Teachers Facing Deportation

After enduring some 6 days in central cell block jail in this country’s capital, on hunger strike and risking deportation, it’s difficult to express how relieved I am to be out. I can’t fully explain how scary it was to be in there. But during my time spent in jail, I remained resolved in the fight to win permanent protection for other young undocumented immigrants.

You’ll find more of my story below. What you need to know is that my mother didn’t teach me to be a coward. She didn’t teach me to wait until someone does something for me. She taught me to never give up without a fight.

Can you join me by giving $3 to the movement that I know will help immigrants finally win permanent protection?

Become a monthly donor

I remember being in my apartment with my mom and hearing the announcement for Deferred Action for Childhood Arrival (DACA). I figured out how to apply, then got approved for DACA and I was so happy because finally I was able to be a teacher and work legally. I felt empowerment — like I belonged in this country. But that was fleeting.

Obstruction

: Who Is Congress Serving- The Tax Bill

Who Is Congress Serving- The Tax Bill: By Elizabeth Warren and Bernie Sanders Dec. 17, 2017 WASHINGTON — Over the past year, Republicans have made their priorities clear. Their ...

International Day of Migrants - Dec 18.

On December 18, the international community recognizes and celebrates the rights of migrants around the world. This year, 2017, marks the 27th anniversary of the UN's International Convention on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families (commonly referred to as the Migrant Worker’s Convention or Migrant Rights Convention). It was approved by the UN General Assembly on Dec. 18, 1990.

Read NNIRR's 2015 International Migrants Day Statement, "A Call to Affirm the Human Rights of All Migrants".

Let's honor International Migrants Day with a call to action to lift up and respect human rights of all migrants, and to commit to challenge and end all forms of racism and xenophobia. 2016 was a horrific year in terms of the increased flow of migrants "in vulnerable situations" and the rise of hateful, anti-immigrant rhetoric and actions. We continue to call for the recognition and respect and human rights at international borders, and urge an immediate end to the detention of migrant children and families. 

You can see more information on the issue of border justice here. Go here to learn more about the international initiative to recognize human rights at international borders.

The Convention affirms the human rights of all migrants, regardless of citizenship or immigration status, and recognizes that migrants are men, women, children, and families – not just economic commodities. In 2003, the Convention "entered into force"; today, 51 countries have ratified or acceded to the Convention.

Trump Benefited From The ‘Chain Migration’ He Blamed For Attempted New York Terror Attack | HuffPost

Trump Benefited From The ‘Chain Migration’ He Blamed For Attempted New York Terror Attack | HuffPost

Appalachian Grandma on the Tax Plan

The Democratic Socialist Alternative—What Is It? - LA Progressive

The Democratic Socialist Alternative—What Is It? - LA Progressive

16 Women and Donald Trump

Tax the Oligarchs

 The oligarchs in charge of the Republican Party have won the tax battle nationally. Now, the next step is our response.  California has long been cited as the 6^th. or 7 th largest economy in the world. We should act upon this reality.

The oligarchs will cut the corporate tax from about 35% to near 20%.   California should raise its corporate tax ( franchise tax)  from 1.5% to 10%.

The oligarchs will eliminate the Estate Tax.

California should establish an estate tax of about 10% on estates larger than $5 million.  They will still get more of a tax cut than you or I get.  California  should recapture the money that the oligarchs are giving themselves in this looting of the economy.

 But, won’t these taxes place the state at a competitive disadvantage ?  Yes, the Republican tax victory forces states into a race to the bottom. We should try to avoid joining this race.

States already have significant differences in tax structures.  For example, Texas has a very high property tax and no state income tax.  And, it has a petroleum extraction tax that taxes all oil taken from the ground on the radical theory that natural resources belong to us all.

So, if California raised taxes on corporations and estates, we too would have differences in tax structures.

Tax Bill is a Major Step Toward Authoritarian Future

Democratic Socialist elected in Iowa

A Newly Elected Democratic Socialist on How to Win in Trump Country

“If we talk to people on issues in a universal way, we are going to get their vote.” That's how Pleasant Hill, Iowa's newest city councilperson, socialist Ross Grooters, says he won his seat, and how he thinks others can run and win, too. Grooters, whose day job is a locomotive engineer for Union Pacific Railroad, is active in Iowa Citizens for Community Improvement, a People's Action member organization. His city council campaign reflected many of the issues that he says animate him personally: the struggles working-class families like his own face with stagnant wages and rising health care costs, the anti-immigrant fervor dividing his community and a clean water battle that is pitting Iowa families against powerful corporate agricultural interests.

A Punishing Decade for School Funding | Center on Budget and Policy Priorities

A Punishing Decade for School Funding | Center on Budget and Policy Priorities

Sanders _ The Tax Bill is Immoral

For the past 40 years, the financial and political elite of this country have rigged the tax code to redistribute wealth and income to some of the richest and most powerful people in this country. The result: we are moving rapidly toward an oligarchic form of society in which the top 1 percent is doing phenomenally well, the middle class continues to decline and 40 million Americans are living in poverty.

And it will probably not surprise you to learn that just as our tax code benefits the wealthiest people in this country, it also benefits some of the largest and most profitable corporations in the world with a myriad of tax breaks, deductions, credits and other loopholes. As a result, one out of five large profitable corporations today pays nothing in federal taxes.

The Problem With Fake News Is That 'People Want to Consume Information That Makes Them Feel Good, Because It Reaffirms Their Worldview' @alternet

The Problem With Fake News Is That 'People Want to Consume Information That Makes Them Feel Good, Because It Reaffirms Their Worldview' @alternet: Our relationship to information is entirely emotional. A year out from Donald Trump's astonishing and disturbing presidential win, it's become clear that the absolute sea of disinformation — much of which was Russia-funded and most of which was disseminated through the internet — was critical in helping push a know-nothing reality TV star–turned-wannabe-dictator into power. With the 2018 elections less than a year away, the pressing question now is: How we stop this from happening again?



Including fake news about immigrants and immigration.

The Trump-Russia Story Is Coming Together. Here's How to Make Sense of It – BillMoyers.com

The Trump-Russia Story Is Coming Together. Here's How to Make Sense of It – BillMoyers.com

Trump/GOP Tax Plan is Class War

  Bill Barclay

The Trump/GOP “Unified Framework” tax plan has something for everyone – if by everyone you mean the wealthy, corporate and non-corporate businesses and the alt-right.  The plan embodies both the neoliberal class warfare that believes poor people have too much money and rich people have too little money and connects with the social conservative politics that the Trump and the GOP draws upon to mobilize its supporters. 

Class Warfare: I

Some of the class warfare politics of the Trump/GOP proposals are obvious; others less so.  The proposal provides a small tax cut for households in the bottom three quintiles, ranging from about 0.5 – 1.2% of after tax income in all cases well under the $1,182/family income boost claimed by Rep. Paul Ryan.  At the upper end of the income pyramid, the story is much different.  Over half of the total tax cuts for individuals will accrue to the top 1% of households, boosting their after tax incomes by 8.5%. Of course, life can be even better: the top 0.1% households would grab an average tax cut of almost $750,000, capturing over 30% of the total tax cuts for families and individuals.  

And Trump has not neglected people like himself.  He – and others in his income and wealth sphere – will gain in three ways from the changes in the individual income tax.  First, the elimination of the alternative minimum tax (AMT): in 2005, Trump paid $38.4 million on income over $150 million – but without the AMT he would have paid only $7.1 million. 

The Republican Tax Plan Is A Declaration Of War On Learning

The Republican Tax Plan Is A Declaration Of War On Learning

Schools and Taxes - NEA

Last week, Congressional Republicans unveiled their new tax plan. Students and educators will suffer terribly if the bill becomes law.

This $5 trillion plan is a tax giveaway to the wealthiest and corporations, paid for on the backs of working families and students. It jeopardizes the ability of states and local communities to adequately fund public schools. Nationally, the bill could lead to $250 billion less in public education funding, and nearly 250,000 education jobs put at risk.

We must put a stop to this. Contact your representative right now. Tell them students and educators can't afford to fund the GOP tax plan.

Cutting 250,000 jobs takes teachers, guidance counselors, coaches, and administrators out of our schools-the very people who, every day, inspire students to learn, grow, and dream big.

So here's our choice: Fight for the educators, well-rounded curriculum, and support services our students need and deserve; or do nothing, and watch that money go to millionaires and billionaires instead.

The choice is clear. Tell Congress to stand up for education by opposing the Republican tax plan.

Thank you,

The Education Votes Team

P.S. Betsy DeVos loves the Republican tax plan, because in addition to gutting education funding, it also creates a backdoor voucher program exclusively for the wealthy. Call your representative and tell them to oppose this plan.

Trump's Trojan Horse Tax Plan I Robert Reich

Republican Tax Plan

House Republicans released a tax plan that is a terrible deal for middle-class families and students. They want to rush it through Congress next week, and they want you to pay for it.

The plan is an enormous tax giveaway to corporations and wealthy individuals like Betsy DeVos, and it is funded on the backs of students and  hardworking, middle-class people like you. I'm sure you won't be  surprised to hear that DeVos has publicly praised the plan.

If Betsy DeVos thinks it is a good plan, then you know something is wrong with it.

That's why we need your help to shut it down. Please send an email to your representative right now.

Latino Students in California Schools

“The Majority Report: Supporting the Educational Success of Latino Students in California” provides an extensive look at how the state’s largest ethnic group is faring at every level of California’s education system. The report finds that while the over 3 million Latino students in K-12 schools are the majority of California’s 6.2 million K-12 population, and nearly 1 million Latino students are in California’s public colleges and universities, these students continue to face troubling inequities from early learning through higher education. California’s Latino students:

·       Attend the nation’s most segregated schools;

·       Are often tracked away from college-preparatory coursework;

·       Are sometimes perceived as less academically capable than their White or Asian peers; and

·       Have insufficient access to early childhood education;

·       Are less likely to feel connected to their school environment;

·       Are more likely to be required to take remedial courses at colleges and universities.

The study also highlights bright spots throughout the state where promising practices are helping Latino students advance academically, dispelling the myth that these gaps cannot be closed, and reiterating the need for more action and urgency from state leaders.

The Majority Report includes a policy timeline and infographic and is accompanied by a data tool looking at achievement gaps by county.

Produced by Ed Trust – West.  Nov. 2017.

https://west.edtrust.org/resource/the-majority-report/

Teachers' Strike Averted

The Sacramento City Unified School District and its teachers union have reached a tentative agreement on a new contract that gives teachers up to an 11 percent raise over the three-year deal and averts a strike for the 43,000-student district.

The deal was finalized Monday after being brokered over the weekend by Mayor Darrell Steinberg, schools Superintendent Jorge Aguilar and the Sacramento City Teachers Association.

The agreement, announced Monday afternoon at City Hall, ended more than a year of bitter contract negotiations and rhetoric between the district and the teachers union. The deal came just two days before the union’s 2,800 members planned to strike.

From the Sacramento Bee 

Read more here: http://www.sacbee.com/news/local/article183073406.html#storylink=cpy

Do Not Cross Teachers' Picket Lines

Note: It is the policy of the College of Education at
CSU Sacramento that student teachers from Sac State will not cross picket lines to replace striking teachers.  Working inside a school where the professionals are on strike is not considered a safe nor educationally appropriate environment.
This should also apply to other volunteers in the Sacramento system.
University faculty who supervise student teachers are members of CFA ( NEA, SEIU.) There should be no crossing of picket lines.
Duane Campbell.  Professor (emeritus) CSU-Sacramento
See post below on the strike.

To the editor, Sacramento Bee 

In the current conflict in SCUSD, the District’s discussion of the budget and the Bee’s coverage are incomplete and lacking.

Yes, the District has at least $80 million in reserves.  The taxpayers passed Prop. 30 and 55 to adequately fund the schools.  Since 2013 the district has received an increase of revenues of   more than $67 million.

First, the professionals in the district deserve respect and a significant raise in pay. Second, what is missing?  Over $10 million per year of this increase is funded by the state taxpayers under the Local Control Funding Formula. LCFF.

By law, these funds must be spent to improve the education of children by lowering class size, and focusing on low income, English Language Learners, foster children, and Special Education. The district has refused repeated requests to spend the funds as required.

Now, the chickens have come home to roost.

Duane Campbell