Bill Ayers Apostle Appointed White House Education Initiative Director
Jose Rico has been named the new director of the White House Initiative on Educational Excellence for Hispanics, a key position that could help close the achievement gap between white and minority students. But if his history is any indication, his influence may do more harm than good.
Perhaps most troubling is Rico’s connection to unrepentant domestic terrorist Bill Ayers and communist radical Mike Klonsky through the Chicago-based “Small Schools Workshop.”
The “Small Schools Workshop” was founded by Ayers and Klonsky. In Klonsky’s words, Rico “toiled in the vineyards at the Small Schools Workshop” prior to obtaining an administrative position within Chicago Public Schools. According to a U.S. Department of Education biography, Rico worked for the Small Schools Workshop some 6 years. Klonsky beamed like a doting father on his website when Rico was appointed to the White House position.
While Rico’s CPSalumni.org bio doesn’t mention Small Schools Workshop, it describes his time in Chicago working as a “community organizer.”
Even after leaving Small Schools Workshop, Rico continued to associate with Klonsky. In early 2009, he appeared on a panel with Klonsky titled “Prospects for Change in the Obama Years.” And Klonsky’s track record would make any American wonder why he’s been allowed to teach in American public schools.
Jose Rico (center) with Mike Klonsky (right) in 2009
After leading the violent Students for a Democratic Society with Ayers in the late 1960s, Klonsky left to fully embrace his communist roots. Believing that the Communist Party-USA was not radical enough, in 1971, Klonsky founded the Communist Party-Marxist Leninist.
While serving as its chairman, Klonsky advocated for the overthrow of the world’s two superpowers – the United States and the Soviet Union.
Klonsky toasting Chinese communism in 1971
Furthermore, his efforts to spread communism in America were lauded in China by Mao Tse-Tung’s successor, Chairman Hua, and Klonsky was honored with a government-sponsored reception. Here is a recounting from the Communist Party’s newspaper, “The Call”:
“Chairman Klonsky’s speech expressed the greetings of the CP(M-L) to Chairman Hua, Li Hsien-nien and the other members of the [Communist Party of China.] He said: ‘We hail the great victory of the people, led by the Communist Party and its wise leader Chairman Hua, in smashing the ’gang of four’ in one swift blow.
“‘This was not only a victory for the people of China, but for the whole international working class and communist movement. It was a victory in defending socialism against an attempt at capitalist restoration as well as in defending the purity of Marxism-Leninism against revisionism.’
“He pointed out: ‘As a Marxist-Leninist party in one of the two superpowers, and recognizing our responsibility to lead the struggle to topple the U.S. imperialist ruling class, we are determined as well to make a contribution to the worldwide struggle against the two superpowers, the U.S. and Soviet social-imperialism, the main enemies of the peoples of the world.’
“Klonsky stressed: ‘Chairman Mao’s brilliant teachings on the ‘three worlds’ is a scientific application of class analysis to today’s world conditions. This thesis clearly defines friends and enemies and isolates the two superpowers, while uniting the world’s peoples.’”
Incredibly, Klonsky was allowed to be a blogger for Barack Obama’s presidential campaign in 2008. When his beliefs were exposed by National Review, his blogging privileges were suddenly revoked and all his previous writing was completely deleted. He received the internet equivalent of cement shoes.
Is Rico now trying to scrub his connection to Klonsky and Ayers? Strangely, his LinkedIn account makes no mention of his six-year stint at Small Schools Workshop. It skips directly to his administrative position at Chicago’s Multicultural Arts High School.
Does it matter that an apostle of anti-American radicals like Ayers and Klonsky is now in such an influential position? Is it unfair to judge him by the company he kept for six years of his professional life? Perhaps his academic record will show a positive impact on students and could overcome any shocking associations he has.
Sadly, that’s not the case. During Rico’s tenure as principal of the Multicultural Arts High School, student performance was 584th out of 640 high schools in the state. And despite its low teacher-to-student ratio (less than 14-1) and Ayers/Klonsky-inspired “small school” philosophy, Rico’s school managed to produce a paltry 56% graduation rate. The Chicago Tribune reported the school “did not meet federal education standards.”
Why appoint someone with such a dismal track record to such an important position? Apparently Chicago connections (Rico is also a personal friend of Michele Obama) are more important that his professional performance. Being an apostle of Obama’s personal friends Ayers and Klonsky apparently doesn’t hurt, either.
More Indoctrination From the ‘Occupy’ Songwriters at Kid Pan Alley
Earlier this week, a Virginia-based organization came under fire for leading 3rd grade students at Woodbrook Elementary in Charlottesville to write a song titled “We Are Part of the 99.”
The song, with its reference to the 1 percent and 99 percent was obviously talking about the Occupy protests that occurred around the country.
According to the school district’s story, the students wrote:
I used to be part of the 1 percent
I worked all the time
Never saw my family
Couldn’t make life rhyme
Then the bubble burst
When I was in 3rd grade, I knew about bubbles in the bath, not housing bubbles.
Now another video has emerged which was produced by Kid Pan Alley, the same organization that “helped” the students write the Occupy song.
Posted a couple weeks prior to Barack Obama’s inauguration, the organization posted a video of a song written by 2nd graders in Fairfax County, Virginia.
Titled “Inauguration,” here are the lyrics:
It feels like it’s been winter for a hundred years
The world is as cold as the white snow
The birds have been wondering if it’s safe to return
We’ve all been hibernating way too long
But now we’ve got the power – we’re no longer cowards
We’ll have a brand new song
Now we’re ready to shed our old skin
We’re ready for a brand new day
Ready for peace – ready for spring
Ready for freedom – let freedom ring
Welcome Barack Obama
He’ll save the day – hip hip hooray
If President Obama came to our school
I’d show him all the work I’ve done
To make peace for all the children in the world
Growing happiness for everyone
But now we’ve got the power – we’re no longer cowards
It’s time to have some fun
Now we’re ready to shed our old skin
We’re ready for a brand new day
Ready for peace – ready for spring
Ready for freedom – let freedom ring
Welcome Barack Obama
He’ll save the day – hip hip hooray
Welcome Barack Obama
He’ll save the day – hip hip hooray
Barack Obama – hip hip hooray
Barack Obama – hip hip hooray
Barack Obama – hip hip hooray
Barack Obama!
I’m all about respecting the office of the president and educating our children about how our government works, but “he’ll save the day” and “ready for peace”? Given Obama’s penchant for war, is Kid Pan Alley now helping students write songs about drone strikes or the toppling of Middle East governments?
For an organization that supposedly doesn’t allow political or partisan songs to be created, it’s sure doing a lousy job of policing its staff.
Parents and taxpayers should be aware of this before welcoming this activist organization into taxpayer funded schools.
Juan Williams Skewers Chicago Teachers Union in New Film
“A Tale of Two Missions” – a film by Juan Williams and Kyle Olson (and directed by Chicago-based Andrew Marcus) – tells the story of competing cultures in American education through examples from Chicago.
See the internet-only abridged version here:
While the fight for school choice rages across the nation, perhaps no better example exists than that of the Windy City. Traditional alliances are breaking down. Both political parties are pushing for education reform and expanded school choice. The status quo is under attack, because most reasonable people understand that thousands of Chicago students are trapped in failing schools.
But the education establishment, led by the radical Chicago Teachers Union, is not willing to give an inch to allow better choices for underserved students. And the union still has enough money, influence and legal standing to make reform efforts difficult to implement.
The film features the Noble Street College Prep charter school and the amazing results its teachers and leaders are delivering for students and parents of Chicago. It also exposes the entrenched educational establishment bent on stifling school choice options and preserving its monopoly on state education dollars.
Being released during National School Choice Week, the film runs approximately 35 minutes and is geared towards generating discussion about the role of our schools and what obstacles can be overcome when school culture is focused on student success rather than adult demands.
DVDs of the film will be available exclusively at http://www.schoolchoiceweek.com/event_centerpieces.
An internet-only abridged version can be seen here at twomissionsmovie.com.
Juan’s voice cuts through the daily back-and-forth and issues a searing indictment of a system that is largely focused on the needs of adults.
It is our hope that this will provide the public with an unvarnished analysis of the state of our schools, as well as a glimpse into what could be, if the teachers unions would drop their consistent opposition to reform.