Tag Archives: Education

5/19-20 BNR – In Deep South, Sanders Campaign Crosses 100,000 in attendance in TH’s and Rallies Since Launching Campaign; Bernie’s MTP Appearance, Next Stops in AL, & More

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Bernie in Augusta, Courtesy of Channel 12, Augusta

Bernie Sanders continued his southern state swing yesterday in Orangeburg and Denmark, SC. As reported at TPW yesterday, Sanders held a town hall in Orangeburg, SC to discuss issues surrounding education justice. Educators testified about dwindling resources for schools, as well as issues of bureaucracy and lack of reliable broadband that is affordable for low income households. From WIS news:

“Every child has a right to a quality K-12 education, regardless of your race, regardless of your income, and regardless of your zip code. For too long, we have seen devastating education funding cuts used to pay for massive tax breaks for a handful of corporations and billionaires,” Bernie Sanders said. “When we are in the White House, that greed is going to end. We will make a transformative investment in our children, our teachers and our schools to guarantee a quality education as a human right for all children.”

He says with district-by-district disparities in education funding, he wants to add new investments in programs that serve high-poverty communities, support special needs students, and integrate school districts.

“By reducing racial and economic segregation, in our public schools, make sure we attract the best and brightest young people to become teachers reestablishes a positive learning environment for our children in our K-12 schools.” Sanders said.

Sanders says he wants to make sure taxpayers are not funding charter school, and banning those for-profit.

The plan also touched on teacher pay, proposing that the starting salary for educators is no less than $60,000.

Sanya Ahmed Mohiuddin, a teacher who attended his campaign rally said, “This is so incredible it’s so important for us to do. I’m a special education teacher myself, first year teaching and I’ve seen so many problems and issues within the school that needs to be fixed.”

“We need a president with morals and values, a president that will bring us together and not separate us.” Adeline Yon, an Orangeburg resident said.

As Sanders runs for president a second time, Jalal Hakmei, who attended rally said, “I think the first one showed that there was a lot of energy for his ideas and I’m hoping the second run will cement that.”

At the townhall, Bernie laid out am inclusive “Thurgood Marshall” Education Justice Plan (named after Thurgood Marshall who was the lead attorney in Brown vs Board of Education):

  • Build on the Strength in Diversity Act to increase, not cut, federal funding for community-driven strategies to desegregate schools.
  • Triple Title I funding to ensure at-risk schools get the funding they need and end funding penalties for schools that attempt to desegregate.
  • Execute desegregation orders and appoint federal judges who will enforce the 1964 Civil Rights Act in school systems.
  • Address disciplinary practices in schools that disproportionately affect Black children.
  • Establish a dedicated fund to create and expand teacher-training programs at HBCUs, minority-serving institutions (MSIs) and tribal colleges and universities to increase educator diversity.
  • Fully fund the Department of Education’s Office of Civil Rights and remove current protocols that allow for arbitrary dismissal of complaints.
  • Fund school transportation to help integration, ending the absurd prohibitions in place.
  • Increase access to English as a Second Language instruction.
  • End the Unaccountable Profit-Motive of Charter Schools
  • Rethink the link between property taxes and education funding.
  • Establish a national per-pupil spending floor.
  • Eliminate barriers to college-readiness exams by ensuring states cover fees for the ACT, SAT and other college preparatory exams for all students.
  • Triple Title I funding to ensure at-risk schools get the funding they need and end funding penalties for schools that attempt to desegregate.
  • Provide schools with the resources needed to shrink class sizes.
  • Provide $5 billion annually for career and technical education to give our students the skills they need to thrive once they graduate.
  • Ensure schools in rural communities, indigenous communities, Puerto Rico and other U.S. Territories receive equitable funding.
  • Give schools the funding needed to support arts, foreign language and music education to provide all students with important learning opportunities.
  • Strengthen the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA)
  • Significantly increase teacher pay by working with states to set a starting salary for teachers at no less than $60,000 tied to cost of living, years of service, and other qualifications; and allowing states to go beyond that floor based on geographic cost of living.
  • End racial and gender disparities in teacher pay.
  • Ensure professional development for all teachers, including continuing education and mentorship programs.
  • Protect and expand collective bargaining rights and teacher tenure.
  • Provide year-round, free universal school meals; breakfast, lunch and snacks through our school meals programs, and offer incentives for sourcing food from local sources.
  • Expand Summer EBT across the country to ensure no student goes hungry during the summer.
  • Fully close the gap in school infrastructure funding to renovate, modernize, and green the nation’s schools.
  • Make Schools a Safe and Inclusive Place for All

One person on twitter cheered one of the ideas of the plan:

In my view, this falls along the lines of what Rep Jim Clyburn proposed, the 10|20|30 Formula to Fight Persistent Poverty.

Sanders also went to Denmark, SC, and held a townhall to hear concerns about tainted water. Residents said they had not felt comfortable in drinking the water in 10 years. Josh Fox, an environmental activist and film maker, was on the panel. A video clip about the water issue, which is not just a SC issue, Flint, MI. has been battling contaminated water for nearly 6 years.

The campaign journeyed on to Augusta, GA and Sanders was sharp in his criticism of new abortion laws in GA and AL. That wasn’t all:

“This time the democrats will have an opportunity to interview several candidates and have a robust debate about the needs of the people and I am quite confident that Senator Bernie Sanders stands light years ahead of any other candidate in this race,” said Nina Turner, national co-chair of Bernie Sanders’ 2020 campaign.

The sweltering temperatures [94 deg] didn’t stop a crowd of more than 1,000 [1576] people. Senator Sanders’ discussed hot topics from his platform like immigration, education and President Donald Trump.

“We are sick and tired of a president who demonizes undocumented people,” said Sanders.

Sanders said on prison reform,“How about instead of investing in jails and incarceration, we invest in jobs for our young people and education?”

One attendee said that Sanders had done his homework this time:

He’s done his homework this time,” said Kenneth Sullivan, a 25-year-old African-American voter. The Augusta resident said he noticed black faces everywhere behind the scenes, although there still weren’t many in the crowd of nearly 1,600 people who attended Sanders’ speech at the Jessye Norman Amphitheatre on the shore of the Savannah River.

With those events yesterday, volunteer Tom Davis posted at Reddit that Sanders campaign had at least 100,000 attendees at campaign events this year so far. In comparison to 2016, Sanders had only spoken to 1% of the 1.6 million that attended his events.

While in Atlanta, Sanders made an appearance on Meet the Press. He was questioned about health care, abortion, foreign policy, and the horse race.

https://youtu.be/N0MmfO62dig

Of course, Todd couldn’t resist the red-baiting.

Afterward being on MTP, Sanders stopped by the Antioch Baptist Church North in Atlanta this morning. He’s not the first pol to have made a speech there.

Sanders will be traveling to Birmingham today for a rally at 4 pm. Here’s the link:

March for Reproductive Freedom, Birmingham, although there are sister marches all over the state.

NOTE: This day was created yesterday, but we will continue to post new events here. Please add your tweets, videos, and news in the comments section1

AOC asks why we don’t treat “human capital” creation at least as well as real-estate speculation.

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Our ancestors knew this and translated it into actual policy (with flaws of course). Which is why they enacted the Land Grant Colleges act in 1862, funding institutions in each state through the grant of public lands: each State which may take and claim the benefit of this act, to the endowment, support, and maintenance of at least one college where the leading object shall be, without excluding other scientific and classical studies, and including military tactics, to teach such branches of learning as are related to agriculture and the mechanic arts, in such manner as the legislatures of the States … Continue reading →

Bernie Sanders and Vermont Employers Address CVCC Students

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Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders hosted a special presentation and dialogue with Vermont students about employability in Vermont. As part of the presentation, several Vermont employers including Benoit Electric, GW Plastics, and Chroma Technologies presented about the opportunities that their companies offered young Vermont jobseekers, and their skill sets and trades aligned closely with many of the programs and values taught at CVCC.

As part of the presentation, Senator Sanders opened the floor for questions and discussion about what young people need to find good-paying jobs in Vermont. The students raised excellent points, and although there is much work to be done to improve access to employment in Vermont, there was a sense of excitement in the room about the job possibilities across Vermont:

4/27 News Roundup – Arizona and Colorado Teachers Join Wave of Strikes; Six Democrats Vote to Confirm Pompeo & More

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‘Backed Up Against a Wall,’ Arizona and Colorado Teachers Join Wave of Strikes to Demand Education Funding

Despite threats from education officials and lawmakers, thousand upon thousands teachers across Colorado and Arizona staged walkouts on Thursday after spending weeks calling attention to low teacher pay and insufficient school funding—and following similar protests in numerous other Republican-controlled states.

“Our students, educators, parents and communities have been backed up against a wall for more than a decade,” Ralph Quintana, president of Arizona’s chapter of the American Federation of Teachers (AFT), said in a statement as the union prepared to strike.

Arizona’s walkout—the first in the state’s history, drawing an estimated 50,000 educators—follows weeks of “walk-ins,” in which teachers promoted the hashtag #RedForEd and wore red to protests outside school hours, joined by parents, students, and other supporters.

The state’s teacher salaries rank 43rd in the nation, according to the National Education Association, and school funding was cut drastically between 2008 to 2015, following the economic meltdown and recession. Arizona currently spends 13.6 percent less per pupil than it did 10 years ago, adjusted for inflation.

Despite an offer of a 20 percent pay increase by 2020 from Republican Gov. Doug Ducey, 78 percent of the state’s teachers voted last week to stage a strike to signal that their grievances are about the quality of education Arizona children are receiving while the state offers $100 million in corporate tax cuts.

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Eight hundred miles northeast of the main #RedForEd event in Phoenix, thousands of Colorado teachers assembled at Denver’s Capitol building for the first of two days of protests.

Earlier this week, two Republican state lawmakers introduced a bill to punish any educators who participated in the strike, with fines, firing, or up to six months in jail. State Senate Democrats denounced the proposal as “anti-worker trash,” and teachers were not deterred from protesting.

“Certainly what happened in West Virginia, Oklahoma, Arizona, Kentucky has fired up public school educators but the truth of the matter is we’ve been suffering from cuts in our schools and classrooms since 2009,” Kerrie Dallman, president of the Colorado Education Association, told the Denver Post. “The fact so many are coming [to Thursday’s walkout] is a real testament to the growing frustration of public school educators in the state of Colorado.”

More news/video/tweets/etc. in the comments.

4/3 News Roundup – Tens Of Thousands Rally In Support Of Educators; MLK’s Fight For Economic Justice & More

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Joining Nationwide Teacher Rebellion, Tens of Thousands Rally for Education in Oklahoma

A weeks-long mobilization in Oklahoma resulted in teachers striking across the state on Monday, with tens of thousands of educators and supporters rallying at the State Capitol in Oklahoma City to demand more funding for schools and higher wages for teachers.

Organizers planned to speak with state lawmakers about how decades of funding cuts have affected their schools—and why a bill passed in the legislature last week that would raise taxes on oil and gas production to give teachers a $6,100 raise and allot $50 million for school funding was not enough to stop the protest.

Oklahoma Education Association (OEA) president Alicia Priest told CNN the package was “a good starting point,” but said teachers see it as a last-ditch effort by lawmakers to keep the strike from happening and not a genuine attempt to improve schools.

The OEA is demanding a $200 million funding bill for schools, and a $10,000 raise for teachers over the next three years.

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Also on Monday, a strike in Kentucky over changes to teachers’ pension plans continued, with educators traveling from across the state to the State Capitol in Frankfort. Most schools were closed for spring break, with teachers and supporters using their time off to protest—while 21 counties’s schools closed for the strike.

Teachers in Arizona held a demonstration in Phoenix last week—also hoping to draw attention to per-student funding, which was cut by more than 36 percent from 2008 to 2015.

In all the states where teachers have been voicing their dissatisfaction, lawmakers have spent decades handing out tax cuts to corporations while cutting funding for schools and leaving teachers with stagnant wages.

“After ten long years in a lot of these conservative states, the chicken is finally coming home to roost,” Lily Eskelsen Garcia, president of the National Education Association, told the Huffington Post. “They’ve given tax breaks to big corporations, defunded public schools, and said, ‘What could go wrong?'”

The progressive quest for better healthcare & education gets ally from an unexpected place – the AEI, sort of

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Former Military Leaders Want to Expand and Improve Child Care — to Increase Future Recruitment The American Enterprise Institute, a right-leaning think tank in Washington, D.C., organized an event this week with the provocative title, “Military readiness and early childhood: What is the link?” (“right-leaning”, lol, the AEI is very much hard-right. ‘During the George W. Bush administration, AEI was regarded “as the intellectual command post of the neoconservative campaign for regime change in Iraq,” Vanity Fair noted.’) It turns out that it’s hard to keep a huge military going when: the Department of Defense estimates that 71 percent of … Continue reading →

News Roundup: Teacher Killings Ignite Calls for Revolution in Mexico

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Teachers, students, & community came out to Mexican Consulate to show support for teachers on strike in #Oaxaca pic.twitter.com/QN3CgRFK6w — OverpassLightBrigade (@OLBLightBrigade) June 25, 2016 DemocracyNow In the southern Mexican state of Oaxaca, a deadly police crackdown against teachers has left nine people dead and more than 100 wounded. On Sunday, police descended on teachers in the community of Nochixtlán, where they had set up blockades to protest against neoliberal education reform and the arrests of two teachers’ union leaders last week on what protesters say are trumped-up charges. “As soon as they arrived, they began to attack. And we … Continue reading →

Bernie Speaks at NALEO Conference

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WASHINGTON – Addressing NALEO, a Latino leaders’ conference, Sen. Bernie Sanders on Thursday denounced the “bigotry” of Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump. “I had hoped and I think most Americans had hoped that by the year 2016 we would be beyond having candidates make bigotry the cornerstone of their campaigns,” Sanders told the annual convention of the National Association of Latino Elected and Appointed Officials. Sanders said Americans will not put in the White House a candidate who “insults” Mexicans, Muslims, African-Americans and others. “Our country needs somebody who brings us together, not divides us up,” the Vermont senator said … Continue reading →