In the late 1980s and early 1990s, our community was under a full-fledged attack. Crack was in our streets, it was in our schools, it was in our parks, it was in our playgrounds, and for some, it was in our homes. The epidemic wasn’t just affecting one part of the community; this impacted the entire community, leaving sons without fathers, daughters without mothers, and parents, ultimately, alone.
But the carnage didn’t stop there. Policies enacted during the crack epidemic exacerbated the destruction. Children in South Los Angeles were ripped away from their parents and shipped off into the child welfare system, some to never see their parents, or their families, again. It was at the height of the crack epidemic when the number of kids in foster care exploded and the percentage of Black youth in the system skyrocketed.
Now, the country, not just our community, faces a new epidemic. Our child welfare system is already becoming increasingly populated due to the consequences of the opioid epidemic. The current crisis is starting to devastate families and our already over-worked and under-resourced child welfare system. This time, we must apply the lessons learned from the crack epidemic: if you want successful policy, you must include the affected communities in the formulation of new policy. We cannot afford to turn our backs on those impacted again.
At the end of this month, the Congressional Caucus on Foster Youth will host its 7th annual Foster Youth Shadow Day, a program that brings foster youth from all over the country to meet and shadow the very Members of Congress who represent them in Washington, D.C.
No one knows more about the pitfalls of our nation’s child welfare system than those who grew up in it. These young people are travelling thousands of miles to come to D.C. to share their stories—both their challenges with abuse, trafficking, overmedication, or homelessness—as well as their successes with mentorship, adoption, family reunification, community activism and independent living.
The result of these visits is a better understanding of how to improve the child welfare system and fight against this epidemic. The FY 2018 omnibus bill that was passed earlier this year had the single biggest increase in investment in child welfare funding history along with a large investment in funds to combat the opioid crisis. Despite this progress, there will always be more work to be done and this month, I look forward to continuing this fight. National Foster Care Month is a month to honor the successes and challenges of the more than 400,000 foster youth across the country and to acknowledge the tireless efforts of those who work to improve outcomes for children in the child welfare system.
Making sure that all children have a permanent and loving home is not a Democrat or Republican issue – it should be an American priority. Our society is judged on how we treat the most vulnerable amongst us. We must invest in life improving foster care services, praise foster families, caregivers, and relatives for their selflessness to others, and continue to provide a hand up so that foster youth can realize their full potential.
Congresswoman Karen Bass represents California’s 37th Congressional District. She is the 2nd Vice Chair of the Congressional Black Caucus and the co-chair of the Congressional Caucus on Foster Youth. Follow her on Twitter at @RepKarenBass.
A while ago, I joined my Democratic colleagues on the state and federal level in expressing concerns about last year’s Federal Communications Commission (FCC) decision to repeal Net Neutrality rules. However, aside from the obvious reasons for alarm, I am also anxious about how this issue impacts social justice movements like #MeToo and #BlackLivesMatter.
The concept of net neutrality is that all searches on the internet should be treated the same and bars internet service providers from blocking, slowing, or giving preferential treatment to certain online sites, services or content. With the internet becoming such a household staple and commonly used public resource, the Obama administration believed we needed to treat it like other forms of telecommunications that have safeguards to protect free and open access to the public.
This week, a majority of the United States Senate agreed. In taking up a vote to repeal the FCC’s net neutrality rule changes, a bi-partisan group of federal legislators are trying to stop new rules put in place by the Trump administration from taking effect on June 12th. However, the Senate vote may be largely symbolic, as few expect Republicans in the U.S House of Representatives to even take up the measure. But make no mistake, this is a hugely important issue.
Net Neutrality ensures that the internet remains free and accessible in this country, with increased transparency that treats all content equally on the internet. However, Trump’s rules changes could result in groups that want to suppress sites dedicated to women’s rights, like #MeToo, censor or suppress these views on the internet. Women have been able to bypass male dominated industry “gatekeepers” and get their message out with a simple Facebookpost. Whether making a public statement or organizing a rally, we have clearly seen the impact of unfettered access to the internet. It is not impossible to imagine broadband providers favoring some content and slowing or blocking others that they find controversial.
Without doubt, social justice movements like #BlackLivesMatter found their voice, amplified their message and elevated their cause in great part through the use of social media. It took traditional media a long time to catch up to their calls for equity in treatment, while they were reaching millions around the world via the internet.
Additionally, Net Neutrality was meant to prevent large corporations from blocking access to certain websites and charging users higher rates to use what are called internet “fast lanes”. It was understood that we needed to create a level playing field for local businesses and small start-ups to allow them to compete in the global economy. Trump’s actions will likely hurt everyday Wisconsin entrepreneurs.
Given these concerns, there are states that are now drafting bills to create their own Net Neutrality protection legislation. Like the state of New York, I am exploring a bill to require state contracts only be awarded to internet service providers that are compliant with net neutrality guidelines. We have an obligation to protect our residents when the federal government won’t.
MADISON – A month ago Assembly Democrats attempted to pass Assembly Bill 65, a bill introduced by State Representative Terese Berceau (D-Madison) requiring universal background checks on firearm purchases in Wisconsin. Democratic efforts then were stymied by Assembly Republicans who, refusing to vote on background checks for gun purchases, instead pulled several procedural stunts, and ultimately gutted Democrats’ universal background check proposal.
Today, Assembly Republicans amended Assembly Bill 1031 with an amendment relating to firearm background checks that, remarkably, did nothing to address the gun show loophole or private gun sales. State Representative Melissa Sargent (D-Madison) re-released the following statement concerning Republicans’ continued refusal to adopt universal background checksin Wisconsin:
“Republicans should have to justify their actions today, and they should have to answer to every child who is afraid to go to school, every teacher who is afraid to go to work, and every family who has been affected by gun violence due to Republican inaction.
I stood with high school students from our community in the Capitol just last week while they begged Wisconsin lawmakers to take action on gun violence. And yet, based on Republicans’ theatrics this afternoon, it’s clear our kids’ pleas didn’t just fall on deaf ears, they fell on ears that just don’t give a damn
Inaction is complicity. It’s not a matter of if the next shooting is going to occur, it’s when, and it could happen in our watch in Wisconsin if Republicans don’t start acting like the adults our kids expect us to be.”
Melissa Sargent is a State Representative in the Wisconsin Assembly, representing the 48th Assembly District, which covers the east and north sides of the city of Madison and the village of Maple Bluff.
I spent most of my first year of grad school sitting in the back row of class with my hood up. There were nearly 40 of us in the cohort. Two were Black.
My hoodie was an act of silent dissent. Today, I completely understand when my students want to do the same, even with me in front of the room. Academia and public schools are spaces where people of color often feel underrepresented, unwelcome and unheard.
From third grade through high school, I was a student in a series of neighborhood public schools. Afterward, I went to community college and then on to a public liberal arts college where I earned my bachelor’s and eventually my master’s degree. Each phase of my educational journey shared two characteristics:
The further I progressed, the fewer Black and Brown classmates I had.
As I progressed, regardless of the demographics of the student population, the faculty and administrators were uniformly nearly all White.
That needs to change.
An organization I am part of, the National Network of State Teachers of the Year, recently released videos designed to provoke conversations that will lead to this kind of change. Called Courageous Conversations About Race in Schools, the videos provide an effective starting point for real discussions that should be happening in schools — particularly in colleges and universities across this country.
Research tells us that upwards of 80 percent of U.S. teachers are White. Different research tells us that nearly 80 percent of teachers are female. Obviously, those Venn diagrams overlap in a largely White and female workforce.
At the same time, because of higher birth rates among immigrant populations and the “mysterious phenomenon” of disproportionately high numbers of White children in private schools, a majority of the population of students in public school are students of color, and those numbers are headed even higher, based on enrollment numbers in lower grades.
Schools systems need to do a better job of attracting and retaining effective teachers of color. Students of color need to see more people of color in positions of expertise and authority, and teachers need to be conversant and literate in the cultural traditions that are present in their classrooms. None of these statements should be controversial.
The lack of representation is an equity issue, and to resolve it we can look to lessons elsewhere in our society. During the Vietnam War, the Pentagon realized that majority Brown platoons of soldiers and Marines wouldn’t take life-or-death orders from a uniformly White officer corps. The Pentagon thus underwent an intentional effort to diversify the officer corps. Since then, the Pentagon has submitted amicus curiae briefs in every major affirmative action case before the U.S. Supreme Court because they understand that representation matters.
Time for a representation disruption
The word “disruption” gets hurled around frequently in business and increasingly in education. Usually, it’s about handing Silicon Valley tech bros a metric ton of venture capital to sprinkle the #EdTech fairy dust of the moment. But I’m going to argue that when it comes to teacher diversity and representation in schools, we actually need disruption.
In my neck of the woods, the numbers are especially grim: There are only about 800 Black teachers in all of Washington State. In my 12-year teaching career, I have never worked with another Black male general education teacher.
There’s no reason for me to be alone. We see talented students of color all over higher education because universities know how to recruit them. As Jeff Duncan-Andrade says, “Look at any college football or basketball team and tell me colleges don’t know how to recruit Black talent. When I was a kid I thought Georgetown was an HBCU.”
But it can’t just be student-athletes. We need to bring in students who can increase teacher diversity. It’s imperative-and it’s well within our power.
Nate Bowling is a high school government teacher in Tacoma, Washington, who was named the 2016 Washington State Teacher of the year and a finalist for National Teacher of the Year.
[/media-credit] Students and faculty gathered after the walkout to share how they want to see gun laws reformed.
“Life is not a partisan issue.” This statement was repeated many times by numerous students while standing hand in hand outside of Rufus King International High School last Wednesday in a march of remembrance for the seventeen students who were killed in a high school shooting in Florida last month.
More than 1,200 students and staff marched in silence around the school’s football field while the names of the students who were killed in the Feb. 14 Parkland, FL shooting were read aloud. The walkout and march were part of the National School Walkout that was intended to encourage lawmakers to take action on gun laws.
“They say that we are not activists,” said Rufus King student government members Ruth Fetaw and Morgan Coleman. “They say that we cannot be voices and agents for change, but on behalf of the 17 lives lost on a day that was supposed to be full of love…we say enough is enough.”
There were multiple protests planned at Milwaukee Public Schools including North and South Division, among others, according to the #Enough National School Walkout website. The number of students who decided not to participate in the march was not released.
[/media-credit] MPS Superintendent Dr. Darienne Driver released a letter to MPS families in support of the walkout.
MPS Superintendent Dr. Darienne Driver said in a letter released to parents before the march that she supports students in expressing their constitutional rights to assembly and peaceful protests. She also said that students are not required to participate. Dr. Driver was also present at the march and spoke to media following the event.
“As a superintendent, when people ask me what keeps me up at night, it’s keeping my children safe,” said Driver. “This was a student led initiative, and they said it best when they said life should not be a partisan issue.”
Olivia Schmitz also took part in the march. She said that she hopes that lasting change occurs because of the large numbers of students taking initiative.
“It was incredible to see everyone show up and taking this seriously,” said Schmitz. “Our school has had a week of action involving sessions of education relating to this issue. We will be holding letter writing campaigns and be contacting representatives as well.”
Pulaski High School issued a “code red” earlier in the day on Wednesday, after there were false reports of a gun on campus. Although there was no gun found, the lockdown was still a reminder that a shooting could occur at a moment’s notice.
Last week, the Trump administration proposed providing firearms training for some school personnel. Superintendent Driver offered her opinion on this new proposal.
“That argument is void of reason and rational thought,” said Driver. “Schools are a safe haven, and the idea of putting a weapon in a school is absolutely ludicrous.”
As the march came to an end and students met in the middle of the football field to speak to the school and media who had gathered there, a young student spoke through tears to share a story about her cousin whom she had recently lost to gun violence in Milwaukee.
“I just want to tell my cousin that I love him. All I have to say is that I just want it to stop, and I miss him.”
Calling all educators, pupil services, educational assistants, administrative staff, and those in the process of obtaining their license! Come to the Educator Recruitment Fair on Saturday, April 7, 2018 from 8 AM to 1 PM at Shorewood High School, Shorewood, WI. Multiple schools in Southeastern Wisconsin are looking to fill vacancies for the 2018-2019 school year. Register to attend: www.cesa1.k12.wi.us.
Students at Oliver Wendell Holmes School on Milwaukee’s north side are making new friends – with volunteers from the Milwaukee Urban League and GE Healthcare. Volunteers from both organizations are engaging with students as tutors and mentors and using their expertise to raise student achievement. Milwaukee Public Schools has similar mentor relationships in many schools that provide students with individual attention from caring adults.
The Milwaukee Urban League is growing its relationship with O. W. Holmes and the community by providing a variety of resources for school families. A generous contribution of $15,000 from the Milwaukee Urban League will support Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM) in the school as well as family programming. The organization also regularly sends staff to connect families with community resources such as employment, financial literacy, adult education and driver’s license assistance. The Milwaukee Urban League is leveraging its Guild and Young Professionals affinity groups and its relationship with GE Healthcare to send volunteers to the school.
The MPS Department of Business, Community and Family Partnerships is grateful to the Milwaukee Urban League, its Guild and Young Professionals groups, and GE Healthcare for their generous support of O. W. Holmes students and families.
Oliver Wendell Holmes School offers Head Start through 8th grade and is located at 2463 N. Buffum St. Kindergarten enrollment for fall 2018 is open until March 4, 2018. To enroll, visit mpsmke.com or call (414) 475- 8204.
Time is running out! This Sunday, March 4, 2018 is the deadline for Milwaukee families to choose the Milwaukee Public Schools kindergarten or Head Start program that starts their 3-, 4- or 5-year old on the path to success. Enrolling by this deadline gives families the best chance of their child being placed in the school of their choice. Enrollment applications can be completed online at mpsmke.com/enroll, any MPS school or Welcome Center, or the MPS Enrollment Center, 5225 W. Vliet St., Milwaukee.
With 160 school options in MPS that serve more than 76,000 students, the district offers many different programs. The website tool mpsmke.com/findaschool, can help families select which of the many great district opportunities that are best for their child.
K3
Kindergarten for three-year-olds helps children get excited about school and learn classroom routines. Caring teachers guide learning through movement, art, music, play, and group activities.
K4
In four-year-old kindergarten, dedicated teachers help children have fun with skills such as counting and recognizing letters. Classroom routines build good habits and children learn to recognize the feelings of others around them.
K5
Five-year-old kindergarten prepares children for first grade and beyond. Through positive work, play, and learning, caring teachers help students take on new challenges and respect others.
Important: Wisconsin law requires that all children attend five-year-old kindergarten before entering first grade.
Regrettably, in the wake of another mass shooting in this country, the GOP has responded in its usual fashion: guarded lip service and no thought of political action. If there has been one ray of hope in the aftermath of this horrific event, it’s been the courageous response of the individuals that were directly affected: the surviving high school students.
Leon D. Young
In recent days, Emma Gonzalez, a student at the Parkland, Florida high school where 17 people were left dead after a mass shooting has become the public face and the strident voice of what potentially could become a real movement to enact commonsense gun control measures. And, what’s really telling – this response is being led by the students themselves. The young, articulate senior, in delivering remarks in the aftermath of this senseless tragedy, pulled no punches in expressing her grief and outright anger. She explicitly stated, “If all our government and president can do is send thoughts and prayers, then it’s time for victims to be the change we need to see.”
As protests and rallies continue to crop up across the country, in support of gun control action, the Alt-right and Republicans have begun to push back with some ridiculous assertions. For instance, an aide to Florida State Representative Shawn Harrison, using state email, sent out a picture and message alleging: “Both kids in the picture are not students here but actors that travel to various crisis when they happen.”
Contributing to this lunacy, former US Congressman Jack Kingston, a Georgia Republican, sent out the following tweet: O really? “Students” are planning a nationwide rally? Not left-wing gun control activists using 17yr kids in the wake of a tragedy? #Soros #Resistance #Antifa #DNC.”
Meanwhile, the asinine occupant in the White House has offered his perspective on this horrific incident. In his statement to the media following the event, Trump never mentioned the word guns during his remarks, rather he talked about mental illness as being the culprit. This clueless president is even on record for being in support of militarizing our schools – teachers and coaches having access to handguns, to combat this reoccurring threat.
Here’s the naked truth: The mass shooting mania that grips this nation is directly linked to the ready availability of assault weapons and guns that can be converted into automatic weapons. Moreover, assault weapons serve no legitimate, recreational purpose, but are intended solely to maim and kill on a mass scale.
Student activism is not a new phenomenon in this country. During the Civil Rights struggle the Freedom Riders, who were mostly college students, led “sit-ins” at segregated lunch counters throughout the South. This new call to action by students is real, wonderful to see, and hopefully will be the catalyst for meaningful gun control change.
In the late 1980s and early 1990s, our community was under a full-fledged attack. Crack was in our streets, it was in our schools, it was in our parks, it was in our playgrounds, and for some, it was in our homes. The epidemic wasn’t just affecting one part of the community; this impacted the entire community, leaving sons without fathers, daughters without mothers, and parents, ultimately, alone.
fairy dust of the moment. But I’m going to argue that when it comes to teacher diversity and representation in schools, we actually need disruption.
