Wiredprofiles

Saturday, April 29, 2017

Just Talk - Leading With Social Justice and Humanity: Jose Luis Navarro

In this week’s Just Talk, John Rogers sits down with Jose Luis Navarro, the principal of Social Justice Humanitas Academy (SJHA). SJHA is a pilot high school located at the far northern edge of the Los Angeles Unified School District. Mr. Navarro and a group of teachers founded SJHA in 2011 with the aim of “achieving social justice through the development of the complete individual.”

Here's an exerpt from the conversation.


John Rogers: Jose, how would you describe your school to someone who has never been here before?
Jose Luis Navarro: I would like to use a lot of flowery poetic language, but let me instead use data. Yesterday, we were told at our principal’s meeting that our graduation rate was 94.3 percent. In our local district, one other school just outpaced us at 95.1 percent. As principals were being congratulated for their improvements, I kept thinking that there are actually other significant numbers, and the one I always look at is A-G completion. I know my A-G completion rate is 90 percent. That’s what I want–congruence. Some schools that have graduation rates in the 90s have A-G completion rates in the 30s. I wrote my superintendent yesterday about this and said we need to stop talking about just the graduation rate. If the graduation rate blinds us to social justice issues, we are going to trip over this low bar. The difference between A-G completion and graduation is the achievement gap...  Catch the entire interview, here.

Thursday, April 27, 2017

Crowdpac: Your Platform for Political Action

CROWDPAC

Crowdpac is a new website for political action.  Its mission is to give politics back to people - to make it easier for citizens to learn about politicians, run for office, and to find and support political candidates that match their priorities and beliefs. Crowdpac is about helping to end the stranglehold of big money donors and special interests on the political system. Crowdpac is independent and non-partisan.
With the right tools, individuals can work together to create an American democracy that is more representative.  The campaign contributions reflect an attempt at launching campaigns via small donations, because barriers of entry should be lowered for first time politicians.  Crowdfunding campaigns should represent the norm, replacing the corrupt funding we have today.  
 Please join this effort.  Go to Crowdpac get involved by learning about existing campaigns, donate to those campaigns, or, better yet, to start your own campaign.

Saturday, April 22, 2017

CLEAR Leadership Mentoring Program



CLEAR Leadership Mentoring Program



Accepting Applications for Cohort #6


The CLEAR Leadersip Mentoring Program is accepting 
applications for its sixth cohort!  

The Center for Leadership, Equity, and Research (CLEAR) Leadership Mentoring Program provides participants with an opportunity to participate in a formal and structured mentoring program. Mentors and protégés work together to develop goals and objectives that guide each towards a more meaningful leadership experience whereby participants combine professional learning and mentoring to grow and succeed as a leader. The CLEAR Leadership Mentoring Program develops a "mentoring culture" whereby mentors and protégés, together with other like-minded leaders, seize upon the opportunity to participate in continuous leadership relationship building and professional development in order to implement and participate in "Praxis" or "Intentional Activism," meant to change the manner in which "things have always been done."


Who can apply?
Mentors 
We are looking for mentors with leadership experience. Someone that:
* Inspires trust
* Maintains their commitment to the protégé and to the program
* Provides guidance without dictating actions
* Offers both constructive criticism and praise
* Is a good role model in both actions and manner of communitcation

Protégés
Someone that has leadership experience and:
* Inspires to gain additional leadership experience
* Is committed to both the mentoring relationship and to the program
* Has the courage to try new things
* Accepts responsibility
* Learns from their mistakes
When does the Mentoring Program start?
The next cohort begins August 2017. 
How much is the program?
There is a $100.00 yearly membership contribution to CLEAR in order to cover incidental program costs.
DEADLINE TO APPLY IS May 29, 2017.

Questions, please contact Dr. Ken Magdaleno at kmagdaleno@clearvoz.com 
or Felicia Olais at folais@clearvoz.com

Friday, April 21, 2017

Reframing Hispanic Serving Institutions



Reframing Hispanic Serving Institutions (HSIs): A Counterstory of a “Latinized” Institution in the Midwest





by Gina A. Garcia, Jenesis J. Ramirez, Oscar E. Patrón,and Oscar Medina (University of Pittsburgh)






A new research brief has been published is to reframe the research and policy perspective on Hispanic Serving Institutions (HSIs). Specifically, we answer the following question: What does a “Latinized” postsecondary institution look like?  This report is based on qualitative interview data from a multi-site case study of three HSIs in the Midwest. Rather than looking at data that are typically used to determine an institution’s value and prestige (i.e., SAT/ACT scores, selectivity, graduation rates, persistence rates), here we use the participants’ stories in order to make sense of what it means, beyond White normative standards, to effectively serve Latinx students. We use a critical race counter story methodology to tell a story about HSIs from an assets-based perspective.




Read the entire research brief here...


Thursday, April 20, 2017

The Fight Is Far From Over

National Council of La Raza

The Affordable Care Act (ACA) is still the law of the land. However, the fight to protect and defend our health care is not over. 
That’s because certain Members of Congress want to revive the American Health Care Act (AHCA), a bill that would cut Medicaid by $880 billion over 10 years and leave 24 million Americans — including Latinos, children, and seniors—without health insurance. Just 17% of Americans support this bill, yet some members want to make it even worse
Lives are on the line, and the time to act is now! 
From now until April 23, members are in their districts for the April congressional recess. While they’re back home, they need to hear from YOU. 
Here’s what you can do TODAY to make sure your representatives reject the American Health Care Act (AHCA), permanently!
  1. Turn out to town halls or other events.  Find out if your member is holding a town hall or other public event—here, and tell them that your health is too important to gamble on. No town hall? Set up a district meeting
  2. Get your member on the record. Access to basic health services is on the line. Tell your member to recommit to opposing efforts to cut health coverage, increase costs, or eliminate basic services – like cancer screenings and prescription drugs. You can get some ideas for questions— here.
  3. Hold your member accountable. Nearly 100 members came out in support of taking coverage away from millions of Americans. They need to hear directly from you about what that means at public events, letters to the editor, calls to their offices, and social media. If your member opposed this effort, make sure to thank them and encourage them to keep opposing this bad bill.
  4. Need some help with what to say? Here are some talking points to get you started.
We must protect and defend against these threats to our health care. Tell your representatives to permanently reject the AHCA today!

¡Adelante!
Steven Lopez
Manager, Health Policy Project

Wednesday, April 19, 2017

Great Job, Jon Ossoff

Last night, Jon Ossoff won a commanding victory in Georgia's 6th congressional district.

Now, he's up against Karen Handel, the Republican who finished second, in a runoff election in just 62 days. If she wins, she'll be a rubber stamp for Donald Trump's agenda in Congress.

But if we go all-in and elect Jon, we'll turn Georgia's 6th district blue for the first time in 38 years and send a big, loud message to Donald and the Republicans who are backing him that Democrats are fired up and ready to fight.

I'm committed to standing with Jon Ossoff and candidates like him who are fighting for our party's values across the country -- so I'm counting on grassroots supporters like you to get Jon's back.

Jon won an impressive race yesterday, but he needs to do it again and soon, on June 20th. In any election, an early donation goes a lot further than a late one. That's especially true in a race like this one that will happen over just two months.

Thanks,

Tom

Tom Perez
Chair
Democratic National Committee

Monday, April 3, 2017

Urge Your Senators To Vote No On Judge Neil Gorsuch

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The Republicans on the Senate Judiciary Committee voted today to confirm Trump’s Supreme Court pick despite his extreme record and evasive performance at his recent hearing.
The full Senate will vote on whether to put Judge Neil Gorsuch on the closely divided Supreme Court this Thursday. It’s up to your senators to protect the decisive ninth seat.

Call your senators now at 1-888-877-2040 and urge them to vote NO.
The way political campaigns are funded in the U.S. enables big money donors—not regular voters—to decide who runs for office, who wins, and what issues get attention from elected officials. Neil Gorsuch thinks that’s just fine. His actions as a federal judge have expanded First Amendment rights for corporations. His record is one that serves the wealthy and powerful over everyday working people.

Please call your senators at 1-888-877-2040 and tell them to vote NO on Gorsuch’s confirmation.
Our phone calls helped prevent the confirmation of fast-food CEO Andrew Puzder for Labor Secretary. Our calls helped doom the GOP’s health care bill. And our calls can prevent Judge Gorsuch from gaining a lifetime appointment to the nation’s highest court.
We need a Supreme Court justice who recognizes that the strength of our voices cannot depend upon the size of our wallets. That’s not Neil Gorsuch.

Your phone is a tool of resistance. Call 1-888-877-2040 today and tell your senators to vote NO on Gorsuch.
P.S. Did you have a chance to watch Demos President Heather McGhee testify against Judge Gorsuch at his hearing? Check out her powerful case against Trump’s pick.