16 Jul

Education Coalition wants public hearing for KCS, local law enforcement policy agreement

Posted by in Justice Knox, Public Education Improvement

July 16, 2019. WATE

Several community groups have requested a public forum to discuss an agreement soon to be made between the Knox County School district and the local law enforcement agencies.

The agreement mentioned is the Memorandum of Agreement by and between the Knox County Board of Education, Knoxville Police Department and Knox County Sheriff’s Office, which addresses the roles and responsibilities of law enforcement agencies at the schools.

“The draft Memorandum of Agreement has been developed largely behind closed doors and without meaningful opportunity for questions, comments or input from the public,” according to the release sent by the Education Coalition.

Read More “Education Coalition wants public hearing for KCS, local law enforcement policy agreement”
24 May

Interfaith group pushes Fayette to address higher rates of suspensions for black students

Posted by in BUILD, Minority Rights, Public Education Improvement

May 24, 2019. Lexington Herald-Leader.

A “high number of suspensions and racial disparities” in Fayette County Public Schools is motivating Belinda Snead to implore school board members to make changes.

Snead said that she is not only speaking as a member of an interfaith organization but as a grandmother of students in Fayette County schools who have been suspended.

“I’m very concerned about the high number of suspensions and racial disparities,” Snead told school board members at their May 20 meeting. “My grandchildren have been suspended three times as have other families represented by the BUILD organization and we know that kids do better when they stay in school.

Read More “Interfaith group pushes Fayette to address higher rates of suspensions for black students”
07 May

Dozens of congregations around the Midlands address social issues at event

Posted by in Affordable Housing, MORE Justice, Public Education Improvement

May 7, 2019. WIS News.

COLUMBIA, SC (WIS) – 30 congregations of various faiths across the Midlands were in downtown Columbia tonight to try and improve social issues in our state. The group is called MORE Justice which stands for The Midlands Organized Response for Equity and Justice.

Tonight, they held their 2nd annual Nehemiah Action Assembly.

The group wanted to focus again on being proactive, and asking elected officials for their support.

“The people in our communities are not expendable,” one speaker at the event said.

Read More “Dozens of congregations around the Midlands address social issues at event”
06 May

Interfaith group BREAD seeks more focus on housing crisis

Posted by in Affordable Housing, BREAD, Economic Opportunity, Minority Rights, Public Education Improvement

May 6, 2019. The Columbus Dispatch.

Ali Miller is an AmeriCorps VISTA worker who spends half of her paycheck on housing here in Columbus.

The job doesn’t pay much, she said — about $12,000 a year. That gives her no money for a car, or alcohol. She gets no money from her parents.

And a local social justice group says there are thousands more like Miller who can’t pay the escalating rents in a growing Columbus and central Ohio.

“We want affordable housing too,” said Miller, not new places with $1,000-a-month rents with granite countertops and fancy exercise rooms.

Read More “Interfaith group BREAD seeks more focus on housing crisis”
12 Apr

Know Your ABCs

Posted by in Public Education Improvement, RISC

April 12, 2019. Richmondmag.

Sitting inside an empty classroom near the front office, members of the faith-based coalition Richmonders Involved to Strengthen Our Communities (RISC) are listening to the Woodville Elementary School morning announcements with Richmond Public Schools Chief Academic Officer Tracy Epp.

“I am somebody. I am proud of myself, and I will act in a way to make others proud of me, too,” Principal Shannon Washington says over the intercom. Within minutes, the second-year principal darts in to greet about a dozen RISC Education Team members who are visiting on this December morning to observe a pilot program called Reading Mastery that debuted at six elementary and two middle schools this past fall. The group pushed for a “proven reading curriculum” for academically struggling schools such as Woodville, where only about a third of students were reading on grade level last year.

Read More “Know Your ABCs”