Employees of the Chester Upland School District in Pennsylvania will show up for work on the first day of school next Wednesday, but they don’t expect to get paid.
The district, which has been struggling with financial and academic problems for decades, is on the edge of insolvency and cannot make payroll, state and local officials have said.
So on Thursday, about 200 members of the local teachers union voted unanimously to work without pay as the new school year opens. They were joined by secretaries, school bus drivers, janitors and administrators.
“The thought of it is very scary,” said John Shelton, 60, dean of students at the district’s only middle school and a 23-year employee. “It’s mind-boggling because there’s truly uncertainty. But we are all in agreement that we will come to work, so that the children can get an education.”
Shelton, who will be able to count on some income from his moonlighting job as a janitor, said he and his colleagues are willing to sacrifice because the students rely on the schools. “Some of our children, this is all they have as far as safety, their next nourishing meal, people who are concerned for them,” he said. “We are dedicated to these children.”
The district is about 20 miles west of Philadelphia and serves roughly 3,300 students, most them low-income.
A similar financial collapse occurred in the district in 2012, and the teachers also agreed to work without pay then. In the end, a federal judge ordered the state to pay the district, and lawmakers arranged a bailout, so that employees’ paychecks were just a couple of days late.
How many Republican lawmakers say that teachers are leeches? How many say that teachers need a punch in the nose? How many say that teachers need their rights revoked? And just how many have said that they are paid too much? To all of you assholes, I want to say this from the bottom of my heart. F**K YOU!
(via truth-has-a-liberal-bias)
npr:
A BRIEF HISTORY OF THE MOUNTAIN AND ITS NAME
56 million years ago, a pocket of cooling magma in the North American Plate crystalized into granite. The persistent pressure of the Pacific Plate slowly pushed that granite upward, and the sedimentary rock around it was stripped away by wind and water.
About 15,000 years ago, humans arrived in the region. A group of them stayed and became the Koyukon Athabaskan people. They called the mountain Denali (“the high one”).
In 1867, US Secretary of State William Seward negotiated the purchase of the arctic peninsula that contained this mountain. He paid Russia $7.2 million. The peninsula was called Alaska after a native Aleut word.
In 1896, prospector and Princeton alumni William A. Dickey named the mountain McKinley after the governor of Ohio. Governor William McKinley was running for president, and he supported the use of gold (not silver) as the standard for currency. According to explorer Belmore Browne:
A few years ago I asked Mr. Dickey why he named the mountain McKinley, and he answered that while they were in the wilderness he and his partner fell in with two prospectors who were rabid champions of free silver, and that after listening to their arguments for many weary days, he retaliated by naming the mountain after the champion of the gold standard.
In 1901, President William McKinley was assassinated by an anarchist who had concealed a gun in his handkerchief.
In 1917, President Woodrow Wilson officially named the mountain Mt. McKinley. Most Alaskans and mountaineers still called it Denali.
In 1975, the Alaska Legislature officially requested that the United States Board on Geographic Names change the name of the mountain to Denali. Ohio senator Ralph Regula effectively blocked the name change for decades.
In 2009, Regula retired.
In 2015, the White House announced that Department of the Interior Secretary Sally Jewell will change the official name of the mountain to Denali. Here what some people said:
House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio):
There is a reason President McKinley’s name has served atop the highest peak in North America for more than 100 years, and that is because it is a testament to his great legacy … I’m deeply disappointed in this decision.
Congressman Bob Gibbs (R-Ohio):
This political stunt is insulting to all Ohioans, and I will be working with the House Commitee on Natural Resources to determine what can be done to prevent this action.
Senator Rob Portman (R-Ohio):
I’m disappointed with the Administration’s decision to change the name of Mt. McKinley in Alaska … This decision by the Administration is yet another example of the President going around Congress
Senator Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska):
For generations, Alaskans have known this majestic mountain as “the great one.” Today we are honored to be able to officially recognize the mountain as Denali. I’d like to thank the president for working with us to achieve this significant change to show honor, respect and gratitude to the Athabaskan people of Alaska.
The re-naming kicks off Obama’s trip to Alaska, where he hopes to highlight the reality of climate change.
tl;dr - Geologic forces spent millions of years sculpting a mountain, and then humans spent 100 years arguing about what it should be called.
Skunk Bear provides context for the latest in mountain news. -Emily
(via truth-has-a-liberal-bias)
Republicans love to build walls. All their Reagan worship amounts to 100% hypocrisy. Conservatives enjoy telling others what to do as they themselves do the opposite.
via worleydervish
(via liberalsarecool)
A young Jewish refugee with her Chinese playmates. Shanghai, China (x)
Between 1933 and 1941, it is estimated that 20,000 Jews escaped persecution by fleeing to the Chinese port of Shanghai. Shanghai was one of the few places in the world that would accept Jewish refugees at this time, Japan being another.
i am furious that i am just now learning about this important fact.
Because it has nothing to do with the USA being the superhero and saving all the Jews
(via truth-has-a-liberal-bias)
(via truth-has-a-liberal-bias)
New Orleans, Louisiana - Septemer 1, 2005
Photo: Rick Wilking/Reuters
Four days after Katrina hit. What country is this?
FUCK YOU, George Bush.
(via republicanidiots)
On “Fox & Friends” Monday morning, co-host Brian Kilmeade spoke to Milwaukee County Sheriff and let’s-be-honest-de-facto-Fox News contributor David Clarke about the murder of Texas Sheriff’s Deputy Darren Goforth, which Clarke attributed to the Obama administration’s ongoing “war on police.”
Clarke is no fan of the #BlackLivesMatter movement, having testified before Congress in May of this year that the group was part of a “wrecking ball” effort to “kick white America in the teeth,” but even so, it was surprising that Fox News chose to use a chryon reading “‘Murder’ Movement” when it brought him on to speak about the death of Deputy Goforth.
“Stop trying to fix the police,” Sheriff David Clarke said, “and fix the ghetto. Fix the ghetto!”
(via truth-has-a-liberal-bias)
reagan-was-a-horrible-president:
It’s Time To Remind The Ann Coulters Of The World That Using ‘Retard’ Is NEVER Okay
Who can forget the moment after the 2012 presidential debate between President Obama and Mitt Romney when Ann Coulter used the word “retard” to describe the president. Not only that, after getting a huge backlash, she defended her use of the word. Which can only lead to the conclusion that she’s either desperate for attention, or Satan’s spawn — maybe both.…It would also be really good if people would stop using the words “libtard” and “conservitard”.
Use “Rethuglican,” dear readers.
(via recall-all-republicans)
(via recall-all-republicans)
5 Charts Proving Just How Successful President Obama Has Been Read more at: http://www.forwardprogressives.com/5-charts-proving-how-successful-president-obama-been/
(via recall-all-republicans)
