Ted Palenski

Not fleeing: New report shows more wealthy residents in Mass., 2 years into 'millionaire's tax' Despite previous concerns, Massachusetts' "millionaire's tax" hasn't seemed to deter high-earners from continuing to live here, according to a new study from the Institute for Policy Studies.

MA put in a 4% millionaires tax 2 years ago, & the GOP said we'd miss revenue targets & millionaires would flee. MA collected TWICE the projected revenues, & the number of millionaires went UP 40%.
www.wbur.org/news/2025/04...

It's the bit just before this part that really does it for me. He's saying they could have cured cancer? First of all, what a completely ridiculous thing to say. And second, that you might even begin to make a comparison that there is some comparable benefit of gen AI to a cure for cancer?!

Winooski Superintendent Detained, Questioned by Border Officials Superintendent Wilmer Chavarria, a U.S. citizen, was questioned for hours at a Houston airport as he returned from a visit to Nicaragua with his husband.

Wilmer Chavarria, a US citizen, Global Entry member, and Vermont school superintendent, was detained returning to the US from a trip abroad with his husband. CBP told him he had "no Constitutional rights," took his phone and laptop, and revoked his Global Entry.
m.sevendaysvt.com/news/winoosk...

The “deal” that Brown made with the Trump admin is much more extreme than is being reported. It includes government oversight of course evaluations and no barrier to government interference in faculty hiring.

Read it for yourself here:

www.brown.edu/sites/defaul...

Astounding to watch this from afar. One can only conclude that this is, according to acting university leadership and trustees, an outcome that is more desirable than not.

I also wonder about the role schools could play here, or the role *of* schools. There is such a need for more democratic approaches to technology development, procurement, and use that align with shared (aspirational?) values

This is yet another example of exploiting parents’ anxiety for short-term commercial gain, while doing nothing (and perhaps discouraging any action) to make streets or communities child-friendly.

Comrade card for 7/28/2025

take care of
hold on to
we need
all we have is

each other
each other
each other
each other

I’ve been looking forward to this one!

Business Insider headline saying: "Sam Altman says your ChatGPT therapy session might not stay private in a lawsuit By Robert Scammell"

Wired headline that says "ICE Is Getting Unprecedented Access to Medicaid Data A new agreement viewed by WIRED gives ICE direct access to a federal database containing sensitive medical data on tens of millions of Americans, with the goal of locating immigrants."

yes. We could also try regulation if we are concerned. Why do teachers have to solve every problem on earth?

Parallel world in which AI is really just “artistic inspiration” and all the billionaires scramble to outfit every school with top art supplies

also can we please bring back markers and paper to early childhood

has the author considered just replacing the kids with bots?

So the federal government just released information about leadership, programming, and funding for AI in K12 education yesterday, but they are shutting down the DOE and also haven't released all funds promised to schools July 1st. #EduSky #BlackEduSky

Do I have that right???

That some educators are celebrating the funding for AI without any acknowledgment of the harm being done in education simultaneously is absolutely disheartening and absolutely unsurprising....

Love it. Visionary. But what about the obligatory plug for AI to help make city services more efficient?

We are overwhelmed with product updates, engineering news, op-eds, and PR clips but there is an empirical vacuum on GenAI adoption. This is unacceptable for a sector under assault. We need to know what's going on and where. This is a complicated story about procurement and budgets and gen-eds...

a rough translation of the final sentence: “Since AFP was founded in August 1944 we’ve lost journalists in conflicts, and have had wounded and imprisoned co-workers, but none of us have any memory of having to watch a colleague die of hunger.”

He lived and worked here for 40 years. My god I am so ashamed at what's happening.

According to this Supreme Court, President Biden's Department of Education was exceeding its power by trying to forgive peoples' student loans.

President Trump, on the other hand, has the power to just completely dismantle the entire Education Department.

According to the Supreme Court, the President can cancel the Department of Education but can't cancel the student debt that the Department of Education holds? Do we have that right?

And also that we desperately need to move away from a model in which a few large companies and their leaders dominate the conversation, towards a model in which a smaller players can lead with values that more align with those of (public) schools

Is the point of the training to reinforce those same tendencies? There are certainly schools already built for AI, especially given focus on governance by numbers.

Google ending AI arms ban incredibly concerning, campaigners say The tech giant previously ruled out applications that were

Also useful to remember that all technology is political, and no technology is neutral or values-free. Technologies come with all sorts of values designed into them, and generative AI is one that requires a massive infrastructural investment.

PS. Don't want to leave Google out of this:

What a time to be alive.

You know, in an ideal world, it would be nice to partner with an AI company whose values better align with the idea of public education. Just a thought.

Though, given the current state of things, maybe I'm the one who is confused about values.

I saw it in Bayeux way back during a university summer abroad in France. A highlight of the trip. Talk about long-form content.

@rokewood.bsky.social Well this will make for a good visit.

unfortunately, i think it all really boils down to very specific ideological framings of the project of education itself.

why is there such a lack of political imagination? why do we collectively put up with the 'best' the tech sector has to offer?

beyond satire.