Smart move, Old Man.
Palin was unprepared to be a heart beat away from the presidency. Polls showed that voters were less likely to vote for McCain with Palin on the ballot. Dumb move.
Robinson claims she is against xenophobia. Robinson went to a Democratic dinner. Robinson attempted to portray herself as a hero in her post. Robinson claims she came to the defense of immigration officer. Robinson almost had to courage to insult Hispanics to their face.
Almost turned to the Latinos and said, "Put that in your mojitos and slump'em down, b*tches. Next time - show some g*ddamn respect."
Printing out curse words in their entirety is bad. Racial remarks are perfectly acceptable.
Robinson also wrote, "The Mexicans had Mexican on the brain. They wouldn't shut up about themselves." Robinson also refered to a woman at the Democratic dinner as a "bimbo." Robinson made this assessment because the woman was in the back of the room and had to yell her question. If you doubt the intent of Robinson's post was racist then ask yourself why she would title the post "Democratic Dinner or Race Riot - You Decide."
If you still have doubt about Robinson not being a progressive, ask yourself why is Robinson an employee of StudentsFirst. The nonprofit is run by Michelle Rhee. Rhee worked on Gov. Rick Scott's transition team. No one ever accused anyone employed by Scott as being a progressive.
Rhee's so-called has education reform policies only teachers'-union-hating Republicans could love. Rhee fired 165 Washington D.C. teachers without giving them proper evaluations. 75 teachers were reinstated because Rhee fired them without giving the teachers a reason. Short answer: Rhee just wanted to fire the teachers. Reasons be damned.
I know of no progressive organizations or activists who support Rhee's union-busting and dracanian education policies.
Robinson's educational positions are equally disturbing. In a Washington Post op-ed, Robinson advocates for parents to be arrested if a child skips too many days of school. The main goal of the op-ed was to bring attention to her failed nonprofit the National Coalition for Accountable Parenting. Robinson came out in support of Florida legislation that would take away a parent's driver's licence, if the child cheated on a driver's test.
Exactly what is suppose to be accomplished by these policies? How are parent suppose to get to work if they can't drive? Who takes care of the child if both parents are in jail? The Department of Child & Families have had many child gone missing or turn up dead. Is putting children in a foster home going to save the taxpayers money? The DCF is already underfunded and mismanaged. It is obvious that Robinson has never given these considerations a second thought.
Robinson writes on the NCAP web site that she has been lobbying for legislation in Florida. That statement is false. Robinson is not a registered lobbyist in Florida for the years 2011 or 2012 Her organization NCAP has no physical address. The NCAP web site is a Wordpress blog designed by her husband. It appears that Robinson tried to get a Rhee-style 501 group off the ground and eventually threw in the towel.
Progressive bloggers need to stop running Robinson's NCAP press releases. (Stogie and Florida Progressive Coalition) Robinson is not a progressive.
Update: Robinson admits that she could vote for a Republican.
In about a month, school will be over. My children cannot wait. Me? I’d consider voting for a gun-toting, pro-life Republican (is there any other kind?) if he promised to make year-round schooling a reality.
Robinson goes on to admit she would never support year-round schooling, if she was still teaching. No hypocrisy there.
I don't always agree with Catherine, but she's seen what works & doesn't work in schools and at least she's working to make change happen. Why not try something new, even if it is Rhee-style? Looking fwd sounds like a progressive to me.
ReplyDeleteStudentsFirst is funded by Rupert Murdoch and the billionaire boys' club of education "reformers." Michelle Rhee failed in her job in DC and has no credentials except she's pushing the corporate-takeover of public schools. I question the judgment of anyone who would work for her organization.
ReplyDeleteThe Rhee policies (with the exception of charter schools) have been a disaster. Dawn, if you have a child, do you want to go to jail if that child cheats on a test. That doesn't sound progressive. That sounds like punishing a person for someone else's transgression. Should my bloggers serve jail time because I write something someone doesn't like. They aren't accountable for my words. Catherine talks about accountability. I guarantee she would not be willing to go to jail if one of her kids cheated.
ReplyDeleteEh. Our schools have been failing us terribly for decades so I am open minded enough to listen to any ideas. I was an AmeriCorps volunteer in a Tampa elem. school. My job was to help 2nd graders read better, but it was difficult b/c most were illiterate. I don't know math beyond the 10th grade level and I'm a college grad starting a MA. What we have now & when I started school 15-20 yrs ago is not good enough. I don't have any kids, but my little brother is in prison in large part because he didn't get the tools needed from his parents or teachers. His mistakes are his own, but he would have made better choices had he received a better education. Like I said I don't always agree w/ Catherine, but we all are aware that the US education system sucks. Anything has got to be better than what we have now. If only we could leave politics out of it and do what's best for the students.
ReplyDeleteAnd I forgot to add that I totally hold my parents accountable too. Having them go to jail for a failed test is silly, but I'm all for making parents receive required parental training. If adopted parents have to jump thru hoops to prove themselves, bio parents should as well. My parents didn't have any resources to help my bro, but they also didn't know how to look for any either.
ReplyDeleteDawn, I blogged about Catherine publicly posted conservations she had with a parent of a child with Asperger's Syndrone. Litbrit pointed out how this is against federal law. Robinson doesn't care about parents or students. She's in this to make a buck. Unfortunately for her, conservative education reform doesn't pay to well.
ReplyDeleteOut in Left Field is no longer. My guess is the quite explicit commentary of CDR's blog didn't quite match up with the purity of Rhee's StudentsFirst movement.
ReplyDeleteAlso, I find it humorous that someone with less than ten years experience as an educator has all the answers to solve the problems of the public school system.
Really sad.