On Wednesday, January 25th, more than 100 people filled the Buffalo City Hall for yet another meeting on the district’s out-of-school suspension policy. Here’s an update from Brian Trzeciak, an education organier with Citizen Action of New York and the Alliance for Quality Education:

We had a great turnout last night at the Board of Education Meeting.  Not only did we have standing room only again, people filled up the waiting room as well.  There were easily more than 100 people in attendance.

As people walked into the room, they were greeted by a line of students.  Some were in handcuffs and some held books.  Every time a Board member (or anyone, really) walked by, they chanted “Books, not prison!” It was very effective. With all of the speakers who said what they did, to have a young child in handcuffs chanting “Books, not prison!” made the point. A lot of the press started off with that image and that message.

The meeting started off with Assistant Superintendent Will Keresztes describing what he had just given to the BoE as far as proposals from the Suspension Hearings.  They are going to discuss these proposals on February 1st with the BoE, and Jay McCarthy publicly invited Citizen Action and AQE to attend. And that means all of you!

Ina started off very strong by handing the BoE the resolution which we enlarged to about 4 feet tall.  Her message was simple.  Since they ignored the resolution the last time, she blew it up for them so that they couldn’t ignore it this time. It was awesome. And they took it. The Interim Superintendent, Amber Dixon, did acknowledge the resolution at the end.

And speaker after speaker hit home. We chanted during. We kept the message that this was a race issue in the forefront. We had students at the podium talking about their friends with the utmost sincerity and affection. We had other students saying, “I’m not a bad kid, I just need help.” John from Occupy Buffalo played really bad cop and called the Board murderers.  He clarified, as you’ll see in the clips. He stressed that this issue is that serious. Sherry let us know the staggering stat that a Buffalo student gets suspended every three minutes!

Danielle was the last to speak, and we all stood while she did.  She rocked the house and summed up all of what and how we feel about this issue. All in all, if we wanted up the ante and put more pressure on, we did just that.

But all of our speakers, from calling the Board members out, to acknowledging the children and getting their voices heard . . . all of them made the point clear.

Out-of-school suspension for non-violent incidents needs to end now.

After hearing everything, Dixon told us, once again, to wait for change in a response that took less than 3 minutes.

It’s going to happen (we’ll make sure of that), but how long it will take is still up in the air. We need to think about the strategy for the 1st and the next BoE meeting on the 8th. We also have an Education Committee meeting in between there. I will be sending out an email within the next day with a complete schedule of events.

Last, but definitely not least, I want to thank all of you. You have made this movement what it is. You have the power and the voice that they are finally listening to. Thank you, members of Citizen Action and AQE, the board members of Citizen Action and AQE, all of our parents and children, and all of our leaders. We are going to win because of you.

But, for now, we still need to fight.

In solidarity,

Brian

Click here to read the resolution.

Click here for pictures from the meeting.

Click Here for Press Clips

There is a contagious, selective disease that has become an epidemic in Albany. It’s selective because it only affects politicians. Not all politicians, mind you, but it affects enough of them to affect how we live. I have named this disease “Big Money-itis”. It’s an insidious disease that occurs when professional politicians that have made elective office their career goal decides to finance their re-election campaigns with Big Money donors.

This selective disease causes those who are infected to become more concerned with the wishes and needs of big-money donors than the wishes and needs of those who elected them into office. Special interest – corporate interest, really – overrides what is in the best interest of the people of NYS.

New York State Governor Andrew Cuomo mentioned this affliction during his State of State Address. He spoke about the “pay to play’ culture, gridlock, corruption – all symptoms of Big Money-itis. Luckily for us, during his State of the State speech Cuomo proposed a solution to Big Money-itis. It will not cure them all (truth be told, some of them like being infected!) but its impact will change the way politics are conducted in Albany.

I’m talking about Voter Owned Elections. I’m talking about Publicly Financed Elections. I’m talking about the people of NYS owning the electoral process which elects their state representative instead of corporation and lobbyist money owning state representatives. If we want to get rid of Big Money-itis in Albany, if we want to change the political process in this state so that any citizen in New York State, regardless of where they come from – whether it is a rural farm in upstate NY or community activist in Greenwich, whether they come from the streets of Buffalo or a bodega in Spanish Harlem – we must get rid of Big Money-itis; so these individuals can actually one day become an elected representatives of the people. Let’s follow the lead of a Governor who got it right on this issue. Let’s pass Public Financing of Elections. Let’s pass Voter Owned Elections. Let’s pass Campaign Finance Reform in New York State – not in 2013, not in 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017 – let’s pass Public Financing of Election in 2012, let’s pass it now, let’s get rid of Big Money-itis, let’s take back our electoral process in NYS. 26 States have some form of public financing of elections. 16 of those states offer public funds to candidates running for office. Let’s make NYS one of those states.

This issue is so important that every person in this state, regardless of their political beliefs, regardless if they are a Republican or Democrat, regardless in they are a member of a community of color or from the LGBTQ community,, should take action. The people of New York should be in the street marching, on the phones calling, sitting down at a computer writing to their state representatives. We should tell them “look here employee, I pay you some of the best salaries in the nation, give you some of the best benefits and job perks other people could only dream of, I want you to go back to Albany and pass Voter Owned Elections. I want you to fight to make Campaign Finance Reform real. I want you for once to put voter interest above special interest. I want you to show me why I should keep you in office. Show me that you are not afraid of public financing because you know you do your job well. If they don’t do these things, we can only conclude that they are afraid of voter owned elections because they know they have Big Money-itis and they don’t want to be cured.”

I understand we are gathered here today to mourn for a second anniversary of the horrific decision of the Supreme Court to give even more “free speech” money in our political system to corporations. And I understand that for many, this decisions caused the untimely death to our democracy. But I am unwilling to believe that our democracy is truly dead. Here in New York – we have an opportunity to breathe new life into our democracy. Even though we must fight, long term, to overturn Citizens United, to end corporate personhood – we still must also implement a system of public campaign finance reform in order to open up our democracy to everyone. In order to have elected representatives who don’t have to depend on big money but who can run for office, win, and fight for the issues that we know will make positive changes in peoples lives. New life for our democracy and political process could be coming very soon to New York – but not without your help.

With that, I offer each of you a challenge today to help us change the political process in NYS, to help us stop “the business as usual” culture in Albany to help us limit the spread of Big-Money-itis.

Each of you can leave here today determined to tell a friend – to tell two friends – to write a letter or sign on to a letter that we will be sending to the Governor supporting his stance on public financing. Each of you can tell some one else to write a letter or a join a sign-on letter; you can make a phone call; visit a legislator; each of you could leave here today with a mindset that will shake the City of Albany, that will get the attention of the country, because if we change politics in NYS we will send a message that this government of the people, by the people will not be sold out. We are are going to win a system that begins to put people back in the drivers seat – not corporate special interest dollars.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w_po8j1W9FQ

We need a policy change. We need to stop out of school suspensions for non-violent incidents. It has been 19-months since Jawaan Daniels has been killed and nothing has been happening.

–Brian Trzeciak, an education organizer with the Alliance for Quality Education and Citizen Action of New York.

Over the past several months, parents, students, and community members have worked to pass a new school suspension resolution in Buffalo that will halt out-of-school suspension for non-violent offenses. In Buffalo, one out of every five students receives an out-of-school suspension, whereas the the New York state average is one out of every 20 students.

The Alliance for Quality Education has released a report outlining the harmful effects of out-of-school suspension on students who commit non-violent offenses.

Click here to read the full report. 

A resolution was passed by members of the Buffalo Board of Education, calling for suspension reform in order to protect student safety.

Click here to read the resolution.

Here’s a list of press on the subject, compiled by the Alliance for Quality Education:

Aug. 30 – Buffalo Schools Ask to Change Suspension Policy

Oct. 6 – Suspensions Up So Far This Year in Buffalo

Oct. 26 – OpEd: Non-violent Incidents Don’t Merit Suspension

Jan. 9 – Parents Decry School Suspension Policy (WIVB, 4) 

Jan. 11 – Out-of-school Suspension Controversy Continues (YNN) 

Jan. 11 – Frustrations Over Suspension Policies Continue (Buffalo News) 

Jan. 12 – Demanding New Suspension Policy for Non-violent Offenses (WBFO, 88.7) 

Jan. 12 – Rally to End School Suspension Policy (YNN)

Jan. 13 – Anger Growing Over Suspension Policy (WNED, 970) 

 Stay tuned for more press as it’s published

Click here to see pictures from the event!

Also, check out Knock for the 99%, a door-to-door campaign aiming to fight Governor Cuomo’s and the Legislature’s plan to give millionaires and billionaires a $4.6 billion dollar tax cut.

Ms. Hamlin was a great candidate to testify, because hydrofracking will directly affect her life. Her home is surrounded by land that has been made available for drilling. If this is allowed to happen, the work may force her to move from the house where she’s lived for three decades. Selling her house could prove to be difficult  due to the fear of prospective buyers to locate near where drilling is occurring, and the unwillingness of banks to finance the sale.

The DEC has already decided to ban franking in the New York City and Syracuse watersheds. This is basically an admission by the DEC that the risks of fracking are unacceptable. Why, then, is it acceptable in the Southern Tier and other locations in New York? One standard should apply to water resources throughout the state!

In case you’re not quite sure what “fracking” is, let me break it down for you (no pun intended):

Hydraulic fracturing (AKA “fracking”) injects high-pressured, poisonous chemical-laced water deep underground to break up rock and release natural gas. The highly toxic fluid that remains after the fracking process can migrate for miles underground, polluting our environment – including our drinking water.

On top of all this, fracking will also have a heavy toll on our roads, housing development, and tourism industry that the our area relies on for much needed revenue, especially after the recent flooding that caused widespread damage.

Below, you’ll find the full text of the testimony.

Testimony by Eileen Hamlin on Hydrofracking 11 17 11 (Final) (1)

Consequences of the cuts include larger class sizes and decreased afterschool and extra-curricular opportunities for students, sharp increases in crime rates, crumbling infrastructure, and a slower response to devastating flood damage.

Students, senior citizens, working families, and disabled people have faced draconian cuts. These cuts have led directly to the loss of thousands of jobs. If we stop the tax break for the rich, we can restore the worst of the cuts.

Other local leaders also participated in today’s event, urging for the continuation of the surcharge. Present were New Yorkers for Fiscal Fairness Executive Director Ron Deutsch and Christ Church pastor and Troy City Councilwoman-elect Nina Nichols, who operates a soup kitchen out of the church.

“Troy has been particularly hard hit by budget cuts from the state. We just saw the closure of one of our neighborhood elementary schools, and many of our residents are living below the poverty line.The recent flooding and devastation of our downtown infrastructure and the Poestenkill Dam by Tropical Storm Irene only exacerbate the situation. We desperately need help from our state government,” said Nichols.

It was stressed at the meeting that although the surcharge is set to end on December 31, we still have until April to enact legislation. The surcharge will be applied retroactively and no crucial funding will be sacrificed.

“Governor Cuomo has reported that we are facing yet another budget shortfall that will require the Legislature to be called back for a special session. It seems increasingly clear that it isn’t a spending problem we have, but a revenue problem – and the Governor, in refusing to extend the millionaires’ tax, refuses to address the problem,” said Deutsch.

After the event, a delicious lasagna lunch was served.

Citizen Action of New York is one of the fastest-growing statewide grassroots organizations in the country. We fight for social, racial and economic justice, and an America that works for all of us. Our organizing campaigns focus on issues such as education, health care, campaign finance reform, progressive taxation, and consumer issues. We have won significant improvements in New Yorkers’ lives, and we have elected progressive candidates to office. We play a leadership role in organizing major statewide coalitions including the Alliance for Quality Education and the Health Care for All New York Coalition.

Citizen Action of New York has eight regional grassroots chapters, including one based in Buffalo. We are currently seeking an organizer for the Buffalo office for our Just and Fair Schools Campaign to help to improve the Buffalo School District’s discipline policy.

If you have strong organizing experience, like working with a diverse group of people and are committed to social change, come join our growing organization!

Responsibilities

Qualifications

Knowledge of New York State politics is desired. No policy expertise necessary.We offer a competitive salary, based on experience. Citizen Action of New York is an equal opportunity employer and we seek to build an organization that aggressively pursues a racial justice agenda. People of color are strongly encouraged to apply.

Please submit cover letter and resume to cvella@citizenactionny.org by November 10, 2011.

On Friday, August 26th, area residents, activists, and union members gathered at Rep. Kathy Hochul’s last “Congresswoman On Your Corner” event during the August Congressional recess to offer thanks and support as she heads into a new season of legislating.

The attendees presented Rep. Hochul with a large ‘thank you’ card signed by her constiuents.

Here are some photos of the event:

This is a great opportunity for us to get real answers from the people we send to represent us in Washington, like Congresswoman Buerkle.

This year in Congress, Ann Marie Buerkle has voted to:

cut social security benefits and raise the retirement age to 69

take away Medicare as we know it and leave us at the mercy of insurance companies

slash $1.4 trillion from Medicaid

give a $1.1 trillion tax break to the richest Americans