"Yesterday was a huge day for people all across the country to speak out and fight back. Let’s keep up the momentum!
"This Tuesday, April 8, a coalition of union members, patients, allies and patient advocates are coming together for “Kill the Cuts,” a national day of action to fight back against Trump and Musk’s attacks on research, health care and higher education.
"The Trump administration’s attacks on the National Institutes of Health, National Science Foundation and Department of Education jeopardize medical progress in areas such as cancer, viral pandemics, heart disease, diabetes and Alzheimer’s disease while threatening the jobs of researchers across the country.
"Cutting funds to lifesaving research and medical care means abandoning working families who are suffering and costing taxpayers billions of dollars. These cuts are dangerous to our health and to our economy.
"Together, working people have an opportunity to raise awareness, put pressure on elected leaders and fight back to have a voice in our health care.
"Join us at an event near you, and raise your voice to say, “Kill the Cuts!”
"In Solidarity,
"Team AFL-CIO."
<Find An Event Near You:>
https://www.killthecuts.org/action-near-you?link_id=3&can_id=4e6c8046819e1ba183f676fa03eddc7a&source=email-the-white-house-just-ripped-up-union-members-contracts-2&email_referrer=email_2684965&email_subject=event-alert-kill-the-cuts-national-day-of-action&&
<Want To Work An In-Person Bank? Click Here:>
https://zoom.us/meeting/register/qzY7DF_ISwaJF5e523kBHQ#/registration?link_id=6&can_id=4e6c8046819e1ba183f676fa03eddc7a&source=email-the-white-house-just-ripped-up-union-members-contracts-2&email_referrer=email_2684965&email_subject=event-alert-kill-the-cuts-national-day-of-action&&
The law resulted in many undesirable collateral consequences, notably, an emphasis a "drill and kill" mentality that elevated test preparation at the expense of broader educational goals. "Teaching to the test" became the order of the day, with local districts and states increasingly asked to take on more complex tasks, without the additional funding needed to execute them successfully. Disadvantaged students got the shaft, as did aspiring teachers, due to the higher debt loads they took on, to meet the "highly qualified" standard -- which the law didn't specifically define, but many districts took to mean a master's degree. (Hence, the inflation of credentials, and the debt required to achieve them.)
I can't help but contrast that experience with my own education. Growing up in the '70s and early '80s, as I did, I distinctly remember having to take critical thinking classes -- both at the K-8 and high school levels -- as well as an American government course during the latter era, as a junior. Knowing how the system's supposed to work is important, right? Especially if you're proposing to fix what's wrong with it.
Time will tell if we can get basic civic knowledge and critical thinking back into the classroom, which will probably depend on how many broken pieces we'll have to pick up. In the meantime, make yourself heard on this issue, as you're doing on so many others, and ponder the implications of the Robert Reich quote below. While it's lengthy, it's worth quoting as a reminder -- for anyone still needing it -- of the stakes involved, and allowing the current malpractice to continue. On that note, see you Tuesday. -- The Reckoner
<Robert Reich Email>
https://www.downwithtyranny.com/post/thinking-about-leaving-the-country-until-trump-maga-disappear-you-sure-aren-t-the-only-one
Down With Tyranny: Don't Expect To Wake Up...:
https://www.downwithtyranny.com/post/don-t-expect-to-wake-up-and-someone-to-say-trump-became-a-dictator-today-it-s-a-process
Not only are the kids ignorant of what I'd consider very basic American history and its context in the current era, but even the nerds haven't heard of Asimov's Laws of Robotics. (Which might explain the Tesla kerfluffle.)
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