A Venue for Citizen Journalists
New 33-unit project makes matters worse
Thanks to generous donations from readers, this site is renovated and improved.
Affordability has been a ruse for creating market rate housing.
Represent Us and Our Interests. Please!
Local action in support of a proposal to rebuild nationwide infrastructure
Who’s Superman when you need him? We are.
From Musk’s big investment all the way to local campaigns, political “contributions” will be re-paid. Here’s how.
Private banks are fighting hard to keep us from starting our own state bank. There’s a reason.
To be so manifestly unqualified and yet not be deeply aware of that speaks exactly to the very point of not being qualified.
Chaos likely to ensue. Catastrophe cannot be ruled out.
There is no escape from the deep-throated roar and the clouds of filth produced by these machines.
A perspective from a very old liberal political junkie.
Deeds, not talk, count on Veterans Day
Several days ago, I received the following from Veterans Service Officer (VSO), Liz Witowski, of the Whatcom County Veterans Program (items below in bold are mine). On this Veterans Day, the
An off-budget $5 Trillion National Infrastructure Bank (NIB), along the lines of the Reconstruction Finance Corporation (RFC) that operated between 1932-1957, means low-cost loans and no additions to the deficit.
Medicare Advantage is NOT Medicare. Medicare is there to provide health care. Medicare Advantage is a business, there to make money.
David Swanson verifies what Jon Humphrey has said for years: good internet access benefits people, cities, counties, and states.
Or perhaps tragic farce or farcical tragedy might be more apt descriptors. Pick one, or both.
After nearly 30 years online, and literally being one of the oldest blogs on the internet, Northwest Citizen needs a major programming overhaul. To do so, we need your help.
The top 20% of commercial banks in the United States control 95% of our total banking assets. Remember “Too-Big-to-Fail”?
The City has created another useless document ensuring nothing changes and mediocre communication services are protected.
Why a vote for Jason Call for Congress is a good vote for conservatives, liberals, Democrats and Republicans. Yes, an unusual idea.
Heaven forbid our reps should attack the main problem, Medicare Advantage, head on. But no. They must nibble around the edges to give the appearance of doing something.
Morally significant double binds force doctors and combat soldiers into identical life and death quandaries, damaging their moral centers. To these two groups we can also add law enforcement officers.
Eric Hirst gives us a brief and clear explanation of the water adjudication process that is beginning now in Whatcom County
“Citing the nonpartisan Medicare Payment Advisory Commission, the paper  [Less Care at Higher Cost—The Medicare Advantage Paradox] notes that Medicare Advantage (MA) plans have overcharged the
Aggressive citizen involvement carried the day.
Build-for-profit, incarceration-inspired housing is destroying our souls.
A 54-photo tour of the ruptured pipe area of the Whatcom Creek explosion taken in July 1999.
The last of the scrap metal is loaded on the ship and it will be gone from our town.
Below is an audio tape of 911 calls, emergency responders’ radio communications, and local radio coverage from June 10, 1999 when Whatcom Creek exploded in Bellingham
Whatcom County’s confusing water rights will be defined by court proceedings beginning now
The foam of secrecy hides all.
If not killed-in-action, they are still dying from the effects of their service in Vietnam.
Local presentations scheduled on a reasonable use framework for water resource management
Broadband-Washing: Greenwashing the Internet
Pacific Northwest organizers join a global campaign to abolish all nukes and push for a city council resolution to start
If the hospitals are smelling a rat, so should Medicare (Dis)Advantage victims (AKA enrollees).
With such a bank in place, we would likely not be scrambling around and asking Congress for rebuild monies, as we are now with the catastrophic event involving the Francis Scott Key bridge on March 26, 2024.
Port of Bellingham commissioners terminate last 13 years of ABC Recycling lease

Charter Schools Redux - Primary Election for School Board upon Us

Charter Schools Redux - Primary Election for School Board upon Us

Charter Schools Redux - Primary Election for School Board upon Us

Candidates for the Bellingham School Board need to let us know where they stand on charter schools.

Last year prior to the November elections, I wrote about the charter school iniative, advising the public not to vote in favor of charter schools in the state of Washington. (You can read my article here.)  Unfortunately, the voters decided by an extremely thin margin, 50.59% to 49.31%, to allow the creation of 40 charter schools within the next 5 years.  This was a poor choice for the reasons I stated in my NWCitizen article, a choice that will come back to haunt us.  Further proof of the inadvisability of charters was revealed in a 17 July 2013 article for Alternet (click here to read) in which Jake Blumgart speaks to the layoffs and salary reductions within the support staffs of charter schools throughout the country.  Given that less than 20% of charters perform better than their counterparts in the public schools, one wonders what is being achieved aside from union busting and job precarity. Blumgard goes on to say:

"Charter school proponents often cite flexibility in hiring and firing as one of the essential attributes of these private-public institutions, which have expanding enrollment steadily since the turn of the century. (During the 2009-2010 school year 1,627,403 students were enrolled in charters nationally, by 2012-2013 the number grew to 2,278,388.) The great majority of America’s 5,997 charter schools (that’s over 1,000 more than in 2009-2010) do not belong to a large network like KIPP, California’s Green Dot, or Philadelphia’s Mastery. Instead they are single site organizations, which usually lack the internal capacity to directly hire support staff. Positions are often outsourced either to international corporations, such as Sodhexo, or local companies like Los Angeles’ Royal Dining Foods which advertises “FOOD SERVERS AT NO EXTRA COST.” (They also offer janitorial services.) Phone calls inquiring about the meaning of “food servers free of charge” were not returned. Without knowing the details, it stands to reason that services can only be provided at a vanishingly low rate if the workers aren’t getting paid much and don’t get many benefits."  

A suit, challenging the constitutionality of Washington charter schools, was filed by a coalition lead by the Washington Education Association in early July. You can read an article about this suit by going to this link. Although July 1st was the deadline to apply for authorization by school districts that intend to establish charters, only one (Spokane) made the request.  That does not mean the fight against charters is of less importance now or that other districts have given up the idea of charters.  As long as the authority to establish these problematic institutions is on the books, voters need to be vigilant about the actions of their own school boards.  We also need to be attentive to adequate compensation and benefits for support service jobs in our community for the sake of our own fiscal health and that of our workers.

Another election is upon us that includes an August 6th primary in which three individuals will vie for the four year term of Director Position 4 of the Belllingham School District 501.  We ought to be asking these candidates where they stand on charter schools.  So, Mr. Blethen, Mr. Beattie and Mr. Smith, what say you?



3 Comments, most recent 11 years ago

Thu Jul 25, 2013

I do not support charter schools. My precinct voted against them by 65% I had a sign that said don’t be charter fooled .They did not pass in Bellingham or Whatcom County. Years ago Rep Dave Quall was pushing this and I found a candidate to challenge him in the primary. I opposed it all 3 times it been on the ballot.

Thu Jul 25, 2013

Hue,

Thanks for replying and for your challenges to these unnecessary, destructive and ineffective school types.

Mon Aug 5, 2013

Friday, when I was at my daughter the public school teacher’s home,she had just returned from putting in four hours prep time for her class in the fall. It is early August now….teacher vacation time. The point is that most public school teachers work hard and care deeply for their students.  While I believe that we need a variety of options for learning styles and desired outcomes in the public school system, the emphasis on charter schools( and excessive testing and “failed teachers and schools” ) seems to be part of a movement away from public education. Good public education and Democracy are inexorably linked. The charter movement seems often to be about money and power rather than choice.  Lets offer choice through our public schools.

- Commenting is closed -

Charter Schools Redux - Primary Election for School Board upon Us

Charter Schools Redux - Primary Election for School Board upon Us

Charter Schools Redux - Primary Election for School Board upon Us

Candidates for the Bellingham School Board need to let us know where they stand on charter schools.

Last year prior to the November elections, I wrote about the charter school iniative, advising the public not to vote in favor of charter schools in the state of Washington. (You can read my article here.)  Unfortunately, the voters decided by an extremely thin margin, 50.59% to 49.31%, to allow the creation of 40 charter schools within the next 5 years.  This was a poor choice for the reasons I stated in my NWCitizen article, a choice that will come back to haunt us.  Further proof of the inadvisability of charters was revealed in a 17 July 2013 article for Alternet (click here to read) in which Jake Blumgart speaks to the layoffs and salary reductions within the support staffs of charter schools throughout the country.  Given that less than 20% of charters perform better than their counterparts in the public schools, one wonders what is being achieved aside from union busting and job precarity. Blumgard goes on to say:

"Charter school proponents often cite flexibility in hiring and firing as one of the essential attributes of these private-public institutions, which have expanding enrollment steadily since the turn of the century. (During the 2009-2010 school year 1,627,403 students were enrolled in charters nationally, by 2012-2013 the number grew to 2,278,388.) The great majority of America’s 5,997 charter schools (that’s over 1,000 more than in 2009-2010) do not belong to a large network like KIPP, California’s Green Dot, or Philadelphia’s Mastery. Instead they are single site organizations, which usually lack the internal capacity to directly hire support staff. Positions are often outsourced either to international corporations, such as Sodhexo, or local companies like Los Angeles’ Royal Dining Foods which advertises “FOOD SERVERS AT NO EXTRA COST.” (They also offer janitorial services.) Phone calls inquiring about the meaning of “food servers free of charge” were not returned. Without knowing the details, it stands to reason that services can only be provided at a vanishingly low rate if the workers aren’t getting paid much and don’t get many benefits."  

A suit, challenging the constitutionality of Washington charter schools, was filed by a coalition lead by the Washington Education Association in early July. You can read an article about this suit by going to this link. Although July 1st was the deadline to apply for authorization by school districts that intend to establish charters, only one (Spokane) made the request.  That does not mean the fight against charters is of less importance now or that other districts have given up the idea of charters.  As long as the authority to establish these problematic institutions is on the books, voters need to be vigilant about the actions of their own school boards.  We also need to be attentive to adequate compensation and benefits for support service jobs in our community for the sake of our own fiscal health and that of our workers.

Another election is upon us that includes an August 6th primary in which three individuals will vie for the four year term of Director Position 4 of the Belllingham School District 501.  We ought to be asking these candidates where they stand on charter schools.  So, Mr. Blethen, Mr. Beattie and Mr. Smith, what say you?



3 Comments, most recent 11 years ago

Thu Jul 25, 2013

I do not support charter schools. My precinct voted against them by 65% I had a sign that said don’t be charter fooled .They did not pass in Bellingham or Whatcom County. Years ago Rep Dave Quall was pushing this and I found a candidate to challenge him in the primary. I opposed it all 3 times it been on the ballot.

Thu Jul 25, 2013

Hue,

Thanks for replying and for your challenges to these unnecessary, destructive and ineffective school types.

Mon Aug 5, 2013

Friday, when I was at my daughter the public school teacher’s home,she had just returned from putting in four hours prep time for her class in the fall. It is early August now….teacher vacation time. The point is that most public school teachers work hard and care deeply for their students.  While I believe that we need a variety of options for learning styles and desired outcomes in the public school system, the emphasis on charter schools( and excessive testing and “failed teachers and schools” ) seems to be part of a movement away from public education. Good public education and Democracy are inexorably linked. The charter movement seems often to be about money and power rather than choice.  Lets offer choice through our public schools.

- Commenting is closed -
A Venue for Citizen Journalists
New 33-unit project makes matters worse
Thanks to generous donations from readers, this site is renovated and improved.
Affordability has been a ruse for creating market rate housing.
Represent Us and Our Interests. Please!
Local action in support of a proposal to rebuild nationwide infrastructure
Who’s Superman when you need him? We are.
From Musk’s big investment all the way to local campaigns, political “contributions” will be re-paid. Here’s how.
Private banks are fighting hard to keep us from starting our own state bank. There’s a reason.
To be so manifestly unqualified and yet not be deeply aware of that speaks exactly to the very point of not being qualified.
Chaos likely to ensue. Catastrophe cannot be ruled out.
There is no escape from the deep-throated roar and the clouds of filth produced by these machines.
A perspective from a very old liberal political junkie.
Deeds, not talk, count on Veterans Day
Several days ago, I received the following from Veterans Service Officer (VSO), Liz Witowski, of the Whatcom County Veterans Program (items below in bold are mine). On this Veterans Day, the
An off-budget $5 Trillion National Infrastructure Bank (NIB), along the lines of the Reconstruction Finance Corporation (RFC) that operated between 1932-1957, means low-cost loans and no additions to the deficit.
Medicare Advantage is NOT Medicare. Medicare is there to provide health care. Medicare Advantage is a business, there to make money.
David Swanson verifies what Jon Humphrey has said for years: good internet access benefits people, cities, counties, and states.
Or perhaps tragic farce or farcical tragedy might be more apt descriptors. Pick one, or both.
After nearly 30 years online, and literally being one of the oldest blogs on the internet, Northwest Citizen needs a major programming overhaul. To do so, we need your help.
The top 20% of commercial banks in the United States control 95% of our total banking assets. Remember “Too-Big-to-Fail”?
The City has created another useless document ensuring nothing changes and mediocre communication services are protected.
Why a vote for Jason Call for Congress is a good vote for conservatives, liberals, Democrats and Republicans. Yes, an unusual idea.
Heaven forbid our reps should attack the main problem, Medicare Advantage, head on. But no. They must nibble around the edges to give the appearance of doing something.
Morally significant double binds force doctors and combat soldiers into identical life and death quandaries, damaging their moral centers. To these two groups we can also add law enforcement officers.
Eric Hirst gives us a brief and clear explanation of the water adjudication process that is beginning now in Whatcom County
“Citing the nonpartisan Medicare Payment Advisory Commission, the paper  [Less Care at Higher Cost—The Medicare Advantage Paradox] notes that Medicare Advantage (MA) plans have overcharged the
Aggressive citizen involvement carried the day.
Build-for-profit, incarceration-inspired housing is destroying our souls.
A 54-photo tour of the ruptured pipe area of the Whatcom Creek explosion taken in July 1999.
The last of the scrap metal is loaded on the ship and it will be gone from our town.
Below is an audio tape of 911 calls, emergency responders’ radio communications, and local radio coverage from June 10, 1999 when Whatcom Creek exploded in Bellingham
Whatcom County’s confusing water rights will be defined by court proceedings beginning now
The foam of secrecy hides all.
If not killed-in-action, they are still dying from the effects of their service in Vietnam.
Local presentations scheduled on a reasonable use framework for water resource management
Broadband-Washing: Greenwashing the Internet
Pacific Northwest organizers join a global campaign to abolish all nukes and push for a city council resolution to start
If the hospitals are smelling a rat, so should Medicare (Dis)Advantage victims (AKA enrollees).
With such a bank in place, we would likely not be scrambling around and asking Congress for rebuild monies, as we are now with the catastrophic event involving the Francis Scott Key bridge on March 26, 2024.
Port of Bellingham commissioners terminate last 13 years of ABC Recycling lease