Up North Progressive
Politics and commentary for Northern MichiganAn Open Letter To Our New State Superintendent of Education Brian Whiston
Sunday , 22, March 2015 Section 16 5 Comments
Congratulations on being selected for the important position of State Superintendent of Education. You have entered into a position where there are many old and new challenges to face. Public education in Michigan faces constant attacks from both the state and corporate education reformers, often working together to take our schools out of the hands of elected school boards, the professional educators who work in the schools, and parents. These are problems our public schools have faced for years, which leads to important questions in which your office must work to find solutions.
- How do you intend to protect and maintain the constitutional integrity of the Department of Education against a hostile governor’s office undermining public education for corporate interests in any way possible?
- How do you feel about our governor sharing state school business with Jeb Bush via his personal email account? It seems odd that a person who doesn’t live in Michigan, or serve any official capacity for the state would have access to state business.
- Corporate takeover of public schools mislabeled as “school choice” was a question that all of the candidates struggled with. Do you feel it necessary to placate the people who want to eliminate public education in the state by claiming they offer “school choice?”
- How will you hold the authorizers of for-profit charter schools accountable when poor-performing schools are allowed to stay open?
- How will you hold authorizers of for-profit charter schools accountable when they allow convicted criminals to use the schools they manage as money laundering schemes with the taxpayers’ money?
- Will you consider reinstating the cap on for-profit charter schools until the mess they are creating of our education system is properly addressed? Allowing more wasting of tax dollars by for-profit charter schools when so many are failing our school children is incredibly irresponsible of the state.
- How will you stop the raiding of the school aid fund by state government to pay for projects such as the new Wings Stadium/recreation complex in downtown Detroit? Do you think state school funds should be used to turn Detroit into a rich people’s playground, or moved into the general fund to pay for things other than educating Michigan’s children?
- Are you aware that corporations such as Pearson may be spying on school children even when they are not in school just in case they talk about a question that was on a standardized test? Michigan doesn’t use PARCC, but will you be able to ensure that students taking standardized tests in Michigan schools will not have their privacy infringed upon by the company that publishes Michigan’s standardized test?
- What is your opinion of high-stakes standardized testing? Do you believe it accurately assesses student achievement?
- Do you believe that high-stakes standardized testing is a fair and honest way to evaluate a teacher’s effectiveness in the classroom, even when based on a previous year’s test when the students weren’t in their classroom?
- Do you support the parents’ rights to opt their children out of high-stakes standardized testing?
- Do you view public school teachers as professional educators?
I hope this short list of questions will help you see the issues that public education in Michigan faces. Teachers and schools face hostile politicians and corporate education reformers working together to eliminate public education as much as they possibly can. Some of these reformers see public schools as institutions undermining their narrow idea of patriotism; others see the money public education receives and want to cash in, as in the case of for-profit charter schools. Michigan’s school children need effective leadership in the Department of Education to ensure that public schools – the schools that have always offered the best value for Michigan taxpayers – have the support and funding to provide the best education possible.
Regards,
Up North Progressive
BREAKING: DNR Director Keith Creagh Approves Graymont Upper Peninsula Land Purchase
Thursday , 19, March 2015 Community, DNR, Environment 82 Comments
Keith Creagh announced a few minutes ago at the DNR Natural Resources Commission meeting in Roscommon that he would approve the land purchase proposal offered by Graymont. The Canadian mining company now has the green light to turn over 10,000 acres of state-owned forest land into open pit and underground limestone quarries.
The DNR Natural Resources Commission rejected the January proposal in that it was too vague and there was no business plan. Graymont raised the price per ton it will pay the state to 30 cents, and offered the town of Rexton half a million dollars over 5 years to go into a fund to be used by the community and local schools. The new proposal provided more detail including:
- The direct sale of 1,781 acres of state-owned land and 7,026 acres of mineral rights to Graymont.
- Land exchange whereby Graymont will acquire 830 acres of state-owned land.
- A ten year option to acquire an easement of 55 acres of state-owned land with an identified area of 535 acres.
Graymont received mineral rights and ownership of land that totals $4.5 million. The DNR will use money received from this land deal to purchase other public land. The largest portion of land that will be an underground mine will still be managed by the state and the public will still have access to large portion of it.
The questions that are not addressed in this deal is the impact such a large mining operation will have on air and water quality in the area. The total land now being turned into open pit and underground mines spans three counties. More people living in the UP will be affected than just the people of Rexton. There’s promises from Graymont that they will protect important wetlands in the area, and public easements will be moved at company expense.
Michigan land and precious natural resources continue to be sold off to low bidders, and the landscape of Michigan will be changed forever – and not for the better.
It’s Only A Crime When Someone I’m Afraid Of Does It: Tea Party Charter School Justice
Wednesday , 18, March 2015 Section 16, Tea Party, Tea Party Charter School, Tealiban Leave a comment
On March 15, 2015 Jay McNally issued a statement that the prosecutor in Livingston County would go forward with pressing misdemeanor charges against Glen Ikens after his arrest on February 28th from Lindbom Elementary School, where an open house was being held for people interested in the proposed Hillsdale College classical charter school. The Livingston Daily Press & Argus wrote an editorial on March 16th stating Glenn Ikens had no point to going to the open house except to cause problems. The Press & Argus hasn’t been paying very close attention to what has been going on in Brighton for the past couple of years with this for-profit charter school, and the racist Islamophobe trying to open it. The editorial also missed the mark in suggesting Pasquale Battaglia has a solution to failing public schools, when his for-profit charter school is part of the problem. The editorial finishes with:
We don’t think he would appreciate someone disrupting an open house for a public school; a charter school is simply another type of public school.
Whoever wrote this editorial is completely wrong, because charter schools are operated by for-profit corporations using taxpayer money. The other interesting point however comes from the assumption that Glenn Ikens wouldn’t appreciate someone disrupting public school meetings he attended. Does Pasquale Battaglia always feel threatened when someone vocalizes criticism of what’s happening at a local school? 
Pasquale Battaglia not only approved of this individual disrupting a public meeting, but admonished the rest of the people at the meeting for not standing up and supporting the disrupter. Of course, the person arrested at the public school meeting being discussed on twitter spoke out against Common Core. Battaglia tweets often about the evils of Common Core, which is why he’s opening for-profit charter schools to rescue children from its clutches. Interesting that Battaglia only objects to public disruption when it’s someone objecting to him. What exactly is Pasquale Battaglia afraid of? Perhaps that people might figure out he’s lying about his for-profit charter school being a taxpayer-funded tea party religious school, just as Glenn Ikens claims. Pasquale Battaglia for all of his bluster on social media about protecting our precious freedoms from the progressive usurpers only cares about freedom when he has something to say. When someone else has something to say he doesn’t like, he’s all too willing to deprive them of their freedom.
Good For The Goose, Good For The Gander: Snyder, Jeb Used Private Emails To Discuss State Business
Tuesday , 17, March 2015 Nerd Problems, Presidential Primary 2016 Leave a comment
As the Republicans continue their futile quest to manufacture some scandal that makes Hillary Clinton less of a shoe-in for 2016 (not gonna happen), Progress Michigan found that Governor Nerd used private email to discuss state business with former governor of Florida and 2016 GOP hopeful Jeb Bush. So far, the email scandal has about as much traction as President Obama’s tan suit (which he looked damn good in). Unless you watch Fox News, then you think there’s actually an email scandal.
No one will ever forget Project Skunkworks, the secret meetings being held by tech companies and secret right hand man Richard Baird to come up with a school voucher system in a state where school vouchers are unconstitutional. And let’s not forget the NERD fund which once we found out about and the Nerd shuffled it to who knows where was being used to pay state employee salaries nine times higher than what the state paid them.
If there is one thing Rick Snyder has always been good at during his time as Michigan’s chief nerd, it’s his secrecy from the people who pay his salary – the taxpayers. In Snyder terms, he calls himself CEO of Michigan, and that makes us his stockholders. He’s supposed to be serving the citizens of Michigan while he’s governor, but like all CEOs he prefers to cater to the whims of big business instead.
Progress Michigan now urges Governor Snyder to release all personal emails where he discussed state business, as well as former Governor Jeb Bush to release all state business emails discussed using the personal email address jeb@jeb.org
Good for the goose, good for the gander. If elected public servants using private emails to conduct official state business is an issue because Secretary of State Clinton did it, then it will be good for all of our elected officials to come clean about the practice.
Why You Need To Opt Out Your Children From Standardized Testing NOW: @Pearson Is Spying On Your Kids
Saturday , 14, March 2015 Section 16 5 Comments
In the Hell on Earth that has come to be corporate education reform in the United States, the reality of Common Core came to a head in New Jersey yesterday when it was revealed by the Superintendent of The Wachtung Hills Regional High School District that Pearson Education had triggered an alert that there was a breach on social media when a student tweeted about a test question. Pearson monitors all student social media accounts during the testing period searching for any discussion about the tests students are forced to take.
Public school teachers and concerned parents have been spreading the word that standardized testing under the new Common Core curriculum standards ever since the new standards were being adopted by state boards of education all over the country. Corporate education reform puts too much power into the hands of large multinational corporations (Pearson headquarters is in the UK) and out of the jurisdiction of local school districts and the parents of children taking these tests.
Pearson’s website describes their monitoring of student social media during the testing period.
Sharing ideas with others online can be really beneficial when you’re studying or revising. However, there are limits to the amount of information you can share, and you need to be careful not to break the rules. If you’re in doubt about what you can and can’t discuss, it’s always best to check with your teacher.
Sharing too much information with others is an example of ‘malpractice’.
We have an obligation to investigate any case where there is the suggestion that you’ve acted improperly.
We understand that sometimes you are going to talk about us and our assessments with your friends. During stressful periods, some comments may not be very flattering. However, we’d like to ask you to act responsibly when discussing us or your exams and coursework online.
The software Pearson uses to track student social media is produced by Tracx. The link to the case study currently redirects to a 404 page. The image displayed shows how their software shows tweets discussing Pearson.
Currently, Michigan students are not participating in the PARCC test, but taking the M STEP assessment this year only. In December of 2013, The Michigan Board of Education selected the Smarter Balanced assessment, another test that is aligned with Common Core. The issue the state is having comes from the state legislature passing bills to make it illegal to use Common Core in schools in the state. Pearson curriculum materials are still being used in Michigan schools however, and the new GED test Michigan uses since January of 2014 is also a Pearson product. The gradebook program many schools in Michigan use, PowerSchool, is again, a Pearson education product.
Pearson spying on students’ social media activity is more than “a bit disturbing.” This smacks of 1984 levels of privacy violation, especially on the nation’s school children. Welcome to the world of corporate education reform, endorsed enthusiastically by Rick Snyder, GLEP, Dick and Betsy DeVos and everyone else you can think of in the US working to destroy public education and turn it into a privatized corporate behemoth. If you haven’t done it yet, you need to opt your children out of the standardized test.
Pasquale Battaglia: Still Pushing For Tea Party Charter School
Friday , 13, March 2015 Section 16, Tea Party 1 CommentAnd still demonstrating why he has no business ever opening a school at all.
Scientists warning about climate change, which is very real and very much due to human activity, is just a ploy to get more money from the government.
Not unlike a certain racist tea party member who wants the government to fund his for-profit Christian charter schools.
Optometrist, Charter School Manager, and Now Convicted Felon Can Be Added To His Curriculum Vitae: The Continuing Story of Dr. Steve Ingersoll
Wednesday , 11, March 2015 Dr. Ingersoll, Section 16 1 CommentToday in federal district court Steve Ingersoll was found guilty on 3 of 6 fraud charges. His literal partner in crime, Roy Bradley, was found guilty of a sole count of fraud. The wives and sibling also named in the indictment were acquitted. Ingersoll is still free on bond, and will be sentenced on June 16, 2015. While we wait to see if Ingersoll spends any time in prison for his white collar crime, Let’s take a look at the aftermath of what he has spent the past two decades doing.
Ingersoll got into the for-profit charter school racket in the 1990’s. According to a teacher who worked for him, his shell game with taxpayer money even happened back then. Defrauding the government out of money was nothing new to him, and despite Dan Quisenberry’s laughable quote in the Bay City Times, the fact that this case eventually ended up in court had nothing to do with excellent oversight and accountability of the authorizer. Lake Superior State University had documentation from Grand Traverse Academy’s lawyer and Mike Flanagan that there was a problem with Ingersoll’s finances and Lake Superior State University did absolutely nothing to stop Ingersoll. It took a federal indictment to reign him in.
LSSU did such a good job with their program of oversight and accountability they chartered another for-profit charter school in Bay City for Ingersoll, where a contractor with a track record of hiring homeless people off the street and paying them under the table with cash removed asbestos illegally. This means there are school children breathing air inside a building where asbestos particles float around to be inhaled. Bradley was found guilty of that in an earlier trial, but he’s in the process of appealing that decision.
The state of Michigan needs to reconsider allowing more for-profit charter schools to open. Ingersoll is one person out of many currently taking state and federal money to operate these schools, and it’s obvious from what just happened with one charter school manager that there is no accountability and oversight happening at all. Millions in taxpayer money gone, and what is there to show for it? Charter schools that rank at the bottom in academic achievement and a curriculum that includes controversial, unproven vision therapy touted to cure ADHD and Autism. Bay City Academy seems to be subconsciously admitting something with this kindergarten round up poster recently posted online, don’t you think?
Graymont Makes Third Offer for 10,000 Acres of State Owned Land: You Still Have Time To Contact The DNR
Tuesday , 10, March 2015 DNR, Environment 17 Comments
On March 6, 2015, British Columbia-based limestone company Graymont submitted a third revised proposal to purchase 10,000 acres of state forest land that spans three Upper Peninsula counties. The royalty for the limestone is still 30 cents per ton. Changes to the proposal include the value of the timber on the land in the price, and allowing the public and the DNR mediation and arbitration over land use. The changes to the proposal meet the approval of the DNR commission, and Keith Creager will make his final decision on March 19.
The economic development fund Graymont offered to the town and school district in Rexton is still in place. The amount of the grant would be $100,000 per year for five years starting in 2015. On the application, Graymont doesn’t know if they own the mineral rights to the land or not, and they still offer no business plan for how many jobs the mining operation would create for the community. Unlike in January, this third proposal has been approved, which means the state may agree to sell the Canadian company 10,000 acres of land that belongs to the people of Michigan.
What will the region look like if Graymont wins their bid? About 2,000 acres of the land will be open-pit mines. 7,000 will be used for underground mining. The proposal mentions dolomite as well as limestone extraction from the land. The 7,000 acre parcel would still be under the management of the state, however Graymont wants to reserve 400 acres of that land for infrastructure.
Graymont’s proposal includes relocating trails used by the public so people can still access the parts of the land Graymont will allow the public to use. Once mining operations are completed, Graymont will give the state “Right of First Offer” to buy the land back.
Considering the amount of money Graymont will potentially make if their proposal is accepted, they stand to make a lot more money that 30 cents per ton and half a million dollars to pay off the citizens of Rexton. Wetlands are going to disappear, and people’s air and water quality are going to suffer. The parcels of land Graymont wants spans over three counties. This is a major mining operation that will permanently change the landscape.
People wishing to leave comments with the DNR can still do so until March 19. You can write to Keith Creagh by email at DNRGraymontProposalComments@michigan.gov or mail a comment to Customer Service Center, ATTN: Kerry Wieber, 8717 N. Roscommon Road, Roscommon, MI 48653. If you haven’t done so yet, please take the time to email or write and let your voice be heard.
President Obama Isn’t Black Enough To March In Selma According To Dave Agema.
Monday , 9, March 2015 History Nerd, Tea Party Leave a comment
Dave Agema just doesn’t know when to quit. You would have thought his New Year’s online foot in mouth problem would have been enough to convince him that when it comes to talking about race, he always comes off sounding like a big ol’ bigoted racist. No, he didn’t learn his lesson, because this afternoon he posted another screed on Facebook accusing the president of not being black enough to qualify to march in Selma on the 50th anniversary of the first march.
He begins by pointing out that the Republican party “obolished” slavery, but forgets to mention that of the three amendments to the constitution, the 14th, he and his conservative friends want to do away with it. Seems odd that the party of anti-slavery as he claims wants to undo their good anti-slavery work. The SOUTHERN Democrats did not do it because they weren’t Republicans, and they were bitter and angry about the Civil War. You also can’t help but notice that while he’s ranting about President Obama not being black enough, he can’t help but jab at the new president of the Michigan Republican Party, Ronna Romney McDaniel, by mentioning how Republicans were pushing against the Mormon practice of polygamy at the same time.
But just how much not black enough is President Obama? Dave Agema it seems has done some research:
Obama is 50% white, 43.75% Arabic and 6,26% black.
That makes 100.01% Good math skills, Dave! Where does he even get numbers like this? Must be from the same research that shows the president’s birth certificate will never be real enough, no matter how much the state of Hawaii says it is.
So not only are Democrats horrible racists, but we elect a president who claims to be a black man but can’t possibly be a black man, because his dad and step dad were Muslim and communist and comminist. That last one is something completely new, but it must be bad because one of Obama’s dads did it.
What Agema forgets, or possibly just wants to “SPIN” about how not racist Republicans are is that starting in the 1960’s and picking up momentum in the 1980’s was this very real thing called the Southern Strategy. A large migration of Southern Dixicrats, Jim Crow segregationists and people still bitter and angry about the Civil War switched parties. All of those racist people who didn’t want to end slavery and filibustered the Civil Rights Act became Republicans and voted for Ronald Reagan.
And now today, Republicans want to repeal the 14th amendment, gut the Voting Rights Act, and scream how their taxes are too high, which is just a dog-whistle for economically enforcing Jim Crow in the United States.
Nice Try, Dave.
DNR Natural Resources Commission Meeting Set For March 19 In Roscommon
Tuesday , 17, March 2015 Up North Progressive Community, DNR, Environment Leave a commentOn Thursday, March 19, 2015, The DNR Natural Resources Commission will hold it’s monthly meeting in Roscommon at the Ralph A. Macmullan Conference Center. The agenda for the meeting begins at 10:00 and continues through the day until Keith Creagh will announce his final decision on the Graymont purchase of 10,000 acres in the Upper Peninsula.
Before the Graymont decision, there will be reports from the policy committee on wildlife and fisheries at 1:00 pm. Keith Creagh’s legislative report begins at 3:00 pm. There will be an awards ceremony at 4:00 pm. After these reports and presentations, the public will have their chance to speak to the commission.
Several public speakers are listed on the agenda for Thursday’s meeting including Kathy English of Tout Lake. After public speakers are finished with their comments, Director Creagh will announce his decision on land sales in the state, including the Graymont proposal.
Anyone wishing to be added to the list to make public comments to the commission on Thursday needs to contact Cheryl Nelson by phone at (517) 284-6327, or email at nelsonc@michigan.gov. The Ralph A. MacMullan Conference Center is located at 104 Conservation Drive in Roscommon, Michigan. Anyone wishing to send their concerns in writing to the DNR Natural Resources Commission and Director Creagh still have two days to do so. You can write to Keith Creagh by email at DNRGraymontProposalComments@michigan.gov or mail a comment to Customer Service Center, ATTN: Kerry Wieber, 8717 N. Roscommon Road, Roscommon, MI 48653. Director Creagh is accepting written comments until his final decision on Thursday.