Together Louisiana Demands Action from Congress to Safely Re-Open Schools
With the state of Louisiana continuing to reel from the impact of the coronavirus, parent and community leaders of Together Louisiana are calling on Congress to invest the funds needed to safely reopen schools. Parents and teachers worry that students' return to in-person classes without necessary health and safety precautions will spread the virus further and expose people with pre-existing conditions to lethal risk.
Building on online civic academies with experts including Tulane epidemiologist Dr. Hassig and Danielle Allen of Harvard University, leaders are turning to Congress to finance the cost of ensuring health safety at schools. Measures proposed by Together Louisiana include funding to:
- bridge the digital divide with school districts providing broadband internet free of charge for every public school student who needs it;
- hire more teachers, aids & tutors to decrease class size for districts where contagion levels make in-person school safe;
- make a "pod school" model accessible to low and moderate- income families, not just the wealthy, for districts where in-person school is *not* safe;
- build in-school testing capacity with same-day-results, so that EVERY child gets tested before school starts and periodically throughout the year;
- extra bus routes and drivers to allow for social distancing in transit; and
- create a school-based contact tracing operation, with adoption of masks and where appropriate, PPE.
Together Louisiana Calls on Congress to Provide Dollars to Ensure the Safe Reopening of Schools, Fox News
COPS/Metro Fight for Child Safety Results in Demo of Dilapidated Building
[Excerpt]
Beacon Hill Academy parents and students gathered in a parking lot Wednesday morning to watch a dilapidated old school building on the campus fall to a demolition crew. Children donned pink and yellow plastic construction hats that hung low over their eyes and cheered each time “the claw” of an excavator punctured a side of the building.
The 1915 campus building designed by renowned architect Leo Dielmann has long been the bane of campus staff and San Antonio Independent School District officials.
The fate of the aged structure, located near the school’s present building, became the focus of a prolonged debate between SAISD and the city of San Antonio during the two decades when the building sat vacant. Over the last year and a half, Beacon Hill parents and community members teamed with COPS Metro Alliance and rallied to push the district to make a deal with the city to raze the structure, allowing the campus with growing enrollment more space.
Demolition Begins on Historic Beacon Hill Campus Building, Rivard Report [pdf]
COPS / Metro Fights for Children's Playground at Beacon Hill Academy
[Excerpt below]
Victoria Cavazos, of Communities Organized for Public Service Metro Alliance, has a daughter in kindergarten at Beacon Hill Academy. Cavazos said the old building is not only cutting into the children's green space, but as of April, the children haven't been allowed to use the playground.
"The district had an assessment done of the building, and because of the hazard of the building, they put a fence around, not only the perimeter of the building, but it also includes the playground," Cavazos said.
SAISD spokeswoman Leslie Price said the district has no need for the building and it would be extremely expensive to restore. In fact, the district has requested a demolition permit from the city.
"We'd really like to demolish the building to give children the space that they deserve," Cavazos said.
"We've worked with a lot of different people and a lot of groups to try and get that money," said Michelle Ricondo, of COPS Metro Alliance. "But no one has come forward with the money to renovate the building."
SAISD, City At Odds Over Fate of Old Elementary School, KSAT [pdf]
VOICE Holds School Board Chair Candidates Accountable

VOICE to Hold OKCPS Board Chair Candidates Accountability Session, The City Sentinel
VIP & Arizona Interfaith Continue Fight for Public School Funding

As part of the statewide effort to reverse disinvestment in Arizona public schools, two teachers presented Governor Doug Ducey with a joint statement calling for increases in teachers' salaries. The joint statement was supported and signed by leaders of Arizona Interfaith, nonprofits and state associations of educators, business, administrators and PTAs.
Read moreAlbuquerque Interfaith Advances Alliance School Strategy

120 leaders assembled with 11 of 16 Albuquerque Public School board candidates for a civic academy on Alliance Schools, small group conversations and pointed questions to the candidates about supporting the development of Alliance Schools in the district. To the person, each of the participating candidates pledged to directly support Alliance Schools and to help build support with the Superintendent.
Read more'Nevadans for the Common Good' Fights Funding of Stadium

Opponents of Adelson-Backed Stadium Get Little Attention in Adelson-Owned Newspaper, Las Vegas Tribune
Read moreAMOS Reduces Juvenile Suspensions, Expulsions, Arrests

Between 2011 and 2015, suspensions and expulsions dropped by nearly 64% and suspensions for school attendance issues dropped by 91%. Arrests of minors by city police dropped by 32%, with a 21% reduction in the arrests of African American youth.
Read moreVIP Pushes the Envelope on Arizona School Finance
When four hundred Valley Interfaith Project leaders crowded into Scottsdale United Methodist church Nov. 5 to discuss state school finance, four area legislators listened.
TMO Parent Leaders Defeat Unpopular Rezoning Plan

TMO Lyons Elementary parents won an 8 - 1 Houston Independent School District board vote against proposed boundary changes to their school. The changes would have sent students from one of the top ranked schools in the state to one ranked in the lowest 18% statewide. Parent leaders signed up 600 petitioners opposed to the change to convince board members that this was a bad idea.
Read more