ALIANZA NORTH COUNTY
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AlianzaNorthCounty.com Volume 3, Issue 7
Noticias y Opinión progresista
Latino Students Shine with Rigorous New Program by Rick Mercurio A second grade student shares why it is important to be a wise consumer and to look for labels that say “Fair Trade,” because if they don’t it could mean that children such as themselves were used as slaves in the process. A fifth grade student works with Waves For Water to provide filters for those who do not have access to clean water as a result of their unit of study on Sharing the Planet. Such unlikely maturity and worldwide awareness are real life examples from Alvin Dunn Elementary School in San Marcos, where its International Baccalaureate (IB) program has blossomed. The goals are impressive: to prepare students for the intellectual challenges of further education and their future careers, focusing on the development of the whole child as an inquirer, both in the classroom and in the world outside. In existence since 1997 for elementary level, the IB program came to Dunn in 2012. It is taught in 106 countries worldwide, reflecting its theme of Global Citizenship. According to Dunn’s website, all students have the opportunity to communicate in both Spanish and English, and to make connections throughout the world, often using technology. Virtual field trips and online projects enable Dunn’s students to work together with other students throughout the world. “I’ve noticed a huge difference in students’ ability to research facts and gain conceptual knowledge of big issues,” observed Maria de la Luz Reyes, a volunteer at Dunn and secretary of the Route 78 Rotary. “I mentored eight students for their end-ofyear exhibition, and they were able to speak intelligently, beyond simple repetition of facts, and in both languages,” she said. “I was blown away.” The IB program nurtures independent learning skills, encouraging every student to take responsibility for their learning. It incorporates local and global issues
Progressive News & Opinion
september 2016
Estudiantes Latinos Sobresalen en Nuevo Riguroso Programa por Rick Mercurio
Scenes from Alvin Dunn Elementary School in San Marcos. Alvin Dunn is an International Baccalaureate, or IB, school.
into the curriculum, asking students to look at six related, transdisciplinary themes and to consider the links between them. Beyond that, students take action, including these examples: • Collecting money for individuals with disabilities and sending donations to Handicap International. • Creating flyers to hand out at exhibitions about different companies that utilize sweatshops and encouraging people not to buy those products.
Cont. on page 13
What happened to the Home-to-School Transportation funds in Oceanside?
Un estudiante de segundo grado comparte el por qué es importante ser un consumidor inteligente y buscar etiquetas que digan “Comercio justo”, porque la ausencia de esa etiqueta prodría significar que niños como ellos fueron usados como esclavos en el proceso. Como resultado de una unidad didáctica sobre compartir el planeta, un estudiante de quinto grado trabaja con Waves For Water para proveer filtros a aquellos que no tienen acceso a agua limpia. Tan improbable madurez y conciencia mundial son ejemplos de la
vida real de la escuela primaria Alvin Dunn Elementary School en San Marcos, donde su programa de Bachillerato Internacional (IB por sus siglas en inglés) ha florecido. Las metas son impresionantes: preparar a los estudiantes para enfrentar los retos intelectuales de sus futuros estudios y carreras, enfocándose en el desarrollo del niño como investigador, tanto en el aula como en el mundo fuera de ésta. El programa IB ha existido desde 1997 y llegó a la escuela Dunn en el 2012. Se enseña en 106 países, lo que refleja el tema de la ciudadanía global. Según la página web de la escuela Dunn, todos los estudiantes tienen la oportunidad de comunicarse tanto en español como en inglés, y de establecer conecciones por el mundo, a menudo con el uso de la tecnología. Excursiones virtuales y proyectos en línea permiten que los estudiantes colaboren con otros estudiantes alrededor del planeta. “He notado una gran diferencia en las habilidades de los estudiantes de investigar hechos y de obtener conocimiento conceptual sobre grandes asuntos,” observó Maria de la Luz Reyes, voluntaria en Dunn y secretaria de la Route 78 Rotary. “He asesorado a ocho estudiantes en su exhibición de fin de año, y ellos pudieron hablar inteligentemente, más allá de una simple repetición de información, y en ambos idiomas,” dijo. “Quedé totalmente sorprendida.” El programa IB fomenta las destrezas de aprendizaje independiente, alentando a cada estudiante a tomar la responsabilidad de su propio aprendizaje. Incorpora asuntos locales y globales en el programa, pide que los estudiantes contemplen seis temas relacionados, en diferentes disciplinas, y que consideren las conecciones entre éstas. Fuera de ello, los estudiantes ponen manos a la obra, he aquí, algunos ejemplos: Ver Alvin Dunn en la página 15
¿Qué pasó con los fondos del Transporte?
Last year parents paid half and “worked” for the other half of the busing fee by picking up trash. During mandated trash pick-up, parents say they wore required orange vests that caused them to suffer the humiliation of neighbors accusing them of getting a drunken driving ticket.
El año pasado pagaron la mitad y “trabajaron” para la otra mitad por recoger la basura. Durante el mandato de recogida de basura, los padres llevaban chalecos de color naranja necesarios que les hizo sufrir la humillación de vecinos acusándolos de recibir una multa por conducir ebrio.
For the first time in nearly 40 years, the state of California changed their funding formula calling it the local control funding formula LCFF) of 201314 to improve and streamline the delivery of educational services to students. In announcing the new funding formulas, the California Department of Education assured parents that services would not be diminished but improved by the new model. There would not be a reduction in funding, but an increase. Programs like home-to-school transportation and services to English learners were to be maintained. Districts would work with parents, union leaders, teachers, and administers to determine the needs of the district and would develop a Local Control and Accountability Plan (LCAP). Parents were assured that public and parent input would be used to develop, revise, and update the LCAP. Reports from across the state indicate that the LCAP process has not delivered to parents especially parents of poor children and students learning English as a second language. Services that were often “required” by state categorical programs are gone. In their place came new administrators, instructional coaches, staff development and pay raises for staff. Administrators are now paid salaries and retirements in some cases two times higher than a decade ago. The promised programs that would be maintained are not always provided. Many parents and communities report that they did not have an equal “voice” in the process. Parents were left with limited
Por primera vez en casi 40 años, el estado de California ha cambiado su fórmula de financiar distritos escolares llamándolo el local de control de la financiación fórmula LCFF) de 2013-14. Se propone que el cambio es para mejorar servicios educativos a los estudiantes. Al anunciar las nuevas fórmulas de financiación, el Departamento de Educación de California aseguró a los padres que los servicios no se vería disminuido, pero mejoran con el nuevo modelo. No habría una reducción de la financiación, pero un aumento. Los programas como el transporte de casa a la escuela y los servicios a los estudiantes de inglés se mantuvieran. Distritos trabajarían con los padres, líderes sindicales, maestros y administración para determinar las necesidades del distrito y desarrollarían un plan de control y rendición de cuentas local (LCAP). Los padres se les aseguró que la opinión del público y de los padres podría ser utilizado para desarrollar, revisar y actualizar la LCAP. Los informes de todo el estado indican que el proceso LCAP no ha entregado a los padres especialmente a los padres de los niños pobres y los estudiantes que están aprendiendo Inglés como segunda lengua. Los servicios que a menudo eran “necesarios” por los programas categóricos estatales se han ido. En su lugar entró nuevos administradores, entrenadores de instrucción, formación de personal y aumentos de sueldo para el personal. Ahora, los administradores se pagaron los sueldos y jubilaciones de escalonamiento en algunos casos tres veces mayor que hace una década. Los programas prometidos Estado que mantengan no siempre se proporcionan. Muchos padres y las comunidades informar que no tenían una “voz” igual en el proceso. Los padres se quedaron con entrada limitada debido a que muchos de
input because many required them to use technology that is not readily accessible. In some cases, the English learner parents were only one voice on a huge committee with many competing interests. Major needs of families were ignored and not included as “closed surveys” forced choices that appealed to administrative and district options. The parents complained that they had no voice or ability to compete with the lock step channels created by districts to collect “choices” and develop the LCAP. The linguistic and unique needs of poor and English learner children were sometimes marginalized by overwhelming professional agendas. One example locally of ignoring parent input is reported in Oceanside Unified School District. When parents of English learners were asked what do you want the schools to do to improve your school, they responded restore transportation so that our children can make it to school. Their input was not possible to put on the closed question survey that Oceanside provided, so many of them wrote “transportation” on the survey and turned it in. This voice or subject was not in the perception of the parents one the district wanted to hear. Parents report that they believed that LCAP developers had already decided that transportation was not one of the options for parents even though the California Department of Education website says: “LCFF will maintain Hometo-School Transportation funds.” One school board member is reported to have told parents, “If we provide you home to school transportation, we have to provide Cont. on page 12
Opinions expressed in Alianza North County are those of the individuals expressing them and not of the publishers.
ellos son obligados utilizar tecnología que no es fácilmente accesible en el barrio. En algunos casos, los padres de estudiantes de inglés eran sólo una voz en un gran comité con muchos intereses en competencia. Las principales necesidades de las familias se ignoran y no se incluyen como “encuestas cerradas” decisiones forzadas que hizo un llamamiento a las opciones administrativas y de distrito. Los padres no tenían voz ni capacidad de competir con los canales creados por el paso de bloqueo distritos para recoger “opciones” y desarrollar la LCAP. Las necesidades lingüísticas y únicas de los pobres y los niños en inglés aprendiz fueron marginados por las agendas profesionales. Un ejemplo local de ignorar opinión de los padres es Oceanside Unified School District. Cuando se preguntó a los padres de los estudiantes de inglés, ¿qué quieres las escuelas que se pueden hacer para mejorar su escuela, respondieron restaurar transporte para que nuestros hijos puedan llegar a la escuela. Su entrada no fue posible poner en la encuesta con preguntas cerradas que proporcionan Oceanside, por eso muchos de ellos escribió “transporte” en la encuesta. Esta voz o sujeto no era uno que el distrito quería oír. Ya habían decidido que el transporte no era una de las opciones para los padres a pesar de que el sitio del Departamento de Educación de California dice: “. LCFF va mantener los fondos de Transporte Hogar a la Escuela.” Una escuela se informa que han dicho a los padres, “Si nos proporcionar transporte del hogar a la escuela, tenemos que proporcionar para cada uno en el almuerzo gratis o reducido, y ya sabemos que ustedes mienten en la encuesta de elegibilidad. Secretario de Educación John King señala en un comentario en el noticiero Education Week que el absentismo crónico es un mejor predictor de abandonar
Ver Los programas como el transporte en la página 15
ALIANZA NORTH COUNTY
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Noticias y Opinión progresista
From the Editors Intimidation by litigation We have been covering the political hit against former EUSD board member, José Fragozo. Early August, he took a plea to one felony count. While Fragozo’s adversaries believe this points to his guilt, it is important to remember that people often agree to plea deals not because they are guilty, but rather to avoid the extreme stress of a jury trial and the costs incurred as litigation continues. (Remember, the hearings for a restraining order filed by the district’s superintendent lasted for weeks for a TRO. While the judge dismissed the restraining order, the many weeks of legal fees likely did not go away for Mr. Fragozo.) By all accounts, Mr. Fragozo is first and foremost a family man. Likely, he took the plea to spare his family the ordeal of a trial. The DA offered him a deal that dropped 12 of the 13 felony counts and charged him with only one count of election fraud. The remaining count was based on the fact that he had allowed his nephew to stay in his apartment for four months in 2014. It was said that therefore he did not live in the downtown Escondido residence enough time that single year to vote from that address. The problem is that he technically did qualify to vote. Even with the four months of his nephew living in the apartment, he lived there five nights a week and only went home on the weekends. That means he lived
De Los Editores Intimidación por medio de juicios Hemos estado cubriendo el golpe político en contra del antes miembro del comité del EUSD, José Fragozo. A principios de agosto, él aceptó una declaración por un cargo de delito mayor. Mientras que los adversarios Fragozo creen que esto apunta a su culpabilidad, es importante recordar que la gente a menudo acepta hacer negociaciones no porque sean culpables, si no para evitar el estrés extremo de un juicio legal y los costos que se acumulan conforme la litigación avance. (Recuerden, las audiencias para una orden de alejamiento presentada por el superintendente del distrito duraron dos semanas por un TRO. Mientras que el juez desechó la orden de alejamiento, las muchas semanas de costos legales seguramente no desaparecieron para el señor Fragozo). Todos coinciden que el señor Fragozo es un hombre de familia. Seguramente aceptó el trato para ahorrarle a su familia el calvario de un juicio legal. El fiscal le ofreció un trato que eliminaba 12 de los 13 cargos por delitos mayores y solamente se le acusó de un cargo de fraude de elecciones. El cargó que sobró fue en base a que permitió que su sobrino se quedara en su departamento por cuatro meses en el 2014. Se dijo que por lo tanto no vivió el tiempo suficiente en su residencia en el centro de Escondido ese año para poder votar con
The Politics of Destruction there at least 51% of the time, so he should have, in fact, qualified to vote from that address. As part of the deal, Fragozo resigned his seat on the school board. With his resignation, the 76% Latino student population lost their only advocate on the Board. This was a shameful day for Escondido Union School District although the remaining board members seem incapable of feeling shame. And the board majority continues on, painting the situation as if their tactics were somehow vindicated by Fragozo’s acceptance of a deal. And their vindictive legal moves continue as the August 25th, EUSD agenda item H105 states: “Authorize Superintendent to seek restitution for costs incurred on Mr. Jose Fragozo when he was not legally entitled to hold office. Costs include board stipends, benefits,conference/travel,security and legal costs related to Temporary Restraining Order.” Sometimes the not-so-good guys win. While the legal system doesn’t always work the way it should, we are still hoping for karma. Intimidation by gossip To say this election cycle is filled with vitriol is a gross understatement. Not only do we see it on the national stage, but locally as well. And it’s not necessarily Republicans and Democrats going at each other. People who are supposedly like-minded, and basically
Alianza
on the same side, seem to have no problem taking down others out of fear of losing their own power. A particular case is happening in Oceanside. An enormous amount of time and energy has been spent trying to paint a city council candidate in a very dark light. This candidate, Dr Linda Gonzales, is highly educated, an accomplished professional and a business owner. She has had harsh criticism leveled at her based on incidents from many years ago, incidents that can be explained when context is given. Yet the criticism and the gossip continue. Are we looking for candidates who are perfect? Or do we want our representatives to be qualified citizens whose values are mostly aligned with our own, and who have a genuine desire to serve the public good? All candidates should be held accountable for their choices past and present. They should be thoroughly challenged, questioned and asked for explanations. But they should also be treated with fairness and respect. Good people run for office to serve their communities, not to be destroyed by those with their own political agenda. With all the hatred spewing from political enemies and supposed allies, it becomes less and less likely that qualified people with good intentions will consider running for public office.
Las políticas de la destrucción ese domicilio. El problema es que en realidad sí calificaba para poder votar. Aún con los cuantro meses que su sobrino vivió en ese departamento, él vivió ahí cinco noches por semana y solamente se iba a su casa los fines de semana. Eso significa que vivió ahí por lo menos el 51% del tiempo, entonces de hecho debió haber calificado para poder votar con ese domicilio. Como parte del trato, Fragozo renunció a su puesto en el comité escolar. Con su renuncia, el 76% de la población estudiantil latina perdió a su único asesor en el comité. Este fue un día vergonzoso para el Distrito Escolar de la Unión de Escondido, aunque los miembros del comité restantes no parecen ser capaces de sentir vergüenza. Y la mayoría del comité sigue, presentando la situación como si sus tácticas de alguna manera fueron revindicadas por aceptar el trato. Y sus maniobras legales vengativas continúan ya que el 25 de agosto, el tema H105 de la agenda del EUSD dice: “Autorizar al Superintendente a buscar una restitución por los costos incurridos por el señor Fragozo cuando no tenía derecho legal de estar en esta posición. Los costos incluyen estipendios del comité, beneficios, conferencias/viajes, seguridad y costos legales relacionados a la Orden de Alejamiento Temporal.” A veces los no tan buenos ganan. Mientras que el sistema legal no siempre funciona de la manera en que debería, aún
esperamos que el karma se encargue. Intimidación por medio del chisme Decir que este ciclo electoral está lleno de insultos es decir poco. No tan solo lo vemos a nivel nacional, sino que también local. Y no es necesariamente que los republicanos y los demócratas se estén peleando. La gente que según piensa de manera similar, y básicamente están del mismo lado, parece no tener ningún problema en agredir a otros por miedo a perder su poder. Un caso en particular sucedió en Oceanside. Se ha gastado mucho tiempo y energía en tratar de presentar a una candidata al ayuntamiento como una villana. Esta candidata, la Doctora Linda Gonzales es una persona con mucha educación, una profesional exitosa, y dueña de su propio negocio. Ha recibido duras críticas en base a incidentes que ocurrieron hace muchos años, incidentes que pueden ser explicados si se ponen en contexto. Sin embargo las críticas y los chismes continúan. ¿Buscamos a candidatos que sean perfectos? ¿O queremos que nuestros representantes sean ciudadanos calificados y que sus valores se complementen con los nuestros, y que tengan un deseo real de servir al bien del público? Todos los candidatos deben de hacerse responsables de las decisiones del pasado y del presente. Deben de ser exigidos arduamente, se les debe cuestionar y se les debe pedir expli-
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caciones. Pero también se les debe tratar con igualdad y respeto. Gente buena se postula para un cargo para servir a su comunidad, no para que se le destruya por aquellos con su propia agenda política. Con todo el odio que existe por parte de los enemigos políticos y de los supuestos aliados, se hace menos y menos probable que gente calificada con buenas intenciones considere postularse para un puesto público.
Reprinted with kind permission from the San Diego Free Press by Doug Porter They’ll say it’s the smell of excrement. Or the public intoxication. Or the aggressive panhandling. Or the intrusion on their public or private space. People hate what they don’t understand. Lots of people translate their repulsion in hate. Homeless people on the street are a stark reminder of the failure that could be lurking around the next corner in life. And in order to get along in life, the rest of us have to deny the possibility of becoming one of ‘them.’ All homeless people apparently lived great lives until they somehow fucked it up and ended up homeless. And “we” are better than that. Or so we think. Don’t Feed the Bums I was confronted with the intensity of the loathing back in 2010 when OB Rag editor Frank Gormlie posted a story about an anti-homeless sticker and merchandise being sold in an Ocean Beach headshop. “Welcome to Ocean Beach Don’t Feed the Bums” was the message being conveyed, a take off on signs posted urging people not to feed wildlife. Frank’s story, along with his call for a boycott of the store peddling the message, got picked up on media nationwide. A snip posted at the OB Rag on June 21, 2010: Homelessness is a social issue and we have a social responsibility to deal with it. We should be aiming our proverbial guns at City Hall about all of this, and not toward each other, and not at the homeless. One of our concerns is that the
Why Do People Hate the Homeless? hatred, the vitriol against the homeless, is being legitimized. Being down on the homeless while not being down on homelessness, is now okay. We fear this could lead to violence against the homeless. In fact, one homeless commenter to our blog talked about a rise in assaults against homeless here in OB. Is the sticker something we are proud about enough to show our children? Is this how we handle problems like adults? Does the anti-homeless sticker represent a grown-up way of doing things? Will our children now feel it’s okay to speak smack against homeless people? Or despise them? We got our answer to those questions a few days later, as a dozen or so of us showed up to run a picket line. Here’s snip of my account: Picket line and protest in front of The Black, with onlookers, counter-protesters, cops and the media. Photo by Jim Grant. There were television trucks lined up along the street and I spotted OB Rag editor Frank Gormlie, dressed in a suit (!) surrounded by an angry, jeering mob. For a few moments I feared for his safety, as the level of anger in the air reached a fevered pitch. Things were clearly getting out hand. The crowd was getting aggressive, pushing him around and trying to silence him. There wasn’t any real dialogue going on–just yelling, with lots of words, gestures and pure loathing. It was evil, unmitigated hatred, garnished with a healthy dollop of vile. The arrival of the San Diego Police and an (late like I was—hey, it’s OB, nothing starts
on time) influx of other people protesting the Black’s sale of these stickers, lowered the level of anger to a barely tolerable level. To be sure, there were individuals in the crowd who continued to try to force physical confrontations, especially one young man who seemed hell-bent on picking a fight. He made it his personal crusade— non-stop for two hours—to personally insult, curse and harass every person who showed up to walk that picket line. At one point a woman came to me in tears, after he called her a “worthless piece of shit” and other things much less printable. I met Ernie McCray that day. Here was his take: I spent the next two hours wondering if I was in the Twilight Zone as I held up a sign upon which I had written “Children are Watching! Show them OB’s Loving Heart (symbol)” while all around me there were people supporting The Black’s “First Amendment Rights.” Their chests were puffed out like bantam roosters or boxers staring each other down in the middle of the ring before a hyped up championship fight. I saw people’s fists clenched as though hungry gremlins were coming to take a bite out of their loins. Venomous words flew from mouths like fighter planes taking off from the USS Midway to bomb anyone who would dare stand up for “bums” and we were asked nonsensical “bum” questions that morphed into one big: “Would you like it if your grandma was mugged by a bum with a knife or if you had a bum urinate and defecate on your hydrangeas or camped out or passed out or shot up or had
sex in your yard or begged you for money or blocked your way every time you wanted to walk down the street or showed your children that it’s okay to expect a handout without working?” What was scary is that they asked these questions as if they actually expected “Yes” as an answer, as though because you’re standing there protesting the insensitivity of a respected business, that you support such negative depressing scenes as they had outlined in their questions. Troll Bashers Fast forward six years and the homeless problem is still with us. The attitudes on display for all to see that day are now largely confined to semi-anonymous internet commenters. The Ocean Beach Troll Bashers, a closed group on Facebook with 274 members, provides a safe space for some people with small minds and foul mouths to boast of their superiority. They came to my attention during the city-wide hunt for the man accussed of killing homeless men last month. I “joined” this closed group for few days, following up on a reader tip. Mostly it’s about white people who feel entitled/superior and use the space to vent their “feelings” about the less fortunate. There are lots of videos making fun of drunks and tweakers caught in the act of being drunks and tweakers. There are the occasional Alex Jones conspiracy videos and lots of trash talk. And then there are the boasts about running off or getting rid of “trolls,” which generally seem to be
Cont. on page 7
ALIANZA NORTH COUNTY
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Progressive News & Opinion
Paid Political Advertisement
Pedro Campos Case Back on Track
Letter to the Editor This is our new neighborhood and I can tell you that what the city did shows a total arrogance and lack of concern for the historical area of town. We’ve always known that very little has ever been done to preserve that neighborhood. Code enforcement is the only thing that the city does excellently well. The city should have passed out flyers explaining to folks what they were going to do and allowed residents to make comment. The city people dug up our sprinkling system and we had water running down the street. They finally capped the sprinklers but they haven’t repaired them. The city also left unsightly construction debris and never once advised the residents of their plans. That type of action and behavior would have never taken place in the affluent parts of town. Tania Bowman Escondido
Elected officials and candidates showed support of Congressional Candidate Doug Applegate. Pictured are Chuck Lowery, Deputy Mayor of the City of Oceanside, Adrian Hakes, Oceanside School District Board member, Colonel Doug Applegate Congressional candidate for the 49th, Nina Deerfield, candidate for Palomar College Board of Trustees.
Photos of the construction debris by Tania Bowman
On August 8, 2016, Federal District Judge Cynthia Bashant ordered that oral argument be presented in the case of Campos v. City of Escondido, Escondido Police officers Patrick Hand and Marco Fuentes. To be heard on September 12, 2016 at 10:30 a.m. is a motion filed by the City in which its attorney, Michael McGuiness, claims that the case should be dismissed because as a matter of law there are no issues of material fact to be tried. Campos’ attorney, Victor Torres, in papers filed in opposition, on the other hand, argues that there are sufficient facts upon which to entitle the parents to a jury trial. The case arises out of the shooting-death of Pedro Campos (29) on the evening of May 4, 2013. The wrongful death case was filed by Pedro’s parents on 1/13/2014 alleging the shooting of their son was unjustified and therefore in violation of the U.S. Constitution, as well as federal and state law. Pedro Campos maintained various janitorial and service jobs in Escondido. He was an active member in his non-denominational church here. The City and the officers involved have contented that when killed Campos posed a danger in that he had a three-inch knife in his possession when killed. Only one of the three officers, Marco Fuentes, involved in confronting Campos has produced a body cam video. The other two officers, however, who together initially detained Campos, have neither produced body cam videos or given any explanation as to why they have no videos to produce. Against this backdrop the plaintiffs have presented to the court still shots from the single video which show that Campos was not in possession of a knife as has been asserted by the defendants. This issue lies at the crux of the case and it is Judge Bashant who will decide whether the evidence is admissible and whether the case is to proceed to trial. Alianza will report both on the hearing as well as Judge Bashant’s ruling as soon as it is available.
ALIANZA NORTH COUNTY
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Noticias y Opinión progresista
Why Vote?
Talk to your family, friends, and neighbors to figure out your “hotbutton” issues, and then become the candidate, or vote for the candidate who agrees with you.
by Laura Johnston Kohl Why should I vote? And, even if I vote for the Presidential candidate I want, why should I care about the local candidates? All too often, people in Escondido, in San Diego, in California, and all around the United States of America ask themselves that question. Why? I’m going to tell you a bit about myself, and why I vote. I am a married senior, a retired teacher, a driver and car owner, an author, a parent of a grownup, educated, and employed son, and I get enough retirement income to pay my bills and mortgage every month and cover my health insurance. What are my “hot issues” I care about? I VOTE FOR THOSE WHO TAKE CARE TO ADDRESS MY OWN ISSUES! I want Social Security to be stable and last for my lifetime; Medicare to continue; prescription drugs to be priced reasonably; good roads; an efficient police, fire, and emergency force; and more. I would not leave it up to anyone reading this to vote FIRST for my issues. That is why YOU need to vote for candidates that represent and protect you. As of June 2016, there are 58,588 registered voters in Escondido. That means that 58,588 people are able to vote to elect someone they choose. Just as I have to vote to make sure MY voice is heard, you have to vote to make your needs well known. Fortunately, in our community, there are many shared concerns. We
voters must band together and get the local officials to represent us. Talk to your family, friends, and neighbors to figure out your “hot button” issues, and then become the candidate, or vote for the candidate who agrees with you. Think about becoming a candidate yourself. We desperately need good candidates! We have a lot going on in our community that is not in our best interest! Our local school boards are not representative of the students in our schools. Charter schools, which often do not reflect the ethnic, language, and special needs within our school districts, are allowed to pick and choose students out of our public schools. Other students are denied entry into the Charter Schools. Recent studies of the Escondido Union School District budget showed that the income desperately needed for atrisk students has been used elsewhere. Fullday Kindergartens, which have helped bridge the gap among children entering Kindergarten have been cut back. There is strong research that verifies that fullday, excellent Kindergarten (and preKindergarten) are essential classes for many of our youngest children for them to be successful later in their schooling. In Escondido, our Escondido Police share a building with I.C.E. (Immigration and Customs Enforcement). They have been seen around the
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community sharing detentions. Over 50% of our community is Hispanic. Many of these families are of “mixed status” citizens have family members who are legal residents, DACA (Deferred Action on Childhood Arrival) students, and undocumented. No one is able to call the Police in an emergency if there is anyone else in the household who is undocumented. Since our Police Department works handinhand with I.C.E. (or, at the very least, SEEMS to), many in the community tolerate intimidation and crime because they can not safely call the police. This makes our communities unsafe. Criminals are able to take advantage of this fear. Our community continues to have checkpoints. After many hours of setting up checkpoints, manning the checkpoints with overtime hours and pay, these checkpoints find very few drunk drivers. THAT is the reason the City gives for the checkpoints. Recently, the City had to be told that they could not just seize the cars of unlicensed drivers, or undocumented immigrants, and then sell them. The Courts said that they had no legal right to seize and sell the vehicles. The money ended up in Police Department budgets, covering some items that did not get approval through the normal budget review process. Aren’t you surprised that the Courts had to tell them? So, those are all the reasons you need to vote. In recent elections, candidates have won or lost by 70 votes 70 more
votes would have gotten a wonderful candidate, Consuelo Martinez, onto our Escondido City Council. You want your children and family members to have the BEST education, of course. You want your families and your communities safe from crime. You want our community protected, not preyed upon, by local law enforcement. Vote to make Escondido elected officials represent our communities, and to make them live up to your expectations since you voted for them. Elected officials need to be held accountable by their constituents. And, that includes all of us living in the community. Do your research. VOTE. If you can’t vote, educate a reluctant family member or friend who can. We need to take back Escondido, and San Diego County, and find and elect candidates who advocate for us and our needs! Support good candidates and get them in to be YOUR voice!
Laura Johnston Kohl, a bilingual educator, author, and long-time activist who lives in North County. She is an advocate of human and civil rights and works to protect these rights locally and nationally.
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Paid Political Advertisement Reprinted from Teacher Tom’s blog: teachertomsblog.blogspot.com
Democracy and Education
by “Teacher Tom” Hobson As part of a conference at which I was presenting in the state of Queensland here in Australia, I had the opportunity to visit what is called the Ration Shed Museum in the town of Cherbourg, the site of an aboriginal reservation that was created by the 1904 “Aboriginal Protection Act.” Tribes from all over Queensland and New South Wales were forcibly re-located here, and as European colonists did wherever they went, they took it upon themselves to control every aspect of the lives of these formerly free people. Matthew, our aboriginal guide, went to great lengths to emphasize that there was no intent to place blame or to make anyone feel ashamed, but as a man of European heritage in the company of citizens of Ireland and South Africa, also of European backgrounds, it was impossible to not feel at least some sense of shame if only on behalf of our ancestors. As we watched a video detailing the history of the place, we learned about the schools that were established for the education of these “primitive” people, schools chartered to teach children about keeping their noses to the grindstone, obedience, and a very narrow range of vocational skills. It was impossible to not see parallels with the current state of education in America and around the world. After several decades of trending in the direction of truly democratic education over the course of the 20th century we have now seen a sudden shift over the past twenty years in the direction of those aboriginal schools. Oh sure, we don’t say it aloud anymore, but it’s clear that those who designed such disasters as No Child Left Behind, Race to the Top, and the Common Core federal curriculum are seeking to create the modern day versions of obedient domestic workers and field hands. This year marks the 100th anniversary of the great John Dewey’s seminal work Democracy and Education (this links to a long, fantastic article I urged you to read): Did you attend a public school in the United States and perform in a school play, take field trips, or compete on a sports team? Did you have a favourite teacher who designed their own curriculum, say, about the Civil War, or helped you find your particular passions and interests? Did you take classes that were not academic per se but that still opened your
eyes to different aspects of human experience such as fixing cars? Did you do projects that required planning and creativity? If the answer to any of these questions is yes, then you are the beneficiary of John Dewey’s pedagogical revolution. Today, we are facing the same sort of pushback against democratic education that John Dewey faced back at the turn of the last century. They claim they are only doing what is best for the poor “primitives,” and perhaps they believe they are, but at what cost? The battle lines continue to be drawn between those of us who believe that the purpose of public education is to create citizens with the critical thinking and creative skills to take part in the great national project of self-governance and those who would use schools to turn children into malleable worker bees. While Dewey’s ideas shaped the schools we attended, the so-called education “reformers” are shaping the schools of our children, something that if left unchecked will result in the end of our nation. You think I’m exaggerating? Do you honestly think a man as demagogic and autocratic as Donald Trump would have had a prayer during your own childhood? Of course not. Our parents and grandparents no matter what their political leanings would have chased him out of the building with pitchforks. Trump is the result of this anti-intellectualism and the intentional dumbing down of America; not the intended result, of course, but an accident that could easily have been predicted. The skills and habits of citizenship (critical thinking, questioning authority, living a well-rounded life not always tethered to the almighty dollar) are the diametric opposites of the those required to succeed in the nose-to-thegrindstone, do-as-you’re-told future the anti-Dewey forces have planned for us. A return to the promise of progressive education may not save us, but it’s the best hope we have.
Teacher Tom Hobson blogs about teaching and learning from preschoolers. He is a preschool teacher, writer, artist and the author of “A Parent’s Guide To Seattle.”
New Report from CA ACLU Reveals Illegal Admissions Polices at Charter Schools Over 20 percent of all charter schools in California have enrollment policies in place that violate state and federal law, according to a new report released today. Among the myriad violations cited in “Unequal Access: How Some California Charter Schools Illegally Restrict Enrollment ” are policies that establish admission requirements in violation of the California Charter Schools Act, which plainly requires charter schools to “admit all pupils who wish to attend,” regardless of academic performance, English proficiency, immigration status or other factors. “We hope this report brings to light practices that prevent charter schools from fulfilling their obligations to all students who seek access to a quality education,” said Victor Leung, a staff attorney with the ACLU of Southern California (ACLU SoCal). “The report should make it clear to all charter school authorizers and operators that they must play on a level playing field and cannot cherry pick the students they enroll.” The study by the ACLU SoCal and Public Advocates examined policies at most of the state’s 1,200 charter schools and found that at least 253 violated students’ rights by: •Denying enrollment to students who do not have strong grades or test scores; •Expelling students who do not maintain strong grades; • Denying enrollment to students who fail to meet a minimum level of English proficiency; • Selecting students based on onerous pre-enrollment requirement such as essays or interviews; • Discouraging or precluding immigrant
students from attending by requiring information about the pupils’ or their parents’ immigration status; • Requiring parents to “volunteer” or donate money to the school. “The idea behind charters was never to create private academies with public funds,” said John Affeldt, managing attorney at Public Advocates. “Charter schools, like regular public schools, need to be open to all students. Admission requirements and processes that limit access or discourage certain kinds of students have no place in the public school system.” While the report is the first of its kind to conduct a broad survey of charter school admission policies, concerns about illegal policies at some schools have surfaced in recent years throughout the state. In 2013, Public Safety Academy in San Bernardino ran into trouble after it sent letters to 23 students whose grade-point average had fallen below a 2.0 in a semester advising them to enroll in another school. Officials at the school changed their policy after being contacted by the ACLU SoCal. In 2014, Public Advocates released a report documenting the practice among charter schools of requiring parents to volunteer “service hours.” The report led to new guidance from the California Department of Education explaining that requirements for volunteer hours are illegal, but today’s report shows the practice still continues in places. In addition to the survey, “Unequal Access” provides recommendations to charter schools, charter-authorizing bodies and the state Department of Education to address the violations.
Editors’ Note: While only some of our area charter schools are listed, it is important to note that the ACLU estimates that this is not all of them. If you are aware of discriminatory admission practices in any charter schools, please contact the ACLU. You may also email Alianza North County with any other charter school irregularities. We will look into it. These privately-run schools are funded with OUR tax dollars.
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Education
Poway Unified Must Recognize Its Own Racial Issues
Poway Unificado Debe Reconocer sus Problemas Raciales
por Genevieve A. Suzuki
by Genevieve A. Suzuki
Three years ago, I would have been shocked at the racial inequities assailing our country and the American people. As a child of the ’80s, I grew up with Cliff and Clair Huxtable, two educated black Americans, and their well-situated children. Sit-ins and peaceful civil rights marches were chapters in our school history books, chapters that seemed generations away from me. And yet here we are again, in 2016, facing racial discrimination that has seeped through cracks in our seemingly civilized society. San Diego is not immune to the race issue. My clients, Christopher and Kimberly Garnier, are victims of the rampant racism that still lingers at all levels of our society. Two years ago, Poway Unified School District slapped a workplace violence restraining order on Chris simply because he used his voice. The district alleged that Chris, a stay-at-home father who was working on his doctorate in education from University of Southern California, posed a danger to his children’s school principal because he “intimidated” staff members. During the long, drawn-out hearing – it spanned several months – witnesses testified Chris was intimidating, yet none of them were able to articulate just why he was intimidating. The only two witnesses from the school – the principal and an administrative assistant – admitted Chris never threatened them with violence nor had he committed violence. But, they argued, he emailed the principal an implied threat. The email at issue was sent after the principal complained to Chris about his campaigning efforts for a position on the School Site Council. As a matter of background, Chris was handing out donuts and Gatorade, which the principal deemed unfair as other candidates were not doing the same. Chris’ actual email that they found threatening reads as follows:
“That being said, your request for me to STOP advertising, ‘creatively,’ irritates me and is a greater example of the District’s need to maintain ‘status quo’ and to squash changes, diversity and difference. In life, I WIN, Principal Thomas. Even when I don’t ‘win,’ I believe that I have been blessed with self-reflection. Through focused, positive, self-reflection, one understands the investment and effort it takes to be successful…. so in essence, I WIN!”….“… the racial intolerance and necessity to maintain ‘status quo’ has become an epidemic within the district you work for and in that same district where you SERVE my black children and 3.8 percent of the other black kids represented in Poway Unified School District. You will NOT intimidate me with your title of ‘principal.’ After school today, I spent my own money and passed out Gatorades and water to students and parents of Painted Rock for free so I could develop a speaking platform to further illustrate my desire to be elected and to SERVE on the Painted Rock School Site Council. I did this with my amazing,
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supportive wife Kimberly, my oldest son Winslow, my daughter Talia, and my little baby boy Quentin. We own a home less than a half-mile from Painted Rock. We aren’t going anywhere and you are either going to assist in being a conduit for change for the betterment of minorities and those of meager socioeconomic status within this community or we can continue down this path of useless bickering and feelings of control; the difference, I have NOTHING to lose and that feeling is liberating!. . . .”
During my opposing counsel’s closing argument, they compared Chris, a decorated U.S. military war veteran as well as a chairperson for the school parent-teacher association, to the perpetrators of Sandy Hook and Columbine. Never mind that Chris had a legitimate concern for what was happening in his son’s school. Never mind that Chris had been rejected for a volunteer position in favor of nine, non-black mothers. And never mind that Chris had been ignored after having his election to a parent-board of education liaison group invalidated despite a lack of rules or guidance for the alleged technical error. Chris was a danger, they argued to the court, and so he should be restrained from coming near the school’s principal. I was shocked when the court granted a three-year restraining order against Chris and refused to make an allowance for him to pick up and drop off his children. Chris had never committed violence or threatened violence. But Chris is black. And this fact, I believe, is what allowed Poway Unified School District to get away with painting him to be an intimidating, scary guy. Unsurprisingly to any of our supporters, we immediately filed our appeal. In the meantime, on July 10, Poway Unified’s now-former superintendent John Collins was relieved of his position by the school board, which intends to sue for money they say he owes the district. Collins was district head when it filed for that restraining order in 2014. He was the one who directed district counsel to take that awful legal step and detrimentally alter my client’s life for the worse. Hearing the news that Collins had been terminated was buoying, but it’s not enough. Because, while making things right financially is a step in the right direction, the board of education at Poway Unified School District needs to also right racial wrongs so that our children can someday view this kind of chapter as one for the history books, and not a regularly occurring headline for the dailies.
Genevieve A. Suzuki is an attorney in La Mesa and represents Christopher Garnier in his appeal from Poway Unified School District’s restraining order. Suzuki also serves as co-counsel with Benjamin Yip in Garnier’s wrongful termination suit against Poway Unified School District.
Hace tres años, me habría conmocionado toda la inequidad racial que asalta a nuestro país y a su gente. Como alguien que creció en los años 80, me crie con Cliff y Clair Huxtable, dos Americanos negros educados, y sus bien acomodados hijos. Sentadas y marchas pacíficas por los derechos civiles eran capítulos en nuestros libros escolares de Historia, capítulos que parecían estar generaciones lejos de mí. Y sin embargo, aquí estamos en el 2016, enfrentando a la discriminación racial que se ha filtrado por las grietas de nuestra aparente sociedad civil. San Diego no es inmune a los problemas raciales. Mis clientes, Christopher y Kimberly Garnier, son víctimas de un racismo rampante que todavía está presente en todos los niveles de nuestra sociedad. Hace dos años, el Distrito Escolar Unificado de Poway presentó una orden de alejamiento por violencia en el trabajo en contra de Chris simplemente porque usó su voz. El distrito alega que Chris, un hombre que se hacía cargo de su hogar mientras trabajaba en su doctorado en educación para la University of Southern California, representaba un peligro para el director de la escuela de sus niños porque él “intimidaba” al personal escolar. Durante la larga audiencia –la cual duró varios meses- testigos testificaron que Chris era intimidante, pero sin embargo no pudieron articular el por qué. Los únicos dos testigos de la escuela –el director y el asistente administrativo- admitieron que Chris nunca los amenazó con violencia o que él alguna vez había cometido algún acto violento. Pero, argumentaban, que él envió por correo electrónico una amenaza implícita al director. El correo electrónico en cuestión fue enviado después de que el director se quejó con Chris de sus esfuerzos de campaña por una posición en el consejo escolar. Chris estaba regalando donas y Gatorade, lo cual el director consideró injusto ya que otros candidatos no hacían lo mismo. El correo electrónico de Chris que les había parecido amenazante decía:
“Habiendo dicho esto, su petición de que yo DEJE de anunciarme, ‘creativamente’, me irrita y es un gran ejemplo de la necesidad del distrito de mantener el ‘status quo’ y aplastar los cambios, la diversidad y la diferencia. En la vida, yo GANO, director Thomas. Aun cuando no ‘gano’, creo que he sido bendecido con la auto-reflexión. A través de la auto-reflexión enfocada y positiva, uno comprende la inversión y el esfuerzo que se requieren para alcanzar el éxito…así que, ¡YO GANO!” … “…la intolerancia racial y la necesidad de mantener el ‘status quo’ se ha convertido en una epidemia dentro del distrito para el que usted trabaja y el mismo distrito donde usted SIRVE a mis hijos negros y al 3.8 por ciento de los otros niños negros representados por el Distrito Escolar Unificado de Poway. Usted no me va a intimidar con su título de ‘director.’ Al terminarse las clases hoy, yo gasté mi propio dinero y regalé Gatorades y agua a los estudiantes y a los padres de familia de Painted Rock para poder desarrollar una plataforma que mostrara mi deseo de ser elegido y SERVIR en el consejo escolar de Painted Rock. Hice esto con la ayuda de mi increíble y comprensiva esposa Kimberly, mi hijo mayor Winslow, mi hija Talia, y mi bebé Quentin. Nosotros somos propietarios de nuestra
casa ubicada a menos de media milla de Painted Rock. Nosotros no nos vamos a ir a ningún lado y usted o nos ayuda a ser un conducto para el cambio y el mejoramiento de las minorías y de las personas de bajo nivel socioeconómico dentro de esta comunidad o nosotros continuaremos por este camino de peleas y sentimientos de control inútiles; la diferencia es que, ¡yo no tengo NADA que perder y el sentimiento es liberador!...”
Durante la exposición argumental final del lado contrario, compararon a Chris, un decorado veterano militar de las fuerzas armadas estadounidenses, así como a un presidente de la asociación escolar de padres de familia y maestros, a los que perpetraron los crímenes de Sandy Hook y Colombine. No importó que Chris tuviera una preocupación legítima de lo que estaba pasando en la escuela de su hijo. No importó que a Chris se le había negado la oportunidad de trabajar como voluntario en favor de nueve madres que no eran negras. Y no importó que a Chris se le había ignorado después de habérsele invalidado su elección al grupo de enlace entre padres de familia y consejeros de la mesa directiva a pesar de no haber reglas o una guía en contra del supuesto error técnico. Chris representaba un peligro, argumentaron en corte, y por tal razón debía restringírsele el acercamiento al director de la escuela. Me sorprendió cuando la corte aprobó una orden de restricción de tres años en contra de Chris y negó hacer una concesión para que él pudiera dejar y recoger a sus hijos de la escuela. Chris nunca había cometido un acto violento o amenazado con cometer un acto violento. Pero Chris es negro. Y este hecho, creo yo, es lo que le permitió al Distrito Escolar Unificado de Poway pintarlo como un hombre intimidante y siniestro. Como era de esperarse para las personas que nos apoyan, inmediatamente entablamos la apelación. Mientras tanto, el 10 de julio, el ahora ex-superintendente del Poway Unified, John Collins, fue removido de su cargo por la mesa escolar directiva, la cual planea demandarlo por el dinero que dicen que debe. Collins era el jefe del distrito cuando se entabló la orden de restricción en el 2014. Él era el que dirigió al consejo del distrito a tomar este horrendo paso legal y a perjudicar la vida de mi cliente. El oír las noticias de que Collins había sido despedido fue alentador, pero esto no es suficiente. Porque, aunque el arreglar sus finanzas es un paso en la dirección correcta, la mesa directiva del Distrito Escolar Unificado de Poway necesita también componer injusticias raciales para que nuestros niños puedan algún día ver esto como un capítulo para sus libros de historia, y no como noticias de primera plana para los periódicos.
Genevieve A. Suzuki es una abogada de La Mesa y representa a Christopher Garnier en su apelación de la orden de restricción por el Distrito Escolar Unificado de Poway. Suzuki también es co-consejera con Benjamin Yip en la demanda de despido improcedente de Garnier en contra del Distrito Escolar Unificado de Poway.
Public Call to attend EUSD and EUHSD BOARD MEETINGS K-8 District:
Get involved in your school district.
September 8 and 22 October 13 and 27 November 17 December 8*
Make your voice heard.
*Annual Organizational Meeting Meetings begin at 7pm. 2310 Aldergrove Escondido (Behind Auto Parkway)
You CAN make a difference!
Escondido Union High School District 302 N Midway Dr, Escondido, CA 92027 September 8 and 21 October 13 and 27 November 17 December 8* *Annual Organizational Meeting Meetings begin at 7pm.
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Progressive News & Opinion Homeless Cont. from page 2
the homeless population. Here’s how they describe themselves: “A group where people can hate talk about the troll population and the ever growing crime rate of Ocean Beach.” I doubt that many people “hanging out” in this sort of group realize just how offensive it is. I don’t think for a minute that most of the people involved would actually physically hurt somebody, no matter how superior they felt. But I do I think it might be a good place for authorities to look around for the sociopath looking for a little re-enforcement among the 250+ followers of the group. Most hate crimes/violent acts against specific types of victims are committed not by organized hate groups, but by individual citizens who harbor a strong resentment against a certain group of people. Some are “mission offenders,” who believe they are on a mission to cleanse the world of a particular evil. Others are “scapegoat offenders,” who violently act out their resentment toward the perceived growing economic power of a particular racial or ethnic group. Still others are “thrill seekers,” those who take advantage of a vulnerable and disadvantaged group in order to satisfy their own pleasures. Distribution of Documented Incidents between 1999 & 2015 credit: No Safe Place / National Coalition for the Homeless From the No Safe Place report issued last month by the National Coalition for the Homeless Victims of homeless hate crimes are most commonly middle-aged men. Between 1999 and 2014, on average, 72% of the victims were over the age of 40, and 34% were between the ages of 40 and 50. In 2014, 34% of victims were between the ages of 40 and 50, and 38% were over 50 years old. In 2015, 62% of victims were over 40. However, the ages of some victims documented in this report aren‘t reported. In 2014, 81% of victims were male, while in 2015, 77% were male. Human Beings as Collateral Damage The fastest-growing segment of the homeless population are senior citizens. The hotels and flophouses where many of them used to disappear to live out their lives in quiet desperation have been torn down. Facilities housing substance abusers and people with severe mental illness have been privatized or shuttered. Pensions are going the way of the dinosaur. Social security can’t keep up, especially with the caps on contributions in place. Over the past forty years or so the ascendance of a neoliberal economics has made the abnormal
(dumping people on the street) seem mysterious. There is no mystery to it: homelessness is collateral damage along the road to oligarchy. As George Monbiot said in The Guardian: Neoliberalism sees competition as the defining characteristic of human relations. It redefines citizens as consumers, whose democratic choices are best exercised by buying and selling, a process that rewards merit and punishes inefficiency. It maintains that “the market” delivers benefits that could never be achieved by planning. Attempts to limit competition are treated as inimical to liberty. Tax and regulation should be minimised, public services should be privatised. The organisation of labour and collective bargaining by trade unionsare portrayed as market distortions that impede the formation of a natural hierarchy of winners and losers. Inequality is recast as virtuous: a reward for utility and a generator of wealth, which trickles down to enrich everyone. Efforts to create a more equal society are both counterproductive and morally corrosive. The market ensures that everyone gets what they deserve. We internalise and reproduce its creeds. The rich persuade themselves that they acquired their wealth through merit, ignoring the advantages – such as education, inheritance and class – that may have helped to secure it. The poor begin to blame themselves for their failures, even when they can do little to change their circumstances. The San Diego Angle Let me give just one example of how this plays out in San Diego. A (flawed) plan to fund low-income housing in San Diego gets called a “jobs tax” and local developers blackmail the city council into deep-sixing it. Their solution? A promise to help craft a plan to solve a problem that’s been declared a public emergency for more than a decade. Anybody want to guess how much low-income housing that promise will get built? How about zero? Now the fashionable claim being made by the developer set is that government mandated standards for new construction make low-income housing a non-starter. What they don’t tell you is that what they’re looking to pass off those expenses to the taxpayers. The need for sewers, roads, and supportive infrastructure does not go away when developer fees get cut. Or worse, maybe they’d like to skip over the rules about electrical and fire safety. Or pay people so little money to work for builders that government assistance is necessary for their families to survive.
While people are understandably angry/concerned/distressed over the ever-growing homeless population, the first step in fixing this problem is acknowledging its cause. The cause is modern day economic orthodoxy causing inequality, corroding democracy, and ruining the environment. The cause is not alcoholism, mental illness, people moving to a warm climate to mooch off the government, or laziness. People with limited resources can no longer afford housing. How they get to the point of being homeless is not the issue. It’s a whole lot easier to hate on some semi-helpless human than it is to say ‘No More’ to the guys who’ve been held up as the paragons of virtue. Get Organized! I shouldn’t have to say this, but I will: getting mad/hating people is a non-starter as a solution. Getting organized and standing up collectively does work. Homeless humans are not inherently criminals, yet city policy is to treat them that way. The really bizarre part of this dilemma is that, as I learned a few years back in Ocean Beach, the people most susceptible to this blind anger towards the dispossessed are frequently the ones most in danger of someday joining them. Here are some closing thoughts from uber-capitalist Nick Hanauer (who gets it), writing about the fight to increase the minimum wage. I find his comments very relevant to this situation. Inclusive economies always outperform and outlast plutocracies. That’s why investments in the middle class work, and tax breaks for the rich don’t. The oldest and most important conflict in human societies is the battle over the concentration of wealth and power. Those at the top will forever tell those at the bottom that our respective positions are righteous and good for all. Historically we called that divine right. Today we have trickle-down economics. The trickle-down explanation for economic growth holds that the richer the rich get, the better our economy does. But it also clearly implies that if the poor get poorer, that must be good for our economy. Nonsense. Some of the people who benefit most from that explanation are desperate for you to believe this is the only way a capitalist economy can work. At the end of the day, raising the minimum wage to $15 isn’t about just rejecting their version of capitalism. It’s about replacing it with one that works for every American.
Earth to Humans: My Fever Continues to Rise by Doug Porter
Southern California may have lucked out in 2015 when it comes to the torrential rains associated with El Nino, but that’s about the only good news, according to the State of the Climate in 2015 report. The 300-page report, utilizing 450 scientists from 62 countries around the world was published by National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. The bottom line: 2015’s global surface temperature towered over any year preceding it. The planetary fever underway was linked a record-challenging El Niño event, with warmer-than-normal tropical Pacific Ocean waters heating up the atmosphere. Record-setting concentrations of heat-trapping gasses from human activity were also cited as a cause. How Bad Was It? Global average temperatures surpassed preindustrial levels by more than 1.8 degrees Fahrenheit for the first time. The all-time record set in 2014 fell by the wayside. Oceans continued to rise due to melting ice and rising temperatures. The report found that the sea level has been rising at a rate of .15 inches per year over the past two decades. The atmospheric concentration of carbon dioxide surpassed 400 parts per million for the first time in modern history. Additional heat-trapping gases related to human activity, including methane and nitrous oxide, also set record highs.
Find us online at AlianzaNorthCounty.com
Doug Porter was active in the early days of the alternative press in San Diego, contributing to the OB Liberator, the print version of the OB Rag, the San Diego Door, and the San Diego Street Journal. He won awards for ‘Daily Reporting and Writing: Opinion/Editorial’ from the Society of Professional Journalists in 2013 and 2014. Doug is a cancer survivor (sans vocal chords) and lives in North Park.
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Noticias y Opinión progresista
Un pájaro en la mano
Faith’s Corner A Bird in the Hand by Reverend Doctor Faith J. Conklin In our Tai Chi classes, we’re taught about the power of an “empty fist”. When we punch, we’re not to close our hand tightly. The force isn’t in our clenched fist; it’s in us. “Pretend you’re holding a little bird in your hand,” we’re told. “Don’t kill it.” Whenever I hear that instruction; it reminds me of one of my favorite teaching stories. In a small mountain village lived an old man. He was known far and wide for his wisdom and kindness. Many brought their problems to him seeking his knowledge. One day some young boys from the village decided to fool and discredit the old man. Their plan was simple. They’d capture a small bird and hide it in one of the boy’s hands. They’d take it to the old man and ask if the bird was alive or dead. If he said the bird was dead, the boy would then open his hands and let it fly away. If he said it was alive, he’d close his hands tightly and crush it. No matter how the old man answered he would be wrong. The boys went to the old man. One held out his hands. “Old man” he said, “What do I have in my hand.” The old man answered, “A bird.” The boy smiled and nodded. Then he asked, “Old man, is the bird alive or dead?” The old man paused. He looked straight at the boy holding the bird. He said softly, “It all depends on you, my son. It’s as you chose it to be.” It’s as you chose it to be. It’s not a matter of how big and strong we are. It’s a matter of what we decide. It’s where we choose to put our energy, our intention, and our effort. Each of us has power. We have the power to do good or cause harm. We have the power to set free or crush another’s spirit. We have the power to foster love or foment hate.
When our choices, personal, public or political, are made out of anger, fear or mistrust it undermines our power. It causes us to lose our focus and throws us “off balance”. That’s when we become weak. When our choices are made from a spirit of love, compassion and a desire to further what is better for all; we’re at our strongest both as individuals and as a community. We make our choices known in our speech, our actions and our presence. It’s shown in how we spend our time and our money. It’s seen in how we treat or mistreat others. We show it in where we stand and with whom. We show it in how we vote. Will it be a “clenched hand” or an “empty fist”? Will we and others be stronger, better and more alive because of our decisions? It’s how you choose it to be. What’s your choice?
Court Rules Registrar Not following the Law CitizensOversight.org
by James Walker
Citizen’s Oversight, Inc. announced that a press conference will be held on August 3, 2016 at 11am in the San Diego County Administration complex regarding the ruling on a lawsuit that questioned the conduct of the Registrar of Voters in San Diego. Ray Lutz, National Coordinator of Citizens Oversight explains, “This lawsuit is all about getting a clean audit from the San Diego Registrar of Voters. Without a complete audit, it opens the door for election fraud. The Registrar, Michael Vu, decided to leave out about 285,000 ballots from the audit procedure. “ This lawsuit does not prove election fraud is occurring. Instead, it proves that elections officials are conducting incomplete audits, exactly what fraudsters need to fix an election. Judge Wohlfeil ruled that the Registrar is not following the law and that it must do so – no excuses. The ruling is attached and will be discussed at the press conference. Citizens Oversight send letters to many other California counties before informing them that they must also comply with the law and asks them specifically if they intend to do so. The election code requires that “ALL ballots cast” be subjected to random audit by choosing 1% of the ballots, including vote-bymail and provisional ballots. Excluding any ballots form the audit process is a violation of the elections code, it’s that simple. “If any county does not clearly state that they intend to follow Election code section 15360 and include all ballots in the selection process for audit, then we will obtain a court order forcing them to comply,” said Attorney Geraci of CARE Legal Group. San Diego Registrar of Voters (ROV) Michael Vu said he would include ZERO vote-by-mail (VBM) ballots processed after elections night and ZERO provisional ballots in the state-mandated audit process, thereby excluding 285,000 ballots. “They’ve had a habit of short-cutting this audit procedure for years. It is time to follow the law and include all ballots casts in the audit,” Lutz said. The lawsuit included a request for injunctive relief, which would have stopped Vu from certifying the results from San Diego unless they included all ballots cast in the audit process. The request was declared moot, but the process was essential to get the judge to weird in on the case in short order rather than taking months to complete. Citizens Oversight will continue to execute legal remedies to get San Diego to either 1) Complete the rest of the audit encompassing the 37% of the ballots cast that were left out 2) Restarting the 1% manual tally audit from the start, or 3) Doing a complete 100% audit of the election “Vu says it would cost $100,000 to hand count about 2850 ballots. Outside auditing firms said that they could audit the entire election --
Reprinted from SourcePlanet.net
100% of the ballots – for much less,” Lutz said. “Vu is pulling a fast one to try to make this seem much more difficult that it really is, and that makes you wonder what his agenda really is here.” This ruling affects all other counties in California, many of whom not only exclude 100s of thousands of ballots from scrutiny, but all choose the random sample in advance thereby making the entire audit process a sham. Citizens Oversight is seeking volunteers in other election districts in California, mostly particularly the big three: LA, SD, and OC which account for about 50% of voters in the state. The top dozen counties in California are (in order): Los Angeles, San Diego, Orange, Riverside, Alameda, Santa Clara, San Bernardino, Sacramento, Contra Costa, San Francisco, Fresno, and Ventura. These 12 counties account for 76% of the electorate and we must have oversight teams trained and in place in each county by October. Also, we want to extend the Snapshot Protocol – a procedure to carefully monitor the audit process – to any other states that mandate a post-election audit for the November election as well. Volunteers can sign up at CitizensOversight.org/signup Donations are accepted at: CitizensOversight. org/donate Please do not get fooled by copy-cat sites. Citizens Oversight is the group doing the heavy lifting and will be offering training to teams in election districts so we will be effective in combating election fraud. Citizens Oversight is also extremely concerned about the habit of modifying ballots using “white-out” or adding ballot making with no checks and balances, as well as the huge shredding company truck apparently shredding ballots from the ROV office during and earlier press conference. Vu says no materials were picked up from the ROV office. But why have a truck parked by the building during an election process? Honestly, it does not help voter confidence to be altering ballots and doing shredding during an election. They knowingly violate the election code and conduct shoddy audits. Doesn’t anyone think of the consequences?” Lutz asked. The public is invited to attend the press conference to promote that every vote should be counted. Please note this is not a partisan event and is not open to campaign signs. Please note that Bernie Sanders wins by a landslide at the polling places but it is exactly the opposite with the mail vote, and the two sets of ballots are missing from the audit, the issue our lawsuit addresses. “I have never seen groups of ballots flip so dramatically.” Lutz said. “Flipped results and corner-cutting by the Registrar makes you wonder if the entire election was rigged.”
En nuestras clases de Tai Chi, se nos enseña el poder del “puño vacío”. Cuando golpeamos con el puño, no debemos cerrar fuertemente la mano. La fuerza no está en nuestro puño apretado; está dentro de nosotros. “Imagínense que tienen un pájaro en la mano,” nos dicen. “No lo vayan a matar.” Cuando escucho estas instrucciones, me recuerda a mi historia de enseñanza favorita. En una pequeña aldea sobre una montaña vivía un anciano. Todos lo conocían por su sabiduría y su bondad. Muchas personas venían a contarle sus problemas buscando sus conocimientos. Un día, unos jovencitos de la aldea decidieron burlarse y desacreditar al anciano. Su plan era simple. Capturarían a un pajarito y lo esconderían en las manos de uno de ellos. Lo llevarían a donde el anciano y preguntarían si el pájaro estaba vivo o muerto. Si el anciano decía que estaba muerto, el joven abriría sus manos y dejaría que volara libre. Si decía que estaba vivo, el joven apretaría sus manos y lo aplastaría. No importa lo que contestara el anciano, estaría equivocado. Los jóvenes fueron con el anciano. Uno de ellos estiró sus manos. “Anciano” dijo, “¿qué tengo en mis manos?” El anciano contestó, “un pájaro.” El joven sonrió y asintió. Entonces preguntó “Anciano, ¿el pájaro está vivo o muerto?” El anciano hizo una pausa. Miró fijamente al joven que sostenía al pájaro. Dijo suavemente “todo depende de ti, hijo mío. Será como tú quieras que
sea.” Será como tú quieras que sea. No importa qué tan grande y fuerte seas. Todo depende de lo que tú decidas. Depende de donde escojamos enfocar nuestra energía, nuestra intención, y nuestros esfuerzos. Tenemos el poder de liberar o de aplastar el espíritu de los demás. Tenemos el poder de fomentar el amor o de promover el odio. Cuando nuestras decisiones, personales, públicas o políticas, se hacen basándose en el odio, el miedo, o la desconfianza, se debilita nuestro poder. Esto nos hace perder nuestro enfoque y nos “desequilibra.” Entonces nos volvemos débiles. Cuando nuestras decisiones emanan del amor, la compasión y un deseo de promover lo mejor para todos; nos fortalecemos todos como individuos y como comunidad. Damos a conocer nuestras decisiones con nuestra manera de hablar, nuestras acciones y nuestra presencia. Se muestra donde gastamos nuestro tiempo y nuestro dinero. Se ve en el trato que les damos a los demás. Se nota donde nos paramos y con quien. Se muestra en nuestro voto. ¿Será una “mano apretada” o una “puño vacío”? ¿Nos fortalecerá a nosotros y a los demás y mejorará todas nuestras vidas? Será como queramos que sea. ¿Qué escoge usted?
Corte Reglas Registrador no está siguiendo la Ley - Ciudadana de Supervisión por James Walker San Diego (2 de agosto, 2016) - Supervisión de Ciudadanos, Inc anunció que una conferencia de prensa será el 3 de agosto, 2016 a las 11 de la mañana en el complejo de Administración del Condado de San Diego con respecto a la decisión sobre una demanda que cuestionaba la conducta del Registrador de votantes en San Diego. Ray Lutz, Coordinador Nacional de Ciudadanos Supervisores explica, “Esta demanda es todo sobre conseguir una auditoría limpia de la San Diego Registro de Votantes. Sin una auditoría completa, se abre la puerta al fraude electoral. El Secretario, Michael Vu, decidió abandonar unos 285.000 papeletas de procedimiento aduit “. La demanda no prueba fruad elección está ocurriendo. En su lugar, se demuestra que las elecciones están conduciendo officals de aduits inomplete, exactamente lo que los estafadores necesitan para arreglar una elección. Juez Wohlfeil dictaminó que el Registrador no está siguiendo la ley y que debe hacerlo - no hay excusas. El documento está incluido y será discutida en la conferencia de prensa. Ciudadanos de Supervisión envió cartas a muchos otros condados de California informándoles que también deben cumplir con la ley y les pregunta específicamente si tienen la intención de hacerlo. El código electoral establece que “todos los votos emitidos” se pueden someter a auditoría aleatoria eligiendo un 1% de los votos, incluyendo voto por correo y los votos provisionales. A excepción de todos los votos del proceso de auditoría es una violación del código de elecciones, es así de simple. “Si cualquier condado no indica claramente que tienen la intención de seguir la sección de códigos de Elecciones 15369 e incluyen todas las papeletas en el proceso slection de auditoría, a continuación, vamos a obtener una orden de counrt obligándolos a cumplir”, dijo el Procurador Alan Geraci de CARE Legal Group. San Diego Registro de Votantes (ROV) Michael Vu dijo que incluiría CERO voto por correo las papeletas procedió después de noche de la elección y CERO provisionsal papeletas en el proceso de auditoría ordenada por el estado, lo que excluye 285.000 papeletas (VBM). “Han tenido un hábito de acortar esta procedimientos de auditoría durante años. Es hora de seguir la ley e incluyen todo caso las papeletas en la auditoría”, dijo Lutz. La demanda incluye una petición de medida injuntive, lo que habría dejado Vu de certificar los resultados de San Diego, a menos que incluyen todos los votos emitidos en el proceso de auditoría. Esta petición fue declararse no discutible, pero el proceso era esencial para obtener el juez para intervenir en el caso en el corto plazo que tomar meses para terminar. Ciudadanos de Supervisión será contiune para ejecutar los recursos legales para obtener San Diego a cualquiera 1. completar el resto de la auditoría que abarca el 37% de los votos emitidos que quedaron fuera, 2. reiniciar el manual del 1% auditoría recuento desde el principio, o 3. hacer una auditoría completa del 100% de la elección. “Vu dice que costaría $ 100.000 a entregar contar con 2.850 papeletas.” “Otras firmas de auditoría dijeron que podían auditar toda la
elección - 100% de los votos - y mucho menos”, dijo Lutz. “Vu está tratando de hacer que esto parezca más difícil de lo que realmente es, y eso hace que uno se pregunta lo que realmente es su agenda aquí.” El fallo afecta a todos los otros condados de California, muchos de los cuales no sólo excluyen a 100s de miles de papeletas de examen, sino también eligen la muestra aleatoria con anticipación haciendo así todo el proceso de auditoría de una farsa. Ciudadanos de Supervisión está buscando voluntarios en otros distritos electorales en California, más particularmente los tres grandes: LA, SD, y OC, que representan alrededor del 50% de los votantes en el estado. La docena de condados superiores en California son (en orden): Los Ángeles, San Diego, Orange, Riverside, Alameda, Santa Clara, San Bernardino, Sacaramento, Contra Costa, San Francisco, Fresno, y Ventura. Estos 12 condados cubren un 76% de la eletorate y debemos tiene equipos de supervisión formados y listos en cada condado de octubre. También, queremos extender el Protocolo de instantáneas - un procedimiento para vigilar cuidadosamente el proceso de auditoría - a cualquier otro estado que exigen una auditoría posterior a las elecciones para la elección de noviembre también. Los voluntarios pueden inscribirse en: Las donaciones se aceptan en: Por favor, no se deje engañar por los sitios imitadores. Ciudadanos de Supervisión es el grupo que está haciendo el trabajo pesado y ofrecer a capacitar a los equipos en los distritos electorales por lo que vamos a ser eficaces en la lucha contra el fraude electoral. Ciudadanos de Supervisión también está muy preocupada por el hábito de la modificación de las papeletas usando “white-out” o la adición de marcar papeletas sin controles y blances. La enorme camión de la empresa de trituración aparentemente trituración papeletas de la oficina ROV durante una conferencia de prensa anterior. Vu dice no hay materiales fueron recogidos de la oficina ROV. Pero ¿por qué tener un camión estacionado por el edificio durante el proceso electoral? “Honestamente, no ayuda a la confianza del votante para ser la alteración de las papeletas y hacer la trituración durante la elección. A sabiendas violan el código electoral y llevar a cabo auditorías de mala calidad. ¿Nadie piensa en las consecuencias?” preguntó Lutz. Se invita al público a asistir a la conferencia de prensa para promover que cada voto debe ser contado. Tenga en cuenta que esto no es un evento partidista y no está abierto a los signos de campaña. La siguiente tabla muestra lo que sucedió hace unos días cuando el ROV ha completado el conteo manual 1%. Tenga en cuenta que Bernie Sanders gana en los lugares de votación pero es exactamente lo contrario con el voto correo, y dos juegos de papeletas no están en la demanda, la cuestión nuestras direcciones de la demanda. “Nunca he visto grupos de papeletas cambiado tan dramáticamente”, dijo Lutz. “Los resultados modificados por el Registrador hace que uno se pregunta si toda la elección fue fraudulenta.”
Environment
ALIANZA NORTH COUNTY
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by Laura Hunter On November 8, voters will face a major decision on a tax increase ballot measure that will define the future for their families and our communities for years to come. As with many choices this November, there is a stark difference between two options before us. We can either pass a massive multi-decade tax increase that largely props up the current freeway system and induces more sprawl development. Or, we can say NO to this measure and require SANDAG to come back with a more visionary option that meets our climate action goals, protects and improves water quality, builds a 21st century modern transit system, and creates good jobs. These are two very different paths our county can travel so this election is a big deal. The SANDAG tax increase in question is called the San Diego County Road Repair, Transit, Traffic Relief, Safety and Water Quality Measure and is being put forward by the San Diego Association of Governments or SANDAG. This agency, made up of elected officials and public agencies from around the County, is asking voters to increase sales tax by a half-cent for 40 years to fund various projects in San Diego County. SANDAG has an aggressive public relations campaign about new tax but looking at the details the simple truth is this Measure is misleading and would do more harm than good for North County residents. In fact, it worsens conditions in our region, induces sprawl development, and worsens air and climate emissions. The Measure has significant opposition and for good reasons. The Quality of Life coalition, a diverse coalition of environmental and social justice organizations, active transportation experts, and organizations representing working families including teachers, nurses and construction workers oppose this Measure and are urging voters to vote no. This Quality of Life coalition has many concerns about SANDAG’s flawed Measure, just a few of which include: • LACK OF ACCOUNTABILITY: This Measure gives SANDAG essentially a blank check to spend our tax dollars – and our children’s tax dollars - for 40 years with little accountability. • ANTIQUATED: Instead of moving us into the 21st century with a modern transit system like other major cities, this Measure wastes money to prop up an outdated, poorly planned transportation system. • MISLEADING: Although the title of the Measure refers to water quality, it does not fund vital storm water and water infrastructure projects to keep our beaches and waterways clean. In fact, these projects were completely removed from an earlier draft so we are unclear why ‘water quality’ is still listed in the name. All that appears to be included in the Measure is that any project comply with the law. We find this very misleading. • DOES NOT MEET FUTURE CLIMATE OR JOBS GOALS: This Measure contains no mechanism to link funding with projects that reduce harmful greenhouse gas emissions to meets state targets and help stabilize our climate to avoid the worst impacts of climate change. There is no guarantee these tax funds will create pathways into middle-class careers with good wages and benefits for San Diegans. • WORSENS HEALTH: It also burdens some of our most vulnerable communities with unnecessary freeway expansions that increase pollution and contribute to serious health conditions like asthma. The bottom line is this proposal would raise taxes for 40 years and would not contribute to cleaning up our environment or accelerate a modern transit system, but rather, would increase air pollution, accelerate climate change, and make traffic congestion worse. It will impact every family in San Diego County and future generations to come, locking us into a long-term tax that funds a flawed transportation plan and harms our children. We have once chance in a generation to get this right. We can do better, our communities deserve better and for these reasons we hope voters will reject SANDAG’s harmful Measure.
Laura Hunter is a 25-year resident of Escondido. She has worked for environmental justice and habitat conservation throughout her career.
Collaboration of Nature’s Caretakers Repeats Popular “Trails and Ales” Program San Diego: August 8, 2016—Registration just opened for the popular 4-month “Trails and Ales” hiking program, which includes two of San Diego’s most amazing assets: beautiful landscapes and delicious craft beers. A team of four caretakers of the natural environment (San Dieguito River Valley Conservancy, San Elijo Lagoon Conservancy, Escondido Creek Conservancy, and Volcan Mountain Foundation), is offering this North-County hike series, providing a unique guided-hike experience on their land, followed by a visit to a local brewery. The dates for this season are: September 3, October 1, November 5 and December 3. All events start at 10 AM. All of the hikes are led by local, experienced wildlife educators. Participation is limited to 25 people at each location.
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Must be 21 or over, $25 per-hike, non-members, and $15 members of any of the presenting organizations. The organizations are also offering a new-membership special: Pay only $75 and receive an annual membership to the
organization of your choice and registration for the entire 4-hike series. On September 3 hikers will walk the “easy” 3.8-mile Piedras Pintades trail, followed by a visit to Second Chance Beer
Company in Rancho Bernardo to enjoy a flight of tasters. On October 1, the hikers will climb Volcan Mountain, an “easy-to-moderate” 2-mile roundtrip trail, going behind the scenes on Volcan Rd. and Volcan Mountain’s Sky Island Trail, both of which are not openly accessible to the public, followed by a visit to Julian Hard Cider to enjoy a flight of three fresh-pressed hard ciders. On November 5, hikers will take a 3-mile “moderate-to-strenuous” hike through a wild stretch of the San Elijo Lagoon Ecological Reserve, on Annie’s Canyon Trail, followed by a visit to The Lost Abbey in Cardiff. On December 3 they will hike the “intermediate-and-uphill,” 2-mile Bottle Peak trail with a visit to Offbeat Brewing Company in Escondido. More information on all the hikes and to register visit https://sdrvc. ejoinme.org/trailsandales
Lilac Hills Ranch promises need to be in Writing!
On August 2, the San Diego County Board of Supervisors reluctantly voted 4-0 to let the Voters decide on whether or not the 1746 residential unit Lilac Hills Ranch Project is allowed to be built. The Project puts 1746 residential units on 608 acres of land. County rules allow a maximum of 110 residential units. This puts 5200 residents in an area with one Public Road, and inadequate Fire service and School facilities to serve a 16 fold increase in people. Who pays for the Infrastructure?
Who pays for the infrastructure to support this huge influx of people and cars in an area that CalFire classifies a Very High and High Fire Hazard Severity Zone? The County says that the Developer should pay for the Infrastructure. The Developer doesn’t agree. If the Developer doesn’t pay, the only alternative is for Taxpayers to pay. For four years Accretive has been trying to get a General Plan Amendment (GPA) to build their Project. The General Plan is the document that establishes how many houses and businesses can be built in an area. The General Plan has rules for the Design of Roads, the funding of Schools, and the requirement to provide Fire Service required by urban density. The GPA requires the Developer to pay for improved Roads, Fire Service and a K-8 School. A sudden change In September 2015 the Project was following the usual path to get Board of Supervisor approval for a GPA. But a problem arose. County Supervisor Horn was twice found to have an Economic Conflict of Interest regarding the Project. In a rare case where common sense and the Law agree, the State found that since Supervisor Horn owns 37 acres of land nearby he can’t vote on Lilac Hills Ranch. Let me be Clear – or not In December 2015, Accretive announced they were “postponing indefinitely” their GPA vote at the Board of Supervisors. Accretive claimed recent rulings by the California Supreme Court on the Environmental Impacts of projects similar to Lilac Hills Ranch prevented project approval or results in a lawsuit. Why the Sudden change? It could be as Accretive said. Or maybe not. Without Bill Horn’s support the Project probably didn’t have the 3
Opinions expressed in Alianza North County are those of the individuals expressing them and not of the publishers.
votes necessary for approval. Let’s “spin” this differently. So, Accretive got creative. Accretive launched a sales pitch claiming that the Project created Affordable Housing and Jobs. A game with different rules Citizen’s Initiatives allow anyone collecting 10% of the voter’s signatures to bypass the GPA process. Accretive paid sales crews $ 1.1 million to get 110,000 signatures. Accretive made the paper work really thick – 600 pages. No one read it. Misinformed people signed a scheme to eliminate most of the Roads, Schools, and Fire improvements the County had placed on the Project. Signers were promised Affordable Housing and Jobs, Nothing in the Ballot Measure commits Accretive to provide Housing at any set prices. They can charge what they want. What’s scary is that this is legal. The Board Demands the Facts On July 19, the Developer asked the Board to approve the Project. This is allowable under the Citizen’s initiative. The Board asked County Counsel what other options were available. Answer – 1) Place it on the November 8, 2016 Ballot for Voters to decide OR 2) Perform a fair and impartial study and give the Voters information. All four Supervisors did what you or I would have done – voted for a Study to get the facts. Facts are eye opening, County Staff worked nights and weekends and completed the Study on August 2nd. What did the Study say? County LHR Impact Report 8-2-16 Taxpayers must pay for safe Roads, Schools, and Fire Service. Not the Developer. What did the Supervisors say? Why should Taxpayers subsidize a Project that makes no written commitment to provide Housing at a price level? Unfortunately, since the Developer used a legal loophole, the Board could only approve the Project or put it on the Nov 2016 ballot. Given the options, the Board made the only reasonable choice. They put it on the November 2016 ballot. It’s up to Us now Use your Common Sense – if someone makes a promise to deliver Affordable Housing, make them put it in writing. Since Accretive hasn’t put Affordable Housing in writing and has shifted the Infrastructure cost to the Taxpayers --Use your Common Sense when you vote!
ALIANZA NORTH COUNTY
by Ruth Weber
Arts and Community
Internationally Renowned Pianist Comes to the CCAE
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Un pianista Internacional llega a la CCAE por Ruth Weber
Residents of Escondido are in for a wonderful treat as internationally renowned, concert pianist Michael Lewin graces the stage of our California Center for the Arts Escondido this September. Michael Lewin, one of America’s most gifted pianists, will perform on the Center Theater stage on Saturday, September 17, 2016 at 4:00 p.m., in what will be the kick-off concert for the new Jean Will Presents… concert series. Lewin will perform a varied program, including works by Beethoven, Chopin, Villa-Lobos, Ginastera, Liszt, and more. Mr. Lewin’s career was launched when he won top prizes in the Liszt International Piano Competition in the Netherlands, the William Kapell International Competition, and the American Pianist’s Association Award. At his New York Lincoln Center debut, The New York Times proclaimed that, “his immense technique and ability qualify him eminently for success.” He has performed to acclaim in over 30 countries and released top selling albums with Naxos and Centaur records. His most recent critically acclaimed albums are on the Sono Luminus label. Michael Lewin’s Bird Songs album received a Grammy nomination, and his featured performance of a Chopin Nocturne appeared on the No. 1 Billboard New Age Album “Winds of Samsara,” which won a 2014 Grammy Award. Not only is Mr. Lewin one of today’s top pianists, he is also one of America’s most sought-after teachers, Mr. Lewin has taught many prize-winning pianists, given master classes worldwide, and is a frequent international competition judge. He is a member of the Piano Faculty at The Boston Conservatory and Boston University, and is the Artistic Director of the Boston Conservatory Piano Masters Series. Lewin studied at the Julliard School, and his teachers include Leon Fleisher, Yvonne Lefebura, Adele Marcus and Irwin Freundlich. This is a program not to be missed! Tickets for the Michael Lewin concert are: General Admission $25-$35; Students, $10, and can be purchased online or in person at the CCAE box office. 1(800) 988-4253.
Los residentes de Escondido estarán encantados de ver a Michael Lewin, un pianista de concierto conocido internacionalmente en el estadio de nuestro Centro de California para el Arte Escondido este mes de septiembre. Michael Lewin, uno de los pianistas más talentosos de los Estados Unidos, se presentará en el escenario Center Theater el sábado 17 de septiembre de, 2016 a 16:00, en lo que será el inicio para el nuevo Jean Will presenta ... serie de conciertos. Lewin va a presentar un programa variado, que incluye obras de Beethoven, Chopin, Villa-Lobos, Ginastera, Liszt, y mucho más. La carrera del Sr. Lewin se inició cuando ganó primeros premios en el concurso de piano de Liszt Internacional en los Países Bajos, el Concurso Internacional de William Kapell, y el Premio de la Asociación Americana del pianista. En su debut en Nueva York Lincoln Center, The New York Times proclamó que “su inmensa técnica y su habilidad le califica eminentemente para el éxito.” Él se ha realizado aclamar en más de 30 países y publicado álbumes más vendidos con los registros de Naxos y el Centaur. Sus más recientes álbumes aclamados por la crítica son el Sono Luminus. Bird Songs álbum de Michael Lewin recibió una nominación al Grammy, y su rendimiento de un Nocturno de Chopin apareció en el número 1 de Billboard Album New Age “Vientos del Samsara”, que ganó un Premio Grammy 2014. No solamente es el Sr. Lewin uno de los mejores pianistas de hoy, él es también uno de los maestros más buscados de Estados Unidos, el Sr. Lewin ha enseñado muchos pianistas premiados, impartido clases magistrales en todo el mundo, y es un juez de la competencia internacional frecuente. Él es un miembro de la Facultad de piano en el Conservatorio de Boston y la Universidad de Boston, y es el director artístico del Conservatorio de Boston Piano Masters Series. Lewin estudió en la Julliard School, y sus profesores incluyen Leon Fleisher, Yvonne Lefebura, Adele Marcus y Irwin Freundlich. Este es un programa no se puede perder! Boletos para el concierto de Michael Lewin son: Entrada general $ 25- $ 35; Estudiantes, $ 10, y se pueden comprar en línea o en persona en la taquilla CCAE. 1 (800) 988-4253.
Distinction Gallery, in collaboration with the California Center for the Arts, Escondido is proud to present
Jon Jaylo: All These Answers That May Never Come Our Way September 23 - November 13, 2016 Reception: Friday, September 23, 2016 5:30-7:30pm (CCAE members free), 7:30-9:30pm ($10 public) Distinction Gallery, in collaboration with the California Center for the Arts, Escondido are excited to present Filipino artist Jon Jaylo’s solo exhibition entitled “All These Answers That May Never Come Our Way”. This exhibit will showcase 11 new paintings and several drawings Jaylo’s created specifically for the exhibition. Jon Jaylo’s art has received global acclaim for his contemporary surrealist style. The Opening Reception will be held on Friday, September 23, 2016 from 5:30-7:30 (free for CCAE members) and 7:30-9:30pm ($10 for general public) in Gallery One at the California Center for the Arts, Escondido. Jaylo will be in attendance to meet, greet, and answer questions for guests. Light refreshments and drinks will be served.
Jon Jaylo
Jaylo’s show will run in conjunction with the “Heated Exchange: Contemporary Encaustics” exhibition. Please visit artcenter.org for tickets and information. Guests can also pay at the Door. Jaylo’s artworks play around a parallel dream world in where everything is floating surreal and dancing in a contained universe inspired by poetry. His technical depictions are often varying in display and style, as if he himself is never contented with the present stature of his works. They are constantly evolving in both idea and form, gradually maturing together with the artist himself. Scaling this balance, narrating a massively deep philosophy of thought through a theatrical rendition of intensely brilliant colors that seem to amuse its audience and present a status of intellectual complacency. Like dreams that reflect a reversed mirror of man’s desires, fantasies, his works are merely manifestations of knowledge, the metaphysics of his own philosophy and the resolving of experiences behind and even far beyond it. On the full picture of it, Jaylo’s works are masked and laced with a dream-like feel, very inviting, yet when you go inside, there’s always a puzzle to be solved. Jaylo’s works are not just depictions of visual aesthetics. His works are a research on life itself, and the enigma of thought beneath it. What captures the viewers attention, are his works that are astounding, contemplative, glimpses into someone else’s psyche. This is the wonder of his art, like any good story, he allows everyone to bring his or her own self to the painting. Jon is great at opening up the viewer’s ‘soul’ so to speak. Jon Jaylo has exhibited his works extensively throughout the world in, galleries, museums and auction houses. Literally every work he has created has sold and they reside in collections throughout the world. Distinction Gallery is proud to be representing Jaylo in California. The exhibition will run from September 23 through November 13, 2016.
ArtHatch & Distinction Gallery present Ross Jaylo: Transition
For more information visit distinctionart.com or call (760) 707-2770 or visit artcenter.org or call (76) 839 – 4138.
September 10 - October 1, 2016 Opening Reception with Live Music: Saturday, September 24, 2016 from 6-10pm ArtHatch and Distinction Gallery are excited to host the debut U.S. solo exhibition of artist Ross Jaylo. { Melissa, type in something special here! }. Ross Jaylo, a New York based Filipino Painter and multi-media artist renders onto canvas his conception of an ideal love. A symbolic and passionate visualization of love that transcends beyond social norms and breaks the illusion that love must heed society’s expectation of belief, social status, age, creed, race, gender and stereotypes. Love in its purest form. At the young age of only 21, Ross has a promising career ahead of him. He has had several solo and group exhibitions throughout the Philippines and has participated in several group shows in the United States. Ross has received several awards including Cocolife “Colors of Life” National Painting Competition Grand Prize in 2006, University of Santo Tomas Benavides Outstanding Achievement Award in 2006, and Maningning Miclat National Painting Competition People’s Choice Award in 2007. The exhibition will run from September 10 through October 1, 2016. The Opening Reception will be held on Saturday, September 24, 2016 from 6-10pm and will feature live music, Stone Beer, and BK Cellars wine. Studio artists within the ArtHatch building will have their studios open to the public as well. ArtHatch is a 7,000 square foot building which houses the front gallery: exhibitions changing monthly, “The Alley,” featuring new and previous works from over 75 artists, the teen room featuring artwork by 15+ teen artists, 14 artist studios, ranging in size from 150 to 800 square feet, featuring the work of over 28 local artists, and “The Lounge”, containing 8 walls featuring local artists. The front gallery features contemporary and cutting edge artwork. ArtHatch 317 East Grand Avenue Escondido, CA 92025 (760) 781-5779
Ross Jaylo
ALIANZA NORTH COUNTY
Progressive News & Opinion
Arts and Community
Queen Califia’s Magical Circle Announces New Weekday Hours
PAGE 11
Jean Will Presents...
Beginning on August 9, Queen Califia’s Magical Circle in Kit Carson Park (3333 Bear Valley Parkway) will be open to the public Tuesday through Friday from 9 a.m. until noon, weather permitting. Queen Califia’s Magical Circle will continue to be open on Second Saturdays from 9 a.m. until noon with docents on site to provide information and answer questions. “The City is excited to be able to add regular weekday hours for the community to explore and enjoy this unique and interactive sculpture garden.” said Jay Petrek, assistant city manager. Queen Califia’s Magical Circle is the only American sculpture garden and the last major international project created by French artist Niki de Saint Phalle (19302002). Inspired by California’s mythic, historic, and cultural roots, the garden consists of nine large-scale sculptures, a circular “snake wall” and maze entryway, sculpturally integrated bench seating and native shrubs and trees planted within the interior plaza and along the outer perimeter. The garden bears the brilliant, unique mosaic ornamentation that is an unmistakable part of de Saint Phalle’s later work. Additional information is available at (760) 839-4000 or www.queencalifia.org.
Fall 2016 Storytime Programs at Escondido Public Library Escondido Public Library offers a variety of storytime programs in Fall 2016 designed for babies, toddlers, and pre-kindergarten children. Storytime programs are filled with fun songs, fingerplays, flannel board presentations, puppets and, of course, stories just right for the development of young minds in these age groups. Library staff are happy to help families find books to check out after storytime. Escondido Public Library’s 2016 Fall storytime schedule begins August 22, 2016 and runs through December 12, 2016 and includes: • Rhymes and Reading on Mondays at 11:00 a.m. for children ages 3-5; • Baby Lapsit on Wednesdays at 10:30 a.m. for newborn babies to pre-walkers beginning September 21; • Toddler Tales on Thursdays at 10:30 a.m. for toddlers who are walking up to 3 years-old beginning September 22. Toddler Tales is a bilingual program. Note: Storytime programs will not be offered November 21-24, 2016. The Library’s storytime programs address the development of early literacy skills that are important in preparing children for school. Each storytime program is planned and presented around the idea that parents are their child’s first and most important teacher. Storytimes facilitate bonding between parents and young children and provide a positive experience with books and play that often leads to a life-long love of reading and learning. Library programs are free, open to the public, and sponsored by Friends of the Escondido Public Library. For more information and specific dates for storytimes and other Library programs for children, visit the Library’s website at library.escondido.org or contact Senior Librarian for Youth & Literacy Services, Shawn Townsend at 760-839-4827 or
[email protected]. Escondido Public Library is located at 239 S. Kalmia St., Escondido, CA 92025.
Michael Lewin Clas sical Pianist “His immense technique and ability qualify him eminently for success.” — New York Times
Saturday, September 17th 4:00 pm I Center Theater
California Center for the Arts I Escondido, CA Ticket Prices: $25-35 I Student Tickets: $10
Escondido Library Celebrates Library Card Sign-Up Month in September Escondido, CA – September is Library Card Sign-Up Month and Escondido Public Library encourages everyone, especially students, to own a card. Library cards are free and easy to obtain in-person at the Library or online at library.escondido. org/librarycard. Owning a library card opens the door to a world of free resources and services, making a library card the most valuable card in your wallet. Use your card to download eBooks, eAudiobooks, or eMagazines; borrow the latest bestseller or popular DVD; or use a public computer or laptop. A host of online electronic resources can be accessed on the Library’s website by simply inputting your Library account number. Use your card to explore family history on Ancesty.com, access an online encyclopedia, do research, or learn about an automotive repair for your vehicle. To see just how valuable your Library card is, visit library.escondido.org/value and enter your usage
into the value calculator. This September, Escondido Public Library introduces Read Local, Shop Local! offering Library cardholders even greater value. Show your Escondido Public Library card at participating Escondido businesses and receive a special merchant discount or offer. Visit library.escondido.org/local for complete details on this program and a list of participating businesses. Share your experience about the endless possibilities that your Library card provides using #LocalEsco. All Library programs and services are free to the public. Escondido Public Library is located at 239 South Kalmia Street in downtown Escondido, California, 92025. For more information about Library programs and services visit library. escondido.org or contact Principal Librarian Joanna Axelrod at 760-839-4330 or
[email protected].
Escondido Farmers Market Grand Avenue Tuesdays 2:30-7:00 pm
Opinions expressed in Alianza North County are those of the individuals expressing them and not of the publishers.
340 N. Escondido Blvd. Escondido, CA 92025 For more information: Artcenter.org or 800.988.4253
The vocabulary is confused and has become jargon which allows for obfuscation in the discussion, but it boils down to this; companies get public money for charter schools to use as they wish and this is a great opportunity to make a financial killing because it’s all hidden by self-dealing. What you call “self determination” “choice” allow for segregation and exclusion in what has always been a public good. -- Public Education Advocate, Michael Dominguez on charter schools
ALIANZA NORTH COUNTY
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Noticias y Opinión progresista
Elementos esenciales del programa curricular de las escuelas primarias IB • Conocimiento - Importante y relevante contenido que deseamos que los niños exploren y que aprendan de éste, tomando en cuenta sus experiencias y entendimiento previo. • Conceptos - Ideas poderosas que tienen relevancia dentro de las áreas temáticas pero que también las trascienden y que los estudiantes deben explorar y reexplorar para poder desarrollar un entendimiento coherente y a fondo. • Destrezas - Aquellas habilidades que los estudiantes necesitan demostrar para tener éxito en un mundo cambiante y desafiante, las cuales pueden ser dentro de una modalidad o tocar varias modalidades. • Actitudes - Disposiciones que son expresiones de valores fundamentales, creencias y sentimientos del saber, el medio ambiente y la gente. • Acción - Demostraciones de un aprendizaje más profundo en un comportamiento responsable por medio de acciones responsables; una manifestación en práctica de otros elementos esenciales. Características del perfil del alumno del Bachillerato Internacional La meta de todos los programas del Bachillerato Internacional (IB) es desarrollar personas con una perspectiva internacional que, reconociendo su humanidad en común y su tutela compartida del planeta, ayuden a crear un mejor y más pacifico mundo. Los alumnos de IB aspiran a ser: Indagadores - Ellos desarrollan su curiosidad natural. Adquieren las habilidades necesarias para plantear preguntas e investigar y demostrar un aprendizaje independiente. Ellos disfrutan el aprendizaje activo, y este amor por el saber lo mantendrán a lo largo de sus vidas. Conocedores - Exploran conceptos, ideas y asuntos que tienen un significado local y global. Al hacerlo, adquieren un profundo conocimiento y desarrollan un entendimiento de una amplia y balanceada gama de diciplinas. Pensadores - Ejercitan iniciativa al aplicar destrezas de razonamiento de manera crítica y creativa para reconocer y plantear problemas complejos, y para tomar decisiones éticas y racionales. Comunicadores - Entienden y expresan ideas e información con seguridad y creativamente en más de un idioma y en una variedad de medios de comunicación. Trabajan de manera efectiva y colaboran con otros por voluntad propia. De principios - Actúan con integridad y honestidad, con un fuerte sentido de equidad, justicia y respeto por la dignidad de individuos, grupos y comunidades. Toman responsabilidad de sus propios actos y de las consequencias que las acompañan. De mente abierta - Entienden y aprecian sus propias culturas e historias personales, y están abiertos a las perspectivas, valores y tradiciones de otros individuos y comunidades. Están acostumbrados a buscar y evaluar una gama de puntos de vista y están dispuestos a crecer con esas experiencias. Bondadosos - Muestran empatía, compasión y respeto hacia las necesidades y sentimientos de los demás. Tienen un compromiso personal de servir y entrar en acción para impactar de manera positiva la vida de los demás y el medio ambiente. Audaces - Abordan situaciones desconocidas y la incertidumbre con valentía y previsión y poseen un espíritu independiente para explorar nuevos papeles, ideas y estrategias. Son valientes y articulados al defender lo que creen. Balanceados - Entienden la importancia del balance intelectual, físico y emocional para obtener bienestar personal para ellos y los demás.
Home to School Transportation Cont. from page 1 for everyone on free and reduced lunch, and we already know that you lie about your eligibility.” Secretary of Education John King states in a commentary in Education Week that chronic absenteeism is a better predictor of dropping out of school than test scores. Absenteeism has been linked to adult poverty and incarceration. He goes on to invite communities to work to increase graduation rates estimating that a 10% increase in graduation rates would result in a 9 percent decline in arrest rates that would save 1.4 billion dollars in social costs of crime and incarceration. One of three causes of absenteeism is lack of transportation. Based on Secretary King, the Oceanside parents are making a reasonable request that could save the community money, human suffering, and increase student achievement. As their children head back to school this August, some Oceanside parents still have many questions. They want to know if they will be provided transportation or required to pay the district part of their small minimum wage salaries and pick-up trash to receive transportation service again this year. Last year they paid half and “worked” for the other half by picking up trash. During mandated trash pick-up, parents say they wore required orange vests that caused them to suffer the humiliation of neighbors accusing them of getting a drunken driving ticket. None of the parents want to suffer that humiliation again so they ask the questions: What happened to the Home-to-School Transportation funds? Was their input for the LCAP to provide transportation for their children not a valid request? Do not children need to be in school to benefit? California may have “improved” their funding allocation formula and there is widespread evidence that staff in most districts increased their salaries, but the needs of the community are not being met by the LCFF and LCAP programs. Children are not receiving the same level of services; parents report they are not adequately included in the decision-making; programs that were to be continued have been eliminated, and the needs of poor children although greater than they were in 2014 still go unaddressed. ****
Reflexivos - Le dan cuidadosa consideración a su propia experiencia de aprendizaje. Son capaces de evaluar y entender sus puntos fuertes y limitaciones para poder apoyar su aprendizaje y desarrollo personal.
Memo on Education to My Congressman, Scott Peters
by Thomas Ultican
In 2000, you became my city councilman. Then in 2012, you became my Congressman in the 52nd District. I have always respected your work and integrity. However, when it comes to education, I see the Democratic Party as part of the problem and not the solution. Your latest response to me further reinforced my belief that politicians are being so propagandized by big money interests that they do not know what is real concerning education policy. America’s Public Education System Trails No-One. Your last message to me contained several statements that I consider misguided. This paragraph is verbatim to one I received from you in July, 2015 and it is not defensible. Your office wrote: “In an increasingly global economy, it is critical that we make educational investments that put our students in a position to compete with the rest of the world. For years, the United States has trailed China, India, and others not just in investment in education, but in student achievement. When making changes to education policy, Congress should be sure that it is closing that gap.” It is well known that the United States spends far more on education than China and India combined, but more importantly the United States has never trailed China or India in education. On international testing some cities and countries around the world have achieved spectacular scores. However, these scores are averages and because our education system is much more universal we test all our students; they don’t. Plus, we have a huge number of students living in poverty. But, on an even playing field, the team from the United States just won the world’s oldest international math and science competition for the second year in a row. In The International Mathematical Olympiad team USA came in first ahead of Korea, China, Taiwan, Russia, Singapore
Opinions expressed in Alianza North County are those of the individuals expressing them and not of the publishers.
and the rest of the field from 109 countries. Last year in response to my comments about HR 5 the pre-cursor to the new federal education law, ESSA, you made the same claim as above. At that time, I informed you of America’s continued unparalleled achievement in Nobel Prize winners: “Student achievement measures depend upon what you want. If the goal is creative students who can innovate and lead happy lives, then our system is clearly out producing India and China. One measuring stick might be Nobel Prize winners since 1949: America had 313 laureates; India 7; and China 8. Of the 8 Chinese, the Dalai Lama and Liu Xiaobo who won peace prizes both are considered criminals – Xiaobo is still in a Chinese prison; four are scientists who earned their degrees in the United States or Great Britain; and only the two literature recipients were educated in China. To recap, since 1949 two international and widely recognized citations for Chinese educated students compared to 313 such citations from our world’s best American education system.” To wrap up the point I am making here, it is a slander of the world’s greatest education system to say that it is lagging any other country. It is just not true. When establishing policy in any field one must deal with reality not illusion. STEAM and STEM are Frauds Your message continued: “That’s one of the reasons I support making key investments in Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts and Design, and Math (STEAM) education programs. STEAM programs prepare our students to be innovators, put them in position to add to San Diego’s rich legacy of scientific discovery and entrepreneurship, and close the achievement gap between ourselves and are largest global competitors.” STEAM is derived from the fraudulent idea that the US is falling behind in STEM education. When I was working in
Silicon Valley in the 1990’s, newspaper reports were full of baloney about the STEM shortage in America undermining our economic viability in the world. Congresswoman, Zoe Lofgren was championing the need for H1-B visas so American corporations could compete. The result is that there are less opportunities for America’s STEM educated students and here in your district all of the large apartment complexes are filled with Indian people working at QUALCOMM. There was no shortage, but the STEM field wages were driven down. Here is a quote from a 2013 article in the Columbia Journalism Review and this is not an outlier; there are a host of articles with this same message. “According to Miller, Neill told them this is not the argument “she normally encounters on this issue.” The conventional wisdom is that tech companies and universities can’t find enough homegrown scientists to hire, so they need to import them from China and India. Neill suggested to Miller and Shah that “we would have more impact if we represented a large, organized group. “Miller and Shah are, in fact, part of a large group. Figures from the National Institutes of Health, the National Academies, the National Science Foundation, and other sources indicate that hundreds of thousands of STEM workers in the US are unemployed or underemployed. But they are not organized, and their story is being largely ignored in the debate over immigration reform.” The point is that we do not need ill formed education policies paired with bad immigration policy based on false premises. Instead of STEM or the more politically acceptable STEAM education policies driven from capital cities, we need K-12 schools to provide solid liberal arts programs that will be the foundation for future student growth. Diane Ravitch, the former Assistant Secretary of Education from Bush 41’s adminisCont. on page 13
ALIANZA NORTH COUNTY
PAGE 13
Progressive News & Opinion Alvin Dunn
Cont. from page 1
• Writing a letter to the CFOs of Sprint, T-Mobile, AT&T, and Verizon asking them to help provide free technology to poor areas that don’t currently have access. • Conducting student interviews using dolls, pictures of boys and girls, and videos of students with disabilities to inquire how students perceive race, gender, and disabled individuals. • Starting a materials drive for schools in Haiti by distributing a flyer asking grade levels to donate one type of material such as crayons, spiral notebooks, or pencils. • Creating a fundraiser for the Malala Fund to help girls around the world access education. • Starting a coin drive to help Flint, Michigan’s water crisis. They will give all proceeds to Community Foundation of Greater Flint. Whole School Effort At Alvin Dunn, IB is an inclusive program for all students, from pre-kindergarten through 6th grade. Units of study are designed to invite inquiry so students construct meaning by engaging in real-world investigations. These units provide opportunities to delve deeply into topics that are aligned to content standards, but also transcend beyond them. Those themes are: • Who WeAre • Where We Are in Place and Time • How We Express Ourselves • How the World Works • How We Organize Ourselves • Sharing the Planet In 2009 the San Marcos superintendent wanted a public school option, an alternative to traditional approaches to teaching and learning. A team of teachers, administrators, school board members, and parents met with like-minded educators in the county, and formulated a plan of action. Parent surveys were conducted to determine what type of program(s) should be offered that would prepare students for the 21st century in a global economy. Alvin Dunn was selected for IB because of its central location and its room to expand, making it a school of choice for the community. The program coordinator is Yvonne Fojtasek, who works with teachers, parents and the community, including outreach that includes tours and informational meetings. “Teachers guide the inquiry process by reinforcing such skills as communication, thinking, research, and self-management skills,” she said. “Typically there is some type of culminating project when students present their findings to their peers. The ultimate goal is for students to take action based on their learning. This could be as simple as doing more research, or getting involved with an action project within the community.” Fojtasek said that visitors often remark how impressed they are with “the quality of writing they see displayed, how articulate the students are when communicating what they’ve learned, and how passionate they are about making a difference in the world around them.” Even transitional kindergarten students “can explain the adaptations of various animals throughout the world as well as the importance of taking care of the environment to protect those animals,” she said. Spanish Speakers are Valued In the five years that Reyes has volunteered at Dunn, she has seen a remarkable turnaround. In her professional life as an educator at all levels, Reyes has researched the learning of Latinos, including effective instruction, literacy, language, and culture. “IB is an enrichment program that works,” she said. “In the past, Spanish speakers have often been viewed as deficient, as students who are tough to teach. I lived it as a kid. It is so different now. IB makes Spanish an asset; it’s an affirmation of who they are, that this kind of kid is valued.” Reyes has observed that Dunn students “are bright, they really understand, and they communicate intelligently. Their exhibition was like walking into an academic conference, with storyboards, photos, and teams of students who explain their learning. They could respond to questions in their own words, showing a deep understanding.” One example was an exhibit on immigration. “The students had researched push-pull factors including the need for cheap labor, poor working conditions, and even the Driscoll boycott to protest unfair labor practices,” Reyes said. “It was jaw-dropping, and the kids are so excited.” According to Reyes the teachers at Dunn “have a different spirit. They ‘own’ all the kids, they want to be there, and it shows in the way they behave around the students.” She cited the fact that about 35 white students have transferred to Alvin Dunn, which used to experience the opposite: white flight. “I am very, very impressed.”
Essential Elements of the IB Primary Years Program Curriculum • Knowledge-Significant, relevant content that we wish the students to explore and know about, taking into consideration their prior experience and understanding. • Concepts-Powerful ideas that have relevance within the subject areas but also transcend them and that students must explore and re-explore in order to develop a coherent, in-depth understanding. • Skills-Those capabilities that the students need to demonstrate to succeed in a changing, challenging world, which may be disciplinary or transdisciplinary in nature. • Attitudes- Dispositions that are expressions of fundamental values, beliefs and feelings about learning, the environment, and people. Action-Demonstrations of deeper learning in responsible behavior through responsible action; a manifestation in practice of the other essential elements. International Baccalaureate Learner Profile Attributes The aim of all International Baccalaureate (IB) programs is to develop internationally minded people who, recognizing their common humanity and shared guardianship of the planet, help to create a better and more peaceful world. IB learners strive to be: Inquirers- They develop their natural curiosity. They acquire the skills necessary to conduct inquiry and research and show independence in learning. They actively enjoy learning, and this love of learning will be sustained throughout their lives. Knowledgeable- They explore concepts, ideas, and issues that have local and global significance. In so doing, they acquire in-depth knowledge and develop understanding across a broad and balanced range of disciplines. Thinkers- They exercise initiative in applying thinking skills critically and creatively to recognize and approach complex problems, and make reasoned, ethical decisions. Communicators- They understand and express ideas and information confidently and creatively in more than one language and in a variety of modes of communication. They work effectively and willingly in collaboration with others. Principled- They act with integrity and honesty, with a strong sense of fairness, justice, and respect for the dignity of the individual, groups and communities. They take responsibility for their own actions and the consequences that accompany them. Open-minded- They understand and appreciate their own cultures and personal histories, and are open to the perspectives, values, and traditions of other individuals and communities. They are accustomed to seeking and evaluating a range of points of view and are willing to grow from the experience. Caring- They show empathy, compassion, and respect towards the needs and feelings of others. They have a personal commitment to service and act to make a positive difference to the lives of others and to the environment. Risk-takers- They approach unfamiliar situations and uncertainty with courage and forethought and have the independence of spirit to explore new roles, ideas and strategies. They are brave and articulate in defending their beliefs. Balanced- They understand the importance of intellectual, physical, and emotional balance to achieve personal well-being for themselves and others. Reflective- They give thoughtful consideration to their own learning and experience. They are able to assess and understand their strengths and limitations in order to support their learning and personal development.
Rick Mercurio is Alianza North County’s Lead Reporter.
“Never forget that justice is what love looks like in public.” - Cornel West
Letter to Peters Cont. from page 12
tration, put it well in today’s (7/24/2016) New York Times: “If we really cared about improving the education of all students, we would give teachers the autonomy to tailor instruction to meet the needs of the children in front of them and to write their own tests. We would insist that students in every school had an equal opportunity to learn in well-maintained schools, in classes of reasonable size taught by expert teachers. Anyone who wants to know how students in one state compare with students in other states can get that information from the N.A.E.P., the existing federal test.” ESSA May Be Worse Than NCLB One more paragraph from your message to me says: “Earlier in 2015, the House passed a version of the education bill – a much-needed update to No Child Left Behind – that did not achieve these goals so I did not support it. Since then, I have advocated to make it better. Through negotiations between the House and Senate, Congress came to an agreement on an update, called the Every Student Succeeds Act, which was a significant improvement. I was joined by over 350 Representatives in supporting the updated bill and the President signed it into law in early December.” While there is little doubt that ESSA is better than the original house version it is still bad law. Daisaku Ikeda in a book called Unforgettable Friends, writes, “Having been driven from the lectern by the government in the past, Dr. Delich [Francisco J. Delich, Former Rector of the National University of Córdoba, Argentina] is very deeply and personally aware of the evil of allowing government to control education. He wants to build a society in which political leaders respect educators. Education, he believes, is the very foundation of the nation.” ESSA ergates power over schools away from parents and teachers and to the federal government. This allows the uninformed and the corrupt too much opportunity to harm students nationwide. For example, large sums of money are earmarked for promoting the development of charter schools. Charter schools have not improved education in the least, but they have opened the door for fraud and profiteering at the expense of students. Democracy is an important principle and no money should be spent on schools by the federal government if that money is not controlled by an elected body. Parents and teachers should control education using democratic processes to govern schools in their local community; not federal or state bureaucrats wielding authoritarian power. ESSA also mandates standardized testing of all students in grades 3 – 8 and 11. This is a massive waste of money and harmful. For the first time ever student testing results on the nations report card, NAEP, stayed flat of fell during the last 10 years. Massive testing with punitive consequences has harmed not improved schools. ESSA also provides money for competency based education (CBE) also known as personalize learning. The basic idea behind CBE is to have children sit at computers earning badges for demonstrating a learning competency. It is the worst kind of fill up the student with knowledge pedagogy imaginable but it does have huge profit potential. Emily Talmage a teacher and education writer from Maine has been sounding the alarm about this terrible idea. She writes: “Although we were assured that the reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act was intended to restore control to states and local districts, the truth is that much of the document was carefully crafted to enable a proliferation of “personalized learning.” “KnowledgeWorks highlights the many ways that ESSA “opens the door” for personalized learning, including its Innovative Assessment Zones, resources for ‘21st Century Community Learning Centers,’ and grant money for technology available in virtually every section of the document.” ESSA has made students and communities more vulnerable to being fleeced by corporate carpetbaggers and it increases the role of the federal government in local education policy. America’s public school system is the foundation that made our great democratic experiment a resounding success. Allowing our schools to be stolen by profiteers actually creates a “Nation at Risk.” The federalized destruction of the public education system has become real. Please be alert to self-serving corporate actors and fight for the survival of the public education system in America. Thomas Ultican was formerly a mechanical engineer. He has been teaching high school mathematics and physics since 2002.
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Noticias y Opinión progresista
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Alianza’s Delivery Sites CVS 2510 EL CAMINO REAL CARLSBAD 1706 OCEANSIDE BLVD OCEANSIDE 4615 FRAZEE RD OCEANSIDE 1970 COLLEGE BLVD OCEANSIDE 3925 N. RIVER DR OCEANSIDE 1631 S MELROSE DR VISTA 734 S RANCHO SANTA FE RD SAN MARCOS 1101 S MISSION RD FALLBROOK 1441 N SANTA FE AVE VISTA 883 S. SANTA FE VISTA 1655 S CENTRE CITY PKWY ESC 318 W EL NORTE PKWY ESC 2427 E VALLEY PKWY ESC 7-11 487 VANDERGRIFT BLVD OCEANSIDE 1749 SOUTH COAST HWY OCEANSIDE 5802 VAN ALLEN WAY CARLSBAD 2985 VIA LAS ROSAS OCEANSIDE 470 N MELROSE DR VISTA 578 MISSION RD SAN MARCOS 1531 W. MISSION RD SAN MARCOS 1595 E VISTA WAY VISTA 631 S MAIN ST FALLBROOK 895 E VISTA WAY VISTA 298 SYCAMORE ST VISTA 1610 S. MELROSE VISTA 522 WEST 9TH AVE ESC 768 MIDWAY DR ESC 1560 E GRAND AVE ESC 260 E. MISSION ESC 263 E. GRAND AVE ESC 850 W. MISSION AVE ESC 1860 W. EL NORTE PKWY ESC 555 COUNTRY CLUB LN ESC 1334 W. VALLEY PKWY ESC
Planned Parenthood Mission Ave, ESC Kettle Coffee Shop Grand Ave, ESC Sprouts Centre City Pkwy, ESC Major Market 1855 South Centre City Pkwy ESC Doart Shoe Repair 103 S. Broadway ESC Northgate Market 606 N. Escondido Blvd ESC Municipal Art Gallery 262 East Grand Ave ESC Mercedes Benz of Esc 1101 West 9th Ave ESC Oaxaqueña Bakery 161 South Juniper St ESC Mexico Lindo 169 South Juniper St ESC Farmer Boys Restaurants and Racks all along Grand Ave
San Marcos San Marcos Market (Pico Ave) El Mercado Market El Patron Market Su Pan Bakery Mission West Market San Marcos Market (Autumn Dr) Starbucks Knoll Rd Starbucks Rancho Santa Fe Starbucks Twin Oaks Valley Rd Starbucks Las posas Ryan Bros Coffee Old California coffee shop Perks coffee house Vista Porters in vista Starbucks (Main St)
Ralphs 101 OLD GROVE RD OCEANSIDE 1702 OCEANSIDE BLVD OCEANSIDE 7140 AVENIDA ENCINAS CARLSBAD 4251 OCEANSIDE BLVD OCEANSIDE 3533 CANNON RD OCEANSIDE 306 TWIN OAKS VALLEY RD SAN MARCOS 2417 E VALLEY PKWY ESCONDIDO Other Sites in Escondido US Bank, ESC Vinz Grand Ave ESC Doart Grand Ave ESC Northgate Market N. Escondido Blvd, ESC Chick Plus Mission Ave, ESC
Rodeos Market Curbside Cafe (Main) Wavelength Brewery (Main) Lush Lounge (Main) Village Cafe (Main) Mother Earth Brewery (Main) Libraries Del Dios Free Escondido Oceanside San Marcos Vista
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Progressive News & Opinion
Alvin Dunn
Transporte
Viene de la pagina 1 • Recolectar fondos para personas con discapacidades y mandar donaciones a la organización Handicap International. • Crear panfletos para distribuirlos en exhibiciones sobre diferentes empresas que utilizan plantas explotadoras y exhortar a la gente a que no compre sus productos. • Escribir una carta a los Directores Financieros de Sprint, T-Mobile, AT&T y Verizon pidiéndoles que ayuden a proveer tecnología libre de costo en áreas pobres donde no tienen alcance a ésta. • Llevar a cabo entrevistas con estudiantes utilizando muñecas, fotografías de niños y niñas, y videos de estudiantes con minusvalías para hacer un sondeo de cómo los estudiantes perciben los conceptos de raza, género y a los individuos discapacitados. • Iniciar una colecta de útiles escolares para escuelas en Haití utilizando volantes y pidiendo a los diferentes grados una donación de útiles específicos, como crayolas, cuadernos de espiral o lápices. • Crear una recaudación de fondos para el Malala Fund que ayuda a chicas alrededor del mundo a que tengan acceso a la educación. • Empezar una colecta de monedas para ayudar en la crisis de agua en Flint, Michigan. Ellos entregarán todo lo recaudado a la Community Foundation of Greater Flint. Un esfuerzo de toda la escuela En la escuela primaria Alvin Dunn, IB es un programa inclusivo para todos los estudiantes, desde el preescolar al sexto grado. Las unidades de estudio están diseñadas para picar la curiosidad de los pupilos y para que ellos elaboren criterios al involucrarse en investigaciones concretas. Estas unidades brindan oportunidades para ahondar en temas que se alinean con los estándares estatales de contenido, y que a la vez tiene un alcance más allá de éstos. Dichos temas son: • Quiénes somos • Dónde estamos en tiempo y espacio
• Cómo nos expresamos • Cómo funciona el mundo • Cómo nos organizamos • Compartir el planeta En el 2009, el superintendente de San Marcos buscó una opción para las escuelas públicas, una alternativa a las aproximaciones tradicionales de enseñanza y aprendizaje. Un equipo de educadores, administradores, miembros de la junta directiva escolar y padres de familia se reunieron con educadores de ideas afines de todo el país, y formularon un plan de acción. Se encuestaron a padres de familia para determinar qué tipo de programa(s) se ofrecen que preparen a los estudiantes para el siglo 21 en una economía global. La escuela Alvin Dunn fue elegida para el programa IB debido a su ubicación céntrica, su capacidad de expansión, haciéndola una escuela de preferencia en la comunidad. La coordinadora del programa, Yvonne Fojtasek, trabaja con maestros, padres de familia y la comunidad incorporando difusión que incluye recorridos y juntas informales. “Los maestros guían el proceso inquisitivo reforzando destrezas de comunicación, razonamiento, investigación y autogestión,” dijo. “Típicamente hay algún tipo de proyecto culminante donde los estudiantes les presentan sus resultados a sus compañeros. La meta primordial es que los estudiantes pasen a la acción en base a lo aprendido. Esto puede ser tan simple como hacer más investigación, o involucrarse en algún proyecto activo dentro de la comunidad.” Fojtasek dijo que los visitantes a menudo remarcan en lo impresionados que quedan con “la calidad de la escritura que ven desplegadas, qué tan elocuentes son los estudiantes al comunicar lo que han aprendido, y con la pasión que muestran al hablar de la importancia de marcar la diferencia en el mundo en que viven.” Hasta los estudiantes del jardín de niños “pueden explicar las adaptaciones de varios animales del mundo al igual que la importancia de cuidar el medio ambiente para protejer a esos animales,” dijo. Los hispanoparlantes son apreciados En los cinco años que Reyes ha brindado sus servicios voluntarios en
Dunn, ella ha visto un impresionante giro. En su vida profesional como educadora de todos los niveles, Reyes ha investigado sobre el aprendizaje de los latinos, incluyendo enseñanza efectiva, alfabetismo, lenguaje y cultura. “IB es un programa de enriquecimiento que funciona, ” dijo. “En el pasado, los hispanoparlantes a menudo han sido vistos como deficientes, como estudiantes que son difíciles de enseñar. Yo lo viví de niña. Es muy diferente ahora. IB hace que el español sea una ventaja; una afirmación de quién son, de que ese tipo de niño es valorado.” Reyes ha observado que los estudiantes de Dunn “son inteligentes, están listos para entender, y se comunican inteligentemente. Su exhibición era como caminar en una conferencia academica, con guiones gráficos, fotografías y equipos de estudiantes explicando lo que aprendieron. Ellos podían responder preguntas en sus propias palabras, demostrando un profundo entendimiento.” Un ejemplo fue una exposición sobre la inmigración. “Los estudiantes habían investigado factores en pro y en contra, incluyendo la necesidad de mano de obra barata, condiciones laborales deficientes, y hasta el boicoteo de Driscoll en protesta a la prácticas laborales injustas,” añadió Reyes. “Te quedabas con la boca abierta, y los niños estaban tan entusiasmados.” Según Reyes, los maestros de Dunn “tienen un espíritu diferente. Ellos cuentan con la atención de todos los niños, quieren estar ahí, y eso es evidente en la manera que interactúan con los estudiantes.” Ella mencionó el hecho de que alrededor de 35 niños blancos se han transferido a Alvin Dunn, donde antes sucedía lo opuesto: los blancos se salían de ahí. “Estoy muy, muy impresionada.”
Rick Mercurio es reportero de plomo de Alianza.
Viene de la pagina 1 la escuela que los resultados de las pruebas. El absentismo se ha relacionado con la pobreza y el encarcelamiento de adultos. Él va a invitar a las comunidades a trabajar para aumentar las tasas de graduación que estiman que un aumento del 10% en las tasas de graduación se traduciría en una disminución del 9 por ciento en las tasas de detención que salvarían 1,4 millones de dólares en costos sociales de la delincuencia y el encarcelamiento. Una de las tres causas de absentismo es el transporte. Los padres de Oceanside están haciendo una petición razonable que podría salvar el dinero de la comunidad y el sufrimiento humano. A medida que sus niños vuelven a la escuela este mes de agosto, algunos padres Oceanside todavía tienen muchas preguntas. Ellos quieren saber si se les proporcionará el transporte o obligados a pagar la parte del distrito de sus pequeños salarios mínimos y recogida de basura para recibir el servicio de transporte de nuevo este año. El año pasado pagaron la mitad y “trabajaron” para la otra mitad por recoger la basura. Durante el mandato de recogida de basura, los padres llevaban chalecos de color naranja necesarios que les hizo sufrir la humillación de vecinos acusándolos de recibir una multa por conducir ebrio. Los padres no quieren que sufrir esta humillación de nuevo. Hacen estas preguntas: ¿Qué pasó con los fondos del Transporte? ¿Era su entrada para la LCAP para proporcionar transporte para sus hijos no una solicitud válida? ¿No es cierto que los niños tienen que estar en la escuela para beneficiar? California podría haber “mejorado” su fórmula de asignación de fondos y está más que demostrado que los Administradores Escolares de California aumentó sus salarios, pero las necesidades de la comunidad no están siendo satisfechas por el LCFF y programas LCAP. Los niños no están recibiendo el mismo nivel de servicios; los padres no están incluidos adecuadamente en la toma de decisiones; programas que iban a ser seguido han sido eliminadas, y las necesidades de los niños pobres, aunque mayores de lo que eran en 2014 todavía no se abordan. ***
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