Archive
New Mexico Shows How Public Ed Can Thrive After COVID-19
Zia Middle School, Las Cruces, NM. Photo credit: Wikimedia Commons / cc “I think we’re all going to be different after this,” Mary Parr-Sanchez told me in a phone call, “but I don’t know how.” Parr-Sanchez is the current president of NEA-New Mexico, the National...
We Are Far From Ready To Vote By Mail
Photo credit: DOD / cc More than 30 statewide elections are being held between now and August 18, previewing how unfamiliar or difficult absentee voting may be across America this fall. The next big test is June 2, when eight states and the District of Columbia hold...
Vote By Mail Is The Answer
For many Americans, vote-by-mail will be a matter of life and death come November. There will be no widely available vaccine by then, and even if an anti-viral medicine is proven broadly effective this summer, it would be difficult to manufacture a sufficient quantity...
GOP Resists Voting By Mail In Red States
Across America, election officials responsible for the details of running elections have a clear idea of what is needed to shift to mostly mail-in voting in upcoming spring, summer and fall elections to protect voters from the coronavirus. But pockets of conservatives...
Communities Fight School Closures And Privatization
Since mid-March, public school students in Minnesota have had to stay home because of the COVID-19 pandemic. Now, according to the state’s governor, Tim Walz, schools will remain closed until the end of this school year, with no guarantee that they will reopen in the...
Financial Tsunami Heads Toward The Nation's Schools
Due to the coronavirus pandemic, nearly all states have ordered or recommended school buildings stay closed for the rest of the academic year, according to Education Week’s most recent count, and “schools are likely to stay shut for months,” according to the New York...
Mitch McConnell’s Failure To Lead Is Moral Bankruptcy
States that spent millions of dollars fighting the coronavirus asked the federal government for help plugging huge holes in their budgets. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell gave them the finger instead. The Kentucky Republican said he’d rather let states go...
Organizing Amidst The COVID-19 Crisis
As the 2008 financial crisis unfolded, tens of millions of Americans were hurting and making meaning of what was happening. It was the first time in my life that suddenly, tens of millions of people were significantly more ready to be organized than in the weeks...
The Essential Message: Trump Is Harmful To Your Health
Coronavirus press briefing, March 18, 2020. Photo credit: Shealah Craighead, White House, CC Trump and the GOP have trapped themselves in a course of action and a debate that have the potential to destroy them come November, if only Democrats understand and engage....
DeVos Is Using COVID-19 To Advance Charter School Agenda
COVID-19 has shuttered public schools across the nation, state governments are threatening to slash education budgets due to the economic collapse caused by the outbreak, and emergency aid provided by the federal government is far short of what is needed, according to...
