Stuyvesant High School's Chronic Lack of Black Students - The Atlantic

Stuyvesant High School's Chronic Lack of Black Students - The Atlantic: Seven black students were accepted to Stuyvesant High School this year. Five years ago, the number was exactly the same.



The first sentence of the New York Times story was like a blow to the gut. “Seven black students have been offered a chance to start classes at Stuyvesant High School in September,” out of 952 total offers. It was two fewer black students than the nine the school had accepted the year prior in a freshman class of 963 students. In response, a state lawmaker declared that he would redraft a bill he had introduced three years earlier to change the admissions policies at the school; the city reeled. It was 2014.

Gerrymandering and justiciability ~ Parsons

https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=3334370

Seven Black students accepted to Stuyvesant High School

https://www.nytimes.com/2019/03/18/nyregion/black-students-nyc-high-schools.html#click=https://t.co/ZJ9GzbjVgu

Murphy Signs Bill Curtailing Workplace Nondisclosure Agreements | New Jersey Law Journal

Murphy Signs Bill Curtailing Workplace Nondisclosure Agreements | New Jersey Law Journal: Cases involving discrimination retaliation or harassment including sexual assault and sexual harassment fall under the new law.

New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy on Monday signed a bill into law that restricts the use of nondisclosure agreements in employment contracts and settlement agreements. Cases involving discrimination, retaliation or harassment, including sexual assault and sexual harassment, fall under the new law.

Such agreements are featured in settlements in which the aggrieved party agrees not to pursue litigation or discuss terms of the deal in exchange for a sum of money. Under typical terms, if the NDA is violated, the other party may sue for injunctive relief to stop the release of information, and recover damages.

But recent high-profile cases involving powerful men in entertainment, politics and media, including Harvey Weinstein and Bill Cosby, put such agreements in the spotlight. Proponents of the bill saw them as tools used to silence accusers and deny them the opportunity to seek justice through the courts.

The new law prohibits provisions in employment contracts that waive the rights of victims and makes any such contract which require employees to conceal details relating to these types of claims unenforceable against employees. If the employee publicly reveals enough information to identify the employer, the employer would then be also free to discuss the case.

“Non-disclosure agreements have, for a long time, been used to silence and intimidate the victims of sexual assault and harassment,” Sen, Loretta Weinberg (D-Bergen), the bill’s main sponsor in the upper chamber, said. “Limiting these so-called ‘confidentiality agreements’ will help lift the secrecy that allows abusers to carry on abusing, and make our workplaces safer for everyone.”

Specialized High School Parents Confront AOC

Alexandria Ocasio Cortez responds to parent protests about changes to admissions standards fr the Specialized High Schools  March 16, 2019
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">I LOVE how fired up our NY-14 town halls get. This is New York City!<br><br>Getting fired up means you care. I’d never discount the passion and courage it takes to stand up at a town hall.<br><br>So this was a great moment and an awesome opportunity to have this honest conversation. 💜 <a href="https://t.co/c9PYVEMgHm">https://t.co/c9PYVEMgHm</a></p>&mdash; Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@AOC) <a href="https://twitter.com/AOC/status/1107043822415069186?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 16, 2019</a></blockquote>
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Judge dismisses female genital mutilation charges in historic case

Judge dismisses female genital mutilation charges in historic case: U.S. District Judge Bernard Friedman concluded that "as despicable as this practice may be," Congress did not have the authority to pass the 22-year-old federal law that criminalizes female genital mutilation, and that FGM is for the states to regulate. FGM is banned worldwide and has been outlawed in more than 30 countries, though the U.S. statute had never been tested before this case. 


"As laudable as the prohibition of a particular type of abuse of girls may be ... federalism concerns deprive Congress of the power to enact this statute," Friedman wrote in his 28-page opinion, noting: "Congress overstepped its bounds by legislating to prohibit FGM ... FGM is a 'local criminal activity' which, in keeping with long-standing tradition and our federal system of government, is for the states to regulate, not Congress."

The Case for Reparations - David Brooks

The case for Reparations - a slow convert to the cause - David Brooks

In a hotbed of opposition to admissions changes to New York City’s specialized high schools, Carranza doesn’t back down

In a hotbed of opposition to admissions changes to New York City’s specialized high schools, 

Carranza doesn’t back down

by Christina Veiga // Chalkbeat New York

Schools Chancellor Richard Carranza was cut off by a chorus of boos.

He faced about 100 parents Wednesday night at a town hall in south Brooklyn’s District 20 — the epicenter of resistance against the city’s plans to integrate its specialized high schools.

Spanning the neighborhoods of Bay Ridge, Dyker Heights, and a sliver of Sunset Park, the district has served as a reliable pipeline to the coveted schools. It is also home to the Christa McAuliffe School, where the parent organization has sued the city, claiming that admissions changes that will take effect this year will discriminate against Asian students.

“Let’s be really clear. The notion that you can only receive a quality education in a specialized high school is false,” he said, prompting disapproval from the audience.

 The exchange illustrated how much is at stake for many of the district’s families, who have come to see the specialized schools as make-or-break, the best shot for their child’s success. That is especially true for many Asian families, many of whom come from modest means.

Carranza tried repeatedly to convince the crowd that the country’s largest school system offered plenty of other rigorous high school options — only to be met with a litany of questions about how the city’s plans for specialized schools would affect the area’s students.

“How is our district going to be represented in this equation, and how are we going to have equity and fairness to be able to aspire to these locations?” asked Adele Doyle, president of the local Community Education Council, which hosted the town hall.

Social workers, overdose reversers, counselors: Why are Philly police tasked with so much more than law enforcement? | Opinion

Social workers, overdose reversers, counselors: Why are Philly police tasked with so much more than law enforcement? | Opinion: Why are we asking police officers to deal with situations that aren’t criminal in nature?

by Abraham Gutman

On a cold night in January, SEPTA transit police officers asked a group of homeless people who were finding shelter in Suburban Station to leave as the station was closing for the night. The group refused. Violence erupted and the officers used their batons and pepper spray. Who threw the first punch is disputed. A few days later, a SEPTA police officer was filmed dragging a homeless person who seems to be in a state of stupor in a wheelchair across Suburban Station. When confronted by a bystander, the officer responded: “You want to take him? Go. Take him home with you.”

Some people who saw the video saw a burned-out police officer who handles a difficult population on a daily basis. Others saw lack of empathy and dehumanization of a person who is homeless. At the heart of both of these incidents are police officers who are tasked with dealing with a social problem, not a crime. It’s easy to blame this kind of behavior on specific officers, but that avoids a larger conversation about the role of police in Philadelphia and if it matches the city’s evolving needs.

Sweeping bills to end forced arbitration introduced | Public Citizen

Support is growing for an end to forced arbitration of consumer and workers grievances.  Last year  10% of Goggle's global workforce walked out, demanding an end to compulsory arbitration sexual harassment claims.  Last week Google announced it is ending the policy.

Today Representative Hank Johnson and Senator Richard Blumenthal introduced sweeping legislation to bar such agreements.  The measure has already gained the support of a wide array of consumer and progressive organizations.  - GWC





Public Citizen Press Room | Public Citizen: Statements of Public Citizen Experts

Public Citizen Applauds Sweeping Legislation That Would End Secretive, Restrictive Forced Arbitration Agreements

Statements of Public Citizen Experts

Note: Today, U.S. Rep. Hank Johnson (D-Ga.) and U.S. Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) introduced the Forced Arbitration Injustice Repeal (FAIR) Act of 2019, which would prohibit the use of forced arbitration in consumer, civil rights, employment, and antitrust disputes. These clauses – which require disputes to be decided by an arbitrator that is often chosen by a corporation, rather than by a judge and jury – are buried in the fine print of paperwork that consumers must sign to open a bank account, buy a cell phone or enter a nursing home. Public Citizen leads a coalition of organizations to end corporations' use of these insidious clauses.  

"Imagine if the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that corporations could escape lawsuits aiming to enforce consumer protection, worker rights and anti-discrimination laws simply by uttering a secret code. Outrageously, exactly that has happened, except it is not a secret. Corporations of all sorts insert forced arbitration provisions into worker and consumer contracts, and effectively wipe away people's protection against financial rip-offs, wage theft, online swindles, harassment and discrimination and more. The good news is that the public has caught on to this racket and is demanding action. The FAIR Act provides exactly what the public is demanding: an end to the forced arbitration fraud that systematically strips Americans of their legal rights and access to justice."

- Robert Weissman, president

"This legislation is long overdue. Many Americans don't know that they will be forced into arbitration proceedings as an alternative to their right to go to court when they accept job offers, buy a cell phone, take out a loan or enter a retirement home. We can't have one more worker sign away their rights when they start a career, nor can we have one more abused grandmother be robbed of her day in court. This bill gives Americans their rights back."

- Lisa Gilbert, vice president of legislative affairs

"The FAIR Act is an important step in restoring access to justice for those who have been harmed, as it would ensure that systemic claims of wrongdoing are no longer hidden from public view. We will continue to lead a coalition of organizations committed to ending the practice of forced arbitration and urge Congress to quickly act."

- Remington A. Gregg, counsel for civil justice and consumer rights, Public Citizen's Congress Watch division