Newsom says California’s education spending is 41st in US | The Sacramento Bee #Unite4OaklandKids #WeAreOEA #WeAreCTA #strikeready #REDFORED #SCTA #CTA

Newsom says California’s education spending is 41st in US | The Sacramento Bee 
Newsom says California’s education spending is 41st in US

To the applause of education advocates around the state, Gov. Gavin Newsom acknowledged Tuesday during his State of the State address that California’s spending on primary and secondary education is among the lowest in the nation.

“Seven years ago, we invested $47.3 billion in our schools. Next year, with your support, we’ll invest more than $80 billion — that includes $576 million for special education,” Newsom said.

“But it’s not enough. We’re still 41st in the nation in per pupil funding. Something needs to change. We need to have an honest conversation about how we fund our schools at a state and local level,” he said.

The poor position is no secret but it’s frequently countered with other, competing rankings on student spending. The key difference between reports that put California among the worst in the country and ones that place the Golden State somewhere in the middle is whether researchers choose to consider California’s high cost of living, experts say.

In spotlighting the lower figure it’s clear which one Newsom believes is most relevant to the state’s teachers — and it did not go unnoticed by groups like the California Teachers Association and other advocates for education spending.

“No governor in my entire career has been willing to acknowledge what California’s spending on a per-pupil basis is,” said Kevin Gordon, a veteran lobbyist who represents school districts. “For the governor to take that on and underscore it as a challenge we need to address is really significant.”

ANALYSIS

There are at least four major groups that track per student spending: the National Education Association, National Center for Education Statistics, the Census Bureau and the magazine Education Week.

The many sources make it difficult to determine which one is right and why. CONTINUE READING: Newsom says California’s education spending is 41st in US | The Sacramento Bee 

Oakland Unified School District treats scabs better than teachers | East Bay Majority #Unite4OaklandKids #WeAreOEA #WeAreCTA #strikeready

Oakland Unified School District treats scabs better than teachers | East Bay Majority

Oakland Unified School District treats scabs better than teachers

Teachers and community supporters picketed OUSD’s scab worker hiring fair this weekend, completely shutting it down within hours 

By Jamie Gardner

This weekend, the Oakland Unified School District (OUSD) sparked outrage when they tried to hire scabs to replace striking teachers—for more than twice what they pay regular subs. Oakland teachers and their supporters in the community jumped into action to block the district, completely shutting down a scab hiring fair within hours and jamming the district’s online hiring portals.

OUSD posted the online job listings for paid strike-breakers, or “scabs,” to staff Oakland schools in case teachers go on strike this month. The district waived nearly every qualification normally required of substitute teachers, showing that they are more committed to breaking the power of striking teachers than to ensuring the safety and well-being of students. The $300-a-day rate for scabs is more than twice what subs are normally paid in Oakland and is well above the starting pay for the district’s full-time teachers.

The response from teachers, parents, and community members was immediate, fierce, and creative.

On Saturday, over 40 people turned out to an OUSD hiring fair with picket signs and flyers letting potential strikebreakers know what they were getting into. The power of any strike comes from workers withholding their labor and grinding everything to a halt until the boss caves and gives into their demands. In OUSD, teachers are demanding lower class sizes, more pay, and more services for students—things anyone who cares CONTINUE READING: Oakland Unified School District treats scabs better than teachers | East Bay Majority

Atlanta School Cheating Scandal: The Untold Story of Corporate Greed & Criminalization of Teachers | Democracy Now!

Atlanta School Cheating Scandal: The Untold Story of Corporate Greed & Criminalization of Teachers | Democracy Now!

Atlanta School Cheating Scandal: The Untold Story of Corporate Greed & Criminalization of Teachers

As teacher strikes in Denver and Los Angeles join a wave of recent labor actions bringing attention to the plight of the American public school system, we take a fresh look at one of the largest public school scandals in U.S. history. Public schools in Atlanta, Georgia, were thrown into chaos in 2015 when 11 former educators were convicted in 2015 of racketeering and other charges for allegedly facilitating a massive cheating operation on standardized tests. Prosecutors said the teachers were forced to modify incorrect answers and students were even allowed to fix their responses during exams. The case has fueled criticism of the education system’s reliance on standardized testing, and elicited calls of racism. Thirty-four of the 35 educators indicted in the scandal were African-American. We speak with Shani Robinson, one of the 11 convicted teachers, who has written a new book on the cheating scandal with journalist Anna Simonton. It’s titled “None of the Above: The Untold Story of the Atlanta Public Schools Cheating Scandal, Corporate Greed, and the Criminalization of Educators.”

---

Transcript

This is a rush transcript. Copy may not be in its final form. 

CONTINUE READING: Atlanta School Cheating Scandal: The Untold Story of Corporate Greed & Criminalization of Teachers | Democracy Now!

Peter Greene: Diary Of A Socialist Indoctrinator

Diary Of A Socialist Indoctrinator

Diary Of A Socialist Indoctrinator

Monday

We started the week here at Karl Marx Middle School with the usual reminders about monitoring the hall between classes and limiting bathroom passes during class periods. Principal McBossface handed out the school nurse schedule for the week (remember not to send sick students when she's not in the building) and the lunch monitor schedule for staff. He reminded us that state tests are coming up, so we'll be giving pre-test practice tests soon. The grapevine says that there have been flareups among the eight grade girls on Snapchat this weekend, so keep an eye out for any possible fights here at school coming from that. Also the new Healthy Students for Health, No-Bully Zone, Make New Friends At Lunch, Drug Free Students, Anti-Depression Army, and Honor Our Veteran programs launch this week, so be sure to talk to your students about those, and remember to hand out and collect the registration forms for the Read Your Way To Mars program. Finally, we were reminded to make our Socialist Indoctrination targets by the end of the month.

Principal McBossface held me over a minute after the meeting to let me know that he's aware I'm running behind on my Socialist Indoctrination and to remind me that it's super-critical that I get up to speed. I'm really feeling the pressure.

Tuesday

None of the students in fifth period algebra had completed their homework from last night.  They said they didn't understand yesterday's lesson about quadratic equations, and I could I go over it again. I've been working on this quadratic equation unit for three CONTINUE READING: Diary Of A Socialist Indoctrinator

Striking Denver Teachers Are Fighting To Be Able To Live Where They Teach #DCTAstrong #RedforEd #edcolo #coleg #copolitics #FairPayForTeachers

Striking Denver Teachers Are Fighting To Be Able To Live Where They Teach

Striking Denver Teachers Are Fighting To Be Able To Live Where They Teach

On Monday, more than 5,000 teachers, parents and students from public schools across Denver took part in a festive rally on the steps of the Colorado state capitol. The demonstration marked the first day of a teacher strike to demand higher base salaries and a pay scale system that’s clear, predictable and that will allow teachers to afford to live in the neighborhoods where they work.

Despite freezing temperatures, the mood at the capitol was energized, the air filled with chants, a lively brass band and a stream of enthusiastic honks from passing cars. Demonstrators wore red hats and parkas, a nod to the growing national “Red for Ed” movement, and carried signs with slogans such as “You can’t put students first if you put teachers last” and “A is for Apple. B is for Raise.” Supporters offered free coffee, tamales and donuts, or sold snacks as fundraisers for school groups. One message emerged loud and clear: Teachers would rather be in the classroom, but the strike was too important.

After more than 15 months of negotiations with Denver Public Schools (DPS) failed to result in an agreement over its pay-for-performance compensation schedule, on Jan. 22, the Denver Classroom Teachers Association voted to strike for the first time in 25 years.

“We’re disappointed that the DCTA walked away from the table,” DPS said in a statement, claiming its updated proposal aligns with its values of equity and significantly increases base pay. The union said in a statement that the district’s proposals “exacerbate the problems educators are trying to fix” and that the salary maintains “unpredictable bonuses that disrupt our students’ education.” While DPS CONTINUE READING: Striking Denver Teachers Are Fighting To Be Able To Live Where They Teach

The Idea That Black Lives Matter Is Not New - Neither Is Your Hatred For It. - Philly's 7th Ward

The Idea That Black Lives Matter Is Not New - Neither Is Your Hatred For It. - Philly's 7th Ward

THE IDEA THAT BLACK LIVES MATTER IS NOT NEW – NEITHER IS YOUR HATRED FOR IT.

On Wednesday, February 6, 2019, I had the honor of speaking at the Black Lives Matter in Schools Week of Action rally last week. The audience was mostly educators, with a few powerful students (several spoke as well).

It is good to be here and great to see all of you.

As an educator who was born to two Black Panther Party (BPP) parents and had three cousins who were also in the BPP, I can tell you, unequivocally, that we cannot afford to assume that any American institution—including schools—naturally and without accountability holds Black students’ lives dearly.

Our Week of Action highlights the necessary recommitted action to ensure that Black lives matter. Your presence uplifts the humanity of our Black students and represents a call to action for all who lead in our classrooms and schools and those who lead in positions adjacent to our schools.

Some ask why Black lives matter at all, let alone an entire week. I tell them, it’s not a week, it’s a mindset and lifestyle— a core belief and a rallying cry.

Those of us who know better have never been inebriated with a false idea of a post-racial society in America. Those of us with clear mind and vision easily recognize that the points of Black Lives Matter (BLM) are similar to the 10 point programs of Black Student Union and the BPP.

We know that the BLM core is similar to the Organization of Afro American Unity CONTINUE READING: The Idea That Black Lives Matter Is Not New - Neither Is Your Hatred For It. - Philly's 7th Ward

Teachers and immigrant rights activists gather in El Paso to call for an end to the detention and | MENAFN.COM

Teachers and immigrant rights activists gather in El Paso to call for an end to the detention and | MENAFN.COM

Teachers and immigrant rights activists gather in El Paso to call for an end to the detention 

(MENAFN - PRLog) Organization led by Mandy Manning, 2018 National Teacher of the Year will live-stream a Teach-In For Freedom in El Paso, Texas on Sunday, February 17, 2019 Teach-In For Freedom Spread the Word 
Listed Under

Tag:
• Child detention

Industry:
• Education

Location:
• El Paso - Texas - US

Subject:
• Events

EL PASO, Texas - Feb. 12, 2019 - PRLog -- Teachers from across the country as well as Mexico will gather in El Paso, Texas this Sunday, February 17TH, to participate in a day-long Teach-In For Freedom (https://www.teachersagainstchilddetention.org/teach-in). They are calling on the U.S. government to end the detention and criminalization of immigrant children and their families. The Teach-In, to be hosted by Teachers Against Child Detention (https://www.teachersagainstchilddetention.org/), will start at 8:45 AM on San Jacinto Plaza and run till 6:00 pm. The entire event will be live-streamed at; https://www.teachersagainstchilddetention.org/about-the-teach-in 

Other speakers attending the Teach-In include John King, Secretary of Education during the Obama Administration, Rep Joe Moody, Texas House of Representatives, Randi Weingarten, President, American Federation of Teachers (AFT), Alfonso Cepeda Salas, Secretary-General, Sindicato Nacional de Trabajadores de la Educación, Marisa Limón Garza, Deputy Director, HOPE Border Institute, and Linda Rivas, Director of Las Americas Immigrant Advocacy Center. 

2018 National Teacher of the Year, Washington-based Mandy Manning, founded Teachers Against Child Detention in response to the fact that more than 10,000 innocent immigrant children are still being detained by the U.S Government. 

"Teachers like me know first-hand the effect that detention can have on immigrant children once they return to school. I have found that children who experience the trauma of detention and separation from their parents live with a great deal of depression and anxiety. This manifests as extreme fatigue, crying, inability to focus, absenteeism, suicidal ideation and actual suicide attempts," she said. Manning said that teachers are mandated by U.S law to report suspected child abuse to responsible authorities. 

"We chose El Paso for the location of the Teach-In for Freedom because this city has become the frontline for our government's unjust and cruel immigration policies which have devastating impacts on children," she said. 

During the Teach-In, TACD aims to present facts and stories which will deepen understanding about immigration. They will also call for the government to protect immigrant children in strict compliance with the Flores decree. This means that immigrant children in U.S. custody should never be separated from their families, be held in the least restrictive settings possible, and be released to their sponsors within 20 days as required by Flores. 

"Educators have a moral and professional responsibility to nurture, educate and protect children, especially innocent immigrant children fleeing abuse, violence and war," said National Education Association (NEA) President Lily Eskelsen García. "Children belong together with their loved ones, not in detention centers." 

A growing number of organizations ( https://www.teachersagainstchilddetention.org/partners ) are partnering with TACD to host the Teach-In For Freedom including the Southern Poverty Law Center's Teaching Tolerance project, Texas State Teachers Association (TSTA/NEA), American Federation of Teachers, National Education Association, Ysleta Teachers Association, Indivisible, Hope Border Institute, United We Dream, El Paso Chapter, "Sonando Juntas" (Dreaming Together), Borderland Rainbow Center, Las Americas Immigrant Advocacy Center, the Texas Board of Education and Educators for Migrant Justice. 

"The HOPE Border Institutes stands in solidarity with Teachers Against Child Detention and is honored to host them during their El Paso Teach-In. The detention of migrant children is abhorrent and unjust. At a minimum, all children in the custody of the US government regardless of the type of facility, should have access to a high quality education," said Deputy Director, Marisa Limón Garza. 

"I am proud to join Teachers Against Child Detention, AFT members from around the country and our other allies at the Teach-In for Freedom because there is no force more powerful than a human shield of educators, parents, and other community members. Together we will listen, teach, share and fight to help restore the soul of our country," said Randi Weingarten, president of the American Federation of Teachers (AFT). 

### 

KEY INFORMATION 

TACD Website 

https://www.teachersagainstchilddetention.org/ 

Teach-in For Freedom 

Sunday, February 17, 2019 

9.00AM onwards 

San Jacinto Plaza, 114 W Mills Ave, El Paso, TX 79901 

Live-stream: https://www.teachersagainstchilddetention.org/about-the-teach-in 

FOR INTERVIEWS OR TO ARRANGE TO SEND A CREW TO COVER THE TEACH-IN FOR FREEDOM 

Contact: 

Janinne Brunyee / 

TACD Spokespeople: 

MANDY MANNING 

Mandy Manning teaches English to newly arrived refugee and immigrant students in the Newcomer Center at Joel E. Ferris High School in Spokane, Washington. She is the 2018 National Teacher of the Year. Manning has taught for the past 19 years, seven of which have been in her current role. She earned a Bachelor of Arts from Eastern Washington University, a Masters of Arts from West Texas A & M University, and a Masters of Fine Arts from Northwest Institute of Literary Arts. Manning is a National Board Certified Teacher. 

IVONNE OROZCO 

Ivonne Orozco is New Mexico's 2018 Teacher of the Year. She is also is one of the nearly 9,000 K-12 teachers protected by the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program. Orozco, 26, teaches high school Spanish at the Public Academy for Performing Arts, a charter school in Albuquerque, N.M. She has used her platform as state teacher of the year to advocate for a bipartisan solution to restoring DACA protections. 

ARLINDA VALENCIA 

Arlinda Valencia is an El Paso, Texas retired Broadcast Journalism teacher of 32 years. She is currently serving her 8th year as the President of the Ysleta Teachers Association representing 2300 employees of the Ysleta ISD. She holds a Bachelor of Music, Masters of Arts and Technology certified. She is well known for her activism for public education and for educational justice both nationally and in our local community. 

Contact
Janinne Brunyee
***@sugarbirdmarketing.com

MENAFN1202201900703076ID1098111240

Teachers and immigrant rights activists gather in El Paso to call for an end to the detention and | MENAFN.COM

House Hearing Puts Spotlight on Dilapidated US Schools

House Hearing Puts Spotlight on Dilapidated US Schools

House Hearing Puts Spotlight on Dilapidated US Schools

WASHINGTON (CN) – Reminded about the human toll of their funding decisions, House lawmakers heard unsettling testimony Tuesday on the efforts by public schools to educate America’s youth in crumbling and moldy classrooms.

“Most of our schools do not meet the baseline standards required to adequately support 21st century learning,” Sharon Contreras, a 30-year educator who serves as superintendent for Guilford County Schools in North Carolina.

Part of a bevy of witnesses who testified today before the House Education and Labor Committee, Contreras described how some of the teachers at her school have had to repurpose their classroom trash cans as water buckets for leaky roofing.

The buildings in her district, Contreras said, are “designed for an industrial era that no longer exists.”

“it is important that we address this situation, or we will be talking about this for the next 50 years,” she added.

Against calls by Democrats to appropriate more funding for school infrastructure, however, Republicans say that irresponsible money management is precisely the problem.

“Instead of increasing salaries, improving structures and investing in classroom equipment, many school districts have ended up pouring taxpayer funds into administrative bloat that leaves students and teachers high and dry,” ranking member Virginia Foxx, R-N.C., said in her opening statement. “Higher price tags, and more bureaucracy in Washington, don’t deliver higher results.” 

Foxx’s sentiment was echoed Tuesday by Ben Scafidi, an economics professor at Kennesaw State University who testified that non-teaching staff has been the only thing to increase in the last few CONTINUE READING: House Hearing Puts Spotlight on Dilapidated US Schools

'Staggering': 30,000 Oklahoma teachers have left profession in the past 6 years, report shows | Education | tulsaworld.com

'Staggering': 30,000 Oklahoma teachers have left profession in the past 6 years, report shows | Education | tulsaworld.com

'Staggering': 30,000 Oklahoma teachers have left profession in the past 6 years, report shows

A new report released by the state shows 30,000 Oklahoma teachers have left the profession in the past six years.

“The loss of 30,000 educators over the past six years is staggering — and proof that our schools must have the resources to support a growing number of students with an increasing number of needs,” State Superintendent Joy Hofmeister said in a news release issued Tuesday about the report.

“Steep budget cuts over the last decade have made the teaching profession in Oklahoma less attractive, resulting in a severe teacher shortage crisis and negative consequences for our schoolchildren,” she said.

The 2018 Oklahoma Educator Supply & Demand Report indicates that the percentage of Oklahoma educators leaving the profession has increased over the past six years, representing more than 5,000 per year, a total of approximately 30,000.

The exodus represents an average of 10 percent of Oklahoma’s teacher workforce, in comparison to a national attrition rate of 7.7 percent, the state Department of Education said in a news release.

However, the figure does not include new teacher hires, which ranged from 7.8 percent to 10.2 percent between 2012-13 and 2017-18, according to the report.

The 124-page report “seeks to explain the state’s persistent teacher shortage while offering recommendations on how to stem the crisis. State law requires that the report is updated every three years,” the department said.

The report includes multiple indicators of a teacher shortage, including teacher-pupil ratios, supply-side trends and the number of emergency-certified teachers approved by the State Board of Education.

“So far in the 2018-19 school year, the latter figure is 2,915 — an all-time high and a massive increase over the 32 emergency CONTINUE READING: 'Staggering': 30,000 Oklahoma teachers have left profession in the past 6 years, report shows | Education | tulsaworld.com

Read the report

• 21 hrs ago

See the full 2018 Oklahoma Educator Supply and Demand Report here

Charter school strike nears 7th day, could match length of CTU walkout in 2012 | Chicago Sun-Times #REDFORED

Charter school strike nears 7th day, could match length of CTU walkout in 2012 | Chicago Sun-Times
Charter school strike nears 7th day, could match length of CTU walkout in 2012

It’s poised to match the length of Chicago’s famous 2012 public school teacher strike.

It’s quickly become the longest charter teacher strike ever.

And there’s no end in sight.

Wrapping up the sixth day of picketing at four campuses across the city, Chicago International Charter School teachers marched to the Loop office of Kwame Raoul Tuesday afternoon to urge the Illinois attorney general to investigate the charter network’s finances.

“Six days. We are beyond offended at the need for us to continue to get up every single morning, [in temperatures] below freezing, on a picket line, because we’re asking for enforceable class-size limits. Because we’re asking for counselors. They should be ashamed of themselves,” Chicago Teachers Union Vice President Stacy Davis Gates said.

“The end is in sight when [CICS CEO] Elizabeth Shaw takes a seat at the table.”

CTU VIce President Stacy Davis Gates speaks Tuesday at a rally outside the Thompson Center. | Mitchell Armentrout/Sun-Times

CTU leaders accuse the CICS management firm Civitas Education Partners and its web of three subsidiary organizations of siphoning off $36 million in public money to line executives’ pockets instead of bringing teacher salaries up to scale with their Chicago Public Schools counterparts.

The charter operator has defended their reserve funds as fiscally responsible and insist teacher evaluations and compensation are the sticking points holding up a deal, despite the operator’s offer CONTINUE READING: Charter school strike nears 7th day, could match length of CTU walkout in 2012 | Chicago Sun-Times

The Difficulty of Cleaning Arne Duncan’s Awful Policies Out of the Laws of 50 States | janresseger

The Difficulty of Cleaning Arne Duncan’s Awful Policies Out of the Laws of 50 States | janresseger

The Difficulty of Cleaning Arne Duncan’s Awful Policies Out of the Laws of 50 States

Sometimes I find myself considering how our society arrived in 2019 at what striking schoolteachers this year have been demonstrating is an existential crisis for our system of public education.

Partly, of course, Betsy DeVos, our current Education Secretary, and all her friends including the Koch brothers have been working for years to substitute privatized, marketplace school choice for what many of us prize as our universal system of public schools. The idea of public education is a network of schools in every American community, schools that are publicly owned, regulated by law, and operated by locally elected school boards. Our society’s promise, an ideal we have increasingly realized through a history of making the dream accessible to more and more children, is that the public schools will meet all children’s needs and protect their rights.  Supreme Court cases and civil rights laws have expanded protection for children of all races and ethnic backgrounds, no matter their immigration status. The law protects services for children whose primary language may be other than English, for children who are disabled, and for children whatever their gender or sexual orientation.

But even with all her money, added to the money of her friends, and with the help of billionaire philanthropists who have served as her allies, Betsy DeVos isn’t powerful enough to have so thoroughly upended public education. We were all complicit somehow, although we didn’t collectively realize it, despite that many of us have been protesting along the way.

Over half a century ago, in The Affluent Society, economist John Kenneth Galbraith coined the term “the conventional wisdom” to describe “the ideas which are esteemed at any time for their acceptability.” “The conventional wisdom is not the property of any political group.… the consensus is exceedingly broad. Nothing much divides those who are liberals by common political designation from those who are conservatives.”  In other words the conventional wisdom about hard and complicated subjects in public policy is made up of what we all believe because everybody else seems to believe it.

More recently, the political scientists Jacob Hacker and Paul Pierson have described how such CONTINUE READING: The Difficulty of Cleaning Arne Duncan’s Awful Policies Out of the Laws of 50 States | janresseger

California governor taps renowned educator Linda Darling-Hammond to head state Board of Education - The Washington Post

California governor taps renowned educator Linda Darling-Hammond to head state Board of Education - The Washington Post

California governor taps renowned educator Linda Darling-Hammond to head state Board of Education

California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) just tapped Linda Darling-Hammond, a giant in the world of education, to head the 11-member state Board of Education.

During his first State of the State address Tuesday, Newsom announced that Darling-Hammond would work alongside the newly elected state superintendent, Tony Thurmond, to help “confront” problems plaguing California’s public schools.

Referring to last month’s six-day strike by Los Angeles teachers, he said:

The teachers’ strike in LA is over — but the need to confront its  underlying causes has only just begun. Understaffed schools, overcrowded  classrooms, pension pressures, the achievement gap, and charter school growth — these stressors are showing up all over the state, right here in Sacramento, in Fresno, and Oakland. ...

Seven years ago, we invested $47.3 billion in our schools. Next year, with your support, we’ll invest more than $80 billion — that includes $576 million for special education.

But it’s not enough. We’re still 41st in the nation in per pupil funding. Something needs to change.  We need to have an honest conversation about how we fund our schools at a state and local level.

Darling-Hammond is one of the most renowned names in education. An expert in teacher education and educational equity, she served as transition chief to Barack Obama after his 2008 presidential election win, and many in the education world thought he would select her as secretary of education.

By the time Obama was elected, major flaws in the No Child Left Behind K-12 law were obvious and its mandates to states were impossible to meet. With Darling-Hammond, then a Stanford University professor, stewarding the transition team, some in the education world were given hope that the new president would make equity a key goal. Those in the corporate-based school reform community, however, saw her as being too tied to unions and blasted that decision.

But instead of naming her as education secretary, Obama tapped Arne Duncan, a former chief of Chicago schools and a friend of Obama’s who was deeply steeped in the corporate reform movement that embraced the Common Core standards, tests, data and school “choice” as the way to close the achievement gap.

Darling-Hammond then wrote an award-winning book, “The Flat World and Education: How America’s Commitment to Equity Will Determine Our Future,” about authentic educational equity and had two copies printed in hardback. One was for her; the other she sent to Obama in an effort to try to steer his reform policies toward equity. He didn’t.

Darling-Hammond has an extraordinary résumé and has long been sought out by federal, state and local officials and educators to help improve education policy and practices. CONTINUE READING: California governor taps renowned educator Linda Darling-Hammond to head state Board of Education - The Washington Post

Writing as Threat | The Jose Vilson

Writing as Threat | The Jose Vilson

WRITING AS THREAT

On the Saturday after I spoke on a panel at the Schomburg, I attended the Society of Children’s Books Writers and Illustrators conference here in NYC. I supported my friends Julia Torres and Cornelius Minor as they gave a framework for authors and artists to ingratiate themselves to PK – 12 educators. After the spot-on workshop, Elizabeth Acevedo graced the ballroom stage. The voluminous curls on the gracious Dominicana can be seen a bodega away (in NYC, we have them on every block or two, right?). I carried de lo mío’s book The Poet X in my bookbag for the last couple of weeks. I am both exhilarated and infuriated that only now can such a young adult novel with a core identity of a poetry anthology.

The poet in me, who once read at the now defunct Cornelia Street Cafe and still yearns to do so at the Nuyorican, dedicated what little free time I have to this tome.

Somewhere in her speech, she speaks to her insecurities and how she eventually came to the conclusion that she would write for her very specific audience. The shift from “trying to write for everyone” to “putting the onus on audiences to move to her” is underrated. In a room full of white people, many of whom influence the bookshelves for major publishers and partnering districts, this was a queen telling the court that the food she decides to serve will be the main course. She wrested this power from the gatekeepers much to their amazement. For Julia, Dulce-Marie Flecha, and I, it’s the story of our survival in predominantly white spaces.

Then, she prophesied, “It didn’t matter how many stickers were on my book because, no matter how many awards and accolades I got if I didn’t believe that I was a writer.”

That jabs so many of our sides, too. I have the uncanny ability to believe exponentially in other CONTINUE READING: Writing as Threat | The Jose Vilson

“It’s a Deaf Thing” to Host Third Annual Deaf Expo in October 2019 | deutsch29

“It’s a Deaf Thing” to Host Third Annual Deaf Expo in October 2019 | deutsch29

“It’s a Deaf Thing” to Host Third Annual Deaf Expo in October 2019

I received an email request from Terry Hunt, deaf business owner, volunteer, and committee chair for the Florida-based nonprofit, It’s a Deaf Thing, asking me to promote the nonprofit’s 2019 expo on my blog.

Happy to do so, Terry.

It’s a Deaf Thing describes itself as “a 501(3)(c) non-profit organization (registered in 2015; EIN 47-2187874; principal officers: David and Bobbi Lind) that is hosted and managed by ProjectDEAF (official name of nonprofit). We are a deaf expo that is located in Lakeland, FL. It’s a Deaf Thing bring the deaf community and deaf people together. Our primary language is American Sign Language.”

The organization’s primary mission “is to support and empower the Deaf and Hard of Hearing Community. [Plan] Deaf Expo to help expose the Deaf-Owned Business, Deaf-Friendly Business, and Deaf-Related Business, also to bring the Deaf community together and awareness of the Deaf community.”

To learn of the new sign name for It’s a Deaf Thing, see the video below featuring event coordinator, Rebecca Hunt:

2019 Deaf Expo

It’s a Deaf Thing has been hosting its Deaf Expo since September 2017; its second expo (October 2018) included 44 vendors and over 1,200 attendees.

The Third Annual Deaf Expo is scheduled for October 05, 2019, in Lakeland, Florida, and includes the blind community:

Save the Date – October 5, 2019, Lakeland, FL

The Deaf Expo will have over 60+ vendors and 4,000 tickets! It’s a Deaf Thing expecting 2019 Deaf Expo to be the biggest expo ever hosted by ProjectDEAF. Let’s make this Expo the best expo for the Deaf, Hard of Hearing and Blind community!

Since the event is being underwritten by a private donor, tickets to the 2019 Deaf Expo are FREE and can be ordered by CLICKING HERE.

“It’s a Deaf Thing” Logo



“It’s a Deaf Thing” to Host Third Annual Deaf Expo in October 2019 | deutsch29