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LAUSD Questioned Over Positive Reviews for Teachers at Struggling Schools
July 14, 2018 By Chris Reed 2 Comments
A new study raises fresh concerns about the giant Los Angeles Unified School District and whether it shows good faith in its dealings with struggling schools in poor minority communities.
The Los Angeles-based Parent Revolution group, which focuses on improving education and increasing educational opportunities for poor minority students, analyzed 44 LAUSD schools with weak test scores last school year. At these schools, only 20 percent of students met or did better than state math standards and only 28 percent in English.
Yet last school year, 68 percent of teachers in these schools were not subject to official evaluations – either through oversight or via exemptions ordered by their principals. Of teachers who were evaluated, 96 percent were found to meet or do better than district performance standards. Over the past three school years, the figure edged up to 97 percent getting positive evaluations – meaning only about one in every 30 evaluated teachers is found wanting.
"We do see this in other districts, where almost everyone has a satisfactory rating and it's disconnected from student achievement," Seth Litt, Parent Revolution's executive director, told the Los Angeles Times. "It shouldn't be disconnected."
The findings parallel those that emerged from the landmark Vergara v. California lawsuit, in which nine students from state public schools represented by civil-rights attorneys hired by the Students Matter group alleged five state teacher job protection laws were so powerful that they had the unconstitutional effect of keeping incompetent teachers on the job and funneling them toward schools in poor communities.
Evidence presented by the plaintiffs in the case showed that only 2.2 teachers on average are fired each year for unsatisfactory performance in a state with 275,000 teachers at its public schools.
The case's primary focus was on Los Angeles Unified. In a twist that few expected, some of the most powerful testimony against the teacher protection laws came from then-LAUSD Superintendent John Deasy. He testified in early 2014 that even if a teacher were "grossly ineffective," it could cost the district millions in legal bills to fire the teacher.
Later that year, state Judge Rolf Treu agreed with the plaintiffs that the five teacher protection laws unconstitutionally deprived the students of their right to a good public education. Treu likened the laws' effects to those of segregation before the U.S. Supreme Court's 1954 ruling in Brown v. Board of Education. Treu's decision was overturned on appeal on the grounds that the trial failed to clearly establish a factual nexus between student performance and the job protection laws.
3 state justices wanted to hear teacher tenure case
But education reformers were somewhat heartened by what happened next. Three members of the California Supreme Court wanted to hear an appeal of the appellate ruling, suggesting at the least some interest in Treu's reasoning, which was mocked as novel and weak by attorneys for teacher unions. While they were voted down by the state high court's other four justices, they could be a factor in future litigation.
As for Los Angeles Unified, litigation over school practices affecting minorities and high-needs students has been common for decades. In September 2017, for a recent example, the district reached a $151 million settlement in a lawsuit filed by the ACLU over the improper diversion of Local Control Funding Formula dollars that were supposed to be used to help struggling students in poor communities, especially English-language learners.
LAUSD was also the target in 2010 of what a federal government statement called "the first proactive civil rights enforcement action taken by the Department of Education under the Obama administration" – prompted by what then-Education Secretary Arne Duncan called the district's failure to adequately educate many Latino and African-American students. The case was settled in 2011 after the district agreed to make several substantial changes meant to improve these students' performance.
But evidence presented in the Vergara case showed no subsequent gains by these student groups.
Los Angeles Unified has 640,000 students, making it by far the largest school district in California. Only the New York City school system, which has about 1 million students, is larger in the U.S.
This article was originally published by CalWatchdog.com
Filed Under: Top Stories Tagged With: education, education reform, LAUSD
Too Many Teachers are Clueless on Issues Relating to Their Profession
June 22, 2018 By Larry Sand 2 Comments
In 2006, I co-founded the California Teachers Empowerment Network, whose mission is to give educators unbiased information and to combat union spin and outright lies. While we have helped a good number of teachers, there are still way too many who are in the dark about issues that affect their professional life. A recent poll by Educators for Excellence (E4E) exemplifies this sad state of affairs.
E4E released partial survey results on May 23rd (the questions were posed in late April-early May) and the full report is due August 1st. One of the stunners is that 78 percent of all teachers had heard not much (21 percent) or nothing (57 percent) about the Janus v AFSCME Supreme Court case which would free public employees nationwide from being forced to pay dues to a teachers union. Also, 47 percent of union members said they had heard nothing about the lawsuit.
A claim could be made that many teachers don't need to know about the litigation, as they live in right-to-work states and will not be affected directly by the imminent ruling. But given the magnitude of the case, the numbers are still startling.
The lack of teacher awareness is in part due to their unions, which don't seem to feel the need to inform their members that they may have a right to refrain from forking over $1,000 or so a year to them. While the unions are not legally bound to clue in their teachers, you'd think the organizations that constantly showboat their affection for educators would feel some moral obligation to do so. But they don't. And when union leaders talk about the case, they often lie.
For example, after attending the Janus oral arguments in February, American Federation of Teachers President Randi Weingarten said, "I listened as the right wing launched attack after attack on unions and on what collective bargaining gains for working people, those they serve and their communities. Indeed, Justice Sotomayor nailed the right wing's argument, pointing out, 'You're basically arguing, do away with unions.'"
If that's all a teacher heard about the case, she would be horribly misinformed. The lawsuit has absolutely nothing to do with collective bargaining (CB) or eliminating unions. It is simply about giving teachers and other public employees a choice whether or not to join and pay them as a condition of employment.
Another question of note from the E4E survey asks teachers if they concur with the following: "Without collective bargaining, the working conditions and salaries of teachers would be much worse." A whopping 86 percent of those polled agreed (somewhat or strongly) with that statement.
But are teachers really informed about all the data that show that CB agreements actually don't do anything good for their wages, and in fact may serve to suppress them? Just this past March, yet another study found that across the country, after CB laws went into effect, there was little change in teacher salary or education spending. The study by Agustina Paglayan, a professor at University of California, San Diego, was hardly the first research that showed the inconsequential or detrimental effects of CB.
In 2011, Fordham Institute's Mike Petrilli compared teachers' salaries in school districts across the country which allow CB with those that don't. Using data collected by the National Council on Teacher Quality, he looked at 100 of the largest districts from each of the 50 states and found that teachers who worked in districts where the union was not involved actually made more than those who were in CB districts. According to Petrilli, "Teachers in non-collective bargaining districts actually earn more than their union-protected peers – $64,500 on average versus $57,500."
In a detailed 2009 study, "The Effect of Teachers' Unions on Education Production: Evidence from Union Election Certifications in Three Midwestern States," Stanford Professor Michael Lovenheim concluded, "I find unions have no effect on teacher pay."
While Lovenheim's study used data from just three states, Cato Institute's Andrew Coulson, using national data, came to the same conclusion.
So, according to Paglayan, Petrilli, Lovenheim and Coulson, CB is inconsequential at best, and could actually damage a educator's bottom line. Randi Weingarten won't tell teachers any of this.
Weingarten also won't tell her members about Clovis, a city in California, whose teachers have been never unionized. Yet, educators there have a voice and a role in governance. Instead of a union, they have an elected Faculty Senate, in which each school has a representative. The mission of the Faculty Senate is to be "an effective advocate for teachers at all levels of policy making, procedures, and expenditures, in partnership with our administrators, fellow employees, and community as a quality educational team."
Teacher salaries are competitive in Clovis. While starting teachers make a few thousand dollars a year more in neighboring unionized Fresno, the differences dissipate as teachers rack up more time on the job. And, while Fresno teachers are saddled with payments of over $1,100 a year to the Fresno Teachers Association, Clovis teachers aren't burdened with union dues.
The E4E survey, among other things, points to teachers' ignorance on many issues that directly affect them. Especially with a Janus decision imminent, it is imperative that they become more informed. Not listening to Randi Weingarten and other union leaders' disinformation and fabrications would be a great first step.
Larry Sand, a former classroom teacher, is the president of the non-profit California Teachers Empowerment Network – a non-partisan, non-political group dedicated to providing teachers and the general public with reliable and balanced information about professional affiliations and positions on educational issues. The views presented here are strictly his own.
This article was originally published by the California Policy Center
Filed Under: Top Stories Tagged With: California Teachers Empowerment Network, education reform, Educators for Excellence, Federation of Teachers, Janus v AFSCME, Larry Sand
United Teachers Los Angeles wants respect … and money
June 11, 2018 By Larry Sand Leave a Comment
At the behest of the United Teachers of Los Angeles, thousands of educators took to the streets in downtown L.A. on May 24th to demand respect for what they do. But the respect the teachers union is seeking is essentially about money. Claiming that public education is "criminally underfunded," the union's leadership is insisting on a pay raise, smaller classes, and several other demands that will further burden taxpayers.
First, California is in the middle of the pack nationally, spending $11,495 per-pupil in 2016. Regarding salaries, rookie teachers in the Los Angeles Unified School District currently make $50,368, while the average pay is $75,504, according to the Los Angeles Daily News.
But looking only at salaries is deceptive. Using U.S. Department of Labor data, researcher James Agresti explains that benefits — health insurance, paid leave, and pensions — typically comprise 33 percent of compensation for public school teachers. Including these perks, the average compensation for a teacher in L.A. jumps to about $113,000 per annum. Not too shabby — but wait, there's more. The old union ploy of comparing the pay of teachers to private industry employees is bogus. As Agresti points out, the latter work on average 37 percent more hours per year than public school teachers, and this includes the time that teachers spend on lesson preparation, grading tests, etc. …
To continue reading, go to https://www.ocregister.com/2018/06/08/united-teachers-los-angeles-wants-respect-and-money/
Filed Under: Trending News Tagged With: education reform, LUSD, Teachers, United Teachers Los Angeles
Our soldiers deserve educational freedom
June 6, 2018 By Larry Sand Leave a Comment
A bill proposed by Congressman Jim Banks (R-Indiana) directs the Department of Education to establish a program that would "provide children with parents on active duty in the uniformed services with funds for specified educational purposes." The proposed law would allow military parents to establish Education Savings Accounts, which would enable them to use public funds for private school tuition, online learning programs, tutoring, etc. While ESAs are a good idea for everyone, they are especially important for military families, many of whom move around frequently, and should not be subjected to our stifling, antiquated, ZIP-code monopoly education system.
Upon introducing the bill in March, Banks penned a piece for The Wall Street Journal in which he wrote, "A 2017 survey of Military Times readers showed that educational opportunities play an important role in determining whether a military family accepts a particular assignment — or even remains in the service at all. Thirty-five percent of service members have considered leaving the military because of the limited education options available, and 40% have either declined or would decline a career-advancing opportunity at a different installation if it meant their child would have to leave a high-performing school." We cannot afford to lose our experienced soldiers for want of an easy fix.
According to an EdChoice poll, 72 percent of military respondents were in favor of the ESA program, after having it described to them, while just 15 percent opposed it.
The idea is not particularly new. The Senate Armed Services Committee considered a proposal to provide military families with tuition vouchers in 2009. While the idea enjoyed military support at the time, pressure from the powerful National Education Association helped quash the plan.
In 2012, researcher Vicki Alger wrote a report for the Independent Women's Forum in which she explained that military ESAs "would help expand education options for children without adding costs to national and state budgets, and by facilitating the use of private options rather than adding students to the public school rolls, they could reduce the burden on the state." However, her sage advice didn't lead anywhere.
Which brings us to 2018. Just who is fighting against the Banks bill now? Interestingly, a coalition of military associations has come out against the legislation. As Pacific Research Institute scholar Lance Izumi writes, "Their letter to lawmakers, sadly, puts the concerns of school district bureaucracies above the clear needs and preferences of military families." But this seems to be a top down decision. As Izumi states, "Evidently, these military associations, which proclaim that they represent more than five million current and former service members and their families, forgot to ask service members about what they think."
But of course, the most potent force to deny military ESAs is, again, NEA. On its website, the union refers to the bill as a "voucher scheme," and an "enemy of public schools," and proceeds to launch into a frothing-at-the mouth, turf-protecting tirade, painting anything outside the realm of unionized, government-run, zip-code mandated schools as the work of the devil – or worse – Betsy DeVos. NEA claims that the bill would have a devastating effect on school districts which rely on federal Impact Aid. But as Heritage Foundation senior policy analyst Jonathan Butcher points out, the most "heavily impacted" school districts would lose between a meager 0.18 percent and 1.83 percent of their federal revenue.
One very perplexing part of NEA's response to the soldier choice bill is the fact that the union has been a proud supporter of the G.I. Bill, the country's first significant educational voucher program. Signed into law in 1944, the G.I. Bill is nothing more than a "choice" program for soldiers, allowing them to attend just about any college they want – public, private, religious or secular. In fact, not only has NEA been a supporter of the G.I Bill, but the NEA Legislative Commission worked for its passage in 1944.
So NEA supports military vouchers for college, but not k-12. Maybe one day the union will get around to explaining this inconsistency. (Don't hold your breath.) But in the meantime, Jim Banks' bill should become law. The people who risk their lives to protect our country need educational freedom. It's the very least we can do for them and their families.
Filed Under: Top Stories Tagged With: Department of Education, education reform, Education Savings Accounts, ESA, Jim Banks, Larry Sand
Janus vs AFSCME Ruling Imminent – What Will Change?
May 31, 2018 By Ed Ring 1 Comment
In February 2018, the U.S. Supreme Court heard arguments in Janus vs. AFSCME, a case that challenges the ability of public sector unions to compel public employees to pay agency fees. While public sector employees currently have the ability to opt-out of paying that portion of union dues that are used for political activities, they still have to pay agency fees. This is based on the presumption that all members of a bargaining unit benefit from union negotiations with management, therefore all of them should pay those costs.
The Janus case argues that in the public sector, even these negotiations are inherently political and therefore it would be a violation of the right to free speech to compel any employee to help pay for them. The Supreme Court appears likely to agree. In an unrelated case also affecting unions, this week the U.S. Supreme Court just ruled in favor of employers, affirming that "employers have the right to insist that labor disputes get resolved individually, rather than allowing workers to join together in class-action lawsuits." The majority opinion was written by newly appointed Justice Gorsuch, reinforcing hopes that he will rule for the plaintiffs in the Janus case.
But will making agency fees optional result in dramatic change?
The potential is there for dramatic change, because as of 2017, 7.2 million government workers belong to a union. Their total membership nearly equals the total membership of private sector unions, 7.6 million, despite federal, state and local government workers only comprising about 17% of the U.S. workforce. In California, state and local government unions are estimated to collect and spend over $1.0 billion every year.
Clearly, a ruling for the plaintiffs in the Janus case will cause a reduction in public sector union dues revenue. If public employees are no longer compelled to pay agency fees, some of them will stop paying them. But how many will stop paying?
A study released this month by the Illinois Economic Policy Institute (IEPI) – which based on the composition of its board of directors appears to be sympathetic to unions – estimates that 726,000 public sector union members will no longer pay dues, a drop of around 10%. IEPI's study also estimates that in California, public sector union membership will decline by 189,000, dropping from an estimated 1,235,000 members in 2017 down to 1,046,000 members. But will California's public sector union membership really drop by 18%, taking nearly $200 million out of their annual collections?
Other data does support the 18% figure, even indicating it could be higher. A 2018 national survey released by the center-left organization Educators for Excellence posed several questions to teachers on the topic of union membership. For example, when asked "If you were not automatically enrolled into your union membership, how likely would you be in the coming year to actively opt in?" there were only 60% who were "very likely" to opt-in, and only another 22% who were "somewhat likely."
The survey also asked non-union members – those members who have opted out of paying the political portion of their dues, but still pay agency fees – "If you could, how likely would you be to opt-out of paying agency fees to a union" there were 36% who were "very likely" to opt-out, and another 25% who were "somewhat likely." How do these responses translate into lost revenue?
According to UnionStats.com, only about 6% of California's public sector employees who are part of collective bargaining units have opted to become non-members, i.e., only paying the agency fees. Crunching these variables is problematic. Are the e4e national survey results representative of California? Are the responses by teachers in the e4e survey representative of public employees in other sectors? Nonetheless, the e4e survey results do suggest the revenue loss to public sector unions could be greater than the amount predicted by the IEPI study.
For example, if you assume that all of California's public sector members who were "very likely" to opt out of union membership did so, and half of those who were "somewhat likely" to opt out did so, and if you made a similar set of assumptions based on the survey responses of the non-union members who were employed within collective bargaining units, you would see a public sector union membership in California decline by 320,000, a decline of 26%, from an estimated 1,235,000 members to 915,000 members.
The biggest unknown is the details of the upcoming Supreme Court ruling. While all indications so far are that the ruling will be in favor of Janus, what remedies will result? A huge variable will be which party will have to take the initiative. That is, will employees have to approach the unions and request to opt-out of membership, or will the unions have to approach the employees and request them to opt-in to membership? Another huge variable will be how often the opportunity to change membership status be offered. No matter whether union membership is based on employees getting to opt-in or having to opt-out, when will they do that? Once per year, within narrowly specified dates, or perpetually at any time? It is likely the ruling will leave many of these details up to the individual states to decide.
Which brings us back to California, with a state legislature that is a wholly owned subsidiary of public sector unions. As noted in detail (with links to the relevant legislation) in the CLEO policy brief "How Local Officials Can Prepare for the Janus Ruling," California's state legislature has been working overtime to circumvent the anticipated Janus decision. In summary:
"So how are the unions preparing for the Janus ruling? By (1) making sure the union operatives get to new employees as soon as they begin working, (2) by preventing agency employers from saying anything to deter new employees from joining the unions, and (3) by preventing anyone else from getting the official agency emails for new employees in order to inform them of their rights to not join a union."
Public sector employees face a difficult choice. They can accept union representation, knowing that in most cases this results in their receiving over-market pay and benefits, or they can reject union representation, knowing that the agenda of public sector unions is almost always in opposition to the public interest. That's not easy.
What must be easy, however, is for public employees to have access to whatever information is needed to withdraw from public sector union membership. This way, those who wish to stay true to the ideals of public service can put the interests of the public in front of their personal interests, by knowing how to jump through through whatever bureaucratic hoops the unions and the state legislature may put in their way.
This case constitutes a new challenge for those who oppose public sector unions. Making sure that to whatever extent the Janus ruling liberates public sector employees from the grip of public sector unions, those public employees will know how to realize their freedom, quitting those unions, putting the citizens they serve in front of themselves.
The Janus decision is expected by June 30th, if not sooner.
Edward Ring co-founded the California Policy Center in 2010 and served as its president through 2016.
UnionStats.com – Ref. "Union Membership, Coverage, Density, and Employment by State and Sector, 1983-2017"
California's Government Unions Collect $1.0 Billion Per Year – CPC Analysis, May 2015
Understanding the Financial Disclosure Requirements of Public Sector Unions– CPC Study, June 2012
How Local Officials Can Prepare for the Janus Ruling – CLEO Policy Brief, October 2018
Filed Under: Top Stories Tagged With: education reform, Janus vs. AFSCME, Neil Gorsuch, Teachers Union, U.S. Supreme Court, unions
California school spending grows at fastest pace in the U.S.
May 23, 2018 By Jonathan Lansner 1 Comment
Few monetary issues draw more emotion or scrutiny than the ups and downs of government's educational expenses.
This year, the heated "invest in our kids" debate has rattled state capitols across the nation as teachers in West Virginia, Kentucky, Oklahoma, Colorado and Arizona walked out of classrooms and headed to picket lines and rallies to protest low wages.
All this labor turmoil comes as California schools have been enjoying nation-leading increases in "elementary/secondary" educational spending, according to new Census Bureau data.
This report by a relatively independent arbiter — covering up to 2016 spending patterns nationwide — gives a glimpse into how California public school budgets compare with nationwide trends. It tallies taxpayer funds going to everything from pre-kindergarten through 12th grade and includes charter schools if they're school-district-funded. …
Click here to read the full article from the Orange County Register
Filed Under: Trending News Tagged With: education, education reform, School
Unions defend recent strikes — but voters should make up their own minds
May 18, 2018 By Larry Sand Leave a Comment
In a USA Today op-ed last month, American Federation of Teachers president Randi Weingarten defended the teachers' strikes in West Virginia, Oklahoma, Kentucky, Arizona, and Colorado, by sketching a familiar hero-villain scenario. "Teachers are standing up for their students and themselves against largely red states with weak labor laws and where governors and legislators have opted for tax cuts for the wealthy instead of investments for children," she wrote. Pointing to the Janus v. AFSCME Supreme Court case, which she portrayed as a right-wing ploy to "get public sector unions out of politics," Weingarten proclaimed, "Teachers' voices — and their votes — are powerful, and educators have parents and communities supporting them."
Some voters may be persuaded by the argument that teachers are picketing for more money "for children," but they would be better off looking at some basic facts. While teachers in some cases are underpaid and certain school districts underfunded, teachers on the whole, according to researcher James Agresti, get paid much better than commonly acknowledged. For the 2016–2017 school year, the average salary of full-time public school teachers was $58,950. That figure excludes benefits such as health insurance, paid leave, and pensions, which, according to the U.S. Department of Labor, make up an average of 33 percent of total compensation for public school teachers. When benefits get added in, teachers' average annual compensation jumps to $87,854. And even that amount doesn't include unfunded pension liabilities and certain post-employment benefits like health insurance, not measured by the Labor Department. Private-industry employees work an average of 37 percent more hours per year than public school teachers, including the time that teachers spend for lesson preparation, grading, and other activities. "Unlike less rigorous studies, this data from the DOL is based on detailed records of work hours instead of subjective estimates about how long people think they work," Agresti adds.
Teachers aren't just well compensated; they're also more numerous than ever before, especially in proportion to their students. Researcher and economics professor Benjamin Scafidi found that, between 1950 and 2015, the number of teachers increased about 2.5 times faster than the number of students, and hiring of other education employees—administrators, teacher aides, counselors, social workers—rose more than seven times faster than the increase in students. Despite the staffing surge, students' academic achievement has stagnated or fallen during that time. Scafidi suggests that, had non-teaching personnel growth been in line with student population growth, and the teaching force risen "only" 1.5 times as fast as student growth, U.S. schools would have had an additional $37.2 billion to spend annually. With that windfall, he suggests, we could have raised every public school teacher's salary by more than $11,700 per year, given poor families more than $2,600 in cash per child to attend private schools of their parents' choice, and more than doubled taxpayer funding for early-childhood education.
It's no secret that lavish teacher pensions are eating up money that should be spent on students. Robert Costrell, a finance expert at the University of Arkansas, found that 10.6 percent of all education spending goes toward teacher-retirement benefits—more than double the proportion spent on pensions in 2004. "As a percentage of their total compensation package, teacher retirement benefits eat up twice as much as other workers," Bellwether Education Partners policy analyst Chad Alderman explains. Teachers—including bad teachers—have a powerful incentive to stay on in their jobs, since they automatically earn more just by showing up each fall, regardless of how effective they are. Pension benefits start accruing later in a teacher's career, so younger teachers are helping to prop up pensions for lifers, with little to show for it; if a teacher leaves the field early, he gets no pension at all.
States typically administer teacher pensions, but health-care benefits frequently vary according to the local school district. While some districts cut teachers' health benefits off when Medicare kicks in, others, such as the Los Angeles Unified School District, are much more generous. LAUSD provides the same expansive health coverage for retirees (and their spouses) as it does for current employees; neither group pays a premium for its insurance. The district recently announced that the unfunded liability for retiree health benefits has risen to $15.2 billion, up from a reported $13.5 billion in 2016, which translates to a cost of $525 per student.
Come November, the teachers' unions and their unhappy members will be taking their case to the voters. Taxpayers need to look at the facts underneath the teachers-as-victims rhetoric and vote for fiscal sanity.
Larry Sand, a retired teacher, is president of the California Teachers Empowerment Network and a contributor to City Journal's book, The Beholden State: California's Lost Promise and How to Recapture It.
This article was originally published by City Journal Online
Filed Under: Top Stories Tagged With: education, education reform, LAUSD, Randi Weingarten, Teachers, unions
The CTA's ongoing charter school whoppers
May 11, 2018 By Larry Sand 6 Comments
Washington Post writer Jay Mathews is "woke" to the fact that the California Teachers Association lies.
Jay Mathews has been around the block a few times. He has been with the Washington Post since 1971, and for many of those years he has written about education issues, often arguing for sensible reforms. Which is why I was stunned to see a Mathews' headline last week which read, "Maybe this teachers union needs a crash course in truth in advertising." Seems that the venerable scribe was perplexed and angered by a radio spot run by the California Teachers Association in which the union does its usual – lies, exaggerates, builds strawmen and tries to elicit gasps out of everyone within earshot.
The basic premise of the ad is that evil right wingers Donald Trump, Betsy DeVos and the Koch Brothers see your seven year-old as a cash cow and want her to go to "their corporate charter schools" to make them rich beyond their wildest dreams.
CTA business as usual here, but if Jay Mathews is now woke, I guess that's a good thing.
Mathews also may have gotten a jolt if he saw a recent post on the CTA website in which the union informs us that Tony Thurmond, their candidate for California Superintendent of Public Instruction, will be holding a tele-town hall on May 9th. Alluding to Thurmond's opponent Marshall Tuck, CTA claims "… corporate billionaires are pouring millionsinto the races of candidates who share their agenda to divert funding away from neighborhood public schools to privately-run charter schools." In fact, Tuck is adamantly opposed to privately run charters and has stated so many times, claiming, "Profit has no place in our public schools…."
If he hasn't already done so, I would advise Mr. Mathews to visit a website established by CTA in 2016 called Kids Not Profits. In addition to the exaggeration about the privatization of charters (less than 3 percent in California are), it includes the time-worn fantasy that charters "cherry-pick their students" and weed out students with special needs.
In fact, as R Street Institute's Steven Greenhut writes, the opposite is true. Using information from a report by ProPublica, an organization whose focus is investigative journalism, Greenhut found a national pattern in which public school districts have used alternative schools, including charters, as a "a silent release valve for high schools … that are straining under the pressure of accountability reform." These public schools dump off weak students "whose test scores, truancy and risk of dropping out threaten their standing."
So just who are the cherry pickers?
Also, parents who have kids with special needs are prone to send their kids to charters. For example, the mother of a child in Florida, who has "oral motor delays, including extreme feeding difficulties" could not find a traditional public school (TPS) that could accommodate her daughter and found a charter school that could.
Looking at the bigger picture, there have been a gaggle of studies comparing student achievement in charters and TPS. Most studies give the edge to charters to varying degrees. But even if charters do the same job as TPS, charters should be deemed preferable as they do it by receiving, on average, 28 percent less funding than TPS.
Additionally, a revealing new study conducted by Patrick Wolf, Corey De Angeles, et al shows that in eight big American cities, each dollar invested in a child's k-12 schooling results in $6.44 in lifetime earnings in public charter schools compared to just $4.67 in lifetime earnings in TPS.
That traditional public schools dump kids into charters, frequently can't handle kids with special needs and don't give students the same bang for the buck as charters are realities that CTA and other teachers unions either omit or lie about when they push their anti-charter agenda.
One other tidbit not discussed by CTA is that charters are less likely to be unionized than they were six years ago. The National Alliance for Public Charter Schools found that 11.3 percent of the nation's charters in the 2016–17 school year were unionized, down from 12.3 percent in 2009–10.
That Jay Mathews has awakened to the prevalent dishonesty of the teachers unions is encouraging. As we celebrate National Charter Schools Week, I only hope more mainstream media writers follow suit and aggressively expose teacher union mendacity.
This article was originally published by the California Policy Center.
Filed Under: Top Stories Tagged With: California Teachers Association, Charter Schools, CTA, education, education reform
School Spending Up; Student Performance Down
May 6, 2018 By David Crane 8 Comments
California school boards are prevented by the state Legislature and governor from offering disproportionate pay to employees willing to work in high-poverty zones, cutting pension spending, altering tenure rules or granting principals the power to fire poorly performing employees. The outcome: poor student performance and shaky finances despite a big increase in spending.
All it takes is 62 legislators and the governor to change that outcome. Every legislator knows that school districts should not be forced to grant permanent employment after just 24 months or to divert money from current to retired teachers and should be permitted to pay more to teachers who take on tougher assignments and to fire under-performers.
The only thing stopping them is fear. They are afraid of CTA, the largest commercial and political special interest roaming the halls of the State Capitol. But don't blame CTA. Its members collect ~$70 billion per year from taxpayers. You too would roam the Capitol if you collected that kind of money from legislators. Blame legislators and governors who don't have the courage to attack the real causes of school distress. It is they who are letting down students — especially our most vulnerable students. Just look at what's happening in San Francisco and around the state.
But the legislature and governor don't get all the blame. Believe it or not, some districts subsidize retirees at the expense of current employees. San Francisco could pay teachers an extra $40 million this year if it stopped subsidizing health insurance for retirees who, like their fellow Californians, could obtain health insurance on the state's excellent Obamacare exchange (Covered California) until they become eligible for Medicare. The city of Glendale shows how. The San Francisco school board doesn't need permission from the state to make that change right now. But instead, it is asking voters to approve an additional tax on property. Middle class residents already find it tough going in San Francisco. Now the school board wants to make it even harder in order to subsidize retirees. Fixing that doesn't take rocket science. It just takes courage.
David Crane is a lecturer and research scholar at Stanford University and President of Govern for California.
This article was originally published by Fox and Hounds Daily
Filed Under: Top Stories Tagged With: California Teachers Association, CTA, education, education reform
California school superintendent race: Democratic reformer vs. union ally
February 14, 2018 By Chris Reed 3 Comments
The 2018 race for state superintendent of public instruction may not have an incumbent but is likely to feel like an encore of the 2014 race, pitting a Democrat aligned with the California Teachers Association and the California Federation of Teachers against a Democrat who backs reforms opposed by the unions.
In 2014, Tom Torlakson – a former teacher and state lawmaker – won a second term, touting higher graduation rates and somewhat better test scores. He defeated former Los Angeles charter school executive Marshall Tuck 52 percent to 48 percent in a race in which $30 million was reportedly spent, triple the campaign spending in that year's quiet governor's race.
With the strong support of wealthy Los Angeles area Democrats who have been fighting for changes in L.A. Unified and who remember the job he did running Green Dot charters, Tuck is running again.
Subbing for termed-out Torlakson is Assemblyman Tony Thurmond, D-Richmond, who has worked closely with teachers unions on many fronts – most notably joining in maneuvering last summer that helped kill a tenure reform bill that had gotten off to a strong start in the Legislature. He has also opposed efforts to more closely monitor how education dollars are being spent under the Local Control Funding Formula. The law was supposed to be used specifically to help districts with high numbers of English language learners, students in foster care and students from impoverished families to improve their academic performance. But civil rights groups say the extra dollars often have been used for general spending, including for teacher raises.
Thurmond was also among lawmakers who expressed interest in helping teachers deal with California's high housing costs, proposing legislation to award $100 million in rental grants to teachers in need. It didn't advance.
Tuck may have better shot than when he challenged incumbent
The conventional wisdom is that Tuck has a better chance than in 2014 because Thurmond has much lower name recognition than Torlakson. But that could be erased with a heavy television ad run by the teachers unions using the same anti-Tuck themes as in 2014: Making the argument that the charter schools he led are part of a corporate scheme to take over public education.
If Tuck, 44, gets his way, the debate will focus on his reform agenda – the idea that charters serve as healthy competition for regular schools; the need for much better oversight of how the Local Control Funding Formula is used; adopting teacher tenure reform; and accountability standards that make it easier to judge whether a school is improving.
Thurmond's website emphasizes his view of California educators doing battle with President Donald Trump and Education Secretary Betsy DeVos over what he describes as their intent to "gut" and "defund our public schools." Thurmond, 49, a military veteran who was a social worker before running for office, also said teachers need "bonuses and other incentives" to address the shortage of qualified instructors.
Complicating the Tuck-Thurmond race is the likelihood that for the first time in the 21st century, a prominent Democratic gubernatorial candidate is running as an anti-union reformer – which could make schools a more prominent issue in the 2018 election cycle than is normal.
Former Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, who repeatedly tangled with the United Teachers Los Angeles while seeking authority over L.A. Unified, has already won the endorsement of the state Democratic lawmaker recognized as the leader of education reform efforts: Assemblywoman Shirley Weber of San Diego.
The CTA endorsed Lt. Gov. Gavin Newsom in the governor's race and Thurmond for superintendent in October. The CFT did as well in December.
Filed Under: Top Stories Tagged With: Antonio Villaraigosa, education, education reform, Los Angeles, Marshall Tuck, Tony Thurmond


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Uncovering Values in "Dwelling Narrowness"
Alice Poon Jan 22, 2010
The story is generally about a love affair between a middle-aged corrupt official and a young and pretty office clerk that ends in tragedy, intertwined with the life struggles of their relatives and others in a dynamic metropolis that's growing at lightening speed and which in the film is known as Jiangzhou (江州), a fictionalized alias for Shanghai. The episode themes are said to be reflective of reality in present-day Shanghai: sugar-daddy love in the officialdom, corruption and cronyism in real estate, unaffordable housing in big cities, the nail-house narrative, exploited white-collars' futile fight for justice and the invisible and omnipotent hand behind government dealings in a guanxi-oriented society.
Overall, the film tends to overly romanticize, to the point of almost complimenting adultery and finding excuses for philanderers, the love affair between Song Siming, the corrupt official, and Guo Haizao, the dreamy and naive young girl. Song is portrayed as a big-hearted and gentle lover whose only weakness is his altruistic and carnal love for Haizao, while his blatant betrayal of his wife and child is glossed over by his efforts in trying to spare time for them and provide half-hearted emotional comfort to them, as if this way his sins can be expiated. Worse is his reluctance to give a divorce to his wife when it is clear he no longer has feelings for her. But his betrayal of spousal trust, thirst for control and dominance, selfishness and lust are masked by his seemingly strong sense of responsibility towards his family and his commitment to Haizao and generosity towards her folks.
To make the love affair work, Haizao has a part too. She is shown to be a fickle person with no principles, one who is mesmerized by pleasures of the flesh and the illusion of power as experienced through watching Song solve problems for her. She's impressed with his saying that if a problem can be solved by money, it is not a problem. Her scrambling back to Song as soon as her boyfriend Xiao Bei breaks up with her tells the audience that she has little qualm about having deeply hurt Xiao Bei in the first place by carrying on an affair behind his back. Although she is portrayed as the helpless victim in front of the ferocious wronged wife, she is not shown to have any qualm about breaking up Song's family. Even after her mother explains to her that she's being used by Song as a pawn in his grand scheme to further his corrupt deals, because by lavishing gifts and money on her he can get a solid sense of success that can spur him on, she would still not listen to reason.
If not for the sad ending of the love affair due to Song's fall from power, he is almost a good man who, despite his infidelity, is able to take care of both his spouse's and his mistress' emotional and material needs, as well as their folks' needs. It does not matter that his wealth comes from his corrupt deeds. With Song cast in such a light, it becomes a bit hard for the audience to reproach him for his philandering and keeping of a mistress. As long as young girls with pretty faces like Haizao are willing to become mistresses, then society can accept that – after all, society tends to look down on the poor, but not the prostitutes (笑貧不笑娼). The poor wife is even demonized as the jealous vengeful bitch who almost manages to kill the mistress in a fit of rage, perhaps to make the audience less sympathetic with her.
In short, the values of workplace scruples, fidelity in marriage, wholesome family relationship, honesty towards friends and family and self restraint all play second fiddle to money-worshipping.
The film goes a long way in saying that the Chinese society is still very much a male chauvinistic one even in this high tech age, which means that women are still very much economic dependents of men, which in turn makes it alright for women to become wealthy men's mistresses, even if it means prostituting their self-respect and wrecking others' families in the process. It points out that the concentration of wealth and power in the hands of a privileged group because of unyielding corruption is reinforcing this social mentality. Family and virtuous values are in danger of becoming extinct in this morality downward spiral.
Perhaps the tragic death of Song and the ultimate redemption of Haizao is a faint call for society to reflect more on the kind of values it wants to pass on to future generations.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


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Catalyzing LGBTQ+ Inclusion In The New Normal Workplace
Priyanka Oza, Consultant, Zinnov; Nivedita Nanjappa, Project Lead, Zinnov; Priyanka Kumar, Engagement Manager, Zinnov; Mohammed Faraz Khan, Principal & Head - G.A.P Practice, Zinnov
While no one has been left unscathed by the pandemic, the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer (LGBTQ+) community has faced a double-edged sword of exacerbated poverty as well as heightened discrimination at healthcare centers. LGBTQ+ employees have experienced a higher rate of COVID-related job loss – 56% vs. 44% for majority – and a higher rate of neglect and abuse.
India Inc. is slowly realizing that the case for LGBTQ+ inclusion is stronger than ever, but tackling underrepresentation, stereotypes, and biases remain a work-in-progress. As Pride Month comes to a close, the question on all our minds remains: How can we advocate for the LGBTQIA+ Community, not just in June, but all year round?
At Zinnov's quarterly Inclusion & Diversity (I&D) forum, we sat down with four experts to break down the role that organizations can play in shaping a truly queer-inclusive working world. Over the course of an hour, the panelists explored the key challenges of LGBTQ+ employees, their need-of-the-hour, the role of leadership and workforce allies in delivering outcomes, and the best possible approach to liberate the community at the grassroots.
The edited highlights below can serve as a reference guide to all organizations embarking on their journey to LGBTQ+ inclusion.
What are some key challenges faced by LGBTQ+ employees in the workplace? How has the pandemic exacerbated them?
Workplace Productivity – It is important to remember that most LGBTQ+ employees experience mental, emotional, and sometimes physical trauma during their formative years, resulting in a lower self-worth than the majority. Without a safe environment for them to operate in, these insecurities may influence their productivity and satisfaction levels at the workplace. Their personal beliefs may not always align with how the organization views an "inclusive" or safe space.
Networking – Most effective professional relationships are built over conversations that transcend the workplace boundaries. However, especially for closeted LGBTQ+ employees, "water cooler" or lunchtime conversations about weekend plans, family lives or hobbies can be extremely uncomfortable and isolating.
The pandemic has magnified the challenges faced by an already marginalized and abused community. Examples include:
Social Exclusion – According to the Human Rights Campaign, out of the 20+ Mn transgender persons in India, less than 2% of them live with their families. While we all struggled with isolation and loneliness despite having our families' support, the pandemic stripped displaced LGBTQ+ people of whatever little social connection they had.
Inaccessibility of Healthcare – In the middle of an unparalleled healthcare crisis, LGBTQ+ Indians have been subject to harassment, neglect, and rejection at medical facilities, quarantine centers, and/or vaccination drives.
How can organizations kickstart their journey towards LGBTQ+ Inclusion? What is the need-of-the-hour?
Why – Why is Inclusion important to your organization? What is your business case?
Who – Who would be the key stakeholders in your starter team? "Leaders" (sponsors, advocates, role models); "Initiators" (core team members, LGBTQ+ representatives, passionate allies); "Volunteers" (nascent allies, unaware but eager and committed)
What – What does your annual Inclusion Charter look like? What is your goalpost that you are striving for? Create an action plan.
The first 90 days of an organization's inclusion journey are the most important to gain momentum, identify role models, mobilize supporters, and set the foundation for long-term impact. Remember that basic steps integrated into regular habits will be what helps keep inclusion at the top of the agenda while juggling business needs.
The need-of-the-hour is to:
Enable the provision of basic necessities to the LGBTQ+ community in India, especially amidst the COVID-19 pandemic.
Educate, educate, educate.
At Walmart, they hold sensitization sessions with not only their leadership and workforce, but also their support staff – security guards and cleaning crew alike. This spreading of awareness amongst all kinds of Walmart associates has been an eye-opening experience for Walmart I&D Leaders.
What is the role of leadership in the inclusion of the queer community? How do you not only gain their buy-in but also ensure their active involvement in inclusion initiatives?
Employees base their actions on that of their leaders; hence, leaders have to be the pioneers/champions for any Inclusion agenda to be successful.
Especially for a marginalized community, having a relatable, successful role model within the workforce can be life changing. It is very important for people from the LGBTQ+ community at executive levels to muster the courage to come out to their workforce so they can be a huge positive influence.
The misconception that business meetings and inclusion conversations are mutually exclusive needs to be eliminated. Inclusion permeates all workplace interactions and leaders need to be held accountable accordingly.
Be it providing rainbow lanyards or virtual allyship badges, the little things do matter.
Back in 2017, when the Intuit team began its process of trying to outline inclusive policies for employees, they struggled with updating their existing contracts. Vendors were not being as accommodating as they had hoped, and they did not have the advantage of large headcount numbers to sway them. Here, the leaders took a firm stand to prioritize queer-inclusion, no matter what that would take, and that eventually influenced their insurance provider to cater to their needs.
Fiserv followed a two-pronged approach – the team developed a "Forward Together" strategy along with launching an Inclusive Leadership (Assessment & Coaching) Program for all managers across the globe. That initiative solidified their commitment to Inclusion.
What is our role, as a community, in empowering the LGBTQ+ community at the grassroots?
Engaging Externally
Leverage the power of social media to start celebrating diversity rather than just tolerating it.
Involve family members and household help in sensitization sessions and thought-provoking conversations on LGBTQ+ – create a ripple effect within your societal sphere.
Fostering Partnerships
Partner with universities beyond hiring efforts (for upskilling of technical and soft skills, etc.) – use the existing network to build deeper connects and spread the message of Inclusion to other institutions.
Make supplier diversity a priority to empower queer-owned businesses.
Play your part in influencing government policies and actions taken by industry bodies.
Create internship opportunities, run scholarship programs, host leadership, and mentoring sessions to upskill the LGBTQ+ community.
"We need to pace the journey on queer enablement and empowerment; learnings from women empowerment efforts can serve as starting point towards building that momentum. As we have learnt, social awareness and financial stability are key to upliftment; and that starts with partnerships across the ecosystem towards skill building and creating employment opportunities."
– Ritu Raj
Enable connections between corporates and the less privileged LGBTQ+ persons in India, through CSR or training initiatives with NGOs and grassroots-level activists (Ex: Grace Banu). Invite them to speak to and interact with your workforce, to open their eyes to what life is really like for the marginalized.
"We need to incorporate as much diversity in our approach of working and addressing the problem, as we say we do in our talent strategies."
– Neelam Jain
PeriFerry's approach has been to not only prepare trans people for the workplace but to co-create workspaces that are truly inclusive and nurturing towards the LGBT+ community. The start-up has created jobs for over 205+ transgender persons, enabled 60+ corporate journeys, and has successfully sensitized over 22,000+ corporate India employees.
What exactly does it mean to be an 'Ally'? Can you shed some light on the role of LGBTQ+ Allies in delivering Inclusion outcomes for an organization?
An ally, quite simply, can be anyone whose heart is in the right place – a good listener, eager to learn and engage, and committed to the LGBTQ+ cause. Allies are the single biggest factor that can transform a workplace.
"Please remember – you don't need to be an expert to be an advocate."
– Karanbir Singh
Expectations of an Ally
Acknowledge your privilege.
Take charge of leading (and not only contributing to) Pride networks.
Challenges faced by Allies
The fear of being labelled as part of the LGBTQ+ community, leading to passive support techniques rather than active ones.
Not knowing the line between curiosity and invading personal boundaries, when interacting with queer persons.
Measuring success of Allyship Initiatives
Tangible Metrics
Time taken to achieve "goalpost" targets
Number of employment avenues created
Number of external forums participated in (speaking at vs. attending)
Number of Allies created
Intangible Metrics
How fast are we progressing with policy and process improvements?
How often are we enabling open conversations amongst our workforce? Are questions being asked? Are we clarifying misconceptions or shifting biases?
Are we standing up for potentially offensive behavior on any interaction platform? Ex: Insensitive jokes or nicknames, constant interruptions, etc.
What are some key takeaways you would like to leave any budding LGBTQ+ Allies with?
Be open to the fact that identifying as part of the community is not restricted to professionalism, but rather all aspects of your personal life. A family member, friend or neighbor could be a part of the LGBTQ+ community as much as a colleague could.
Being an ally takes patience and persistence. Passionate individuals may become restless to see immediate outcomes, but do not lose heart. Acknowledge that good things take time – so, stick with it, show proof of work, and gratification will follow.
Interpret openly, listen deeply, and welcome discomfort.
Always have the attitude of doing more, to be more.
"Selfishly, becoming an ally was an opportunity to become a better version of myself – i.e., more effective at work and more emotionally balanced in life – because of the knowledge and wisdom I have gained throughout this sensitization journey. That should be the starting point for everyone to want to become an ally, if nothing else."
– Kanisha Raina
A Starter's Guide to LGBTQ+ Inclusion
Okay, you changed your logo and pledged support with Pride hashtags…what next?
When it comes to true Inclusion, everyday interactions with peers and leaders matter as much as organizational policies or formal processes. To make meaningful progress for LGBTQ+ employees, organizations can start with a few basics:
Advance Awareness – Unlearn, Learn, Relearn
Analyze Yourself – Assess your programs, policies, and communication styles through an inclusive lens
Anonymize Feedback – Build collaborative and safe spaces for open conversations
Acknowledge the Strength in Numbers – Collaboration breeds Innovation AND Impact
"When a flower doesn't bloom, you fix the environment in which it grows, not the flower," said Alexander Den Heijer. As organizations, we are responsible for fixing that environment for the LGBTQ+ community.
So, what are we waiting for?
To craft an authentic yet customized LGBTQ+ Inclusion strategy, reach out to us at info@zinnov.com.
Global Talent | Blog
Busting Myths On creating A Learning And Development Strategy
04 Jan, 2023 Are you thinking twice about creating an Learning & Development strategy for your GCoE? Read more here, on how it is vital for business success.
The Evolving Pillars Of Culture Supporting The New Talent Paradigm
30 Nov, 2022 The pillars that support the concept of organizational culture are evolving. What factors do they include now?
Global Talent | CASE STUDIES
A US-based Digital Customer Engagement company leveraged global talent for product development
30 Aug, 2022 We helped find the most suitable global locations for the client's goal and program manage the entire setup, including recruitment for the new center.


According to Frost and Sullivan, the market for artificial intelligence (AI) in healthcare is expected to grow by 68 percent year-over-year between now and 2022. Its application is expected to be broad, from supply chain management to helping physicians develop personalized care plans based on patient history and the latest research.
One firm making headlines at this January's Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas was IBM Watson partner HeartBit. It launched a range of T-shirts with built-in electrocardiograph (ECG) monitors, capable of reading heart muscle behavior similar to the machines common in hospitals.
The first generation of clothing and applications from HeartBit are designed to help fitness fans improve their workout regime, and data from the ECG system is analyzed using AI to recommend new training programs. In the future, however, HeartBit plans to release a version that will help treat patients recovering from heart attacks.


This document describes BagIt, a set of hierarchical file layout conventions for storage and transfer of arbitrary digital content. A "bag" has just enough structure to enclose descriptive metadata "tags" and a file "payload" but does not require knowledge of the payload's internal semantics. This BagIt format is suitable for reliable storage and transfer.


PREHAM, Olivier; PINHO, Flaviane A.; PINTO, Ana Isabel; RANI, Gulab Fatima; BROWN, Najmeeyah; HITCHCOCK, Ian S.; GOTO, Hiro ; KAYE, Paul M.
Human visceral leishmaniasis, a parasitic disease of major public health importance in developing countries, is characterized by variable degrees of severity of anemia, but the mechanisms underlying this change in peripheral blood have not been thoroughly explored. Here, we used an experimental model of visceral leishmaniasis in C57BL/6 mice to explore the basis of anemia following infection with Leishmania donovani. 28 days post-infection, mice showed bone marrow dyserythropoiesis by myelogram, with a reduction of TER119(+) CD71(-/+) erythroblasts. Reduction of medullary erythropoiesis coincided with loss of CD169(high) bone marrow stromal macrophages and a reduction of CXCL12-expressing stromal cells. Although the spleen is a site of extramedullary erythropoiesis and erythrophagocytosis, splenectomy did not impact the extent of anemia or affect the repression of medullary hematopoiesis that was observed in infected mice. In contrast, these changes in bone marrow erythropoiesis were not evident in B6.Rag2(-/-) mice, but could be fully reconstituted by adoptive transfer of IFN gamma-producing but not IFN gamma-deficient CD4(+) T cells, mimicking the expansion of IFN gamma-producing CD4(+) T cells that occurs during infection in wild type mice. Collectively, these data indicate that anemia during experimental murine visceral leishmaniasis can be driven by defects associated with the bone marrow erythropoietic niche, and that this represents a further example of CD4(+) T cell-mediated immunopathology affecting hematopoietic competence.


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Tag Archives: All American Road Show
Chris Stapleton Announces New "All-American Road Show Tour" With Dwight Yoakam, Hank Williams Jr, Sheryl Crow, Jason Isbell & More
Chris Stapleton will revive his All-American Road Show this summer and fall with more than 30 dates, including stops in Phoenix, Denver, Atlanta, New York, Chicago and more. As in years past, Chris will be bringing along a motley crew of supporting artists at various stops, including Dwight Yoakam, Elle King, Hank Williams Jr., Kendell…… MORE
Chris Stapleton Announces 36-Date "All-American Road Show Tour"
Chris Stapleton will hit the road this summer for his 2018 All-American Road Show Tour. The 36-date tour kicks off on June 16 in Brandon, Miss., and makes stops in Seattle, Denver, Los Angeles, Chicago, Atlanta and more. Marty Stuart and Brent Cobb will serve as support on the tour. Pre-sale tickets for the Stapleton…… MORE
Chris Stapleton Returns to the Stage After Postponing Tour
After postponing his All-American Road Show earlier this month because of a finger injury, Chris Stapleton will return to the stage tonight (June 22) in Tulsa, Okla. Anderson East and Brent Cobb will serve as openers for the sold-out show. In addition, Chris has rescheduled the seven dates he was forced to postpone. Chris' new…… MORE


"Reports emerged that White House officials had pressured immigration authorities to release grinchey Chinese into sanctuary cities, President Trump confirmed the shocking proposal I via tweet later. He spoke to reporters. We'll bring the legal early. Call them, the illegals. I call them the legals. Came across the border illegally will bring them to sanctuary city areas and let that particular area take care of it. Whether it's a steak, or whatever it might be Trump made their remarks at a White House event Friday saying he could Anak the plan if Democrats don't accept his immigration proposals. Trump has long railed against sanctuary cities, which have board local police from cooperating with federal immigration agencies like ice democratic Seattle mayor Jenny Durkan responded to Trump an op-ed saying Seattle is not afraid of immigrants and refugees. What does it scare us a president and federal government that would seek to weaponize a law enforcement agency to punish perceived political enemies this president believes that immigrants and refugees burden our country and burden cities like ours. But he could not be more wrong. She said the new York Daily News published a defiant front page cover with the headline. We'll take them on Saturday, featuring a photo of the statue of liberty. With the words, give us your tired. Your poor your huddled masses yearning to breathe free. Minnesota freshman, congress member Ilhan, Omar says she's received a spike and death threats since President Trump tweeted a video"


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Connecticut's complex justice issues, unpacked
CT files new allegations against Purdue, Sacklers in opioid lawsuit
by Ana Radelat and Jenna Carlesso April 22, 2019 @ 6:54 pm Updated March 5, 2022 @ 12:06 am
Attorney General William Tong laying out the state's case against Purdue Pharma and the Sackler family. Jenna Carlesso / CT Mirror
Connecticut stepped up its legal fight with Purdue Pharma Monday, adding new defendants, a new charge and new allegations of wrongdoing by the Sackler family to a complaint that says the company and its wealthy owners promoted deadly opioid addiction.
The amended lawsuit, which was initially filed in December, says Stamford-based Purdue, the maker of OxyContin and other addictive pain relievers, and the Sacklers told doctors addiction was "not caused by drugs," but instead was the result of "susceptible individuals." Purdue said "appropriate" patients would not get addicted, the lawsuit said.
The new filing also expands on Purdue's tactics to maximize the sale of its opioids by pushing doctors to prescribe higher and higher doses.
Connecticut Attorney General William Tong said the new allegations "demonstrate the callous indifference" with which Purdue Pharma and its executives, especially former company president Richard Sackler, approached their work.
"They pursued profits – financial gain – over the incredible and frankly, immeasurable, human toll and human cost of the opioid and addiction crisis," Tong said.
Purdue pushed back strongly Monday against the new charges.
"Purdue Pharma and the individual former directors of the company vigorously deny the allegations filed today in Connecticut and will continue to defend themselves against these misleading attacks," said company spokesman Robert Josephson.
The amended complaint, filed in state Superior Court, also alleges Purdue used a "savings card" to provide discounts to patients not fully covered by insurance in order to keep patients on opioids long enough for addiction to take hold and conducted a failed study into the use of an opioid for osteoarthritis.
The amended lawsuit also addresses Purdue Pharma's threats to declare bankruptcy to avoid what could be billions of dollars in court judgments, as nearly 2,000 cities – including dozens in Connecticut — and 34 states have sued the pharmaceutical company over its sale of opioids.
The amended lawsuit said Purdue funneled billions of dollars to the Sacklers from the sale of opioids — at least $700 million a year from 2010 to 2020 — which the state is attempting to "claw back" to make available to pay court judgments or settlements. It also adds a new charge – the fraudulent transfer of funds.
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"They pursued profits – financial gain – over the incredible and frankly, immeasurable, human toll and human cost of the opioid and addiction crisis."
Attorney General William Tong
The money to the Sacklers was routed through other Purdue companies, including Purdue Holdings L.P., PLP Associates Holdings L.P., Rosebay Medical Company, L.P., and Beacon Company. Those companies and their executives are now new defendants in the suit.
Other defendants include Richard Sackler, Jonathan Sackler, Mortimer D.A. Sackler, Kathe Sackler, Ilene Sackler Lefcourt, Beverly Sackler, David Sackler and Theresa Sackler. The lawsuit also names former CEOs John Stewart and Mark Timney as defendants.
"We will not allow Purdue Pharma to cry poverty after illegally transferring hundreds of millions of dollars to members of the Sackler family—unearned funds these individuals reaped as Connecticut families suffered," Tong said.
Tong also said Purdue and its executives and owners knew "by the latest 2007 and probably earlier," that they were liable for the addictive qualities of their products because they pleaded guilty to federal criminal charges in 2007.
"So they were on notice that we were going to hold them responsible or someone was going to hold them responsible for the tremendous financial cost of the addiction crisis fueled in part by Purdue Pharma and its owners and executives, and with that notice … they took billions of dollars out of the company, which were looted and siphoned into trusts and entities controlled by individual defendants, including members of the Sackler family," Tong said.
Last month, Purdue and the Sacklers reached their first settlement on an opioid case, agreeing to pay Oklahoma a $270 million settlement.
But the company has denied wrongdoing and says its time-released opioids, like OxyContin, are safe and that the company has initiated programs and practices to combat addiction.
"The complaint is part of a continuing effort to try these cases through the media rather than the justice system," Josephson said."Such allegations demand clear evidence linking the conduct alleged to the harm described, but we believe the state fails to show such causation to support its sweeping legal claims."
While many have sued Purdue, Connecticut was the first state, after Massachusetts, to also sue the Sacklers and company executives. But more states are now also targeting the Sacklers, including New York, which last month amended its lawsuit against Purdue to charge the pharmaceutical company with fraudulently transferring money to the Sacklers despite knowing it faced major liabilities that would make it insolvent.
Connecticut's lawsuit is based on a state law, the Connecticut Unfair Practices Act, which imposes a penalty of up to $15,000 a day on violators.
It details the economic cost of opioid addition in Connecticut, saying that in 2016 it topped more than $10.3 billion. That included $493 million in healthcare spending, and $144 million in costs associated with investigating and prosecuting crimes related to the epidemic.
Opioids were involved in a record 47,600 overdose deaths in 2017 in the United States, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Tagged: addiction, bankruptcy, lawsuit, overdose, OxyContin, Purdue Pharma, William Tong
Ana Radelat
aradelat@ctmirror.org
Ana has written about politics and policy in Washington, D.C.. for Gannett, Thompson Reuters and UPI. She was a special correspondent for the Miami Herald, and a regular contributor to The New York TImes, Advertising Age and several other publications. She has also worked in broadcast journalism, for CNN and several local NPR stations. She is a graduate of the University of Maryland School of Journalism.
More by Ana Radelat


Home / Cameras / LOMO cameras / RARE: very early LOMO Smena-8m lomography camera, s/n 002514!
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You may pay safely via BDO bank deposit, paypal or coins.ph options & have the item delivered to your doorstep.


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San Jose - Nature Tours
Irazú Volcano, Lankester Gardens, Orosi Valley
**** Tour doesn't operate on Mondays and Tuesdays.
Cancelation Policy for one day tours
Cancellation must be made a full 48 hours prior to the service, otherwise a penalty of 100% will be applied 90% refund if cancel 48 hours or more (10% charged to cover bank refund fees).
No refunds for No shows.
BILINGUAL GUIDE (ENGLISH/SPANISH)
ENTRANCE FEE TO: IRAZU VOLCANO NATIONAL PARK
ENTRANCE FEE TO: LANKESTER GARDENS
Soaring 11, 260′ above sea level and spread out over 5,700 acres, the Irazú Volcano "Mountain of rumbling and trembling" is the highest peak of the Central Volcanic range and the largest volcano in Costa Rica. The road to the summit of Irazú Volcano heads north just before Cartago, the former capital of Costa Rica, winding past beautiful scenery and fantastic views before ending at the awe-inspiring crater. Once at the top of the misty Volcano you will be astonished by its "lunar" landscape.
The tour will begin with us trekking south along the Panamerican Highway until we reach the base of the behemoth "Iztaru" (a name of an indigenous village that was situated on the flanks of the volcano, and a likely candidate as a possible origin for the current name of the Irazu Volcano).
The winding road traverses fertile lands in which all types and forms of vegetation are cultivated, all the while affording us a spectacular panoramic view of the surrounding hills and valleys. And, at the very top of the summit, on a clear day, one can be privy to an unforgettable bird's eye view of both the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans.
As we descend to the city of Cartago we will stop at the Virgin of the Angels Basilica – a famous peregrination site for many believers, some of which travel for days or even weeks on foot, in a pilgrimage of faith, to the site. The Basilica has large vaulted ceilings and exquisite examples of stained glass windows, and is a must see.
Next, after we visit the Basilica we will stop at the Lankester Gardens, a University of Costa Rica Center for investigation that protects more than 800 species of orchids, bromeliads and countless species of other plants.
Then, we will continue to the Valley of Orosi, an area that overflows with unparalleled beauty. We will be able to visit one of the few remaining colonial churches and we will stop to enjoy a tasty typical lunch at one of the local restaurants.


His birth certificate says he was born in Westwood, New Jersey and he is announced as fighting out of Brasilia, Brazil, but Saturday night's inaugural UFC event in Santiago, Chile will still be a homecoming of sorts for Vicente Luque.
While there is comfort in sleeping in your own bed and driving your own vehicle to the venue, home games can also mean more calls from long lost cousins or old friends from high school suddenly looking to reconnect after all these years and take some extra tickets off your hands if you just happen to have two or three or seven you're looking to get rid of real quick.
Plus, fighters often grow accustomed to the routine of fight week and changing that up isn't always easy.
"I've lived this before and it has been a great experience for me," said Luque, who earned a first-round knockout victory over Hector Urbina while competing in his hometown of Brasilia and another when he took on Belal Muhammad at UFC 205 in New York City, just a few miles down the New Jersey Turnpike and through the Lincoln Tunnel from where he was born.
After coming out on the wrong side of a showdown with rising British welterweight Leon Edwards, Luque rebounded last time out with a second-round submission win over Niko Price, lacing up a D'Arce choke after stinging "The Hybrid" with strikes along the fence near the close of the round.
Following the bout, he lobbied for a date with another surging fighter from the United Kingdon, Darren Till, who had collected a victory over Donald Cerrone the previous weekend in Gdansk, Poland. The talented Scouser got stationed next to Stephen Thompson in a bout that headlines next weekend's debut event in Liverpool, leaving Luque to square off with the talented Canadian Laprise instead.
"The big thing is I wanted to fight in Chile, so the opponent wasn't so important to me," said Luque. "Chad is a great opponent – he's coming in with three wins, three knockouts, and he's a great striker that pushes forward.
Luque also hopes it's a bout that helps him continue his slow and steady climb up the welterweight ranks.
"I feel really good about how my career has gone," he said, reflecting on a career that started almost nine years ago. "I'm after that title. I want to be the champion. I want to be in the Top 15 first, get to the Top 10, then the Top 5, fight for the championship, win the championship and keep it for a long time.
Saturday night, in front of friends and family at the Movistar Arena in Santiago, Chile, forward is the only direction Luque intends to go.
"I fight forward. I don't hold back. It's not that I'm looking for the finishes, but my style is to press forward and hit the guy as hard as I can.
They've happened in each of his last five victories and if it happens again this weekend against Laprise, "The Silent Assassin" will take another big step forward in his journey towards the top of the welterweight division.


Hi wonderful people! I want to thank you for 300.000 plays of my songs and for so many sharings! You are great! I am so happy! I hope you keep listening to, enjoying and sharing. Light, Peace, Love and Success to everyone! I love you all!


Take just the basic supplies needed to paint in watercolor: paint, paper, brushes, and a palette… and watch this basic watercolor LIVE demo of a small landscape! This event will feature pigment-rich, Professional Turner Watercolors, that are priced at what a student grade, low quality set would run. Creating a Small Landscape Using Watercolor Supplies and See what beautiful color concentration can do for even a beginner!


HOUSTON — One Texas family grew by six Friday — and it happened in less than 10 minutes.
She gave birth to two sets of twin boys and one set of twin girls. Delivering the babies only took 9 minutes. According to the hospital, the odds of sextuplets are one in 4.7 billion.
The babies were born at weights ranging from 1 pound, 12 ounces to 2 pounds, 14 ounces.


text:
Q: Pygame no video I am wondering if someone can help me with pygame(Python). I keep getting an error from my code:
bif ="bg.jpg"
mif = "mouse.png"
import pygame
import sys

from pygame.locals import *

pygame.init()
screen=pygame.display.set_mode((682,415),0,32)
backround= pygame.image.load(bif).convert()
mouse_c=pygame.image.load(mif).convert()
x, y =0,0
movex, movey =0,0
while True:
    for event in pygame.event.get():
        if event.type == QUIT:
            pygame.quit()
            sys.exit()
        if event.tpye == KEYDOWN:
            if event.key==K_LEFT:
                movex =-1
            elif event.key==K_RIGHT:
                movex=+1
            elif event.key ==K_UP:
                movey=-1
            elif event.key==K_DOWN:
                movey=+1

And the error I get is:
Traceback (most recent call last):
  File "C:\Documents and Settings\Aidan\Desktop\Mygame.py", line 15, in <module>
    screen=pygame.display.set_mode((682,415),0,32)
pygame.error: No available video device`

I have a Sony Vaio VGN-T1XP running on Windows XP.

A: It seems like an issue with outdated hardware/software you got there. You can try submitting an issue with pygame, or try debugging pygame yourself to find out why but it's going to be complex. I really can't replicate it, even tried with my windows XP virtualbox.

A: Also sounds like an issue with the depth to me... From the PyGame documentation:
"It is usually best to not pass the depth argument. It will default to the best and fastest color depth for the system. If your game requires a specific color format you can control the depth with this argument. Pygame will emulate an unavailable color depth which can be slow."
You find it here:
http://www.pygame.org/docs/ref/display.html#pygame.display.set_mode
So the best solution would be to just leave flag and depth on default. I always used it that way round so far. From some older code of mine:
SCREEN = pygame.display.set_mode((1024, 768))

Try it this way round and let us know whether it worked or not. And have more fun with PyGame, I really start to love it :D If you need any more good tutorials, feel free to ask me :)

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