Issue #1 of The Pika Press was originally published in November 2022 and distributed to Denver DSA members via internal channels. Due to unforseen technical complications, it is not possible for it to be published on this webpage at this time. However, we at The Pika Press are working hard to resolve these issues and we guarantee that Issue #1 will be made avaliable on this webpage by the second Saturday of October.

At the September general chapter meeting, members of Chicago DSA will vote on a proposal from the Electoral Working Group about whether we as a chapter should actively engage in the 2024 Local School Council (LSC) elections in Chicago. In preparation for this upcoming vote, we want to share a little about what LSCs are, and why we believe they are valuable spaces for organizing the working class. Additionally, we hope to provide our perspective as a working group on our proposal.

Local School Councils were created as part of a long history of activism and organizing in Chicago. Reform efforts stretching back to at least the 1960s aimed at desegregating Chicago schools and improving local control of schools resulted in the passage of the Chicago School Reform Act of 1988, which established Local School Councils in Chicago. These efforts were often spearheaded by organizers of color, including: the Coordinating Council of Community Organizations (an organization which partnered with the Southern Christian Leadership Council to fight for Civil Rights), the Chicago Teachers Union (under the leadership of African American president Jacqueline Vaughn at the time of the act’s passage), and Harold Washington (who laid the groundwork for passage of the act during his mayoral terms). Although there isn’t space in this article to fully appreciate the history behind LSCs in Chicago, we have provided some links at the bottom of this article with additional information.

The result of their organizing effort and power-building is a nationally unique system of locally elected democratic bodies that exercise power at the level of individual schools. Each Local School Council consists of 13-17 members, depending on school type. The school’s principal chairs each Local School Council. Each LSC has six parent representatives that are elected by the parents of children in each school, as well as two community representatives, elected by residents of the school’s attendance boundary. LSCs wield real power and accountability in their schools. They perform an annual evaluation of the principal, make decisions on the retention and hiring of their school’s principal, develop and approve their school’s budget, and develop their school’s continuous improvement work plan. In 2020, Local School Councils were given the authority to decide whether their schools would retain an in-building police officer.

The schools that these councils hold authority over are key terrain in the socialist struggle in Chicago. Students, parents, teachers and community members have come to expect Chicago’s public schools to provide more than just a K-12 education. Schools provide meals (over 90% of students at many schools receive free or reduced lunch), medical and social care (although more can and should be done to improve this), and post-secondary support for graduates attending college or entering the workforce. For students with the greatest needs, special education programs provide education and care. Schools also provide services for students who are refugees or new immigrants (although these are also areas where more is needed). In their 2019 strike, CTU won increased support for students who are unhoused. To the extent that working people in Chicago have come to expect material support from their government, they have been more likely to receive that support from the school their child attends than from anywhere else.

Therefore, we have a unique opportunity to engage with local school councils as Democratic Socialists. These bodies are democratic assemblies that hold (limited) power in the distribution of material goods to Chicago’s working class. When members of a school’s LSC fail to exercise control through the local school council, either through failing to meet quorum or through carelessness in supervision, it can have real consequences for their school’s community. It is important for school principals to have democratic accountability for their work, for the budget they propose, and for ongoing school improvement.

On the other hand, when an empowered school community organizes and exercises control, there can be real action to remedy important problems. Throughout the height of the COVID pandemic, Local School Councils across the city served as a voice for parents and students to help exercise control over how their schools reopened. Parents, students, and teachers came together to raise money for lead paint remediation at a Bridgeport school. At a school in Pilsen, DSA members have been working with the school’s LSC to advocate for the school to receive solar panels, as well as to expand options for public participation in LSC meetings.

We are introducing a platform theme of “Green, Healthy Schools” for our 2024-2026 LSC work as part of our resolution. This theme builds on the “Green” enthusiasm evident around our active priority campaigns, as well as the “Green New Deal for Public Schools” concept that has been nascent over the past few years. We also believe it’s worth emphasizing “Healthy” as part of this campaign. Chicago public schools and students currently face acute health crises, both physical and mental, in the form of crumbling infrastructure, housing and food insecurity, and the failure of a profit-driven healthcare system (among others). We believe that through engagement with LSCs it is possible to build schools that care for students, staff, and its surrounding community in ways that build a green future for our world.

As a socialist, you can participate in Local School Council work in several different ways. This could start with simply attending the next meeting at your local school – Local School Council meetings are open to parent & community attendance. You could work to organize members of the school community to help build power for a change. Or, you could consider running for Local School Council yourself! LSC members serve 2-year terms and are provided with training during the first 6 months of their term.

As the Electoral Working Group, we bring this resolution to the September General Chapter Meeting for a number of reasons. First, we believe that LSCs are valuable organizing spaces, as shown in their history, as well as organizing work currently in progress. A number of the Electoral Working Group’s members are either actively participating in some form of LSC organizing or have done so in the past. Second, under chapter bylaws, chapter working groups need approval from the Executive Committee or from the chapter as a whole to engage in externally facing work or to access chapter member data. As part of the LSC proposal we are looking to potentially engage with political, labor, and neighborhood organizations for candidate recruitment and educational nonprofit orgs (such as Raise Your Hand) for training. We believe the chapter has a right and a responsibility to weigh in on this before we reach out to these other organizations. Finally, we think that it is valuable for the chapter to consider LSC work as part of our broader strategy. While the “Green, Healthy Schools” theme fits nicely with chapter priority campaigns, the chapter may vote that the time and effort which could be spent on LSC elections would be better directed to other areas. If the resolution does not pass, EWG would not actively recruit LSC candidates, but would consider for endorsement for any candidates who chose to apply, in accordance with our normal endorsement process as part of our bylaws established by the chapter.

We urge members of Chicago DSA to carefully consider the value of LSCs in the lead-up to the September GCM. We bring this resolution in September (more than six months before LSC elections) because we want to avoid uncertainty or wasted effort towards a campaign that the chapter does not view as valuable. When our chapter is united in our efforts, we can accomplish absolutely unbelievable things. If you believe LSCs are a strategic priority for the chapter and you want to be involved in helping to elect folks who will build the schools that Chicago’s children deserve, we ask you to vote yes and join our campaign!

Further reading on Local School Councils:

• The encyclopedia of Chicago offers a perspective on the history of Chicago schools stretching back to the 19th century
  http://www.encyclopedia.chicagohistory.org/pages/1124.html
  *
• A thorough academic treatment of the events leading up to the 1980 CPS consent decree on desegregation, a key step towards Local School Control
  https://www.cps.edu/sites/equity/tools/types/an-historical-analysis-of-the-chicago-public-schools-desegregation-consent-decree/
  *
• Raise Your Hand has an excellent slide deck covering the history and functions of LSCs
  https://www.ilraiseyourhand.org/lsc-101
  *
• A retrospective on 25 years of LSCs
  https://www.edweek.org/leadership/chicagos-local-school-councils-experiment-endures-25-years-of-change/2014/10

The post Socialist Involvement in Local School Councils and the September GCM appeared first on Midwest Socialist.

Join us for a free film screening of American Hospitals—Healing a Broken System Thursday, September 21st at 7pm! The film will be followed by a panel discussion led by Dr. Mary Owen.

One of the most striking examples of health disparities in the United States is the unequal distribution of healthcare resources. Health disparities refer to the differences in health outcomes among different groups of people, often based on factors such as race, ethnicity, socioeconomic status, and geographic location.

This film illustrates how corporations have transformed American hospitals into profit maximizers instead of serving to improve the health of the community. American Hospitals will provide valuable insights into this critical issue - and, you will also have the opportunity to connect with others who share your passion for improving access to healthcare for all!

Mark your calendars and join us for an inspiring evening of film and discussion!

We spent the last few months of this summer organizing to #BuildForPower and win a Green New Deal. From Boston to Milwaukee, DSA chapters are organizing powerful campaigns in their communities. Let’s catch you up on what you might’ve missed.

In mid-July, we held a “Path to Green Social Housing” call with DSA’s Housing Justice Commission where we heard about the intersections of housing & GND organizing. We even signed up a few new DSA members! Check out the recording and slides.

Then In late July, we had our national B4P social media day of action! 4 NEW chapters will #BuildForPower with us, which means access to grants , comms , a coach , and other resources to organize Green New Deal campaigns on their turf. Click through Twitter below for the thread announcing who !

Have you heard? We're #BuildingForPower in @DemSocialists! We've been working with chapters to develop winnable campaigns that rebuild the public sector in transit, housing, energy, and public spaces.
Check some of 'em out

— DSA for a Green New Deal (@DSAecosocialism) July 25, 2023

That’s right, we’re raising $10k/year in grants to help chapters pay for materials, printing, supplies, and other campaign expenses. Can you donate today?

At DSA’s 2023 Convention, our Consensus Resolution PASSED! This means Building for Power will continue through 2025 as a national priority. 120+ delegates signed up to get involved, and you can too.

If you were not at convention, you can check out our convention panel recording, “The Longer Road to a Green New Deal”, about DSA’s ecosocialist organizing victories and the path forward!

And finally, in August we DOUBLED our monthly Campaign Huddle attendance to 30 members repping 22 chapters! Ecosocialists around the country are fired up to #BuildForPower in their cities. Sign up for the next one on September 27th:

Like what you see? Want to plug into this work? Then be sure to sign up for our newsletter, follow us on socials, and talk with your comrades about what #BuidingForPower can look like in your chapter!

The post GNDCC Recap: July & August appeared first on Building for Power.

Thorn West: Issue No. 173

State Politics

• As the state legislative session drawing to a close this coming Thursday, many bills have been approved by the legislature this week, to next be signed or vetoed by Governor Newsom. These include a measure to legalize certain psychedelic drugs, as well as a first-in-the-nation law to ban caste discrimination.

• The legislature also approved two proposed constitutional amendments to be placed on the 2024 ballot. ACA 1 and ACA 13 both address the difficulty in passing housing and infrastructure bills at the municipal level, thanks to high voting thresholds imposed by past ballot measures. While 2022 only saw seven statewide measures on the ballot, there are already nine qualified for 2024.

• Across California, the positivity rate for COVID-19 has continued to rise.

City Politics

• The New York Times recapped the city’s corrupt 2020 redistricting process that drastically redrew the district of Councilmember Nithya Raman, and it provided a few updates on Los Angeles City Council’s plan to draft ballot measures to expand council and move to independent redistricting.

• The DSA-LA candidate forum for Phase 1 endorsements is this Sunday from 10am to 3pm. Three candidates for Los Angeles City Council will be present for Q&As: Ysabel Jurado, who is running in CD 14, Nithya Raman in CD 4, and Jillian Burgos in CD 2. The voting period, during which members can vote on whether or not the organization should endorse each candidate, will begin after the forum. RSVP or submit questions here!

Labor

• Last weekend, Star Garden Topless Dive Bar celebrated its reopening as the nation’s only unionized strip club!

Housing Rights

• The Los Angeles Housing and Homeless Committee advanced a motion to discuss with the city attorney whether the city can do more to prevent bad-faith Ellis Act evictions. The Ellis Act is state law that allows landlords to evict tenants from rent-controlled apartments if they take the units off the market permanently. The Los Angeles Housing Department has claimed there is little the city can do to prevent Ellis evictions that strongly appear to be in bad faith, such as the massive eviction underway at Barrington Plaza. Audio from that meeting is here, and is actually quite clarifying.

• Councilmembers Soto-Martínez, Harris-Dawson, and Hutt introduced a motion to eliminate “public facilities zones,” a zoning classification that severely restricts the ability of the city to utilize public land for affordable or new public housing.

• Knock LA published “LA’s War on Public Housing,” a multi-part series on the dismantling of public housing in Los Angeles that has been taking place since the 1980s.

• The City of San Francisco attempted to appeal a preliminary injunction preventing the displacement of unhoused people who have not been made a realistic offer of shelter. This week that appeal was denied.

Environmental Justice

• $2.5 million in funding was approved for Skid Row cooling stations to help unhoused Angelenos stay safe in the summer heat. But massive delays prevented most of them from opening until the summer was almost over. LA officials say it was the result of a miscommunication.

• The Clean Vehicle Rebate Project will end when it runs out of money this year. In its place, the state will expand a program next year that provides subsidies only to low-to-middle income residents.

• A new study finds that climate change has increased the risk of explosive wildfire growth in California by 25%.

The post State Leg. Session Closing + DSA-LA Candidate Forum This Weekend appeared first on The Thorn West.

In this episode, we interview activist Chuck Collins on his new novel, "Altar to an Erupting Sun." His book addresses the work of activism, the value of community, and the question of what tactics are on the table as we face the destruction of the planet. Find his book and more resources at chuckcollinswrites.com. Don't forget to join us for theologybeer.camp on October 19–21st. Use promo code HEARTGODPOD for a discounted ticket and to support this podcast. Hope to see you there!

Democratic Left is DSA’s volunteer-led nationwide print-and-online publication. It’s now America’s largest socialist publication at a time of exploding interest in socialism, and we’re eager to improve the quality of the publication and increase its online frequency and reach. To accomplish that, we have great need of skilled volunteers in the following categories: Graphic designers,…

The post Democratic Left needs skilled volunteers! appeared first on Democratic Left.

Cindy is 65 years old, disabled, and lives on the third floor of a Siegel Suites apartment complex with a broken elevator. Due to her disability, the broken elevator makes it impossible for her to bring groceries up to her apartment or do laundry without help. Her rent of $1800+ per month makes it difficult for her to save up and find a new place to live. Siegel Suites preys on their tenants, trapping them with high rents while ignoring basic repairs and maintenance.

We’re collecting stories from tenants about their living situations and predatory landlords. Have a story you’d like to share? Fill out our tenant incident report form.

Want to get involved in our housing justice work? Join us for our next meeting September 12th @ 6pm.

Translated into Spanish below / Traducido al español a continuación

The DSA IC congratulates Bernardo Arévalo and Movimiento Semilla for their resounding victory with 58% of the vote in Guatemala’s presidential runoff election on August 20. We stand in solidarity with the Guatemalan people who voted to put an end to elite control and corruption in Guatemala’s political system and bring about systemic change. We fully support the call for a Second Guatemalan Spring to continue the work set out in the first Guatemalan democratic opening that was tragically cut short by a State Department sponsored coup in 1954.

The DSA IC would also like to express serious concern about the safety of President-Elect Arévalo and ongoing attempts by the Guatemalan “Pact of the Corrupt” to overturn the election. We condemn the apparent decision by Guatemala’s electorally-defeated elite to use the four months before the presidential transition in January to free military officials charged with crimes of genocide and former politicians charged in corruption investigations, to arrest and harass political opponents, and to threaten indigenous land defenders and social movements across the country. 

The DSA IC wishes to raise awareness of the inappropriate sharing of US military and intelligence resources with the previous Guatemalan regime. We are concerned that these assets may be used to undermine the Arevalo  government and its progressive agenda. We also call on the U.S. government to acknowledge the role that it has played in destabilizing Guatemala and provide comprehensive reparations to the Guatemalan people for the harm that the 1954 coup and subsequent 36 years of US-funded genocidal armed conflict caused.

---

Por una Segunda Primavera Guatemalteca

El DSA IC felicita a Bernardo Arévalo y al Movimiento Semilla por su contundente victoria con el 58% de los votos en la segunda vuelta presidencial de Guatemala el 20 de agosto. Nos solidarizamos con el pueblo guatemalteco que votó para poner fin al control de las élites y a la corrupción en el sistema político de Guatemala y generar un cambio sistémico. Apoyamos el llamado a una Segunda Primavera Guatemalteca para continuar el trabajo de la primera apertura democrática guatemalteca que fue trágicamente interrumpida por un golpe de estado patrocinado por el Departamento de Estado de los Estados Unidos en 1954.

El DSA IC también quisiera expresar su seria preocupación por la seguridad del presidente electo Arévalo y los continuos intentos del “Pacto de los Corruptos”de anular las elecciones. Condenamos la e decisión de la elite de Guatemala, derrotada electoralmente, de utilizar los cuatro meses previos a la transición presidencial en enero para liberar a oficiales militares acusados de crímenes de genocidio y a políticos acusados de corrupción mientras que arrestan y acosan a opositores políticos y amenazan a los pueblos indígenas, defensores de la tierra y movimientos sociales en todo el país.

El DSA IC desea crear conciencia sobre el intercambio inapropiado de recursos militares y de inteligencia estadounidenses con el anterior régimen guatemalteco. Nos preocupa que estos esos recursos puedan usarse para socavar al gobierno de Arévalo y su agenda progresista. También hacemos un llamado al gobierno de Estados Unidos para que reconozca el papel que ha desempeñado en la desestabilización de Guatemala y proporcione reparaciones integrales al pueblo guatemalteco por el daño que causaron en el golpe de 1954 y los 36 años posteriores de conflicto armado y genocida financiado por Estados Unidos.

The post For a Second Guatemalan Spring appeared first on DSA International Committee.