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The right wing in America has spent the past 18 months waging an increasingly vocal war on education, banning books and restricting the discussions teachers can have in classrooms, usually when it comes to issues like racism or sexuality.

That could be starting to change, however, as progressives have won a series of victories in some states, suggesting a backlash against education censorship could be on the way.

So far in 2022 the left has forced Republicans in Indiana to abandon legislation that would have placed severe restrictions on what teachers can say in classrooms, while in New Hampshire liberal candidates won sweeping victories against conservative anti-critical race theory candidates in school board elections. Critical race theory is an academic discipline that examines the ways in which racism operates in US laws and society, but it has become a catch-all buzzword on the right.

The progressive wins are a development that looked unlikely as the right wing, often through organizations with connections to wealthy Republican donors, has introduced bill after bill in states across the country. The campaign has successfully banned books, predominantly pertaining to issues of race or sexuality, from school districts, while some states have already banned discussion of the modern-day impact of historical racism in the US.

In Indiana, education advocates celebrated in late February after HB1134, a bill which the Indianapolis Star reported would have restricted how teachers could discuss racial inequality and sexual orientation, was defeated. The bill had passed the Indiana house in January, but amid concerted protests led by the Indiana State Teachers Association the legislation was watered down before it made it to the Republican-controlled senate, which ultimately said it did not have the votes to pass the bill.

Every day we had folks that came to Indianapolis, said Keith Gambill, president of ISTA. I think it was just that constant drumbeat from our organization and the other organizations that stood in solidarity with us that made the difference.

It helped that the Indiana senate had previously torpedoed its own version of the house legislation. In early January one Republican senator said teachers need to be impartial when discussing subjects including nazism and fascism, prompting national headlines and widespread backlash.

The death of HB1134 was an important victory for Indiana teachers, but Gambill said there had still been consequences.

What we are finding both in the state of Indiana and nationally is that we are losing educators at an alarming rate.

Some of that certainly is on pay, but thats not the only thing that is driving the exodus. When you have bills such as this that continue to just be this wedge issue, invading your workspace, folks start looking around saying: These other companies are hiring and I have all of the qualifications.

The Indiana legislation mirrored rightwing efforts in other states to drive honest discussion of race and sexuality from classrooms. PEN America, a non-profit organization that works to protect freedom of expression, said 155 bills that would censor what teachers can say or teach in classrooms were introduced in 38 states in 2021, while 2022 has seen a steep rise in the introduction of what PEN America calls gag orders.

In Florida a Dont Say Gay bill, which would ban discussion of sexuality and gender identity in schools, is expected to be signed into law by Ron DeSantis, the states governor. The bill would allow parents to file lawsuits against school boards if they believe policies violate the law.

A bill being considered in Kansas would change the states obscenity law, making it a class B misdemeanor for a teacher to use any material which depicts homosexuality in a classroom, while looming legislation in Arizona would allow parents to sue teachers and school districts for perceived violations of parental rights.

While the right wing has rallied around the issue of classroom censorship, there is little evidence that a majority of parents are demanding a crackdown on what their children can read, or be taught. In February a CNN poll found that only 12% of Americans believed parents should have the most sway over which library books are on the shelves and how American history is taught.

Far from there being a popular uprising against what teachers are imparting to students, the censorship efforts have frequently been pushed by conservative groups with ties to deep-pocketed rightwing donors.

Groups like Moms for Liberty and Parents Defending Education have been instrumental in book banning attempts in the US, often presenting themselves as small, grassroots efforts, while in reality they have links to prominent, wealthy Republicans.

Those groups have had success in several states by packing school boards, which have substantial say over what can be taught in schools, but there are signs that a shift may be coming.

In New Hampshire, teaching advocates celebrated a big win in March after progressive candidates swept to victory in school board elections around the state. Granite State Progress backed 30 candidates in the elections, with 29 of those successful, some in traditionally conservative districts.

Zandra Rice Hawkins, the groups executive director, said the group had been inundated with calls from organizations and school board candidates around the country who are keen to replicate the success. She is hopeful that there could be further victories, and a rejection of the right wings draconian censorship efforts, to come.

We think that what happened here in New Hampshire is a sign of things to come across our state and across the nation, Rice Hawkins said.

Public education is a bedrock of democracy, and so many people are aware of that and I think the things that are happening now, talks of banning books and other things like that, thats got a lot of people paying attention, and frankly this GOP strategy of trying to drive a wedge between parents and communities and their public schools is going to backfire in a major way.

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Progressives are resisting rightwing book banning campaigns and are winning - The Guardian

Progressive candidates have racked up victories in recent Philadelphia elections, rankling the Democratic establishment and many in the citys business community.

Here comes the pushback.

At least five groups are contemplating major financial moves in the 2023 elections for mayor and City Council. While not yet working together, they appear to be thinking alike, and its possible some of the efforts could merge.

Clout predicts super PACs spending big to swing the citys politics back toward the center after several years of gains on the left.

Its not clear whom they would support in the mayoral election, but its certain theyd want to stop progressive Councilmember Helen Gym if she runs.

The Chamber of Commerce for Greater Philadelphia may launch a super PAC to help business-friendly candidates or hinder those it sees as bad for the citys growth. Or both.

That would amount to a redo of the Chambers unsuccessful last-minute effort to oppose the 2019 election of Councilmember Kendra Brooks, a member of the progressive Working Families Party who won a seat reserved for minority parties that was held by Republicans for 70 years.

Chamber spokesperson Dan Fee said the business group hasnt decided what its involvement will be next year. He expects upwards of 10 super PACs of varying political persuasions in the 2023 election.

Those groups can raise and spend unlimited amounts of money to influence elections, avoiding the citys restrictive campaign finance limits by not coordinating with candidates.

Fee said the citys limit drives money to such groups and absolves the candidates from the responsibility of the actions of their backers.

This is how things are done now, and it takes everything out of the hands of candidates, Fee said.

In recent Philly elections, progressives have benefited from significant outside spending efforts, including a super PAC funded by billionaire George Soros that helped elect District Attorney Larry Krasner in 2017.

Phillys building trades unions scored big in the 2015 race for mayor as part of a coalition of super PACs that spent about $4 million to elect Mayor Jim Kenney.

Ryan Boyer, leader of the Philadelphia Building & Construction Trades Council, said a new super PAC from the 30-union council might expand to Council races next year. Major turnover is brewing there.

Gym and Councilmembers Cherelle Parker, Maria Quiones-Snchez, Allan Domb, and Derek Green may all resign to run for mayor, while other members may retire or face primary challenges. Another member, Kenyatta Johnson, is due to stand trial Monday on federal bribery charges, putting his future at risk.

That means that close to half of Councils 17 seats could turn over next year.

Boyer last year touted Parker as a potential contender for mayor.

I think the [super PAC] will pull for a candidate who shares our values, said Boyer, adding that Parker is one of a group of people who fit that bill.

Another super PAC may rise from A Greater Philadelphia, a nonprofit founded in November by Mark Gleason, the former executive director of the Philadelphia School Partnership, an occasionally controversial advocate for school choice. Gleason, who has tapped deep pockets before, said his group is pushing for improvements for economic issues, crime, and education.

Were one of a number of groups that are frustrated and want to see the city moving in a different and better direction, he said. There is a swing back to the center happening.

Gleason said it was premature to say if that could lead to his being a candidate for public office.

Clout hears yet another group, Philly For Growth, is circling back to an effort launched in 2019 to seed Council with candidates considered friendly to the real estate industry.

That culminated four years ago with the head-turning talking baby ad, featuring a toddler enhanced with some computer animation, urging voters to support candidates who will grow Philadelphia with us.

A Philly For Growth spokesperson declined to comment.

Philadelphia 3.0 is also returning to the Council battlefield. The outside spending group, funded by wealthy individuals like investors Josh Kopelman (who chairs The Inquirers board) and Richard Vague, says its goal is to back reform-minded candidates.

Executive director Ali Perelman said she expects the group to get involved in four or five Council races in 2023, but not the mayors race.

Its going to take some really impressive leadership for this city to really emerge from an extraordinarily difficult last few years, Perelman said. My expectation is that theres just going to be more activity on the Council side in 23 than we saw in 19, and by activity we mean more competitive races.

Johnsons legal team is expected to start picking jurors for his trial Monday and his backers are already making an appeal not to a higher court, but to a higher power.

On Friday evening, Johnson will join supporters at Yesha Ministries in South Philadelphia for a pretrial victory prayer service, according to a flier for the event obtained by Clout.

Bishop James Darrell Robinson, who organized the event, said he and other faith leaders have spent countless hours praying for Johnson and his wife, Dawn Chavous, who was also indicted, because they are important community leaders.

Hes present at our funerals. Hes present at all of our community events. Hes present with our youth, Robinson said. We wanted to make sure that we let him know that we appreciate him for being present and that we believe in his innocence.

Clout provides often irreverent news and analysis about people, power, and politics.

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Progressives have scored big in Philly politics. Here comes the establishment pushback. - The Philadelphia Inquirer

Two new super PACs plan to spend $4 million promoting law-and-order candidates for the state Legislature in the June primary elections and even some Democrats are warning that it could cost progressives dearly, The Post has learned.

The political action committees Common Sense New Yorkers and Voters of NY will back pols who value public safety and support Gov. Kathy Hochuls proposed rollback of bail reform and related anti-crime measures, said treasurer Jeff Leb, a lobbyist and political consultant.

The supermajority of New Yorkers want safer streets and the far-left groups out there pressuring elected officials are out of touch, he said.

Legislators should vote the way their constituents elected them to do and they shouldnt be pressured by Twitter.

Common Sense New Yorkers held a Feb. 28 fundraiser at the members-only Casa Cipriani in Lower Manhattans former Battery Maritime Building that was attended by Mayor Eric Adams and Lt. Gov. Brian Benjamin, and has raised more than $1 million, Leb said.

The races for the seats now held by veteran Assemblywoman Cathy Nolan (D-Queens), who is retiring, and progressive, anti-cop Assemblywoman Yuh-Line Niou (D-Manhattan), who is running for state Senate, are among those on which the groups will spend their advertising money, Leb said.

The others have yet to be decided but will be soon, he said.

Ballots for the June 28 primaries must be finalized by May 5 and early voting is set to begin on June 18.

The super PACs are modeled on two predecessors Common Sense NYC and Voters of NYC that were involved in last years City Council primary elections, said Leb, who was also the treasurer of those groups.

Common Sense NYC spent more than $550,000 attacking Democrats, some backed by the Democratic Socialists of America, and defeated six out of eight, according to a July report by CNBC, which cited records from the citys Campaign Finance Board.

The group also supported 18 candidates, including one Republican, of whom 13 won their races, CNBC said.

One Democratic lawmaker said the outside spending made a real difference in helping differentiate candidates to voters.

I think their approach will have even more of an impact [this year] because you have very big public safety items notably bail reform, the elected official said.

With bail reform being so high on everyones mind right now, any money spent to help support moderate candidates will help those candidates go a long way.

Democratic consultant Wendell Jamieson, a former New York Times reporter who advised ex-Nassau County Executive Laura Curran during her failed re-election bid last year, also said, We see clearly that there is an appetite for law enforcement.

This is something people should pay attention to because I do believe there is a safety-first approach that people need to focus on, he said.

People want to feel safe. It just seems like the pendulum has swung.

Most of the funding for Common Sense NYC came from billionaire real estate developer Stephen Ross, chairman of the Related Companies and an investor in Equinox Fitness and SoulCycle.

In 2019, Ross hosted a fund-raiser at his waterfront Southampton estate for then-President Donald Trump, sparking outrage among well-heeled, liberal gym rats who canceled their memberships in droves, The Post exclusively reported at the time.

Ross isnt currently involved in the latest efforts, which are being backed by developers William Lie Zeckendorf and Albert Laboz, Leb said.

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Progressives beware! Two NY super PACs raising $4M to back law-and-order candidates - New York Post

The Congressional Progressive Caucus released aslate of policy prioritiesthey believe President Joe Biden can implement by taking executive action, including canceling federalstudent loan debt, lowering drug prices for insulin and inhalers, and creating a path for child care workers to unionize.

The proposals echo components of the languishing Build Back Better agenda, Bidens sweeping $1.8 trilliondomestic economic agendathat included climate mitigation proposals and policies intended to support working women such as universal pre-kindergarten, subsidized child care for most American families and an extension of the expanded child tax credit.

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Members of the Congressional Progressive Caucus (CPC) began discussing what Biden could accomplish by executive action in December as plans for a Senate vote on Build Back Betterfell apart Democratic Sen. Joe Manchin of West Virginia said he would not vote for it, tanking its chances in the evenly divided chamber. CPC Chair Rep. Pramila Jayapal of Washington said that progressives understand that our mandate in this governing moment is to deliver for working people and to leave no one behind.

To that end, we have been pursuing a strong legislative strategy, and we will continue to do that, and that includes numerous conversations with senators, with the White House, with our own leadership, about how to move any piece of our originally called Build Back Better agenda through, Jayapal told reporters.

At the same time the Biden administration has taken a strategy of executive actions since President Biden came into office, and we are now releasing a slate of steps that the administration can take in that same mode of executive action that will have an immediate and meaningful impact for families, she added.

The CPC is made up of 97 left-leaning House Democrats, along with Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont, an independent who caucuses with the Democrats in that chamber. There have already been discussions at the staff level between CPC offices and the White House, as well as with the Congressional Hispanic Caucus, and the Congressional Black Caucus, which are also expected to make recommendations on potential executive actions to the president.

The push by the caucuses is coming ahead of Novembers midterm elections, when all 435 House seats and roughly a third of the Senate are on ballots. Bidens approval rating hassteadily declinedover the past year, with an aggregate of available polling putting him at about 42 percent approval. A presidents partynearly always suffers lossesin the midterm congressional elections, and Democrats, who hold a small House majority and currently control the Senate due to the vice presidents tie-breaking authority, are bracing for defeats. Some believe delivering on the stalled portions of Bidens agenda could help stanch Democrats losses and allow them to hold onto control of one or both chambers.

Every single thing we can deliver between now and November helps us, right? Every single thing that we can deliver between now and November helps us to continue to build the momentum, and also to bring in constituencies that are still waiting for more action on particular areas, Jayapal said.

Executive orders arewritten directivesthat presidents provide to their administrative agencies that arepublished in the Federal Register. As of this week, Biden has signed 84 executive orders, as well as 64 presidential memoranda, which are similar in function but not published in the Federal Register. Presidents use of executive orders has gained attention as Congress has become deadlocked, but Donald Trump issued fewer than Barack Obama, who issued fewer than George W. Bush. Franklin Roosevelt, with 3,721 executive orders, holds the record. Executive orders can be challenged in federal courts if parties believe a president has exceeded their authority. Presidents can, and often do, undo the executive orders of their predecessors.

Jayapal said the recommendations the CPC has sent to the White House for action were developed to fall under the legal scope of a presidents authority. The CPC is urging Biden to cancel federal student loan debt under existing administrative authority established in the Higher Education Act of 1965; expand the countries for which immigrants are eligible for Temporary Protected Status; ensure at least 40 percent of benefits from federal clean energy investments are reinvested in economically disadvantaged communities; and fully implement the Medicaid Equal Access Rule.

Jayapal acknowledged that the CPC struggled with how to bolster funds for the caregiving economy via executive action and not legislation passed by Congress, which controls the federal governments purse strings.

But there are ways to grow strong child care unions that we think can also be a driver of stronger labor standards, including pay, she said.

The way were thinking about it is: if we can build those strong child care unions, you can push for stronger standards. Its sort of a ground-up approach, but obviously for the federal government to invest money into this area, its going to be the best path, Jayapal added.

This story was originally published March 17, 2022, by the 19th.

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House progressives urge Biden to support caregiving workforce and execute other Build Back Better priorities - The Connecticut Mirror

Margot Paez is a Fellow at the Bitcoin Policy Institute specialising in Renewable Energy and Environmental Studies. In this interview, we discuss the Occupy movement, a broken capitalist system, and a pragmatic approach to our energy future.

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Bitcoin is often labelled as being a currency for libertarians. But, it is increasingly clear that Bitcoin appeals to a wide range of people with a myriad of political leanings. This includes a growing number of progressives who see in the protocol a means of enabling a fairer and less economically stratified society.

That Bitcoin appeals to such disparate communities speaks to both the strength of Bitcoin, but also the weakness of the current system. If those on both the right and left are disenchanted with the status quo, that is obviously a strong signal that a major societal change is warranted. Further, it means we have to assess why were so polarised if we fundamentally agree with each other.

There is a debate to be had regarding language, labels, unconscious bias, and manipulation of opinions. The issue is that these false divisions are affecting reasoned consideration of all the major issues affecting modern civilisation, particularly in relation to climate change.

The practical implication is that both sides of the climate change debate are resistant to effective and pragmatic measures. Is it possible to view these issues without a political lens?

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A Progressive View of Bitcoin with Margot Paez - What Bitcoin Did