Etc.

I get a very small mention in this piece about outgoing WCSD sup Morrison.
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One way to get rid of "surplussed" teachers, especially those veteran teachers who cost "too much money," is to have the "turnaround" model as proposed by NCLB and other education "reforms."

To obtain the funds, a turnaround school must rehire less than 50 percent of its former faculty. In the case of the 24 schools, this means that approximately 2,600 career teachers will be put into a pool of substitute staff with no guarantee of working at the same location from day to day or of even knowing where they will go.

Although Bloomberg has refused to commit to a number, his political rivals allege that he plans to close 75 more schools next year.

The PEP voted to shut the schools at a pubic meeting in Brooklyn last Thursday night. Fewer than 300 people attended, reflecting a trend over the last few years in which progressively smaller audiences have assembled as many parents, teachers and students realize that their opinions will have no impact on how the panel will vote.

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You bet your ass Sleazy Deasy of LAUSD is above the law. That's par for the course for administrators, including superintendents/would-be dictators:

We have not been afforded more than a pretense of due process in years in any forum outside of LAUSD's control. This has gone on so long that most teachers actually believe Deasy has the legal power to fire them at will and on a whim as we saw several times last week, when he marched into teachers classes unannounced and did just that. To him its sport and we are trophies. He's getting accolades for ruining our lives, in part, because we have largely retreated instead of taking a stand for each other and ourselves.

The fair and respectful treatment of others in the code of ethics doesn't seem apply to us. When Teach for America (TFA) expressed concerns about due process in Sacramento last week at a hearing about a bill to change laws on firing teachers, Mr. Deasy narrowed his flinty eyes and barked:

"How much due process do child molesters need!?"

I had a stupid c*** for a principal at WCSD who fired me because I think the POS actually thought "right to work" was the same thing as "at-will employment." Why should superintendents and other administrtors feel differently in a closed shop state? They do whatever the hell they want.
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School boards are under seige. Once again an institution that is democratic in nature is being subverted by privatization forces:

Threats to local control often are characterized as educational reform, the panelists said, and they include: charter schools, bids for mayoral control, voucher programs, virtual charter schools, for-profit school operators, state and federal funding tied to adoption of specific programs and approaches, and efforts to standardize curriculum and textbooks.

“We are rapidly becoming the educational equivalent of local McDonald’s franchises,” said David Little, director of governmental affairs for the New York State School Boards Association. “It will feed you, but it’s not the optimal meal.”

Historically, Little traced the trend to the time when individual states began putting the obligation to provide sound education to all students into their constitutions. While it stemmed from noble intentions and gave birth to statewide funding programs for schools, it also opened the first door to outside intervention.