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Are community schools the last, best shot at addressing education inequity?
A district in the Washington, D.C., suburbs may foretell whether a transformative approach to school improvement can address longstanding opportunity gaps in education.
When Tiffany Allen and her husband first moved to a house in Montgomery County, Maryland, their plan was not to stay in the neighborhood for very long because the school their two young children would eventually be assigned to attend was Wheaton Woods Elementary. The school had a mixed reputation among parents in the neighborhood, she told Our Schools. It was designated a Title I status by the federal government, meaning its enrollment was mostly for students who struggle the most in schools—namely, children from low-income households. The school’s students were mostly Hispanic, and many of the children come from homes where the parents don’t speak English, according to Allen. The school had a middling summary rating of 6 out of 10 stars on Great Schools, the school rating site many parents rely on for choosing schools, and the test scores of Wheaton Woods were no better than the state average, according to the site. Even her husband, a school teacher in neighboring Howard County, was skeptical about the quality of education that would be provided by the school. Continue reading
The deadly business of reporting truth
Two grim anniversaries demonstrate how journalists around the world increasingly face violence, but leaders—including President Biden—have been slow to act
Violence is the most basic and blunt form of press censorship. To kill or imprison a journalist is to silence the public’s source of news. To date, 33 journalists around the world have been killed this year and another 494 are currently imprisoned, according to Reporters Without Borders (RSF). Put another way, thus far in 2022, on average, once per week somewhere in the world a journalist is killed for reporting the news. Continue reading
Israel’s premature ‘victory’ celebration: The defining war in Gaza is yet to be fought
For years, Palestinians, as well as Israelis, have labored to redraw the battle lines. The three-day Israeli war on Gaza, starting on August 5, clearly manifested this reality. Continue reading
Cheney’s loss predicated by Trumpist death threats
Representative Liz Cheney (R-WY), the co-chair of the House Select Committee on the January 6th insurrection, faced constant death threats from supporters of Donald Trump and his hand-picked opponent to Cheney, Harriet Hageman. In a state like Wyoming, where handshaking retail campaigning is a key to electoral success, being forced to host small political events in living rooms proved to be an electoral disaster for Ms. Cheney. Death threats against other Republican and Democratic opponents of Trump have been reported from around the country, a fact that led some Republicans in the House to decide not to seek re-election. Continue reading
Advocates welcome temporary block on South Carolina’s 6-week abortion ban
"Today's decision is a huge relief for people who desperately need abortion care in South Carolina right now," said one reproductive rights lawyer.
Reproductive freedom advocates welcomed a Wednesday decision by the South Carolina Supreme Court temporarily blocking the state’s six-week abortion ban while justices consider a legal challenge to the contested law. Continue reading
Repression, terror, fear: The government wants to silence the opposition
Militarized police. Riot squads. Camouflage gear. Black uniforms. Armored vehicles. Mass arrests. Pepper spray. Tear gas. Batons. Strip searches. Surveillance cameras. Kevlar vests. Drones. Lethal weapons. Less-than-lethal weapons unleashed with deadly force. Rubber bullets. Water cannons. Stun grenades. Arrests of journalists. Crowd control tactics. Intimidation tactics. Brutality. Lockdowns. Continue reading
Rights groups tell Zuckerberg to stop ‘dangerous censorship’ of abortion content
"Meta's censorship of information on abortion and reproductive health is jeopardizing the safety and human rights of millions across the U.S."
A coalition of civil society organizations on Wednesday demanded that Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg put a halt to censorship of abortion rights content on his company’s platforms following reports that Facebook and Instagram have been removing posts aimed at helping pregnant people access reproductive care in U.S. states where it is heavily restricted. Continue reading
Trump derangement syndrome returns
Why would Black people laud the FBI or criticize protection against self-incrimination? The FBI search of Donald Trump's home has reawakened Trump derangement syndrome.
Progressives love the FBI? Leftists embrace the Espionage Act? Of course, one man is responsible for this madness, and he is none other than Donald J. Trump, 45th president of the United States. The fallout from the FBI search conducted at Trump’s home shows the rank confusion spread by people who call themselves liberal but who are as dangerous as anyone on the right. From the moment that Trump announced the raid they were in full fascist mode, even as they claimed to be fighting fascism. Continue reading
News outlets, press freedom groups to DOJ: don’t let GOP states criminalize abortion coverage
"We ask that you publicly reiterate the press freedoms granted under the First Amendment, and remind states that they cannot infringe on those rights when news outlets write about abortion."
More than two dozen newsrooms and press freedom groups sent a letter to U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland on Tuesday, calling on the Justice Department to prevent journalists and their employers from being prosecuted for simply writing about abortion. Continue reading
Washington wants a new cold war—but that’s a bad idea
As China unleashed live-fire military exercises off the coast of Taiwan, simulating a real “reunification by force” operation in the wake of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s ceremonial visit to the island last week, the bipartisan fervor for a new Cold War with China and Russia took greater hold in Washington. Continue reading
All our systems are built to elevate viciousness
There’s a scene in The Usual Suspects where Kevin Spacey tells the fable of the mysterious Keyser Soze and how he became a crime lord. Continue reading
Republican plan: Take away Social Security, restart Mexican Wall, build Keystone
WASHINGTON—Congressional Republicans haven’t officially unveiled their legislative agenda should they sweep to power in November, but they gave an ugly preview—including putting Social Security payments at risk—this week on the campaign trail and at a key House committee work session. Continue reading
Modern US warmongering is scaring Henry Kissinger
In a new interview with The Wall Street Journal, immortal Hague fugitive Henry Kissinger says the US is acting in a crazy and irrational way that has brought it to the edge of war with Russia and China. Continue reading
You are being lied to about the IRS
The IRS is set to receive its largest funding increase in years thanks to the Inflation Reduction Act. Continue reading
Without Palestine, there is no Arab unity: Why normalization with Israel will fail
It seemed all but a done deal: Israel is finally managing to bend the Arabs to its will, and Palestine is becoming a marginal issue that no longer defines Israel’s relations with Arab countries. Indeed, normalization with Israel is afoot, and the Arabs, so it seems, have been finally tamed. Continue reading
The GOP never gave Ray DeMonia a chance to survive
Ray DeMonia of Cullman, Alabama, was a good and decent man, an antique collector and auctioneer, beloved by friends and family. He and his family were vaccinated, so they didn’t have to worry much about COVID. Continue reading
Sleeping at the wheel: The Uber Files, the media, and the coup against labor rights
The recent reporting on the Uber Files—a series of 124,000 communications, dated from 2013 until 2017, that Mark McGann, one of Uber’s top lobbyists, leaked to The Guardian—has shed light on the company’s strategies to gain global prominence during its nascent years. McGann and the many reporters working on the project through the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists are commendable for their efforts to bring this history to public attention. Still, the reporting elides a much larger story about the rise of a new model of labor relations being implemented throughout the globe, and workers’ efforts to stop it. Continue reading
How the Kansas abortion vote offers lessons for economic justice
Using ballot measures and careful, nonpartisan messaging that appeals to fairness, progressives can achieve victories on economic justice and expanded health care access.
Progressive activists and organizers are eyeing lessons from the resounding victory for abortion access in Kansas where nearly 60 percent of voters recently defeated a ban on the politicized medical procedure. Now, the Fairness Project hopes that state-by-state ballot measures can restore the reproductive right to an abortion that the Supreme Court stripped away earlier this year. Such measures can also achieve economic justice victories like increasing the minimum wage and expanding access to paid sick and family leave. Continue reading
70% of Americans support deciding state abortion rights by ballot measure: poll
After an "enormous victory" in Kansas, some progressives argue that ballot measures "are the next frontier" for protecting access to reproductive healthcare.
National polling results released Wednesday reveal that 70% of U.S. adults across party lines support using ballot measures to determine abortion rights at the state level. Continue reading
Watch out for big corporations and dangerous politicians breaking our established norms
Norms, in a society or culture, are the accepted ways of behavior we grow up observing and learning in our everyday lives. Norms are rarely backed up by laws, though when norms are grossly violated, calls for legislation may ensue. Continue reading
Supreme Court handing GOP seven congressional seats it otherwise wouldn’t have
In an under-the-radar move to boost the GOP’s chances in November, the right-wing Supreme Court has told four states where lower courts found Republican legislators illegally drew congressional boundaries to exclude both Black and Democratic voters that they can go ahead and use those illegal maps in the November election. Continue reading
Letter Carriers’ Rolando says democracy is on the ballot this fall
WASHINGTON —Letter Carriers President Fredric Rolando has added his voice to those of other union leaders warning about the right-wing threat to democracy. Continue reading
Nancy Pelosi, white supremacy, and China
White supremacist arrogance was the order of the day when Nancy Pelosi ignored a red line set by the Chinese government and visited Taiwan. The Speaker of the House showed stereotypical and racist attitudes towards that country.
Nancy Pelosi is a member of the United States Congress. She isn’t just any member either, she is Speaker of the House of Representatives, an important leadership position in U.S. politics. She is also third in line to the presidency. If something should happen to the president and vice president she would lead the executive branch of government. Continue reading
Russia and the European Union continue transition to wartime economies
Russia and the West have signaled their intent to commit to a long-term confrontation over Ukraine. While Russia has clearly felt the effect of sanctions, the EU remains vulnerable to Russian attempts to use energy to divide member states.
Having declared victory over the “economic blitzkrieg” of Western sanctions in March, Russian President Vladimir Putin must contend with continued Western financial support to Ukraine as it combats Russian forces. In addition, the Kremlin will be forced to finance the reconstruction and integration of conquered Ukrainian territory. Continue reading
The intricate fight for Africa: The legacy of the Soviet Union vs western colonialism
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov’s recent tour in Africa was meant to be a game changer, not only in terms of Russia’s relations with the continent, but in the global power struggle involving the US, Europe, China, India, Turkey and others. Continue reading
Turning people into corporations?!
The market is not the go-to solution to the major problems of our age.
You’ve heard about corporations being treated like people. It’s one of the outrages of the Citizens United decision some years back by the Supreme Court, that corporations have a right to free speech just like individuals and therefore can contribute unlimited money to candidates running for office. Bye-bye, democracy. Continue reading
What would past presidents say of Trump?
Donald Trump is, by far, the worst president of the United States in its 246 years of existence. All of the living presidents have pretty much said so. So have most legitimate historians and scholars of the presidency. But what would have those who served long ago as president think of the person who has become so reviled as the worst in their ranks? Some of America’s past presidents were no shrinking violets when it came to tossing barbs at those they despised. From Dwight Eisenhower’s dislike of Senator Joseph McCarthy to Thomas Jefferson’s contempt for John Adams, past presidents let it be known, in no uncertain terms, what they thought of their adversaries. Therefore, in examining the historical record, it can be deduced what past presidents would have thought of and said about president number 45. Continue reading
Elite lapdogs always welcome in the corporate media
Chris Cuomo’s return is a reminder that corporate media personalities are not accountable to the public, they are accountable to the elites they serve
The return of Chris Cuomo to television is the latest reminder that there is little accountability to speak of in corporate news media. Chris was ousted at CNN in late 2021 amidst an ethics investigation that claimed he utilized his position at the cable news juggernaut to consult his brother, then governor of New York, Andrew Cuomo. At the time, the governor was facing a series of sexual misconduct allegations. Chris was using his professional connections to identify what reporters knew about the allegations, and then using that information to consult Andrew on how to respond, all while hosting Andrew on his daily CNN program. In July 2022, Cuomo returned to television to promote his podcast The Chris Cuomo Project. Cuomo appeared on Dan Abrams show on NewsNation (where Cuomo recently secured a position and I have served as an expert guest) and Real Time with Bill Maher. Continue reading
How Alex Jones helped enrich the global elites he railed against
The bombastic conspiracy theorist paved the road of misinformation for decades, creating a perfect setting for Trump’s presidency, and ultimately benefiting the very elites he claimed were out to exterminate humanity.
Alex Jones’ decades-long career of serving up conspiracy theories cloaked in lies and violent rhetoric may be coming to an end as a jury has just awarded $4 million in damages, plus $45.2 million in punitive damages, to the parents of a 6-year-old killed at Sandy Hook Elementary School. Continue reading
New media are as intertwined with imperial power as old media
Alan MacLeod has a new article out with Mintpress News showing how most of the supposedly independent “fact-checking” organizations which Facebook has partnered with to police the information people are allowed to see on the platform about the war in Ukraine are, in fact, funded by the United States government. Continue reading
To the New York Times—“We thought we knew ye”
In 1980 we produced a report titled How to Appraise and Improve Your Daily Newspaper: A Manual for Readers, authored by David Bollier, one of our precocious interns, who had just graduated from Amherst and went on to become an expert on the Commons (See, bollier.org). I thought about this past initiative to empower readers/consumers while contemplating what is happening in recent months to the print edition of the New York Times. Continue reading
Meditation: a lifeline to sanity in a world gone crazy
Posted on August 23, 2022 by William T. Hathaway
Humanity is in crisis. Our social structures are crumbling. Institutions that had seemed secure are now breaking apart. Politicians are figures of contempt. Once-respected news sources are distrusted. Schools have devolved into internment camps. A dozen war flags rally us into battle. Our punch-drunk planet is staggering on the ropes. People are dropping dead from the virus and from the vaccine that’s supposed to prevent it. Political polarization is destroying friendships. The economy is lurching around, torn by contradictory pressures. Explanations for the chaos abound, but attempts at solutions are stalemated. Continue reading →