No Concentration Camps for Children

Into the Streets. Defend our values !

WHEN:

Tuesday, July 2 at noon

WHERE

Robert T Matsui United States Courthouse

501 I Street

Sacramento, CA 95814

Children denied soap and toothbrushes, crowded into unsafe conditions. Separated from their families, subject to cruel treatment that leads to lasting traumas. And some dying in custody—or dying with parents as they cross the Rio Grande. We've seen the images and heard the stories coming out of child detention centers. Horrifically, these conditions aren't an accident. They are the byproduct of an intentional strategy by the Trump administration to terrorize immigrant communities and criminalize immigration—from imprisoning children in inhumane conditions to threatening widespread raids to break up families to covering up reports of immigrants dying in U.S. custody and abuses by ICE and CBP agents. It’s going to take all of us to close the camps. This Tuesday, July 2, while members of Congress are home for the Fourth of July holiday, we will gather at Noon at their local offices in protest. Our demands: -Close the camps -Not one dollar for family detention -Bear witness and reunite families Join Us! Follow the event on Facebook for updates here: 

https://www.facebook.com/events/322037762031943

Stand up for human rights & justice: Call for an end to immigrant detention! Close the Camps - Tuesday, July 2 Threats of mass deportations, tragic photos of migrants dying at borders, exposure of inhumane detention conditions of children, their families, and other migrants and asylum seekers have pushed many to ask what they can do to stop these policies and practices. Even presidential hopefuls are pressing to end the criminalization of undocumented border crossers--something that has largely gone without comment by most politicians. Click here to find out where #ClosetheCamps local actions are happening and JOIN THEM TOMORROW! NNIRR is joining dozens of groups nationally to mobilize for protests at congressional district offices. The actions are being locally organized and will mainly be staged at noontime or after work hours. The actions are demanding that the U.S. government: Close the camps Not fund one dollar for family detention and deportation Reunite families If you can't get to an event near you, drop off a letter to your member of Congress office. Here's a draft letter. These events help to raise awareness and broaden public support to end immigration detention. Organizing and advocacy against detention has--and continues to proceed--around the country as it has for years, for decades. These cruel, racist, punitive policies and practices have been in place through successive administrations, but have been sharply escalated under Donald Trump, whose presidential campaign centered on his fear driven anti-immigrant platform. By all accounts, Trump's 2020 election bid will continue this hateful rhetoric. Build a movement to end detention! The Administration's answer to criticism of horrible detention conditions is to build more detention facilities! Dangerously, the detention infrastructure has expanded dramatically under Trump as the practice of detention has become even more central to U.S. immigration deterrence/zero tolerance policies. We have a long road ahead to end immigrant detention! JOIN the National Network to connect in a nationwide alliance of organizations and individuals who are committed to human rights for all immigrants--we are in it for the long haul! Learn more about the criminalization of immigrants - read NNIRR's fact sheet on Operation Streamline. Connect with groups like Detention Watch Network, a national membership organization that coordinates strategies and initiatives, strengthening the movement to end detention. Learn about what you can do to #DefundHate to help us defeat funding for ALL destructive immigration enforcement policies and infrastructure. Immigrant detention is a global concern, and is included in the agenda we share with our international partners like the Global Coalition on Migration. And check out initiatives like the Global Campaign to End Child Detention. There are many local and national activities lifting up detention concerns, supporting the right to asylum, rights at the border and more. We'll share more information soon on Lights for Liberty, the July 12 activities also calling attention to detention. We are heartened by efforts at many levels to break the downward spiral of immigration and refugee policies and to mitigate the human cost. Much can be done along the way towards long term, durable solutions to the human rights crisis in migration. Whether it's making donations to immigrant shelters, legal services, organizing or political advocacy, signing petitions, protesting at detention centers, or calling on members of Congress to do the right thing--all contribute to raising awareness, changing narratives and activating our own humanity. Sharing information for affected communities: Many community and legal service groups are sharing needed information for immigrant communities targeted by Trump's deportation machine. The reality is that some undocumented families are preparing their emergency files--setting up documents that detail who can take care of children if parents are rounded up and deported. Setting aside money, taking care of property--all the preparations for the unthinkable. Know-your-rights info, hotline numbers, guides on what to do in case of a raid, or if ICE comes to your house or workplace--this is information flowing among communities in various languages. NNIRR has put together resource links and downloads drawn from many excellent sources in the immigrant rights community. Visit them here: Know Your Rights/Conozca sus derechos Immigration Hotlines/Líneas Directas

Donald Trump's Immigration Policy

 Current policy caused the death of two migrants trying to cross the Rio Grande river after waiting for two months "in line" to apply for asylum. Oscar Alberto Martinez Ramirez and his 23 month old daughter Valeria. 

Photo La Jornada.

Over the last year, at least seven children have died in government-run concentration camps at our southern border, and 24 immigrants altogether during the Trump presidency. Many of the detained children still don’t have toothbrushes, diapers, soap, clean clothes, or medicine. 

WE support  Families Belong Together again to raise money for supplies and legal aid for children at the border. Duane, can you make a direct donation to Families Belong Together?

 

Any place where thousands of people are detained and vilified on the basis of race or religion without access to fundamental rights is a concentration camp. Children are dying on our soil as a result of Donald Trump’s immigration policies and his Republican enablers in Washington. Families Belong Together provides legal services and other essential resources for refugees fleeing violence and persecution, and all donations will go towards their efforts to reunify families.

 

Donate now to provide critical relief to children trapped at the border. 

Choosing Democracy.

Duane Campbell 

State Education Budget

Bill Raden, Capitol & Main

California governor Gavin Newsom racked up significant wins last week when his first education budget sailed through the legislature mostly intact. A minimum increase, mandated by Prop. 98, will bump funding for K-12 and community colleges by $2.9 billion, to $81.1 billion in 2019-20. The best news for the Golden State’s chronically cash-strapped school districts may be the estimated $850 million freed up over the next two years by the $3.15 billion pension obligation paydown Newsom unveiled in January. Also included is spending that emphasizes Newsom’s commitment to early education:

·     A $1.8 billion down payment on the governor’s long-term plan to institute universal preschool and vastly expand subsidized childcare for low-income families.

·     $646 million for special ed, with nearly $500 million earmarked for preschool.

·     $300 million in one-time facilities funding for districts expanding to full-day kindergarten (a reduction by half of the $600 million requested).

Still pending in a follow-up budget bill is language that would limit the ability of charter schools to cherry-pick enrollment, by banning the requirement of student academic records for admissions and outlawing the “counseling out” of low-achievers and students with learning disabilities.

For higher ed, lawmakers signed off on Newsom’s pledge to keep college tuition flat for 2019-20 and provided money to expand in-state undergraduate enrollments at the 10 UC campuses by 4,860, and by 10,000 in the 23-campus Cal State system. There is also aid for homeless and hungry students, and up to $6,000 for students who are parents of dependent children to pay for tuition and living costs.

https://capitalandmain.com/budget-victory-age-of-newsom-state-education-0620

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Free College Tuition for All

College For All Means Dignity For All

Chris Simmons

I want to tell you why we need – I need – Free College For All now. I grew up in Newton, Iowa, a small city east of Des Moines. This is the was home to the Maytag Corporation, the “washing machine capital of the world.” This company employed most of Newton’s adults, until Maytag sold out to Whirlpool in 2006 and executives moved all production to Mexico. Pretty much everyone in Newton – my father, grandfather and all of our friends’ fathers – lost their jobs overnight. Nobody had any money, and there was a lot of tension. That’s why, when I was accepted to attend Iowa State University, I was excited: Ames is just two hours from Newton, but it felt a world away from the despair that had gripped my hometown. But there was no way I could afford it. Most people don’t realize how many college students, like me, are in distress. You’d be shocked to learn how many are homeless or have to choose between books and meals. And even if we graduate, we’ll still have loans to pay for the rest of our lives. That’s why, as a member of Iowa Student Action, we welcome Senator Bernie Sanders’ College For All Act, which would make four-year public college tuition and debt-free for everyone. But we’re holding Sen. Sanders and other presidential hopefuls accountable: Because if we don’t win education, clean energy, and a sustainable economy, we won’t have a future. Neither will you. Sen. Sanders calls the crippling cost of college a “national disgrace.” I agree. So is our nation’s failure to offer health care and housing, because everyone deserves a hopeful and dignified life. And the first step towards that life is a fair and free education.

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Sanders to propose canceling entire $1.6 trillion in U.S. student loan debt, escalating Democratic policy battle. WaPo: “Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) will propose on Monday eliminating all $1.6 trillion of student debt held in the United States, a significant escalation of the policy fight in the 2020 Democratic presidential primary two days before the candidates’ first debate in Miami. Sanders is proposing the federal government pay to wipe clean the student debt held by 45 million Americans — including all private and graduate school debt — as part of a package that also would make public universities, community colleges and trade schools tuition-free. Sanders is proposing to pay for these plans with a tax on Wall Street his campaign says will raise more than $2 trillion over 10 years, though some tax experts give lower revenue estimates. Sanders will be joined Monday by Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.), who will introduce legislation in the House to eliminate all student debt in the United States, as well as Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash.), co-chair of the Congressional Progressive Caucus, who has championed legislation to make public universities tuition-free.”

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The War on Public Schools

EDUCATION
Jackie Goldberg Explains the Coming War to Save Public Education


After winning a Los Angeles school board seat, Goldberg speaks about charter schools, money and what it means to fight the good fight.

May 17, 2019
By

Alex Demyanenko




Jackie Goldberg photos by Bill Raden


Jackie Goldberg has spent her life fighting for students. From 1983 to 1991, she served on the Los Angeles Unified School District’s board of education, including a term as president. She later became an L.A. City Councilmember and then served three terms in the California State Assembly, where she also served as chairperson of the Assembly Education Committee. Now, nearly 30 years later, Goldberg returns to the board, having been elected to fill the District 5 seat vacated with last year’s resignation of Ref Rodriguez, the former board president who was convicted ofcampaign money laundering. (Goldberg will now complete a term expiring in December 2020.)


At 74, Goldberg still seems as energetic and passionate as ever. Shortly after winning the board seat, she spoke to Capital & Main about charter schools, money and what it means to fight the good fight. The interview has been edited for brevity and clarity.


Capital &; Main: You’ve been an outspoken critic of charter schools. Now that you’ve won the election, are you prepared to battle school board members like Nick Melvoin, who have strongly supported their growth?


Jackie Goldberg: I’m ready to go to battle but it isn’t what I’d prefer to do. What I want to do is to pass Measure EE, and then we can fight about how to spend that money. I do want to have a more close fiscal control of charter schools in the district.
“Public education is dying. It is dying because it’s being financially killed.”

There are things that I want to do right away about charters, but most of the work is in Sacramento. I’ve already been up to Sacramento once on this issue, and have talked to a number of people. I do think that we need to get some reforms on charters, such as a back-filling of fixed costs to schools when they lose a child to a charter. We don’t get that now. Let’s say 10 or 11 kids leave a school, maybe even enough leave school to lose a teacher. That’s too bad, but that’s the way that goes. But you still have the principal. You still have the plant manager. You still have the school secretary. You still have a nurse, if you’re lucky. You still have a library aid or a librarian, if you’re lucky. Those are fixed costs. They don’t get reduced when children leave. And right now, that’s what’s killing us.

New Haven Teachers Remain on Strike

 RSS

PUBLISHED TO LAURA CARLSON.  DAILY KOS 

Teachers in California’s New Haven Unified School District have been on strike for 14 days as of Friday. They were considering the school district’s “last, best, and final offer,” which falls short of the pay increases teachers are calling for. The school district entered negotiations offering zero raise, meaning teachers would be falling behind as the cost of living rises.

A group of frustrated parents is attempting a recall of three school board members, saying, “We have witnessed a total and complete lack of willingness and ability of this board to lead us through these difficult times,” and, “Teachers in this school district deserve more from this board of education and administration. The students deserve more from all of us.”

The New Haven strike follows teachers strikes in Los Angeles and Oakland, California; Denver, Colorado; and West Virginia—all in 2019. Teachers in South Carolina; Nashville, Tennessee; and Massachusetts have also held significant protests this year.

Bernie, Son of FDR

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West Sacramento Charter Schools

Have West Sacramento Charters Become Self-Segregated Enclaves?

Borders, boundaries and barriers have been a way of life in the lower Sacramento Valley since the Gold Rush days. The newest form of green line here are charter schools.

Valuable description of charters and their claims.

https://capitalandmain.com/have-west-sacramento-charters-become-self-segregated-enclaves-0611

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West Virginia Seeks to Make Teachers Strikes Illegal

W. VA SENATE BLUNTS RED FOR ED REDUX: The West Virginia Senate on Monday passed an education bill that would outlaw public school strikes, giving administrators authority to fire teachers who walk out to protest for better pay and school funding, the Charleston Gazette-Mail's Ryan Quinn reports. 

"Language has been added specifically saying that public worker strikes are unlawful and school workers may be fired if they strike," Quinn writes. "A provision that would deny pay for school workers who strike was taken out between the draft and the bill's official introduction Saturday, but a similar provision was returned to the bill through an amendment on Sunday."

West Virginia was ground zero for the Red for Ed movement in 2018 when thousands of teachers walked off the job, closing schools in every county. Teachers in Oklahoma, Arizona and Los Angeles followed suit. More from the Gazette-Mail here.

For our younger readers.  Banning strikes by teachers in common in Right to Work states, particularly across the South.  ( like Texas)  Often these states also limit the rights of teachers to bargain. California teachers got these rights in about 1976. 

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