From Albuquerque Interfaith/IAF: A must read about what's happening in New Mexico
The Bus Is Coming
You see, I had also spent the day waiting to hear from representatives of Albuquerque Interfaith. At some point, they were going to contact me about a busload of Central American asylum seekers who were journeying to The Duke City from a detention center in the mystical southlands. Read more.
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Featuring VOICE leaders Rev. Dr. Keith Savage, Rev. Kenneth Nixon, and Mr. John Chapman. Link to TV News HERE.
Let's end it so others don't feel like 'caged animals', former inmate says.
Story by IAF Organizer Nafeesah Goldsmith
In 2006, when I was 26 years old, I was placed in solitary confinement at New Jersey State Prison for 60 days. I was locked in my cell for 23 hours a day, sometimes 24 hours, depending on the mood of the officers or if there was a lockdown at the prison. Our showers -- which we were supposed to receive every day -- were subject to the officers’ whims as well. Sometimes, I didn’t get a shower for days. More here.
Months into the New Mexico legislative session, Albuquerque Interfaith (AI) leaders have advanced school accountability, early childhood education, supports for immigrants and increased health security.
Through intense collaboration with state legislators, AI leaders succeeded in crafting legislation to eliminate A-F grading system for public schools and replace it with a diagnostic system of accountability. AI leaders ran point on legislation that established, for the first time in the state, a department of early childhood education.. AI fought and won more funding for K-12 schooling. Seeking to reverse the effects of a two-tiered system for (undocumented) immigrant drivers' licenses, AI persuaded state legislators to expand the utility of the bottom-tier of licenses. The second tier is now equivalent to Real IDs, including acceptance by the TSA, state police and financial institutions.
A record number of US workers went on strike or stopped working in 2018 because of labor disputes with employers, according to data released in February by the US Bureau of Labor Statistics. A total of 485,000 employees were involved in major work stoppages last year - the highest number since 1986, when flight attendants, garbage collectors and steelworkers walked off the job. Story.
Hundreds of Texas IAF leaders bused into the Capitol from El Paso, the Rio Grande Valley, San Antonio, Houston, Dallas and West Texas, joining Central Texas Interfaith counterparts to call on state legislators to increase spending on adult and K-12 education.
Specific, practical, tested: Advice on fundraising
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Last night, VOICE helped move Virginia to become a more fair and just Commonwealth for all people.
With overwhelming bipartisan support, the Virginia legislature voted to end Virginia's horrific system of suspending driver's licenses for unpaid court fees and fines, one of VOICE’s top issue priorities this year. Currently, 627,000 Virginians—nearly 1 in 10 adults in the state—have their driver's licenses suspended solely for unpaid court debt. Not DUI's, not reckless driving offenses, only court debt.
With overwhelming bipartisan support, the Virginia legislature voted to end Virginia's horrific system of suspending driver's licenses for unpaid court fees and fines, one of VOICE’s top issue priorities this year. Currently, 627,000 Virginians—nearly 1 in 10 adults in the state—have their driver's licenses suspended solely for unpaid court debt. Not DUI's, not reckless driving offenses, only court debt.
Mayor de Blasio committed $500 million to Metro-IAF’s plan for building new apartments for seniors, starting with six already identified NYCHA and Housing Preservation and Development sites where money could be spent and units put up quickly.
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Speaking of clear statements, “there was no ambiguity from the mayor when we shook hands about this being $500 million from the city,” Brawley told me Friday.
“If in fact we have been deceived and lied to, this would be a great disrespect to the black and Latino community — certainly the greatest lie that I have ever seen, and maybe in the history of our organization.” NY Daily News Story by Harry Siegel
Bills by Sen White, Rep Foil would shift control over industrial exemptions from local communities to un-elected, statewide board
"White-Foil Plan" would dilute voice of local entities over exemptions affecting their revenue to 1 out of 27 votesBaton Rouge - Representative Franklin Foil and Senator Bodi White, both from Baton Rouge, have introduced bills that would curtail dramatically the say local school districts and other parish-level entities have over corporate tax exemptions affecting their own tax revenue.
"White-Foil Plan" would dilute voice of local entities over exemptions affecting their revenue to 1 out of 27 votesBaton Rouge - Representative Franklin Foil and Senator Bodi White, both from Baton Rouge, have introduced bills that would curtail dramatically the say local school districts and other parish-level entities have over corporate tax exemptions affecting their own tax revenue.
650+ CAN leaders secured commitments for the payment of $15 wages & local hiring during public negotiation with City, DHA, GoTriangle & Duke University.
Five years after COPS/Metro's first wage win, the San Antonio Express-News is crediting the organization with the most recent wage floor hike at Alamo Colleges to $15 per hour.
"The COPS/Metro Alliance, a community organizing coalition, has for years pushed local public entities to adopt a minimum 'living wage' of $15 hourly as part of a national movement. The Alamo Colleges had already raised its minimum wage, along with the City of San Antonio, Bexar County and some public school districts, with the stated intent of moving gradually toward the $15 goal. The city and county reached $15 last fall."
"The COPS/Metro Alliance, a community organizing coalition, has for years pushed local public entities to adopt a minimum 'living wage' of $15 hourly as part of a national movement. The Alamo Colleges had already raised its minimum wage, along with the City of San Antonio, Bexar County and some public school districts, with the stated intent of moving gradually toward the $15 goal. The city and county reached $15 last fall."
NCG and 13 Downtown Las Vegas Neighborhood Associations organized an action with all 7 Ward 3 City Council Candidates. With a packed room of 200 people, they secured commitments from every candidate to work with them to improve neighborhood safety, reclaim parks and green spaces for recreation, and engage residents in the planning and zoning process.
COPS/Metro Hammers San Antonio City Council on displacement: We don't want study, we want action
3/24/2019
Nearly 200 members of COPS/Metro Alliance packed City Council chambers Wednesday night during the weekly citizens to be heard session with a simple message about displacement: “We don’t need a study, we need action.”
COPS/Metro leader Maria Tijerina uttered those words as she, along with Archbishop Gustavo García-Siller of the Archdiocese of San Antonio, addressed the council on behalf of the throng, many of whom represented Sacred Heart Catholic Church on the West Side and St. Patrick’s Catholic Church in Government Hill. Story here.
COPS/Metro leader Maria Tijerina uttered those words as she, along with Archbishop Gustavo García-Siller of the Archdiocese of San Antonio, addressed the council on behalf of the throng, many of whom represented Sacred Heart Catholic Church on the West Side and St. Patrick’s Catholic Church in Government Hill. Story here.
After the steel is scrapped out and a bar or two put on display in the local historical society visitors will marvel at the gargantuan impotence of it all. Right now in Ambos Nogales locals mock the epic failure of the wall/fence/slats/concertina wire to control the kind of immigration now happening.
The bill requires the Division of Financial Institutions to contract with a vendor to create the database, which includes:
- Information from individuals with loans outstanding from more than one lender
- Any outstanding loan taken in the 30 days preceding another loan
- Any case where a borrower has taken three or more loans from a single lender within a six month period Story here.
The Denver Classroom Teachers Association (DCTA) went out on strike on Monday, February 10, 2019. It was the first Denver teachers strike in 25 years. Paid 37% lower than the going national rate, teachers were fed up with the underfunding of public education. Many teachers were making less than five years previous. Others had worked with no raise for ten years. The powder keg was ready to blow up.
After the strike was called 75% of Denver Public School District (DPS) teachers walked out. Membership in DCTA jumped from 60 to 68%.
The explosion extended well beyond the bounds of DPS. Even beyond the Colorado state line. Put to the test was the grand educational experiment advanced by some of the “billionaire boys” (as Diane Ravitch dubbed them), the likes of Philip Anschutz tasked with creating a civic organization to press market based reforms from outside DPS. The billionaire boys underwrote the ascendance of Michael Bennet (now junior senator from Colorado) to the superintendency of DPS. Bennett had worked for Anschutz for six years helping to engineer oil and movie theater projects that were part of Anschutz’ business portfolio. Bennet’s charge was to implement the reform regime. He launched in having had no educational experience (unless serving 2 years as Chief of Staff fo bar entrepreneur turned Governor John Hickenlooper counts). Bennet’s guinea pigs for the reform experiment were mostly poor minority children/youth and their families. 70+% of DPS students qualified for free or reduced lunch prices. A majority of DPS students are African-American or Latino.
The core assumption of Bennet and the Portfolio Reformers was that DPS classrooms were populated by bad teachers. To help retrain this crew of incompetents they turned to Michelle Rhee and Teach For America’s Wendy Kopp, at the time national celebrities in the bad teacher rehabilitation movement.
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When the Colorado Industrial Areas Foundation (CO IAF) took stock of the situation in the fall of 2018, IAF leaders and organizers discovered that not a single community based organization had weighed in behind teachers. Also sitting on the sidelines were religious institutions of all faiths. The teachers were on their own with both flanks exposed to the Portfolio Reformers who relentlessly demeaned teacher performance while exerting downward pressure on salaries.
Lurking in the background of this drive to disrupt and privatize public education was the growing mound of evidence that the market driven reforms themselves were failing.
After the strike was called 75% of Denver Public School District (DPS) teachers walked out. Membership in DCTA jumped from 60 to 68%.
The explosion extended well beyond the bounds of DPS. Even beyond the Colorado state line. Put to the test was the grand educational experiment advanced by some of the “billionaire boys” (as Diane Ravitch dubbed them), the likes of Philip Anschutz tasked with creating a civic organization to press market based reforms from outside DPS. The billionaire boys underwrote the ascendance of Michael Bennet (now junior senator from Colorado) to the superintendency of DPS. Bennett had worked for Anschutz for six years helping to engineer oil and movie theater projects that were part of Anschutz’ business portfolio. Bennet’s charge was to implement the reform regime. He launched in having had no educational experience (unless serving 2 years as Chief of Staff fo bar entrepreneur turned Governor John Hickenlooper counts). Bennet’s guinea pigs for the reform experiment were mostly poor minority children/youth and their families. 70+% of DPS students qualified for free or reduced lunch prices. A majority of DPS students are African-American or Latino.
The core assumption of Bennet and the Portfolio Reformers was that DPS classrooms were populated by bad teachers. To help retrain this crew of incompetents they turned to Michelle Rhee and Teach For America’s Wendy Kopp, at the time national celebrities in the bad teacher rehabilitation movement.
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When the Colorado Industrial Areas Foundation (CO IAF) took stock of the situation in the fall of 2018, IAF leaders and organizers discovered that not a single community based organization had weighed in behind teachers. Also sitting on the sidelines were religious institutions of all faiths. The teachers were on their own with both flanks exposed to the Portfolio Reformers who relentlessly demeaned teacher performance while exerting downward pressure on salaries.
Lurking in the background of this drive to disrupt and privatize public education was the growing mound of evidence that the market driven reforms themselves were failing.
1. Increase owner-occupied rehabilitation investment in vulnerable neighborhoods. The city is heavily investing in downtown. An equitable investment must be made in strengthening and preserving affected neighborhoods.
2. Establish a city-coordinated homestead exemption enrollment program. Developers are aggressively buying up properties from unaware owners. The city should be leading the charge to educate homeowners about homestead exemptions, tax freezes for those older than 65 and property tax deferrals.
3. Establish a tax abatement program for homeowners. The city creates Tax Reinvestment Zones for businesses, and the same should be done for vulnerable neighborhoods.
4. The city must lead an aggressive land banking initiative to ensure there is property for affordable rentals. The city must also coordinate efforts with all public entities to ensure that land it sells is preserved for affordable housing.
5. Establish a coordinated housing system as recommended by the mayor’s housing task force.
San Antonio Express-News: story here.
2. Establish a city-coordinated homestead exemption enrollment program. Developers are aggressively buying up properties from unaware owners. The city should be leading the charge to educate homeowners about homestead exemptions, tax freezes for those older than 65 and property tax deferrals.
3. Establish a tax abatement program for homeowners. The city creates Tax Reinvestment Zones for businesses, and the same should be done for vulnerable neighborhoods.
4. The city must lead an aggressive land banking initiative to ensure there is property for affordable rentals. The city must also coordinate efforts with all public entities to ensure that land it sells is preserved for affordable housing.
5. Establish a coordinated housing system as recommended by the mayor’s housing task force.
San Antonio Express-News: story here.
COPS/Metro Alliance, community organization
While not a single person, the enduring power of the combination of Communities Organized for Public Service and Metro Alliance lies in its numbers and not having a dependency on a single leader. Those numbers come from church congregations, schools and unions, who first unified in 1974 to demand better drainage, streets and police protection for underserved areas of the city. Story.
While not a single person, the enduring power of the combination of Communities Organized for Public Service and Metro Alliance lies in its numbers and not having a dependency on a single leader. Those numbers come from church congregations, schools and unions, who first unified in 1974 to demand better drainage, streets and police protection for underserved areas of the city. Story.
Leaders are calling for $500 million in new state funding for public schools, $40 million for an affordable housing tax credit program and improved payday lending enforcement across the state. With two proposals on the table that would cap interest rates on payday loans (which charge, on average, 652% in interest per year) NCG is pushing for better protections for financially vulnerable families. Payday Lending Industry Could See Rate Caps, Database Under Legislative Proposals, Nevada Independent
The very way we tend to think and talk about the decline of people’s institutions has crippled our ability to wrestle with the causes of the decline of our democracy, to assess the consequences for our communities and our country, and, most importantly, to apply the cures required to make our nation whole and healthy again. Thus begins Mike Gecan, the co-director of the Metro Industrial Areas Foundation and one of the most profound theorists and successful practitioners of grass-roots community organizing in the country, in this unique and compelling look at what is going on in America right now. Buy it here from ACTA Publications.