Community activists stage Cyber Monday protests in fight against Amazon’s HQ2
Community activists stage Cyber Monday protests in fight against Amazon’s HQ2
“Cyber Monday is a big day for Amazon, and Amazon coming to Queens is a big deal for New Yorkers,” Charles Khan, an organizer with the Strong Economy Coalition and the Center for Popular Democracy...
“Cyber Monday is a big day for Amazon, and Amazon coming to Queens is a big deal for New Yorkers,” Charles Khan, an organizer with the Strong Economy Coalition and the Center for Popular Democracy, told MarketWatch following the Herald Square protest. “It’s a trillion-dollar company run by the richest man in the world, and they don’t need any help from taxpayers to come to New York.”
Read the full article here.
New York City Schools' Discriminatory and Damaging School-to-Prison Pipeline
New York City Schools' Discriminatory and Damaging School-to-Prison Pipeline
New York City schools feed young black and Latino youth into a school-to-prison pipeline by leveling criminal punishments on students for small infractions and normal youthful behavior.
...
New York City schools feed young black and Latino youth into a school-to-prison pipeline by leveling criminal punishments on students for small infractions and normal youthful behavior.
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Parents, Community Leaders Want Dade Middle, Others To Become Community Schools
Parents, Community Leaders Want Dade Middle, Others To Become Community Schools
Dade Middle School in Dallas has had a history of problems. Some community leaders want the Dallas school district to boost neighborhood involvement and turn Dade into what’s called a community...
Dade Middle School in Dallas has had a history of problems. Some community leaders want the Dallas school district to boost neighborhood involvement and turn Dade into what’s called a community school. Some folks believe more community and parental involvement would make a difference there.
One weekend afternoon last fall, parents and children streamed into the auditorium at Dade Middle School. Music in English and Spanish blared from the speakers.
People from around the country showed up to speak at the school and they talked about getting parents and more of the Dade community involved in improving the school.
Yesenia Rosales was at the school with her two daughters ages 12 and 16. They moved to Texas from Maryland and she said things at Dade seem pretty good so far.
"Teachers seem very interested in helping students," she said.
Not long ago, though, things were pretty rough at Dade. Fights broke out regularly, principals were being replaced frequently and parent involvement was dismal.
Community leaders like Monica Lindsey told parents at that meeting last fall that it was time for a change. Together, she said, they could convince the district to adopt a new model at Dade and other troubled schools.
“And we’re pushing to have 20 schools turned into community schools by 2020. Can you repeat after me? 20 by 2020. 20 by 2020 …, ” Lindsey told the crowd.
So, what is a community school? According to the Coalition for Community Schools, it’s one that’s built on partnerships between the school and community groups.
A district’s best teachers work there and the school offers extra social services, like mental health counseling. There’s also more parent involvement and the school doesn’t automatically suspend students who act up.
The Dallas school district has worked to stabilize Dade by adding higher-paid and more experienced teachers. Texas Organizing Project and others involved in community school reform, however, envision a broader effort.
“At a community school, you would have 100 or 200 folks participate in some way or another in that planning process,” said Allison Brim, organizing director for the Texas Organizing Project. “You get real buy-in and also input from a larger group of parents and teachers at the school and students as well to make sure that we’re really addressing all of the needs of the entire school community.”
For the past school year, Brim and other members have been meeting with parents, Dade’s principal and district staff to talk about turning the school around. They’ve hosted several community dinners in South Dallas. And, Brim has sent school board president Eric Cowan a letter asking him to consider the issue at a future board meeting.
Brim says she sees some progress at Dade.
“I would say while it’s still not officially our standard that we’re working toward in terms of a community school, a lot of the foundation has been laid," Brim said. "And there’s been huge improvement in terms of the academics and a lot of the key indicators at the school as a result," Brim said.
Advocates point to progress with community schools in places like Cincinnati and Los Angeles.
Last month, The Center for Popular Democracy released a report citing two schools in Austin that went from facing closure to becoming two of the district’s highest-performing schools.
At one of the Austin schools – Webb Middle School – enrollment, attendance and the graduation rate went up. The school now has a full-time community school coordinator and a family resource center that offers parenting classes.
Dallas school trustee Miguel Solis said he’d like the board to consider adopting the community school model or some variation of it.
“That’s not to say that the model will be 100 percent effective if it is implemented the exact same way in Dallas as it is in these other school districts,” he said. “But the principles and tenets of the model are, I think, perfect for our community and particularly the areas that are the most underserved and need the most support.”
Even if the Dallas school board takes up the issue sometime soon, Solis said turning Dade or other schools into community schools wouldn’t happen overnight.
“What the board is likely to do is at some point just have a better understanding of exactly what a community school is, what the goals of community schools are … ” Solis said.
In other words, when it comes to making a commitment about community schools, Dallas school trustees will want to do their homework first.
This story is part of KERA’s American Graduate initiative.
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New York Fed Names John Williams President, Bucking Calls for Diversity
New York Fed Names John Williams President, Bucking Calls for Diversity
Progressive groups seized on Mr. Dudley’s retirement as a rare opportunity to influence an economic policy appointment that is outside Mr. Trump’s control. Protesters marched on the bank’s Lower...
Progressive groups seized on Mr. Dudley’s retirement as a rare opportunity to influence an economic policy appointment that is outside Mr. Trump’s control. Protesters marched on the bank’s Lower Manhattan headquarters last month to demand a president who would represent working people. In a statement Tuesday, the Fed Up campaign, a progressive group, criticized the New York Fed’s board for “ignoring the demands of the public and choosing yet another white man whose record on Wall Street regulation and full employment raises serious questions.” The group said the search process “calls into question whether the Federal Reserve can be trusted to act in the public interest.
Read the full article here.
Center for Popular Democracy FOILs SUNY-Albany’s Rockefeller Institute Over Debunked Scaffold Safety Law “Study"
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: May 5, 2014
Contact: Hugh Baran, 646-200-5331, hugh.baran@berlinrosen.com
Center for Popular Democracy FOILs SUNY-Albany’s Rockefeller Institute Over Debunked Scaffold Safety Law “Study"
FOIL Probes Debunked Industry-Funded Study That Rockefeller Institute Director Called "Really Just Awful”
Freedom of Information Request Seeks Original RFP & Other Communications with Front Group That Spent $82,800 Commissioning the Research
ALBANY — The Center for Popular Democracy announced this morning it has filed a Freedom of Information Law (FOIL) request with SUNY-Albany’s Rockefeller Institute over their now-debunked study of the Scaffold Safety Law, as first reported in today’s Albany Times-Union.
The FOIL comes after Institute Director Thomas L. Gais recanted its study last week, telling The Chronicle of HIgher Education that the now-debunked study suffers from "really big weaknesses," that "he considers the report as not officially a product of his institute,” and that a key section is "just really awful” — yet insisting no bias influenced the report’s findings. Days later, the Institute released a statement insisting that, "The funder did not attempt to influence the development of the research design, collection or analysis of data at any time during the study."
CPD’s FOIL aims to force transparency about the creation of the original Rockefeller report. Read the full FOIL request here.
"When industry funds bogus research in hopes of undercutting New York's critical worker health and safety laws, the public needs to know” said Connie Razza, Director of Strategic Research at the Center for Popular Democracy. "We take very seriously the fact that industry dollars were used to finance a 'study' that puts forward the incredible assertion that New York's scaffold law, which protects workers working at a height, actually causes worker injuries. The Center for Popular Democracy and New York Committee on Occupational Safety & Health already issued one report that shreds the credibility of the Rockefeller Institute study. We are now turning our sights on the money trail that financed this bogus work. Industry should not be allowed to try to buy credibility from institutions like SUNY.”
Specifically, the FOIL seeks the following documents related to the Institute’s now-debunked study, The Cost of Labor Law 240 on New York’s Economy and Public Infrastructure:
All documents received by the Rockefeller Institute from the New York Civil Justice Institute (or the Lawsuit Reform Alliance of Nw York) in connection with a request for proposal for a research study on New York Labor Law Section 240 (the “RFP”).
All documents submitted by the Rockefeller Institute to the New York Civil Justice Institute (or the Lawsuit Reform Alliance of New York) in response to the RFP.
All other written and electronic communications between the Rockefeller Institute and the New York Civil Justice Institute (or the Lawsuit Reform Alliance), since the beginning of 2013, pertaining to New York Labor Law Section 240.
The Cost of Labor Law 240 on New York’s Economy and Public Infrastructure was released last month by the Rockefeller Institute at SUNY-Albany, commissioned by an $82,800 check from the "New York Civil Justice Institute," a front-group whose address is the same as the Lawsuit Reform Alliance, which has worked for years to weaken laws that make it possible for people to assert rights against abusive or negligent landlords, employers, and other business interests. The LRA itself has frequently been criticized as being a front group for the construction industry and other corporate interests.
The Scaffold Safety Law is a critical safety protection for construction workers, who are increasingly Latino and immigrant. In fact, an earlier review of construction site accidents by the Center for Popular Democracy, published in an October 2013 report entitled "Fatal Inequality," starkly illustrated how important the Scaffold Law is because of the ongoing rates of injury in construction in New York, and notably, how the risks are disproportionately borne by immigrant workers and workers of color:
In 60% of those fatalities, the worker was Latino and/or immigrant, disproportionately high for their participation in construction work.
In New York City, 74% of fatal falls involved Latino and/or immigrant workers.
CPD & NYCOSH also released a new one-pager last month explaining how the Scaffold Safety Law works. Read it here.
ABOUT THE SCAFFOLD SAFETY COALITION
The Center for Popular Democracy is a proud partner in the newly launched Scaffold Safety Coalition. The Scaffold Safety Coalition is a diverse group of workers, advocates and organizations committed to protecting construction workers in New York State, creating a unified front in the fight to defend New York’s Scaffold Safety Law from industry-backed efforts to gut the law. On behalf of more than 1.5 million New Yorkers, the coalition has also pledged to push for increased enforcement of New York’s construction safety standards. More information and a full list of partners in the Scaffold Safety Coalition is available at the coalition website: www.scaffoldsafetylaw.org.
ABOUT THE CENTER FOR POPULAR DEMOCRACY
The Center for Popular Democracy (CPD) promotes equity, opportunity, and a dynamic democracy in partnership with innovative base-building organizations, organizing networks and alliances, and progressive unions across the country. CPD builds the strength and capacity of democratic organizations to envision and advance a pro-worker, pro-immigrant, racial and economic justice agenda. More information is available at CPD’s website: www.populardemocracy.org.
Risking Public Money: New York Charter School Fraud
Executive Summary
Sixteen years following the passage of New York’s Charter School Act, the number of charter schools in New York has grown dramatically. Over the last 10 years, charter...
Sixteen years following the passage of New York’s Charter School Act, the number of charter schools in New York has grown dramatically. Over the last 10 years, charter student enrollment has increased by 530 percent. Charter schools enroll over 90,000 students in New York State,2 80,000 of whom attend charter schools in New York City.3 For the school year 2014–15, New York charter schools will receive over $1.5 billion in public funding.
Download the report hereDespite the tremendous investment of public dollars, New York has failed to implement a system that adequately monitors charters for fraud, waste, and mismanagement. While charter schools are subject to significant reporting requirements and monitoring by oversight bodies, only the New York State Comptroller’s Office (Office) audits charter schools with any regularity. While the Office has audited fewer than half of all charter schools, they have exposed some form of internal control deficiency or mismanagement in 95 percent of their audits.5 The majority of charter schools in New York are left to operate year in and year out without regulator-level audits, specifically audits that are designed to determine whether these publicly funded, privately managed schools are spending public dollars properly. Given the findings of the limited audits the State Comptroller has performed, this system of irregular regulator audits poses a serious problem. In all but three of the Comptroller audits, auditors exposed internal control deficiencies and various forms of mismanagement ranging in severity and form—from inappropriate trips to the Bahamas by charter school staff to undocumented spending of thousands of public dollars.These findings indicate that many of the unaudited charter schools likely suffer from internal control deficiencies as well. Based on conservative estimates, New York could stand to lose $54 million in charter school fraud in 2014 alone.* The vast majority of this fraud will go undetected because New York lacks the oversight necessary to detect it. In this report we identify two fundamental flaws with New York’s oversight of charter schools:
Oversight depends heavily on self-reporting by charter schools or the reports of whistleblowers. New York’s oversight agencies rely almost entirely on audits paid for by charter operators and complaints from whistleblowers. While important to uncover fraud, neither method systematically detects or effectively prevents fraud. General auditing techniques alone do not uncover fraud. The audits commissioned by the charter schools use general auditing techniques designed to expose inaccuracies or inefficiencies. Without audits specifically designed to detect and uncover fraud, however, state and local agencies will rarely detect deliberate fraud without a whistleblower.To address these serious deficiencies in New York’s system, we recommend the following reforms:
Mandate New Measures Designed to Detect and Prevent Fraud Charter school governing boards should be required to institute an internal fraud risk management program, including an annual fraud risk assessment. Charter school governing boards should be required to commission an annual audit of internal controls over financial reporting that is integrated with the audit of financial statements charter schools currently commission. Oversight agencies, including the Comptrollers’ offices for New York State and City, should conduct audits on charter schools once every five years. Oversight agencies should conduct fraud audits, prioritizing charter schools with heightened levels of fraud risk. Auditing teams should include members certified in financial forensics trained to detect fraud. Increase Transparency & Accountability Oversight agencies should create a system to categorize and rank charter audits by level of fraud risk they pose to facilitate public engagement. State and City Comptrollers should create a dedicated charter school fraud hotline for whistleblowers. Charter school governing boards should post the findings of their annual fraud risk internal assessments on their websites. Oversight agencies should determine what steps the nonprofit governing boards and executives of charter schools have taken to guard against fraud over the past 10 years and issue a report to the public detailing their findings and recommendations. Charter school authorizers should take fraud risk assessments into account when evaluating whether to renew a school’s charter. Charter school governing boards should provide parents of students enrolled in charter schools free access to all materials related to their fraud risk management program. The state should impose a moratorium on new charter schools and refrain from increasing the charter school cap until the state oversight system is adequately reformed.Given the rapid and continuing expansion of the charter school industry and the tremendous investment of public dollars, New York must act now to reform its oversight system. Without reform, the people of New York State stand to lose millions of dollars to charter school fraud, waste, and mismanagement.
Download the report here
CPD Condemns Trump Administration Transferring Money from FEMA to ICE
09.13.2018
New York, NY – In response to breaking news that the Trump administration transferred nearly $10 million away from FEMA to ICE at the height of the family...
09.13.2018
New York, NY – In response to breaking news that the Trump administration transferred nearly $10 million away from FEMA to ICE at the height of the family separation crisis, The Center for Popular Democracy released the following statement:
Julio López Varona, Director of Community Dignity Campaigns at the Center for Popular Democracy said:
“The Trump administration would rather lock up children in cages than assist its Puerto Rican citizens to recover from Hurricane Maria. People in Puerto Rico and displaced throughout the United States still urgently need recovery money. Over 97 percent of those seeking funeral assistance were denied. Meanwhile, Trump is beefed up ICE’s budget to lock up primarily black and brown children in cages on the United States/Mexico border. The transfer of money continues the administrations’ relentless attack on black and brown communities. It nothing less than an insult to the people of Puerto Rico.”
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Total spending on Colorado campaigns initiatives nears $48 million so far
Total spending on Colorado campaigns initiatives nears $48 million so far
More than $3 million in contributions aided the slate of statewide initiatives in the final campaign finance reporting period before next Tuesday’s election, with more than $1 million in last-...
More than $3 million in contributions aided the slate of statewide initiatives in the final campaign finance reporting period before next Tuesday’s election, with more than $1 million in last-minute money bolstering the effort to increase Colorado’s minimum wage.
The two proposals to create a presidential primary and allow unaffiliated voters to participate in primaries also got a healthy infusion of cash, as did the measure that would make it harder to amend the state constitution.
The late flow of contributions pushed the total raised for Colorado’s ballot initiatives to nearly $48 million.
The effort concerning primary elections, spearheaded by Let Colorado Vote, the issue committee funding the campaigns for both Proposition 107 and 108, brought in more than $600,000.
Most of that came from Kent Thiry, who personally gave $300,000, and DaVita Health Care Partners, the company he heads, which pitched in $100,000. Thiry has given nearly $1.4 million of about $4 million that has gone toward those initiatives. Noble Energy joined the effort with a $200,000 contribution.
2016 COLORADO BALLOT MEASURES
Amendment 69: ColoradoCare
Amendment 70: Minimum Wage
Amendment 71: Constitutional changes
Amendment 72: Cigarette taxes
Proposition 106: Aid-in-dying
Proposition 107: Presidential primaries
Proposition 108: Unaffiliated voters
Amendment T: Slavery reference
Amendment U: Property taxes
Ballot Issue 4B: Arts funding
Organized opposition to the propositions has been sparse, with Citizens for Integrity reporting only a total of about $51,000 in non-monetary contributions for the campaign.
More than a half-million dollars rolled into the Raise the Bar campaign supporting Amendment 71, which would make it tougher to get citizen initiatives onto the statewide ballot and require more than a simple majority to pass them.
All but a small slice of that came from energy interests, who put in just shy of $500,000 in this reporting period through Protecting Colorado’s Environment, Economy and Energy Independence, which has given more than $2.8 million over the course of the campaign. After initially anticipating a fight against anti-fracking initiatives that ultimately didn’t make the ballot, Protecting Colorado shifted its resources to Amendment 71, which could make it even more difficult for anti-fracking forces to put measures before voters.
Opposition from the Colorado League of Responsible Voters has pumped nearly $840,000 into a campaign against the measure, including $500,000 from the National Education Association and a $100,000 contribution from the River Habitat Preservation Coalition.
A surge in cash donations supported Amendment 70, which would establish a new minimum wage in Colorado. It received much of the more than $1 million in contributions from unions and other organizations that have been supporting minimum wage increases on ballots around the country.
The Colorado campaign now totals nearly $5 million.
The Center for Popular Democracy Action Fund, based in New York, pitched in $400,000 to push its total for the campaign over $1 million; the National Education Association and Washington-based Service Employees International Union political action committee gave a series of six-figure contributions.
Opponents, who have raised about $1.7 million, brought in $154,920 on the strength of a handful of five-figure donations, including $50,000 from Greenwood Village-based Colorado Citizens Protecting Our Constitution.
Opposition to Amendment 72, the increased tax on tobacco products, has been funded by more than $16 million from Virginia-based tobacco giant Altria, but reported no additional cash contributions — though that campaign remains by far the most well-funded effort among all statewide ballot measures.
The Campaign for a Healthy Colorado, which has backed the tax that would fund a variety of health-related programs and seek to reduce smoking among young people, added nearly $150,000 — most from health-related entities. It also benefited from a $10,000 donation from Colorado Rockies owner Charlie Monfort.
Contributions to the medical aid-in-dying measure, Proposition 106, appeared to be winding down, though it remained a distant second in fundraising to the tobacco tax with about $8 million raised from both sides.
Supporters of the initiative added a little more than $73,000 to their $5.4 million total, with $50,000 of that coming from Aspen’s Adam Lewis, son of the late Progressive insurance chairman Peter Lewis. Opponents, whose $2.6 million in total contributions has been fueled largely by faith-based organizations led by the Catholic church, added about $255,000. The largest contribution came from Washington, D.C.-based The Catholic Association.
The battle over ColoradoCare, the proposed state-run health care option, also calmed on the campaign finance front, with both sides adding relatively modest five-figure contributions. Opponents of the system have raised more than $4 million while those advancing the initiative have raised less than a half-million dollars.
By The Denver Post
Source
Liberal groups push Clinton on Wall Street 'golden parachutes'
In a letter sent to Clinton, who is running for the Democratic presidential nomination, the groups pressed her to oppose “golden parachutes” given to bank executives when they agree to take high-...
In a letter sent to Clinton, who is running for the Democratic presidential nomination, the groups pressed her to oppose “golden parachutes” given to bank executives when they agree to take high-ranking government jobs. Such a payment structure is not uncommon on Wall Street, but critics of the practice say it encourages a “revolving door” in Washington and undue governmental influence by the financial sector.
The groups asked Clinton if she supported the practice, while noting that two of her main primary opponents — Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and former Maryland Gov. Martin O’Malley — have backed barring the practice.
"The revolving door between government and Wall Street helps the wealthiest few hijack our democracy for their own gain,” said Murshed Zaheed, deputy political director at Credo Action. “Americans cannot afford to have another administration from either party filled with Wall Street executives with multi-million dollar golden parachutes.”
Other groups signing on to the letter were Rootstrikers, Democracy for America, MoveOn.org Political Action, Center for Popular Democracy Action, The Other 98%, Friends of the Earth Action and American Family Voices.
The letter marks the latest in a series of pushes from the left to encourage Clinton to take a harsher stance on the financial sector. Whlie Sanders and O’Malley have hammered the financial sector as a key part of their campaign message, Clinton has taken a more measured tone.
Gripes about a heavy hand from finance in powerful government positions has become a particularly sore spot on the left of late. Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) helped derail President Obama’s nomination of Antonio Weiss, a top executive at Lazard, for a top Treasury post. Warren argued Lazard’s long history on Wall Street should disqualify him for the position, urging someone else to fill the role without such ties. Weiss eventually took a separate post at the Treasury in an advisory role, where he did not need to be Senate-confirmed.
The Clinton campaign did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Source: The Hill
‘A Declaration of War on Immigrants’: Reactions to Trump’s DACA Decision
‘A Declaration of War on Immigrants’: Reactions to Trump’s DACA Decision
The Trump administration announced on Tuesday that it would stop issuing permits under the Obama era Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, or DACA and renew existing permits only over...
The Trump administration announced on Tuesday that it would stop issuing permits under the Obama era Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, or DACA and renew existing permits only over the next six months to give Congress a short window to come up with a replacement program. Here is a sampling of the reaction.
Read the full article here.
3 days ago
3 days ago