solidaridad: ethnic studies

Showing posts with label ethnic studies. Show all posts

Thursday, June 21, 2018

How fringe-right are business banker Marshall Tuck’s education views?

How reactionary is Marshall Tuck on education issues? One measure is to compare his views to those of the notoriously right-wing JBS and GOP stalwarts. Here we look at some critical issues facing students, families, and our public schools.

Sources: ontheissues.org, marshalltuck.com, jbs.org

Remember that Marshall Tuck, like his white supremacist counterparts Tom Horne and John Huppenthal, shuttered Ethnic Studies, killed Dual Language Immersion Programs, and eliminated Heritage Language Programs.

Resources on Marshall Tuck

[list to be continued]

Wednesday, January 18, 2017

Student Empowerment through Culture and Language

Student Empowerment through Culture and Language

Tuesday, January 31 at 4 PM - 8 PM

UTLA

3303 Wilshire Blvd Fl 10,

Los Angeles, California 90010

Ethnic Studies, Dual and Mulitilingual Education. With the passage of Prop 58 the Multilingual Education Act and AB2016 Ethnic Studies we have a historic opportunity to advance issues and more. Join the UTLA Raza Ed. and Bilingual Education Commitee as we bring scholars, educators and community together for an engaging discussion. Best of all, this event is FREE!

Professors Solórzano and Krashen: Student Empowerment through Culture and Language by Robert D. Skeels on Scribd

Tuesday, November 29, 2016

Schools Los Angeles Students Deserve (SLASD) December General Assembly

Schools Los Angeles Students Deserve (SLASD) General Assembly

Every month students, parents, and teachers of #StudentsDeserve gather to discuss and plan for the future of educational justice inside and outside our schools in Los Angeles. Considering the political state we are in, now more than ever we know that our grassroots work is important and necessary. For that reason, we invite YOU (students, parents, and teachers) to our General Assembly THIS THURSDAY. Come hear about the work that students and parents are building!

Bring a fellow parent and/or student to our General Assembly to learn about the fight for the Schools Los Angeles Students Deserve. Join us! Details in flyer attached below.

If you have any questions please email us at: lastudentsdeserve@gmail.com

Thursday, May 14, 2015

Schools Los Angeles Students Deserve (SLASD) May General Assembly

Schools Los Angeles Students Deserve (SLASD) General Assembly

Thursday, May 21, 2015
4:30-6:30PM
St. Marks Lutheran Church
3651 South Vermont Ave,
Los Angeles, CA 90007
(2 blocks north of the Expo line's Vermont station)

Final General Assembly of the school year. This year we have accomplished so much!

Parent Leadership Institutes provided space for parents from across the city to strategize about how to make changes in their children's schools
SLASD-GC parents exposed conditions at schools across LAUSD through participating in UTLA's Parent Caravan
In multi-day Youth Leadership Institutes, students discussed systemic oppression and resistance and built cross-school strategies
Students developed a social media campaign to spread awareness of issues at their schools
On their campuses, students took action to educate their peers about the Black Lives Matter movement
Students gathered over 1,200 petitions to demand changes in their schools and delivered these to the School Board
We supported the fight for Ethnic Studies, and urged the School Board to fund new teaching positions to cover these new courses
Parents and students spoke at rallies across the city in support of the campaign for the Schools LA Students Deserve
In meetings with School Board members Zimmer, Kayser, and McKenna, we moved towards a School Board resolution
Overall, our campaign created more pressure on LAUSD to sign a good contract with UTLA!

At our General Assembly, we'll be assessing our work this year, and planning for our work over the Summer and next Fall to hit the ground running!

Please join us!

Wednesday, April 08, 2015

Armenian groups support Bennett Kayser for LAUSD School Board

Garen Yegparin, a journalist of Asbaraz Armeian news, wrote an excellent piece on the importance of voting, donating, and volunteering for your local candidates over the next few weeks.

Yegparin specifically writes about Bennett's race and what is at stake this Tuesday, May 19th:

"But perhaps the most subtly important LA election is for the school board’s District 5 seat. Bennett Kayser, the incumbent running for reelection placed second, and faces a very strong challenger in the runoff. Kayser’s opponent is supported with serious money from the charter school movement (specifically, the California Charter Schools Association Advocates and its various tentacles), the same people from whom the Turkish Gulen movement has benefitted as it successfully encroaches on LAUSD schools."

"Consider that when all the spending in this race is added up (by the candidates themselves and independent expenditure committees for and against the candidates) Kayser’s opponent comes out 43% ahead in dollar terms! This is very unusual. It is more commonly the incumbent that has the money edge. It speaks to how much Kayser is being targeted."

"We should be assisting him as much as possible. Unfortunately, his district covers areas which are not home to very many Armenians, which speaks to the principled nature of his stance. So that leaves volunteering (making phone calls or walking neighborhoods) and campaign donations, both of which can be done through the Kayser’s website, www.bennett2015.com."

Bennett Kayser is endorsed by the Armenian National Committee of America Western Region and the Armenian Council of America. Kayser will also carry a resolution at the next LAUSD Board Meeting recognizing the 100th anniversary of the Armenian Genocide.

**Click here to read the rest of the article on Asbarez.com**

**Click here to donate to Bennett's campaign**

**Click here to volunteer for Bennett's campaign**

Paid for by Re-Elect Bennett Kayser for School Board 2015 - General – 419 North Larchmont Blvd., #37, Los Angeles, CA 90004 – ID #1375891 – More information available at Ethics.lacity.org – Bennett2015.com – (323) 535-9930

Monday, March 16, 2015

Schools Los Angeles Students Deserve (SLASD) March General Assembly

Schools Los Angeles Students Deserve (SLASD) General Assembly

Thursday, March 19, 2015
4:30-6:30PM
St. Marks Lutheran Church
3651 South Vermont Ave,
Los Angeles, CA 90007
(2 blocks north of the Expo line's Vermont station)

Following an invigorating Parent Institute this past Saturday, parents are full of ideas for how to move our work into the next stages!

Students have ideas for on-going political education efforts at their campuses, especially around the Black Lives Matter movement and issues, and how to launch the social media campaign through a cross-school online video.

Our campaign at the School Board is moving forward too, as meetings continue with School Board Members to develop a resolution for the changes students deserve to see in their schools.

Please join us to put all this into action.

Monday, March 02, 2015

Ravitch reader offers best response to CCSA and Ref Rodriguez's attacks on Bennett Kayser's disability

“SWD [Students with Disabilities] are disproportionately under-enrolled at charter schools” — Office of the Independent Monitor

"LG" is a frequent commenter on the distinguished Dr. Diane Ravitch's site. Here LG offers the best response I've read to date on California Charter Schools Association (CCSA) and Refugio "Ref" Rodriguez's vile campaign against Students with Disabilities (SWD) and their champion on the Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD) Board, the Honorable Bennett Kayser:

“When criticizing a person who happens to have a debilitating medical issue, I would think opponents would have more class than to blur the lines by presenting ANYTHING that could be construed as discriminatory and hateful. Defending this is akin to saying, “Well, I didn’t mean to insult your condition–I was merely trying to insult you in order to preserve your dignity. YOU were the one who misconstrued my meaning.” Sorry, you watch your Ps and Qs when you are refuting actions–you don’t imply physical impairment in the process. That’s personal…but by all means, defend this heinous act as “creative and clever.”

B. S.

On a stick.”

Friday, February 27, 2015

The Honorable Bennett Kayser's leadership on the Ethnic Studies requirement for LAUSD

First published on Disqus on February 26, 2015

The Honorable Bennett Kayser both helped draft, and he sponsored the Historic LAUSD Ethnic Studies requirement. By far the most progressive education reform in our district in recent memory, it serves as a valuable counter to the greed based "reforms" of the charter industry. Here is an excerpt from a refereed journal article I wrote that will be published this April in Regeneración:

"The Ethnic Studies struggles are significant for several reasons. The first of which is that little or no assistance came from NPIC, proving that effective, community based organizing does not require foundation money, or “professionalized, businesslike” (Incite! 95) organizers. Moreover, Ethnic Studies are the antithesis of the neoliberal ideals, particularly the subtle white supremacism underlying CCSS, which was crafted from E. D. Hirsch, Jr.’s “core knowledge” concepts. Lastly Ethnic Studies opens the door for exposure to Critical Pedagogy, Critical Race Studies, and other scholarship that will provide students with the tools to directly confront neoliberalism, the socio-economic structures that coined it, and the rulers of our class society that have imposed it." (Skeels, 2015).

I heard that other guy, the one backed by the right-wing billionaires, strongly criticized ethnic studies. I suppose it's easy to self-colonize, and play respectability politics when your oppressors pay you enough.

There is only one LAUSD District 5 candidate whose track record on Ethnic Studies sets the gold standard: the Honorable Bennett Kayser!

Monday, February 16, 2015

Los Angeles activist Muffy Sunde on CCSA's vile ableist attacks on SWD and Bennett Kayser

“low incidence disabilities enrolled at LAUSD charters are significantly under-represented” — Office of the Independent Monitor

Long-time Los Angeles activist Muffy Sunde is a prominent member of Radical Women. She offered the following on California Charter Schools Association (CCSA) and Refugio "Ref" Rodriguez's vile campaign against Students with Disabilities (SWD) and their champion on the Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD) Board, the Honorable Bennett Kayser:

One main point here is that charter schools are mostly specifically exempted from the federal requirements to provide access to education to all regardless of disability--and they are campaigning that all schools should be able to roll back that, because they envision a school system like New Orleans, which are all publicly funded private schools and/or military academies where profits are great but still non profit. My belief is that, with the support of the Obama administration, their target now is special education.

Their campaign is disgusting and pandering--and I suggest that folks who are close to Kayser urge him to issue a really direct response, defending access for the physically and otherwise disabled, advocating MORE, not less resources for the most needy, and then condemning this attack. Just urging the bad guys to "say it to my face" is really nada.

Something like "I stand for ......., what do you stand for"....besides belittling the disabled that is" My, admittedly limited, knowledge of Kayser, is that he won't do that, but it is worth a try. Does he demand that the rich (like, you know, Steve Soboroff and Eli Broad) pay more in taxes to fund quality public schools? That would be a campaign that could develop some momentum.

In solidarity,

Muffy

Friday, February 13, 2015

Tell @CALCharters that ableism is discrimination, a violation of civil rights!

Ref Rodriguez’s California Charter School Association (CCSA) backers have created a vicious attack campaign centered around the Honorable Bennett Kayser’s Parkinson’s disease, questioning his ability to continue serving the Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD). Why? Because Kayser champions the rights of Students with Disabilities (SWD). What is CCSA’s record on SWD? The Office of the Independent Monitor finds that “SWD are disproportionately under-enrolled at charter schools”, and that “low incidence disabilities enrolled at LAUSD charters are significantly under-represented”. In other words, there’s a clear connection between the way Rodriguez and the CCSA attack candidates with disabilities, and the way the they treat children with disabilities. That’s unacceptable.

Shame on Refugio “Ref” Rodriguez and California Charter Schools Association

Robert D. Skeels on Refugio "Ref" Rodriguez's hostile opposition to Ethnic Studies in LAUSD

"Bennett Kayser of Board District 5 authored the historic LAUSD Ethnic Studies Resolution!" — the Honorable José Lara

The more we learn of Refugio "Ref" Rodriguez, the more we realize that he's far worse than just another charter profiteer. Whether discussing his schools using money for advertising instead of classrooms; the astonishing 50% remediation rate of his so-called college-ready graduates; he and his backers' vile ableism and mocking of people with disabilities; or even his cowardly act of pretending he had no connections to the California Charter Schools Association (CCSA) after they were called out on their reprehensible, scurrilous attacks on the Honorable Bennett Kayser, we're faced with the possibility that Rodriguez's compass is stuck somewhere between immoral and amoral.

Rodriguez's latest transgression? His outrageous attacks on the historic Ethnic Studies resolution just passed by the Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD). His diatribe against ethnic studies occurred during the LA32 Neighborhood Council forum. While Rodriguez has long dabbled in respectability politics, and seems to wear self colonization with pride (e.g. name change), the idea that a supposed "educator" of color would seemingly support a white supremacist stance against ethnic studies is disheartening and disappointing to say the least. I left the following commentary after a post in the Deasy (LA) School Report blog that contained Rodriguez's rant against Ethnic Studies.

The Los Angeles community has struggled mightily for years to win an Ethnic Studies requirement. This is especially important after bigots Tom Horne and John Huppenthal shut down Ethnic Studies in Arizona, and Marshall Tuck shuttered those selfsame programs locally at Partnership for Los Angeles Schools (PLAS). Our students have a right to study about their own languages, cultures, and histories! For Refugio "Ref" Rodriguez and Andrew Thomas to mock, and even belittle the importance of the historic Ethnic Studies resolution championed by Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD) Board Members Bennett Kayser, Steve Zimmer, and Dr. George McKenna speaks volumes about their politics and values. Rodriguez and Thomas' anti-ethnic studies statements above find them dangerously close to advocating the same book banning and cultural sterilization programs implemented in other states that should never be acceptable in California (or anywhere for that matter).

There is only one LAUSD District 5 candidate whose track record on Ethnic Studies sets the gold standard: the Honorable Bennett Kayser!

Friday, February 06, 2015

Bennett Kayser for LAUSD 2015 campaign kick-off events

Wednesday, January 14, 2015

Schools Los Angeles Students Deserve (SLASD) January General Assembly

Schools Los Angeles Students Deserve (SLASD) General Assembly

Thursday, January 29, 2015
4:30-6:30PM
St. Marks Lutheran Church
3651 South Vermont Ave,
Los Angeles, CA 90007
(2 blocks north of the Expo line's Vermont station)

Lots of potentially exciting organizing is coming up this year for the Schools LA Students Deserve Grassroots Coalition. We hope that you all can join students, parents, and teachers as we continue to fight for a socially just schools and communities!

Thursday, November 20, 2014

Sunday, November 23, 2014: Two ways to support Ethnic Studies supporter Bennet Kayser!

Re-elect Ethnic Studies Supporter Bennett Kayser to LAUSD Board of Education

Sunday (Nov 23) Echo Parque for Bennett Kayser Precinct Walking
https://www.facebook.com/events/556087097859768/

Join me, Robert D. Skeels, as we gather signatures for the Honorable Bennett Kayser to qualify for the ballot. Kayser's sponsorship was a key factor in the recently passed Ethnic Studies for #LAUSD requirement resolution, and he has been a force for progressive change and authentic reforms on our school board. Let's keep allies of public education on our board, let's Re-Elect Bennett Kayser for School Board! 10AM meet up at Bright Spot on Sunset Blvd.

SUNDAY (NOV 23) BENNETT KAYSER FUNDRAISER (EAGLE ROCK)
http://www.ethnicstudiesnow.com/nov_23_bennett_kayser_fundraiser

Bennett Kayser fundraiser this Sunday 4-7 pm. sponsored by Ethnic Studies Now Coalition. Meet the sponsor of the historic resolution that passed this week! Click here and RSVP for address.

Contact me with any questions you may have!

Join me Sunday morning precinct walking 90026 for #EthnicStudies ally @Lausd_Kayser https://t.co/xv1U0ioSUP #LAUSD pic.twitter.com/g8zbNkni02
— Robert D. Skeels (@rdsathene) November 20, 2014

Thursday, November 06, 2014

Schools Los Angeles Students Deserve (SLASD) November General Assembly

Schools Los Angeles Students Deserve (SLASD) General Assembly

Thursday, November 6, 2014
4:20-6:45PM
St. Marks Lutheran Church
3651 South Vermont Ave,
Los Angeles, CA 90007
(2 blocks north of the Expo line's Vermont station)

The 2014-2015 school year is our time to take concrete action together and change the educational system and bigger systems that shape it.

Our key focal areas are:

Criminalization, punishment culture and push out in schools
Lack of Nurses/health services for youth through schools
Limited College Counselors for students
Narrow curriculum because of an over-emphasis on standardized testing - lack of electives (arts music, ethnic studies, etc.)
School destabilizations like reconstitutions that force an end to critical programs or push out veteran staff, especially African-American staff

Please join us as we move forward with exciting new steps and actions!

Rosa Jimenez's notes from previous General Assembly:

At SLASD's most recent General Assembly (October 2), participants forged ahead with a new student campaign, parent organizing, and coordination of teacher actions at 14 schools across LA.

The meeting was largely facilitated by students, and students led their own student-only discussion to develop their plan of action.

This week, students in at least 6 different schools across LA are kicking off a postcard petition drive to demand changes in their schools. Students from several different high schools collaborated to develop the postcards, which postcards will be delivered to the School Board in a creative action that highlights students' voices.

Parent and community organizers are in the process of reaching out to neighborhood councils & parent advisory councils, and plan to participate in UTLA parent / community forums, as well as build townhall meetings to represent the power of parents and community.

Teachers plan to support student and parent/community organizing, as well as organize co-workers at their schools sites around an understanding of the importance of building connections with parent and student communities.

Schools Present:

STEM Academy of Hollywood

Maya Angelou Community High School

Santa Monica College

UCLA Community School - Robert F. Kennedy Campus

New Open World Academy - Robert F. Kennedy Campus

Manual Arts High School

Dorsey High School

Charles White Elementary School

Los Angeles High School

Loreto Elementary School

Palms Middle School

Hamilton High School

Alta Loma Middle School

North Hollywood Highly Gifted Magnet High School

Movement Snapshot:
The Blowouts in East LA - focus on role of base-building and organizing in making the Blowouts possible

Discussion & Vote on Our Strategy & Demands for the Upcoming Period:

Approved Strategy:

Student-Led Tactics Including Post Cards for the Board of Education & Escalating Actions

Big Parent Meetings

Small Amounts of Focused Energy to Meet with Friendly Board Members

Building with Other Schools

Build with Other Organizations

Strengthen Communication Between Schools & Across Sectors (students with students, for example)

Approved Demands:

College Counselors, Nurses, and Librarians at our schools

More Elective & Art Classes and Ethnic Studies as a Graduation Requirement for All LA Schools

Fewer Students Per Class

Resources for School Improvement, Not IPADs for Testing

Stop Reconstitution in All its Names

Tuesday, October 14, 2014

The Network for Public Education Endorses Historic Ethnic Studies Graduation Requirement for LAUSD

"Remember that consciousness is power" — Kochiyama Yuri

The Network for Public Education just released the following in support of ethnicstudiesnow's historic resolution to make the successful completion of an A-G approved Ethnic Studies course a high school graduation requirement in the Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD):

As the President and Executive Director of the Network for Public Education, we write to you today in support of access to Ethnic Studies courses for all Los Angeles high school students. As such, our Board of Directors unanimously adopted a resolution that reads as follows:

“The Network for Public Education recognizes the value and importance of Ethnic Studies courses for high school students. Well-designed ethnic studies programs have been proven to have very positive social and academic impacts. Such courses validate the myriad of cultures that exist in our country and amplify the voices of those that are often marginalized. Ethnic Studies courses create opportunities for all students to begin to perceive cultural similarities, accept cultural differences, and to sense their position within a wider American community. We support efforts to ensure that all students in the Los Angeles schools have access to such courses.”

The Network for Public Education is an advocacy group whose goal is to fight to protect, preserve and strengthen our public school system, an essential institution in a democratic society. Our mission is to protect, preserve, promote, and strengthen public schools and the education of current and future generations of students.

Sincerely,

Diane Ravitch
President, Network for Public Education

Robin Hiller
Executive Director, Network for Public Education

Monday, October 13, 2014

Ethnic Studies Rally at LAUSD 14 October 2014

Ethnic Studies Rally at #LAUSD #14Oct. @70torinoman @EducateLAnow @latinorebels @BadassTeachersA @AnthonyCody pic.twitter.com/SdYXgEU7Fg
— adri16 (@adri16) October 13, 2014

Sunday, September 21, 2014

Schools Los Angeles Students Deserve (SLASD) October General Assembly

Schools Los Angeles Students Deserve (SLASD) General Assembly

Thursday, October 2, 2014
4:15-6:30PM
St. Marks Lutheran Church
3651 South Vermont Ave,
Los Angeles, CA 90007
(2 blocks north of the Expo line's Vermont station)

Rosa Jimenez's notes from previous General Assembly:

Students and Parents from 10 different schools across LA participated. Many teachers from an even more schools and community college students attended the General Assembly as well.

Members from half a dozen community organizations participated as well as reps from various labor organizations and neighborhood councils.

As always, the General Assembly started with a Snapshot of a Social Movement—this time focusing on lessons that can be learned from students getting organized for educational justice across the nation.

Then the General Assembly created space for students, parents and teachers to discuss where to take our movement. We want to build off of our last year’s organizing and successful actions, including our March where we called upon LAUSD’s School Board to take up the issues that students, parents and teachers of the Grassroots Coalition have been organizing around. Students met as a constituency group, as did parents and the teachers in a third group.

The Grassroots Coalition of Schools LA Students Deserve came up with some great ideas which we will be announcing soon.

Saturday, September 20, 2014

Don't let Marshall Tuck rob California students of their own identities and dignity!

Don't let Marshall Tuck rob students of their own identities and dignity! http://t.co/3JtYCyU4Lu #LAUSD pic.twitter.com/f0xBu7QCsg
— Robert D. Skeels (@rdsathene) September 20, 2014

All three of these individuals used their positions of power over school children of color to shut down Ethnic Studies Programs, close Heritage Language Programs, and shutter Dual Language Immersion Programs. In some cases they even banned influential books like Paulo Freire’s Pedagogy of the Oppressed. Students have the right to learn about their own cultures, languages, and histories. What kind of individuals rob students of their own identities and dignity?