A Response to Neo Fascism

RS Seminar- Economic Crisis: A Response to Neo Fascism: The true meaning of 6 January: we must answer Trump’s neofascism with hope Robert Reich As the first anniversary of the Capitol attack nears...

“Unacceptable”: Rep. Jamaal Bowman Slams Manchin After Senator Says No t...

Build Back Better at Stake.

Republicans, and two Democrats put our economy at risk.

The President of the United States, the U.S. House of Representatives and 49 members of the U.S. Senate are prepared to pass enormously consequential legislation which stands up to powerful special interests and finally deliver for the working families of our country. With almost every Democrat in the House and Senate on board, there is one member of the Democratic Caucus in the Senate who stands in the way. 

Senator Joe Manchin.

In America today the very rich are becoming richer while millions of working families are struggling to put food on the table or pay their bills. We now have the absurd situation in which two multi-billionaires own more wealth than the bottom 40% of Americans, the top 1% owns more wealth than the bottom 92% and the gap between rich and poor is wider than at any time in the last 100 years.

The Build Back Better bill, supported by President Biden, the vast majority of Americans and almost every Democrat in Congress is an unprecedented effort to finally address the long-neglected crises facing working families and demand that the wealthiest people and largest corporations in the country start paying their fair share of taxes.

Here are just a few of the things we are trying to do:

We are going to take on the greed of the pharmaceutical industry and lower the cost of prescription drugs in America. Last year, while nearly one out of four Americans could not afford to fill the prescriptions their doctors wrote, six of the largest drug companies made tens of billions in profits.

We are going to expand Medicare to cover hearing aids, dental care and eyeglasses. Today, in the wealthiest nation on earth, millions of seniors cannot chew their food or see and hear their loved ones.

We are going to help seniors and people with disabilities get the home health care they need. Across the United States, and in places like West Virginia and Vermont in particular, seniors should be able to be around their loved ones as they age as opposed to being forced into expensive nursing homes.

We are going to expand the Child Tax Credit that has reduced childhood poverty by 50 percent in the United States.

We are going to end the dysfunction of a childcare system that forces working families to spend up to 1/3 of their limited income on childcare and keeps millions of women out of the workforce.

We are going to make sure pre-K for 3 and 4 year olds is universal and free, giving our young children the best chance at success regardless of where they are from or how much money their parents make.

And oh yes, there is the not-so-small matter of the existential threat of climate change. With the planet getting warmer and warmer, unprecedented drought, fires, flood, and extreme weather, we are going to finally begin the process of cutting carbon emissions and transforming our energy systems to save this planet for future generations.

This morning, Senator Manchin announced he would not support the Build Back Better Act.

And if that is the case, he should be prepared to vote NO before the working families of West Virginia and America and explain why.

We should give Joe Manchin the opportunity to explain to West Virginia and American people why he opposes taking on the greed of the drug companies and lowering the cost of prescription drugs.

We should give Joe Manchin the opportunity to explain to West Virginia seniors why he opposes helping them secure hearing aids, dental care and the eyeglasses they need.

We should give Joe Manchin the opportunity to explain to families why their loved ones should age in expensive nursing homes instead of around those who care about them most.

We should give Joe Manchin the opportunity to explain why only the children of the wealthy from certain zip codes should have the opportunity to attend pre-K.

And we should give Joe Manchin the opportunity to explain why he sides with those who profit from climate change and the destruction of the planet for future generations.

Now I know Joe Manchin continues to talk about his concerns over the national debt, but I find it amusing I didn’t hear his concerns after voting, just this week, for a military budget of $778 billion, four times greater than the Build Back Better Act over ten years and $25 billion more than the president suggested.

Forgive me thinking that maybe, just maybe, something else is at play here.

Joe Manchin should have the chance to explain what it is.

Let’s vote:

Please sign my petition calling on the Senate to vote on the Build Back Better Act as soon as we return from recess. If Joe Manchin wants to vote NO, then let him explain to the working families of West Virginia and America why.

ADD YOUR NAME

Thank you for making your voice heard.

In solidarity,

Bernie Sanders

 

New NEA President Pushes Union Toward Social Justice

 New Leader Pushes Teachers’ Union to Take On Social Justice Role

Becky Pringle, the country’s top Black labor leader, has plunged the National Education Association into the reckoning unfolding in public schools.

By Erica L. Green

Dec. 12, 2021

PHILADELPHIA — Becky Pringle was racing through her hometown to her fourth event one day in September when her staff alerted her to a looming controversy.

Fox News was preparing to publish emails between the White House and officials at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, showing that the C.D.C. had continued to advise masking in schools last spring out of fear of a public showdown with Ms. Pringle, the head of the nation’s largest teachers’ union and the highest-ranking Black labor leader in the country.

The story seemed to affirm the most fervent criticism of her union, the National Education Association, in recent months — that it had too much control over school reopening decisions during the coronavirus pandemic and was wielding outsize influence in the Biden administration. Ms. Pringle shrugged it off with a single-sentence tweet: “It’s no secret we want to keep our students and schools safe.”

Under President Biden, teachers’ unions have re-emerged as power players in shaping federal education policy after largely being sidelined during the Trump administration. The N.E.A., in particular, has enjoyed increased visibility: Jill Biden, the first lady and a longtime educator, is a member. On the same day the Fox story published, Mr. Biden, during remarks honoring labor unions, slipped in a joke that in the minds of critics has taken on a double meaning: “I sleep with an N.E.A. member every night,” he said.

Ms. Pringle’s favor in the White House reflects a turning point for the N.E.A. The three-million-member organization is normally overshadowed by its counterpart, the American Federation of Teachers, even though it has nearly twice as many members. Because the A.F.T. represents many of the nation’s large, urban school districts, it has long wielded considerable power in Washington. At the same time, its lack of term limits has made its high-profile leaders more like monarchs — its current president, Randi Weingarten, has served for 13 years.

Ms. Pringle quietly ascended via Zoom in September 2020 to her three-year term as president of the N.E.A. Since then, she has been unapologetic about the fact that she has “leaned into” the union’s new spotlight. She has often proclaimed that Mr. Biden has drawn from the “N.E.A. playbook” to shape policy goals, like prioritizing teachers for vaccination and securing record levels of school funding in Covid relief legislation.

Image

 

Ms. Pringle, left, during a tour of the Philadelphia High School for Girls, her alma mater. When she was a student, her counselor cautioned her that math and science might be “really hard” majors.Credit...Kriston Jae Bethel for The New York Times

And she has no regrets about the union’s influence in conditioning school reopenings on more safety measures, including the C.D.C. guidance, and resources that would stretch beyond the pandemic. “There’s no way to know how many lives were saved,” Ms. Pringle said, “but I do know this for sure: The things that we have now, we would not have if we hadn’t fought for it.”

But some political observers predict that Mr. Biden’s close relationship with the teachers’ unions could backfire.

“I don’t think the unions are playing well when we’re seeing urban and suburban parents not particularly happy about what’s been happening in schools the last 18 months,” said Frederick M. Hess, the director of education policy studies at the American Enterprise Institute, a conservative-leaning think tank.

What motivates Ms. Pringle, she said, is a longtime need that is ever more pressing now: to “reclaim public education as a common good, and transform it into something it was never designed to be: racially and socially just, and equitable.”

She sees both the pandemic, which exposed gross inequities that have plagued the nation’s education system for decades, and the presidency of Mr. Biden, who has pledged to make equity a cornerstone of his policymaking, as opportunities to achieve that goal.

Remembering Eric Vega

 Eric Vega , Lecturer in Ethnic Studies, passed away on Nov 25,2021.  It has been a road well traveled. 

 

The  statement of the  Sacramento Sol Collective described  many of  Eric’s contributions well.

 

“Eric Vega was a father, husband, educator, labor organizer, activist, and philanthropist. He was a brilliant community leader who led by example and impacted our region through his decades of social justice work and mentorship of young activists, educators, law students, and politicians.”

 

 

Eric  Vega had a long and sustained history of  political and cultural activism. 

 

He was the Chair and primary organizer of the Sacramento Civil Rights Network and Chair of the California Civil Rights Conference.  In the 1980’s He served as  a state policy advocate for MALDEF, The Mexican American Legal Defense and Education Fund,  Later he was the Director of the Sacramento Fair Housing  and Human Rights Commission. 

 

 Eric became a Lecturer of  Chicano Studies/ Ethnic studies. Sacramento State  in  1993 as ethnic studies became a part of the university systems. In this role he served as faculty sponsor of the campus Mecha. Movimiento Estudiantil Chicanos de Atzlan. This work assisted generations of young people to become political activists and change agents.  One of his favorite tasks was to take delegations of Sac State students to the border to examine conditions there.  These trips were reported to be transformative for many. 

 

From 1992- 1994, Along with  others  Eric  worked to unite Sacramento labor work with Chicano community activism to oppose the North American Free Trade Agreement (1994). This effort included participating in election observing in Mexico and bringing  former Governor of Michoacán and  presidential  candidate Cuauhtémoc Cardenas to California for an opposition tour.   

 

In 2004,  Eric  co authored with me a chapter on “ Racism and Schools.” in my book, Choosing Democracy : A practical guide to multicultural education ( 3^rd.edition) to extend  the coverage of Chicano history into the public school curriculum. 

 

While thoroughly engaged within the Chicano community, Eric was always supportive and active with multiracial efforts such as opposing the 1996 CCRI. ( California misnamed Civil Rights Initiative. 

 

Professor Vega was always open and ready to help others and to get the necessary work done in campaigns and events.   He was kind and caring. He drew people to his work with his positive openness. He touched the lives of hundreds of students by listening to others, including young people, and makings  them feel welcome in a broad range of efforts. 

.

 

 Eric’s life was significantly influenced by the Chicano cultural resistance  of the Chicano Movement  which grew significantly through developments in the many arts In the 70’s and 80’s. It is well known for the development of the RCAF ( Royal Chicano Air Force).  He contributed to this tradition as one of the founders of the Arts and Culture Center the Sol Collective in Sacramento. .  Today, the Collective continues as a vibrant effort to engage and involve young people in their own self definitions. You can read the Sol Collective’s generous description of Eric’s founding contributions here.

 

https://www.facebook.com/182779049068/posts/10158900445149069/?d=n

There is a unique recording of this history of Chicano activism in the archives of the Sacramento Chicano Moviemiento, (2014) in the CSU- Sacramento library. Eric’s video there provides insight into the breadth of his cultural, political, and social interests I heartily recommend that readers interested in seeing Eric reflecting upon his own life as a teacher and a Chicano Activist view this oral history.

Here: 

https://csus.mediasite.com/Mediasite/Play/f820eb29685345fdaa0876064fa609341d

 

“The teacher is of course an artist, but being an artist does not mean that he or she can make the profile, can shape the students. What the educator does in teaching is to make it possible for the students to become themselves.”

― Paulo Freire

 

By Duane E. Campbell, Professor (emeritus) CSU-Sacramento

Bilingual/Multicultural Education.

 

 

 

 

 

Remembering Eric Vega

 Remembering Eric Vega: Latino Leader in DSA and a Long-Distance Runner

DECEMBER 12, 2021 BY DUANE CAMPBELL

When Eric Vega died last month, he left a legacy of activism that affected everyone who came in contact with him. [In this video from CSU-Sacramento,  Eric Vega  provides insight into the breadth of his cultural, political, and social interests and in the trajectory of his moving from the nationalist of part of  the Chicano Left movement to DSA,and beyond. ] 

 

See video interview here.

https://www.dsausa.org/democratic-left/remembering-eric-vega-latino-leader-in-dsa-and-a-long-distance-runner/

 

We in Sacramento DSA worked with him on the  Jesse Jackson Rainbow Coalition campaigns of 1984 and 1988, on immigrants rights, opposition to the North American Free Trade Agreement,, and more.  By 1992, we had established enough credibility and trust that I asked him to join  the DSA Latino Commission.  As he  engaged with DSA, he advocated for more street-based political work- such as the campaigns to oppose the anti-immigrant and racist  Propositions 187 and 209.  

As chair of the Sacramento campaign to oppose Proposition 187, which would have denied public education and non-emergency health and social services to undocumented immigrants, he inspired DSAers to spend countless hours hitting the pavement to campaign against it. DSA repeated these mobilizations again in 1996 against Proposition 209, an anti-affirmative action initiative.

Again  and again, in each electoral campaign, we would recruit and train organizers and then walk streets to get out the vote, particularly in barrios and  Spanish-speaking areas.  The  organizing forums and workshops were designed to build the Chicano movement MEChA ( Movimiento Estudiantil Chicanos de Atzlán), as well as DSA.   In 1998,  we used the same strategy when I chaired the Defend the Children campaign to oppose proposition 227 – the anti bilingual education initiative. Eric was a key organizer, and these campaigns were documented in Our Struggle/Nuestra Lucha, the newsletter of DSA’s Latino and Anti Racism Commissions.

Eric was no stranger to activism. In the 1980s, he  served as  a state policy advocate for MALDEF, The Mexican American Legal Defense and Education Fund,  Later, he was the Director of the Sacramento Human Rights and  Fair Housing Commission. He was the Chair and primary organizer of the Sacramento Civil Rights Network and Chair of the California Civil Rights Conference (1994-1996).

In 1993, he  became a professor of  Chicano Studies/ Ethnic studies at CSU- Sacramento, as ethnic studies became a part of the university systems.  He served as faculty sponsor of the campus MEChA, as he assisted generations of young people to become political activists and change agents.  One of his favorite tasks was to take delegations of Sac State students to the border to examine conditions there.  Many students later credited these trips with changing their lives.

From 1992- 1994, along with DSA NPC member Al Rojas and the Latino Commission, Eric  worked to unite Sacramento labor work with Chicano community activism to oppose the North American Free Trade Agreement (1994). This effort included participating in observing elections  in Mexico and bringing  Cuauhtémoc Cardenas,  former governor of Michoacán and  presidential  candidate to California for an opposition organizing tour. 

In 1995, he was elected to the National Political Committee of DSA. where he served for four years, representing an effective Latino voice  and West Coast activism.  With Eric’s participation, and Dolores Delgado Campbell’s leadership of the DSA Latino Commission, Sacramento became a local site of Chicano activism within DSA.  We had been strengthened by a strong Chicano-led Bilingual Education and Ethnic Studies programs at the university, which provided an ongoing recruitment and training ground for bringing Chicano activists into the Latino Commission of  DSA,  and we had hoped that by having one DSA chapter with a strong Chicano presence we could provide a model for other DSA chapters, but that did not happen. The critical mass and the national will were not there.

We make the road by walking, and I was honored to walk with Eric Vega.

He shared wise counsel and personal support  with me, and others, in over thirty years of cultural, political work together. Eric’s life was significantly influenced by the Chicano cultural resistance  of the Chicano Movement  which grew significantly through developments in the graphic arts  and poetry of the 1970’s and 1980. He contributed to this tradition of combining the arts and activism  as one of the founders of the Arts and Culture Center the Sol Collective.  Today, the  Sol Collective continues as a vibrant effort to engage and involve young people in their own music, arts, and  politics. You can read the Sol Collective’s generous description of Eric’s  founding contributions here.

Within the Sol Collective, Eric and others created the Sacramento Activist School to continue to  train young people as organizers. In a statement issued after his death, the Collective remembered him as “a brilliant community leader who led by example and impacted our region through his decades of social justice work and mentorship of young activists, educators, law students, and politicians.”

It has been a road well traveled together. Carry it on.

Readers can explore  Eric’s history online through the People of Color History within DSA compiled by David Roddy and Alyssa De La Rosa. Roddy completed an interview with  Eric on his  history before, during and after  DSA.

 

Record Funding to School Districts

 

Record Funding to Support Educator Retention and Professional Learning ($1.5 billion):
How is your District Planning to Spend It?

 

Para español, favor de hacer clic aquí.

This fall, school districts, charter schools and county offices of education are receiving record investments to support educator retention and professional learning. These investments include $1.5 billion statewide in Educator Effectiveness Funds. They are required to spend the funds on professional learning for teachers and administrators, as well as paraprofessionals and classified staff who work with students. They are also encouraged to invite teachers and other school staff to identify the topics of professional learning they need. Districts will begin receiving their Educator Effectiveness allocations by early 2022. 

There's big money involved

There’s big money involved: 

~$131 million in Los Angeles Unified School District

~$18 million in Fresno Unified School District

~$12 million in San Bernardino City Unified School District

~$14 million in Long Beach Unified School District

~$9 million in Sacramento City Unified School District

~$10 million in Oakland Unified School District

~$1.5 million in Alisal Union School District

~$7 million in West Contra Costa Unified School District

~$6 million in San José Unified School District

~$2 million in Alum Rock Union School District

~$4 million in East Side Union High School District

~$6.5 million in Pomona Unified School District

~$3.5 million in Salinas Union High School District

Check out how much funding your district will receive in this spreadsheet.

Thoughtful and targeted training and professional development for staff can create more inclusive teaching and learning environments, which are essential to attracting and retaining a diverse, prepared educator workforce. Environments where teachers and students feel a strong sense of inclusion and belonging and have support to build restorative and relationship-centered practices promote transformational cultural shifts for racially just schools. 

School districts must adopt a plan by December 30, 2021 that explains how they intend to spend their Educator Effectiveness Funds, starting in the 2021-22 school year and continuing through June 30, 2026. 

What must Educator Effectiveness funds be used for?

Districts must use them to provide instruction, training and professional development for teachers, administrators and other staff who work with students. What could this look like? 

• Coaching and mentoring for staff to foster a meaningful teaching and learning experience
• Programs improving instruction across all subject areas
• Practices and strategies that reengage students and lead to accelerated learning
• Strategies to implement social-emotional learning, trauma-informed practices, access to mental health services and other approaches that improve student well-being
• Practices to foster a positive school climate, including, but not limited to, restorative justice, implicit bias and discrimination and harassment prevention
• Instruction to support effective language-acquisition programs for English   learner students
• Strategies to improve inclusive practices for students receiving special education  services and develop individualized education programs and Section 504 plans
• New professional learning networks for educators
• Education and strategies to incorporate ethnic studies curricula into student instruction for grades 7-12 
• Instruction, education and strategies in early childhood education and expanding universal transitional kindergarten

Check out this infographic on the Educator Effectiveness Plans here [English, Spanish]!

Ask your District: 

• Have you asked teachers and other school staff to identify the professional development and training topics that they need to promote inclusion and belonging in their school communities and better serve students and families?
• Have you drafted your Educator Effectiveness Expenditure Plan yet after incorporating staff feedback? If so, could you post the draft online for community members to review?
• What investments do you plan to make with these funds and why? When will you start spending these funds?
• How much of this funding is being used for new services versus continuing existing services?
• When and how are you planning to request feedback from students, families and other community members on this plan?
• What metrics will you use to evaluate the impact of investments made with these funds and how will you report publicly on their effectiveness over time?
• Will you commit to engage with the community before making any material revisions to the Educator Effectiveness Expenditure Plan in the future?

Contact an administrator in your district’s state/federal programs or finance/budget departments with your questions, requests and feedback

This is an ongoing task of Sacramento LULAC. 

Note; Sacramento City Unified continues to under fund education for English Language Learners. They continue to use funds designated for English Language Learners for other tasks.

A Personal Tribute to Eric Vega

 A  Personal Tribute to Eric Vega.  

 

Eric Vega passed away on Nov 25,2021.  It has been a road well traveled- together.

 

The  statement of the Sol Collective described  many of  Eric’s contributions well.

 

“Eric Vega was a father, husband, educator, labor organizer, activist, and philanthropist. He was a brilliant community leader who led by example and impacted our region through his decades of social justice work and mentorship of young activists, educators, law students, and politicians.”

 

 

Eric had a long and sustained history of activism and numerous causes.

 

Eric Vega was the Chair and primary organizer of the Sacramento Civil Rights Network and Chair of the California Civil Rights Conference.  In the 1980’s He served as  a state policy advocate for MALDEF, The Mexican American Legal Defense and Education Fund,  Later he was the Director of the Sacramento Fair Housing  and Human Rights Commission. 

 

 Eric became a Professor of  Chicano Studies/ Ethnic studies. CSU- Sacramento in  1993  as ethnic studies became a part of the university systems. In this role he served as faculty sponsor of the campus MEChA Movimiento Estudiantil Chicanos de Atzlán. This work assisted generations of young people to become political activists and change agents.   

From 1992- 1994, Along with DSA – NPC member Al Rojas and the Latino Commission  Eric  worked to unite Sacramento labor work with Chicano community activism to oppose the North American Free Trade Agreement (1994). This effort included participating in election observing in Mexico and bringing  former Governor of Michoacán and  presidential  candidate Cuauhtémoc Cardenas to California for an opposition tour.   

 

 

Eric joined DSA after extensive experience with other left formations in the 70’s and 80’s.  

 In 1994, he served as Chair of the Sacramento electoral  effort to defeat the Anti Mexican Immigrants  Proposition 187. Eric focused  the  DSA’s Latino Commission's efforts on the California  Prop. 187 ( 1994)  and anti Affirmative Action California  ( so called) Civil Rights Initiative. 1996 (Prop 209) .

 

In 1995 Eric Vega was elected to the National Political Committee of DSA at the convention where he served for four years, representing an effective Latino voice  and  needed representative of West Coast activism on the National Political Committee.  

 

With his  leadership DSA and MEChA co sponsored a numerous forums on Chicanos Organizing for Social Change on the CSU campus.  In 2004,  Eric  co authored with me a chapter on Racism and Schools in my book, Choosing Democracy : A practical guide to multicultural education ( 3^rd.edition) extending the coverage of Chicano history into the public school curriculum.  

While thoroughly engaged within the Chicano community, Eric was always supportive and active with multiracial efforts such as opposing the 1996 CCRI. ( California misnamed Civil Rights Initiative. 

 

Eric, along with his wife Janet Vining, herself an attorney and  activist,  was always open and ready to help others and to get the necessary work done in campaigns and events.   He was kind and caring. He drew people to his work with his positive openness. He touched the lives of hundreds of students by listening to others, including young people, and makings  them  feel welcome in a broad range of efforts. 

.

 

Eric’s life was significantly influenced by the Chicano cultural resistance  of the Chicano Movement  which grew significantly through developments in the many arts In the 70’s and 80’s. It is well known for the development of the RCAF ( Royal Chicano Air Force).  He contributed to this tradition as one of the founders of the Arts and Culture Center the Sol Collective.  Today, the Collective continues as a vibrant effort to engage and involve young people in their own self definitions. You can read the Sol Collective’s generous description of Eric’s founding contributions here.

 

https://www.facebook.com/182779049068/posts/10158900445149069/?d=n

I recommend that readers interested in seeing Eric reflect upon his own life as a socialist and a Chicano activist view this oral history from the Sacramento Moviemiento Chicano Oral History Project (2014)

Here: 

https://csus.mediasite.com/Mediasite/Play/f820eb29685345fdaa0876064fa609341d

 

We make the road by walking.  It has been a road well traveled together. It has been my honor to have walked so far with Eric.   We miss you brother.  Carry it on.