By Mary Ellen Flannery When Angelica Reyes said good-bye to her students on Monday, the start of summer break in her Los Angeles school district, she didn’t know whether she’d be seeing them again this fall, or facing possible deportation. Reyes, who has lived in Los Angeles since her parents brought her there from Mexico … Continued
“An employer who fires an individual merely for being gay or transgender defies the law.” – U.S. Supreme Court On June 15, 2020, the U.S. Supreme Court announced that LGBTQ employees — including all LGBTQ educators — are protected under federal law from discrimination at work based on sexual orientation or gender identity. This is … Continued
How states, localities and educators are responding More than 20,000 African Americans – or 1 of every 2,000 Black residents – have died from COVID-19. Across the United States, the coronavirus pandemic is hitting many Black communities especially hard, revealing a stunning difference in the COVID-19 death rate of Black Americans and the rest of … Continued
Black, Latino, Indigenous and low-income communities have been hit especially hard by COVID -19, laying bare a host of longstanding structural and institutional inequities. But physical distancing and other COVID-related restrictions are not stopping local groups allied with educators from organizing and improvising in their communities.
While it might not seem like it, COVID-19 shall pass. What remains constant, however, is the need for learning and community resources related to social and racial justice, a statement made all the more relevant in light of the inequities laid bare by the pandemic. Here are some resources for your students, your community and … Continued
NEA member Leslie Crow lives in South Dakota and is Ihanktonwan/Hunkpati/Sicangu Sioux. Photo by Moses Mitchell. The virus has already hit the Navajo Nation especially hard, with more than 830 cases and 30 deaths as of April 21. As the number of COVID-19 cases and deaths continue to rise across the United States, the pandemic … Continued
During the COVID-19 quarantine, educators across the country are learning how to continue to provide a safe and affirming experience for LGBTQ students via distance learning. Recent data supports the need for educator action and focus: According to HRC’s 2018 LGBTQ Youth Report: 67% of LGBTQ students hear their families make negative comments about LGBTQ … Continued
Every significant immigration issue that might affect students or educators, from DACA renewals to federal support of immigrant workers and their families, is impacted by the current COVID-19 pandemic. At the same time, more than 200,000 DACA recipients – including nearly 15,000 educators and 29,000 health care workers – are working to protect our health … Continued
Photo by Joe Brusky, used under Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 2.0 Generic license. As the number of confirmed COVID-19 cases continues to rise across the United States, the FBI has issued an alert, distributed to law enforcement agencies across the country, warning of an increase in hate crimes targeting Asian Americans. According to an FBI analysis … Continued
By Félix Pérez Native American students in Washington who want to wear tribal regalia at their graduation ceremonies should be heartened by two recent actions, one by the state legislature and the other by the state superintendent of public instruction. The state House of Representatives, on a 95-1 vote, passed a bill Feb. 12 that “expressly acknowledges that students … Continued