Progressive Groups Pressure Dems on Speaker Vote
“A pact with Republicans to win” the Maryland House speakership would be “a nearly unwashable stain” on any Democratic politician, says Progressive Maryland Executive Director Larry Stafford Jr., quoted in this Maryland Matters article about the possible deviancy in the upcoming contest.
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Read moreProgressive Maryland Weekly Memo for Monday, April 22, 2019
In the Weekly Memo -- alerts on Predatory Lending (a deadline to comment to the feds); our PM Movement Politics training Saturday, May 18 in Baltimore; a threat to protections against discriminatory discipline in schools;Â an update on the People's Action convention in DC; and more (including the week's stellar blog posts). Read on...
Read moreProgressive Prince George's kicks off education improvement initiative
Progressive Prince George’s is launching an effort to mobilize parents, students and concerned members of the Prince George’s community to reset the conditions for educating our children for a sustainable future – one of good jobs, good education and an end of the school-to-prison pipeline (which grows whenever we don’t pay attention to the first two). Find out more here and save the date: Saturday, April 27.
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Read moreLegislators with teaching backgrounds bring big-picture thinking to education policy
Teacher-legislators have a big role in fleshing out the "total package" of the Kirwan Commission proposals kick-started in this year's Assembly session -- and they explain why "wrap-around" approaches are needed in many struggling school systems, in this detailed account from Maryland Matters.
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Read moreProgressive Maryland Weekly Memo for Monday, April 15, 2019
Progressive Maryland is resettling its work into our communities across the state after the all-hands effort during the General Assembly session that ended last week. We build power between elections and between legislative sessions, because that is how you win when it’s all on the line.
Read moreElected officials stay current with their communities -- or they lose
Getting lost in the excitement over the progressive-establishment spat in the Democratic Party is a political imperative – mutual, educational exchange of information from politicians to electorate – and vice versa. Stay current with your community. Or go home.
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Read moreWhere the 2019 General Assembly Session failed
Maryland’s General Assembly passed over 850 bills by their Sine Die deadline. About 2,500, a record number, were filed, and there’s no doubt that many of those were bad bills and good riddance. But there were some real missed opportunities – at least as far as the state’s progressive forces are concerned. Let’s look at a few.
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Read moreBringing educational and legislative experience to improving our schools
The struggle to improve our schools in Prince George's County and other embattled systems throughout the state has to happen at the grass roots -- parents, students, teachers who understand what excellence means for our children's future must build power in school and political systems to make it happen. Our newest Progressive Maryland organizer, Davain McClain, outlines what has brought him to the fight for education quality.
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Read moreBills that passed the 2019 General Assembly session, in a roundup
As Sine Die came and went -- the final day of the Maryland General Assembly's 2019 Session -- lawmakers mourned and engaged in horse-trading to get 850-plus bills across the finish line. Here is a roundup from Maryland Matters writers on bills that made it and some that didn't. And more pathways to info are included; read on...
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Read moreProgressive Maryland Weekly Memo for Monday (Sine Die), April 8, 2019
Today is Sine Die, the last day of the legislative session -- but one big chair is vacant after the death Sunday of Mike Busch, the House of Delegates’ longest-serving speaker.
The frantic business of Sine Die will go on, with many, many bills trying to get across the finish line – some to an uncertain fate at the hands of Gov. Larry Hogan. So the struggle always continues.
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