Democracy Now

Evelyn Espinoza

 

I watched the “New York City’s Charter School Showdown Reignites National Debate on Privatized Education” because anything involving education catches my interest. New York City’s Mayor has impeded the use of space inside private schools from being used by private charter schools. They have also cut the funds for construction of charter schools. This is stirring up a debate especially as all those charter school supporters are speaking out against the mayor’s decisions.  Some of the debate is the effect that charter schools have on public schools and the process involved in decision making over such schools. The mayor is concerned with public schools and feels that he is not opposed to charter schools but instead of being so persistent on expanding them they should focus on public schools also. The true intentions of charter schools are being questioned and under extreme scrutiny. The other video addressed the deportations under Obama’s presidency, “’Obama is Trying to Vanish Us’: Immigrants Fight Record Deportations with Protests, Hunger Strikes.” Immigrants are standing up for themselves through civil disobedience as hundreds gather on the US and Mexico border to support undocumented individuals seeking to be allowed back into the US. There is a hunger strike going on in the detention center in Tacoma, Washington because of the pitiful amount they are paid for their labor and to improve the conditions they are being detained in and in hopes of stopping the deportations. Through the hunger strike they are attempting to shine a light on the immigration reform and hope to resolve their situation. So far as a result those on the hunger strike are being force fed through feeding tubes that seems inhumane. In class we were shown a video of an individual who volunteered to go through the process and it was very difficult to watch.