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Education

This Argentine Prison Cooperative Ended Recidivism

One man bakes bread while a couple of others prepare pizzas for lunch. Nearby, a large farm buzzes with activity as many men cultivate leafy greens while others tend to chickens. Adjacent to the kitchen lies a soccer field, surrounded by lush plants and a pond teeming with fish. Just meters away stands a library where several men either watch an educational program on television or immerse themselves in books. In a nearby carpentry workshop, three men work on furniture and model ships, while another room serves as a textile workshop.

Demand The Reinstatement Of Dr. Rupa Marya At UC San Francisco

In September 2024, the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) placed Dr. Rupa Marya on paid leave and threatened her medical license. These actions against Dr. Marya, a professor of medicine who has written extensively on the health impacts of systemic oppression, provoked many important questions. After being approached by alarmed students, Dr. Marya raised concerns about the implications of admitting students who may have recently served in the Israeli Defense Force, which has credibly been accused of human rights violations, war crimes, and genocide in Gaza and the West Bank.

Students Say IMF Is Responsible For Privatization Of Education

On Sunday, December 22, the Progressive Students Federation (PrSF) in Pakistan organized a Student Action Conference in Islamabad. The Conference brought together hundreds of students from the capital city and nearby areas for a series of panel discussions, political theater presentations, and revolutionary music. Several student leaders from provinces such as Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan addressed the gathering of the students talking about the exploitation and oppression their regions are facing under the present government led by Shahwaz Sharif.

Hope In Turbulent Times: Native Leaders Take The Long View

Representatives from three tribes discuss how their communities have learned to endure by celebrating connections. In the wake of the 2024 election, Barn Raiser talks to prominent Native leaders and mentors, who tell us in edited interviews how and why their communities have long endured, even in divisive and unsettled times. Right now, all of us who live together on this earth face not just political instability but the “dual crises of climate change and social injustice,” according to Fawn Sharp, citizen of the Quinalt Indian Nation, in Taholah, Washington, and former president of the National Congress of American Indians.

What Can Education Can Look Like Without High Stakes Testing?

Ballot Question 2 passed with more than 59% of the vote, ending the MCAS as a graduation requirement in Massachusetts. Students will still take the MCAS, beginning in grade 3 up through high school, and they will still be required to pass their high school classes that are aligned with the state standards, so public education will not devolve into chaos as the opponents warned in their scare ads. There will still be a focus on serving all children in all of our classrooms, children will still be assessed through multiple measures, and there is hope that freedom from the one-size-fits-all straight jacket that is a high-stakes testing regime will allow teachers to more fully respond to the diverse learners in their classrooms.

Seattle Planned To Close Up To 21 Public Schools; Here’s How We Stopped Them

From coast to coast, school districts are proposing closures, as pandemic-era funds have long since dried up and gentrification has driven families out of increasingly unaffordable neighborhoods. Yet in a time when budget cuts threaten public education nationwide, Seattle organizers have shown that communities can fight back — and win. After initially proposing in spring to close up to 21 schools — and, under immense pressure, reducing that number to four — Seattle Public Schools (SPS) announced in late November that it was canceling all plans to close schools.

How Private Schools Are Exacerbating Segregation

The scoreboard glowed with the promise of another Friday night football game in Liberty, Mississippi, a small town near the Louisiana border. The Trojans, in black and gold, sprinted onto the field to hollers from friends and families who filled barely half the bleachers. The fans were almost all Black, as is the student body at the county’s lone public high school. Scanning the field and the stands would give you little indication that more than half the county’s residents are white. In some swaths of the South, a big event like high school football unites people. But not in Amite County.

Groundbreaking For A Minneapolis Youth-Serving Community Staple

For nearly three decades, the educational nonprofit WE WIN Institute has been nomadic, serving youth in Minneapolis out of rented spaces. But that era is coming to a close — on November 19, 2024, WE WIN held a groundbreaking event for their new building in Minneapolis’ Bryn Mawr neighborhood. Unicorn Riot was there to document the historic occasion and interview board members, organization partners and a former student-turned-staff. Founded in 1996 by award-winning educator Titilayo Bediako, WE WIN Institute has served thousands of youth in Minneapolis with a mission of creating academic and social success for all children.

Time Is Running Out To Cancel Debt For Aging Borrowers

A group of student loan borrowers aged 50 and up traveled from around the country to Washington, D.C., on December 11, setting up rocking chairs outside the Department of Education. Dressed in ponchos and beanies to protect against the frigid rain, they passed out cross-stitch kits and signs reading ​“Knit-In for Debt Cancellation,” sharing their personal debt stories amidst chants of ​“Biden, don’t forget, cancel student debt.” These protesters are all members of the Debt Collective, the first union of debtors in the country, and they came to Washington with a message for President Joe Biden: Cancel student debt for borrowers over 50 years old before Donald Trump takes office in January.

Congress Revives Cold War Tactics With New Anti-Communism Curriculum

Congress has just passed a new bill that will see the U.S. spend huge sums of money redesigning much of the public school system around the ideology of anti-communism. The “Crucial Communism Teaching Act” is now being read in the Senate, where it is all but certain to pass. The move comes amid growing public anger at the economic system and increased public support for socialism. The Crucial Communism Teaching Act, in its own words, is designed to teach children that “certain political ideologies, including communism and totalitarianism…conflict with the principles of freedom and democracy that are essential to the founding of the United States.”

Trump Taps Linda McMahon For Secretary Of Education

On November 19, Donald Trump selected multi-millionaire Linda McMahon as Secretary of the Department of Education. The former CEO of the World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE), she unsuccessfully ran for the U.S. Senate in Connecticut and lost twice. She served on Trump’s cabinet once before as the head of the Small Business Administration and then resigned in 2019 to become the director of America First Action, a Trump super-PAC that kept promoting the agenda of “Make America Great Again” after he lost the 2020 election.

1934 And Now: History Lives!

Over the first three decades of the 20th century, Minneapolis was the most notorious “open shop” city in the country. An employers’ organization (the “Citizens’ Alliance”) leveraged the power of banks, manufacturers, and local government to resist workers’ attempts to unionize. In February 1934 the city’s truck drivers and coal yard workers organized and struck their industry, winning union recognition in a week. Their success inspired other truckers and warehouse workers to organize and strike twice, in the spring and summer of 1934, facing down the power of police and private “deputies.”

Chris Hedges Report: Surveillance Education

Surveillance tools have become ubiquitous in schools and universities. Technologies, promising greater safety and enhanced academic performance, have allowed Gaggle, Securly, Bark, and others to collect detailed data on students. These technologies, however, have not only failed to deliver on their promises, but have eviscerated student privacy. This is especially true in poor communities, where there is little check on wholesale surveillance. This data is often turned against students, especially the poor and students of color, accelerating the school-to-prison pipeline. When students and teachers know they are being watched and monitored it stifles intellectual debate, any challenging of the dominant narrative and inquiry into abuses of power.

In Times Of Crisis We Need More People Power

Social movements often face a contradiction: To expand and thrive, they need to bring in ever-greater numbers of new participants. And yet, knowing how to effectively absorb new people and plug them into a movement’s work can be very difficult. This is a problem even during normal times, but it grows even bigger during times of political crisis — such as the moment we are facing right now. Imagine that you are an organizer and that you just pulled off a fantastic direct action. A small and powerful protest you held locally generated excitement and made news headlines. The public noticed, and the next day there are 10 people at your office door who saw the demonstration and are excited to get involved.

A Review Of Key 2024 Ballot Measures

In this year’s election, voters given the opportunity to weigh in directly on questions of economic justice showed policy preferences far more progressive than those reflected in many national and state election outcomes. Across the country, voters seized opportunities to approve state or local ballot measures increasing the minimum wage, expanding paid leave, strengthening workers’ rights to unionize, preserving public education, and protecting access to abortion. These ballot measure outcomes reflect a clear ongoing trend of strong voter support for policies that prioritize worker, racial, and gender justice—and illustrate how state and local governments can continue to play important roles in enacting such policies.

Urgent End Of Year Fundraising Campaign

Online donations are back! Keep independent media alive. 

Due to the attacks on our fiscal sponsor, we were unable to raise funds online for nearly two years.  As the bills pile up, your help is needed now to cover the monthly costs of operating Popular Resistance.

Urgent End Of Year Fundraising Campaign

Online donations are back! 

Keep independent media alive. 

Due to the attacks on our fiscal sponsor, we were unable to raise funds online for nearly two years.  As the bills pile up, your help is needed now to cover the monthly costs of operating Popular Resistance.