The Impact of Black Women in the Upcoming Election

Who do you want representing you? The Impact of Black Women in the Upcoming Election

On July 15 of this year, the US Census Bureau released its latest information on voting patterns of US citizens which clearly demonstrated the growing political status of unmarried women. Guess what, that data includes us. Prior to the Voting Rights Act of 1965 we were practically dis-allowed to vote.
Yes, our votes count ! Women of color. We count, we matter and we tip the scale in almost every measurable way. If you don't read for yourself, then you don't know. We are the highest volume of the population that is: Educated-Driven-Productive-Nurturing.  Don’t forget that. Even in the tough times. You matter most.

In Palm Beach County alone, where I live, there are over 65,000 black female voters that should be courted in every election seeing that our vote is consistent yet all too often, taken for granted.
Ladies, please take note!  Mainstream media will almost always paint a very different picture. So don’t believe the hype that you read, hear and most unfortunately sometimes believe. Ever heard the phrase the ball is in your court? Well, guess what it most emphatically is. You really are in a position to transform the world. Yes, each one of us is capable of being a transformer. We are mother earth and yet, we don't have an economic agenda that should be continuously monitored and balanced like our check books and should always reflect the climate in which we live.

Florida legislatures have taken steps to allow voters to vote with ease and convenience. Use the
You must link to or be a mentor for a cause or a purpose to get up every day. Be it related to your family, an election, a calling, a cause or a purpose. It's really quite the same.  I always say, we all commit to our passions. We've been led to believe our vote doesn't count, but whatever it is that get's you up each day can't be very reticent because you continue to do it. Include voting in your repertoire.

I remember a very dynamic African American woman, politician and more importantly humanitarian Barbara Jordan US Representative Texas, said, equality for all and privilege for none. We are obligated to make this statement a reality. Do not accept what the privileged sell you as your agenda. Make your own.

If you don't get involved in the affairs of your community then don't complain, if you don't vote then you concede to whatever the lawmakers (ummm that agenda is driven by the privileged) design for your life. You were created, born and designed for greatness. We must ban together to make something happen with our vote as our weapon as the title of this blog implies…black women in the upcoming election…have the power.

The impact we have is far greater than we credit ourselves.
Nothing minor about me, my vote or the impact I have - politically, socially and economically!
We are largely to blame for our underrating. It took me a while to realize that unfortunately, SOME whites have a greater infinity for the prosecution of a poached lion in Africa they have never seen, than for blacks lives such as Sandra Bland and many other women slain by officers of the law. It really pulled at my heart strings to watch the dash-cam of the officer responsible for the ending of her life. Do you really know what the phrase "Black Power" means? Baby you got it. Please please please use it.

Do as I say AND as I do. So, first and foremost, register to vote and then vote in every election. Damn it. It’s our obligation. Vote early so you can be free on Election Day to support the efforts of your favored candidates by working the polls, making calls and driving others to the polls. You really have the power to influence a victory.

Engage everyone in your circle of influence (yes you do have one – it’s probably bigger than you think). This includes family, friends, co-workers, past loves, especially your children, because if they grow up committing this action repeatedly, it will be their pleasure to honor their mother/parents while exercising a right that many fought and died for when they cast their respective vote. 
So that’s what I say, here’s what I do: I personally provide oversight for the campaign of Alex Freeman for Sheriff, Palm Beach County in 2016 (visit: alexfreemanforsheriff.com) simply because I am willing to protect the black male from extinction. Therefore; I am lending my skills to the candidate to ensure victory. I also preside as president of a local democratic club and serve as Secretary for the FL Dem Black Caucus, Palm Beach County Chapter as Recording Secretary.
This I do because I need to demonstrate to all in my community that I want equality for my people. I want to ensure that when the law is enforced, a fair and equitable leader, Alex Freeman is at the helm of the sheriff’s office AND most importantly, I am helping to preserve my species, my race and my fellow African-Americans when I a black women of power and influence, put my influence, my vote and my power to use for my people. Black women of power and influence, won’t you do the same?

#blacklivesmatter #blackpower#alexfreeman4sheriff #sayhername

By RoxAnne (Roxi) Harris, PresidentNorth County Democratic Club
www.northcountydems.com


Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the authors and do not reflect the official policy or position of Minority Outreach Solutions.

DPCF / Democratic Progressive Caucus of Florida - Policy Position Paper on Public Education

Democratic Progressive Caucus of Florida

Public Education

“The American system of public education was created with two vitally important purposes, to prepare our youth for success in a career and equally importantly, to provide the knowledge and skills to be an informed, engaged citizen.”

                        --Campaign for the Civic Mission of Schools (Annenberg Public Policy Center)

The Democratic Progressive Caucus of Florida (DPCF) supports a quality public education for

all children. Every child deserves an education with a rich and comprehensive curriculum including art, music and physical education. Schools must be adequately and equitably funded. We oppose efforts to divert public education funding to private interests through vouchers and for-profit charter schools.   

“School choice” has proven over time to be deceptive language used to camouflage the underlying goal of privatizing our public schools. Charter schools, under the guise of public status and with taxpayer money, are increasingly being managed and controlled by for-profit management companies. Vouchers are used primarily to pay tuition to private religious schools. Floridians have repeatedly voiced opposition to vouchers, yet the legislature and the governor continue to expand voucher programs. Neither charter nor voucher schools are held to the same accountability standards as traditional public schools. Studies have shown that charter and voucher schools get no better results, and in many cases, charter and voucher students underperform compared to their public-school peers. This is particularly noteworthy considering public schools must and do accept all students, not a select few.

The choice/privatization policy was launched under the administration of former Governor Jeb Bush, and has been primarily supported by Republican legislators. The stated premise of the scheme was that teachers and schools were not being held accountable and that the traditional system was too hamstrung by bureaucracy to allow innovation. Crucial to Bush’s privatization plan were two key mechanisms: the Florida Comprehensive Assessment Tests (FCAT) and the grading of schools on an A-F scale. High-stakes consequences were attached to these tests and grades, including school funding, student retention and eventually merit-based pay for teachers.

• Standardized Testing -- Standardized tests, such as the Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test, are not a reflection of a child’s overall skills and knowledge, nor of a teacher’s effectiveness. They are a snapshot of how well a student can perform on one exam on one day. These tests should not be used as weapons to punish or reward children, teachers or communities. Instead, standardized tests should be used as diagnostic tools to assess children’s abilities and identify strategies to help them improve. FCAT and other high-stakes assessments force teachers to “teach to the test.” As a result, children are deprived of the essentials of a well-rounded education.

• A - F School Letter Grades -- The letter grade system is used to justify funding distribution for schools. The grading system rewards schools that are already resource-rich and punishes schools that are resource-starved. School grades are nothing more than an indicator of the economic health of communities. The formula for determining grades is continually changing, making accurate evaluation impossible. Additionally, the system is subject to political manipulation, as demonstrated by the recent Indiana grade-fixing scandal that forced the resignation of Florida’s former commissioner of education, Tony Bennett.

A crucial consequence of this effort is merit-based pay. Calling it an accountability measure, Bush promoted a “value-added model” (VAM) of evaluating teachers. VAM is a complicated formula that attempts to measure a teacher’s performance based on student test scores. It has proven controversial in Florida because teachers have been scored on the performance of students and subjects they did not teach. Studies prove that VAM is not reliable (Polikoff and Porter, American Educational Research Association, April 11, 2014), and there’s no indication that it improves educational outcomes for children. The Democratic Progressive Caucus believes that merit-based pay is a surreptitious attempt to de-professionalize teaching. We support an evaluation system that involves a comprehensive and realistic review of a teacher’s performance. We oppose a market-based approach to schooling that employs high-stakes testing tied to incentives and sanctions.  

In 2012, the Democratic Progressive Caucus joined the Florida School Boards Association and U.S. Representative Frederica Wilson in calling for a suspension of Florida’s school grading system pending a forensic study. Floridians have lost faith in the accountability system, and the stakes are simply too high to continue a system so flawed. Merely changing the formula for the grades, as the Florida legislature did during the 2014 session, will not address the concerns of Florida parents. With the release of this report, the Democratic Progressive Caucus of Florida again calls for suspension of school grading until a forensic study and thorough review by an independent evaluator is completed.

“The education of children is a fundamental value of the people of the State of Florida. It is, therefore, a paramount duty of the state to make adequate provision for the education of all children residing within its borders. Adequate provision shall be made by law for a uniform, efficient, safe, secure, and high quality system of free public schools that allows students to obtain a high quality education and for the establishment, maintenance, and operation of institutions of higher learning and other public education programs that the needs of the people may require...”

                --Constitution of the State of    Florida, Article IX, Section 1

Florida public schools have been underfunded when compared to other states. In a pending lawsuit filed against the state of Florida in November 2009, parent groups and public education advocates argued “...that Florida failed to adequately fund its public education system and failed to provide students with ‘high quality’ public schools demanded in the Florida Constitution. It cited shrinking budgets, low graduation rates and a faulty school accountability system, among other problems” (“Education Suit Against State to Proceed After Supreme Court Action,” Orlando Sentinel, September 11, 2012).

The DPCF agrees that the Florida Legislature has consistently underfunded our public schools. We believe that the current accountability system diverts scarce public dollars from public school classrooms and puts them into the pockets of private interests.

Finally, after thoroughly researching and reviewing the origins, the creation, and the proposed implementation of the Common Core State Standards (CCSS) in Florida, the Democratic Progressive Caucus of Florida declares its opposition for the following reasons:

• CCSS were written without input from parents, classroom teachers or others with insight and expertise in childhood development
• Early childhood specialists have criticized the CCSS as developmentally inappropriate
• CCSS were not field-tested prior to implementation
• CCSS are tied to high-stakes tests which are invalid and unreliable
• Students do not develop at the same rate, yet CCSS attempts to force every student into an ineffective one-size-fits-all education model
• The State of Florida rushed the implementation of CCSS before the proper foundation -- curriculum, teacher-training, valid assessment tools, technological infrastructure -- was in place
• The primary forces behind CCSS are those who stand to benefit from privatization of public schools, including former Governor Jeb Bush and testing companies

The Caucus supports national standards that are developmentally appropriate, educationally sound, properly field-tested and written with input from all stakeholders, including parents, classroom teachers and students. There must be a process for review and revision of the standards.

Approved by Democratic Progressive Caucus of Florida

Not authorized by any candidate or candidate committee 

Susan Smith
President
Democratic Progressive Caucus of Florida
stsmith222@aol.com
813-390-3616
@stsmith222

Disclaimer:The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of Minority Outreach Solutions.