public education super fan | kc tenants board member
Joined November 2008
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Kathleen Pointer retweeted
A change in who holds power means little unless it changes whose interests that power serves.
The largely bipartisan order that lets the richest few plunder and profiteer while millions struggle to secure necessities like housing and healthcare must be dismantled piece by piece.
Kathleen Pointer retweeted
📝STATEMENT: It’s clear that Google underestimated the rising parent backlash against AI and EdTech, and now it’s scrambling in the face of a PR nightmare. But this ‘clarification’ doesn’t appear to change the fact that students won’t be able to use Google Search without being subjected to Google’s AI. The company is clearly banking on Search’s popularity to lure schools into consenting to use Google’s AI.
Schools shouldn’t be fooled by this bait and switch. The good news is that it appears that Gemini, Gemini Notebook, and Search will now be off by default. Schools should leave them off, because Google’s AI tools aren’t safe for kids and undermine learning and critical thinking.
fairplayforkids.org/statemen…
We want to clarify what we announced today about our education services. Today’s announcements give schools more choice, not less. Here’s what we announced:
- Gemini, Gemini Notebook, and Search will be OFF 🔴 by default. This is based on K-12 schools asking for more control over student use of AI services.
- Schools are in control: They can choose to turn ON 🟢 one, two, or all of these services individually.
- We are also updating Search for schools to make it better for learning. Specifically, AI Mode and AI Overviews will offer step-by-step guided learning through problems, so that students don’t get quick answers to schoolwork.
We know there’s concern about students using AI to shortcut schoolwork, and schools have told us they want control. That’s exactly why we are making these changes today to address the feedback we’ve heard from educators in recent months. And we’ll continue to engage deeply with educators to ensure we are giving schools more choice, more controls, and improved Search for learning.
Readers added context they thought people might want to know
Google's own VP of education, Chris Phillips, told reporters that Search and AI are "deeply integrated": schools that disable AI entirely will lose access to Search itself, not just get a non-AI version. There is no way to turn on Search without AI Mode/Overviews. cnn.com/2026/11/03/tec… techcrunch.com/2026/11/03/goo…
Kathleen Pointer retweeted
Google is using its search monopoly to coerce schools into adopting AI. This highlights the danger of allowing an unregulated monopolist to control an essential service.
Multiple courts have found Google liable for violating antitrust laws, and this latest move shows it remains unchastened.
As the public increasingly pushes back against the use of AI in schools, Google is making clear it will punish those who don’t fall in line.
Breaking: Google will turn off web search for schools that opt out of A.I. for kids.
nytimes.com/2026/11/03/us/go…
Kathleen Pointer retweeted
THREAD. Every single time you see Democrats, Jacobin Magazine, Malcolm Gladwell, or a non-profit organization telling you to support existing levels of policing and police budgets, understand this is what they want you to support:
Kathleen Pointer retweeted
Over 100 million Americans rent their homes. Here's a new report from @TenantFed, our first attempt to compile available facts/figures to understand the political and economic realities facing tenants– in other words, The State of The Nation’s Tenants: stateoftenants.org
Kathleen Pointer retweeted
New: We’re reporters, not teachers. We have no business running a private school. But to show you just how easy it is to start one, we decided to test the process ourselves. propub.li/4hUReS5
Kathleen Pointer retweeted
School is back in session – and every student deserves to feel safe in their classroom. As a school board member, you have the power to keep ICE off campus and away from student data. Our No Secret Police toolkit shows how. Link in bio. 📚
Kathleen Pointer retweeted
On Sept. 10, The Kansas City Star's parent company McClatchy laid off six of our union members.
These journalists have given their energy and empathy to The Star and its readers, and we want to give back to them.
gofundme.com/f/support-laid-…
Kathleen Pointer retweeted
The economics of doing local news has gotten completely wrecked, whole communities are getting left in the dark, and somebody is finally doing something about it.
mattdpearce.substack.com/p/c…
Kathleen Pointer retweeted
A Plaza deal with KCPS delivers a big incentive package from Port KC, but a school official raises alarm over the process. bizjournals.com/kansascity/n…
Kathleen Pointer retweeted
From Daniel Dawer and Ruth Kravetz: Nearly 2,000 juniors at 16 high schools in Houston ISD were pulled from Algebra II and placed in remedial math. At some schools, about 70% of juniors were similarly demoted.
It wasn't due to poor grades ... texasobserver.org/the-housto…
Kathleen Pointer retweeted
It's Union School season. @TenantFed's organizing training, this year w 809 trainees from 131 cities across 39 states. Reno to Richmond, El Paso to Ann Arbor, tenants joined w properties ID'd, or ready for an assignment. At minimum, this means we organize 26,250 units by Sept :)
Kathleen Pointer retweeted
LP School Board Members know - school takeovers are about control.
As far-right state legislators back abusive preemption to take authority away from local officials, they also use school takeovers to weaken the powers of school boards, community voices, and local democracy.
New: No state has taken over as many public school districts as Texas. Since 2020, the Texas Education Agency has installed its own hand-picked leaders in eight districts. Four of those came just this spring. At least another 10 are at risk of takeover. propub.li/4e8parw
Kathleen Pointer retweeted
North Carolina just lost another 12,000 students from public schools through the Opportunity Scholarship voucher program…draining approximately $97.3 million in state headcount-driven funding from public education.
Let’s be honest: public school education may not be working for families because it is not being adequately funded.
The state calls vouchers “one of the state's biggest educational investments in recent years.”
Imagine if we could instead say:
“Increasing teacher salaries has been one of the state's biggest educational investments in recent years.”
What if that $97.3 million had been invested in:
Raising teacher salaries that remain among the lowest in the nation
Addressing the more than $13 billion in school facility needs across North Carolina
Removing the outdated 13% cap on Exceptional Children funding while Durham Public Schools serves 16.6% EC scholars
Removing the 10.8% cap on English Language Learner funding while DPS serves 22.8% multilingual scholars
Removing the 4% cap on AIG funding while DPS serves 21.7% academically/intellectually gifted scholars
Public schools educate every child who walks through our doors regardless of need, language, disability, or circumstance. Yet we continue to be asked to do more with less while public dollars are redirected away from the very system that serves the overwhelming majority of North Carolina students.
If we truly care about student outcomes and their future, we must fully fund public education which is the bedrock of democracy. We are preparing scholars for the future and the future doesn’t look like a private school education. Our public schools are diverse and represents the real world they will be living in. We will all be ancestors one day. Act accordingly.
Contact your legislators and have family members and friends across the state to contact theirs.
Demand investment in public schools, not abandonment of them.
Our scholars deserve better. Our educators deserve better. DPS deserves better. North Carolina deserves better.
wral.com/news/education/oppo…
Kathleen Pointer retweeted
I had the privilege on working through city problems with visionary future leaders of Ms. Hobbs’ ESL class at East High School this morning. We talked affordable housing, homelessness, potholes, immigration, schools, trash, and road diets!
Kathleen Pointer retweeted
After 7 years of making power squirm, KC Tenants turns to a new leader | Opinion kansascity.com/opinion/opn-c…
Kathleen Pointer retweeted
After 7 years of making power squirm, KC Tenants turns to a new leader | Opinion kansascity.com/opinion/opn-c…
Kathleen Pointer retweeted
Congrats to my friend/organizer Jenay Manley for stepping into the role as Director of THE most powerful tenant union. Thank you to my friend & forever coconspirator Tara Raghuveer for your leadership, sacrifice, & constant commitment to the growth of others. Long live the Union!
Kathleen Pointer retweeted
We marked 7 years of KC Tenants building power, picking fights, & winning material gains with the people. KCT has empowered thousands who feel tired & beat down to do something about it- to build anyway, to organize anyway & to fight like their lives depend on it because they do.
Kathleen Pointer retweeted
Following Aspira’s financial problems, the Chicago Board of Education on Thursday revoked the operator’s charter, a dramatic step the board hasn’t taken since 2019. wbez.org/education/2026/03/1…
