ESTABLISHMENT Archives - Bipoc News

Murderer worked in schools despite ban

admin — Tue, 04 Mar 2025 00:31:49 +0000

Louise Fewster & Sabbiyah Pervez

BBC Yorkshire and Lincolnshire Investigations

St Giles Trust

Rashid Zaman starting working with children in 2021, and carried on doing so despite being added to the barred list in 2023

A convicted murderer spent almost two years working with children after he was barred from doing so, the BBC has learned.

Rashid Zaman, 44, from Bradford, West Yorkshire, served 15 years in prison for killing a man who tried to stop him and two others stealing a car in Halifax in 2001.

After his release, he began volunteering with the national charity, St Giles Trust, in 2021, and later became a paid employee who visited schools and young people’s homes.

The charity said Zaman, who has not responded to the BBC’s attempts to contact him, did not tell them he had been barred from working with children and that he was dismissed as soon as senior management found out.

The BBC has seen both of the Disclosure and Barring Service…

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Teacher Whose Sex Crime Arrest Shook an N.Y.C. Prep School Pleads Guilty

admin — Mon, 03 Mar 2025 21:26:53 +0000

When one of New York City’s most prestigious private schools hired Winston Nguyen in 2020, administrators knew about the felony conviction for fraud in his troubled past. But the second chance they offered him backfired. Nearly four years later, Mr. Nguyen, a math teacher, was arrested again, accused of preying on students. And the school, Saint Ann’s in Brooklyn, faced a roiling crisis.

On Monday, Mr. Nguyen, 38, pleaded guilty to a felony and several misdemeanors after being charged with soliciting lewd images and videos from students. When he is sentenced, most likely later this month, he faces a possible seven-year prison term.

Mr. Nguyen was taken into custody after the hearing and will be held temporarily at the Rikers Island jail complex.

His plea marks the latest chapter in a scandal that has marred the reputation of Saint Ann’s School and the administrators who hired him.

This is the second time Mr. Nguyen has been…

A Black Studies Curriculum Is (Defiantly) Rolling Out in New York City

admin — Mon, 03 Mar 2025 17:08:22 +0000

Late last fall at the Hugo Newman School in Harlem, two social studies teachers handed out pages of hip-hop lyrics to their seventh graders, and then flicked off the lights. The students appeared surprised.

They had been studying ancient matriarchal societies, including Iroquois communities that had women leaders. Now, their teachers were about to play the song “Ladies First” by Queen Latifah and Monie Love. The teachers instructed their students to highlight any lyrics that reminded them of the Iroquois women, who were known as the Haudenosaunee Clan Mothers.

Although they did not know it, the middle schoolers were in the midst of their first lesson of “Black Studies as the Study of the World,” a curriculum that rolled out in September and is now available to every New York City public school.

Tristan Vanderhorst, 12, took notes and bobbed to the music. “I had never seen a woman rap like that,” he said afterward.

The…

Which districts are on California’s latest financial danger lists — and why

admin — Mon, 03 Mar 2025 08:01:00 +0000

Photo by Alison Yin for EdSource

Oakland, San Francisco and Hayward have joined four smaller districts on the five-alarm fire list of the state’s most financially stressed districts —those flirting with insolvency.

They join 32 districts on a second, cautionary list where there’s smoke but no fiscal flames — yet. The second list, released last week, includes Sacramento Unified, several small rural districts where a small drop in enrollment can pose a financial threat, and two San Jose elementary districts, Alum Rock and Franklin-McKinley, which are closing multiple schools in the fall.

The 39 districts combined are more than last year and four times as many as in 2022-23, when state and federal revenues overflowed. Still, the updated total accounts for only about 4% of the state’s districts.

Michael Fine, CEO of the Financial Crisis Management and Assistance Team, a state agency whose job is to…

‘Sanctuary city’ mayors hope to avoid an embarrassing spectacle in Congress

admin — Sun, 02 Mar 2025 12:00:00 +0000

Democratic mayors of four cities with sanctuary policies to protect migrants are consulting with advisers, hiring lawyers and preparing to redact documents ahead of a grilling by House Republicans — hoping to avoid the kind of Capitol Hill spectacle that embarrassed three Ivy League presidents a little over a year ago.

These mayors are also furiously conferring with anyone they know who can offer insight and counsel about how to handle the kind of scrutiny that resulted in the ouster of University of Pennsylvania President Liz Magill following the late 2023 congressional hearing on antisemitism at elite colleges.

Just as Republicans hammered Magill and others for what they saw as condoning alleged threats to Jewish students and faculty, Republican members of Congress will on Wednesday ask the mayors of New York, Chicago, Boston and Denver to defend their more permissive immigration policies against high-profile, if isolated,…

How will changes in federal policy impact California education? Stay up to date here

admin — Fri, 28 Feb 2025 21:45:58 +0000

Shortly before news broke Wednesday morning that the White House had rescinded a memo freezing federal aid – which had sown confusion in higher education a day earlier – leaders of the California State University system discussed how they might adapt if anticipated cuts take effect.

CSU officials said campuses should look for opportunities in the midst of shifting federal funding priorities and are also pursuing support from businesses and philanthropies to bridge any interruption to federal dollars.

As CSU leaders concluded their discussion, CNN and other news organizations reported that the White House Office of Management and Budget had rescinded the memo freezing federal aid. White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said on X that other executive orders impacting federal funding remain in effect. One such order seeks to end diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives in the federal government as well…

West Contra Costa compromises on staff cuts, but may have to cut student services instead

admin — Fri, 28 Feb 2025 08:01:00 +0000

United Teachers of Richmond gather at West Contra Costa school board meeting Wednesday to protest staff cuts approved a week earlier.

Credit: Monica Velez / EdSource

In a move consistent with dozens of California school districts, West Contra Costa Unified board members have had to choose between eliminating staff and services for students or exploding its budget deficit.

At the start of the debate at Wednesday night’s school board meeting, the district had proposed cutting about 177 staffing positions and, after nearly three hours of debate, the board voted 3-1 to cut all but eight. But saving those eight positions jeopardizes funding for services for at-risk students.

“Ultimately, with these decisions, our students will suffer the most without the staff that is needed to provide them with an excellent education that they deserve and which is necessary to decrease the longstanding education gaps for…

Mason High School student arrested following shooting threat, district says

admin — Fri, 28 Feb 2025 01:48:37 +0000

A Mason High School student was arrested after the district says he made a “significant verbal threat” at a bus stop Wednesday.

Mason City Schools said in a statement the male student was arrested at the high school Thursday morning, adding that the threat was made toward some Mason Early Childhood Center students.

In a previous statement on the day of the incident, the district said the student “allegedly felt they were being picked on and, in response, made a verbal threat to shoot up the school.”

Several students reported the threat to administrators, while others used the phone or text tip line to report what the student had said, according to the previous statement.

As soon as becoming aware of the incident, the district launched an investigation, reviewed bus camera footage and worked closely with law enforcement, which ultimately resulted in the student’s arrest.

“We know that incidents like the ones we have shared this week can…

Why you shouldn’t let the controversy around AP African American Studies deter you from teaching it

admin — Thu, 27 Feb 2025 17:41:49 +0000

Credit: Allison Shelley for American Education

I was hesitant when first approached to help develop a course for AP African American Studies. Not because of the content, but rather the broader societal debates and media attention surrounding the curriculum. The noise around it felt overwhelming.

However, as I began to review the materials, I realized how groundbreaking this course could be for students. It became clear that it was a worthwhile challenge.

Now, nearly six months into teaching this course online to high school students around the state, I’m further convinced of its value. My students applauded the use of music to bridge the past and present and immersed themselves in research to complete their final projects. One student said the final project “felt culturally enriching,” while another said it gave them “a profound understanding of history as a whole.” The course also challenges us as…

True Story Behind Jeanie Buss and Running Point

admin — Thu, 27 Feb 2025 14:23:41 +0000

In the spring of 2022, Lakers president and controlling owner Jeanie Buss turned on HBO’s Winning Time and was transported back to the start of her career.

The well-received but short-lived series, based on Jeff Pearlman’s book Showtime: Magic, Kareem, Riley, and the Los Angeles Lakers Dynasty of the 1980s, traced how her father, Dr. Jerry Buss, bought a floundering NBA franchise and quickly turned it into a world-class operation. It brought back vivid memories for Buss—glimpses at her dad’s brilliant and tempestuous ownership, Magic Johnson’s rise to fame, and her own college-aged education inside a male-dominated front office.

“They really captured my dad,” Buss tells TIME. “But it was very frustrating to not be involved with a project that is basically telling your life story.”

Which is why, a couple years earlier, Buss started sniffing around Hollywood to develop projects herself—first by executive-producing a…

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