Tuesday, October 1, 2019
Monday, September 30, 2019
Tags: Trump , MAGA , Claytoonz , Clay Jones , politics , comics , tariffs , Image
Friday, September 27, 2019
Betsy DeVos and her Department of Education are sure charters run rings around district schools when it comes to student performance.
How sure are they? Here's one of those exquisite moments of self parody, in case you missed it:
A top Department of Ed official came to Tucson recently as part of his national tour of successful schools. He visited TUSD's University High School, proclaiming its Blue Ribbon status is proof "that Arizona charter schools have done something really unique in the past decade."
Say what? UHS a charter school?
A Star reporter (I'm guessing it was Danyelle Khmara who wrote the story) corrected him, saying that University High is a public school. Undaunted, the official corrected the reporter: “No, University High School is a charter school,” he said, then mansplained (charter-splained?) that the reporter was laboring under a "misconception" about charters.
DeVos & Co. are strict adherents of the Trump doctrine: Never let facts get in the way of a good story. If the students are high achievers, it's a charter or a private school. Any questions?
So it might come as something of a surprise that a U.S. Department of Education document released this month, School Choice in the United States: 2019, concludes there is no discernible difference between the performance of students in charter and district schools. Here's the finding from the executive summary.
In 2017, at grades 4 and 8, no measurable differences in average reading and mathematics scores on the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) were observed between students in traditional public and public charter schools.The most recent results at the department's disposal are from 2017, and the NAEP is the closest we have to a gold standard in national standardized testing, so the study is using the best and most recent data available.
Tags: Charter schools , District schools , Private schools , Betsy DeVos , U.S. Department of Education , Image
Tags: Trump , Claytoonz , MAGA , poltics , current affairs , whistleblower , comics , Clay Jones , Image
Thursday, September 26, 2019
Wednesday, September 25, 2019
Tags: Impeachment , Trump , Pelosi , politics , MAGA , cartoons , Claytoonz , Clay Jones , Image
Tuesday, September 24, 2019
Grijalva's words:
The President’s invitation for a foreign power to investigate a political rival and invite interference in our elections is against the law. Trump has consistently put his personal interests ahead of those of the American people, reiterated his belief of being above the law, and obstructed important Congressional oversight investigations into the corruption plaguing his administration.
As Members of Congress we have the power and the responsibility to take action and proceed toward impeachment. I hope my Republican colleagues recognize the gravity of this moment and understand that their ongoing silence makes them complicit in Trump’s disdain of the rule of law and our democracy.
Tags: Politics , impeachment , Trump , Raul Grijalva , Image
Tags: Comics , Trump , MAGA , Claytoonz , Clay Jones , Ukraine , candidate , Image
But O'Halleran might be moving in that direction, although he didn't use the "I" word. In a statement today, he called for an investigation into the allegations that Trump withheld aid to Ukraine while he was pressuring them into investigating political rival Joe Biden and added that if the administration continued to stonewall, then "further action is warranted."
O'Halleran's statement:
The serious allegation that the Administration withheld foreign aid from Ukraine in order to pressure their government into digging up dirt on a political opponent requires a prompt and thorough investigation. We must act now to get the facts. As a former criminal investigator, I am focused on getting the evidence necessary for Congress to complete our investigations into corruption, foreign influence in our elections, and these new allegations. If the Administration does not cooperate with Congress on the investigation of a shocking abuse of power, then further action is warranted.
I'm trying to figure out how to fit all the pieces into one coherent narrative.
I think I've got it: Total cluelessness.
Or maybe not. Maybe it's more than that.
"Be Best" is the unparse-able name of first lady Melania Trump's half-hearted effort to give some purpose to her stay in the White House other than her clothes (designer) and her posture (model-perfect). The wife of the Bully-In-Chief has made anti-bullying her signature issue.
Melania carried her "Be Best" crusade to The New York Stock Exchange. Because where better to celebrate the work she says she is doing for children? According to a White House press release, there is no better place.
"The NYSE is a great example of the strength of our economic system, which allows programs to grow and to support children around the globe."Accompanying Melania to the NYSE were ten children from the private United Nations International School, whose name includes both an institution and an idea her husband despises: the United Nations and Internationalism.
A group of parents at the school were enraged. They felt the school was being used for a photo op which implied an endorsement of Trump administration policies.
The White House thought otherwise. The children should feel honored to participate, according to the first lady's spokeswoman Stephanie Grisham (who is also the current White House press secretary).
"Mrs. Trump will be taking part in an iconic New York City tradition, and encouraging children to be best, through her initiative."And so, to celebrate "Be Best," the United Nations International School children accompanied Melania on a tour of the stock exchange and participated in, as the White House press release put it, "the timeless tradition of ringing the Opening Bell in celebration of the well being of children, a pillar of her Be Best campaign."
Cluelessness On Parade, courtesy of the tone-deaf wife of our discordant president.
Or maybe something other than cluelessness is going on. Maybe underneath the NYSE-appropriate clothing Melania wore for the event, she was wearing a t-shirt emblazoned with the words she wore on her back when she flew to Texas to visit migrant children who were separated from their parents because of her husband's immigration policies: "I REALLY DON'T CARE, DO U?"
Tags: Melania Trump , "Be Best , " New York Stock Exchange , United Nations , United Nations International School , Image
