Free Republic

Students in the Berkeley school district aren't getting written homework assignments because teachers are refusing to grade work on their own time after two years without a pay raise. So far, a black history event had to be canceled and parents had to staff a middle-school science fair because teachers are sticking strictly to the hours they're contracted to work. "Teachers do a lot with a little. All of a sudden, a lot of things that they do are just gone. It's demoralizing," said Rachel Baker, who has a son in kindergarten. Teachers say they don't want to stop volunteering...

Several thousand parents, students, teachers, and other school employees rallied at the State Capitol on Monday evening, calling for more education funding from the state. It was probably the largest education rally at the Capitol in recent years, and it drew more than 175 busloads of participants from such Twin Cities school districts as Minneapolis, St. Paul, Bloomington, Osseo and Mounds View. Organizers said people came from as far away as Duluth, Mankato and Rochester. Despite the impressive turnout, participation may have been short of the 6,000 to 7,000 people organizers had hoped for. Although an initial State Patrol estimate...

A Bush administration plan to trim dairy subsidies may put the squeeze on family farmers in the area. The proposal would cut by 5 percent a program that provides federal subsidies when milk prices plunge. That money proved to be vital in recent years when the industry slumped and some farms went under, said dairy farmer Myron Bonzo, 40, of New Sewickley, Beaver County. "Without that safety net, there would have been a lot more farms out," he said. Dairy subsidies are designed to provide farmers with a base income and protect them against price drops, said John Johnson of...

The American Muslim Taskforce on Civil Rights and Elections - Political Action Committee (AMT-PAC) on Thursday announced a qualified endorsement for Democratic presidential candidate Senator John Kerry. WASHINGTON, Oct 21 (MASNET) - A coalition of American Muslim groups on Thursday announced a qualified endorsement for Democratic presidential candidate Senator John Kerry. The American Muslim Taskforce on Civil Rights and Elections - Political Action Committee (AMT-PAC), in endorsing Kerry, said they came to the decision after assessing overall U.S. interests, their interactions with Kerry campaign officials and input from the American Muslim community. The group, however, called their endorsement “qualified” and urged...

The Reverend Al Sharpton emphasized his support of slavery reperations and said he would ask the other Democratic Presidential hopefuls for their position on the matter, ABCNEWS.com reports.Sharpton did not deny that he would use whatever delegates he wins in the primaries to force the Democratic National Committee into granting him a primetime speaking slot during the party convention.Sharptons candidacy worries some Democrats who fear that his rabble rousing politics could distract other candidates who are trying to court black voters.

CNN or somebody had a picture of an American Airlines pilot taxiing on the ramp waving an American flag out of the cockpit window after September 11th. Could someone please post the picture for me or link to it? Thanks, need a screen name

Gov. Gray Davis signed a law Monday that makes California the first state to offer workers paid family leave.

WASHINGTON -- Incense hung thick in the air on the National Mall as a few thousand gathered Saturday to demand reparations for their ancestors' slave labor, which they say helped build the nation's Capitol. "Millions for Reparations" was the rallying call, though far fewer than that turned out. Organizers billed it as a populist movement, not inviting such notable leaders as the Rev. Jesse Jackson and Kweisi Mfume, president of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People. "This is the people's call. Rightly so, because the power is with the people," said Doris Cleveland, one of the 100...

Reparations debate heats up Push for slavery compensation enters political mainstream By KRISTEN MACK Copyright 2002 Houston Chronicle Houston lawyer Angela Matthews, 34, was a hesitant convert to the fight for paying money to blacks whose ancestors once toiled as U.S. slaves. A California native with parents from Jamaica and no known slave ancestors, Matthews had trouble at first answering the question: "How does this directly affect me?" As she studied the issue, however, she concluded that many modern-day disparities are the legacy of slavery, that years of unpaid labor unfairly shifted wealth from blacks to whites. She further decided...