 Community Schools Movement Gains Momentum Thursday, September 18, 2008Permalink [4]
Community Schools Movement Gains Momentum
Public schools will have more success if they pay attention not only to students' lives in the classroom, but also to the multiple elements of their development [11]: social, emotional, physical, cognitive, civic, and moral. If acting in silos, schools or families often cannot provide students all the support needed for academic and life success. Community schools [12] bring together diverse activities, professionals, and programs for an entire community, creating a system where students' whole beings are nurtured.
Other research also underscores the importance of interconnection among school, home, family, community, and student achievement. A recent study by the Annie E. Casey Foundation, Closing the Achievement Gap: School, Community, Family Connections [15], echoes that “community schools can improve student learning, increase parent participation, give teachers more time to focus on instruction, and contribute to making schools and the community safer.” A New Focus on Community Schools: The Center for Community Schools (CCS) has developed a Community Agenda for America’s Public Schools [16], which has been endorsed by organizations ranging from the League of Cities to the American Public Health Association to the PTA. The Community Agenda aims to help "struggling youth, families and communities improve their lives by fostering school and community partnerships that support student outcomes." According to the New York Times, Randi Weingarten, president of the American Federation of Teachers, has supported an expansion of community schools [17] as a "replacement for President Bush’s focus on standardized testing with a vision of public schools as community centers would help poor students succeed by offering not only solid classroom lessons but also medical and other services." Similarly, US Senator Edward Kennedy last month introduced S. 3431 [18], the Time for Innovation Matters in Education (TIME) Act, which contains language that encourages increased interaction and cooperation between schools and community organizations. “Schools need robust connections with families and other community institutions,” said Marty Blank, director of CCS. In an effort to educate national leaders and individuals on the benefits of school / community partnerships, the Coalition for Community Schools is sponsoring an event [19] at the National Press Club on September 24th, 2008 entitled "A Community Agenda for America's Public Schools."
Carbon Auctions for Polluters to Start in Northeast RegionThe good news is that next week, ten Northeastern and Mid-Atlantic states will begin holding first-in-the-nation auctions [20] of greenhouse gas allowances, an initiative aimed at capping the pollution causing global climate change. The Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative [21], or RGGI, will cap emissions for 233 plants and allow polluting companies to buy allowances at auction or trade for them with companies willing to decrease their emissions and sell their emission allowance. Unfortunately, because of the politics in setting the overall cap of carbon emissions, the cap on emissions was set at 188 million tons, which is higher than the estimated 172.4 million tons [22] of emissions across the region last year. So allowances will exceed companies' need for emissions, causing the price for allowances to fall and lowering the incentive for companies to reduce their pollution. Modest Initial Results Expected: On the other hand, the region's lower, below-the-cap carbon emissions are due both to both milder weather, which could change and thereby pressure companies to increase their efficiency, and utilities making the positive move of shifting from higher-carbon fuels to lower-carbon sources like natural gas. Plus, the overall gap will start being lowered by 2.5% a year beginning in 2015 for a 10% reduction by 2018. A positive feature of the auction system is that revenues from the auctions will be dedicated to promoting energy efficiency in each state. As we noted in a past Dispatch [23], the RGGI system improves on an existing European "cap and trade" system by auctioning off all allowances, rather than giving incumbents free allowances and a windfall profit. And it much more severely restricts use of "carbon offsets," such as planting trees or other alternatives, other than restricting pollution emissions by other companies through the trading system. Most analysts expect the initial cuts in carbon emissions from the system to be modest, but creating a working system will allow policymakers to evaluate the results and hopefully further restrict emission allowances in future auction rounds. In the meantime, RGGI is becoming a model for other states and possibly the federal government for restricting carbon emissions and helping to stop global climate change.
Vote Suppression Watch Now that the party nominating conventions have passed and the presidential race has reached its final leg, voter suppression efforts are shifting into high gear around the country. As each campaign assembles an army of lawyers to protect their interests leading to and on election day, state and local partisans are engaging in a wide variety of tactics to prevent their opponents' supporters from casting a ballot. Once again these underhanded tactics, which we've highlighted before [24], are predominantly coming from right wing operatives, and the targets are overwhelmingly groups that tend to vote for progressive candidates. Since the beginning of this month the following voters suppression campaigns have been reported:
Mississippi - Governor and Sec. of State Attempt to Bury US Senate Race at the Bottom of the Ballot: In a typical example of election dirty tricks, the Governor and Secretary of State of Mississippi have decided [35] to place one of two US Senate races at the bottom of the November ballot. The race in question is one where former Democratic Governor Ronnie Musgrove is battling incumbent Senator Wicker in a special election for the remainder of Trent Lotts' term. Democrats charge that they are attempting to bury the race in the hopes that less people voting will boost Wicker's chances in the closely fought race. Attorney General Hood has called the move illegal [36] and has advised election officials that the race must be at the top of the ballot with other federal races. US Rep. John Conyers has also called on the Department of Justice to investigate whether the move violates the Voting Rights Act's [37] pre-clearence provision. Research RoundupWhile the unemployment rate is one key measure of economic challenges facing workers, the Economic Policy Institute highlights another measure of worker distress in an economic snapshot [40]: the ratio of unemployed workers to available job openings. Since December 2006, when there were 16 job seekers for every 10 job openings, that ratio has grown to 26 job seekers for every 10 openings. State officials tempted to cut taxes on the wealthy and corporations based on arguments it will spur economic growth should heed the Center for American Progress' new report, Take a Walk on the Supply Side [41], which outlines the historic failure of such tax cuts to deliver income or employment growth for working families. In a new report, Unions and Upward Mobility for Latino Workers [42], the Center for Economic and Policy Research (CEPR) found that unionized Latino workers earned an average of 17.6 percent more than their non-union peers and were 26 percentage points more likely to have employer-provided health insurance. The Center for American Progress has a new resource, Ten Reasons Not to Expand Offshore Drilling [43], which explains why offshore drilling won't deliver enough oil to meet energy demands or lower prices, even as it distracts the nation from real solutions that can deliver energy independence. In a new resource, Health Coverage in Communities of Color: Talking about the New Census Numbers [44], Minority Health Initiatives at Families USA finds that communities of color bear the brunt of the health care crisis, accounting for 55 percent of the uninsured, partly because their jobs are more likely to lack health insurance benefits. Traditional measures of poverty don't always give a good measure of what a family needs to survive these days, so the National Center for Children in Poverty has a new online -- the Basic Needs Budget Calculator [45] -- to calculate needed income for families in each state. Please email us [46] leads on good research at research@progressivestates.org [46] ResourcesCommunity Schools Movement Gains Momentum Coalition for Community Schools [47] Community Schools, Partnership for Excellence [12] Community Agenda Endorsers [16] Closing the Achievement Gap - School, Community, Family CONNECTIONS [15] New Vision for Schools Proposes Broad Role [17]
Carbon Auctions for Polluters to Start in Northeast RegionRegional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI) [21] Pew Center on Global Climate Change, Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI) [48] Timelines, Statutes and other resources Progressive States Network, The Fight Against Global Warming: Another Way States Can Rein in Greenhouse Gas Emissions [49] Environment Northeast, RGGI Emissions Trends and Auction Report [22]
Vote Suppression WatchProgressive States Network - The New Voter Suppression and the Progressive Response [24] New PSN ResourcesAnalysis of State of Immigration Policy at the nd of the 2008 Legislative Session On September 8, 2008, PSN issued a report entitled The Anti-Immigrant Movement that Failed: Positive Integration Policies by States Still Far Outweigh Punitive Policies Aimed at New Immigrants. To view the report in HTML format, click here [50]. For a full PDF copy of the report, click here [51]. Note: Some readers have had problems viewing the PDF with Adobe Acrobat Reader v7.0.9. If the text of the PDF looks garbled, try downloading an update of Acrobat Reader free from Adobe's website [52]. EventsThe Community Agenda for America's Public Schools September 24, 2008 The Coalition for Community Schools [47] will announce The Community Agenda for America's Public Schools at an event to be held at the National Press Club in Washington DC on September 24, 2008 at 9:30am. The Community Agenda focuses on vital school.community partnerships to support student outcomes and provide solutions to improve the lives of struggling youth, families and neighborhoods. Featured speakers include Randi Weingarten, President, American Federation of Teachers; Warren Simmons, Executive Director, Annenberg Institute for School Reform; Anne Bryant, National School Boards Association; Linda Juszczak, Interim Executive Director, National Assembly on School-Based Health Care; Jodi Grant, Executive Director, Afterschool Alliance, Ira Harkacy, Director, Netter Center for Community Partnership at the Univ. of Pennsylvania; and, Martin Blank, Director of the Coalition for Community Schools. For more information and RSVP instructions, click here [19]. 3 Steps Forward1. CA: Berkeley Approves City-Backed Loans for Solar Panels [53] 2 Steps Back 1. TX: Billions in Storm Damage Claims May Strain Texas Insurance Pool [56] 2. NC: Will North Caroline Have Nothing to Show for Its Dell Subsidies? [57] MastheadThe Stateside Dispatch is written and edited by: Nathan Newman [58], Policy Director Please shoot us an email at dispatch@progressivestates.org [65] if you have feedback, tips, suggestions, criticisms, or nominations for any of our sidebar features.
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