On worker control (of the staff meeting)
A short blog detailing and analysing a low-level direct action in which I participated in the recent past.
“It was like a chorus of complaints! As soon as one of us stopped talking someone else jumped in. Man, she didn't know what to do!” So went the excited words of one of my workmates that Friday afternoon. We all felt it, too. We were giddy and laughing, and why shouldn't we have been? We'd done it. For once, we were the ones in control.
An American in Montréal
Corporate school reformers on "ethics in education" at the University of Hawaii
On August 7th, 2012, the University of Hawaii hosted a wildly misnomered "Ethics in Education" event with Michelle Rhee and Sacramento Mayor Kevin Johnson who both push charter schools, privatization, and attacks on teacher tenure and unions.
On August 7, 2012 Michelle Rhee and Kevin Johnson spoke at a University of Hawaii event co-sponsored by the William S. Richardson School of Law, and the Shidler College of Business on the topic of "Ethics in Education".
Gove butchers teaching qualifications - Education round up 27 July 2012
Gove sneaks massive reform in while no one's looking. I'd no intention of posting during the summer holidays, but this seemed important.
Qualified teachers wanted.
While the eyes of most people, both critical and uncritical, are drawn to the Olympics, secretary of state for Education, Michael Gove, has introduced possibly his most significant and destructive piece of reform.
The Swazi state in violent crackdown on striking teachers and nurses
Striking teachers in Swaziland have vowed to extend their five week strike indefinitely until their demand of a 4.5% pay rise has been met. The government has responded with intimidation and violence.
The Swaziland government gave strikers an ultimatum to back to work or face a 33% pay cut. The deadline has now passed, and the teachers have subsequently had their salaries reduced.
Make sure you don’t fall: Perspectives on the recent social agitation in Chile, part one
Carlos Lagos P. and Jorge Budrovich S. discuss the massive student movement in Chile and the social unrest which has accompanied it.
…. oh, terrible days of green youth! Ah, on the road nearby, I hear the solitary song of the worker returning to his poor lodging, late, after the revels: and it grips my heart fiercely to think the whole world passes, and scarcely leaves a trace. See: the holiday’s over; some nondescript day follows; time carries off all mortal things.
Education round-up 2 July 2012
Education round-up 23 June 2012: teacher strike ballot
NUT strike ballot, performance management & teachers' payscale, Gove and O-levels
Back after a break for job-hunting, and the things that I complain about in the blog, being the things that mean I didn't have time to write the blog! But this was important enough for me to bother my arse 
NUT workload strike ballot
We dont need no education: a short update
I have not blogged in ages and so I thought I would post a small update on whats been happening and what the future holds for this blog in light of some changes.
Hey comrades! Its been a while. So I'm going to cut to the chase and tell you whats been happening... well, largely nothing if I'm honest. There have been a couple of political things I would of blogged about but I have been lazy and because they happened a while ago now, I'm not sure I am going to do a retrospective post as I have done in the past.
Oakland parents and teachers announce plans to sit-in to stop school closures
As 5 elementary schools are set for closure at the end of this school year, displacing around 900 children to schools 10 miles away with no transport provided, parents and teachers announce plans to sit-in to save their schools.
The five public elementary schools set for closure in Oakland, which serve predominantly black children, will be turned into private charter schools and district administrative offices by the Oakland Unified School District.
The pupils from these five schools have been displaced to schools up to 10 miles away, and there is no guarantee of transport provision.













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