NESRI's Blog

May 8, 2012 | Education
Before 6-year old Salecia Johnson was handcuffed in a Georgia classroom and escorted to the local police station after a tantrum last month, a 5-year-old autistic boy in Brooklyn was strapped to a stretcher, hauled out of his Brighton Beach classroom and taken in an ambulance to a psych ward on March 6. Keep reading »
May 7, 2012 | Economic and Social Rights | Health
Almost exactly one year after enacting the United States' first universal health care law, the state of Vermont is once again showing the country that another world really is possible. In the wake of an impressively large and diverse May Day rally for human rights, the state legislature passed an unprecedented amendment to the budget bill that takes steps toward grounding Vermont's budget... Keep reading »
May 3, 2012 | Economic and Social Rights | Health
This May Day, the Vermont Workers' Center brought a range of people's struggles together under the banner of "Put People First." Expanding the focus of the now famous "Healthcare Is a Human Right" rallies, held since 2009 in Vermont's capitol, Montpelier, this year's event united the Workers' Center's health care and People's Budget campaigns with... Keep reading »
May 1, 2012 | Economic and Social Rights
With the growth of the human rights movement and the emergence of Occupy Wall Street and associated Occupy groups across the country, this year’s May Day takes on deep significance for a newly energized dialogue about inequality and human rights. May Day 2012 involves hundreds of groups and thousands of community leaders—including NESRI’s partners and allies, who are rallying to... Keep reading »
April 27, 2012 | Economic and Social Rights
The People's Budget Review in St. Petersburg, Florida, is mobilizing tens of thousands of residents to make their voices heard in this year's local budget process. The mobilization is slated to culminate in September for the adoption of the city's final budget and revenue plan. Here is a news report from the first public budget hearing, at which residents called for raising revenue. Keep reading »
April 26, 2012 | Economic and Social Rights
Yesterday, the U.S. Supreme Court heard oral arguments regarding the federal government’s challenge to Arizona law SB 1070, an “attrition through enforcement” bill explicitly designed to reduce the number of undocumented immigrants in the state by making life so difficult and offensive to their dignity that they will “self-deport.”  Keep reading »
April 24, 2012 | Economic and Social Rights | Health
The People's Budget Campaign in Vermont has successfully pushed to define the purpose of the state budget as addressing "the needs of the people of Vermont in a way that advances human dignity and equity." Keep reading »
April 20, 2012 | Housing
A few hundred housing activists, impacted community members, and occupiers in New York City came together last week to disrupt the weekly foreclosure auctions in all five boroughs of the city.  The disruptions began with a reading of a "Declaration of the People's Moratorium on Foreclosures": Keep reading »
April 6, 2012 | Housing
“What has taken place was not only predictable, it is a consequence of the very structure of the housing system and financial system,” says Michael E. Stone, Professor of Community Planning at the University of Massachusetts, reflecting on the ongoing foreclosure fallout. Ten million families have already been evicted from their homes as a result of foreclosure, while another 8 to10... Keep reading »
April 5, 2012 | Education
On March 30th, 2012 the Dignity in Schools Campaign submitted comments on the U.S. Department of Education's Teacher Incentive Fund, a part of the Obama administration's educational platform which would provide funds for implementing teacher incentive programs in states and districts with “high need schools.” Keep reading »