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raven-at-the-writing-desk · 3 days

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I think malleus mentions, maybe in his dorm vig, that he tried approaching other students when he couldn't find the meeting place but they scream and run away from him in terror. If this is how people have been reacting to him approaching them then it makes sense for him to stop trying at one point. also think the senators never allowed anyone to meet him. Remember melanoir blessing. She blessed him to be feared by humans. Perhaps that is also at play. I would like to hear your thoughts on this.

One thing I take issue with is how inconsistently written the world’s reactions to Malleus are. On one hand, we're constantly told that people fear him and run away at the sight of him (which does happen with various mob students). On the other hand, we get dozens and dozens of instances of Malleus interacting with his classmates, staff, and the locals of Sage’s Island (Magicam Monsters) and other countries without issue. (Granted, the locals of other countries did not recognize him as Malleus due to how he was dressed, but the point still holds that Malleus can have normal interactions with people.) How he is received varies greatly across the main story, vignettes, and the events. You cannot have it both ways because it creates this cognitive dissonance about how we’re supposed to perceive his presence.

As for the senators, it is canon that Malleus was often kept inside the castle. However, that doesn’t mean he was entirely barred from interacting with people and that doesn’t mean Malleus never left. Clearly he still had tutors and servants around (although interacting with them would be different than interacting with peers), and surely he would have met his grandmother or foreign dignitaries as part of his training. He has also visited Silver and Lilia in their cottage which is far away from the capital city. Malleus has realistically had opportunities to engage with people, no matter how much the senators try to leash him.

Finally, on the subject of Meleanor’s blessing: firstly, there is no immediate indication that Melanor cast a spell of any kind. If you compare the scene where she utters the “blessing” (7-77) to when Lilia blesses Silver and changes his hair color (7-81), there is no sparkle effect to indicate magic. Meleanor asks Lilia to take care of her kid, hands her egg off to Lilia, summons thorns to drag him away, then vanishes away to fight, so the sparkle effect that proceeds is most likely to show her teleporting off to combat (which is finally when the sparkle effect comes in). Right before leaving, she says, “May the Night bless you/Night's Blessings (in EN)”, which is where I believe people got the “Meleanor blessed/cursed Malleus to be feared by humans” headcanon comes from. However, the phrase “May the Night bless you/Night's Blessings” is not a magic incantation as far as we know; it seems to be a saying among nocturnal fae to wish one another good luck. We see Lilia and others saying it in other parts of book 7. However, Lilia does utter “May the Night bless you/Night's blessings” prior to Silver’s hair color change, so I imagine this also plays a part in the fandom interpretation/headcanon that Meleanor blessed Malleus in a similar manner.

Even if it was a real blessing, it doesn’t work for me with how they’ve set up Malleus’s interactions with his peers. If the blessing/curse is supposedly making him feared by humans, how come there are several blatant exceptions who don’t fear him at all? This includes the light trio and arguably even characters like Leona or Rollo—because even feelings of hate or rivalry are still not fear. Additionally, Meleanor’s phrasing is that she’s sure that Malleus will be a good omen/“auspicious star” for the fae of Briar Country but a “fearsome, malevolent star” for humans. With the coming of book 7, Malleus is posing a real threat to both fae and humans alike. Furthermore, she directly follows up these lines by saying she entrusts her son to Lilia. She’s emphasizing the importance of Malleus to their country’s future before handing him away; it does not read like she’s blessing her child. This, combined with the very delayed sparkle effect in 7–77, leads me to believe that Meleanor’s words were not actually magically binding or a blessing, but rather a hope or a prayer about the kind of person Malleus would be someday: a leader that their country needs and someone who will strike fear into humans (who were enemies of the fae at the time). Until the canon says otherwise, this is how I interpret Meleanor's "blessing" for her son (ie it’s not a magical one).

I feel like none of these should completely dissuade Malleus from like... I don't know, going out of his way to locate a few open-minded people (again, like the light trio) and trying to make conversation with them? Maybe invite them over for tea? Taking little steps like that. I understand why he would be hesitant to try or adopt a defeatist attitude, but again Lilia is right there to help facilitate or to ask questions to. But he doesn’t really do that or seem to truly take what anyone says to heart; instead he gets moody, pouty, and sulks when he feels rejected because the situation is artificially set up for failure 💦

It sometimes feels like TWST wrote itself into a corner with Malleus’s presentation due to the nature of the original game format. His lore calls for him to be sinister and feared through all the land, but the devs are simultaneously compelled to write him in cute and silly social scenarios to show how likable he can be (so open up your wallet for him/j)… He’s supposedly always forgotten but you’d think that someone with a presence as fearsome as his would be remembered vividly or make a strong impression regardless of the contrived ways they try to keep him out of the picture… and that results in the clashing tones I notice now.

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captainjonnitkessler · 1 year

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You know a lot of American anti-atheist sentiment derives directly from atheist organizations fighting Christian hegemony, right? Like the number one reason atheists are stereotyped as “angry evangelical atheists” isn’t because some people are annoying on reddit, it’s because atheists and atheist organizations are constantly suing cities and schools and companies to get them to stop shoving their religion in everyone’s face and people fucking hate us for it.

You would not believe how hard atheists have to fight to get city councils to stop opening meetings with Christian prayer, to stop high school sports events and graduations from including Christian imagery, to stop companies from coercing their employees into Christian prayers, to get towns to remove crosses from their town crests, to get government buildings and courthouses to take down their Christian monuments. Atheists have been fighting this fight constantly for decades.

And the reaction is always, always, incredibly vitriolic hatred and death threats from every conceivable quarter, including otherwise progressive and liberal people. I’ve seen high school students called “evil” by their own state senators for trying to get prayer removed from their public school. I’ve seen city council members get death and rape threats for giving humanist invocations in place of prayer. It is always framed as “those angry atheists trying to force their atheism on everyone else”. It is always framed as “overly sensitive atheists getting angry if anyone even mentions religion”. It is always framed as “atheists who can’t just let people live their lives”.

If atheists are vocal about fighting religious hegemony, then we’re angry bitter militant evangelical atheists. If we’re not, we’re cultural Christians who are supporting Christian hegemony. It can’t be both, so which is it?

#i am just so fucking sick of being told i 'don't understand christian hegemony' or that atheists 'can't recognize it'#after DECADES of being villainized explicitly for fighting against it #it's exhausting and i'm done #i'm not in the mood to talk about this further rn so asks and additions will probably not be answered #atheism

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dontmeantobepoliticalbut · 1 year

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North Dakota Republicans be like:

Ten days after narrowly defeating a bill to provide free school lunches to low-income K-12 students, the North Dakota Senate approved legislation to increase the amount of money lawmakers and other state employees receive in meal reimbursements.

A leading Republican senator says employee meal compensation rates and free school lunch programs aren't related issues, but top Democrats see the chamber’s conflicting actions on the two bills as unjustifiable.

“I thought today’s vote was very self-serving,” said Senate Minority Leader Kathy Hogan, D-Fargo. “How can we vote for ourselves when we can’t vote for children?”

The Republican-dominated Senate in late March rejected House Bill 1491 by a single vote. The legislation, which had previously passed the House, would have dedicated $6 million over the next two school years to cover lunch costs for K-12 students with family incomes below double the federal poverty level. Children from families of four making less than $60,000 a year would have qualified.

A federal program already provides free meals to students from families making below 130% of the federal poverty level, so the state allocation nixed by senators would have applied to kids with family incomes between 130-200% of the poverty level.

The Senate voted 26-21 on Thursday, April 6, to pass Senate Bill 2124, which would raise the meal reimbursements received by state employees during travel within North Dakota. Lawmakers attending interim legislative meetings are eligible for the payments, but they do not receive meal reimbursements during biennial sessions.

If Gov. Doug Burgum signs the bill, state employees could collect up to $45 a day to pay for breakfast, lunch and dinner. That’s a hike of nearly 29% on the current reimbursement rate of $35. The added cost to the state would be nearly $1 million over the next two-year budget cycle.

Thirteen Republican senators, including Majority Leader David Hogue and Assistant Majority Leader Jerry Klein, voted to increase meal reimbursements after voting against the free school lunch bill.

Hogue declined to comment on the reason he voted for Senate Bill 2124 and against House Bill 1491. He said North Dakota lawmakers often are asked to devote state funds to expand federal programs, like the National School Lunch Program or Medicaid.

“I don’t have a good answer for you as (to) why we do it sometimes and not others,” Hogue said.

Klein said he doesn’t think there’s “any correlation whatsoever” between the two bills, noting that lawmakers have to “treat each issue separately.”

State employees should get a higher per diem because inflation has made eating out much more expensive, he noted.

Klein said there is still money available and time left before lawmakers leave Bismarck to approve funding for school lunches. Last week, the House added the $6 million for free school lunches into a separate bill that has not yet returned to the Senate.

The other Republican senators who voted for Senate Bill 2124 and against House Bill 1491 are Randy Burckhard, David Clemens, Bob Erbele, Judy Estenson, Curt Kreun, Judy Lee, Randy Lemm, Larry Luick, Don Schaible, Terry Wanzek and Mike Wobbema.

Hogan said she was shocked and disappointed by Thursday’s vote. She dismissed Klein’s suggestion that the two bills are unrelated, noting that they would both spend taxpayer money to cover meals for North Dakotans.

The Senate’s inconsistent actions on the two bills will confuse the public and hurt the chamber’s credibility, Hogan said.

“There’s no underlying consistent philosophy to how we’re spending money in this session, and this is a classic example of it,” Hogan said.

Assistant House Minority Leader Zac Ista, a Grand Forks Democrat at the forefront of the push for free school lunches, said the Legislature should be looking to support both students and state employees.

“I think it shows (the Senate’s) priorities are a little out of whack when they have no problem increasing the meal reimbursement rate for ourselves but not for those families that may be struggling to make ends meet,” Ista said.

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mariacallous · 10 months

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Last month, as they sought details on what happened in a failed hiring effort, members of the Texas A&M University Faculty Senate suspected they weren’t getting the full story from top administrators.

President Kathy Banks pleaded ignorance in the hiring debacle surrounding Kathleen McElroy, telling faculty members she was unsure what led to McElroy’s claims that Texas A&M offered her a position—with tenure—in a newly formed journalism department only to change the terms of the deal due to concerns over her race (Black), her research and her past work at The New York Times.

Banks, over and over again, claimed to have no knowledge of a change in the contract. But by the time she left the online meeting, faculty members felt strongly the president wasn’t providing straight answers.

“We’re being lied to on a lot of fronts,” one professor said in the July 19 meeting.

“It cries out that we’re not being told a straight story,” another faculty member said.

A day later, on July 20, Banks retired abruptly, citing “negative press” over the hiring spectacle. She made no mention of the distrust expressed by faculty members or the pushback she had faced.

By July 21, the faculty’s concerns had been validated in a report from the Texas A&M system’s Office of the General Counsel that showed Banks’s direct involvement in the McElroy case, with the president’s fingerprints all over the decision to yank the offer and replace it with a nontenured option. The report spelled out, in clear facts, that Banks—under pressure from legislators and regents to drive Texas A&M in a conservative direction—was the architect of the failed hire.

(Banks did not respond to a request for comment from Inside Higher Ed.)

Even on its own, the dishonesty Banks displayed in the McElroy case would have likely sunk any presidency. But for Banks, the McElroy situation came two years into a contentious term, marked by clashes with professors and a top-down leadership style that eroded support from constituents across campus.

At the campus level, the story can be taken as one of hubris and dramatic missteps, but zooming out, the Banks tenure reflects the perils of the modern presidency amid increasing politicization of higher education, especially in red states where skepticism of academe is high.

Two Years of Tensions

Banks assumed the presidency in June 2021 after nine years at the helm of the engineering department. Banks had joined Texas A&M in 2012, coming over from Purdue University.

As dean of the College of Engineering at Texas A&M, Banks was celebrated.

“I must state that initially, when she was named president, I was very optimistic,” Raymundo Arróyave, a Texas A&M materials science and engineering professor, said by email. “In balance, despite the fact that I disagreed with some of the policies that she implemented as dean (this is usual, faculty do not agree with administration 100 percent of the time), I thought that she had been a transformational dean. Our college doubled in the number of students, faculty, footprint, etc. So, she was very effective at elevating the college and had similar hopes for the university.”

But, he added, “Dr. Banks quickly made it clear that her presidency was going to be [one] of dramatic changes. Many of those changes were poorly justified and poorly communicated (lack of effective communication was a common shortcoming of her tenure as dean, by the way).”

The first controversy of the Banks presidency began behind closed doors. Early in her presidency, Banks sought to establish her vision and introduce sweeping changes at Texas A&M. Those changes came in the form of recommendations from MGT Consulting in fall 2021 that included academic consolidation and reorganization, restructuring of certain administrative positions, and various programmatic changes.

But some with direct knowledge of those conversations suggest the recommendations from MGT Consulting were largely dictated by Banks. The president saw the recommendation process as a way to put forth her own ideas and let MGT Consulting take the heat when those proposals were met with resistance, said a source who served in the president’s cabinet.

“She said, ‘Our job is to tell them what we want to do, they’ll write it up in a report, and then, when there’s public criticism, we’ll say we’re following the advice of the consultants,’” the former cabinet member said, speaking anonymously due to concerns about career repercussions.

In conversations in the summer of 2021, senior leaders allegedly dictated to MGT Consulting the recommendations that the firm would later put forth as their own ideas, the source alleges.

“President Banks directly said, ‘Let’s put some things in there that we know the faculty will not like. And then we can reject them so it will look like we’re listening to them.’ The whole process was a PR sham to begin with,” the former cabinet member told Inside Higher Ed, noting that they were unsure of what poison pills were inserted since they did not work on faculty issues.

(MGT Consulting did not respond to a request for comment from Inside Higher Ed.)

Blowback to the MGT Consulting recommendations was immediate. Faculty raised concerns about combining the College of Liberal Arts, the College of Science and the College of Geosciences into a new College of Arts and Sciences. While the university offered little public rationale for the change, recent public documents released by Texas A&M related to the McElroy scandal indicate that—according to a text message from Jay Graham, a member of the Board of Regents—Banks had said the academic consolidation was “to control the liberal nature that those professors brought to campus.” (Neither Graham nor system officials responded to questions about that claim.)

Plans to eliminate tenure for librarians also prompted objections from faculty, particularly as administrators refused to explain the rationale for months before eventually making the argument that a reorganization of the library was needed to streamline and simplify operations to emphasize student needs. Despite the objections of faculty, nearly 30 librarians lost tenure or tenure-track status last year. Others decamped to different departments to maintain tenure.

Outside of the controversy generated by the MGT Consulting report, Banks also stirred anger on campus by announcing plans to kill the print edition of the student newspaper in February 2022 before backing away from that decision. Two months later, Banks defunded Draggieland, an annual drag show run by student organizations in partnership with the university. That decision, made with no initial explanation, prompted outcry from students and LGBTQ+ organizers. Officials would later assert that Draggieland was self-supporting due to ticket sales.

Last July brought changes to Texas A&M Qatar, an overseas outpost operated in conjunction with the Gulf nation’s government. Texas A&M reorganized the Qatar campus, eliminating rolling contracts for faculty in favor of fixed-term deals while consolidating power under one dean and limiting research activities for professors in non-degree-granting units, as outlined in a Banks memo.

Faculty members decried the top-down decision-making, arguing that the elimination of rolling contracts would undercut recruiting efforts and academic freedom at A&M Qatar. As these changes played out, faculty members on the main campus accused Banks of ignoring shared governance and leaving them out of important decisions as she pursued her own agenda.

A Faculty Senate resolution last August accused Banks of a “lack of commitment to meaningful shared governance” that was “promulgating a mistrust of future administrative decisions.” The “absence of shared governance” was “exacerbated by a lack of transparency,” the resolution stated.

As discontent with Banks continued, Karen Wooley, a distinguished professor in the department of chemistry, wrote a letter to Banks in December accusing her of “causing substantial disruptions and threatening the integrity” of Texas A&M, according to various media reports.

In January, Banks announced efforts to increase communication and provide more face time for faculty and staff with university administrators as well as the formation of two new committees to “improve our continuous evaluation and feedback” led by senior administrators, among other changes.

But the January olive branch from Banks did little to settle faculty concerns. By April of this year, frustration with the president’s top-down management style had reached a boiling point. A poll of members of the Council of Principal Investigators, a group of faculty members who help guide research efforts at Texas A&M, found “widespread discontent” and alleged that administrators had created an environment rife with fear and intimidation, The Texas Tribune reported. The poll, inspired by Wooley’s letter, found 89 percent of CPI members had similar concerns.

A Faculty Senate Showdown

By the time Banks met with the Faculty Senate on July 19, tensions on campus were high. The story of how McElroy’s hiring fell through was opaque at the time, and the faculty wanted answers. Instead, Banks deflected their concerns, downplaying her role in and knowledge of the hiring debacle.

Arróyave, the materials science professor, pressed Banks with hard questions, later telling Inside Higher Ed that there was “too much confusion as to who wrote the offer letters, who modified them, who was aware of the additional contract negotiations, etc.” Based on his experience with Banks as engineering dean, Arróyave said he “found it difficult to believe that she was not aware of the contract negotiations.”

The distrust of Banks by faculty members in the meeting was palpable.

Concerns swirled about the influence of outside organizations such as the Rudder Association, a powerful conservative alumni group, and others who were celebrating the failed hire. What faculty didn’t know at the time was that Banks had worked with José Luis Bermúdez, interim dean of the College of Arts and Sciences, to restructure McElroy’s offer. Bermúdez—who resigned amid the scandal—schemed with Banks on the plan to change the role McElroy was stepping into, as demonstrated in documents later released by the Texas A&M system.

Emails and text messages between university officials, including Banks, indicate that McElroy’s past as a Black woman who worked for The New York Times and researched diversity, equity and inclusion issues was a potential headache for Texas A&M. Banks stressed that it was important to slow-walk the hire until after the end of the legislative session in May, and Bermúdez told a subordinate that it would be “poor optics” to hire McElroy with DEI under fire in Texas. (Lawmakers implemented sweeping restrictions on college DEI offices and work last session.)

As administrators deliberately delayed the process, McElroy dropped out of the running.

“I believe that KM has pulled out. Department just got query from Texas Tribune. I’ll make sure that everything is referred over to Kelly,” Bermúdez texted Banks on July 10, seemingly referring to Kelly Brown, associate vice president of marketing and communications at A&M.

In the exchange that followed, Banks would go on to call McElroy an “awful person” for going to the press and noted, “we have a lot of skeptics about the whole concept of journalism,” while directing Bermúdez to pause the search for a director of the nascent program.

Text messages between regents, released as part of Texas A&M’s internal review, demonstrated that board members also seemed to be exerting influence over the departmental hiring decision.

“Please tell me this isn’t true,” Graham texted Banks and system chancellor John Sharp about plans to hire McElroy. “But since it’s not April Fools Day, I assume it is. I thought the purpose of us starting a journalism program was to get high-quality Aggie journalist[s] with conservative values into the market. This won’t happen with someone like this leading the department.”

Another regent, Mike Hernandez, questioned McElroy’s résumé—calling The New York Times “biased and progressive leaning” and suggested tenure approval would be “a difficult sell.”

(Neither Graham nor Hernandez replied to requests for comment.)

Texas A&M would soon settle with McElroy for $1 million. (McElroy, who remains in her position as a journalism professor at the University of Texas at Austin, did not respond to a request for comment.)

Outside Influence in Texas

The McElroy hiring controversy has since been followed by another scandal at Texas A&M in which opioid researcher Joy Alonzo was suspended by system officials and investigated for comments she allegedly made about Lieutenant Governor Dan Patrick, a powerful figure in Texas.

The investigation ultimately cleared Alonzo of wrongdoing, and system officials claim that all policies were followed appropriately. But the two controversies combined have raised lingering questions about the political influence exerted on Texas A&M by state lawmakers and others.

A spokesperson for the flagship campus largely deferred questions to system officials but emphasized, in response to an inquiry about outside political influence, that “Texas A&M prioritizes maintaining an environment that encourages academic freedom, critical thinking and intellectual diversity.”

A Texas A&M system spokesperson did not answer a list of detailed questions from Inside Higher Ed, instead sending a link to a news release summarizing the recent legislative session. Pressed for answers, system spokesperson Laylan Copelin deferred questions to the university.

In a recent editorial, however, Sharp discussed the dual scandals with McElroy and Alonzo.

“Regarding the events in Dr. McElroy’s hiring process, it is difficult to recognize the alma mater I dearly love and to which I owe so much. Texas A&M is far better than this!” Sharp wrote in an opinion piece for The Austin-American Statesman. “A few, however, forgot our Core Values.”

Sharp touched lightly on academic freedom concerns, defending his actions in the Alonzo controversy, and pointed to legislation to codify tenure in state law—after it came under attack from legislators—which he noted was a win for both “academic freedom and accountability.”

But some faculty members worry less about outside influence and more about what direction a politicized Board of Regents and university officials want to take the university and system.

“This is not outside influence. It is clear that (at least some of) the maximum authorities of the system would prefer a more conservative disposition by the faculty and university. Frankly, I think it is highly contradictory to denounce identity politics and then call for the production of ‘conservative journalists’ out of the new journalism school,” Arróyave said, noting broad concerns about the worrisome “interference of politics and ideology into academia.”

Since both the Alonzo and McElroy controversies, university and system officials have stressed the importance of academic freedom and resistance to outside influence on the institution. But as recent documents made clear, the pressure isn’t just from Texas lawmakers—it is also coming from the inside, with regents appointed by Republican governor Greg Abbott, many of whom donated generously to his campaign, intent on pushing Texas A&M in a conservative direction.

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vague-humanoid · 3 months

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There are more than 3,000 students known to be experiencing homelessness in Alaska, and the number has grown over the last five years. It is also likely to be a 50-100% undercount, according to advocacy group SchoolHouse Connection.

In an Alaska Senate Education Committee meeting on Jan. 29, Barbara Duffield, SchoolHouse Connection’s executive director, said student homelessness affects things like declining enrollment, chronic absence, mental health challenges and graduation rates.

“Essentially, the crises in public education that we’re seeing today are very much driven to a certain extent by homelessness, and particularly when it’s not addressed,” she said.

Alaska school districts could miss out on more than half of a $2.3 million dollar boost to their existing programs for those students if they don’t spend the money by this September, she said.

In recent years Alaska’s existing programs aimed at stabilizing these students’ school experience and supporting them academically have been significantly augmented by the American Rescue Plan Act. U.S. Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, worked for an amendment to that legislation to secure an additional $800 million for students experiencing homelessness, of which Alaska districts got $2.3 million. On Thursday, Murkowski said that as the deadline approaches, officials need to find a way to get the money out the door.

“Do we need more time? Extensions of time can be more problematic,” she said. “But this is something that I think for Alaska is worth fighting for.”

The office of Sen. Löki Tobin, D-Anchorage, has drafted a resolution that asks the state’s federal delegation to pursue a year-long extension so that districts have time to allocate the funds.

The funds for students experiencing homelessness are tied to other emergency relief funds for students, which could be a hurdle to achieving an extension.

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beardedmrbean · 2 months

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The Iowa House approved a bill aimed at improving literacy rates for Iowa students, allowing parents to have their child repeat a grade if they are not proficient in reading and adding new educational requirements for teachers.

House File 2618 passed on a 92-3 vote Tuesday. The bill would require schools to notify parents or guardians of students in kindergarten through sixth grade who are not reading at grade-level proficiency, and inform them of their ability to request that their child repeat a grade. Students who are not meeting literacy benchmarks will be given a personalized plan to assist them until they are able to read at grade level.

Rep. Sharon Steckman, D-Mason City, said many of the measures required by the bill are efforts teachers already take to improve literacy outcomes with students.

“Teachers watch out for kids that are not reading at grade level already,” Steckman said. “Teachers talk to parents already. Teachers put forth an (Individualized Education Program), or some sort of a plan for that student to get on grade level already. So much of this we’re already doing.”

She also praised the bill for being “toned down” from Gov. Kim Reynolds’ original proposal. When Reynolds brought up legislation at the beginning of session as a way to improve literacy rates in Iowa schools, she proposed requiring Iowa teacher licensure candidates in early childhood, elementary, K-12 reading and literacy preparation programs, as well as those in special education, to pass the Foundations of Reading assessment to graduate.

The passing requirement for teacher licensure was removed in a House amendment, but education program students would still be required to take the assessment, with results reported to the Iowa Department of Education.

Related California Considers ‘Science of Reading’ Bill, as 6 in 10 Students Lag Behind

The House bill also omits some of the prescriptions on reading instruction and literacy strategies present in the Senate’s version related to the teaching of phonics — teaching the sounds of letters to learn how to read — and banning certain literacy teaching strategies associated with rote memorization or contextual clues to identify a written word.

These measures were discussed in the context of the “science of reading” teaching methods that put a larger emphasis on phonics to improve young students’ reading and language abilities. Other states, including Mississippi, have seen improvements in national reading scores after adopting the approach.

Reynolds said in January that while Iowa did not see the drops in reading scores in recent years that other states have, “holding steady isn’t good enough” for Iowa students. The results from the 2022-2023 Iowa Statewide Assessment of Student Progress showed that 34% of Iowa third-graders were not yet proficient in English Language Art skills. Studies have found that students not proficient at reading in third grade face greater difficulties with academics and in their personal life as they age.

Rep. Tom Moore, R-Griswold, thanked Reynolds’ office for working with lawmakers to come up with a “good compromise” on how to approach improving reading education for Iowa students. Moore agreed with Steckman on the bill’s provisions being strategies many Iowa teachers already employ — but said that it was important to ensure all students get more literacy support as needed.

“Obviously, we wouldn’t be in the middle of the pack nationally reading-wise if all of our teachers were doing some of these things,” Moore said.

The legislation heads to the Senate for further consideration.

#nunyas news

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mightyflamethrower · 5 months

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University President Claudine Gay should resign.

It has been less than half a year since Gay assumed one of the most prestigious posts in all of academia. Since then, scandal after scandal has plagued our beloved university.

The president of Harvard must be a formidable leader, capable of managing thousands of the brightest minds on the planet, a widely revered international brand, and a multi-billion-dollar bureaucratic behemoth. Further, by way of its field-leading eminences, Harvard exerts influence — and encounters controversy — at the highest levels of politics and policymaking, which often presents challenges for its leader and public face.

In other words, Harvard’s presidency is no mere empty honor; it is a deeply challenging managerial job with deeply challenging duties, not least of which is navigating national outcry.

In each of these respects, Gay has failed. The Harvard Corporation must find a leader who can do better.

Our doubts began in the wake of Hamas’ attacks on Oct. 7. Without question, Gay botched her public response to the crisis. She sent out-of-touch email after out-of-touch email to the student body, which totalled five in the end. She bungled her testimony before Congress, to international criticism. Now, on top of these blunders, it has surfaced that Gay plagiarized portions of multiple academic papers. The situation seems to worsen with every passing week.

Still, the Editorial Board today makes peace with Gay’s series of slip-ups, opposing her resignation even after dozens of allegations of academic misconduct, including, bafflingly, two sentences in the acknowledgements of her dissertation.

Because our peers avoid reckoning with the severity of Gay’s failures, dismissing instances of explicit plagiarism as insufficient to warrant her resignation, we respectfully dissent.

One doesn’t need to look far to see that Harvard isn’t running smoothly — these scandals disrupt teaching and research, Harvard’s core missions.

As students, we are exhausted.

We are tired of reading about Harvard’s failures every time we check the news. We are sick of reporters hassling us for interviews in the Yard. We don’t want to return home for break and get pestered by friends and family, asking what is happening on campus or how we’re holding up in this awful environment. Our classes and our studying should not be interrupted by noisemakers and megaphones. Signing an affirmation that we will follow the Harvard College Honor Code before we take our final exams should not feel like a farce.

Students are not the only ones frustrated. Faculty are concerned with her academic misconduct too, though many refuse to go on the record, perhaps for fear of the consequences (a fact the Board’s opinion notes but seems not to take to heart).

Donors are tripping over each other to sever ties with the University. A senator has written in the Wall Street Journal that he was accosted in Widener Library. Congress has launched — and now expanded — an investigation into Harvard. Early application numbers have dropped sharply compared with peer institutions, perhaps in response to the turmoil.

President Gay may be a good person. She may even be a praiseworthy scholar, despite the allegations. But that isn’t enough to remain president. The leader of the world’s foremost university must be held to a higher standard, one that Gay has unfortunately failed to meet.

It is clear to us that the continuation of Gay’s tenure as president only hurts the University. For Harvard’s sake, Gay must go.

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texasobserver · 6 months

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“A Paris to Marfa March for Reproductive Rights” by Gayle Reaves, from the November/December issue of Texas Observer magazine:

Above: Louise Culbertson, 15, organized protests and rallies all over Texas on behalf of reproductive rights.

Louise Culbertson’s passion for political activism started when she heard about the murders of 17 students at a Parkland, Florida, school in 2018. With her mother’s help, she organized a demonstration in support of stronger gun laws in her hometown of Marfa. About 200 people showed up.

Culbertson was 10 years old at the time. She was proud to put Marfa on the map of places that had marched against gun violence, a list kept by March for Our Lives, the national organization of young people formed in the wake of Parkland to push back against the epidemic of shootings.

It was something Marfa needed, Culbertson said. The fear of a mass shooting at her own school was real. The shooting at a Santa Fe, Texas, school had happened the same year as Parkland. Four years later, Uvalde’s tragedy would reinforce the bitter, tragic lesson. What happened at Parkland and the other schools “really, really scared me,” she said.

Fast-forward to summer of this year, and Culbertson, now 15, was organizing protests and rallies all over Texas, this time in support of reproductive rights. And doing it from Paris, France. Anger at the reversal of Roe v. Wade had turned up her activism by a couple of notches. Thanks to her mother’s French background, Culbertson and her brother had been able to enroll in school in Paris two years earlier. But Culbertson was coming home to Texas for the summer with a mission.

She started planning in April, and in May got in touch with a nonprofit called Deeds Not Words (founded by former state senator and gubernatorial candidate Wendy Davis) that helps young women build a stronger voice in politics. With their mentoring, Culbertson put together protest events in five cities. Amid Texas’ mind-numbing summer heat, she and her mom, Valerie Breuvart, drove from Austin to Houston, then to Dallas, El Paso, and home to Marfa. In Austin, only a handful of young people showed. In Houston, Dallas, and El Paso, Culbertson said, the turnout was about 20 to 30, from young teenagers to adults. Back home in Marfa, her event drew about 50 fellow protesters. In the other cities, Culbertson said, the events were in one place and featured speakers and people chanting and holding up signs. But in Marfa, she said, “We actually marched.”

“I loved it,” Culbertson said. “I definitely learned a lot. … We had great speakers.” And of course, she got to meet people all over the state and immerse herself in politics.

Where does her determination and interest in politics come from? Her father, Don Culbertson, is a physician’s assistant and her mother a teacher of art history. For more than a decade, they have owned and run a medical clinic in Marfa, with Breuvart working on the business side. “I was raised with my parents talking a lot about politics,” Culbertson said. She described them as “strong Democrats” who took her to polling places to show her how elections worked. “All my passion for politics comes from my parents cheering me along.”

The couple shared their daughter’s fears about gun violence and her concerns about the quality of the schooling that she and her brother would get in Texas. In 2021, they took a year’s sabbatical and went to France.

“We live here [in Marfa]; we have a business, our home. Louise was born on the living room floor here,” Don Culbertson said. But his wife’s background gave them the “opportunity to get a kick-ass education” in Paris for their kids. “And so we’re doing that. We’re so excited,” he said. For now, he and his wife return to Texas for a few weeks several times a year. While in France, Don Culbertson participates in the clinic via telemedicine. The whole family comes home in the summer.

Louise Culbertson said that the language instruction she’s getting in Paris is the best part. The schools she would be going to in Texas offer little in the way of foreign language programs, she said, whereas in Paris, “half of my courses are in English, half in French, and you have to take a third language.” A small city in Texas—even if it’s Marfa—can’t offer the social life that is available in Paris, and then there are, of course, the opportunities for activism.

In Paris, Culbertson is active in a group called Democrats Abroad France doing things like helping register Americans to vote back home. Her brother Victor, 18, is “even more happy than I was to move to Paris.” She called him a “classic teenager … having fun.”

Her activism probably wouldn’t go over as well in other parts of conservative rural Texas. But Marfa and Presidio County tend to be a world of their own—very oriented toward the arts and politically, as she said, “one blue county in a whole pool of red.”

Culbertson “grew up in this town. Everybody looks out for each other here,” said Lisa Kettyle, a founding member of the Big Bend Reproductive Coalition. Culbertson said the coalition has helped her plan her local protest events.

Natasha Acevedo, an outreach manager with Deeds Not Words, said Culbertson contacted the nonprofit last spring via Instagram. She shared her idea of a series of events around the state supporting reproductive freedom. The Roe v. Wade decision had “really made her feel heartbroken,” Acevedo said. Culbertson was one of the youngest activists they’d ever worked with, she’d reached out to them only about six weeks before the first event, and “she lived in a whole other country,” Acevedo said. But Culbertson “wanted some mentorship, and that’s what we do.” So the nonprofit agreed to help.

Deeds Not Words, which has been around about five years, has chapters on a handful of college campuses and is looking to add more. Acevedo said the group’s goal is to empower young people to deal with problems of gender inequality and to think about what a society built on equity would look like. “A lot of young people are very passionate about wanting things to change” but don’t know how to get started, Acevedo said. The nonprofit teaches them about building a community of like-minded people and starting with smaller concepts.

Acevedo helped Culbertson find the people she needed in each city, showed her how to create a pitch for her ideas, and met with her weekly to check on her progress. The 15-year-old was tenacious, passionate, and intelligent in how she dealt with people.

“She ended up having all the events she wanted,” Acevedo said, even though turnout was small for some. It shows that “no matter how young you are, you can make a difference.”

Culbertson said her aim is to “continue to grow awareness” about the repercussions of Texas’ severe abortion laws. A year after Roe v. Wade was overturned, she told the Big Bend Sentinel, “It’s still important to keep on marching … because this hasn’t gone away yet. And I’m not going to stop until it does go away.”

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#students #activism #roe v. wade #abortion rights #reproductive rights #reproductive health #marfa texas #marfa #paris texas #Texas #teenagers

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187days · 1 year

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Day One Hundred Fifty-Six

Despite the fact that I’d left my students with a sub for three days, I found my classroom in decent shape when I came in this morning. Students had left my whiteboard markers all over the place, and there were a couple papers to pick up, but that’s not too bad. The worst thing they did was take all the fruit snacks and granola bars out of the drawer where I keep those (they’re allowed to take one snack if they’re hungry, someone- or multiple someones- definitely took a lot more than one). They got a talking-to about that from me.

My Block 2 students also got a talking-to about the report I’d gotten from that sub about their general lack of preparedness for class, their unwillingness to stay on task, etc... I’d planned to start class by going over yesterday’s assignment, but I could see that only a few students had it done, so I just collected it instead. Anyone who was banking on being able to write the answers down as I went over them was sorely disappointed.

Meantime, in my Block 3 class, they loved doing that assignment and we had a 45-minute discussion about the ways in which the various historical events we’d studied were connected, plus another 15-minute discussion about the other work they’d done while I was gone. It’s wild how different two sections of the same course can be sometimes, right?

Anyways, in both sections, the used the remainder of the block to work on current events write-ups. They get to choose how they express their information this time: slides, paragraphs, whatever as long as it’s properly cited. So there’s ongoing research and writing about a ton of different things. Examples: the crisis in Sudan, the mass shooting in Texas, Swatch Nines, dolphin rescues, instability in Haiti, and the blender cat (note: if you don’t already know about the blender cat, definitely don’t look it up). Students will finish their write-ups tomorrow.

In APGOV, my students and I discussed the NH state constitution, and then I had them look at a recently-passed law that requires NH students to take the 128-question citizenship test and pass it with a score of 70 or better in order to graduate high school. So, obviously, the thing I did after discussing the law with them was give them a copy of the test. I let them work in groups to try and pass it. I think they found it amusing, frustrating, conversation-generating, and more at various points. And, while they passed it, they weren’t sure that all of their classmates could. We’re going to tackle a more controversial bill tomorrow: SB272, the parental bill of rights, which has passed the Senate and is currently being debated in the House. Stay tuned for more on how that goes.

I had a faculty meeting in the afternoon, and since it’s Teacher Appreciation Week, we were treated to ice cream, and we got new school swag (hats and t-shirts). Some local businesses also left us gift certificates, which was very cool. And the meeting was short- mostly announcements about upcoming state testing- so then I was able to go out to track practice and cheer my sprinters on through the last half of a hard workout. It’s a sunny day (finally), so it was glorious to be outside!

#teaching #teachblr #teacher appreciation #teacher #edublr #education #educhums #high school #social studies #conversations about current events #faculty meeting #track #coaching #day one hundred fifty six

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religion-is-a-mental-illness · 2 years

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“One of the [emails] that was so frightening was one of my coworkers sent an email affirming the first email, and then it said ‘and I look forward to the responses from everybody else who has not yet responded.’

And that really sent a chill down my spine. Cause I went ‘oh, we’re being watched.’

And the threat is always that you’re going to be accused of being a racist if you don’t agree with what’s being said.

There’s a play by Arthur Miller called ‘The Crucible.’

In ‘The Crucible,’ Arthur Miller dramatizes the Salem Witch Trials as a metaphor for what happened during the McCarthy era.

And one of the things that’s happening during the Salem Witch Trials is people are falsely accusing other people of being a witch. And then saying ‘I’m not a witch’ actually makes it worse.

This thing with accusing people of racism in the theater is the same thing that happens in ‘The Crucible.’ And it was shocking to me to see people acting out ‘The Crucible’ in real life, who know better than to behave that way.”

https://www.fairforall.org/ray-v-new-42/

Kevin Ray works as a teaching artist for New 42, a publicly-funded performing arts organization in New York City, where he delivers art workshops to students across the city.

Beginning in 2019, the work environment at New 42 became permeated with insults, stereotypes, and discrimination based on skin color, all under the guise of “anti-racism.” The discrimination was pervasive and aggressive, consisting of over seventy emails, countless workplace training sessions, and other incidents. The following are just a few examples:

Segregating employees by skin color for workplace meetings and diversity training sessions.

Claiming “placing White folx in interracial dialogue is like placing pre-algebra students in a calculus class” and “White people need something akin to a remedial course.”

Distributing materials filled with demeaning stereotypes, including that “white” behavior is characterized by “not listening,” “denial,” “defensiveness,” “lack of inquiry,” “either/or binary thinking,” and “not owning one’s white group identity.”

Accusing the “white group” of “replicat[ing] the worst facets of dominant culture.”

Claiming that “whiteness…divides each and all of us from the earth, the sun, the wind, the water, the stars, [and] the animals that roam the earth.”

Berating “white” people for “demanding to be seen as an individual and not as a part of the white group.”

Beginning meetings with the ritual of having employees state their home address and apologize for living on land stolen from Native Americans.

Circulating an email demanding that “white” employees pay reparations to a “black” colleague.

On numerous occasions, Mr. Ray asked New 42 to stop these discriminatory acts. Instead of doing so, New 42 refused to give him any further work assignments.

Mr. Ray has now filed suit against New 42 in federal court, alleging violations of his civil rights under federal and New York law.

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/17250.The_Crucible

"I believe that the reader will discover here the essential nature of one of the strangest and most awful chapters in human history," Arthur Miller wrote of his classic play about the witch-hunts and trials in seventeenth-century Salem, Massachusetts. Based on historical people and real events, Miller's drama is a searing portrait of a community engulfed by hysteria. In the rigid theocracy of Salem, rumors that women are practicing witchcraft galvanize the town's most basic fears and suspicions; and when a young girl accuses Elizabeth Proctor of being a witch, self-righteous church leaders and townspeople insist that Elizabeth be brought to trial. The ruthlessness of the prosecutors and the eagerness of neighbor to testify against neighbor brilliantly illuminates the destructive power of socially sanctioned violence. Written in 1953, The Crucible is a mirror Miller uses to reflect the anti-communist hysteria inspired by Senator Joseph McCarthy's "witch-hunts" in the United States. Within the text itself, Miller contemplates the parallels, writing, "Political opposition... is given an inhumane overlay, which then justifies the abrogation of all normally applied customs of civilized behavior. A political policy is equated with moral right, and opposition to it with diabolical malevolence."

Wokeness is a universal solvent.

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fixomnia-scribble · 2 years

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Because I lack all restraint when it comes to agreeing to help, I am now:

- Criminology Grad Caucus rep to the Graduate Student Society

- Criminology Grad Caucus rep to the Teaching and Support Staff Union

(These are basically monthly meetings to report back any news from, and occasionally pipe up about Crim stuff. But since we do our own thing and very rarely ask for anything, it’s mostly reminding other Grad departments that we exist, and yes, we’re very weird.)

- Number Two Grasshopper of this year’s Center for Forensic Research Symposium

(This is a much bigger deal, as it’s a major annual event to plan. But even though I have the most experience with this event, the primary leadership goes to the most senior student on the team. In this case, that’s a second-year PhD student who is becoming a good buddy, which is cool.)

I DID NOT respond to the calls for GSS Shop Steward or other TSSU spots or the Grad Senate. Applause.

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worldofwardcraft · 5 months

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Maybe the few should be fewer.

December 18, 2023

According to PolitiFact, the military in 2022 had one of the worst recruiting years since the all-volunteer force began in 1973. And as the 2023 fiscal year ended in September, the three main branches reported they've fallen short of their recruitment goals yet again. The Navy was at 80% of its target number; the Army was at 77%, and the Air Force at 89%. Only the Marine Corps and Space Force — the two smallest branches — met their recruitment goals.

Republicans kibitzing from their culture war foxholes think they know why. “We are so woke in the military we are losing recruits right and left,” Alabama senator Tommy Tuberville opined on Faux News. Florida governor and doomed presidential candidate Ron DeSantis has similarly characterized “wokeness” as a key obstacle to recruitment. At a campaign stop in August, he declared,

As commander in chief, on Day One, we are going to eliminate all the politicization from the military, all the woke, all the social experimentation. We’re restoring it to its proper function, and you will see the recruiting surge as a result.

Meanwhile, in the real world, it's clear that drag shows, diversity training and health care coverage for transgender service members are not what's pulling down recruitment numbers. According to the Defense Department's own survey of young adults in the fall of 2022, the most common reason given for not joining was concern over physical or psychological injury. Another factor often cited was the "perceived incompatibility of military service with their desired life or career paths."

Other reasons for low enrollments include competition from the civilian labor market, the lingering effects of COVID-era restrictions (which limited access to high school students), and a decline in the number of young people who meet physical standards.

But while the military is taking steps to boost recruiting with programs such as referral awards, larger bonuses and improved contract options, more recruits may not be what our national security needs. Observes the Cato Institute's Benjamin Friedman, “The general concept of readiness often happens without a conversation about what the forces are for." And an analysis by West Point's Modern War Institute adds:

As the Army rightly embraces new capabilities, like the security force assistance brigades and expansion of cyber operations, it may be time to reconsider the way it conceptualizes military capability, and the role that troop numbers play in that framework.

In other words, instead of being overly concerned about raw numbers of troops, perhaps our military should focus more on attracting specifically qualified ones.

#military recruitment #military readiness #woke military

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thxnews · 8 months

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American Rescue Plan Transforms Education and Workforce

Exact Transcription of Speech by First Lady Jill Biden.

Thank you, Robert. Secretary Cardona – Miguel, thank you for your tireless advocacy for our nation’s students and workers. Isn’t it great to have a public school educator as our Secretary of Education? First Gentleman Hochul, it’s always wonderful to see your passion for the people of this state. Congressman Ryan, you are an incredible champion for this community. Joe is grateful for your partnership. Executive O’Neil, and all the state and local leaders joining us, thank you for supporting this groundbreaking project. Dr. Jordan, Dutchess Community College is lucky to have your leadership. Robert, it’s students like you that are on my husband’s mind each day as he’s working to grow our economy. You’re who he’s thinking about when he meets with cabinet members like Secretary Cardona or talks with your representatives in Washington or your governor or mayor. Joe’s father used to say: a job is about a lot more than a paycheck. It’s about dignity. Joe watched his dad struggle to find good work. He saw how a job could change a family’s path. I saw it too. My dad came from a family of Italian immigrants. His father delivered furniture for a living. Thanks to the G.I. Bill, my dad was able to get a degree and carve out a good life for my four sisters and me. Joe and I understand the middle class, because we’re from the middle class. That’s why Joe’s working so hard to invest in America. Joe’s leadership has helped transform our economy, with more than 13 million jobs created, unemployment under four percent, and hundreds of billions invested in growing industries like clean energy and semiconductors. He’s creating new opportunities for hard-working families, and building our economy from the middle out and the bottom up. He and Senators Schumer and Gillibrand, along with Congressman Ryan and many others in the New York delegation fought hard to pass the CHIPS and Science Act, so the Hudson Valley can be a leader in manufacturing. He made sure federal dollars from the American Rescue Plan could go to programs like this one. Because employers need skilled workers to fill all the jobs being created. And leaders like all of you – employers, high schools, community colleges, unions, and community organizations have come together to bridge the gap between learning and earning. This new mechatronics lab will help students get the skills they need for the growing businesses here – preparing them for careers making everything from display screens to jet engines to semiconductors. As a community college professor myself, I’m so excited to see how this work changes people’s lives. Because for most people, a high school diploma alone isn’t enough to find a great career. But that doesn’t mean there’s only one path to success. Students can take college courses in high school, enroll in Registered Apprenticeships, or earn associate degrees. That’s the Biden Education Pathway. It starts with free, high-quality, universal preschool and creates a high school experience that prepares students for their next steps. It provides two years of affordable community college and opens up avenues to a four-year degree. Things like unemployment rates and jobs created aren’t just numbers to Joe and me. They represent real people – families trying to make a good life. Like Joe’s. Like mine. Maybe like yours. A job is about more than a paycheck. It’s a path – a way to build the lives we want. And everyone deserves the chance to do just that. Thank you for making that possible right here in the Hudson Valley. Joe and his Administration see all the work you’ve done and they’re grateful to partner with you today, tomorrow, and for all the days to come. Together, we can fundamentally transform what it means to make a living and make a life here in America. Thank you. Sources: THX News & The White House. Read the full article

#AmericanRescuePlan #BidenEducationPathway #CongressmanRyan #Dr.Jordan #ExecutiveO’Neil #FirstGentlemanHochul #Joe'sleadership #Mechatronicslab #Robert #SecretaryCardona

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pashterlengkap · 8 months

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Gov. Newsom signs new LGBTQ+ protections after controversial veto

Just a day after vetoing a measure that sought to protect trans and gender-fluid kids in child custody disputes, California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) signed several bills on Saturday focused on supporting LGBTQ+ youth. One of the four bills signed requires foster families to demonstrate their willingness to meet the needs of potential foster children regardless of their sexual orientation or gender identity, a requirement similar to one demanded of parents in child custody disputes that Newsom vetoed on Friday. Related: California Gov. Gavin Newsom vetoes pro-trans rights bill He said that the bill intended to protect transgender children could backfire. Two other new laws signed by Newsom include one creating an advisory taskforce to determine the needs of LGBTQ+ students, which provides help to advance supportive initiatives, and another law that sets timelines for required cultural competency training for public school teachers and staff. Get the Daily Brief The news you care about, reported on by the people who care about you: Subscribe to our Newsletter A fourth measure requires all California schools serving first through 12th grade to have at least one gender-neutral bathroom available for students by 2026. “California is proud to have some of the most robust laws in the nation when it comes to protecting and supporting our LGBTQ+ community, and we’re committed to the ongoing work to create safer, more inclusive spaces for all Californians,” Newsom said in a statement. “These measures will help protect vulnerable youth, promote acceptance, and create more supportive environments in our schools and communities.” In a statement accompanying the veto of the child custody measure, introduced by State Assembly Member Lori Wilson (D), Newsom said existing laws already require courts to consider health, safety, and welfare when determining the best interests of a child, including the parent’s affirmation of the child’s gender identity. State Sen. Scott Wiener (D-SF) disagreed. “Our job as legislators is to set clear standards for judges to apply and that’s what we did here,” said Wiener, a co-author of the California Senate version of the bill. He called the veto a “tragedy.” That recently signed legislation addressing LGBTQ+ needs in schools was inspired by the Chino Valley Unified School District in Southern California. The district instituted a policy this summer that required teachers and school staff to report children to parents when they change pronouns or use a bathroom that doesn’t align with the gender listed on their birth certificates. California attorney general Rob Bonta sued the school district over the discriminatory policy and a judge put the policy on hold. http://dlvr.it/SwbrxD

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beardedmrbean · 2 years

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A liberal New York state lawmaker ripped fellow progressive U.S. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., on Twitter Sunday for being "absent" in her home district, while a medical student also lambasted the congresswoman "squad" member for her "performative" display at a recent Supreme Court protest.

The public online spat started last week when a Twitter user named Daniel, who identifies as a medical student and a health activist under the handle @jai_lies, called out Ocasio-Cortez’s office for purportedly canceling a meeting with health policy activists wanting to discuss a British-style socialized medical plan.

The medical student wrote in a July 21 tweet that "a couple of the most highly respected health policy academics recenly [sic] set up a meeting with AOC’s office to discuss NHS style healthcare reform. They were told bluntly by AOC’s staff, ‘we’re not doing healthcare right now.’"

"So, while she’s doing performative resistance art for the camera’s [sic] she’s ‘not doing healthcare right now," he added, referring to Ocasio-Cortez recently being accused of pretending to be handcuffed while police escorted her away from a pro-abortion protest at the Supreme Court in Washington, D.C. "We are in the middle of two pandemics & people are still dying because they lack healthcare. this is not fighting."

Ocasio-Cortez responded Sunday to his initial tweet with an apology.

"I’m really sorry to hear that this happened. It’s not representative of me nor my values," the congresswoman said. "If you can connect with details I’d appreciate it. I’ll follow so DMs will be open."

That is when state Sen. Jessica Ramos, whose Queens district overlaps with Ocasio-Cortez, chimed in. "Maybe if you spent more time in your office and with your team you’d know what goes on. Just saying it would be nice if you breathed our air," Ramos, a Democrat, responded, making an apparent reference to Ocasio-Cortez’ campaign video. "So, as an employer, what happens with the staffer who said this?"

Ocasio-Cortez barreled into the national spotlight in defeating longtime incumbent Democrat Joe Crowley in 2018 after roasting him in campaign ads for his own absence from his New York City congressional district.

"That a Democrat who takes corporate money, profits off foreclosure, doesn’t live here, doesn’t send his kids to our schools, doesn’t drink our water or breathe our air cannot possibly represent us," Ocasio-Cortez asserted in a campaign video released in May 2018.

Ramos, who is endorsed by the Working Families Party, continued her criticism of Ocasio-Cortez on Sunday, even as other users bemoaned that she took the spat public.

"Our district offices are on the same floor in the same building. She’s barely ever present in the community. It’s an indisputable fact," the state senator noted.

Ramos said she texted Ocasio-Cortez during the Jan. 6, 2021, riot at the U.S. Capitol to see if she was OK, but the congresswoman never responded and the two have not been in direct communication since.

"I texted on 1/6 that I hope she’s ok and never even heard back. She doesn’t meet with local elected officials," Ramos said. "The point is that’s when I gave up texting her. I reached out many times before. She hasn’t shown interest in meeting w me or other colleagues that I know about."

In response to one user who proposed that Ramos was just jealous of Ocasio-Cortez, Ramos responded: "Nah. Just want my congressional representative to be around and do their job in the community."

"My congressperson being absent is not dirty laundry. It’s never been with any other elected official," she added in another tweet.

Political pundit Errol Louis noted the beef about Ocasio-Cortez came from Ramos, normally the congresswoman’s "prominent local ally," saying: "The fact this has gone public suggests private diplomacy has failed." "That’s correct, Errol," Ramos responded. "I gave up texting her a while back, and as petitioning unfolded, I reached out through staff and requested a meeting. I have not spoken to my congressperson in months. Maybe more than a year? What else is it I’m supposed to do?"

#nunyas news #whole contingent of house members #that seem to not know their job #is to represent their district #so instead they go and try to tackle the issue of the day #while the problems that the people who elected them have #get shunted to the side #lots of people seem to have forgotten the house of representatives #is supposed to be full of people represinting #their little part of the country #not the party #or any special interest

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