Get ready for the most important education-related Supreme Court case in 50 years by tuning into Jeanne Allen and her Reality Check co-host Michael Musante’s exclusive interview with Kendra Espinoza, lead plaintiff in Espinoza v. Montana Department of Revenue, to be heard by the nation’s highest court on January 22, 2020.
A win for Espinoza would strike down the bigoted Blaine Amendments that currently exist in 37 states’ constitutions and deny kids attending private schools equal access to state education funds.
Joining Jeanne and Michael on the podcast is Erica Smith of the Institute for Justice.
Kendra Espinoza was a single mother of two young girls when fate – and the Montana Supreme Court – propelled her into this legal fight to strike down religious exceptions to equal access to state education funds for Montana’s kids. You will be impressed, and maybe a little awed by this story of determination and courage. Don’t miss this inside look at history in the making.
All the best!
The Reality Check
Podcast Team
========
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Jan. 8, 2020
Sen. Lee Introduces PARENT Act and Parental Right to Know Act
WASHINGTON – Sen. Mike Lee (R-UT) recently introduced the Parental Accessibility Rights for Emergency and Negligent Treatment (PARENT) Act and the Parental Right to Know Act, a pair of bills designed to ensure that parents have access to the policies regarding the care and medical records of their children from hospitals and organizations that use taxpayer funding.
“Parents play the most important role in caring for the health of their children,” Sen. Lee said. “It is critical that they have information about the policies of the health organizations to which they bring their children for care, and that they have the ability to access their medical records. These bills would ensure that parents are afforded the right to remain informed and involved in their children’s care.”
Current law lacks transparency about parental rights regarding both the suspension of care and access to medical records from institutions that use CHIP or Medicaid funds. The result has been that some children have stopped receiving care without the consent of their parents, even resulting in death in some cases; and that parents have also been denied access to their children’s medical records in some cases.
The PARENT Act would require any hospital, clinic, or healthcare facility that receives Medicaid or CHIP funds to include information on their website and in print, upon request by the patient or parent, on the following: policies related to the provision, withdrawal, or denial of life-sustaining procedures, nutrition, or medication; policies related to parental consent of these services; and policies related to the required notification of parents and parental consent for a “do-not-resuscitate” order.
The bill is co-sponsored by Sens. Josh Hawley (R-MO), James Lankford (R-OK), Kevin Cramer (R-ND), and Mike Braun (R-IN).
The Parental Right to Know Act would require any hospital, clinic, or healthcare facility that receives Medicaid or CHIP funds to include the information on parental access to medical records of minors under the age of 18 on their website and in print, upon request of the patient or parent.
It is co-sponsored by Sens. James Lankford (R-OK), Kevin Cramer (R-ND), and Mike Braun (R-IN).
The full text of the bills can be found here.
===========================
President Adams and Speaker Wilson statement on the governor’s budget suggestions
SALT LAKE CITY – President J. Stuart Adams and Speaker Brad Wilson statement regarding Governor Herbert’s budget recommendations:
“We appreciate the thoughtful consideration put into the budget recommendations released by the Governor’s Office today. The collaborative relationship between the executive and legislative branches has consistently resulted in a strong fiscal and economic track record in our state. We look forward to continued collaboration in education, infrastructure, public safety and other critical areas that help Utah remain a national leader in innovative and effective policymaking.”
========================
CFU wrapped up the decade with a new idea - an alumni grant for the leaders of rural Utah organizations who had previously participated in our program Invest in Success. Applications were accepted for funding to support needs that are traditionally difficult to fundraise for (e.g. professional development, staff support, programmatic support, Board development, infrastructure improvements, etc.), and that could be addressed through a small grant.
Congratulations to the awardees!
Learn More about Invest in Success
At our core, the Community Foundation of Utah is much more than a collection of charitable funds started by passionate Utahns committed to bettering our communities. We serve as a community convener and champion of social good by working with nonprofit organizations, businesses, and individuals to identify and support innovative solutions to the most pressing needs in our community. Check out our new video to see our vision for serving Utah now and for generations to come.
Surprise Holiday Grant
In lieu of sending a holiday gift last year, CFU asked donors and community partners to vote for an organization to receive a surprise grant of $1,000. Organizations were selected due to their exceptional participation in a 2019 program, either as a finalist for the EY Social Entrepreneur of the Year or an awardee of the Social Investors Forum.
And the winner...TURN Community Services! Congratulations!!
CFU Endowment Grows
During 2019, CFU received over $192,000 in contributions from donors, community members, and partners to our endowment, which helps enable CFU to provide long-term, responsive funding to support Utah's ever-changing needs. Although more donations are needed to reach our goals, we are so grateful to our donors who have invested in CFU and care about our community as much as we do.
When Matt Finnigan saw few affordable, year-round swim opportunities for youth, he and his wife, Mary Chris Finnigan, started Race Swami, a swim program for low income youth to improve the lives of swimmers both in and out of the pool. Read the full story here.
Small grants used strategically can produce large impacts. Due in part to a $2,500 grant from the Community Foundation of Utah, the Family Support Center of Southwestern Utah was able to secure $212,150 in funding for a new youth mentor program. Learn how they did it here
Dear Editor:
Please consider this illuminating and provocative piece by veteran journalist Robert Koehler on choosing peace over war. For PeaceVoice, thank you,
Tom Hastings
~~~~~~~~`
Will we always be this way?
by Robert C. Koehler
1082 words
“The people do not want war!”
These were the words that did it, that knocked the composure out of me. I was standing at what felt like the heart of Chicago on a January afternoon, corner of Wabash and Wacker, next to the river and beneath the tower known as Trump. The crowd had swelled by this time to nearly a thousand.
I kept looking up at the letters. They were two stories high: TRUMP. Smugly in command of God knows what — the whole world? As their presence became ever more unbearable, the speaker’s words suddenly pulled me back into the present moment. They put the matter as simply as possible. They were what brought us all down here, clustered together in the bitter wind: THE PEOPLE DO NOT WANT WAR.
There was no “unless” attached to this statement. The raw simplicity tore me open. I burst into tears as the wind cut through me.
This was Jan. 4. It was one of 70 protests across the country the day after Trump ordered a drone strike that “took out” (as the media love to put it) Iranian Major Gen. Qassim Soleimani as he was leaving the Baghdad airport in a two-car convoy. Some dozen people were killed in total. It was, as the world grasped in stunned disbelief, an act of war.
And the mainstream analysis that has spun into motion since the drone strike has mostly been a strategic rolling of the eyeballs. Soleimani was a bad guy, but what did the president think he was accomplishing? A New York Times editorial, for instance, quoted Trump’s bellicose post-strike tweet, in which he warned Iran not to retaliate or the U.S. would start bombing the country’s revered cultural icons, then asked:
Why was Mr. Trump’s threat on Twitter even necessary? Wasn’t the death of General Soleimani supposed to have stopped the threats the president now claims America still faces? . . . Killing General Soleimani seems to have deterred and de-escalated nothing. Otherwise, why would the State Department have needed to advise all Americans to leave Iraq?
War is a complex game of strategy and tactics, politics and “interests,” but here’s what the analysts and commentators usually forget to acknowledge: War begins with a moral compromise of incalculable proportions. It requires participants to dehumanize a designated enemy and commit mayhem and murder. It requires them to set their conscience — their soul — aside and do what they’re told, in the name of strategy, tactics and victory. And war always creates consequences well beyond the imaginations of its planners.
It is, ahem . . . hell. This is not a metaphor.
For instance, Kathy Kelly of Voices for Creative Nonviolence, my friend and peace activist extraordinaire, who was one of the speakers at the rally, spoke of a boy she learned about when she was in Iraq in 2003, during the U.S. shock-and-awe bombing campaign. The boy not only lost the rest of his family in one of the bombing raids, he was so badly injured that a surgeon had to remove both of the boy’s arms at his shoulders. When the boy awoke from the surgery, so Kathy was later told, he was so bewildered he asked, “Will I always be this way?”
Kathy then threw the question out to the world, asking: “Will we always be this way?”
This puts the question of war in its appropriate context: the context of manmade hell. Whether it is justified or unjustified, necessary or unnecessary, war from the perspective of its victims is hell. And an indispensable part of the global war machine is public relations, glorifying and justifying the violence committed by one side and relegating evil only to the actions of the enemy.
Thus, even as the Times editorial board questioned the credibility and perhaps the sanity of the Trump administration’s act of war (and impeachment diversion tactic), it remembered to describe Soleimani as “one of the region’s most powerful and, yes, blood-soaked military commanders.” No doubt. But for some reason the Times forgot to acknowledge the blood on the hands of the country Trump represents: the millions of people it has killed, maimed and displaced, the eco-devastation it has unleashed, over the last two and a half centuries (or simply the last two decades).
So I leave that to Brett Wilkins, who points out that “the U.S. has exponentially more blood on its hands than Iran,” noting that it has attacked or invaded no fewer than 22 countries since World War II. He writes:
“Perhaps this sanguinary legacy is why, in survey after international survey, the United States is perennially voted the world’s greatest threat to peace in most of the world’s nations. After Soleimani’s assassination, Trump boasted that ‘his bloody rampage is forever gone.’ If only the same were true of Trump. . . .”
And then there’s the racism of American militarism, so discreetly unnoticed by the mainstream media, which the late George Carlin blew open three decades ago, in the wake of the first Gulf War, in a standup routine on HBO called “Rockets and Penises in the Persian Gulf.” Rep. Ilhan Omar shared a clip on Twitter a few days ago.
Carlin laments the country’s vanishing jobs and increasing ineptness: “Can’t build a decent car . . . can’t educate our young people, can’t get health care to our old people, but we can bomb the shit out of your country all right! Huh? Especially if your country is full of brown people — oh we like that don’t we? That’s our hobby! That’s our new job in the world: bombing brown people. Iraq, Panama, Grenada, Libya, you got some brown people in your country, tell them to watch the fuck out or we’ll goddamn bomb them!”
And now, before I can even finish this column, the war has escalated. What will happen next is unknown. I cling to the essence of my revelation, that people do not want war. That is to say, they don’t want the moral compromise – the moral disconnect – of murdered or armless children present in their consciences. They don’t believe that victory is worth the price of hell.
At the rally, I felt a possible future emerging. Then the moment passed. I wiped the tears from my eyes. The people do not want war, but right now we have almost no say in the matter. A future without war will not be an easy birth. We must continue learning how to become a democracy.
–end–
Robert Koehler, syndicated by PeaceVoice, is a Chicago award-winning journalist and editor.
=========================
Only FIVE more chances to see Mauritius!
WHEN: January 10-11 and 17-18 at 7:30 PM
with a 2:00 PM matinee on January 18
WHERE: Dumke Black Box Theatre at the Jewett Center
for the Performing Arts, Westminster College
Don't miss Mauritius, playing until January 18 at the Dumke Black Box Theatre! Our opening weekend garnered praise from critics at Front Row Reviewers and Utah Theatre Bloggers—you only have five chances left to see this thrilling production!
===================
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Jan. 8, 2020
Sen. Lee Comments on Iranian Missile Strike
WASHINGTON – Sen. Mike Lee (R-UT) issued the following statement Wednesday, after Iran launched missiles at Iraqi military bases housing United States troops Tuesday night.
“Thankfully, no Americans were harmed by last night’s missile attack. Whether further military action is warranted is a question that should be answered by Congress. The U.S. should seek to deescalate these raised tensions and I will continue to push to bring our troops back from the region.”
An online version of this release can be found here.
==============
**FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE**
EDITORS: For review copies or interview requests, contact:
Marketing Services
Tel: 888-242-5904
Fax: 812-961-3133
Email: pressreleases@archwaypublishing.com
(When requesting a review copy, please provide a street address.)
New novel explores the question ‘What could you accomplish if fear did not stand in your way?’
Kerry Novick explains what it’s like to be a young competitive skater in ‘Svetlana’s Ring’
LOS ANGELES – The coming-of-age novel “Svetlana’s Ring” (published by Archway Publishing) by Kerry Novick shares a talented figure skater’s story, the fear she experiences and the remedy that comes in the form of a ring from a former Russian champion.
A young competitive skater experiences setbacks in her progress when puberty sets in: her balance is thrown off, the falling increases and fear takes over. Brianna’s father gives her a ring that belonged to a Russian champion with nerves of steel from long ago and she soon starts seeing flashes of Svetlana’s life in her dreams, and then later, on the ice. Brianna feels fearless and exhilarated by what she feels when she wears the ring, but one day she suffers a terrible fall. This, along with the pressure of her studies and her social life, lead Brianna to some tough choices.
“Brianna is at an age where she is pushing for more independence from her parents, and the resulting friction will be familiar to many readers. It also comes down to the fundamental truth that in order to achieve incredible things, you must stay singularly focused, and not give in to distraction, no matter how hard that is,” Novick says, adding “I want (readers) to take away the fact that all large achievements take a team of people to accomplish; no one accomplishes it alone, even in the solo sport of figure skating.”
“Svetlana’s Ring”
By Kerry Novick
Softcover | 7.5 x 9.25 in | 368 pages | ISBN 9781480882799
E-Book | 368 pages | ISBN 9781480882782
Available at Amazon and Barnes & Noble
About the Author
Kerry Novick was a competitive skater and later toured with Ice Follies and Holiday On Ice Combined Shows, Holiday On Ice Europe and Disney On Ice. After a short engagement with an ice show in Japan, she went on to receive a degree in Japanese language and literature from the University of Massachusetts and a Master of Arts in East Asian studies from Cornell University, always taking courses in writing along the way. Her career in the development and distribution of children’s television programs spans over 20 years. She has written two screenplays, but “Svetlana’s Ring” is her first novel.
================
The goal of mastery-based learning is not to remove time requirements, but to make time more meaningful.
Did someone forward this email to you? Sign up for your own updates.
Time-based systems, also known as “seat-time” requirement systems, still form the basis of today’s traditional schools. The prevailing assumption has been that state policies for seat-time requirements constrict schools and hinder attempts to innovate. However, far more flexibility exists than originally thought.
Furthermore, a 2019 report by ExcelinEd’s notes that 33 states and Washington, DC, have already established general innovation or pilot programs to explore next generation learning, which includes a broad range of innovative learning models and approaches. Most next generation program statutes offer the ability for schools to apply for flexibility or waivers from policies including seat-time requirements.
Even though all states have authorized mastery-based learning to some degree, many students are not yet benefitting from this flexibility. Here are four ways states can promote mastery-based systems to increase rigor and build robust, innovative extended learning opportunities for students.
States can take action to ensure schools and districts are aware of what flexibility opportunities are available, understand how these flexibilities can be utilized and develop a process to evaluate and communicate outcomes. To address this, ExcelinEd provides recommendations in a Flexibility Guide that outlines a process for states to take action.
If mastery has already been fully authorized—or even authorized with some limitations—but the state finds that districts and schools have been slow to embrace it, there could be a need for clear guidance to explain the degree to which credit can be awarded for a student’s demonstration of mastery.
Having permission is an important step in advancing mastery-based learning, but it is just a part of what is needed from states to make next generation learning a reality. How much direction and what it could look like will vary from state to state. In Utah, for example, the State Board of Education adopted a Competency-Based Education Framework and a state Portrait of a Graduate (Talent MAP) to help support the Competency-Based Education Grant program.
Several states have some degree of ambiguity in their laws and policies. Ambiguity may be contributing to the perpetuation of the myth of seat-time requirements. It might also serve as a barrier to district action.
Explore ExcelinEd’s recent reports on next generation learning to learn how your state can expand student-centered learning models.
With “lose weight and exercise more” topping the list of New Year’s resolutions and as many as 92 percent of people failing at keeping their resolutions each year, the personal-finance website WalletHub today released its report on 2020’s Best & Worst Cities for an Active Lifestyle as well as accompanying videos.
To determine where Americans have the best chance of balancing a healthy diet with ample physical activity, WalletHub compared the 100 biggest U.S. cities across 38 key metrics. The data set ranges from average monthly fitness-club fee to bike score to share of physically inactive adults.
Best Cities for an Active Lifestyle
Worst Cities for an Active Lifestyle
1. Honolulu, HI
91. Stockton, CA
2. Chicago, IL
92. Wichita, KS
3. San Francisco, CA
93. Garland, TX
4. San Diego, CA
94. San Bernardino, CA
5. New York, NY
95. Irving, TX
6. Portland, OR
96. Laredo, TX
7. Seattle, WA
97. Arlington, TX
8. Minneapolis, MN
98. Bakersfield, CA
9. Denver, CO
99. Hialeah, FL
10. Washington, DC
100. North Las Vegas, NV
Best vs. Worst
To view the full report and your city’s rank, please visit:
https://wallethub.com/edu/best-and-worst-cities-for-an-active-lifestyle/8817/
====================
Hey members of the media!
Here is a quick recap of some of the items approved in today's Wildlife Board Meeting. If you need additional information or if you would like an interview, please contact the media contact listed at the bottom of the news release, as I am out of state at a conference.
Thanks!
For Immediate Release
Jan. 7, 2020
Utah Wildlife Board approves increase to black bear permit numbers
SALT LAKE CITY — The Utah Wildlife Board approved an increase to the number of black bear permits for the 2020 hunting and pursuit seasons during a public meeting held Tuesday, Jan. 7.
Black bear permit and pursuit proposals
In 2018, the Utah Wildlife Board approved the permit numbers and season structure for bear hunting in Utah for the next three years. However, concerns about large numbers of pursuers and dogs on some hunting units, mule deer population declines, and clarifications about fair chase aspects of hunting bears using dogs prompted a few changes.
The Wildlife Board approved the following changes on Tuesday:
Implementing restricted pursuit seasons in the spring for nonresident pursuers on the La Sal, San Juan and Book Cliffs units, with two restricted pursuit permits available for each unit.
Limiting the number of dogs that can be used to pursue or harvest a single bear or mountain lion to 16 dogs.
Retaining the eight-dog limit for all summer pursuit and restricted summer pursuit seasons.
Clarifying that a person may not pursue a single bear or mountain lion in repeated pursuits, where it could render the animal physically unable to escape. Also clarifying that a person must make reasonable efforts to call dogs off of a bear or mountain lion after it has been cornered and held at bay.
Adding a total of 122 hunting permits, with the largest increases on the following units:
Beaver
Book Cliffs, Bitter Creek/South
Book Cliffs, Little Creek Roadless
Chalk Creek/East Canyon/Morgan-South Rich
Plateau Boulder
Requiring that a mandatory ethics portion be added to the online Utah Bear Orientation Course. Individuals must complete the course before purchasing or applying for hunting or pursuit permits.
Revisiting the frequency of changes to black bear management. Going forward, any proposed changes to the management of bears will occur on a yearly cycle, rather than the previous three-year recommendation cycle.
Other agenda items
Along with the recommendations regarding bears, the Wildlife Board also approved a 10-year extension to the current Wolf Management Plan. It was approved in 2005 for a 10-year period, and then a five-year extension was approved in 2015. Gray wolves are currently classified as endangered (except for in a small portion of northeastern Utah where they have been delisted), and as an endangered species, they fall under the management of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. The Utah Wolf Management Plan will only take effect when wolves are delisted statewide.
The Wildlife Board also approved an amendment that would allow brine shrimp harvesting companies to more easily transfer their Certificate of Registration, which allows them to harvest brine shrimp from the Great Salt Lake, to another business.
You can watch the full meeting on the DNR YouTube channel.
