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Laying the Groundwork of Groundwork Books

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By Groundwork Books Collective

At the open house at Groundwork Books during alumni weekend our classic sign got a new layer of paint. A photo was posted online and we learned that the logo was designed by Charyn Segal and Lincoln Cushing.

It was Lincoln Cushing humself* that shared that bit of knowledge. Lincoln, a political poster designer and archivist, was involved in the original Groundwork Books project starting back in 1973.

Wanting to learn more about the groundwork of Groundwork Books (see what I did there mhmm) I reached out to Lincoln and he was happy to share some details.   [Read more…]

The Plight of Adjunct Teachers

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Here in California, adjunct teachers are like the comedian, Rodney Dangerfield, in the community college world. They get some respect, but not a lot, despite being the backbone of the system.

More classes are taught by part-time teachers than full-time teachers. The ratio has been as high as 70% part-time teachers to 30% full-time teachers. Part-time teachers are paid by the hour; whereas, full-time teachers receive a salary and if one calculates the hourly rate, it is higher. The various districts do this because it saves them money.

The community colleges in San Diego also limit the number of hours an adjunct can teach each semester, so many part-time teachers become freeway flyers. That means they have to teach at various colleges to make ends meet. They fly on the freeway from one location to another because they don’t get enough hours at one college.   [Read more…]

Stacking The Deck in the 21st Century: Sweeps, Cheats, and Jim Crow

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Comic Con and the All-Star Game have come and gone, but San Diego’s homeless remain, criminalized and demonized. A report from the ACLU calls out blatant discrimination in charter schools throughout California. And rightwing-inspired laws restricting voting in states around the country are proving to be nothing more than a shield for racism.

Today we look at some of the downsides of life in the USA these days. The deification of the market economy and the quest to drown government in a bathtub are at the root of all these stories, something the Make American Great Again crowd seems unable to grasp.   [Read more…]

Artificial Turf Wars in San Diego Schools

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Some parents at Silver Gate Elementary School in Point Loma are leading an uphill battle against artificial turf that is supposed to be installed on the school’s playing field next Fall. And other beach area activists have been fighting the artificial turf wars for a few years now.

Writer Ashly McGlone, in a fairly exhaustive piece in Voice of San Diego published June 27th, captured the highlights of one of those battles in describing efforts of some parents at Silver Gate.

McGlone focused on Point Loma resident Erika Lundeen, who became concerned to hear that the school her kids attend, Silver Gate, was getting a new artificial turf field called “crumb rubber”. It’s a type of artificial turf made up of particles from crushed-up car tires which act as a cushion and is used as a filler between blades of artificial grass. And this FieldTurf is what San Diego Unified uses – and plans to use on dozens of playing fields around the District.

Lundeen had seen local kids covered in little black specks on their clothes and bodies after rolling around in the turf at a field at Loma Portal Elementary School, with some kids playing with the black stuff.   [Read more…]

Tens of Thousands March in Mexico City in Support of Striking Oaxaca Teachers

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By Lauren McCauley / Common Dreams

“You are not alone,” was the message tens of thousands of supporters sent to striking teachers in Oaxaca during a massive demonstration in Mexico City on Sunday.

Protesters marched against the government’s violent response to the teacher strikes and other dissension, as well as Mexican President Enrique Peña Nieto’s neoliberal policies that spurred the educator protests and emboldened a wider backlash against his regime of privatization and repression—fueling many calls for his resignation.   [Read more…]

Local Art for Local Kids by Local Teacher in Ocean Beach

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By Ruth McGraw

Drawing and painting were always easy for me. When I was five, I drew a giant green peace sign on my parents’ freshly painted wall. Needless to say they were less than pleased, but that was when I knew I wanted to paint every wall, everywhere.

In what feels like a former life, I served in the Marine Corps and then as a Civil Service agent, and achieved my bachelors in Homeland Security and Emergency Management. I am very proud of my service and grateful for the friendships made and life lessons learned.

However, those days are passed. I finally realized that the taxing paranoia of constantly waiting for the “worst case scenario” was inhibiting my growth as a person. I was tired of expecting and seeing the bad in the world.   [Read more…]

UC San Diego Faculty Call on Regents to Divest UC Funds from Fossil Fuels

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Academic Senate votes in support of divestment resolution

UC San Diego Academic Senate

UC San Diego’s Academic Senate announced the passage of a resolution calling on the UC Regents to divest the University of California’s investment portfolio of stocks in companies whose primary business concerns the extraction and sale of fossil fuels. According to its 1868 charter, governance of the University is shared between the Regents and the Academic Senate. The vote by tenure-track faculty and academic leadership took place electronically over a two week period ending May 11.

The resolution recognizes the threat of global warming and UCSD’s pioneering contribution to climate science. It also acknowledges the risk to the UC endowment and pension funds from the prospect of falling fossil fuel stocks.   [Read more…]

When Students Stand Against Border Patrol Presence at Career Fairs, Administrators Should Take Their Direction

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By Pedro Rios

In late April at San Diego City College over two-dozen students quickly mobilized after learning that Border Patrol agents would have a booth at the career fair. The students solicited support from their professors, who also reached out to community organizations, and planned a public demonstration at the Quad where the career fair would be held. On the morning of the career fair, several students reported seeing Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officials setting up a booth at the Quad – (CBP is the Border Patrol’s parent agency). By midday, however, Macy’s store representatives occupied the booth originally assigned to the CBP officials. Border Patrol and Customs recruitment agents were nowhere to be seen.   [Read more…]

A Mother’s Courage: The Struggle of an Asylum-Seeker in San Diego

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By Jaime Rodriguez-Sosa

The California State Refugee Service Bureau states that since 1975 California has provided refuge to 700,000 people with San Diego County being the most notable recipient of refugees in the whole state.

On average San Diego resettles 2,500 refugees per year, with areas such as City Heights being some of the most prominent areas for resettlement.

These numbers are expected to increase in the coming years with refugees from Syria being accepted to resettle in the United States. Yet numbers are often deceptive because they are abstract and difficult to grasp. As such it becomes necessary to understand individuals on a personal level, taking into account where they come from and the struggles they face in search of a new life.   [Read more…]

Feminism is Alive and Well in San Diego . . . but the Fight is Getting Harder

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On Mother’s Day, a group of about 30 women (and a couple men), some of the women mothers and some not, gathered at the Lyceum Theater to celebrate with champagne and listen to a panel of experts discuss “The (True) History of Feminism in San Diego”. The panel, assembled by the Women’s Museum of California, preceded a viewing of “Rapture, Blister, Burn”, a contemporary Pulitzer nominated play by Gina Gionfriddo – a funny and poignant feminist play running for another week that I highly recommend.

The panel, consisting of a politician, a research psychologist, both a professor and a masters student in women’s studies was moderated by Ashley Gardner, the Executive Director of the Women’s Museum.   [Read more…]

Don’t Be Bored by Board of Education Races

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Ignore those school board races on your 2016 primary ballot at your own peril. The County Board of Education, with its half-billion-dollar budget and influence over the 42 school districts in San Diego, is the target of Republicans reportedly funded by charter school businesses.

Now I don’t have a problem with the concept of charter schools as an option for parents seeking differing educational approaches. I do have a problem with the charter school industry, which all-too-often has hidden financial malfeasance and an exploitive working environment behind the banners of “choice” and “opportunity.”

Most of all, I believe that a robust public education system is fundamental to democracy. Public education has been the primary battleground for a cultural war going back decades and now it has become fair game for hedge fund operators and profiteering.   [Read more…]

Whose University? UCSD’s Racial Climate and the Making of Student Minorities

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By the Lumumba- Zapata Collective

On the night of Friday April 8th, the University of California, San Diego campus was covered with anti-Mexican slogans chalked by supporters of presidential candidate, Donald Trump. Following a string of similar events throughout the country (including incidents at UC Berkeley, Santa Barbara, and Riverside), slogans supporting Trump have persistently coincided with xenophobic attacks against underrepresented communities, specifically Latino, Black, Arab and Muslim students.

The recent chalking incident at UCSD specifically targeted incoming admitted students of Mexican descent.   [Read more…]

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