“The budget should put the public good first and not be a wish list for lobbyists and corporate interests. Any rider that hurts working Americans should not be on the budget bill,” said Celine McNicholas, labor counsel at the Economic Policy Institute Policy Center, one of the signatories.
The Hill
July 6, 2017
Labor activists and progressive politicians responded to the study with a combination of criticism and indifference. The union-backed Economic Policy Institute issued a lengthy rebuttal questioning the paper’s methods and pointing out some apparent inconsistencies in its findings. By Friday, meanwhile, the city of Minneapolis had become the latest progressive bastion to pass its own $15 pay floor, joining the likes of New York; Washington, D.C.; the entire state of California; and, of course, the booming tech hub where researchers had just reported that the experiment was going badly wrong. (Ben quoted throughout)
Slate
July 6, 2017
This linking of the white working class to Donald Trump also creates a needless dichotomy between class and identity issues, making it seem as if addressing economic inequality means pandering to a group of racist voters. But issues of race and class are interlinked, as organizers of color recognize. Just a few weeks ago, Fight for 15 and Black Lives Matter organized a national day of action to call attention to the issue of income inequality, specifically in black and brown communities. In fact, people of color will make up the majority of the American working class come 2030, according to the Economic Policy Institute.
Quartz
July 5, 2017
A Century Foundation report earlier this year asserts that vouchers intensify racial and religious segregation in schools. The National Coalition for Public Education, a partnership of education, civil rights, religious, and civic organizations, points out that vouchers deprive students of their civil rights, lack accountability, fund religious instruction. The Economic Policy Institute, which examined voucher programs in states where it had been expanded, argues that vouchers produced minimal gains at best, but involved a host of risks including a flow of inexperienced young teachers that could contribute to the elimination of the professionalization of teaching. Furthermore, the loss of community-based schools produces losses of other programs including early education, summer programs, and student health and nutrition programs. “All of these yield much higher returns than the minor, if any, gains that have been estimated for voucher students,” wrote Martin Carnoy, a professor of education and economics at Stanford University, who authored the report.
The American Prospect
July 5, 2017
The Boston Review
June 29, 2017
Minneapolis Star Tribune
June 29, 2017
The Penny Hoarder
June 29, 2017
Washington Post
June 28, 2017