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Friday, February 10, 2012
Johnson to lead two national education panels
by Kathleen Haley, published on April 26, 2010 at 9:18 PM
Storyline: Sacramento City Hall / Politics
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Mayor Kevin Johnson will have the attention of U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan on a regular basis.
Johnson told reporters at a Monday press conference that Duncan selected him to co-chair a mayoral advisory council that will focus on federal education issues. The Duncan panel is one of two education panels to which Johnson was recently appointed: He will also lead a U.S. Conference of Mayors task force on K-12 public schools.
Johnson described education as a key “civil rights issue” and said the majority of Sacramento schools are not keeping up with state standards.
“The simplest thing I can do is make sure we do a better job of aligning our city programs and services with the school district,” he said, adding that the services would include public safety, facilities, and out-of-school programs.
He noted that he wants to pursue education advocacy efforts more aggressively.
Johnson said he will discuss with Duncan education developments at the local level. He noted that his input on local education could affect national policies.
A KFBK journalist asked Johnson if he wanted to gain more jurisdiction over the school system.
Johnson responded that he did not think the state would allow mayors to assume power over the schools.
Photo by Anthony Bento.
Kathleen Haley is a staff reporter for The Sacramento Press.
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"He's using the mayor's office to further HIS agenda and we're all paying for it."
"Kevin Johnson should stay far, far away from our schools or we will be in bigger trouble. The warning signs have been there from the start."
Amazing that on top of all the illegal use of funds/staff, union-busting and destruction of Sacramento High School, plus various sexual abuse cases, the biggest red flag is the LACK OF QUALIFICATIONS.
Business. Privatization. Profits. Public service and public property being (mis)appropriated to benefit the private sector.
Numbers can be cooked, and your brother's shackup job Michelle Rhee is the QUEEN of gaming the educational system, and her reputation is about as toxic as Dick Cheney's right about now...
The SCUSD has been cooking St. Hope's 'numbers' from day one to justify its virulently antiunion charterization pilot project, arranging for undisclosed financing to keep the marginally operational 'school' afloat in secret... because if people actually knew how broke that school was, how it hires unqualified teachers, and with a staff turnover that rivals a phone bank operation, not to mention the scandalous conduct of your brother himself, YOU'D BE SHUT DOWN in an INSTANT!
So, stop perpetuating the big lie your brother has put forward -- WE SEE THROUGH YOU!
Policticians and Corporations should not be running our schools. Their motives are profits and votes, not education.
The book is gaining traction, and has been distributed to teachers organizations nationwide, and is being cited against expansion of charterization moves like those Duncan advocates....
It's likely that Duncan is very aware of the book, but he dances to another tune -- of vested corporate interests and the foundations they support in dicating the privatization/charterization/choice of public education, and gutting what's left of teacher collective bargaining... This is consistent with the Obama administration's almost neocon view toward this issue and others, aligning themselves with corporate interests rather than front line teachers and Americans of modest means... much to the consternation of the progressives, like me, who supported him and voted for him...
On the other hand, KJ was quite transparent, and has become moreso, despite his efforts to conceal his past, since his election. I wouldn't vote for him on a bet, and it's doubtful he could read and comprehend anything other than the dust jacket on Ravitch's book...
School chief: Mayors need control of urban schools
By LIBBY QUAID – 6 days ago
WASHINGTON (AP) — Education Secretary Arne Duncan said Tuesday that mayors should take control of big-city school districts where academic performance is suffering.
Duncan said mayoral control provides the strong leadership and stability needed to overhaul urban schools.
Mayors run the schools in fewer than a dozen big cities; only seven have full control over management and operations. That includes Chicago, where Duncan headed the school system until joining the Obama administration.
Speaking at a forum with mayors and superintendents, Duncan promised to help more mayors take over.
"At the end of my tenure, if only seven mayors are in control, I think I will have failed," Duncan said.
He offered to do whatever he can to make the case. "I'll come to your cities," Duncan said. "I'll meet with your editorial boards. I'll talk with your business communities. I will be there."
He has been here already, right? Uh oh...here we go...
Education as a public issue has taken a back seat to all of the big ticket items, and this KJ appointment is just the straw that breaks the camel's back... I cannot believe that if people really knew his background and the utter failure of St. Hope they would let him anywhere NEAR schools....
Isn't that a big part of this? Jumping through hoops instead of educating children?
... or their children. I met two boys from the first graduating class of St. HOPE. They told me "we know some of those girls....." The impact of seeing their young faces, twisted in disgust and lost innocence is part of the painful legacy here; the impacts on fellow students, teachers and young men nearly as awful as on young women, betrayed by those entrusted with their care.