You too can be a Parrot for Baloney. Training is available from LEVThe League of Education Voters

http://www.educationvoters.org/2010/11/22/workshops-for-our-january-activist-training/

You can be trained to become a poorly informed "faux activist", which will enable you to parrot refrains for others.

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The League of Education Voters announces Workshops for coming January activist training:

As you may know, we’ll be hosting a training on Saturday, Jan. 8th for folks who are interested in learning more about become advocates for education.

* Find out more details here.
* Register here.

We’ve been busy brainstorming a list of possible workshops to present. Here are some of the ones that we are considering now, but we’d love your feedback.

What do you want to learn about?

What information and strategies would be beneficial to you?

Leave a comment below or send an email to our state field director Kelly Munn with your thoughts and suggestions.

* Innovative Schools: Going beyond the discussion of charter schools. How can our schools in Washington really innovate and make significant changes for the better?

* Peer-to-Peer Roundtable on Advocacy: Learn from your peers based on their experiences, successes and pitfalls.

* Keeping Ed Reform On Track: Especially facing this tough fiscal situation, how do we keep moving ahead?

* Achievement Gap: What is it? Why does it matter? How can we make significant strides?

* School Year/Class Size: What about a longer school year? What role does class size really play in learning?

* Media/Blogging/Social Media in Advocacy: How can you be an effective voice for change?

* Community Values in Contract Negotiations: Bringing the community’s voice into contract negotiations.

* Basic Advocacy: Don’t know where to start?

* Budget: We’ll give you the latest figures and forecasts for what cuts might be coming to ed.

* How Do Things Really Work in Olympia ? Toss out the civics lessons. How do things really get done in the Legislature?
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The views below are brought to you by Mike.
(and do not necessarily reflect those of blog management)

Mikes writes:

There probably are things one can learn by attending events like this; but one should attend with a very critical eye. Many groups nowadays (like Stand For Children, and the Parent Revolution) don’t bill themselves with complete honesty. I’m not sure where LEV fits into that spectrum.

Some of these groups are not about empowering parents with the knowledge to find their own solutions (like WTM), but are instead “community organizing” organizations. Generally speaking, community organizing organizations primarily function not as disseminators of empowering knowledge, but rather as “agitators for action.” They want you to sign-on to their agenda.

Just for fun, let’s read between the lines of a few of LEV’s “possible workshops”, and employ some critical & higher-order thinking (analysis & speculation) as to what may be the real message.

1) Innovative Schools: Going beyond the discussion of charter schools. How can our schools in Washington really innovate and make significant changes for the better?

Translation- “We’re not in favor of charter schools, so let’s not talk about that. Come let us tell you what changes we want.”

2) Peer-to-Peer Roundtable on Advocacy: Learn from your peers based on their experiences, successes and pitfalls.

Translation- “We’ve got to convince these parents that these are complicated issues and they can’t be effective advocates on their own. They need to join their voices with ours to help us push our vision of change (Every Child, One Voice).”

3) Keeping Ed Reform On Track: Especially facing this tough fiscal situation, how do we keep moving ahead?

Comment- Moving ahead? Really!?! I thought we were falling behind.

Translation- “Pay no attention to that $13 trillion debt behind the curtain! More, more, more money is always the answer. We must do whatever we can to get more dollars into the hands of educrats.”

4) Achievement Gap: What is it? Why does it matter? How can we make significant strides?

Translation- “We can’t agitate for perpetual change without division and a crisis. Even though we speak against racism, we’ll divide by race, and ‘equity’ will be our crisis du jour. Those kids in the classroom aren’t individuals; they’re simply units of a sub-group. The disparity between these subgroups is a social injustice. The primary purpose of your tax-dollars and the primary job of your child’s teacher is to rectify these injustices.” Questions to consider- What’s the most efficient way to close the achievement gap? Bring up the masses at the bottom, or hold back the few at the top?

5) School Year/Class Size: What about a longer school year? What role does class size really play in learning?

Translation- “Pay no attention to the increased burden being placed on teachers, and ignore your intuition that smaller classes would be better for kids. Yes, smaller classes would afford each student more 1-on-1 direct instruction, but that’s not what kids need. Haven’t you read, students need to take ownership and be responsible for their own learning. Smaller class sizes are just too expensive. What kids need is less time at home with their parents. Even though what schools are doing isn’t working, they need to take your child earlier (pre-k) and keep them longer, to enable what isn’t working to work better. Got that?

6) Media/Blogging/Social Media in Advocacy: How can you be an effective voice for change?

Translation-
“Want to be a ‘squeaky wheel’ ?

We’ll not only teach you how,
we’ll also tell you what to 'squeak'.”

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Too eager to wait for January training ...

Then on Dec 8, 2010

http://www.educationvoters.org/revolution/speakers/

The Parent Revolution: Using Your Voice for Your Kids, Your Community and Our Future

Ben Austin, Executive Director of the Parent Revolution
Trise Moore, Advocate for Effective Family/School Partnerships for Federal Way Public Schools
Wednesday, December 8th at 5:30pm
Aki Kurose Middle School
3928 South Graham Street, Seattle

This event is free.
Childcare is provided.

* Please RSVP as seating is limited.

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Who provides the funding for many of these organizations? I hope it is not the Taxpayer. Perhaps if one follows the money, one will find the real authors of the messages.

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Anyone know anything about Parents for Student Success.