Choosing Democracy: Cesar Chavez Day - Organize

Choosing Democracy: Cesar Chavez Day _ Organize

Cesar Chavez Day - Organize

Cesar Chavez Day 

         

  Cesar Chavez Day is a state holiday in California – one of eight states to recognize the  date, and one of the few holidays  in the nation  dedicated  to a labor leader.   Sacramento and dozens of cities, counties and labor federations will celebrate the life of Cesar Chavez on March 31.

On March 26, U.S. Secretary of Labor Hilda Solis honored Cesar Chavez and the UFW founders by dedicating the auditorium at the Department of Labor in Chavez’s name. 

The Cesar Chavez celebrations focus on  the struggle for union rights and justice in the fields of California.  Along with Dolores Huerta, Philip Vera Cruz, and others, César created the United Farm Workers  (UFW) the first successful union of farm workers in  U.S. history.  There had been more than ten prior attempts to build a farm workers union.

            Each of the prior attempts to organize farm worker unions were destroyed by racism and corporate power. Chávez chose to build a union that incorporated the strategies of social movements and community organizing  and allied itself  with the churches, students,  and organized labor.  The successful creation of the UFW changed the nature of labor organizing  in the Southwest  and contributed significantly to the birth of Latino politics in the U.S.

            Today, under the leadership of UFW president Teresa Romero only about 8,000  farm workers enjoy benefits on the job. Wages and benefit in farm labor have again been reduced to the pre union levels.  Unionized workers   are incorporated into California's educational, health and civic communities.  The UFW has shown unions that immigrants can  and must be organized. Today the UFW is working to pass a new immigration law that would assist farm workers.    

             Chavez and the UFW are best known helping to create instrumental role in passing the  California Agricultural Labor Relations Act in 1975 under then Governor Gerry Brown  which gives workers collective bargaining rights.  The law was made necessary by the assault on the UFW of the Teamsters Union.  While workers are often able to win elections under the ALRB, they seldom can win a contract.  Growers stall and delay until the workers leave the area. 

        César Chavez, Dolores Huerta,  Philip Vera Cruz, and others deliberately created a multiracial organization, Mexican,  Mexican American, Filipino, African- CONTINUE READING: Choosing Democracy: Cesar Chavez Day _ Organize

Bruce D. Baker and Robert Cotto Jr.: The underfunding of Latinx-serving school districts - kappanonline org

The underfunding of Latinx-serving school districts  - kappanonline.org

The underfunding of Latinx-serving school districts 

An analysis of spending in U.S. public schools reveals dozens of districts — many with large Latinx enrollments — that are underfunded compared to other districts in their region, even though they serve children with much greater needs.  

When analyzing questions of fairness in local education spending, it’s important to understand that the value of the education dollar is relative. It doesn’t just matter how much money, in total, a school district spends but also how that figure compares to spending in nearby districts. After all, schools in the same area must compete with each other for employees. The district that spends $15,000 per pupil will have a harder time hiring and retaining the area’s highest-quality teachers and staff than will the neighboring district that spends $20,000. Moreover, each dollar will go further in districts that serve relatively affluent students than in those that serve large numbers of students from low-income backgrounds, who tend to need more (and more expensive) services. 

Several years ago, one of us (Bruce Baker) set out to identify public school districts that face this kind of competitive disadvantage — more specifically, districts where the students face greater needs than in surrounding districts (i.e., child poverty is more than 20% higher) but where per-pupil spending is less than 90% of the region’s average.  

At the time, a number of national reports had just been published comparing the overall fairness of states’ school finance systems (Baker & Corcoran, 2012; Baker, Sciarra, & Farrie, 2014). But studies were also beginning to show a lot of variation within states. Even in those states that appeared to have relatively well-funded and equitable school finance systems, some districts were being left out. And that raised the question: Did those districts have something in common?  

The answer turned out to be yes. Those districts where students’ needs were greater but the schools were relatively under-resourced were disproportionately located in smaller cities that served high CONTINUE READING:  The underfunding of Latinx-serving school districts  - kappanonline.org

antiracismdsa: Voices : Immigrants Struggles in the Time of Covid

antiracismdsa: Voices : Immigrants Struggles in the Time of Covid

Voices : Immigrants Struggles in the Time of Covid

Webinar: Immigrants’ Struggles in the Time of Covid/La lucha en los tiempos de Covid!

Join us for a  webinar: Immigrants’ Struggles in the Time of Covid/La lucha en los tiempos de Covid! by the Immigrants’ Rights Working Group of DSA.  Hear from comrades on the front lines of the immigrants’ rights movement discussing the resistance in the concentration camps, struggles on the job, and find out ways for you  to get involved!

Be sure to fill out this form to receive the webinar Zoom info.

Join us for an evening of discussion.

MONDAY, OCTOBER 12, 2020 • 8:00 PM • EASTERN DAYLIGHT TIME (US & CANADA) (GMT-04:00)

Moderator: Alexander Hernandez – IMWG Steering Committee

Adelina Nicholls, Executive Director, Georgia Latino Alliance for Human Rights (GLAHR). GLAHR educates, organizes and trains the Latino community in Georgia to defend and promote their civil and human rights. Their work has been crucial in exposing the atrocities taking place in Georgia ICE detention centers.

Rossy Alfaro from Migrant Justice. Migrant Justice is a grassroots organization founded and led by immigrant farmworkers sustaining Vermont's dairy industry. Our mission is to build the voice, capacity, and power of the farmworker community and engage community partners to organize for economic justice and human rights.

Jorge Mujica, IMWG Steering Committee. Organizador de trabajadores inmigrantes y de bajos ingresos con Arise Chicago/ Immigrant and low-income workers Organizer with Arise Chicago. Arise Chicago builds partnerships between faith communities and workers to fight workplace injustice through education, organizing, and advocating for public policy changes. Committee,

Edgar Franks, Political Director, Familias Unidas por la Justicia (FUJ). FUJ is an independent farmworker union of indigenous families located in Burlington, WA representing over 500 Triqui, Mixteco, and Spanish speaking workers at Sakuma Bros. Berry Farm. FUJ formed on July 11th, 2013 with the hopes of securing a better future for hand CONTINUE READING: antiracismdsa: Voices : Immigrants Struggles in the Time of Covid

Latino Families Not Equipped for Distance Learning - LA Progressive

Latino Families Not Equipped for Distance Learning - LA Progressive

Latino Families Not Equipped for Distance Learning

The spike in COVID-19 cases across the country is forcing many school districts to reconsider plans to return to in-person instruction. The announcement this week that Los Angeles and San Diego Unified School districts would continue with distance learning may trigger a wave of other large districts to do the same. As the realization that home-schooling will be the norm for many families, we draw from the Abriendo Puertas/Latino Decisions National Parent Survey to discuss some of the challenges Latino families are going to face in the fall if significant steps are not taken to invest in their capacity to support their children’s education.

Although having some time to prepare for distance learning may help improve families’ experience, the survey makes clear that Latino households are apprehensive about the prospect of distance learning.

Latino families gained experience with home-schooling as schools across the country shut down in-person education in March. Although having some time to prepare for distance learning may help improve families’ experience, the survey makes clear that Latino households are apprehensive about the prospect of distance learning. This is reflected in 83% of survey respondents being concerned that their children’s school may either have to start in the fall with home schooling or go to that model at some point during the academic year. An identical percentage are concerned that their children are not learning enough from on-line schooling, and will fall behind educationally.

For many Latino parents, their unfamiliarity with the subject matter and assignments being taught plays a significant barrier in providing their children with the academic support they need. For example, 65% of Latino families report that it is difficult to help their kids with on-line schooling because they are not familiar with the class subjects and assignments. This is even higher for respondents who live in rural areas of the country (76%) and those with less than a CONTINUE READING: Latino Families Not Equipped for Distance Learning - LA Progressive