By Meredith Kolodner/The Hechinger Report

Many of the nation’s best public universities are enrolling disproportionately few African-American and Latino students.
Flagship universities are the jewels in the crown of public higher education systems – they have sought-after faculty, preeminent research facilities, the most resources and often the highest graduation rates, for all races. They also stand as beacons of affordable excellence for the students of their states. But when it comes to equitably serving the state’s residents, whose taxes fund these top-flight universities, many fall far short of their stated missions. Often there are big differences – defined by race – between who’s graduating from a state’s public high schools and who’s getting into its flagship universities.

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Posted on January 30, 2018

By The Ugo Okere Campaign

Ugo Okere, a 21-year-old community organizer in the Budlong Woods neighborhood and a senior at Loyola, announced his candidacy for alderman of the 40th Ward at an event Saturday evening celebrating millennial political power.
“As a lifelong resident of Budlong Woods, and a millennial inspired by this political moment, the time is now for a new generation of leadership in the 40th Ward and across Chicago” said Okere. “I am running for alderman of the 40th Ward because after 35 years of disconnected leadership, it’s time for a new, progressive change.”
An immigrant from Nigeria, and son of a taxi driver and factory worker, Okere’s family moved to Chicago and settled on the North Side when he was 3 months old. A graduate of Budlong Elementary and Lane Tech High School, Ugo will receive his diploma from Loyola University this spring. Today, Ugo serves on the Loyola University Senate, and is chair of Fuerza del Sol, a youth community organization that works in issues of immigrant rights and violence prevention.

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Posted on January 29, 2018

By Indivisible Chicago

State lawmakers have set a public hearing date for legislation to protect Illinois voter data by pulling state voter data out of the national Crosscheck program. The hearing on SB2273, crafted in partnership between Indivisible Chicago and state lawmakers, is scheduled for Tuesday, 1:30 p.m. in Springfield.
“We urge legislators to move quickly to close this door to protect Illinois voters’ personal data,” said Steve Held, one of the leaders of the Indivisible Chicago team fighting voter suppression. “The news out of Kansas, responsible for protecting this sensitive data, gets worse on a weekly basis. It’s abundantly clear that the Kansas Secretary of State’s office lacks the will and the expertise to secure their systems.”

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Posted on January 26, 2018

By Jon Queally/Common Dreams

Tech giant Apple made international headlines and inspired President Donald Trump to brag overnight about his role in making it all possible after announcing it would pay approximately $38 billion in taxes as it repatriates large sums of overseas cash holdings. But that dollar figure is less than half of what tax analysts say the company should be paying for those earnings.

We estimate that Apple owes about $78.6 billion in taxes on their accumulated offshore earnings (https://t.co/Lnqb4GYXRU), so if they pay $38 billion under the new tax bill (https://t.co/4p1MXgvfTQ), that equals a tax break of about $40.6 billion.

— Richard Phillips, Inc. (@taxjusticewonk) January 17, 2018

With the Trump and GOP lowering the repatriation tax rate from 35 percent down to 15.5 percent, the lobbying by powerful and wealthy corporations – including Apple – is finally paying dividends.

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Posted on January 24, 2018

By The Let Forest Park Vote On Video Gaming Political Action Committee

On December 18, a group of local citizens, organized under the political action committee Let Forest Park Vote on Video Gaming, submitted a petition to the Village of Forest Park to place video gaming on the March 2018 ballot.
According to Illinois gaming law, signatures from 25 percent of registered voters are required to put a binding referendum on the ballot which allows citizens to vote on video gambling in their town.
The Cook County Clerk confirmed on Jan. 17 that Let Forest Park Vote had 2,840 valid signatures, or more than 25 percent of registered voters in Forest Park.

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Posted on January 22, 2018

By Julia Conley/Common Dreams

Critics of Amazon’s “race to the bottom” as it searches for a home for its second headquarters said on Thursday that the company’s newly released shortlist of 20 cities highlights a crisis in the U.S. economy – one exemplified by the huge incentives offered to Amazon in the bidding war among potential hosts.
Rep. Keith Ellison (D-Minn.) was among those slamming Amazon and the state and local governments willing to give billions of dollars in tax breaks to the extremely wealthy multinational company.

Tax breaks to Amazon promised by New Jersey: $7 billion. Tax breaks promised by Illinois: $2 billion. Something is deeply wrong with our economy & democracy when local governments offer up their tax base to a corporation worth over $500 billion. https://t.co/csnETiF5zT

— Rep. Keith Ellison (@keithellison) January 18, 2018

In addition to the incentives mentioned by Ellison, Boston offered $75 million to provide affordable housing to Amazon employees, while Maryland’s offer exceeded $5 billion.
Some noted that Amazon’s top 20 contenders – also including New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Atlanta, and Raleigh – are fairly prosperous cities, with the company leaving out areas that could benefit from an influx of jobs and economic activity.

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Posted on January 19, 2018

By The City Of Chicago Office Of Inspector General

With an assist to the Beachwood Added Value Affairs Desk.
The City of Chicago Office of Inspector General has released its fourth quarter report for 2017 to the City Council. The report summarizes the Office’s activity from October 1, 2017 to December 31, 2017.
In his cover letter, Inspector General Joe Ferguson addresses the future of the Office of Inspector General, including the first-generation projects for the new Public Safety Section, a revitalized website that will include an interactive data portal, the establishment of a robust community engagement program; and continued use of technology to expand the reach of the OIG.
This quarter’s report includes summaries of concluded OIG investigations, inquiries, and other activities, including:

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Posted on January 18, 2018

By Henry Giroux/The Conversation

George Orwell warns us in his dystopian novel 1984 that authoritarianism begins with language. In the novel, “newspeak” is language twisted to deceive, seduce and undermine the ability of people to think critically and freely.
As authoritarianism gains strength, the formative cultures that give rise to dissent become more embattled, along with the public spaces and institutions that make conscious critical thought possible.
Words that speak the truth to reveal injustices and provide informed critical analysis begin to disappear, making it all the more difficult, if not dangerous, to judge, think critically and hold dominant power accountable. Notions of virtue, honor, respect and compassion are policed, and those who advocate them are punished.
I think it’s fair to argue that Orwell’s nightmare vision of the future is no longer fiction in the United States. Under President Donald Trump, language is undergoing a shift: It now treats dissent, critical media coverage and scientific evidence as a species of “fake news.”

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Posted on January 16, 2018

By Indivisible Chicago

Warning that vulnerabilities in the Interstate “Crosscheck” program are more extensive than election officials have admitted, voter rights activists at Indivisible Chicago are praising the Illinois State Board of Elections for confirming that no voter data will be sent to the “Crosscheck” program in January as originally planned. The voter rights activists are urging the SBE to hold firm as the Kansas officials in charge of securing the national Crosscheck voter database continue to struggle with security fixes that will protect 100 million voters’ personal data.
In December, Kansas officials assured participating states that they would have the opportunity to review details about proposed security fixes by the end of the year, with a plan to discuss on January 4th. “As of this date, we have received no description of security enhancements from Crosscheck”, said SBE executive director Steve Sandvoss in a January 10 letter to state legislators. “We plan to review and discuss those proposed enhancements upon receipt and we will transmit no data to Crosscheck until security issues are addressed to our satisfaction.”

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Posted on January 12, 2018

By Jon Queally/Common Dreams

Despite spending much of the last 12 months denouncing the legitimate threat posed by President Donald Trump’s penchant for authoritarian policies and behavior, 65 Democrats in the U.S. House of Representatives on Thursday joined with 191 Republicans in passing a bill that advocates of civil liberties warn will lead to the wholesale violation “of privacy rights for everyone in the United States.”
While the final vote on the FISA Amendments Reauthorization Act of 2017 (or S.139) – which included renewal of the controversial Section 702 which allows government agencies to spy on the e-mails, text messages, and other electronic communications of Americans and foreigners without a warrant – was 256 to 164 in favor of passage, the partisan breakdown revealed that Republicans in the majority needed a great deal of Democratic support in order to have it pass. (Forty-five Republicans voted against the bill.)
“The House voted today to give President Trump and his administration more spying powers,” said Neema Singh Guliani, policy counsel with the ACLU, in a statement following the vote. “The government will use this bill to continue warrantless intrusions into Americans’ private e-mails, text messages, and other communications.”

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Posted on January 11, 2018