Schools, Teachers, Parents, The Children And . . .

There needs to be more interaction with teachers, parents, children and all concerned citizens. The PTO’s are not truly representing parents, teachers and children. The parents on the PTO are handpicked however they really just hold titles. The principal really controls the PTO.

 

I pushed for PTO and School Improvement Teams by-laws and such over the years and they were put in place at G.W. Carver and South Edgecombe Middle School. SouthWest Edgecombe High School do not have a PTO.

 

In the elementary schools many PTO’s meet but are they actually bridging the gap between the parents and the teachers. The PTO are really sponsors of certain events such as when a particular class say for instance the 3rd grade may be singing. Christmas is coming so there may be a Christmas event sponsored by the PTO. There is not dialogue on what is going on in the school.

The School Improvement Team runs the school and they normally meet at a time when only the parent that is on the team can meet.

 

There is such a disconnect within the school system that it is disturbing. I spoke with a parent today who is vice president of a PTO and it was funny how they got the position and how little they know. The plans were put in place before they knew about they were in the position. They have not been given a copy of the by-laws.

I will challenge anyone to hold some by-monthly roundtable discussions about what is going on in the system. Some would say why don’t I do it? Well been there done that challenging the system so they do not want to see me coming. The system tried to discredit me and turn folks against me but my challenges produced results and they are documented.

I have been sitting back for the past couple of years and my wife has been going to the schools monitoring our children. Things have gotten so relaxed around school issues that I am going to get back into visiting G.W. Carver Elementary where I do not have a child, South Edgecombe Middle School where I have a child. I do not have a child at SouthWest Edgecombe High School but I video the girls and boys basketball games at SouthWest so I get to talk to some of the children there and the very few parents who support their children sporting events.

 

What are our children who are playing sports grades like? Are they getting a free ride and then end up their senior year and their grades are not good enough to hardly pass their grade.

Parental involvement is a major topic. We all know that all parents are not involved with their children’s education. So are we as neighbors reaching out to that child in the neighborhood that needs some attention/guidance?

 

There is a problem when involved parents are treated without respect. It appears that when an involved parent question things, the teachers get intimidated. So if they are intimidated by the involved parent what do you think they are doing to our children. I know of several times a parent has tried to deal with a teacher but the principal will speak on behalf of them. Why?

Our children need to be challenged even those who are doing well. Those who are not need to see that we are supporting all children and not just those who are being labeled. Once a child is labeled that follows him/her throughout their school years and it is hard to get back on track.

Curmilus Dancy II – DCN Publisher

What’s in the health care bills?

—– Original Message —–

From: Justin Ruben, MoveOn.org Political Action

To: Curmilus Dancy II

Sent: Sunday, December 06, 2009 4:57 PM

Subject: What’s in the health care bills?

Dear MoveOn member,

The health care debate has so many moving parts that it’s hard for anybody to keep them straight. So we decided to put together an overview of where we’re at—both good and bad—and what we’re all going to need to keep fighting for.

Neither of these bills is close to perfect. But we’re entering the home stretch where we risk losing a lot of what’s good in these bills and where we have a huge opportunity to strengthen the parts that need work.

Here’s where we are:

The House of Representatives passed their bill last month. The Senate is aiming to pass its version before Christmas.

Overall, both pieces of legislation would do four major things:

• Create a "Health Insurance Exchange." The bills create a one-stop marketplace where people can choose from various insurance plans, including the public option. The details aren’t set yet, but initially the Exchange would likely be open to the self-employed, people without insurance at work, and small businesses.¹ The key with the Exchange is that it brings "the bargaining power and scale that’s generally accessible only to large employers" to individuals—and with that, lower costs and better options.²

• Provide insurance to over 30 million more people. The House bill would expand coverage to 36 million people by 2019. The Senate bill extends coverage to 31 million.³

• Outlaw discrimination based on pre-existing conditions and gender. Insurance companies will have to stop denying coverage to people with "pre-existing conditions." And they won’t be allowed to charge women more than men for the same coverage.⁴
• Eliminate coverage limits and price-gouging. The bills differ on some details, but in general would place limits on how much people have to pay for health care beyond their premiums. They both cap out-of-pocket costs and ban insurance companies from setting limits on how much health care they’ll cover for a person each year.⁵

Of course, the devil is in the details, and much in these bills still needs work.

Here’s what still needs to be fixed:

• Both bills leave millions uninsured. The House bill leaves 18 million without insurance in 2019; the Senate bill, 24 million. Neither comes close to the vision for universal coverage so many of us fought for for years. We’ll all need to fight to continue to expand coverage in the bills this year, and in the years to come.⁶

• The Senate public option is weak, and conservatives are pushing to make it weaker. The public option is a core piece of reform that will create real accountability and competition for private insurance—and that’s why it’s at the center of such a huge fight. While the House bill creates a national public option, the Senate lets states opt out, denying their residents access to it. Plus, conservatives are working to weaken it even more. We’re all going to have to fight hard for the strongest version possible.⁷

• Many reforms don’t start quickly enough. While some pieces of reform go into effect right away, the larger structural changes are not scheduled to go into effect until 2013 (House bill) or 2014 (Senate bill). This includes the Exchange, the public option, and subsidies—the major ways coverage will be expanded.⁸

• Required insurance could still be too expensive for many. Both bills require virtually all Americans to have insurance. But the caps on how much we’re expected to pay are way too high, and the subsidies are way too low. Many progressives are working to fix this, but it’s going to be a significant fight.⁹

• Reproductive rights are severely restricted in the House bill. An egregious anti-choice amendment in the bill virtually prohibits anyone purchasing insurance in the Exchange from buying a plan that covers abortion—even if paid for with their own money. We need to make sure the final bill doesn’t include this rollback of reproductive rights.¹⁰

• The Senate bill could discriminate against lower income workers. The current Senate legislation retains a version of what’s called the "free rider" provision, which essentially penalizes employers for hiring lower income workers. This provision needs to be fixed before the bill is finalized.¹¹

There’s a lot going on in these bills, and we’re all going to need to be vigilant to ensure the good pieces end up in the final bill, and the bad ones are fixed. It’s going to be a rocky ride. But if we fight together, we’ll come out stronger in the end.

Thank you, as always, for everything you do.

–Justin, Adam, Amy, Anna, Annie, Carrie, Christopher, Daniel, Danielle, Eli, Emily, Gail, Ian, Ilya, Ilyse, Joan, Jodeen, Kat, Keauna, Laura, Lenore, Marika, Matt, Matthew, Melanie, Michael, Nita, Noah, Peter, Scott, Stephen, Steven, Susannah, and Wes

P.S. Check out more about the House bill here and the Senate bill here or here, and see what the impact of reform would be in your state here. If you want to read the full bills, for the House, click here or here (PDF), and for the Senate, here or here (PDF).

Sources:

1.  "A Health Insurance Exchange: The Fine Print," The New York Times, August 20, 2009
http://www.moveon.org/r?r=85241&id=18172-14480561-Ml4Ca0x&t=3

"Health Reform at a Glance: The Health Insurance Exchange,"  House Committees on Ways and Means, Energy and Commerce, and Education and Labor, July 14, 2009
http://www.moveon.org/r?r=85665&id=18172-14480561-Ml4Ca0x&t=4

2. "Health Insurance Exchanges: The Most Important, Undernoticed Part of Health Reform," The Washington Post, June 16, 2009
http://www.moveon.org/r?r=85664&id=18172-14480561-Ml4Ca0x&t=5

3. "H.R. 3962, Affordable Health Care for America Act," Congressional Budget Office, November 20, 2009
http://cbo.gov/doc.cfm?index=10741

"Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act," Congressional Budget Office, November 18, 2009
http://cbo.gov/doc.cfm?index=10731

4. "Top 10 Ways Health Insurance Reform Works for You," The Speaker of the House, October 29, 2009
http://www.moveon.org/r?r=85669&id=18172-14480561-Ml4Ca0x&t=6

"How Health Insurance Reform Will Help Your Family," Senate Democratic Policy Committee
http://dpc.senate.gov/dpcdoc-responsiblereform.cfm

"Meeting Women’s Health Care Needs," The Speaker of the House
http://www.speaker.gov/newsroom/legislation?id=0327

"Reports on Health Insurance Reform—Women," Senate Democratic Policy Committee
http://dpc.senate.gov/dpcdoc-responsiblereform.cfm

5. "Top 10 Ways Health Insurance Reform Works for You," The Speaker of the House, October 29, 2009
http://www.moveon.org/r?r=85669&id=18172-14480561-Ml4Ca0x&t=7

"How Health Insurance Reform Will Help Your Family," Senate Democratic Policy Committee
http://dpc.senate.gov/dpcdoc-responsiblereform.cfm

6. "H.R. 3962, Affordable Health Care for America Act," Congressional Budget Office, November 20, 2009
http://cbo.gov/doc.cfm?index=10741

"Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act," Congressional Budget Office, November 18, 2009
http://cbo.gov/doc.cfm?index=10731

"REPORT: How the Senate Bill Compares to Other Reform Legislation," Think Progress, November 19, 2009
http://www.moveon.org/r?r=85670&id=18172-14480561-Ml4Ca0x&t=8

7. "Sen. Reid Announces ‘Opt Out’ Public Plan," The New York Times, October 26, 2009
http://www.moveon.org/r?r=85673&id=18172-14480561-Ml4Ca0x&t=9

"Carper: Conservative Democrats Not Likely To Support Senate Public Option," Talking Points Memo, November 17, 2009
http://www.moveon.org/r?r=85675&id=18172-14480561-Ml4Ca0x&t=10

8. "Top 14 Provisions That Take Effect Immediately," The Speaker of the House
http://www.moveon.org/r?r=85676&id=18172-14480561-Ml4Ca0x&t=11

"What happens before 2014?" The Washington Post, November 19, 2009
http://www.moveon.org/r?r=85677&id=18172-14480561-Ml4Ca0x&t=12

"Senate, House Democratic health bills compared," The Associated Press, November 18, 2009
http://www.moveon.org/r?r=85667&id=18172-14480561-Ml4Ca0x&t=13

9. "The Details of The New Merged Senate Bill," Think Progress, November 18, 2009
http://www.moveon.org/r?r=85668&id=18172-14480561-Ml4Ca0x&t=14

"REPORT: How the Senate Bill Compares to Other Reform Legislation," Think Progress, November 19, 2009
http://www.moveon.org/r?r=85670&id=18172-14480561-Ml4Ca0x&t=15

"Analysis: How the Senate health care bill stacks up with the House health care bill," Think Progress, November 19, 2009
http://thinkprogress.org/2009/11/19/senate-house-comparison/

10. "The Ban on Abortion Coverage," The New York Times, November 9, 2009
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/10/opinion/10tue1.html

11. "The noxious ‘free rider’ provision," The Washington Post, November 25, 2009
http://www.moveon.org/r?r=85671&id=18172-14480561-Ml4Ca0x&t=16

"Senate Health Bill Improves Employer Responsibility Provision," Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, November 19, 2009
http://www.cbpp.org/cms/index.cfm?fa=view&id=3003

"The Baucus Bill: The Worst Policy in the Bill, and Possibly in the World," The Washington Post, September 16, 2009
http://www.moveon.org/r?r=85672&id=18172-14480561-Ml4Ca0x&t=17

Want to support our work? We’re entirely funded by our 5 million members—no corporate contributions, no big checks from CEOs. And our tiny staff ensures that small contributions go a long way. Chip in here.

---

PAID FOR BY MOVEON.ORG POLITICAL ACTION, http://pol.moveon.org/. Not authorized by any candidate or candidate’s committee. This email was sent to Curmilus Dancy II on December 6, 2009. To change your email address or update your contact info, click here. To remove yourself from this list, click here.

See related:

Health Care

The Subprime Student Loan Racket – Stephen Burd

Hi Friends,

We should all ask ourselves a few questions with respect to this issue:

· When will we seriously address this issue and help those seeking a better understanding?  Silence is NOT an option for winning in this case and educational costs are dramatically increasing as more "good" schools are becoming ever competitive.

· What "black" groups are responsible for organizing and REPORTING and "cheering" this issue to the public that they serve?  Is it the NAACP?  Caucus?  Sororities & Fraternities?  Who?

· Could it be that we are really afraid that we might win a battle for the community good while losing a bit of our own "good boy & girl" brownie points with the larger & dominant community?  I mean, we have nothing more to lose in some towns other than the paltry 50 percent of High School students that do graduate (that leaves a 50% drop out rate) as representing our "BEST AND Brightest".  Scared?  Yep – I can understand as I am sure Dr. King, Gandhi, Shirley Chisholm, Malcolm, and others had a bit of "caution" fear for addressing the ills of their day – Yet, they did because they were true LEADERS. They organized and did not first run to the cameras and newspapers for their personal 15 seconds of fame. True leadership is about taking calculated risks for a greater good and not about just saving individual "political capital" at the expense of the masses they claim to represent.

Read all about The Subprime Student Loan Racket – Stephen Burd

A Sweet & Bitter truth for thought,

A DCN Resource

Health Care

When will we get there? It appears not soon. (Read more @ News & Observer)

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Health Care Reform