CPS is at it once again! They are coming after our neighborhood schools... our kids' place of learning and handing it over to a private charter school operation. CPS calls the process "turnaround." It is anything but that. It is simply another word for closing our schools. A University of Chicago study showed turnarounds and other dramatic school transformations result in a younger, whiter teaching force. This happens just a few days after parents, teachers, and students stood up to CPS by opting out of the meaningless ISAT. Gresham Elementary in the Auburn-Gresham community, Dvorak Technology Academy in North Lawndale and McNair Elementary in Austin will be turned over to the privately run Academy for Urban School Leadership (AUSL), which CPS Board President David Vitale once headed. Tell CPS that we have had enough of closures, turnarounds, charters, military academies, and underfunded and overcrowded schools.

Del. Albo: We need your support for expanding Medicaid in Virginia. As you probably know, there is strong support for this expansion in your district. As each of us will soon be reminded when we file our taxes, Virginians are paying for a host of federal programs, including this Medicaid expansion. We are paying for this program already and then not accepting the money from the federal government that is ours! Worse than that, whether we expand the program or not, we ARE paying for the care of the uninsured. We pay thousands of dollars to treat infections in the emergency room that could have been cleared up with $2 antibiotics. There is chicken pox going through my local schools and mumps are taking hold in the Midwest because vaccine rates are down. Uninsured Virginians are diverting money from other important budget priorities, and we can cover them for free for three years and at only 10% cost indefinitely thereafter. That is not to mention the economic and social benefits of having 191,000 poor and disabled Virginians more healthy and with more money to spend locally. I have written you previously, and you stated then that you were not opposed to expanding Medicaid under three conditions: a guarantee that the federal government pays its 90%, that Medicaid cost us no more than it does now, and that Virginia be allowed to investigate and prosecute fraud. The Patient Protection & Affordable Care Act, a federal law for years now, states that the federal government will pay 90% of the cost of expansion indefinitely after 3 years: only an act of Congress can change it. The Medicaid expansion will save us at least that 10% in reducing uncompensated care and cost-shifting. Of course, you know there will never be support for having states investigate federal crimes and enforce federal laws. You'll have to suck that up and do what is right for Virginia anyway. We could use your leadership and your independence here.

Rick Santorum's political career may be largely behind him, but incredibly, a secret deal between Pennsylvania Senators Bob Casey and Pat Toomey may lead President Obama to hand one of Rick Santorum's former lawyers a lifetime job as a federal judge. If the Western Pennsylvania District Court in Pittsburgh goes to David J. Porter, it's probably as close as conservatives can get to having Rick Santorum himself on the federal bench. One more conservative activist judge who wants to repeal the Affordable Care Act. One more extremist in the federal judiciary who loves discriminating against women, immigrants and LGBT people as much as he loves doing the bidding of the National Rifle Association. To complete the conservative extremist packaging, Porter even opposes bilingual education and environmental health protections. [1] David J. Porter's hateful political extremism is an outrageous and unacceptable legacy for the Obama administration to leave behind in the federal judiciary. [1] - "Sens. Casey and Toomey plot secret deal to nominate Tea Party Judge for Western PA District Court," Keystone Progress, March 25, 2014 http://keystoneprogressblog.blogspot.com/2014/03/sens-casey-and-toomey-plot-secret-deal.html

While the school board recognizes the high quality of programs at Wiscasset Adult & Community Education, they are not interested in continuing to support it as is in the new Wiscasset School District. What does this mean? Over 100 enrichment courses available each year GONE Office Assistant, Medical Secretary, Accounting Clerk, Dental Assitant, Clinical Medical Assistant, Microsoft Office Specialist, and many other certificate programs GONE Career Pathways services available at no charge, such as assessments, career decision making, advising, individual learning plans, etc. GONE 45 college students who take their classes through ITV in Wiscasset will now have to drive to campus in Augusta or Brunswick 30 adults who would have earned a high school diploma will have to find someplace else to do this, along with the 75 other students who are working towards earning their high school credential In total, over 1,500 course enrollments that would happen at Wiscasset Adult & Community Education from midcoast residents will be lost. With a town population of about 3,000 people, this program has a wide impact throughout the midcoast. If you live in the region, but are not a Wiscasset resident, these lost opportunities will affect you or someone you know. What can you do? Voice your support for adult education in Wiscasset online at MoveOn.org or Causes.org. You don't need to be a resident to do this. Tell us why adult education is important to you! In addition, if you are a Wiscasset resident, speak to a school board member directly about your support for adult learning opportunities. Tell them how you want your tax dollars spent. Contact: Glen Craig, Chair Steven Smith, Vice Chair Eugene Stover Colleen Bennett Sharon Nichols As always, please don't hesitate to contact us with questions or comments. Call (207) 882-9710 or email [email protected]. Thank you for your support! UPDATED FIGURES Wiscasset Adult & Community Education is requesting $65,599 (down from original request of $90,000) in local taxes to support a $292,000 program. Without adult education, the district will also lose more than $90,000 in state subsidy that directly supports the k-12 schools.

Robert and Madison deserve the best in life. Stop the abuse our Augusta Judicial Circuit is supporting.

Unfortunately, recent proposals offered in Congress and promoted by the timber industry would increase logging on federal public lands to supply funding to counties. A portion of these lands could be transferred to a “timber trust” to be managed under private logging rules and exempt from federal environmental laws. This means increased clearcutting on lands currently managed for restoration and wildlife habitat. After decades of abuse, Oregon's forests need less clearcutting, herbicide spraying, and logging road runoff - not more. It is time for Oregon to move on from the era of clearcuts across the landscape. Our public lands should be managed as a legacy for future generations, not a sacrifice zone for logging interests impossibly stuck in the past. Visit clearcutoregon.com for more information.

Besides the safety of all the millions of people who drink water from the 18 watersheds which Pegasus crosses, these tar sands pipelines will only encourage more Alberta Tar Sands development. This is not only the bottom of the hydrocarbon barrel, the dirtiest form of fossil fuel, it will cause the destruction of the Boreal Forest in Canada, and accelerate Climate Change, which very likely may cause the extinction of 95% of all life in planet earth.

This petition has been started to curtail the unfair advantage churches and religious agencies have in our politics and return much needed money to the communities that these organizations reside in.

We, meaning me and the people of Massachusetts, need to rally around the Pelletier family, and make sure Justina Pelletier is rightfully returned to her family.

Vladimir Spivakov, a leading Russian conductor, has signed a public letter pledging a full support to President Putin’s aggression toward Ukraine. Now Spivakov is coming on tour to the US and Canada. We do not welcome Spivakov here!

The House is moving on a terrible new bill that will effectively say: No new national parks. The vote is Wednesday -- and if you don't raise your voice today, it could actually pass! Here are the facts: This bill, H.R. 1459, would gut the historic Antiquities Act, undermining the president's power to create national monuments -- but nearly half of our national parks started out as monuments. The bill's author is named Rep. Rob Bishop, whose biggest contributor in the last election was the oil and gas industry. Bishop even says national parks are unconstitutional! This is about so much more than oil profits -- this is about our American legacy. Without the Antiquities Act, we might never have had the Grand Canyon or Acadia National Parks. We certainly wouldn't have Muir Woods or President Obama's brand-new Harriet Tubman Underground Railroad National Monument!

Keystone Progress has learned that a backroom deal by Senators Bob Casey and Pat Toomey may result in President Obama appointing a Tea Party lawyer to serve as judge on the Western Pennsylvania District Court in Pittsburgh. The nomination of David J. Porter is working its way to the White House as part of a deal between Pennsylvania’s two United States Senators. Senators Casey and Toomey are expected to jointly present Porter to President Obama any day now as part of a deal that will allow Casey to nominate people for 3 other vacancies. Insiders say Toomey and the Republican Party are willing to make any deals necessary to get Porter on the bench. He represents the type of jurist the GOP hopes to place on the bench across the country. Porter is not just a lawyer with a right-wing point of view. He is a right wing activist and leader in anti-choice, anti-marriage equality, pro-gun movements in Pennsylvania. He is not just a member of the Republican Party. Porter is well-known in legal circles for being part of the Rick Santorum wing of the Republican Party. In fact, he has served as Santorum’s counsel. See more at: http://keystoneprogressblog.blogspot.com/