New Policies Support Communities Most Affected by Chronic Asthma

Asthma is a condition where the airways become constricted or narrow. The inflammation in the area will keep the airways from being open, thus triggering breathing issues. The body will produce mucus that can stick in the airways and will be hard to cough up. 

PHI’s Regional Asthma Management and Prevention (RAMP) program advanced two critical Medi-Cal policies to provide coverage for home-based asthma education, environmental trigger assessments and asthma remediation supports. "Both policy wins have major implications for increased access to home visiting services for people with poorly controlled asthma, which will improve health outcomes, reduce asthma disparities, and decrease healthcare utilization costs," said RAMP director Anne Kelsey-Lamb. Read more here

What Are ESAs?

School districts use vouchers to enable white students to attend private schools, which could (and still can) limit admission based on race. As a result, the schools that served those white students were closed, and schools that served black students remained chronically underfunded.

Education savings accounts are a kind of super-voucher. While traditional vouchers give parents a chunk of taxpayer money that they could use for tuition at the school of their choice, an ESA gives parents a chunk of taxpayer money that they can spend on private school tuition or a variety of other educational expenses.

Jersey Jazzman: "Kingdom Gain" Through School Vouchers: It's Already Working

ESAs, like vouchers, have proven to be a way to use public tax dollars to fund private religious schools. In fact, in states where voucher programs exist, vouchers primarily fund religious schools (particularly Catholic ones). While the separation of church and state, when it comes to education, is already being increasingly whittled away, ESAs, like vouchers, allow states to circumvent that wall entirely.

Claim your FREE "I Read Banned Books" sticker!

These were the five most banned books in America in 2022.

1. Gender Queer: A Memoir, by Maia Kobabe, traces the author's life from adolescence to adulthood, including Kobabe's exploration of their gender identity and sexuality.
2. All Boys Aren't Blue, by George M. Johnson, chronicles Johnson's life growing up as a queer Black man in New Jersey and Virginia.
3. Out of Darkness, by Ashley Hope Pérez, explores themes of segregation and chronicles a teenage love story involving a Mexican American girl and a Black boy.
4. The Bluest Eye, by Toni Morrison, tells the story of a young Black girl growing up following the Great Depression who is consistently regarded as "ugly" due to her dark skin.
5. The Hate U Give, by Angie Thomas, traces the life of a 16-year-old Black girl from a poor neighborhood who attends an elite, white private school and witnesses a white police officer shoot and kill her childhood friend. 

Notice some common themes? Racism, segregation, gender identity, police violence, and sexuality are among the most pressing issues facing our society. These critically acclaimed books deftly and thoughtfully engage issues that we want our students to wrestle with. Instead, the GOP wants to erase these discussions—and even punish teachers.

Claim your FREE "I Read Banned Books" sticker! |👈Click the link👈: Fill out the form, and receive your free "I Read Banned Books" sticker. Then consider chipping into help power the campaign to stop the right-wing politicians behind these attacks on our schools.

Explore: The White House

"President Biden and Vice President Harris promised to move quickly to deliver results for working families. That's what they've done." The White House

Fact: The White House is worth $397.9 million, according to US-based real-estate listings firm Zillow, who calculated the price in 2017. That is equivalent to £290 million, making it worth more than the most expensive house in Britain.

LA Council adopts permanent tenant protections

The council voted 12-0 — with two recusals — for an ordinance to be drafted to implement the protections. It then went into recess while staff worked to immediately prepare the ordinance, which was later also adopted unanimously. The protections, which await Mayor Karen Bass' signature, are expected to be in effect prior to the expiration of the state of emergency.

State lawmakers hold vigil in honor of Monterey Park victims

 

The California Asian American and Pacific Islander Caucus (AAPILC) held a vigil outside the State Capitol in Sacramento to stand in solidarity with the grieving families from the Monterey Park mass shooting.

Legal action against Southwest Airlines has already started

The first of what is sure to become many lawsuits has been filed against Southwest Airlines. The suit, is a proposed class action suit, alleging the airline isn’t offering refunds for flights canceled during last month’s weather and holiday travel, Reuters reports. Southwest canceled around 5,400 of its flights in less than 48 hours beginning on December 26, leaving passengers stranded as storms raged across parts of the South and Midwest.