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URGENT COMMUNITY ACTION NEEDED:
A terrible educational injustice is pushing millions of students of color in California and across the nation so far behind this year that many will never catch up, will never graduate from high school, and will lose all hope of higher education achievement.
 
The implementation of this new program: "Every Student Succeeds Act "(ESSA) |has ended nearly all free tutoring with it hopes of closing the learning gap for low income students, students of color and students with learning disabilities. Parents and communities have been misled into believing that this new program give students improved services when, in fact, most tutoring has been ended. 
 
For so many years, students were tutored inside their schools with "small group" tutoring which is completely ineffective because it put students with the same teachers they had trouble understanding during their regular classes. Too often, their regular teachers were not trained in the areas where the students had greatest need, such as experience with learning disabilities or with understanding of how to teach English as a second language which is needed by African American students as much as by students whose first languages Spanish, Portuguese, Haitian French, Russian, Armenian and Indigenous languages.
 
Also a major problem with in-school tutoring was that small groups being tutored are groups of students from different grades and different skill levels which cannot be helped by a single person all at the same time. As a result, students were given "busy work" to do for 50 minutes of each hour and only received 10 minutes of help per student. This is why such tutoring does not help the students.
 
An even worse situation for the students arose when elected officials encouraged tutoring of the students to be conducted by members of the community without any background in teaching based on the faulty assumption that any adult who can read is competent to help a student who is behind in academic level or who has learning problems or English as a second language needs.
 
Very sadly, the very minimal support that was being provided to students ended in May, 2016. Until then, schools and school districts in which high numbers of students were behind were required to manage federal funds for free tutoring by arranging for tutoring by private companies for the students with greatest need. 
 
During the 2016-2017 school year, the so-called program Improvement, facilitated under the No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Federal legislation and the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) , will transition to the newly reauthorized legislation, the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA).  ESSA oversees the various federal funding sources, requirements and programs under Title I, Title II, and Title III, etc. ESSA prioritizes excellence and equity for students, sets high standards and contains policies that will help all students achieve success in college and future careersESSA also brings new state accountability requirements and relief from old sanctions imposed under NCLB. The law seeks to ensure that all children receive a high-quality education and close achievement gaps.
 
Contrary to what these words say, this means that schools and school districts no longer are required to provide this help to students but can opt out of them altogether with a promise that they have a better plan. Some of you may recall that thethe Sacramento area School District which has a plan to close the education gap for students of color with a 76 year plan. This means that no one alive today will live long enough to see any improvement for these students and no one will be held accountable. 
 
 ACalifornia has elected to eliminate the requirement for districts to provide SES (free tutoring programs), the state has developed a transition plan that describes various alternative supports and services that are to be provided to eligible studentsThis means PSC and SES will no longer be offered in the Elk Grove Unified School District and other California School Districts. The option for any new EGUSD students to transfer to a non-Program Improvement school, through the PSC program, will no longer be offered. In addition, there will no longer be free tutoring programs offered through outside providers. In lieu of tutoring, school sites will be offering alternative supports that assist students with increasing their academic achievement. (This is the failed system which existed before "No Child Left Behind.")Alternative supports are locally defined services and interventions administered school districts to provide a well-rounded program of instruction to meet the academic needs of students. (This effectively means that all real academic help for students has been ended indefinitely.)In EGUSD students attending a Title I school that is in PI Year 2 and beyond are eligible to receive alternative supports for the 2016–17 school year.
 
WORST OF ALL: There is no way to restore tutoring at the minimal levels which have been in place during the current academic year. The students are being denied all reasonable and even the most minimal levels of help. Since this will impact students at every K-12 level, the public should expect to see high school graduation rates for students with the greatest need drop dramatically by one or more years. Admission to higher education institutions, which are already shameful in their low representation of students of color and other poor students, will reduce this population to uneducated slave skill levels for the foreseeable future. California does not currently graduate African American or Chicano/Latino lawyers, doctors, veterinarians and PhDs/EdDs every year. In many years, there are no African American/Chicano/Latino graduates, even less females from these groups. 
 
The only possible help for the masses of these students is direct community helpParents and community support for the students must come from hiring COMPETENT, PROPERLY EDUCATED AND EXPERIENCED TUTORS WITH RECORDS OF SUCCESS WITH THE PARTICULAR NEEDS OF THE STUDENTS NOW BEING CAST AWAY EDUCATIONALLY.  IF NO ONE RISES TO MEET THIS GREAT NEED, SACRAMENTO WILL CONTINUE TO LEAD THE NATION IN HUMAN TRAFFICKING OF YOUNG PEOPLE, CAN EXPECT TO SEE GREAT INCREASES IN ADDICTIONS TO DRUGS AND ALCOHOL (which also do not receive adequate treatment), AND CAN EXPECT TO SEE INCREASES IN DOMESTIC VIOLENCE, POLICE KILLINGS AND SUICIDES, AS WELL AS MYRIAD HEALTH PROBLEMS BECAUSE THERE WILL BE NO MEANS OF THESE YOUNG PEOPLE SECURING HEALTH COVERAGE WHEN THEY HAVE INSUFFICIENT INCOME WITH WHICH TO SUPPORT THEMSELVES. 
 
I have tutored Greater Sacramento area students for over 20 years. I am now encouraging community organizations to assist families and foster family agencies with funds to hire tutors at $25 an hour to meet with students in their homes or in libraries to tutor them a minimum of one hour per week; two hours when possible for students with serious learning disabilities or other pressing needs, including approaching high school graduations.  It is critical that tutors have appropriate training to work with students whose special needs and the failure of schools to adequately help them leads to very low self esteem and persistent negative reinforcement against them from people who do not understand why they are under-performing and instead of fixing the problems, blame the students who are not at fault.
 
Obviously, one person cannot alone address this crisis. However, I am willing to work with 25 students per week, on a first-come, first-served basis, by working Saturdays and Sundays, as well as weekday afternoons and early evenings, hoping that this encourages others to do so as well. I am also willing to work with community organizations to establish tutoring guidelines/training for tutors/ and other management concerns for the safety of students and tutors. Any tutor working with K-12 students especially should have police background checks and TB tests. 
 
Schools are nearing the mid-year point of the 2016-2017 academic year. For students to be spared massive failures, immediate responses are needed to help as many students as possble, by every means necessary.
 
I hope no community allows so many student lives to be harmed or destroyed. In addition, this appears to be only the first of many destructive social actions. It appears that care for foster children is soon to be targeted for reduction, then elimination, followed by further reduction of caregiver help for families caring for long-term disabled children and adults. 
 
For information or to offer help: contact This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Suzanne Brooks
International Association for Women of Color Day and WomenWorldCulture.com

Aurora©2003*
Africa, Up and Down America, Asia, Antarctica, Australia; Indian, Pacific,
the Atlantic All that land and ocean,
We only have one world.
We are all the colors of the rainbow; if not united, just a bunch of lines
When we come together, we let our light shine.
We are the Aurora, Aurora of our time. *

by Suzanne Brooks & Reggie Graham


The theme and theme song of WomenWorldCulture--Aurora-- highlight the movement from division based on a negative emphasis on difference to unity founded in our common humanity defined by DNA and diversity refined by cultures and environments. The Aurora Blog of WomenWorldCulture will encourage constructive and civil exchanges of ideas; stimulate ideas and suggestions for unique and positive programs and services; and provide recommendations and support for education, research and documentation addressing social issues and problems, reciprocal communication and inspiration, sharing and leadership through the arts. The success of this blog will be rooted in mutual caring for each other, with the willingness to learn from each other. Honor and dignity will be the rule. The blog is published with the same media rules, requirements and guidelines required for advertisers on this site. Readers can refer to that section for additional information.

Welcome to Aurora: The WomenWorldCulture Blog.

Aurora Blog

The WomenWorldCulture Blog serves as a source of information regarding current events, which are highlighted because of importance to women, cultural communities and/or environmental sustainability. We encourage readers to visit often to read updates and new entries and then to share the information with others.

Title 9, most powerful law against sex discrimination in education and educational institutions, is nearly ended.

 With the following steps, Title 9 is nearly gone: Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos is rescinding the advances made to protect women employees and students. The DeVos actions include an interim guide which "differs from the 2011 Dear Colleague letter in several key ways. Perhaps most notably, it rescinds the requirement that schools use a “preponderance of evidence” standard to adjudicate sexual assault cases, and instead allows schools to use a “clear and convincing” evidence standard, which puts a greater burden on accusers. This is a change that critics of the 2011 guidelines have been requesting for some time, and one many advocates say is unfair to survivors.

The interim guide also allows schools to deny survivors the ability to appeal, and lifts the time limit for completing an investigation. Without a time limit, investigations might drag on for years, as they sometimes did before the 2011 guidelines were in place, Peterson said. In some cases, she said, survivors dropped out of school because their investigations went on for so long.

Read more: Aurora Blog

Conservatives cite “legal/illegal”, as often the loudest argument (other than “personal responsibility”) to bolster cruel policies---policies that are not applied equally. The latest example of this is Trump's Executive Order ending President Obama's Executive Order DACA (Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals), that protected almost 800,000 undocumented, young immigrants, known as the “Dreamers”, who were brought to the U.S. as children, at the average age of six. A decent society does not hold children responsible for the actions of their parents. ... The vast majority of the Dreamers know no other country except the U.S. Ninety percent are in school, employed or...
Unequivocally opposing white supremacists in all their manifestations: Ku Klux Klan, Nazis and militias should be a moral reflex. Terms like “white nationalism” and “Alt-Right” are fuzzy euphemisms. Blunt clarity is required. What we saw in Charlottesville, Virginia are white supremacist domestic terrorists. In May, the FBI warned of the rising tide of far-right extremists. documentcloud.org/documents/3924852-White-Supremacist-Extremism-JIB.html Since September 11th, through the end of December 2016, white supremacist domestic terrorism have been far higher than domestic terrorism by Muslims: 74% white supremacists vs. 26% by Muslims. http://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/article/2017/aug/16/look-data-domestic-terrorism-and-whos-behind-it/ ... Racist violence has always been essential to maintaining a system privileging white, rich men and putting everyone else in a...
Most oppositional reaction to the 2016 election, defines President Donald Trump as a threat to U.S. democracy---when he's actually as a result of democracy already under siege for some time. The “Russia meddled with the 2016 election” obsessionis (among other things) an evasion of the home-grown assaultsto fair elections and real representation of everyday Americans. ... Economic elites aspire returning the U.S. to it's anti-democratic roots: with only white, male property-owners able to vote, George Washington...
CURRENT RESOURCES (2016) FOR WOMEN REPRODUCTIVE ORGANS REMOVED OR BEING STERILZED WITHOUT CONSENT AND/OR AGAINST OUR WILL THE HEALTH IMPACT NEWS NETWORK https://healthimpactnews.com/ HORMONES MATTER https://www.hormonesmatter.com/ RESEARCH + COMMENTARY WOMEN’S HEALTH PREGNANCY + POSTPARTUM FAMILY HEALTH ENVIRONMENT HEALTH STORIES HEALTH SURVEYS HYSTERECTOMY ALTERNATIVES AND AFTEREFFECTS HERS FOUNDATION Hysterectomy Educational Resources and Services http://www.hersfoundation.com/ The HERS Foundation is a 501(c)3 non-profit international women's health education organization. HERS provides information about alternatives to hysterectomy and the aftereffects of the surgery. Hysterectomy Free information by email or mail Telephone counseling by appointment Physician referral for evaluation and treatment Review of medical records Medical journal articles CD's, DVD's and videos Woman to woman networking Regional conferences Lawyer Referrals Litigation support CORTISOL & FAT LOSS – WHY YOUR HORMONES MATTER http://wellnessforce.com/resource/cortisol-fat-loss-why-your-hormones-matter/...
Justice Reform Coalition Press Release: Complaints of Medical Battery, Fraud, Breach of Contract filed against Mercy Medical Hosptial and Doctors U.S. East to West Coasts Eugenics By Thousands: Widespread Then & Now—Hidden, Ignored, Denied In Our Communities Today—2016 In CA Correctional Institutions 2010-2016 ... JUSTICE REFORM COALITION PRESS RELEASE Contact: Rev Ashiya Odeye JUSTICE REFORM COALITION Phone: 916 893-9793 Email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. October 6, 2014: FOR IMMEDIATE...

Unanswered Letters Blog

 

This blog is an acknowledgement of the millions of serious letters written by people around the world to representatives of governments, businesses, print and electronic media, businesses, community groups and individuals to address many issues and concerns. So often, had the contents of these letters be read and responded to, tragedies and crises could have been avoided.
 
Too often, those in power choose to ignore the writer and the letter. This blog shows that there are people with similar good ideas, urgent complaints, and important information which deserved to be heeded. The goal of this blog is to show that people with similar concerns are working to make changes and have not given up on their ideas.
By sharing ideas, people can contribute to needed research and continued discussions to bring about change. When it is clear that these are not isolated, infrequent issues, masss of people can be encouraged to continue speaking out, in writing as much as vocally. When we realize the large extent of idfentified problems, we are also encouraged to take some appropriate actions. Those actions could be to ask some of the recipients of letters why they have not responded and when will they?
 
PREPARING FOR THE 2020 ELECTION: WILL IT BEGIN REAL DEMOCRACY OR END ITS DREAM NOTE: WHILE THIS SPACE WAS DEVELOPED AS A PLACE IN WHICH TO POST UNANSWERED LETTERS WRITTEN TO PUBLIC OFFICIALS ABOUT PUBLIC ISSUES, THE FACT THAT THE 2020 PRESIDENTIAL CAMPAIGN HAS BEGUN BEFORE THE END OF THE FIRST YEAR OF THE PRESIDENT ELECTED IN 2016, THE LETTER BELOW IS BEING POSTED SHORTLY AFTER SENDING IT OUT, BEFORE ANY CHANCE OF REPLY IS POSSIBLE, AS A MEANS OF POSTING ISSUES THAT WERE IGNORED IN THE PAST 8 PRESIDENTIAL CAMPAIGNS AND BY THE CANDIDATES IN THE 2016 CAMPAIGN. IT IS UP TO THOSE WHO CONTINUE TO BE EXCLUDED FROM EQUAL OPPORTUNITIES TO PARTICIPATE IN PUBLIC LIFE, HAVE BEEN HISTORICALLY MARGINALIZED, AND ARE INCREASINGLY DEMONIZED, SCAPEGOATED, AND DENIED MOST, IF NOT ALL, FACTUAL AND EQUAL INCLUSION, ESPECIALLY FOR VOTING, WORKING, HOUSING, HEALTH CARE, EDUCATION, NEWS COVERAGE, HOME OWNERSHIP AND LEGAL REPRESENTATION IN CIVIL AS WELL AS CRIMINAL CASES. ... Dear Presidential Nominee Advocate: I am grassroots/working class leader of women of color, many other women's interests, a supporter of...
URGENT COMMUNITY ACTION NEEDED: A terrible educational injustice is pushing millions of students of color in California and across the nation so far behind this year that many will never catch up, will never graduate from high school, and will lose all hope of higher education achievement. The implementation of this new program: "Every Student Succeeds Act "(ESSA) | has ended nearly all free tutoring with it hopes of closing the learning gap for low income students, students of color and students with learning disabilities. Parents and communities have been misled into believing that this new program give students improved services when, in fact, most tutoring has been ended. ... For so many years, students were tutored inside their schools with "small group" tutoring which is completely ineffective because it...
AN EXCERPT Distributed in Person at an annual meeting attended by hundreds on Thursday, November 7, 2013, 8:00AM To: CA State Board of Education Subject: Local Control Funding Formula, Discussion of Proposed Changes to California's Local Educational Agency and School Planning and Accountability System Unanswered ... Recognizing the probability that I may not have any opportunity to speak publicly or privately with any member of...

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