Skip to main content

Don't Send Your Kid to the Ivy League

By William Deresiewicz The New Republic
We recognize that free, quality K–12 education is a right of citizenship. We also need to recognize—as we once did and as many countries still do—that the same is true of higher education.

We Are Israeli Reservists. We Refuse to Serve. A Petition.

By Yael Even Or The Washington Post
To us, the current military operation and the way militarization affects Israeli society are inseparable. In Israel, war is not merely politics by other means — it replaces politics. Israel is no longer able to think about a solution to a political conflict except in terms of physical might; no wonder it is prone to never-ending cycles of mortal violence. And when the cannons fire, no criticism may be heard.

John D'Emilio: Renowned Professor, Historian Retires

by Gretchen Rachel Blickensderfer Windy City Times
John D'Emilio loves history—a story of change passed from one to another and replete with critical lessons, fledgling ideologies and the nucleus of identity. He not only lived episodes of the cyclic poem of the LGBTQ community and its multi-faceted, impassioned social movements, he became the inspired rhapsodist who taught it to a new generation.

UAW Playing The Long Game, Ready For The Short Game at VW In Chattanooga

Wade Rathke Talking Union, a DSA labor blog
Volkswagon announced they will add 2000 workers at their Chattanooga, Tennessee plant. The UAW said they will establish Local 42 there.Gary Casteel, the UAW's secretary-treasurer, said Volkswagon is willing to recognize them as a "minority union"

The heartbreak of being a teacher in Texas

Katie Plemmons Texas Tribune
On Aug. 15, teachers in the Del Valle Independent School District return to the classroom, but most of us will go back earlier. We love our students, and we cannot wait to prepare for their arrival. As we return to our classrooms, we always notice those who do not: experienced teachers who have left, whose loss is a loss for our students.

The heartbreak of being a teacher in Texas

Katie Plemmons Texas Tribune
On Aug. 15, teachers in the Del Valle Independent School District return to the classroom, but most of us will go back earlier. We love our students, and we cannot wait to prepare for their arrival. As we return to our classrooms, we always notice those who do not: experienced teachers who have left, whose loss is a loss for our students.

Distorted Reality in Detroit

Shea Howell Common Dreams
This effort to demonize and divide people in the city is an old tactic. It ignores basic facts: most notable among them is that since 2005 there have been efforts to tie the cost of water to the ability to pay. This would be both financially sound and ensure the right of all to water. Because the city has not implemented the Water Affordability Plan, approved by Council in 2006, Detroiters are paying twice the national average for water.

Central to the Achievement of the "Zionist Dream" is the Notion That Jewish Lives Matter More Than Arab Lives

Donna Nevel Alternet
In some circles, particularly among "progressive" Zionists, the terrible injustice done to the Palestinians is acknowledged, but as awful as the Nakba was, they say, it was what had to be done to create and ensure the security of the Jewish state. To be clear, the price was paid by the Palestinians-that is, the killing and expulsion of Palestinians for the sake of Jewish safety. The only way you can think that - is to believe that Jewish lives matter more . . .