Search

The article examines the systemic assault and takeover of public schools in the U.S. by corporations and private foundations. Topics include the social ramifications and political conflicts of school reform, the aims and motives of school reformers, and the views of their progressive opponents. Also discussed are the influential interpretations of the school reform movement and the drivers and underlying aims of school reform.

The articel examines the fight for public education in the U.S. as of June 2016, highlighting the Opt Out movement. The Opt Out movement involves refusal of taking standardized tests that are mandated by the government to protest educational malpractice. Other topics include opting out as a tactic in an organizing toolkit, corporate school reform, and the education strategy. Also discussed are the strengths and weakness of the Opt Out movement.

A model has been developed which predicts the chromatic properties of gradient-index materials based on the composition of the glass. It yields a gradient Abbe number and a gradient partial dispersion which can be used by the lens designer in the design of achromatic gradient-index lens systems. Over 100 glasses with various ion exchange pairs have been investigated. The result is a gradient Abbe number ranging from −2000 to +5000 and a gradient partial dispersion ranging from −5 to +7. This wide range of gradient Abbe numbers and gradient partial dispersions can be further extended by using a glass which has two exchange ions with one diffusing ion or a glass which has one exchange ion with two diffusing ions. In addition to an extended range, the designer is afforded the luxury of a continuously varying Abbe number rather than the discrete Abbe number of conventional materials.

The article reports on the concerns expressed by the Chicago Teachers Union regarding the demand of longer school day and school year by Mayor Rahm Emanuel in Illinois in 2012. It says that Emanuel's demand for increased school day by 2.0% does not coincide with the rise of teaching time by 20%. It notes that the longer school day is one of the main priorities of President Barack Obama for education.

Passive channel waveguides with a number of widths (3–15 μm) have been fabricated, and the effective modal indices have been measured in the 0.4–0.8-μm wavelength range. The experimental results are correlated with the theoretical predictions. The 2-D index profile is found to be spatially separable namely, sech^2 in depth and sech^2, parabolic or step in width depending on the waveguide dimension.

Tomography is used to reconstruct 2-D images from 1-D range-resolved laser radar data. A doubled mode-locked Nd:YAG pulsed laser illuminates a conical object, and a receiver utilizing a streak camera resolves the reflected light in time.

The article reports that New York City's United Federation of Teachers (UFT) has offered little resistance to budget cuts and the deterioration of teaching conditions. The teachers at Leon Goldstein High School in south Brooklyn, New York created a coalition that energized teachers. The March 19, 2011 meeting reportedly engaged rank-and-file leaders who had never worked together before and got a UFT representative to support them in their planned May 6, 2011 protest.

The article discusses the efforts of the U.S. Democratic Party in disrupting the right of collective bargaining of U.S. labor unions. Democratic lawmakers from states including Massachusetts, New Jersey, and Illinois believe that depriving unions of public sector bargaining rights will save money and retain their union support simultaneously. American Federation of Labor-Congress of Industrial Organizations president Rich Trumka mentions that the federation will invest more on political action instead of Democratic political campaigns as a response.

The article reports on the opposition of the citizens of Ohio against Senate Bill 5 (SB 5) and the agenda of new Ohio Governor John Kasich. SB 5 threatens to remove the bargaining rights on benefits and other topics related to wages. SB 5 also makes public strikes illegal and endangers job security for public employees. A new labor-community group "Stand Up for Ohio" is planning a demonstration in Columbus on May 5, 2011.

The article focuses on the plight of teachers whose union rights are under attack in the U.S. In Idaho, the "Students Come First" bill limits collective bargaining rights of teachers to salary and benefits only and removes job tenure for new teachers under the guise of one or two year contracts. In New Jersey, a proposal that decreases job protection for teachers is widely protested against. New York teachers are facing 4600 lay offs and using student test scores as evaluation for retention.

The article reports on the introduction of legislation by Wisconsin Republican Governor Scott Walker that would disempower public employee unions in the state. It cites the three day protests and rallies in Madison which were organized by Wisconsin's labor movements and attended by high school students and teachers on the State Capitol. The proposals of Walker include the elimination of collective bargaining for public employees and the implementation of annual certification voting in each collective bargaining units.

The article explores the contributions of partnerships of teachers to the welfare of educators in New York City in 2011. The United Federation of Teachers (UFT) is a union in the city with 1.1 million students and 87,000 teachers which deals with the influential issues and national trends in the education sector. The UFT helps the teachers in the city who have problems with their job security as the billionaire reform agenda was proposed.

The article reports on the union election in Washington, D.C. whose membership is composed of 4,200 public school teachers. The teachers handle students ethnically composed of over 90% African-Americans and Latinos. Scheduled for October 12-27, 2010, the election is relying on the strong support of African-American voters to defeat incumbent Adrian Fenty. It notes the internal democracy struggle prompting the intervention of the parent union of the Washington Teachers Union (WTU) and the American Federation of Teachers (AFT).

The article reports on a series of strikes initiated by the Canadian Union of Postal Workers (CUPW) after seven months of unproductive negotiations for urban postal workers. The wave of solidarity activity across Canada and internationally was ignited by the walkout of 70 postal workers in Winnipeg, Manitoba as letter carriers were allegedly forced to manage multiple bundles. Other factors that provoked the strike were the demands for a two-tier scheme, and the reduction of mail delivery that subsequently cut workdays and work hours.

The article reports on the membership vote initiative of the Michigan Education Association (MEA) in relation to authorize job actions in protest in Wisconsin and Ohio. It discusses a law in Michigan which allows Governor Rick Snyder to appoint emergency managers over local governments and school districts with poor financial standing. Members of the labor union were advised to save enough money to cover their finances while the protest action is ongoing.

The article offers information on the measures and initiative taken by labor unions in Ohio to repeal anti-union bill, dubbed as Senate Bill 5 (SB5). It discusses the "We Are One" rally staged by union members held at the Capitol of the state on April 9, 2011. The article also provides an overview of a voter identification (ID) law ratified by the Ohio House.

The article discusses the fight of Ohio to oppose a bill involving the collective bargaining rights of state employees and demolition of public employee unions. It cites how the proposed bill of Ohio Governor John Kasich would affect the state and people who use public services such as the elders. According to the author, mass mobilizations by community groups and teacher unions are being conducted to gain support from people.

The article discusses the rejection of the billionaire education reform agenda headed by U.S. entrepreneurs Bill Gates and Eli Broad by the lawmakers in Illinois in February 2011. It mentions that the bill called the Performance Counts Act which was opposed and fought by the statewide teacher unions has never got beyond the state's education committee. According to the author, the Chicago Teachers Union (CTU) has mobilized its members and community supporters to reject the proposal.

The article reports on the victories of the Ontario alliance of community and unions in Cobourg, Northumberland, in Cornwall, and in Saint Joseph Island, in its fight for quality health services in Canada. It notes that the Canadian health care is built on universal health plan with government-provided insurance. The Ontario Health Coalition the fights and gets core funding from unions.

The article reports on the role played by the Auto Parts Worker Day of Action observed by the Canadian Auto Workers (CAW) on October 27, 2010 in the success of the latter to secure contracts that removed concessions at three factories. The event has been participated in by 50,000 CAW members who staged rallies at over 100 worksites located in Ontario. It recalls that three days following the event, the union held a meeting to decide over a tentative three-year agreement that involves job security.