Regular readers of Eclectablog know that I am a big fan of the political art of socio-political artist Michael D’Antuono. His often provocative artwork forces us to confront the sinister forces of racism, exclusion, and fascism that lurk in our country. Those forces have never been more powerful than they are now with the assent of the Bannon/Trump administration. D’Antuono […]

There has been a lot of chatter recently about the Trump administration’s plans to eliminate federal arts agencies, such as the National Endowment for the Arts, the National Endowment for the Humanities, and the Public Broadcasting Service. As has been reported widely, eliminating these agencies would only amount to a savings of 0.02% of the federal budget, but they seem […]

GOP still plans to replace insurance for 25 million with a ‘congratulations for your struggle’ You may not remember but Obamacare was supposed to be repealed by now. “The reality is that the ground has shifted enormously in a very short time,” Topher Spiro, Vice President for Health Policy, told me. “Right after the election, Republicans vowed to have a […]

I was honored to be giving a talk on education policy at Wayne State University today (thanks for the invite, Drs. Wendy Matthews and Abby Butler!) during the Senate vote on Betsy DeVos, Donald Trump’s nominee for Secretary of Education. While it was painfully ironic for all of us when Ms. DeVos was approved–by the closest vote for a Cabinet […]

Without the Affordable Care Act (ACA), staying well could have wiped out his savings — making it much harder to get back into the workforce. Living with generalized anxiety disorder and panic disorder can be challenging enough under the best of circumstances. But having to manage these mental health conditions while trying to find a new job is even tougher […]

Michigan Congressman Dan Kildee reminds Governor Rick Snyder and others that without the Affordable Care Act, there would be no Medicaid expansion. At the moment, the future of the Affordable Care Act (ACA), or Obamacare, is anyone’s guess. Congressional Republicans and Donald Trump promised to repeal the law on the President’s first day in office … but that obviously didn’t […]

It’s a common refrain among the reformer Illuminati whenever they experience any push-back against their anti-teacher, anti-union, anti-public education, anti-Motherhood-apple-pie-and-hot-dogs agenda. You can bet your bottom privatization dollar that as soon as these edu-tourists hear any reasonable, evidence-based rationale refuting their radical positions on teacher evaluation, tenure or the use of Value-Added Measures, they will inevitably blurt out the one […]

I’ve been seeing lots of posts lately about how the fight against Betsy DeVos and the “school reform” movement in general is “all about the kids.” But it’s not all about the kids. And it shouldn’t be. I’m a career teacher and have been a teacher educator for about 20 years now. I love kids, and have my own children […]

On May 4, 1970, members of the Ohio National Guard fired on students, killing four of them and wounding nine, one of whom was paralyzed for life. The crime for which they were murdered was, for some of them, peacefully protesting the invasion of Cambodia. For others it was simply being near the protest. 29 of the 77 guardsmen present […]

The Monday after he was sworn in as Pr*sident, Donald Trump met first with CEOs of large corporations. Then, later in the day, he met with union leaders. The “Daily Guidance” issued by the White House the night before described the meeting as a “listening session with Union Leaders and American Workers.” A revised schedule sent around 10 a.m. on […]

Billionaire philanthropist and “education reformer” Eli Broad has come out forcefully in opposition to billionaire “education reformer” Betsy DeVos to become the U.S. Secretary of Education. This is a battle that pits Broad, a staunch supporter of charter schools against DeVos, a staunch supporter of religious schools. Broad is largely seen as an enemy to public education since the charter […]