The Two Million Minutes Blog

Teacher's Unions Block States From Applying For Race To The Top Funds

Jim Lehrer produced a remarkable 6 minute video where Union leaders at the State level show no shame in blocking Federal funding to improve education for our children.

"It would mean changing our contracts and my members are vehemently opposed to that," stated one State Union leader.

In other words, screw the young people of America - Teacher's come first. Unbelievable what these Union presidents say and believe. Well worth watching.

Obama wants to revise the No Child Left Behind education law

NCLB is not a perfect piece of legislation. So President Obama want to drop the most "egregious" aspects and replace them with new measures:

1- Drop the requirement that students be proficient in Math and English by 2014

2- replace it with all student will be "college or career ready" by 2020.

Huh??

How can a student be "college ready" without graduating from high school able to do 12th grade math and English?!?

Oh, I get it. One can measure proficiency. How do you measure "college readiness". The old magician's trick of misdirection.

Now I get it.

NY State Senator Bill Perkins Is So In The Pocket Of The Teacher's Union He Outright Lies on MSNBC

For a State legislator to either be as outrageously ill informed as NY State Senator Bill Perkins appears to be or to be so deeply indebted to the Teacher's Unions as to have to lie on national TV is shameful.

This video shows the interview on MSNBC and shows NY State Senator Bill Perkins to be wrong on every single point. He hates charters, but doesn't offer a single fact that supports his position. He's willing to sacrifice the economic future of Harlem's children for his own personal political gain. Despicable.

Education Tidbits from 2 Million Minutes Team

Every now and then some interesting statistic about education comes our way and we find we can't quite work it into a full blog post.

So, here are two that we found interesting:

STAT #1 - From NY Times 3/7/2010:

Where do the number of teachers fit in the total US employment picture?

Architects - 180,000

Psychologists - 185,000

Lawyers - 952,000

Engineers - 1,500,000

Waiters - 1,800,000

Janitors - 3,300,000

Secretaries - 3,600,000

School teachers - 3,700,000 - approximately 3% of all the jobs in America

STAT# 2 - Washington Post - 3/5/10 - Michael Gerson

At the last Democratic Convention, teachers union members represented about 10% of the delegates.

Add these two statistics to this poetic speech by NEA Counsel Bob Chanin and one gets a glimpse of the forces arrayed against our children getting a quality education.

High Tech R&D Moving to China

XI’AN, China — For years, many of China’s best and brightest left for the United States, where high-tech industry was more cutting-edge. But Mark R. Pinto is moving in the opposite direction.

Mr. Pinto is the first chief technology officer of a major American tech company to move to China. The company, Applied Materials is one of Silicon Valley’s most prominent firms. It supplied equipment used to perfect the first computer chips. Today, it is the world’s biggest supplier of the equipment used to make semiconductors, solar panels and flat-panel displays.

Xi’an — a city about 600 miles southwest of Beijing known for the discovery nearby of 2,200-year-old terra cotta warriors — has 47 universities and other institutions of higher learning, churning out engineers with master’s degrees who can be hired for $730 a month.

When Xie Lina, a 26-year-old Applied Materials engineer here, was asked recently whether China would play a big role in clean energy in the future, she was surprised by the question.

“Most of the graduate students in China are chasing this area,” she said. “Of course, China will lead everything.”

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Obama Gets 2 Million Minutes and That America's Future Will Be Decided in the Classrom

Lost in the news last week was an important video talk given by President Obama. The President has seen 2 Million Minutes and during the campaign I spoke with him on two occasions about the Global Achievement Gap we face.

I encourage you to watch this 5 minute video - it shows we finally have a President that grasps the problem and is proposing bold, tough solutions.

Key excerpts from Obama's talk:

What matters to you – what matters to our country – is not what happens in the next election, but what we do to lift up the next generation.

Few issues that speak more directly to our long-term success as a nation than issues concerning the education we provide to our children.

Unless we take action – unless we step up – there are countless children who will never realize their full talent and potential. I don’t accept that future for them.

Our future is determined each and every day, when our children enter the classroom.

2 Million Minutes Premieres Sixth Documentary - April 7, 2010 Featuring Whitney Tilson

A Right Denied: The Critical Need for Genuine Education Reform

Whitney Tilson and True South Studios present A Right Denied: The Critical Need for Genuine Education Reform.

Education reformer Whitney Tilson gives the most in-depth exploration ever committed to film of the twin achievement gaps that threaten our nation's future: between the U.S. and our economic competitors, and between low-income, minority students and their more affluent peers.

After spending more than two decades on the front lines, witnessing first-hand public education's shocking failures and remarkable successes, Mr. Tilson was inspired to assemble a powerful and at times unsettling presentation about the twin achievement gaps and what must be done to address them.

He utilizes the latest data and research to paint the most detailed portrait of American public education ever committed to film. More importantly, he presents us with a way forward so our nation can deliver on its promise to all of its children and ensure its long-term future.

The film is set to premiere in New York on April 7th. The premiere is free and open to the public. Contact  Allison Squires ([email protected]) for more info and to RSVP. First come first served.

“Tens of millions of our children, especially low-income children of color, are not being given  fair shot at the American Dream, which I believe is one of the fundamental promises of this great nation.”   
                                                       -Whitney Tilson

                            View the Trailer