Belabored Podcast #54: Teacher Tenure on Trial

Subscribe to the Belabored RSS feed here. Subscribe and rate on iTunes here or on Stitcher here. Check out the full Belabored archive here. Tweet at @dissentmag with #belabored to share your thoughts, or join the conversation on Facebook. Belabored is produced by Natasha Lewis. This week brought bad news for public schools, when a California court ruled that the laws governing teachers’ due process rights were unconstitutional. The attack on teacher tenure known as Vergara v. California was funded by wealthy tech entrepreneurs and a host of the usual corporate education reform groups. Belabored talks to Frank Wells, a former classroom teacher and now California Teachers Association staff member, about the implications of the lawsuit, the motivations behind the attacks on tenure, and why tech companies are so interested in changing schools. We also discuss strikes in Brazil in the lead-up to the World Cup, the victory of child care workers in Vermont, taxi drivers in Europe struggling to keep out Uber, and janitors at Target bringing the retail giant to the bargaining table.  News Strikes threaten to disrupt Brazil’s World Cup (Al Jazeera America) Brazil is facing an unprecedented labor crisis with the World Cup just days away (Slate) Dave Zirin, Is a “Systematic Political Campaign” responsible for Brazil’s World Cup protests? (The Nation) Unions slam “slave state” Qatar World Cup (Yahoo! Sport Australia) Angry cab drivers gridlock Europe in protest at ‘unregulated’ taxi app (Guardian) Vermont child care providers win collective bargaining rights (Jobs With Justice) Early Childhood Educators Partner With Union and Workers’ Center, Score Historic Victory (Truthout) Target hands a big victory to to low-wage janitors in Minnesota (Huffington Post) Non-union Target janitors in Minneapolis go on strike (MSNBC) Conversation with Frank Wells The Vergara Trial (activist website) Why that ruling against teacher tenure won’t help your schoolchildren (Los Angeles Times) The greening of the American teacher (Al Jazeera America) Wall Street and the Schoolhouse: The Culture of Smartness (Notes on a Theory) Michelle: California Just Abolished Due Process for Public School Teachers (The Nation) Argh, I Wish I’d Written That! Michelle: Peter Van Buren, “A Rising Tide Lifts All Yachts” (TomDispatch) Sarah: Jennifer Pan, “Pink Collar” (Jacobin) The post Belabored Podcast #54: Teacher Tenure on Trial appeared first on Dissent Magazine.