Tuesday, August 20, 2013

On Rag Radio in Austin, TX -- Aug. 20, 2013

RAG RADIO / Thorne Dreyer : Chicago’s Mike Klonsky Fights for Public Education, ‘Small Schools’

Chicago education activist Mike Klonsky in the studios of KOOP Radio, Austin, Texas, Friday, August 20, 2013. Photo by Roger Baker / The Rag Blog.

Rag Radio podcast:
Former SDS leader Mike Klonsky is fighter
for ‘Small Schools’ and democratic education

A veteran of the Civil Rights Movement and the struggle against the War in Vietnam, Mike has been involved in community and labor organizing as well as the fight for democratic education.

By Rag Radio | The Rag Blog | September 4, 2013
Former SDS leader Mike Klonsky, now a Chicago-based public education activist and advocate for “Small Schools,” joined us on Rag Radio, Friday, August 30, 2013.

Rag Radio is a weekly syndicated radio program produced and hosted by long-time alternative journalist Thorne Dreyer, and recorded at the studios of KOOP 91.7-FM, a cooperatively-run all-volunteer community radio station in Austin, Texas.
A veteran of the Civil Rights Movement and the struggle against the War in Vietnam, Klonsky was a leader in Students for a Democratic Society (SDS), serving as SDS National Secretary in 1968, and has been involved in community and labor organizing as well as the fight for democratic education. A “red diaper baby,” his father was a life-long activist and a veteran of the Spanish Civil War.
Mike Klonsky teaches in the College of Education at DePaul University. One of the founders of the Small Schools Workshop, Mike serves as its national director. He also coaches basketball at a Chicago high school. Klonsky is the author of Small Schools: The Numbers Tell a Story (University of Illinois Small Schools Workshop) and co-author, along with Bill Ayers and Gabe Lyon, of A Simple Justice: The Challenge for Teachers in Small Schools (Teachers College Press).
Mike Klonsky on Rag Radio. Photo by Roger Baker / The Rag Blog.
Mike served as a member of the National Advisory Council on Youth Violence and is past president of the editorial board of Catalyst, Chicago’s school-reform journal. He has also written extensively on the history and progress of Chicago’s dynamic struggles to save and transform public schools. His SmallTalk Blog is read by thousands of educators and activists.
Read Mike Klonsky’s August 27, 2013, article, “Drive-By Teachers and the Great Charter School Scam,” on The Rag Blog.

Thursday, June 27, 2013

All Male Youth Summit, Calumet City, IL


On Monday, March 25, 2013 we had over 500 male students from third through eighth grade and well over 20 presenters from various professions attend this phenomenal event.
Distinguished Presenters

Dr. Michael Klonsky, DePaul University Professor & Educational Consultant
Marc Augustave, Assistant Corporate Counsel
Don Murphy, American Family Insurance
Honorable Judge Orville E. Hambright,Jr., Circuit Court
Honorable Judge William Boyd, Circuit Court
Dr. James Cunneen, Retired Superintendent & Educational Consultant
Chief Mark Davis, Chief of Police Calumet Park, IL &Retired Chicago Police Commander 32 years
Gerald Jones, Educator at Rich Township District 227 & Chairman and Coordinator of the Guide Right Program for Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity, Inc., Evergreen Park, Illinois
Percy Colvin, Entrepreneur Colvin Printing and Graphics
Honorable State Representative William Davis, 29th District
Frank Dixon, CTA and Minister, New Evangelical Bible Church
Dr. Ron Garner, Architect
Terrence Lyles, Insurance Consultant for American Family
Khomeini Khan, AXA Equitable Financial
Anthony Brown, AXA Equitable Financial
Pastor Dr. Michael Reynolds, New Life Celebration
Michael Rogers, Architect for McDonald’s Corporation
Oscar Scott, College Recruiter
Michael Steele, Educational Administration
Honorable State Representative Thaddeus Jones, 27th District
Dr. Johnny Thomas, Superintendent District 155 Crystal Lake, IL
Dr. Creg Williams, Superintendent District 215 Calumet City, IL
John Ross, Lieutenant for Chicago Fire Department
Elmer Winters, Staff Sergeant for U.S. Army
Joseph Jemison Jr., Comedian and Actor
Richard Wills, Cook County Probation Officer