Unless you’ve been living under a rock for the last few years, you know corporate reformers are anxious to implement vouchers as a way to expand school choice. The secret sauce they say, is that the dollars follow the student because parents know best about what is best for their child’s education.
Just for a few moments though, I’d like to ask you to please forget whether or not you believe school choice and vouchers are the answer to “Make American Education Great Again.” Forget all the hype and promises, just ask yourself which of these scenarios makes more sense?
Editor’s Note:There are two events today in Tucson that you may want to attend:
Saturday, February 4, 10:00 a.m.: Open Forum on Trump’s recent immigration and refugee executive orders, at the Muslim Community Center of Tucson, 5100 N. Kevy Place, Tucson. Come hear lawyers who specialize in these areas discuss this executive orders and what legal changes Americans could expect to see within the next four years. Isabel Garcia will make the opening remarks and moderate the discussion, Tarik Sultan will be leading the conversation on “immigration law in the Trump era,” Thabet Khalidi in “Civil Rights and Wrongs,” and Jose Vasquez in the “Use and misuse of criminal law against targeted minorities.”
Saturday, February 4, 2:00 p.m.:Grassroots Citizens Rally Supporting Refugee Resttlement, at El Presidio Plaza Park, 175 W. Alameda Street, Tucson. This free event is sponsored by We The People, Tucson. Is this the new “Great America”? It infringes on Tucson’s “Immigrant Friendly” status. It stops/reduces refugee resettlement in America. It blocks refugees from Syria. It bans visitors from Iraq, Syria, Iran, Sudan, Libya, Somalia, Yemen. It it is a penstroke away from becoming an executive order. Come help organize a greater voice against unAmerican injustices being instituted without representation. Join in raising voices against human injustice.
A federal judge in Washington state on Friday temporarily blocked enforcement of President Trump’s controversial ban on entry to the United States nationwide, and airlines planned to begin allowing passengers from banned countries to board, according to a person familiar with the matter.
[It is not unusual for district courts to issue nationwide injunctions blocking executive actions, and the federal government must obey such injunctions even when other district courts have declined to issue injunctions in similar cases.]
Following the ruling, government authorities immediately began communicating with airlines and taking steps that would allow travel by those previously barred from doing so, according to a U.S. official. At the same time, though, the White House said in a statement that the Justice Department would “at the earliest possible time” file for an emergency stay of the “outrageous” ruling from the judge. Minutes later, it issued a similar statement omitting the word “outrageous.”
Glenn Hamer, President of the Arizona Chamber of Commerce, said, “It’s amazing to me that the teachers unions are out there like a bunch of crybabies screaming about the difficult of getting additional pay to teachers.” His comment was in response to why teachers union should support reforms to the initiative process.
There are so many things wrong with this comment, I don’t even know where to start. First of all, I’m told that Hamer makes about six times the amount the average Arizona teacher makes. After all, Arizona’s teachers are the 47th lowest paid in the nation with the average teacher pay falling nationally 1.6 percent over the past decade, but 7.6 percent in Arizona. The low pay is a big part of the reason 53 percent of Arizona teacher positions were either vacant or filled by uncertified personnel in January 2017. And oh by the way, teacher colleges enrollment is down and 25 percent of AZ teachers will be eligible for retirement by 2020, further exacerbating the problem.
Opening reception for this unique art show is on Saturday Feb. 4, from 6 to 9 pm. at Steinfeld Warehouse, 101 W. 6th St. More than 25 artists are participating.
Artist’s statement: “What is XENOPHOBIA? It is defined as an irrational fear and hatred of strangers or foreigners or of anything that is strange or foreign. The rise of populism is accompanied by, and often explicitly espouses, xenophobia and racism. At the same time, there are signs that wide and heterogeneous alliances are being formed against these trends, both within traditional politics and out in the world, in communities.” (statement continued below)
Mediterannean music will be performed by Kyklo (Paul Amiel, Anton Shekerjiev, Kelsey Shea). They describe their music as: “music of the mountain villages, ancient islands, hashish dens, cafés, harems, pubs, dance halls, cloisters, and prisons of the old world, on traditional acoustic instruments.”
Kyklo – L to R: Paul Amiel, Kelsey Shea, Anton Shekerjiev,)
Artist’s statement continued:
“The destruction caused by wars without end, driven by forces and actors far from the battlefields, has created not only the desperate flight of refugees but also decimated economies and destroyed countries to the extent that rebuilding does not even seem to be on the agenda. There are frequent deadly attacks on refugee shelters in Germany; the extreme Right is growing across Europe. In the US and elsewhere, populists are on the rise scapegoating the most vulnerable for socities’ problems.
What can the role of art be in this world we live in right now? We created an exhibition with a group of artists who use their aesthetic knowledge and craft skills to interrogate Xenophobia. These artists are interested in creating political art, activist art, interventionist art, socially engaged art, and/or social practice art addressing Xenophobia.
The xenophobic and racist propaganda is deeply rooted in the political landscape of today and it is coming both from “above” (powerful elites) and “below” (working-classes). How can we (as artists) contribute resources to combat it? We need to know the terrain to fight back and use the their tools and rules to our advantage. The tools of the game are signs, symbols, story and spectacle. We are artists. We have used these tools for years. We are well equipped but I believe we need to collaborate and create big, ground breaking exhibitions and use our networks in this struggle. If we, like minded artists, do not do it, who else will?
The aim of this exhibition is to CHANGE the way a society with growing xenophobic and racist tendencies perceive the world and act in this world, with the hope to furnish resources for those groups, alliances, networks and communities struggling to build a more just, equitable and inclusive future.
If this resonates with you, please come and join us for the opening reception. February 4th, 2017 at 6pm.
The exhibition will be up until March 30, 2017. The hope is to make it a traveling exhibition in the US and abroad. We need your support to make it a reality.
If you have any questions&concerns you can contact Ozlem at ozlemayseozgur@gmail.com”
Rep. Martha McSally’s short political career has been most notable for her gravity-defying fence sitting, trying to maintain her perch on the fence having it both ways without ever taking a principled stand on anything. She literally stands for nothing.
It’s long past time for you to get off the fence, Martha: “You’ve Got To Stand For Somethin’, or you’re going to fall for anything” (John Mellencamp).
Whichever way U.S. Rep. Martha McSally turns, there’s a trap.
If she supports President Trump’s initiatives, that galvanizes the already-energized Democrats and potentially puts her seat at risk in 2018. If she rejects Trump, she turns off the 44 percent of the Congressional District 2 electorate who voted for Trump, the base of McSally’s GOP.
It’s a trap she’s long tried to avoid in the southeast Arizona district that has gone to both Democratic and Republican candidates. On Aug. 31, the day candidate Trump visited the Mexican president and gave a dark anti-immigration speech in Phoenix, she declined to say whom she would vote for in the presidential election, saying “My vote is between me and God and the ballot box.”
