‘friend’ Michele Rhee is at it in Pennsylvania

Another day, another effort by education ‘reformer’ Michele Rhee to destroy public education in the name of reforming it.

This time it hits closer to home, as according to Laura Clawson at Daily Kos Labor, Rhee is working with former Lynn Swann campaign manager Ray Zaborney on a bill to lobby for passage of school privatization (masked as “vouchers”) legislation.

In case you’re wondering why efforts to privatize K-12 education get so much air (screen?) time on a blog representing a university faculty union, I have at least these two answers for you: (1) what happens to K-12 is often a harbinger of what policy makers want to do to us; and (2) in the not-very-deep subtext of Rhee’s (and Gates’ and Duncan’s and others) push to privatize public education is an anti-labor, anti-union impulse that we as a union should be utterly committed to stomping out in any way, at any time we cross paths with it.

Simple as that.

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Filed under Advocacy, APSCUF, Arne Duncan, charter schools, Education reform, K-12 Education, lobbying, Michelle Rhee, PA Senate Bill 1, PASSHE, Privatization, Public education, Public employee unions, public employees, StudentsFirst, Teacher unions, Vouchers/School Choice

As if you needed it, more evidence that Michelle Rhee and her ilk are NOT OUR FRIENDS!

From today’s (Thurs 8/18) Daily Kos:

In an entry called “Rhee’s StudentsFirst Received Murdoch Money,” labor writer Laura Clawson reports that our friend Michelle Rhee–she whose staff is helping conservative legislators all over the country draft virulently anti-union bills–is taking money from, of all people, Rupert Murdoch.

Do you really think Rupert Murdoch would be making 7-figure contributions to an organization that liked unions? Or working-class or middle-class people?

I don’t either.

 

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Filed under Michelle Rhee, Rupert Murdoch, StudentsFirst