District Chronicles V13 Issue 48 by District Chronicles

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Study: all students, even White benefit from minority teachers Page 8

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Volume 13 Issue 48

Editorial

Congressional Black Caucus puts the ‘con’ in conscience By Raynard Jackson NNPA Columnist

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ccording to the dictionary, the conscience is the inner sense of what is right or wrong in one’s conduct or motives. The Congressional Black Caucus (CBC) considers itself to be “the conscience of the U.S. Congress.” Notice that the root of the word conscience is the word “con,” which is exactly what the CBC has turned out to be. They have conned the American people into believing that they represent the values of the Black community, but nothing could be further from the truth. They have sat silently by as President Obama has put forth policies that have decimated the very people they claim to represent. Just last week, Incumbent U.S. Sen. Thad Cochran’s successful reelection was credited to Black Democrats crossing party lines to vote for the six-term Republican incumbent. This led to the following Politico headline: “Congressional Black Caucus to Thad Cochran: You owe us.” I was flabbergasted. The article contained several quotes from members of the CBC demanding that Cochran reward the Black voters of Mississippi by pushing forward their liberal agenda in the U.S. Senate. “Absolutely we have expectations. Mississippi is the poorest state in the union. I think he [Cochran] is a very decent man. I also think there comes a point in time where every single elected official has to do what’s best for the people he represents, and his state is 35 percent minority and poor,” said Rep Marcia Fudge (D-Ohio) and chairman of the CBC. NAACP Mississippi State President Derrick Johnson added, “Two things that we think should come immediately after the election [are] his support of the Voting Rights Act … free of any provisions that would allow for voter ID and, second, to get the presidents of the Black colleges to ask for his offices for help to make sure the [missions] of those institutions are carried out.” Let’s keep it real: Blacks are 36 percent of the electorate in Missis-

Rep. Fudge is among several CBC members that think Cochran’s win should come at a price.

sippi, and accounted for about 10 percent of the vote for Cochran, but yet members of the CBC are demanding concessions from Cochran. However, they don’t hold Obama to the same standard. In 2012, Blacks were 15 percent of the national electorate and Obama received 93 percent of that vote. In 2008, Blacks were 11 percent of the national electorate, giving Obama 96 percent of that vote. Despite these numbers, the CBC has never demanded anything from Obama. Instead they have made feeble suggestions or sent nice letters, and have even sent White people to inquire on their behalf. Yet they have never found the guts to demand anything from him. Rep. Emmanuel Cleaver (D-Mo.) said in 2011, “If [former President] Bill Clinton had been in the White House and had failed to address this problem [Black unemployment], we probably would be marching on the White House … as the chair of the Black Caucus, I’ve got to tell you, we are always hesitant to criticize the president. With 14 percent [Black] unemployment, if we had a White president we’d be marching around the White

House. … The President knows we are going to act in deference to him in a way we wouldn’t to someone White.” In another interview, Cleaver was asked what he would say if former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, instead of Obama, had been elected president and Black unemployment was in the double digits? He said, “As much as I love Sen. Clinton, I would have been all over her on 14 percent unemployment for African Americans. I would have said, ‘My sister, I love you, but this has got to go.’” Let’s back up a moment: Cochran, a Republican, gets 10 percent of the Black vote. So, the CBC demands action from him, even if that means offending the 90 percent vote total Cochran received from conservative Whites in Mississippi. Yet, Obama, a Black Democrat, gets nearly 100 percent of the Black vote, and feels he doesn’t “owe” African Americans anything. Even worse, Black leaders don’t demand anything from him. This brings the so-called ‘conscience” of Congress into question. This blatant race-based hypocrisy on the part of the CBC proves they have no conscience.

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By Charlene Crowell NNPA Columnist

ou’ve probably heard the advertisements on urban radio urging consumers with at least $10,000 in debt to call a number right away for a financial rescue. Promising to end debt troubles by getting creditors to somehow accept less money than what is owed can sound really appealing. In reality, however, consumers mired in debt may often find debt settlement programs to be costly, misleading, and far less helpful than the radio ad promises. In the newest chapter in the research series titled The State of Lending, the Center for Responsible Lending (CRL) finds that debt settlement is a risky strategy that can leave consumers more financially vulnerable and still laden with debt years after they enroll in such programs. Regardless of how well consumers follow the instructions of their debt settlement firm, they may ultimately be unsuccessful because many creditors simply refuse to deal with debt settlement companies. According to the report, “Debt settlement companies do not tell consumers whether creditors will work with their firms at the time of enrollment. However, even if debt-settlement companies were required to disclose whether a particular creditor routinely works with their firm, this provides no real guarantee. In many cases, the party who owns a debt changes over time, since a debt may be sold

successively to multiple parties.” Available data suggests that at least two-thirds of debts must be settled in order to achieve a net positive outcome from debt settlement. Even more debts must be settled for the consumer to achieve real savings if they end up being liable for taxes on the debt reduction. In the end, many consumers never realize that kind of experience. Rather, they end up worse off financially. According to the American Fair Credit Council, an industry trade association, consumers must typically be enrolled in debt settlement plan for three to four years in order to complete the program. During this time, debt balances grow an average 20 percent while consumers wait for settlements to be reached. Additionally, their credit scores are negatively affected, financial instability increased, and the likelihood of creditor lawsuits loom near. According to Leslie Parrish, co-author of the report and deputy research director at CRL, “When a consumer stops making payments on a debt, not only is she/he vulnerable to fees and an increased interest rate, the reporting of this delinquency to credit bureaus can impact credit scores for years.” In general, the higher a consumer’s credit score is, the lower the cost of credit they will incur. Conversely, the lower one’s credit score, the higher the cost of credit and interest will be. Whether applying for a credit card, auto loan or a mortgage, bad credit histories make future credit and borrowing more expensive.

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In 2010, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) issued regulation that barred debt settlement companies from charging fees until they reached settlements with the client’s creditors. While this regulation has stopped some of the most egregious industry practices, CRL’s report finds that significant financial risks remain for debt settlement clients. Today, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau shares regulatory oversight of debt settlement with the FTC. Thus far, CFPB has taken multiple enforcement actions against several debt-settlement companies and one payment processor. CRL also sees a role for states to establish meaningful limits of debt settlement fees. One recommendation is to limit the fees that can be charged and to calculate such fees on the basis of the amount of savings achieved for the consumer. State and federal regulators could also require better screening of prospective customers to lower the risk of a bad outcome. Factors such as the amount of debt to be enrolled, creditors and the consumer’s financial circumstances would be taken into account. Ellen Harnick, co-author of the report and senior policy counsel at CRL, said, “What’s clear is that more action is necessary to protect consumers.” The report can be found at: http://rspnsb.li/1x5lPOe. Charlene Crowell is a communications manager with the Center for Responsible Lending. Contact her at Charlene. crowell@responsiblelending.org.

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Neighborhood Metro Briefs: Notable news in and around Washington District of Columbia Howard University explores diversity with HBCU trip to Beijing

The HBCU meetings in Beijing were held parallel to the 5th U.S.China Consultation on People to People Exchange (CPE), which took place from July 9 - 11. The CPE is co-hosted by U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry and China’s Vice Premier Madam Liu Yandong, China’s highest-ranking government official overseeing education. The CPE is designed to enhance and strengthen ties between the citizens of the United States and the People’s Republic of China in the areas of culture, education, science and technology, sports and women’s issues. On July 10, the HBCU delegation attended the closing session of the CPE meetings with Secretary Kerry and Vice Premier Liu. The HBCU trip to China is the culmination of the collective works of the Chinese government and the China-U.S. Exchange Foundation (CUSEF), a Hong Kong-based nonprofit organization that encourages and facilitates exchanges among public policy makers, civic leaders, think tanks, academia and business organizations in the United States and China to enhance understanding and mutually beneficial

Divine Intervention By Jonathan Wilson-Hartgrove Religion News Service On June 2, 1964, while hundreds of Freedom Summer volunteers were still finishing their training in Oxford, Ohio, three civil rights workers went missing in Neshoba County, Miss. Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee field secretary Bob Moses was charged with leading the project that would organize poor, Black Mississippians to challenge the power structure of the South and upset the Democratic National Convention. Moses knew from his experience in Mississippi that James Chaney, Michael Schwerner and Andrew Goodman, who had left the day before to investigate a church burning in Philadelphia, Miss., would never be found alive. Moses’ responsibility that evening was to tell the young recruits who planned to spend their summer registering voters in Mississippi that they could

meet the same end. What happened next surprised some. In small circles, the young volunteers sat and talked. Soon, they started singing. “I often hear people make fun of something as a ‘Kumbaya moment,’” said civil rights veteran Vincent Harding, who died this year. “But I can never laugh because I heard those young people sing ‘Kumbaya’ – ‘Come by here, my Lord.’ And as they sang, they chose to risk their lives for the hope of democracy.” Fifty years after Freedom Summer, it’s easy to attribute the risks of the militant SNCC and its Freedom Summer volunteers to youthful idealism. But many who were there on the ground insist faith played an essential role in this monumental effort to reclaim the heart of democracy. It was no accident that the three civil rights workers who were killed were going to investigate a church burning. As one of the few spaces where Blacks

4 | Jul. 17 - Jul. 23, 2014 | District Chronicles

Wilson Global

oward University and seven other HBCUs in the United States, last week, signed a memorandum of understanding with the China Education Association for International Exchange (CEAIE), China’s nonprofit organization conducting international educational exchanges and cooperation on behalf of the Ministry of Education. The agreement formally acknowledges the 1,000 scholarships for HBCU students announced by Vice Premier Liu Yandong at a November 2013 Capitol Hill meeting in Washington, D.C., between leadership of the Congressional Black Caucus and HBCU presidents from Howard University, Morgan State University, Tougaloo College and Xavier University of Louisiana. “We are excited about the partnership between the Chinese Government and HBCUs,” said Wayne

A.I. Frederick, interim president of Howard University. “The first Chinese students enrolled at Howard in 1870 and we have had an enduring relationship for nearly 150 years. We look forward to expanding our strategic partnership with China.” Anthony Wutoh, assistant provost for international affairs, represented Howard as a member of the delegation. Members participated in the HBCUs-Chinese Universities Roundtable where they engaged in dialogue with their Chinese university counterparts about mutually agreed upon processes for implementing the scholarship award initiative. “We’re delighted to be a part of this historic moment in progressive global student exchange and study,” said David Wilson, president of Morgan State University. “This collaboration between the Chinese government and HBCUs provides an excellent opportunity to enable our students to become competent in Chinese history and culture, and will significantly enhance their abilities to be successful global leaders throughout the world.”

HBCU delegates met with officials in China to solidify student exchange relations.

relationships. CUSEF hosted and organized the first meeting of the HBCUs with Vice Premier Liu during the HBCUs’ first visit to China in September 2013. The HBCU delegation’s visit from the U.S. side is managed and organized by Julia Wilson, CEO and founder of Wilson Global Communications, an international con-

sultant to the HBCU pilot group, and the liaison representative for CUSEF. In China, the CEAIE is managing logistics on behalf of the Ministry of Education. The HBCU–Chinese University Collaboration aims to encourage and increase international educational study opportunities for diverse students to study in China.

Faith spurred Freedom Summer volunteers

were free to gather and speak freely with one another, churches were essential organizing centers in the Mississippi movement. But the church was not only essential for its social function. For Mississippi native Fannie Lou Hamer, the church’s gospel was inextricably linked to the freedom message. “The 17th chapter of Acts and the 26th verse said God ‘has made of one blood all nations.’ And if I didn’t believe in Christianity, then I don’t think I could actually feel free and believe in freedom,” she said. Though it took great courage for young people to go to Mississippi when they knew their lives were at risk, Freedom Summer’s volunteers said they were inspired by the faith of women like Hamer, who was kicked off the cotton plantation where she and her husband lived and worked after she tried to register to vote. Each Black family that hosted a Freedom Summer volunteer

risked losing everything in 1964. Anyone in Mississippi, Black or White, who talked to the volunteers became suspect. What made it possible for everyday people to bet their lives on the possibility of a world they had never seen? In his book “God’s Long Summer,” University of Virginia professor Charles Marsh notes that faith was a driving force for everyone in Mississippi – not only for Hamer, but also for Sam Bowers, the imperial wizard of the Ku Klux Klan. To say that faith played a role in Freedom Summer is to state the obvious. Faith plays a role in every human story. Even still, a faith that inspires thousands of people to risk life and security is remarkable. In the surname of Freedom Summer’s leader, Hamer saw the hand of Providence. Just as Moses had led the Hebrew slaves out of Egypt, Bob Moses was a unique gift, sent by God to help Black Mississippians find their freedom.

But he was, always, a Moses and never a messiah. A student of Ella Baker, Moses knew instinctively that “strong people don’t need strong leaders.” If Moses and the Freedom Summer volunteers did their job right, Hamer would emerge in every community. Fifty years after Freedom Summer, Americans are tempted to think that democracy is a given while faith is a matter of personal choice. But if Moses and Hamer and the thousands of Christians and Jews who worked with them to change America taught us anything, they demonstrated that democracy is itself a matter of faith – a constant struggle to become what we claim to be. Jonathan Wilson-Hartgrove is author of “Strangers at My Door.” He founded the Rutba House, a house of hospitality where the formerly homeless are welcomed into a community that eats, prays, and shares life together.

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District Chronicles | Jul. 17 - Jul. 23, 2014 | 5

Cover

UNCF loses labor group support over Koch gift

By Freddie Allen NNPA Washington Correspondent

our mission of helping thousands of African-American students achieve their dream of a college degree and the economic benefits that come with it.” Lezli Baskerville, the president and CEO of the National Association for Equal Opportunity in Higher Education (NAFEO), an umbrella group that represents both public and private Black colleges, said that Lomax, as the head of UNCF, carries a heavy burden. “He has to raise scholarship money for all of these institutions and figure out how to get our kids to and through college,” said Baskerville. “I certainly stay up at night trying to figure that out as well.” Black families, still reeling from housing and job losses during the Great Recession, suffered another setback when the Obama administration abruptly changed the eligibility requirements for the Parent Loan for Undergraduate Students (PLUS) program, stifling college dreams for thousands of Black students. When enrollment dropped at HBCUs across the nation, the schools were forced to cut programs and staff. Advocates for HBCUs and Black students defended Lomax for accepting money from the Kochs, but said that UNCF should have managed the public relations around the partnership better. “For all of those people in our community who were upset with

aabe.org

WASHINGTON – Lee Saunders, president of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, has discontinued supplying scholarships to the United Negro College Fund because it accepted a $25 million donation from ultra-conservative billionaires Charles and David Koch and UNCF President Michael Lomax apparent support for the brothers’ right-wing ideology. Saunders, an African American, said in a stinging letter to Lomax that he was “deeply troubled” when the UNCF accepted the donation from Koch Industries, Inc. and the Charles Koch Foundation in June, but was even more shocked when Lomax later attended the Koch brothers’ event in California. “This was a betrayal of everything the UNCF stands for. The avowed purpose of this private event was to build support -- financial and political -- for the Koch brothers’ causes. Your appearance at the summit can only be interpreted as a sign of your personal support and the UNCF’s organizational support of the Koch brothers’ ideological program,” Saunders wrote. He explained, “The Koch brothers and the organizations they fund have devoted themselves for more than a decade to attacking the vot-

ing rights of African Americans. They support voter identification laws. They seek to restrict early voting and voter registration. They support laws that threaten organizations that register voters in the African-American community.” When Koch Industries acquired Georgia-Pacific in 2005, they continued a long-standing relationship between the manufacturing giant and UNCF that spanned decades. Since then, according to UNCF’s website, both Georgia-Pacific and Koch, have continued to support UNCF programs. Charles and David Koch have been criticized for also supporting the American Legislative Exchange Council, the driving force behind voter identification laws in the United States. ALEC also worked with the National Rifle Association on “stand your ground” legislation that gained notoriety worldwide following the shooting death of Trayvon Martin, an unarmed Black teen in Sanford, Fla. In response to Saunders’ letter, Lomax and UNCF issued a statement: “This year alone, UNCF awarded $100 million in scholarships to more than 12,000 students at 900 schools across the country, yet had to deny 9 out of every 10 qualified applicants due to lack of resources,” the statement read. Lomax wrote that although he was “saddened by AFSCME’s decision, it will not distract us from

In a response, UNCF President Lomax said he was saddened by AFSCME’s decision.

the Koch brothers or anyone else who takes a tough position against the administration and our Black president, the reality is that our schools were compromised by a decision that was made by this administration, and our Black president was leading it,” said Johnny Taylor, president and CEO of the Thurgood Marshall College Fund, an organization representing public HBCUs. “And if someone

else came up and offered money to help offset the losses that our schools experienced I say, ‘Good for them.’” Taylor continued: “For all the people that are screaming bloody murder about this gift, the question is: How much have you given to an HBCU?” asked Taylor. “If you haven’t, I’m not so sure you have the right to have an opinion about this gift.”

Gay groups pull support for ENDA over religious exemptions By Heather Adams Religion News Service WASHINGTON -- A 20-year effort to protect gays and lesbians from workplace discrimination is facing a major setback after a coalition of gay rights groups and civil liberties groups pulled their support because of an exemption for religious groups. The American Civil Liberties Union and four gay rights groups said they can no longer support the Employment Non-Discrimination Act in the wake of the Supreme Court’s decision in the Hobby Lobby case over contraception coverage, which allowed some businesses to claim a religious exemption in following federal law. ENDA, first introduced in

1994, would make it illegal to fire someone solely on the basis of sexual orientation or gender identity. Currently, 20 states and the District of Columbia have some protections for employees based on sexual orientation or gender identity, but there is no federal protection for LGBT employees. The bill passed the Senate with bipartisan support for the first time last November but faces an uphill battle in the Republican-controlled House. Last week, the ACLU issued a statement pulling its support, also signed by Gay & Lesbian Advocates & Defenders, Lambda Legal, the National Center for Lesbian Rights and the Transgender Law Center. “Federal legislation to protect LGBT people from workplace

6 | Jul. 17 - Jul. 23, 2014 | District Chronicles

discrimination is way beyond overdue, but Congress has no place giving religiously affiliated employers a license to discriminate against LGBT workers,” said Laura W. Murphy, director of the ACLU’s Washington legislative office. “We can no longer support a bill that treats LGBT discrimination as different and somehow more legitimate than other forms of discrimination.” The statement cited the Hobby Lobby decision and its “greater permission to discriminate on religious grounds” as the chief reason to withdraw support. The Human Rights Campaign, the nation’s largest gay rights group, has made ENDA a top priority and continues to support the effort even with the religious ex-

emption. HRC spokesman Fred Sainz said his organization’s support for ENDA would continue, despite what other groups are doing. “HRC supports ENDA because it will provide essential workplace protections to millions of LBGT people,” Sainz told The Advocate. The fight over a religious exemption in ENDA comes as President Obama is preparing to issue an executive order banning discrimination against gays and lesbians for groups that accept federal contracts. In the wake of the Hobby Lobby decision, religious groups are pressing the White House to include a religious exemption, while others say an exemption would allow taxpayer-funded discrimination.

Ian Thompson, ACLU’s legislative representative, said the ACLU had voiced serious concerns about the ENDA exemption in the past, but after the Hobby Lobby decision the ACLU has seen a “misreading” of the Supreme Court’s 5-4 decision aimed at the LGBT community and “it’s clear that they will keep pushing on that front.” Thompson added that allowing religious exemptions in ENDA would be confusing and contradict other laws, especially for members of the transgender community. Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 says that employers cannot discriminate based on sex but the religious exemptions in ENDA might make this more complicated for transgender employees, said Thompson.

Politics

The Supreme Court’s ‘religious freedom’ scam By Lee A. Daniels NNPA Columnist

Steve Petteway/supremecourt.gov

arlier this month, the U.S. Supreme Court issued two decisions that the Court’s conservative majority and the larger conservative movement pretended were about “religious freedom.” In the one case, involving the Hobby Lobby chain of craft stores and the Conestoga Wagon Specialties company, the majority ruled that a federal law guaranteeing “religious freedom” means familyowned corporations don’t have to provide insurance coverage for contraception under the Affordable Care Act. That decision, which the Court issued on June 30, seemed to leave in place the law’s provision governing non-profit organizations in place. The law allowed non-profit organizations to, if they wished, transfer the delivery of free contraception to others. However, in the second ruling, which the Court handed up on July 3, and specifically involved Illinois’s Wheaton College, a conservative Christian institution, the court majority temporarily exempted it from having to comply at all with the contraception provisions of the law. Critics of the decisions, which produced extremely sharp dissents from the court’s three female justices, said they have stripped women workers of any guarantees that contraception coverage will automatically be part of their health insurance. That’s because these rulings aren’t about “religious liberty.” They actually have an entirely different purpose: jerryrigging a legal framework around the efforts of the White Christian right to impose its religious beliefs on other Americans. The Christian Right has been pursuing that goal, of course, for decades. But it’s become clear in recent years that it was losing control on two of its most important issues: women’s reproductive rights, and the rights of gays and lesbians, especially regarding same-sex marriage. So, now they’ve re-cast themselves as “victims” whose “freedom” to adhere to their religious beliefs is being violated. It’s a scam the con-

Sotomayor, Ginsburg and Kagan decry majority decision in their dissent in Hobby Lobby.

servative political movement is pushing in brazen fashion – as exemplified by a strikingly apt word in the Hobby Lobby opinion written by Justice Samuel A. Alito. That word is “fiction.” On page 18 of the majority opinion, Alito acknowledges that defining corporations as persons in legal terms is a “fiction,” but asserts that “the purpose of this fiction is to provide protection for human beings … When rights, whether constitutional or statutory, are extended to corporations, the purpose is to protect the rights of those people.” A moment later, Alito defines “those people” in this way: “And protecting the free-exercise rights of closely-held corporations thus protects the religious liberty of the humans who own and control the companies.” As Washington Post columnist Dana Milbank pointedly noted two days before the Wheaton College decision, that sentence does not contain any mention of the rights of these corporations’ employees. In other words, in declaring that a family-owned corporation – which, after all, is an artificial entity created in accordance with governmental regulations – can, in effect, take on the religious coloration of “those who own and control” it, the court’s conservative bloc was indulging in another of the “fictions” by which it’s been trying to hold back the expansion of democracy for more than a decade.

How long will it be before some conservative Christian business owners require their female employees to wear dresses (no slacks, please) down to their ankles? And for all employees to genuflect before crosses set up at entrances to their businesses? And to join them in “prayer sessions” before and after the workday? And to attend only those houses of worship they “approve” of? And how long will it be before some White business owners claim – as in the Jim Crow days – that their “religious beliefs” require that they not serve or employ Black Americans? Or, will they try that on Muslim Americans first? Or gays and lesbians? Or Hispanic Americans? Or Jewish Americans? If those possibilities sound farfetched to you, you’ve forgotten that for most of American history, the “White” version of Christianity was part and parcel of the many crackpot justifications for the exclusion and oppression of women and Americans of color. And you’ve forgotten that the Court’s conservative majority crafted numerous “fictions” in its 2010 Citizens United decision to enable corporations to make unrestricted political contributions, and again in the 2013 decisions that significantly narrowed affirmative action and voting rights protections. Lee A. Daniels latest book is “Last Chance: The Political Threat to Black America.”

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Student Life

All students benefit from minority teachers

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WASHINGTON (NNPA) – Despite the cry from people of color for more teachers who look like them, both Whites and Blacks benefit from a more diverse teaching force, according to a study by Center of American Progress. “… A study of the relationship between the presence of African American teachers in schools and African American students’ access to equal education in schools found that fewer African Americans were placed in special-education classes, suspended, or expelled when they had more teachers of color, and that more African American students were placed in gifted and talented programs and graduated from high school,” stated the report. Teachers of color also have, “an affinity for infusing their classrooms with culturally relevant experiences and examples, setting high academic expectations, developing trusting student-teacher relationships, and serving as cultural and linguistic resources—as well as advocates, mentors, and liaisons— for students’ families and communities.” A study titled, “Teacher Diversity Revisited” reported in May 2014 that learning from and networking with a multicultural teaching staff is also important for preparing White students for a workforce and society where they will no longer make up the majority. “It is important for all students to interact with people who look and act differently than they do in order to build social trust and create a wider sense of community,” stated the report. “In other words, the benefits of diversity are not just for students of color.” CAP researchers said that male teachers of color are more than twice as likely to ditch the classroom for another career than female teachers of color. Black male teachers also told researchers that feelings of isolation or being the only Black male on the faculty increased their, “desire to leave their current schools.” When male minority teachers get certified in their main subject, they “are only half as likely to leave the field as are

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By Freddie Allen NNPA Washington Correspondent

A study reports that a multicultural teaching staff benefits all students

other teachers.” To address the lack of minority teachers and to retain the ones currently in our nation’s classrooms, CAP report suggested states should “develop innovative approaches to teacher preparation in both university-based and alternative-certification programs.” Researchers also proposed higher benchmarks for teachertraining programs. The CAP report also cited the Education Department’s recruitment campaign aimed at preparing 80,000 Black teachers for classrooms across the country by 2015 to provide students not only with high-quality educational experiences, but also to present them with role models with a variety of cultural experiences, as well. “There is a need for more teacher-preparation programs to embrace calls for higher quality and candidate expectations—indeed, to marry the call for quality and diversity,” stated the report. “Improved preparation will go a long way toward minimizing the number of new teachers that enter our schools ill-equipped and quickly exit through the revolving door.” The report concluded that policymakers needed to shift their focus to retaining effective minority teachers, while supporting the efforts of minority professionals seeking to enter the field. “States and school districts have the power to remove barriers to the retention and success of teachers of color. Those that do not address these barriers—by, for example, supporting high-quality teaching and reforming school conditions— will continue to face high turnover,

destabilized faculties, and unsatisfactory student achievement levels,” the report stated. “Communities of color must advocate for effective teaching and encourage their children to prepare to enter a rigorous and demanding profession.” The report calls for “access to not only high-quality education opportunities, but also a high-quality and an equally diverse teaching force.” The CAP report said that effective teachers play a pivotal role in producing high performance students, and conversely that less experienced teachers often contribute to achievement gaps between Whites and non-Whites. Minorities account for nearly half of the students in public schools in the United States, but less than 20 percent of teachers are non-White. According to a 2011 study by The National Center for Education Information (NCEI), more than 80 percent of teachers are White and less than 10 percent are Black. At 70 percent, White females account for the majority of all teachers. Only 2 percent of all teachers are Black men, underscoring the paucity of Black male role models in U.S. public schools. A 2014 report by the Children’s Defense Fund said that more than 80 percent of Black students can’t read at grade level and in 2010 less than 70 percent were graduating from high school in four years. Black students also received 1 in 6 out-of-school suspensions, compared to their White peers who received 1 in 20 out-of-school suspensions.

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Metro Briefs: Notable news in and around Washington District of Columbia CareFirst lowers 2015 health plan premiums for DC Health Link

arge health insurer CareFirst BlueCross BlueShield filed revised proposed rates for individual health plans to be offered on the District’s health insurance marketplace, DC Health Link, for plan year 2015. The revision reflects a 4 percent decrease from their originally proposed 2015 rates. In mid-June, CareFirst proposed rate increases for all plans in its proposed rate filing with the D.C Department of Insurance Securities and Banking. Most of the individual plans and all small business or “SHOP” plans included increases greater than 10 percent. CareFirst did not revise their small group, or “SHOP” rates, in this filing. Four major insurance companies – Aetna, CareFirst BlueCross BlueShield, Kaiser Permanente and UnitedHealthcare – have proposed rates for health insurance plans to be offered on DC Health Link. In rate filings announced June 23, UnitedHealthcare proposed rate decreases of 8 percent for all of their 2015 plans and Aetna and Kaiser Permanente proposed a mix of rate increases and decreases resulting in a slight overall net decrease for Aetna and a slight overall net increase for Kaiser. Insurers can still file revised rates and the department may make adjustments to what was filed. Last

DC Streetcar parking enforcement begins this week

Norton: Anti-union Congressional bill attacks D.C. labor laws Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton has called on Senate and House Republicans to end their attacks on the District of Columbia’s labor laws, after Sen. David Vitter (R-LA) and Rep. Paul Broun (R-GA) ditional testing before passenger service. The DC Streetcar Team will be visible on H/Benning issuing “warning” tickets to vehicles that are improperly parked prior to the Department of Public Works’ real enforcement. Cars parked outside of the white lines, including illegally double-parked vehicles, will impede the streetcar and delay service along the line. These actions will result in a ticket and/or tow for vehicles. The Department of Public Works began ticketing violators Monday.

introduced the second bill this Congress uniquely attacking the labor laws of the District of Columbia. “D.C. does not intend to become a party to the Republican war on labor,” said Norton. “These bills would not only undermine the right of workers to organize and collectively bargain, but they are especially offensive because they single out the District for unique treatment. Sen. Vitter and Reps. Broun and [Mark] Meadows are violating their professed support for a small federal footprint and for local control of local affairs. Perhaps they need to take a look at the Home Rule Act of 1973, where Congress granted the District the right to govern its own local affairs subject to a small number of enumerated exceptions. D.C.’s labor laws are not among those exceptions.” The Vitter-Broun bill, also called the Freedom From Union Violence Act (S. 2535/H.R. 2021), would make it a special federal crime to engage in violence during a labor dispute in connection with interstate commerce and commerce solely within the District, but not solely within states. The bill is designed to undermine collective bargaining and to portray unions as violent. In May, Rep. Meadows (R-NC) introduced H.R. 4792 that would prohibit federal agencies from deducting union dues from employee paychecks. The bill redefined the District government as a federal agency for such purposes, thereby prohibiting the District government from deducting dues.

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District Department of Transportation is back with their warning ticket campaign reminding motorists to be safe and smart when parking along the H Street/Benning Road corridor. The goal of the campaign is to educate motorists about proper parking and get them ready to interact with the streetcar vehicles scheduled to return permanently to the corridor this month for ad-

year, CareFirst was the only company that did not adjust their rates after the first filing; Aetna, Kaiser Permanente and UnitedHealthcare dropped rates prior to open enrollment for DC Health Link. “When insurers revise their rates, it demonstrates that the transparency of cost and choice provided by DC Health Link is encouraging insurance companies to compete for business in the District,” said Acting Commissioner Chester A. McPherson. “As a regulator, we support this market activity so that by open enrollment later this year, District residents and small businesses have great and affordable choices in health care.” “CareFirst looked at their competitors’ rates and decided that to stay competitive it had to lower its 2015 rates,” said Mila Kofman, J.D., Executive Director of the Health Benefit Exchange Authority. “The revised filing with lower proposed rates shows that competition is working as envisioned by policymakers.” To view the 2015 proposed health insurance plan rates follow this link or visit http://disb. dc.gov/2015rates.

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District Chronicles | Jul. 17 - Jul. 23, 2014 | 11

In the Neighborhood Metro Briefs: Notable news in and around Washington District of Columbia Norton seeks Latino guidance on plight of Central American refugee minors

Granting â&#x20AC;&#x153;refugee statusâ&#x20AC;? as opposed to â&#x20AC;&#x153;undocumented immigrant status,â&#x20AC;? reinforced by the United Nations, allowing certain legal and humanitarian

services to be afforded to the children; No change in current law that would send the children, many under age 10, back to the collapsed states where their safety would be jeopardized; Providing the children and their relatives with the legal counsel they need to navigate a confusing system, including pro bono counsel; and, A regional response from D.C. and the surrounding jurisdictions, including a statement by chief executives and members of Congress that they will work collaboratively on this issue. Norton said she hoped that the D.C. Bar, in particular, would offer pro bono services to children here and at the border. â&#x20AC;&#x153;We are anticipating that D.C. and the region will be significantly affected in the search for adults

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Norton met with her Congressional Latino Council to address the U.S. border crisis.

who may be related to these children,â&#x20AC;? said Norton. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Because our cityâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Latino population is primarily Salvadorian, Honduran, and Guatemalan, a fair number of children will have relatives in D.C. We cannot return these children to collapsed states being run by transnational gangs and drug cartels. This is not an immigration crisis; it is a refugee crisis, as the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees made clear today.â&#x20AC;? The District has a comprehensive network of nonprofit orga-

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ongresswoman Eleanor Holmes Nortonâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s meeting with her District of Columbia Congressional Latino Council and other D.C. Latino leaders produced several recommendations for regional jurisdictions to take, considering the large proportion of residents from Central American countries from which children are fleeing â&#x20AC;&#x201C; El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras. The meeting was in response to the growing number of unaccompanied minors from Central America fleeing chaos from transnational street gangs, drug cartels, and other violence. Late last month, President Obama recognized this surge as a humanitarian crisis and urged Congress to pass

comprehensive immigration reform. In early July, the Administration asked Congress for almost $4 billion for immigration judges, detention facilities, and funds to care for the children, but has said that many of these children will be returned to the countries from which they have fled. However, it is doubtful that, after considering the response of the United Nations the required individual hearings, the children can simply be returned to countries where violent offenders have all but taken control. The District, Rhode Island and Los Angeles have the three largest Central American populations in the United States, including close to 60,000 living in the District. The leaders at the meeting recommended:

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nizations that have long offered services ranging from housing to health care. Present at the meeting were La Clinica del Pueblo, Latin American Youth Center, Central American Resource Center, and Latino Economic Development Center. Representatives from D.C.â&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Office of Latino Affairs and Mary House, a community-based organization that provides transitional housing services, shelter and support programs to low-income and homeless families throughout the D.C. area, also attended.