New York union protests racist austerity
By G. Dunkel posted on May 7, 2021
New York City
A New York State budget that underfunds education was denounced as racist austerity by union members and allies at an April 27 rally and march in Manhattan.
The Professional Staff Congress-CUNY rallies, with president Barbara Bowman on the bullhorn, New York City, April 27. WW Photo: G.Dunkel
Attending were over 150 members of the Professional Staff Congress of City University of New York, members of DC37 working at CUNY and members of NYC for Change. DC37, American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME), is New York City’s largest public employee union.
White House Lifts Secrecy of Visitor Logs Cloaked by Trump Bloomberg 1 day ago Jennifer Epstein
(Bloomberg) President Joe Biden’s White House released its first set of records detailing visits by official guests, returning to a practice set by the Obama administration and dismissed by the Trump team.
The White House disclosed 400 visits during Biden’s first 12 days in office. While hundreds of visitors might have been to the White House complex on an ordinary pre-pandemic day, the sparse logs from the start of the Biden presidency show just how limited in-person activities have been.
A fifth of those listed are members of the Marine Band and the Herald Trumpets who performed on Inauguration Day, and one of the most frequent visitors was an American Sign Language interpreter.
Former Obama administration official arrested on charges of charter school embezzlement
Seth Andrew, a senior advisor to former President Barack Obama in the Office of Education Technology, was arrested last Tuesday on charges he stole more than $200,000 from Democracy Prep Public Schools, a network of charter schools he founded in 2005.
Andrew is accused of stealing the amount to obtain a lower interest rate on his $2 million Manhattan apartment. Accusations include one count each of wire fraud, money laundering and making a false statement to a bank. Through his lawyer, Andrew has pleaded not guilty to the charges, which carry maximum penalties ranging from 20 to 30 years in prison. He was released on bail after the arrest.
Biden releases first set of White House visitors logs Follow Us
Question of the Day
By Dave Boyer - The Washington Times - Friday, May 7, 2021
The Biden White House released its first set of visitors’ logs on Friday, detailing a relatively sparse guest list during the pandemic and reversing a Trump-era policy.
Among the 400 guests during the last 12 days in January the only period covered in the first batch were teachers’ union presidents Randi Weingarten of the American Federation of Teachers President and Becky Pringle of the National Education Association. They were hosted by first lady Jill Biden, also an educator, on the administration’s first full day in office.
UC community must show up for lecturers, support fair contract
UNIVERSITY AFFAIRS: UC lecturers have continued to show up for students. It’s time for students to show up for them.
Rachel Lee/Staff
If professors are the brain of the UC system, lecturers are the heart and lungs. Yet, the essential work of UC lecturers remains undervalued and unprotected. UC lecturers instruct 42% of all credit hours and perform unquantifiable amounts of unpaid labor outside of their job description.
But they have been contractless for more than two years, and the UC administration continues to drag its feet in negotiations. Despite this, UC lecturers have continued to show up for students. It’s time for students to show up for them.