3 min readEvaluation of the Big El Casino Ballroom Meeting And  A training on ‘Organizing for Power in Public Schools’ by Petra Falcon, Lead Organizer of Promesa Arizona in Phoenix. Wednesday, November 18th, 6:00 to 7:30 pm at John Valenzuela Youth Center (1550 S. 6th Ave.) As we know, our work has had a huge impact on the deseg case regarding the magnet schools. But what’s up with the Star?  Tim Steller and the Daily Star seem to go out of their way to NOT acknowledge the voice of the parents and their power to improve the quality of education. Last week

< 1 min readJoin us to support Parents and Students of TUSD Schools in danger of losing their magnet status and the funding that goes with it. The people with the power to destroy our schools or make them flourish, Judge Bury, Special Master Hawley, the plaintiff reps and their lawyers and TUSD, have all been invited to this action. It is in the best interest of all these parties to listen to Parents and Students of TUSD Magnet Schools. Be sure to get there early to enjoy the performances by students. There will be food, culture and stories.

2 min readby Cesar Aguirre and Brian Flagg Click here to read the story in the Daily Star This happened because parents and students from the five schools organized, went to the TUSD Board meeting and passionately stood up for their schools. And they made it clear that they would keep coming until their schools were no longer threatened. Until now there has been no real attempt by the plaintiff reps in this case to push back against the Special Master’s recommendation to strip the magnet status of five schools and the funding that goes with it. The Special Master and Judge Bury

2 min readAccording to the article in today’s Daily Star, Pope Francis’ big summit on family issues won’t endorse any changes to church doctrine on homosexuality or whether civilly remarried Catholics can receive Communion. And yet, it seems, everything has changed! “From the crucial role African bishops have played in the debate, to calls to remove “intrinsically disordered” from the church’s language on gays, to the freedom bishops now enjoy to speak their mind once-taboo issues, Francis’ synod on the family has at the very least shaken up the church for years to come.  The article reported that Francis delivered a “…bombshell of

2 min readSat. Oct. 17th, 9 to 11 a.m. Starts at IBEW Hall (750 S. Tucson Blvd.) Casa Maria is joined with enviros, neighborhood, union and church groups, housing advocates, the Living Streets Alliance and others to get this $815 million bond package passed on November 3. Granted there are some parts of it that will benefit too much the rich guys. But we all have fought long and hard to get our things in it too such as affordable housing, neighborhood reinvestment, open space and improvements to parks on the South side. Ultimately it really will stimulate the economy and bring

3 min readby Brian Flagg On Monday, October 5, my dad, William Dodge Flagg, passed away peacefully in his own bed in Huntington Beach, CA. He was 91. He only had one lung and had become pretty incoherent. It was time to go. Needless to say it was hard on my mom. They were married for more than 35 years. He is being cremated and there is no funeral. Which is fine with me but it really impresses on me what a white boy I really am. Can you imagine any Mexicano not having a big emotional funeral with lots and lots