8th district Town Hall Meetings on Gov. Snyder’s Budget, April 14th and May 2nd

HOON-YUNG HOPGOO, State Senator for the 8th District will be hosting town hall meetings on Governor Snyder’s budget. If you are in his district (or just want to show), let him know that the tax on students is not acceptable! 

Information below:
 The first of two town hall meetings on the impacts of Governor Snyder’s budget on Michigan families I am hosting is set for 6 p.m. tonight at the Redford VFW Hall, 27345 Schoolcraft Road in Redford Township with Senator Glenn S. Anderson. The discussions will focus on the potential impact of funding cuts on schools as well as local police, fire and other vital services. 
 
In addition to tonight, I will host a second Budget Town Hall meeting  on Monday, May 2 from 6:30 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. at the Taylor Senior Center.  Mr. David Zin, Chief Economist for the nonpartisan Senate Fiscal Agency, will be presenting on the state budget.  The Senior Center is located at 6750 Troy Street in Taylor.
 
I am also pleased to announce that I will begin hosting regular monthly coffee hours throughout the 8th Senate District.  I plan to rotate the location of the events around the district and offer a variety of times to accommodate different schedules. I am especially eager to hear from residents about the impact of Governor Snyder’s proposed state budget and tax policy changes.
 
The first coffee hour is scheduled for Friday, April 29 from 3:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. at the Karma Coffee Shop located at 3015 S. Wayne Road in Wayne.  The second coffee hour will be held at the Bacon Memorial Library at 45 Vinewood in Wyandotte on Friday, May 20 from 12:00 noon until 1:00 p.m.

Protest at Wayne State University Presidential Inauguration of Allan Gilmour on April 15th

The Coalition to Defend Education is putting out its next call to action against the dismantling of public education in Michigan. This Friday, April 15th at 2:00 pm students at Wayne State University will be joined by their professors and allies from the Detroit Public Schools community as well as other metro area colleges to call on President Gilmour to freeze tuition at Wayne State University, maintain academic support services, preserve the integrity of research and ensure the provision of quality education at Michigan’s only urban research university.

Gilmour, who has been Interim President, is being inaugurated as permanent President on this Friday at 3:00 pm. At 2:00 the Coalition and its allies will gather for a picket in front of the Community Arts Auditorium where the Inauguration is to occur. We will demand that as President, Mr. Gilmour refuse to participate in the dismantling of higher education. Over the past 10 years Wayne State has raised tuition while simultaneously cutting services; students are paying more for less.  

Students will not accept enormous burdens of debt to pursue what is necessary not only to join the workforce, but also necessary to pull this state and nation out of crisis – higher education. Higher education has never been more necessary. Our message is simple, now is not the time to dismantle education.

This will be the first in a series of escalations. The same demands delivered to President Gilmour will be articulated at the April 20th WSU Board of Governor’s meeting. More information on this and other future events is forthcoming.

The Coalition to Defend Education is an organization birthed from the solidarity of Detroit area university and community college students, Detroit Public Schools parents and students, the Union of Part Time Faculty, Graduate Employees Organizing Committee, as well as professors and graduate assistants employed at WSU.

We stand in solidarity with workers and students in Wisconsin, Michigan, across the Midwest, and throughout the nation whose economic and democratic rights are under attack.

Please join us.

Defend the Catherine Ferguson Academy on April 13th and May 3rd

Reposted:

—-HELP SPREAD THE WORD—

Pregnancy is a leading cause of teenage dropouts in the United States. For over twenty years, The Catherine Ferguson Academy in Detroit, Michigan has acted as an educational and community center for pregnant and parenting teen mothers, and their children in the Detroit area. Catherine Ferguson Academy will be one of 18 schools to close or become a charter unless we speak up and show up in numbers.  CFA provides services like WIC, healthcare, and early education from birth through pre-K. Without this support, most high school aged mothers do not graduate.  In addition to being a successful school, CFA is an anchor to the community of young mothers.

” These girls are working too hard to get their education, they shouldn’t have to worry about their school closing. Future generations depend on the success of these women. “

ALL CFA Supporters mark your calendars for May 3rd. Other schools will also give presentations before and after ours. The first presentation will be for the Detroit Day School for the Deaf, which is slated to be closed. The LSCO parent president of the Day School for the Deaf is a CFA graduate, and we should be there in support of her as well.  

Support Pregnant Teen Mothers By:

 Speaking for them in a town hall meeting on the DPS Renaissance 2012 Plan:
Wednesday April 13th @ 6:00PM
Cody High School 18445 Cathedral Street in Detroit

Show up in Numbers to the final decision meeting on Tuesday May 3rd:

Frederick Douglass Academy (Former Murray Wright High School)
2001 W. Warren 48202-2216
Tuesday, May 3 · 4:00pm – 7:00pm

( ::: wear a pillow under your shirt as a visual demonstration if you’re not already pregnant ::: ) Gentlemen, you too!

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Catherine Ferguson was a freed slave who founded a “Sabbath School” where freed black slaves and other working poor learned to read and write, cared for orphaned children, and provided childcare allowing women to work again.  She was described to have responded to “the needs of the poor in an era which the poor were notably neglected”.