FALLS CHURCH, Va. (AP) — One of the largest school districts in the United States has announced that it will allow students one excused absence per school year to participate civic activities such as protests.
Fairfax County Public Schools in Virginia plans to start allowing the absences Jan. 27, 2020, news outlets reported. The district is the largest school system in the state.
Students in seventh through 12th grades can use the day for "civic engagement activities" such as attending marches or meeting with lawmakers, according to district spokeswoman Lucy Caldwell.
The new policy was introduced by Fairfax School Board member Ryan McElveen, according to The Washington Post. He says the rule may be the first of its kind in the U.S.
"I think we're setting the stage for the rest of the nation with this," McElveen said. "It's a dawning of a new day in student activism, and school systems everywhere are going to have to be responsive to it."
But, some experts told the Post that skipping school to attend protests tends to favor liberal causes.
"Kids on the right who are active, they tend to be doing it by preparing to run for school board, or being aides in legislature," said Meira Levinson, a Harvard University professor who studies education.
"People who call themselves conservatives probably do still count respecting authority — staying in school — as a crucial and central tenet of the social order," said Thai Jones, a lecturer at Columbia University who studies radical social movements.
Students must give at least two days notice before the absence, school officials said. A parent or guardian has to give permission and students must fill out a form to explain the reason they're missing school, McElveen said.
To address worries about accreditation, the student must stop by their school campus at least once on the day of their excused absence, McElveen said.
"The school board felt that this was something that could be formalized and wanted to put it in writing," Caldwell told WTOP-FM. "There were many students who were engaged and have been engaged and it was decided that it was time to go ahead and put into place."
Oakton High School senior Wendy Gao, 18, leads several groups that fight climate change and has missed five days of school in recent months to participate in activism. She told the Post she hopes the new policy will increase the number of students who attend climate strikes.
"Skipping school and business as usual is to show that there's no point in going to school if we are having our future taken away from us," she said. "There's not a point to our education if we're not going to be alive in 10 years, 20 years, the end of the century."
In addition to bringing our readers stories about education issues in America, we here at Hispanic Outlook feature news articles on topics both related to and outside of the field of education on our website and in our social media.
Immigration Legal Services At CSU
Editor’s Note: Twenty-two CSU campuses are offering immigration legal services for the school’s thousands of undocumented students, as well as its undocumented employees.
California State University (CSU) announced a systemwide plan for the provision of immigration legal services for CSU students and employees. “I am delighted that we will be able to increase the availability of immigration legal services to the California State University community. We remain committed to ensuring that all CSU students have the opportunity to pursue their higher education goals regardless of their country of origin. This inclusive foundation extends to our employees, who demonstrate their dedication to student achievement and success on a daily basis,” said CSU Chancellor Timothy P. White. “These thousands of Californians are pursuing their dreams for a better future every day on CSU campuses. The expanded services and resources that will soon be available will bring support, legal guidance and some peace of mind to enable our students and employees to focus on academic and professional pursuits.”
Hispanic National Bar Association
Jennifer Salinas, Esq. asked a room full of high school students interested in the law to close their eyes and conjure up the image of a lawyer. “Then I said to them, ‘I suspect that many of you saw a white man.’ They all (nodded) their heads yes,” she says. “We hope to change that so you see people of all different races and ethnicities.” For the duration of her presidency at the Hispanic National Bar Association, which wrapped on September 28, Salinas offered programs, held symposia and ran campaigns, all in the name of attracting more Hispanics to the profession to which she’s dedicated her life. One of those campaigns challenged Hispanic youth to imagine a different type of lawyer. It was called This is What a Lawyer Looks Like. “(We) would wear T-shirts that actually had that on the front. We’d go into heavily populated Latino schools and these kids were amazed. They’d say, ‘You’re a lawyer? You don’t look like a lawyer.’ And that’s kind of the point,” says Salinas. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, law is one of the least racially diverse professions in the nation. Hispanics comprise just 4.8% of U.S. lawyers, and Latinas are less than 2% of that.
In 1850, Jose Angel Navarro graduated as the first Latino alumnus of Harvard Law School. According to historian Dr. Daniel Coquillette, author of “On the Battlefield of Merit: Harvard Law School, the First Century,” Navarro returned to San Antonio after graduation and advocated for the downtrodden and exploited in Texas. He served on the San Antonio City Council, as a district attorney and city attorney in Laredo and, at 29, was elected to the Texas Legislature. He is widely credited with removing the word “white” from the new Texas Constitution’s voting requirements. In 1876, he was gunned down on Laredo’s main street. Coquillette cites how Navarro died a martyr’s death and deserves broad recognition and honor.
Trailblazing Influence
Giving Navaro that recognition and honor is exactly what current Latino alumni had in mind when they started contemplating a group gift to Harvard Law School (HLS). Every five years, an all-classes reunion known as the HLS “Celebration of Latino Alumni” (CLA) is held. Members organize the self-funded, 4-day event on campus. “Alumni had been talking about doing something for Latino students,” says Ricardo Anzaldua, JD ‘90, who served as a CLA chair.
The Dangers of Being ‘Under the Influence’
Imagine that you’re young and pregnant and more than a little anxious about the changes you are experiencing. And then “morning sickness” rears its ugly head. Looking for advice, you have a few choices: consult your Doctor, seek out an online Doctor for help, or see what Kim Kardashian says on Instagram and Twitter. As ridiculous as it sounds, Kim Kardashian was the “expert” of choice for many 18- to 24-year-olds. When she endorsed the Duchesnay Inc., drug Diclegis (used for morning sickness) online nearly a half of million people “liked” it. Kardashian is one of high profile “influencers” Big Pharma and other companies are recruiting to push their products. Product endorsements via social media by YouTube and celebrity influencers, the term used for social media product advocates, have always been powerful in the direct-to-consumer advertising for prescription and over-the-counter drugs. But social media has changed the rules of the road. While TV and print advertising is heavily regulated and must include risk factors and side effects, the same restrictions, which companies find onerous, are not yet in place for social media influencers. But the times, they are changing.
Read full article here
Imagine finding a job where you not only earned more than enough to take care of yourself and your family, but also found success and fulfillment while bringing joy to others. Now imagine suddenly being diagnosed with a disease that even if you survive it could take away your ability to do that job. This is what faced voice actor Rob Paulsen when he was diagnosed with throat cancer. Known for his work on such series as “Animaniacs,” “Pinky and the Brain,” and two of the TV incarnations of “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles,” Paulsen’s resume includes such top studios as Disney and Warner Bros., such legends as Steven Spielberg and Mel Brooks, and such accolades a Daytime Emmy for Outstanding Performer in an Animated Program. To an outsider, his career looked like it was hitting a new high with the probable reboot of “Animaniacs” on the horizon. But as he talks about in his book “Voice Lessons: How a Couple of Ninja Turtles, Pinky, and an Animaniac Saved My Life,” a small lump on his throat turned out to be stage III squamous cell carcinoma with occult primary, and the treatments for it could permanently damage his voice.
“The irony of me getting throat cancer was inescapable,” Paulsen writes.
Place your job ad in our classified page on the HO print & digital Edition
