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Why I Am Shopping for Handcuffs on Black Friday: Occupy the Capitol!
A premeditated crime is about to take place on November 28, 2011.
With police across the country obsessively focused on enforcing camping regulations on Occupy activists, dangerous criminals who perpetrate truly heinous crimes are being left to run free.
When a crime syndicate recently announced its intention to make another hit on the youth of Washington State, teachers began preparing to take up yet another unpaid task in their day to help enforce public safety.
Nov 26, 2011
A premeditated crime is about to take place on November 28, 2011.
With police across the country obsessively focused on enforcing camping regulations on Occupy activists, dangerous criminals who perpetrate truly heinous crimes are being left to run free.
When a crime syndicate recently announced its intention to make another hit on the youth of Washington State, teachers began preparing to take up yet another unpaid task in their day to help enforce public safety.
This organized crime ring is made up of Washington State lawmakers from both parties who are set to convene a special legislative session on November 28th to cut $2 billion from the State budget, largely from education and healthcare--a clear violation a Washington State court ruling last February that found the State guilty of not fulfilling its Constitutional obligation to fund basic education.
As King County Superior Court Judge John Erlick ruled in his February school-funding decision, "State funding is not ample, it is not stable, and it is not dependable." Washington's constitution declares that education is the State's "paramount duty"--making the proposed shortening of the K-12 school year by four days and cutting $152 million in levy-equalization payments to property-poor school districts in clear violation of the law.
Beyond breaking the State Constitution and Judge Erlick's recent ruling, these budget cuts are literally a matter of life and death. Should the cuts be ratified, it would result in the elimination of the State's Basic Health plan, ending a program that subsidizes health care for some 35,000 people living in poverty. Denying healthcare to the state's most vulnerable populations will undoubtedly lead to increased morbidity.
In a feeble attempt to defray these draconian budget cuts, Washington State Gov. Chris Gregoire has proposed a regressive sales-tax increase. Yet in a state that gives away $6.5 billion through tax loopholes, mostly to big business, taxing already struggling Washingtonians is no solution. Washington-based Microsoft received $143 million last year in special tax breaks, and aircraft maker Boeing got $104 million. JPMorgan Chase, which took over Washington Mutual in 2008, continues to receive a $120 million tax break on interest collected on first-time mortgages. There are also loopholes for cosmetic surgery ($6.25 million this year) and private jet enthusiasts ($5 million this year). By some measures, Washington State has the most regressive tax system in the entire nation, which has already led to 2.7 billion in cuts to K-12 education over the past three years. This means that even if the legislature passes a proposed sales-tax--a measure very likely to fail--they will still be in flagrant violation of the law.
On Monday, November 28, Occupiers will be attempting to turn the Olympia Capitol building into a scene out of Wisconsin. I will be taking the day off from school to teach a more vivid civics lesson than I ever could from within the four walls of my classroom by joining with scores of educators to help reclaim our State Capitol building in Olympia. Members of the Social Equality Educators (SEE), a progressive network of Northwest teachers, will be issuing citizen arrest warrants to the state legislature for their failure to uphold their constitutional duty to fund education.
Today I am going shopping--anyone know of a good "Black Friday" deal on a sturdy pair of handcuffs?
An Urgent Message From Our Co-Founder
Dear Common Dreams reader, The U.S. is on a fast track to authoritarianism like nothing I've ever seen. Meanwhile, corporate news outlets are utterly capitulating to Trump, twisting their coverage to avoid drawing his ire while lining up to stuff cash in his pockets. That's why I believe that Common Dreams is doing the best and most consequential reporting that we've ever done. Our small but mighty team is a progressive reporting powerhouse, covering the news every day that the corporate media never will. Our mission has always been simple: To inform. To inspire. And to ignite change for the common good. Now here's the key piece that I want all our readers to understand: None of this would be possible without your financial support. That's not just some fundraising cliche. It's the absolute and literal truth. We don't accept corporate advertising and never will. We don't have a paywall because we don't think people should be blocked from critical news based on their ability to pay. Everything we do is funded by the donations of readers like you. Will you donate now to help power the nonprofit, independent reporting of Common Dreams? Thank you for being a vital member of our community. Together, we can keep independent journalism alive when it’s needed most. - Craig Brown, Co-founder |
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Jesse Hagopian
Jesse Hagopian is a high school teacher in Seattle, and the author of the forthcoming book, Teach Truth: The Attack on Critical Race Theory and the Struggle for Antiracist Education. Jesse is editor for Rethinking Schools magazine, a founding member of Black Lives Matter at School, a campaign organizer for the Zinn Education Project's "Teach the Black Freedom Struggle," the co-editor of the books, Black Lives Matter At School: An Uprising for Educational Justice, Teaching for Black Lives, Teacher Unions and Social Justice, and the editor of More Than a Score: The New Uprising Against High Stakes Testing. His blog, www.IAmAnEducator.com.
A premeditated crime is about to take place on November 28, 2011.
With police across the country obsessively focused on enforcing camping regulations on Occupy activists, dangerous criminals who perpetrate truly heinous crimes are being left to run free.
When a crime syndicate recently announced its intention to make another hit on the youth of Washington State, teachers began preparing to take up yet another unpaid task in their day to help enforce public safety.
This organized crime ring is made up of Washington State lawmakers from both parties who are set to convene a special legislative session on November 28th to cut $2 billion from the State budget, largely from education and healthcare--a clear violation a Washington State court ruling last February that found the State guilty of not fulfilling its Constitutional obligation to fund basic education.
As King County Superior Court Judge John Erlick ruled in his February school-funding decision, "State funding is not ample, it is not stable, and it is not dependable." Washington's constitution declares that education is the State's "paramount duty"--making the proposed shortening of the K-12 school year by four days and cutting $152 million in levy-equalization payments to property-poor school districts in clear violation of the law.
Beyond breaking the State Constitution and Judge Erlick's recent ruling, these budget cuts are literally a matter of life and death. Should the cuts be ratified, it would result in the elimination of the State's Basic Health plan, ending a program that subsidizes health care for some 35,000 people living in poverty. Denying healthcare to the state's most vulnerable populations will undoubtedly lead to increased morbidity.
In a feeble attempt to defray these draconian budget cuts, Washington State Gov. Chris Gregoire has proposed a regressive sales-tax increase. Yet in a state that gives away $6.5 billion through tax loopholes, mostly to big business, taxing already struggling Washingtonians is no solution. Washington-based Microsoft received $143 million last year in special tax breaks, and aircraft maker Boeing got $104 million. JPMorgan Chase, which took over Washington Mutual in 2008, continues to receive a $120 million tax break on interest collected on first-time mortgages. There are also loopholes for cosmetic surgery ($6.25 million this year) and private jet enthusiasts ($5 million this year). By some measures, Washington State has the most regressive tax system in the entire nation, which has already led to 2.7 billion in cuts to K-12 education over the past three years. This means that even if the legislature passes a proposed sales-tax--a measure very likely to fail--they will still be in flagrant violation of the law.
On Monday, November 28, Occupiers will be attempting to turn the Olympia Capitol building into a scene out of Wisconsin. I will be taking the day off from school to teach a more vivid civics lesson than I ever could from within the four walls of my classroom by joining with scores of educators to help reclaim our State Capitol building in Olympia. Members of the Social Equality Educators (SEE), a progressive network of Northwest teachers, will be issuing citizen arrest warrants to the state legislature for their failure to uphold their constitutional duty to fund education.
Today I am going shopping--anyone know of a good "Black Friday" deal on a sturdy pair of handcuffs?
Jesse Hagopian
Jesse Hagopian is a high school teacher in Seattle, and the author of the forthcoming book, Teach Truth: The Attack on Critical Race Theory and the Struggle for Antiracist Education. Jesse is editor for Rethinking Schools magazine, a founding member of Black Lives Matter at School, a campaign organizer for the Zinn Education Project's "Teach the Black Freedom Struggle," the co-editor of the books, Black Lives Matter At School: An Uprising for Educational Justice, Teaching for Black Lives, Teacher Unions and Social Justice, and the editor of More Than a Score: The New Uprising Against High Stakes Testing. His blog, www.IAmAnEducator.com.
A premeditated crime is about to take place on November 28, 2011.
With police across the country obsessively focused on enforcing camping regulations on Occupy activists, dangerous criminals who perpetrate truly heinous crimes are being left to run free.
When a crime syndicate recently announced its intention to make another hit on the youth of Washington State, teachers began preparing to take up yet another unpaid task in their day to help enforce public safety.
This organized crime ring is made up of Washington State lawmakers from both parties who are set to convene a special legislative session on November 28th to cut $2 billion from the State budget, largely from education and healthcare--a clear violation a Washington State court ruling last February that found the State guilty of not fulfilling its Constitutional obligation to fund basic education.
As King County Superior Court Judge John Erlick ruled in his February school-funding decision, "State funding is not ample, it is not stable, and it is not dependable." Washington's constitution declares that education is the State's "paramount duty"--making the proposed shortening of the K-12 school year by four days and cutting $152 million in levy-equalization payments to property-poor school districts in clear violation of the law.
Beyond breaking the State Constitution and Judge Erlick's recent ruling, these budget cuts are literally a matter of life and death. Should the cuts be ratified, it would result in the elimination of the State's Basic Health plan, ending a program that subsidizes health care for some 35,000 people living in poverty. Denying healthcare to the state's most vulnerable populations will undoubtedly lead to increased morbidity.
In a feeble attempt to defray these draconian budget cuts, Washington State Gov. Chris Gregoire has proposed a regressive sales-tax increase. Yet in a state that gives away $6.5 billion through tax loopholes, mostly to big business, taxing already struggling Washingtonians is no solution. Washington-based Microsoft received $143 million last year in special tax breaks, and aircraft maker Boeing got $104 million. JPMorgan Chase, which took over Washington Mutual in 2008, continues to receive a $120 million tax break on interest collected on first-time mortgages. There are also loopholes for cosmetic surgery ($6.25 million this year) and private jet enthusiasts ($5 million this year). By some measures, Washington State has the most regressive tax system in the entire nation, which has already led to 2.7 billion in cuts to K-12 education over the past three years. This means that even if the legislature passes a proposed sales-tax--a measure very likely to fail--they will still be in flagrant violation of the law.
On Monday, November 28, Occupiers will be attempting to turn the Olympia Capitol building into a scene out of Wisconsin. I will be taking the day off from school to teach a more vivid civics lesson than I ever could from within the four walls of my classroom by joining with scores of educators to help reclaim our State Capitol building in Olympia. Members of the Social Equality Educators (SEE), a progressive network of Northwest teachers, will be issuing citizen arrest warrants to the state legislature for their failure to uphold their constitutional duty to fund education.
Today I am going shopping--anyone know of a good "Black Friday" deal on a sturdy pair of handcuffs?
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