via Beau Hodai, Alternet In Arizona an unsettling trend appears to be underway: the use of private prison employees in law enforcement operations. The state has graced national headlines in recent years as the result of its cozy relationship with the for-profit prison industry. Such controversies have included the role of private prison corporations in … Continue reading
via Stephen Ceasar, Los Angeles Times The University of California will pay damages of $30,000 to each of the 21 UC Davis students and alumni who were pepper-sprayed by campus police during an otherwise peaceful protest 10 months ago, the university system announced Wednesday. The agreement, which must still be approved in federal court, also … Continue reading
via Amy B. Dean, The Huffington Post “We are striking to improve the conditions in the schools. Right now the children are getting a raw deal.” That statement came from a striking member of the Chicago Teachers’ Union… in 1969. It still resonates in September 2012, when the CTU’s members have again walked a picket … Continue reading
via NBC News Dozens of churches and community organizations also were opening their doors to students for at least part of the day. John Harvey and Sarah Vanderstow were dropping off their 7-year-old son, Aiden, at the Disney Magnet School, but they were nervous because it was unfamiliar to the second-grader, the Tribune reported. Vanderstow … Continue reading
via Valerie Strauss, The Washington Post In the ‘you-can’t-make-up-this-stuff’ category, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation is spending about $1.1 million to develop a way to physiologically measure how engaged students are by their teachers’ lessons. This involves “galvanic skin response” bracelets that kids would wear so their engagement levels could be measured. If this … Continue reading
via Alexander Trowbridge and Mackenzie Weinger, Politico Many Hispanic students and workers have stayed home in response to Alabama’s tough new immigration law — and that’s the whole point of the measure, Rep. Mo Brooks said on Thursday. The Alabama Republican told POLITICO in an interview that he does not consider the above-average number of … Continue reading