Last week, unionized teachers at three schools operated by Civitas-a subsidiary of the Chicago International Charter School network-negotiated a new contract that no longer has merit pay in it. This means 31 out of 32 unionized Chicago charter schools have now rejected merit pay. And the one unionized charter that still has it-Rudy Lozano Leadership […]
Rachel M. Cohen
Rachel M. Cohen is a freelance journalist based in Washington, D.C., and a former American Prospect writing fellow. Follow her on Twitter @rmc031
Posted inEducation in America
Using Tech to Improve Government
In the modern digital era, a growing number of individuals and organizations are trying to figure out how to harness technology to improve democracy. I have written previously about the Personal Democracy Forum-an annual conference of civic tech groups in New York City-and while these spaces can certainly give rise to overblown hype (think HBO’s […]
Posted inMoney, Politics, and Power
The Growing Movement to Restore Voting Rights to Former Felons
On the 50th anniversary of the Voting Rights Act, ex-felons in Baltimore demand the right to vote.
Posted inEducation in America
NLRB Rules Teach for America Members Have a Right to Unionize
In another interesting development for the movement to unionize charter schools, the National Labor Relations Board ruled last week that Teach for America corps members should have been allowed to vote in a Detroit charter union election earlier this year. Detroit 90/90, a charter management organization for the University Prep charter network, said that Teach […]
Posted inEconomic Policy
The Senate Wants to Eliminate One of the Most Successful Affordable Housing Programs
For more than 20 years, the HOME Investment Partnerships Program has helped rural, suburban, and urban communities provide housing for some of their most vulnerable citizens. HOME is the largest federal block grant for state and local governments that can be used to create affordable housing for low-income populations, including seniors, families with children, people […]
Posted inEducation in America
Ohio Charter Teachers Fired for Organizing Will Be Reinstated
Teachers at the Ohio-based I CAN charter network decided to organize a union during the 2013-2014 school year. Yet when the school year ended, the administration did not renew contracts for seven teachers leading the union drive-resulting in a cancellation of the scheduled union vote. While about 40 charter schools in Ohio are already unionized, […]
Posted inMoney, Politics, and Power
There’s Still No Money In Sight for New Rail Tunnels Under the Hudson River. Blame Chris Christie.
In 2010, New Jersey Governor Chris Christie cancelled a tremendously important rail tunnel project under the Hudson River that had been in the works for nearly 20 years; billions of dollars had already been saved up for it. The only tunnels that currently exist there were built more than 100 years ago, are incapable of […]
Posted inMoney, Politics, and Power
Why the Dichotomy Between Racial and Economic Justice is A False One
Yesterday, Vox‘s Dara Lind published a post analyzing what this past weekend’s protests at Netroots Nation tell us about splits within the progressive movement. I personally don’t think Bernie Sanders handled the Black Lives Matter demonstrators very well, and I imagine his advisers had several serious conversations with him following the conference about how to […]
Posted inEducation in America
More on Charters Going Union
For The Prospect‘s summer issue I wrote a feature story about the growing number of charter school teachers looking to form unions at their schools. Elias Isquith, a staff writer at Salon was kind enough to interview me about my piece. We talked about some things I covered in the story, and a few other […]
Posted inWorking in America
Homejoy’s Closure May Signal A Turn for the On-Demand Economy
On Friday Adora Cheung, the co-founder and CEO of Homejoy, announced she will be closing down the app-based cleaning service by the end of July. Homejoy, which started in 2012, relies entirely on contract labor and is commonly referred to as the “Uber for house cleaning.” Cheung told Re/code that the “deciding factor” to shut […]